Download Chapter 12: Social Psychology

Social Psychology
• The branch of psychology that studies how
people think, feel, and behave in social
situations
Social influence
• The study of the effects of situational
factors and other people on an individual’s
behavior
Person perception
• The mental processes we use to form
judgments and draw conclusions about the
characteristics and motives of others
Social norms
• The “rules,” or expectations, for appropriate
behavior in a particular social situation
Attribution
• The mental process of inferring the causes
of people’s behavior, including one’s own.
Also refers to the explanation made for a
particular behavior
Fundamental attribution error
• The tendency to attribute the behavior of
others to internal, personal characteristics,
while ignoring or underestimating the
effects of external, situational factors; an
attribution bias that is common in
individualistic cultures
Blaming the victim
• The tendency to blame an innocent victim
of misfortune for having somehow caused
the problem or for not having taken steps to
avoid it or prevent it
Just-world hypothesis
• The assumption that the world is fair and
hence, people get what they deserve and
deserve what they get
Actor-observer discrepancy
• The tendency to attribute one’s own
behavior to external, situational causes,
while attributing the behavior of others to
internal, personal causes; especially likely
to occur with regard to behaviors that lead
to negative outcomes
Self-serving bias
• The tendency to attribute successful
outcomes of one’s own behavior to internal
causes and unsuccessful outcomes to
external, situational causes
Attitude
• A learned tendency to evaluate some object,
person, or issue in a particular way; such
evaluations may be positive, negative, or
ambivalent
Cognitive dissonance
• An unpleasant state of psychological
tension or arousal (dissonance) that occurs
when two thoughts or perceptions
(cognitions) are inconsistent; typically
results from the awareness that attitudes and
behavior are in conflict
Prejudice
• A negative attitude toward people who
belong to a specific social group
Stereotype
• A cluster of characteristics that are
associated with all members of a special
social group, often including qualities that
are unrelated to the objective criteria that
define the group
In-group
• A social group to which one belo ngs
Out-group
• A social group to which one does not
belong
Out-group homogeneity effect
The tendency to see members of out-groups as
very similar to one another
In-group bias
The tendency to judge the behavior of ingroup members favorably and out-group
members unfavorably
Ethnocentrism
The belief that one;s own culture or ethnic
group is superior to all others and the
related tendency to use one;s own culture as
a standard by which to judge other cultures
Social influence
The study of the effects of situational factors
and other people on an individual’s
behavior
Conformity
The tendency to adjust one’s behavior
attitudes, or beliefs to group norms in
response to real or imagines group pressure
Normative social influence
Behavior that is motivated by the desire to
gain social acceptance and approval
Informational social influence
Behavior that is motivated by the desire to be
correct
Obedience
The performance of an action in response to
the direct orders of an authority or person of
higher status
Altruism
Helping another person with no expectation of
personal reward or benefit
Prosocial behavior
Any behavior that helps another, whether the
underlying motive is self-serving or selfless
Bystander effect
The phenomenon in which the greater the
number of people present, the less likely
each individual is to help someone in
distress
Diffusion of responsibility
The phenomenon in which the presence of
other people makes it less likely that any
individual will help someone in distress
because the obligation to intervene is shared
among all the onlookers
Social loafing
The tendency to expend less effort on a task
when it is a group effort
Social facilitation
The tendency for the presence of other people
to enhance individual performance
Deindividution
The reduction of self-awareness and
inhibitions that can occur when a person is
part of a group whose members feel
anonymous
Persuasion
The deliberate attempt to influence the
attitudes or behavior of another person in a
situation in which that person has some
freedom of choice
Solomon Asch (1907-1996)
American social psychologist who is best
known for his pioneering studies of
conformity
John M. Darley (b. 1938)
Contemporary American social psychologist
who, along with co-researcher Bibb Latane,
is best known for his pioneering studies of
bystander intervention in emergency
situations
Bibb Latane (b.1937)
Contemporary American social psychologist
wh, along with co-researcher John Darley,
is best known for his pioneering studies of
bystander intervention in emergency
situations
Stanley Milgram (1933-1984)
American social psychologist who is best
known for his controversial series of studies
investigating destructive obedience to an
authority
Muzafer Sherif (1906-1988)
American social psychologist who is best
known for his Robbers Cave experiments to
study prejudice, conflict resolution, and
group processes