Chapter 14 General Psychology: Social Psychology – Flashcards

The scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another.

The theory that we explain someone’s behavior by crediting either the situation or the person’s disposition.

The tendency for observers, when analyzing another’s behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition.

Feelings, often influenced by our beliefs, that predispose us to respond in a particular way to objects, people, and events.

Occurs when people are influence by incidental cues, such as a speaker’s attractiveness.

Occurs when interested people focus on the arguments and respond with favorable thoughts.

The tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request.

A set of expectations (norms) about a social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave.

The theory that we act to reduce the discomfort (dissonance) we feel when two of our thoughts (cognitions) are inconsistent.

Adjusting our behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard.

Influence resulting from a person’s desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval.

Influence resulting from one’s willingness to accept others’ opinions about reality.

Stronger responses on simple or well-leaded tasks in the presence of others.

The tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable.

The loss of self awareness and self-restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity.

The enhancement of a group’s prevailing inclinations through discussion within the group.

The mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives.

An unjustifiable (and usually negative) attitude toward a group and its members. Prejudice generally involves stereotyped beliefs, negative feelings, and a predisposition to discriminatory action.

A generalized (sometimes accurate but often overgeneralized) belief about a group of people.

Unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group and its members.

The tendency for people to believe the world is just and that people therefore get wheat they deserve and deserve what they get.

“Us”- people with whom we share a common identity.

“Them”- Those perceived as different or apart from our in-group.

The tendency to favor our own group.

The theory that prejudice offers an outlets for anger by providing someone to blame.

The tendency to recall faces of one’s own race more accurately than faces of other races.

Any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy.

The principle that frustration-the blocking of an attempt to achieve some goal-creates anger, which can generate aggression.

Culturally modeled guide for how to act in various situations.

An aroused state of intense positive absorption in another, usually present at the beginning of a love relationship.