13. Social Psychology

Question 1

social psychology

Answer 1

The branch of psychology that attempts to understand how the behavior and subjective experiences of individuals are influenced by the actual or imagined presence of other people.

Question 2

attribution

Answer 2

In social cognition, any inference about the cause of a person’s behavioral action or set of actions. More generally, any inference about the cause of any observed action or event.

Question 3

person bias

Answer 3

The tendency to attribute a person’s behavior too much to the person’s inner characteristics (personality) and not enough to the environmental situation.

Question 4

fundamental attribution error

Answer 4

The tendency for people to attribute an action to the individual’s personality and to ignore the constraints that the role or situation places on how the person can or must act.

Question 5

self-concept

Answer 5

The way a person defines himself or herself

Question 6

self-fulfilling prophecies. Also called Pygmalion effects

Answer 6

The phenomenon by which beliefs and expectations that others have of a person—whether initially true or false—can to some degree create reality by influencing that person’s self-concept and behavior.

Question 7

self-esteem

Answer 7

A person’s feeling of approval and acceptance of him- or herself

Question 8

social comparison

Answer 8

Any process in which an individual evaluates his or her own abilities, characteristics, ideas, or achievements by comparing them with those of other people

Question 9

reference group

Answer 9

A group of people with whom an individual compares him- or herself for the purpose of self-evaluation

Question 10

self-serving attributional bias

Answer 10

The tendency of people to attribute their successes to their own qualities and their failures to the situation

Question 11

attitude

Answer 11

Any belief or opinion that has an evaluative component—a belief that something is good or bad, likable or unlikable, attractive or repulsive

Question 12

explicit attitudes

Answer 12

Conscious attitudes; that is, attitudes that people are aware of holding and can state verbally

Question 13

implicit attitudes

Answer 13

Attitudes that are manifested in a person’s behavior or automatic mental associations, even though the person may not be conscious of holding those attitudes

Question 14

implicit association tests

Answer 14

Tests of a person’s automatic, unconscious mental associations, designed to assess implicit stereotypes or other implicit attitudes

Question 15

cognitive dissonance theory

Answer 15

Festinger’s theory proposing that people seek to relieve the discomfort associated with the awareness of inconsistency between two or more of one’s own cognitions (beliefs or bits of knowledge).

Question 16

insufficient-justification effect

Answer 16

A change in attitude that serves to justify an action that seems unjustified in the light of the previously held attitude.

Question 17

personal identity

Answer 17

The portion of the self-concept that pertains to the self as a distinct, separate individual.

Question 18

social identity

Answer 18

The portion of the self-concept that pertains to the social categories or groups of which the person is a part.

Question 19

out-groups

Answer 19

Groups to which we do not belong

Question 20

in-groups

Answer 20

Groups to which we belong

Question 21

stereotype

Answer 21

A mental concept by which people characterize one or more specific groups or categories of people

Question 22

explicit stereotypes

Answer 22

Stereotypes that people hold consciously.

Question 23

implicit stereotypes

Answer 23

Stereotypes that automatically, unconsciously influence people’s judgments and actions toward others

Question 24

social pressure

Answer 24

The entire set of psychological forces that are exerted on an individual by other people or by the individual’s beliefs about other people.

Question 25

social facilitation

Answer 25

The tendency to perform a task better in front of others than when alone

Question 26

social interference

Answer 26

The tendency to perform a task worse in front of others than when alone

Question 27

stereotype threat

Answer 27

The threatened feeling that occurs, during the taking of a test, when a person is reminded of the fact that he or she belongs to a group that, according to a culturally prominent stereotype, is expected to perform poorly on the test

Question 28

impression management

Answer 28

The entire set of ways by which people either consciously or unconsciously attempt to influence other people’s impressions (perceptions and judgments) of them.

Question 29

informational influence

Answer 29

The class of social influence that derives from the use of others’ behavior or opinions as information in forming one’s own judgment about the objective nature of an event or situation

Question 30

normative influence

Answer 30

The class of social influence that derives from people’s concern about what others will think of them if they behave in a certain way or express a certain belief

Question 31

group polarization

Answer 31

The tendency for a group of people who already share a particular opinion to hold that opinion more strongly—or in a more extreme form—after discussing the issue among themselves

Question 32

groupthink

Answer 32

A model of thinking in which members of a group are more concerned with group cohesiveness and unanimity than with realistic appraisal of the actions being considered

Question 33

low-ball technique

Answer 33

A sales trick in which the salesperson suggests a low price for the item being sold, and then, when the potential customer has agreed to buy it at that price, pretends to discover that the item cannot be sold for that price

Question 34

foot-in-the-door technique

Answer 34

A technique for gaining compliance in which one first asks for some relatively small contribution or favor before asking for a larger one. Complying with the first request predisposes the person to comply with the second

Question 35

social dilemma

Answer 35

A situation in which a particular action will (a) benefit the individual who takes it, (b) harm the individuals who don’t, and (c) cause more harm than benefit to everyone if everyone takes it.

Question 36

superordinate goals

Answer 36

The goals shared by two or more groups, which tend to foster cooperation among the groups