CH13 FINAL TERMS Flashcards
(48 cards)
Social Psychology
Study of how people think, feel, and behave in social situations
Attribution Theory
We can attribute the behavior to the person’s traits/personality (a dispositional attribution), or we can attribute it to the situation (a situational attribution)
{Fritz Heider}
Fundamental Attribution Error
people tend to overestimate the influence of personal characteristics and underestimate the influence of situational factors in determining other people’s behavior
AKA
Blaming personality instead of situation
Peripheral Route Persuasion
A form of persuasion that relies on superficial values, such as attractiveness of the persuader, rather than the content of the message.
-EX: Climate change scientists provide photos of beautiful nature in order to persuade politicians to act on global warming
Central Route Persuasion
A form of persuasion that offers evidence and arguments to trigger favorable thoughts.
-EX: Climate scientists provide factual / statistical evidence about the dangers of global warming in order to persuade politicians to act on global warming
Foot-in-the-door phenomenon
the phenomenon in which people are more likely to comply with a large request if they have previously agreed to a small request
Cognitive Dissonance Theory
a theory that explains how people resolve conflicts between their beliefs and behaviors by changing their attitudes or behaviors to reduce the dissonance (tension) they feel
{Leon Festinger}
Cognitive Dissonance
When we become aware that our attitudes and actions don’t coincide/align, we experience tension/cognitive dissonance.
Conformity
the tendency to change one’s behavior or beliefs to match the norms and expectations of a group
Normative Social Influence
Conformity that occurs because of a desire to fit in and be liked by others
Informative Social Influence
Conformity that occurs because of a desire to be accurate and correct
Social Facilitation
the phenomenon in which the presence of others improves performance on simple or well-learned tasks, but hinders performance on complex or unfamiliar tasks
Social Loafing
the tendency for individuals to exert less effort when working in a group than when working alone
Deindivuation
the loss of self-awareness and self-restraint that can occur when people are in an anonymous group, leading to risky or deviant behavior
-EX: KKK members wearing hoods; because they are wearing hoods, they are more anonymous. Because they are in the KKK, they are in a group. This combination can lead to dangerous behavior from the KKK members.
Group Polarization
The beliefs and attitudes we bring to a group grow stronger as we discuss them with like-minded others.
-EX: Racists join r/racism and become more racist by engaging with the other like-minded individuals there
Groupthink
the tendency for group members to conform to the norms and perspectives of the group, even if it means ignoring outside information or alternative viewpoints.
-EX: Newly-elected JFK executes a failed invasion that was approved by him and every member of his circle because they all conformed together- nobody in his circle spoke up against the idea.
Prejudice
Unjustifiable negative attitude towards a group or its members
Stereotype
Fixed, oversimplified belief about a group or its members
Discrimination
The act of unfairly treating someone differently because of their membership in a particular group
-EX: Hiring John over Tyrone because John is white and Tyrone is black
Just-World phenomenon
The belief that good is rewarded and evil is punished. This reasoning assumes that those who succeed are good and those who suffer are bad.
This causes people to think that poor people are poor because they’re dumb/lazy/bad, and rich people are rich because they’re good/smart/hardworking.
In reality, a poor person is not always automatically bad or lazy or not hardworking.
Ingroup
A group with which an individual identifies with or feels a sense of belonging
Outgroup
A group that an individual does not identify with; anyone that is not in the individual’s ingroup
Ingroup bias
The tendency to favor and defend one’s ingroup and discriminate against outgroups
Scapegoat theory
The theory that people blame someone or something else for their own problems/failures.
-EX: When 9/11 happened, everyone blamed it on innocent Muslim Americans.