Social Psychology

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

Any force that draws people together

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

The tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present

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

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

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

Adjusting our behaviour or thinking to coincide with a group standard

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

Psychological phenomenon in which people are less likely to take action when in the presence of a large group of people

In social psychology, unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group and its members

A technique used to get compliance from others in which a large request is made knowing it will probably be refused so that the person will agree to a much smaller request

The tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs and our behaviors

A compliance tactic that aims at getting a person to agree to a large request by having them agree to a modest request first

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

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

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

Giving priority to one’s own goals over group goals and defining one’s identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group identifications

The tendency to favor our own group

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

The phenomenon that repeated exposure to novel stimuli increases liking of them

A series of social psychology experiments that measured the willingness of study participants to obey an authority figure who instructed them to perform acts conflicting with their personal conscience; experiment found that a very high proportion of men would fully obey the instructions to shock another person

“Them,” those perceived as being different or apart from our ingroup

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

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

A belief that leads to its own fulfillment

A readiness to perceive oneself favorably

Improved performance on simple or well-learned tasks in the presence of others

The phenomenon of a person exerting less effort to achieve a goal when they work in a group than when they work alone

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

Shared goals that override differences among people and require their cooperation