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social psychology

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the scientific study of how people think about, influence, and relate to one another

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social neuroscience

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an interdisciplinary field that explores the neural bases of social and emotional processes and behaviors, and how these processes and behaviors affect our brain and biology

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culture

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the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, and traditions shared by a large group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next

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social representations

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a society's widely held ideas and values, including assumptions and cultural ideologies; these help us make sense of our world.

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hindsight bias

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the tendency to exaggerate, after learning an outcome, one's ability to have foreseen how something turned out. Also known as the I-knew-it-along-all-along phenomenon

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theory

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an integrated set of principles that explain and predict observed events

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hypothesis

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a testable proposition that describes a relationship that may exist between events

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field research

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research done in natural, real-life settings outside the laboratory

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correlational research

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the study of the naturally occurring relationships among variables

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experimental research

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studies that seek clues to cause-effect relationships by manipulating one or more factors (independent variables) while controlling others (holding them constant)

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random sampling

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survey procedure in which every person in the population being studied has an equal chance of inclusion

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framing

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the way a question or an issue is posed; can influence people's decisions and expressed opinions

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independent variable

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the experimental factor that a researcher manipulates

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dependent variable

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the variable being measured, so called because it may depend on manipulations of the independent variable

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random assignment

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the process of assigning participants to the conditions of an experiment such that all persons have the same chance of being in a given condition (helps us infer cause and effect)

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mundane realism

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degree to which an experiment is superficially similar to everyday situations

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experimental realism

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degree to which an experiment absorbs and involves its participants

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deception

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in research, an effect by which participants are misinformed or misled about the study's methods and purposes

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demand characteristics

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cues in an experiment that tell the participant what behavior is expected

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informed consent

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an ethical principal requiring that research participants be told enough to enable them to choose whether they wish to participate

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debriefing

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in social psychology, the post-experimental explanation of a study to its particiapnts

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spotlight effect

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the belief that others are paying more attention to our behavior than they really are

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illusion of transparency

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the illusion that our concealed emotions leak out and can be easily read by others

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self-concept

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what we know and believe about ourselves

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self-schema

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beliefs about self that organize guide the processing of self-relevant information

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possible selves

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images of what we dream of or dread becoming in the future

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social comparison

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evaluating one's abilities and opinions by comparing oneself with others

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individualism

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the concept of giving priority to one's own goals over group goals and defining one's identity in terms of personal attributes rather group identifications

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independent self

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construing one's identity as an autonomous self

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collectivism

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giving priority to the goals of one's group (often one's extended family or work group) and defining one's identity accordingly

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interdependent self

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construing one's identity in relation to others

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planning fallacy

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the tendency to underestimate how long it will take to complete a task

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impact bias

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overestimating the enduring impact of emotion-causing events

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immune neglect

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the human tendency to underestimate the speed and the strength of the "psychological immune system" which enables emotional recovery and resilience after bad things happen

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dual attitude system

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differing implicit (automatic) and explicit (consciously controlled) attitudes toward the same object. Verbalized explicit attitudes may change with education and persuasion; implicit attitudes change slowly, with practice that forms new habit

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self-esteem

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a person's overall self-evaluation or sense of self-worth

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terror management theory

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proposes that people exhibit self-protective emotional and cognitive responses (including adhering more strongly to their cultural worldviews and prejudices) when confronted with reminders of their own mortality

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self-efficacy

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a sense that one is competent and effective, distinguished from self-esteem, which is one's sense of self-worth. A sharpshooter in the military might feel high self-efficacy and low self-esteem.

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locus of control

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the extent to which people perceive outcomes as internally controllable by their own efforts or as externally controlled by chance or outside forces

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learned helplessness

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the sense of hopelessness and resignation learned when a human or animal perceives no control over repeated bad events

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self-serving bias

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the tendency to perceive oneself favorably

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self-serving attributions

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a form of self-serving bias; the tendency to attribute positive outcomes to oneself and negative outcomes to other factors.

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defensive pessimism

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the adaptive value of anticipating problems and harnessing one's anxiety to motivate effective action

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false consensus effect

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the tendency to overestimate the commonality of one's opinions and one's undesirable or unsuccessful behaviors

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false uniqueness effect

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the tendency to underestimate the commonality of one's abilities and one's desirable or successful behaviors

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group-serving bias

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explaining away out-group members' positive behaviors; also attributing negative behaviors to their dispositions (while excusing such behavior by one's own group)

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self-handicapping

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protecting one's self-image with behaviors that create a handy excuse for later failure

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self-presentation

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the act of expressing oneself and behaving in ways designed to create a favorable impression or an impression that corresponds to one's ideals

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self-monitoring

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being attuned to the way one presents oneself in social situations and adjusting one's performance to create the desired impression

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priming

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activating particular associations in memory

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embodied cognition

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the mutual influence of bodily sensations on cognitive preferences and social judgments

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belief perseverance

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persistence of one's initial conceptions, such as when the basis for one's belief is discredited but an explanation of why the belief might be true survives.

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misinformation effect

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incorporating "misinformation" into one's memory of the event, after witnessing an event and receiving misleading information about it

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controlled processing

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"explicit" thinking that is deliberate, reflective, and conscious

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automatic processing

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"implicit" thinking that is effortless, habitual, and without awareness; roughly corresponds to "intuition"

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overconfidence phenomenon

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the tendency to be more confident that correct - to overestimate the accuracy of one's beliefs

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confirmation bias

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a tendency to search for information that confirms one's preconceptions

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heuristic

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a thinking strategy that enables quick efficient judgements

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representativeness heuristic

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the tendency to presume, sometimes despite contrary odds, that someone or something belongs to a particular group if resembling (representing) a typical member

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availability heuristic

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a cognitive rule that judges the likelihood of things in terms of availability in memory. If instances of something come readily to mind, we presume it to be commonplace.

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counterfactual thinking

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imagining alternative scenarios and outcomes that might have happened, but didn't

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illusory correlation

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perception of a relationship where none exists, or perception of a stronger relationship than actually exists

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illusion of control

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perception of uncontrollable events as subject to one's control or as more controllable than they are

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regression toward the average

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the statistical tendency for extreme scores or extreme behavior to return toward one's average

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misattribution

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mistakenly attributing a behavior to the wrong source

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attribution theory

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the theory of how people explain other's behavior - for example, by attributing it either to internal dispositions (enduring traits, motives, and attitudes) or to external situations

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dispositional attribution

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attributing behavior to the person's disposition and traits

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situational attribution

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attributing behavior to the environment

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spontaneous trait inference

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an effortless, automatic inference of a trait after exposure to someones behavior

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fundamental attribution error

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the tendency for observers to underestimate situational influences and overestimate dispositional influences upon others' behavior (Also called correspondence bias because we so often see behavior as corresponding to a disposition)

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self-fulfilling prophecy

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a belief that leads to its own fulfillment

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behavioral confirmation

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a type of self-fulfilling prophecy whereby people's social expectations lead them to behave in ways that cause others to confirm their expectations

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attitude

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a favorable or unfavorable evaluative reaction toward something or someone (often rooted in one's beliefs, and exhibited in ones feelings and intended behavior)

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implicit association test (IAT)

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a computer-driven assessment of implicit attitudes. the test uses reaction times to measure people's automatic associations between attitude objects and evaluative words. Easier paring (and faster responses) are taken to indicate stronger unconscious associations

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role

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a set of norms that defines how people in a given social position ought to behave

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foot-in-the-door-phenomenon

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

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lowball technique

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a tactic for getting people to agree to something. People who agree to an initial request will often still comply when the requester ups the ante. People who receive only the costly request are less likely to comply with it.

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cognitive dissonance

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tensions that arises when one is simultaneously aware of two inconsistent cognitions. for example, dissonance may occur when we realize that we have, with little justification, acted contrary to our attitudes or made a decision favoring one alternative despite reasons favoring another.

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selective exposure

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the tendency to seek information and media that agrees with one's views and to avoid dissonant information

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insufficient justification

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reduction of dissonance by internally justifying one's behavior when external justification is "insufficient"

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self-perception theory

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the theory that when we are unsure of our attitudes, we infer them much as would someone observing us - by looking at our behavior and the circumstances under which it occurs

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facial feedback effect

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the tendency of facial expressions to trigger corresponding feelings such as fear, anger, or happiness

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overjustification effect

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the result of bribing people to do what they already like doing; they may then see their actions as externally controlled rather than intrinsically appealing

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self-affirmation theory

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a theory that (a) people often experience a self-image threat after engaging in an undesirable behavior; and (b) they can compensate by affirming another aspect of the self. Threaten people's self-concept in one domain, and they will compensate either by refocusing or by doing good deeds in some other domain

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natural selection

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the evolutionary process by which heritable traits that best enable organisms to survive and reproduce in particular environments are passed to ensuing generations

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evolutionary psychology

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the study of the evolution of cognition and behavior using principles of natural selection

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culture

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the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, and traditions shared by a large group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next

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norms

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standards for accepted and expected behavior. Norms prescribe "proper" behavior. (In a different sense of the word, norms also describe what most others do - what is normal).

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personal space

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the buffer zone we like to maintain around our bodies. its size depends on our familiarity with whoever is near us

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gender

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in psychology, the characteristics, whether biological or socially influenced, by which people define male and female

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empathy

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the vicarious experience of another's feelings; putting oneself in another's shoes

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aggression

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physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt someone. in laboratory experiments, this might mean delivering electric shocks or saying something likely to hurt another's feelings.

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androgynous

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From andro (man) + gyn (woman) - thus mixing both masculine and feminine characteristics

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gender role

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a set of behavior expectations (norms) for males and females

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interaction

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a relationship in which the effect of one factor (such as biology) depends on another factor (such as environment)

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conformity

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a change in behavior or belief as the result of real or imagined group pressure

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compliance

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conformity that involves publicly acting in accord with an implied or explicit request while privately disagreeing

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obedience

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acting in accord with a direct order or command

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acceptance

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conformity that involves both acting and believing in accord with social pressure

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autokinetic phenomenon

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self motion. the apparent movement of a stationary point of light in the dark.

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cohesiveness

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A "we feeling"; the extent to which members of a group are bound together, such as by attraction to one another.

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normative influence

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conformity based on a person's desire to fulfill others' expectation, often to gain acceptance.

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informational influence

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conformity occurring when people accept evidence about reality provided by other people.

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reactance

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a motive to protect or restore one's sense of freedom; arises when someone threatens our freedom of action.

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persuasion

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the process by which a message induces change in beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors.

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central route to persuasion

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

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peripheral route to persuasion

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occurs when people are influenced by incidental cues, such as a speaker's attractiveness

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credibility

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believability (this allows the communicator to be perceived as both expert and trustworthy)

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sleeper effect

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a delayed impact of a message that occurs when an initially discounted message becomes effective, such as we remember the message but forget the reason for discounting it

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attractiveness

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having qualities that appeal to an audience. an appealing communicator (often someone similar to the audience) is most persuasive on matters of subjective preference.

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primacy effect

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other things being equal, information presented first usually has the most influence.

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recency effect

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information presented last, sometimes has the most influence. (less common than the other effect)

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channel of communication

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the way the message is delivered - whether face to face, in writing, on film, or in some other way.

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two step flow of communication

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the process by which media influence often occurs through opinion leaders, who in turn influence others

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need for cognition

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the motivation to think and analyze. Assessed by agreement with items such as "the notion of thinking abstractly is appealing to me" and disagreement with items such as "I only think as hard as I have to."

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cult (also called new religious movement)

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a group typically characterized by (1) distinctive rituals and beliefs related to its devotion to a god or a person, (2) isolation from the surrounding "evil" culture, and (3) a charismatic leader

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attitude inoculation

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exposing people to weak attacks upon their attitudes so that when stronger attacks come, they will have refutations available.

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group

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two or more people who, for longer than a few moments, interact with and influence one another and perceive one another as "us"

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co-actors

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co-participants working individually on a noncompetitive activity

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social facilitation

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(1) Original meaning: the tendency of people to perform simple or well-learned tasks better when others are present (2) Current meaning: the strengthening of dominant (prevalent, likely) responses in the presence of others

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evaluation apprehension

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concern for how others are evaluating us

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social loafing

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the tendency for people to exert less effort when they pool their efforts toward a common goal than when they are individually accountable

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free riders

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people who benefit from the group but give little in return

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deindividuation

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loss of self-awareness and evaluation apprehension; occurs in group situations that foster responsiveness to group norms, good or bad

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self-awareness

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a self-conscious state in which attention focuses on oneself. It makes people more sensitive to their own attitudes and dispositions.

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group polarization

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group-produced enhancement of members' preexisting tendencies; a strengthening of the members' average tendency, not a split within the group

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social comparison

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evaluating one's opinions and abilities by comparing oneself with others

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pluralistic ignorance

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a false impression of what most other people are thinking or feeling, or how they are responding

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groupthink

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"The mode of thinking that persons engage in when concurrence-seeking becomes so dominant in a cohesive in-group that it tends to override realistic appraisal of alternative courses of action." - Irving Janis (1971)

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leadership

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the process by which certain group members motivate and guide the group

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task leadership

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leadership that organizes work, sets standards, and focuses on goals.

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social leadership

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leadership that builds teamwork, mediates conflict, and offers support

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transformational leadership

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leadership that, enabled by a leader's vision and inspiration, exerts significant influence

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prejudice

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a preconceived negative judgement of a group and its individual members.

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stereotype

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a belief about the personal attributes of a group of people; are sometimes overgeneralized, inaccurate, and resistant to new information (and sometimes accurate).

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discrimination

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unjustified negative behavior toward a group or its members

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racism

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(1) An individual's prejudicial attitudes and discriminatory behavior toward people of a given race, or (2) institutional practices (even if not motivated by prejudice) that subordinate people of a given race

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sexism

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(1) An individual's prejudicial attitudes and discriminatory behavior toward people of a given sex, or (2) institutional practices (even if not motivated by prejudice) that subordinate people of a given sex.

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social dominance orientation

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a motivation to have one's group dominate other social groups

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ethnocentric

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believing in the superiority of one's own ethnic and cultural group, and having a corresponding disdain for all other groups

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authoritarian personality

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a personality that is disposed to favor obedience to authority and intolerance of outgroups and those lower in status

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realistic group conflict theory

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the theory that prejudice arises from competition between groups for scarce resources

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social identity

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the "we" aspect of our self-concept; the part of our answer to "Who am I?" that comes from our group memberships.

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ingroup

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"Us" - a group of people who share a sense of belonging, a feeling of common identity.

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outgroup

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"Them" - a group that people perceive as distinctively different from or apart from their ingroup

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ingroup bias

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the tendency to favor one's own group

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terror management

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people's self-protective emotional and cognitive responses (including adhering more strongly to their cultural worldviews and prejudices) when confronted with reminders of their mortality

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outgroup homogeneity effect

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perception of outgroup members as more similar to one another than are ingroup members. Thus "they are alike; we are diverse"

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own-race bias

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the tendency for people to more accurately recognize faces of their own race. (also called the cross-race effect or other-race effect)

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stigma consciousness

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a person's expectation of being victimized by prejudice or discrimination

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group-serving bias

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explaining away outgroup members' positive behaviors; also attributing negative behaviors to their dispositions (while excusing such behavior by one's own group)

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just-world phenomenon

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the tendency of people to believe that the world is just and that people therefore get what they deserve and deserve what they get

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subtyping

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accommodating individuals who deviate from one's stereotype by thinking of them as "exceptions to the rule"

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subgrouping

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accommodating individuals who deviate from one's stereotype by forming a new stereotype about this subset of the group

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stereotype threat

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a disruptive concern, when facing a negative stereotype, that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype. Unlike self-fulfilling prophecies that hammer one's reputation into one's self-concept, these situations have immediate effects.

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aggression

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physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt someone

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hostile aggression

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aggression that springs from anger; its goal is to injure

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instrumental aggression

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aggression that aims to injure, but only as a means to some other end

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instinctive behavior

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an innate, unlearned behavior pattern exhibited by all members of a species

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frustration-aggression theory

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the theory that frustration triggers a readiness to aggress

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frustration

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the blocking of goal-directed behavior

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displacement

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the redirection of aggression to a target other than the source of the frustration. Generally, the new target is a safer or more socially acceptable target.

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relative deprivation

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the perception that one is less well off than others with whom one compares oneself

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social learning theory

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the theory that we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded and punished

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prosocial behavior

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positive, constructive, helpful social behavior; the opposite of antisocial behavior

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social scripts

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cultural provided mental instructions for how to act in various situations

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catharsis

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emotional release; says aggressive drive is reduced when one "releases" aggressive energy, either by acting aggressively or by fantasizing aggression

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need to belong

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a motivation to bond with others in relationships that provide ongoing, positive interactions

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proximity

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geographical nearness. This (more precisely, "functional distance") powerfully predicts liking.

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mere-exposure effect

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the tendency for novel stimuli to be liked more or rated more positively after the rater has been repeated exposed to them

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matching phenomenon

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the tendency for men and women to choose as partners those who are a "good match" in attractiveness and other traits

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physical-attractiveness stereotype

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the presumption that physically attractive people possess other socially desirable traits as well: what is beautiful is good

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complementarity

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the popularly supposed tendency, in a relationship between two people, for each to complete what is missing in the other

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ingratiation

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the use of strategies, such as flattery, by which people seek to gain another's favor

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reward theory of attraction

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the theory that we like those whose behavior is rewarding to us or whom we associate with rewarding events

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passionate love

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a state of intense longing for union with another. These kind of lovers are absorbed in each other, feel ecstatic at attaining their partner's love, and are disconsolate on losing it.

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two-factor theory of emotion

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arousal * its label = emotion (example: the physical arousal from crossing a high bridge)

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companionate love

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the affection we feel for those with whom our lives are deeply intertwined

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secure attachment

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attachments rooted in trust and marked by intimacy

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avoidant attachment

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attachments marked by discomfort over, or resistance to, being close to others.

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insecure attachment

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attachments marked by anxiety or ambivalence

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equity

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a condition in which the outcomes people receive from a relationship are proportional to that they contribute to it. Note: equitable outcomes needn't always be equal outcomes.

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disclosure reciprocity

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the tendency for one person's intimacy of self-disclosure to match that of a conversational partner

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self-disclosure

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revealing intimate aspects of oneself to others

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altruism

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a motive to increase another's welfare without conscious regard for one's self-interests.

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social-exchange theory

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the theory that human interactions are transactions that aim to maximize one's rewards and minimize one's costs.

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egoism

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a motive (supposedly underlying all behavior) to increase one's own welfare. the opposite of altruism, which aims to increase another's welfare.

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reciprocity norm

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an expectation that people will help, not hurt, those who have helped them.

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social capital

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the mutual support and cooperation enabled by a social network

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social-responsibility norm

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an expectation that people will help those needing help

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kin selection

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the idea that evolution has selected altruism toward one's close relatives to enhance the survival of mutually shared genes

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empathy

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the vicarious experience of another's feelings; putting oneself in another's shoes

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bystander effect

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the finding that a person is less likely to provide help when there are other bystanders

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moral exclusion

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the perception of certain individuals or groups as outside the boundary within which one applies moral values and rules of fairness; the opposite of regarding others as within one's circle of moral concern.

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overjustification effect

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the result of bribing people to do what they already like doing; they may then see their actions as externally controlled rather than intrinsically appealing

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personality

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an individual's characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting

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free association

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in psychoanalysis, a method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing

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psychoanalysis

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Freud's theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts; the techniques used in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions

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unconscious

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according to Freud, a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories; according to contemporary psychologists, information processing of which we are unaware

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id

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contains a reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that, according to Freud, strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives; operates on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification

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ego

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the largely conscious, executive part of personality that, according to Freud, mediates among the demands of the id, superego, and reality; operates on the reality principle, satisfying the id's desires in ways that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain

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superego

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the part of personality that, according to Freud, represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgement (the conscience) and for future aspirations

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psychosexual stages

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the childhood stages of development (oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital) during which, according to Freud, the id's pleasure-seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones

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Oedipus complex

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according to Freud, a boy's sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father

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identification

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the process by which, according to Freud, children incorporate their parents' values into their developing superegos

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fixation

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according to Freud, a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage, in which conflicts were unresolved

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defense mechanisms

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in psychoanalytic theory, the ego's protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality

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repression

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in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from consciousness

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regression

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a psychoanalytic defense mechanism in which an individual faced with anxiety retreats to a more infantile psychosexual stage, where some psychic energy remains fixated

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reaction formation

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psychoanalytic defense mechanism by which the ego unconsciously switches unacceptable impulses into their opposites. Thus, people may express feelings that are the opposite of their anxiety-arousing feelings

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projection

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psychoanalytic defense mechanism by which people disguise their own threatening impulses by attributing them to others

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rationalization

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defense mechanism that offers self-justifying explanations in place of the real, more threatening, unconscious reasons for one's actions

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displacement

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psychoanalytic defense mechanism that shifts sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable or less threatening object or person, as when redirecting anger toward a safer outlet

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denial

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defense mechanism by which people refuse to believe or even to perceive painful realities

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collective unconscious

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Carl Jung's concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species' history

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projective test

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a personality test, such as the Rorschach or TAT that provides ambiguous stimuli designed to trigger projection of one's inner dynamics

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Thematic Apperception Test

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a projective test in which people express their inner feelings and interests through the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes

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Rorschach inkblot test

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the most widely used projective test, a set of 10 inkblots; seeks to identify people's inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the blots

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terror-management theory

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a theory of death-related anxiety; explores people's emotional and behavioral responses to reminders of their impending death

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self-actualization

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according to Maslow, one of the ultimate psychological needs that arises after basic physical and psychological needs are met and self-esteem is achieved; the motivation to fulfill one's potential

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unconditional positive regard

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according to Rogers, an attitude of total acceptance toward another person

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self-concept

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all our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question: 'Who am I?'

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trait

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a characteristic pattern of behavior or a disposition to feel and act, as assessed by self-report inventories and peer reports

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personality inventory

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a questionnaire, often with true-false or agree-disagree items, on which people respond to items designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors; used to assess selected personality traits

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Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory

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the most widely researched and clinically used of all personality tests; originally developed to identify emotional disorders (still considered its most appropriate use), this test is now used for many other screening purposes

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empirically derived test

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a test (such as the MMPI) developed by testing a pool of items and then selecting those that discriminate between groups

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social-cognitive perspective

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views behavior as influenced by the interaction between people's traits (including their thinking) and their social context

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reciprocal determinism

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the interacting influences of behavior, internal cognition, and environment

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personal control

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the extent to which people perceive control over their environment rather than feeling helpless

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external locus of control

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the perception that chance or outside forces beyond your personal control determine your fate

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internal locus of control

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the perception that you control your own fate

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learned helplessness

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the hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or human learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events

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positive psychology

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the scientific study of optimal human functioning; aims to discover and promote strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive

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self

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in contemporary psychology, assumed to be the center of personality, the organizer of our thoughts, feelings, and actions

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spotlight effect

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overestimating others' noticing and evaluating our appearance, performance, and blunders

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self-esteem

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one's feelings of high or low self-worth

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self-serving bias

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a readiness to perceive oneself favorably

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clinical psychology

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the study, assessment, and treatment of people with psychological difficulties

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depressive realism

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the tendency of mildly depressed people to make accurate rather than self-serving judgments, attributions, and predictions.

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explanatory style

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one's habitual way of explaining life events. a negative, pessimistic, depressive way attributes failure to stable, global, and internal causes

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behavioral medicine

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an interdisciplinary field that integrates and applies behavior and medical knowledge about health and disease

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health psychology

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the study of the psychological roots of health and illness. Offers psychology's contribution to behavioral medicine.

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