The science of psychology (Kap 15)

social cognition concerns the social side of our mental processes and how people make sense of themselves and others around them

attributions judgements about the causes of our own and other people´s behaviour and outcomes

fundamental attribution error we underestimate the impact of the situation and overestimate the role of personal factors when explaining other people´s behaviour

actor-observer bias the tendency to make situational attributions to explain our own behaviour and personal attributions to explain the behaviour of others

self-serving bias the tendency to make personal attributions for one´s own success and situational attributions for one´s own failures

impression formation the process of how, with what info and to what effect people make judgements of others

recency effect the tendency to attach more importance to the most recent info that we learn about a person

primacy effect the tendency to attach more importance to the inital info that we learn about a person

stereotype a shared belief about person attributes, usually personality traits, but often also opinions or behaviours, of a group or category of people

self-fulfilling prosphecy when people´s erroneous expectations lead them to act towards others in a way that brings about the expected behaviours, thereby confirming their original impression

self-schemas mental templates, derived from memory of past experience, which represents a person´s beliefs about the self in a particular domain

self-perception theory we make inferences about our own attitudes by obeserving how we behave

social comparison theory comparing our beliefs, feelings or behaviours with those of other people

reflected appraisal principle we incorporate the views others have of us into our own self-concept

self-discrepancy theory distinguishes among representations of our actual self, our ideal self and our ought self

goal desired state specifying a concrete even an individual is striving for

regulatory focus theory the two self-guides are concerned with the pursuit of different types of goals

promotional goals goals concerning the pursuit of ideals

preventation goals goals concerning the pursuit of obligations

personal identity that part of an individual´s identity derived from their personality traits, idiosyncratic characteristcs and interpersonal relationships

social identity that part of an individual´s identity derived from the knowledge of beloning to perticular groups

in-groups groups individuals belong to

out-groups groups individuals do not belong to

self-esteem an individual´s sense of self-worth, or the extent to which the individual appreciates, values or likes him/herself

better-than-average-effect the tendency to evaluate ourselves more favourably than the average peer

sociometer internal monitor of social acceptance and belonging

collective self-esteem a measure of the value one places on one´s social groups

attitude a positive, neutral or negative evaluative reaction towards a stimulus, such as a person, action, situation, object or concept

explicit attitude attitude measured using self-report instruments such as questionnaires

implicit attitude attitude measured using reaction-time-based indirect measures

theory of cognitive dissonance people strive for consitency in their cognitions

dissonance a state of discomfort arising when two or more cognitions are inconsisten with each other

central route to persuasion when people think carefully about the message and are influenced because they find the arguments compelling

peripheral route to persuasion when people do not scrutinize the message but are influenced mostly by other factors such as a speacker´s attractiveness or a message´s lenght or emotional appeal

communicator credibility how believebal we perceive the communication to be

social facilitation an increased tendency to perform one´s dominant responses in the mere presence of others

norm of reciprocity the expectation that when others treat us well, we should respond in kind

door-in-the-face technique a persuader makes a large request, expecting you to reject it and then presents a smaller request

foot-in-the-door technique a persuader gets you to comply with a small request first and later presents a larger request

lowballing a persuader gets you to commit to some action and then - before you actually perform the behaviour - he or she increases the ´cost´ of that same behaviour

social norms shared expectations about how people should think, feel and behave

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

conformity the adjustment of individual behaviours, attitudes and beliefs to a group standard

informational social influence following the opinions or behaviour of other people because we believe that they have accurate knowlegde and that what they are doing is right

normative social influence confirming to obtain the rewards that come from being accepted by other people while at the same time avoiding their rejection

referent informational influence individuals will be influenced primarily by members of the group they identify with (i.e, refences groups)

social loafing the tendency for people to expend less individual effort when working in a group than when working alone

social compensation working harder in a group than when alone to compensate for other members´lower output

group polarization when a group of like-minded people discusses an issue, the ´average´opinion of group members tends to become more extreme

groupthink the tendency if group members to suspend critical thinking because they are striving to seek agreement

deindividuation a loss of individuality that leads to disinhibited behaviour

stanford prison experiment a well-known social psychological experiment devised by Philip Zimbardo and colleagues at the university of stanford; its purpose was to investigate what would happen when ´normal´ people were placed in a situation with extreme power differences based on predescribed role expectations of ´prisoners´ and ´guards´

prejudice a negative attitude towards people based on their membership in a group

discrimination overt behaviour that involves treating people unfairly based on the group to which they belong

category accentuation a tendency to exaggerate the difference between categories

out-group homogeneity bias the tendency of individuals to generally view members of outgroups as being more similar to one another than are members of in-groups

prototypes the most typical and familiar members of a category, or class

in-group favouritism the tendency to favour in-group members and attributes more positive qualities to ´us´ than to ´them´

out-group derogation a tendency to attribute more negative qualities to ´them´ than to ´us´

realistic conflict theory competition for limited resources faster prejudice

explicit prejudice prejudiced attitudes that are measured using self-report instruments such as questionnaires

implicit prejudice prejudiced attributes that are measured usin reaction-time-based indirect measures

stereotype threat stereotypes create self-consciousness among steroetyped group members and a fear that they will live up to other people´s stereotypes

intergroup contact contact between members of different groups is likely to reduce prejudice when it occurs under the four conditions of equal status contact

mere exposure effect repeated exposure to a stimulus typically increease our liking for it

matching effect we are most likely to have a partner whose level of physical attractiveness is similar to our own

social exchange theory the course of a relationship is governed by rewards and costs that the partners experience

attachment a deep bond between two individuals

passionate love intense emotion, arousal and yearning for the partner

companionate love affection and deep caring about the partner´s well-being

triangular theory of love love involves three major components: passion, intimacy and commitment

kin selection organisms are most likely to help others with whom they share most genes, namely their offspring and genetic relatives

empathy-altruism hypothesis altruism is produced by empathy - the ability to put oneself in the place of another and to share what that person is experiencing

bystandar effect the presence of multiple bystandars inhibits each person´s tendency to help, largely due to social comparison or diffusion of responsibility

catharsis performing an act of aggresion discharges aggresive energy and temporarily reduces our impulses to be aggresive

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