Unit 4: Social Psychology and Personality

19 terms. Say what each one means, then open the card to check.

• Fundamental attribution error

  The tendency, when judging other people, to give too much weight to their traits and too little to the situation they are in.

  Example. A diner decides a server is rude for being slow, not noticing that the server is covering six tables alone.

• Self-serving bias

  The habit of taking credit for our own successes while blaming outside causes for our failures.

  Example. A student says a high grade shows she is smart but blames a low grade on a confusing test.

• Just-world hypothesis

  The belief that the world is fair, so people get what they deserve, which can lead us to blame victims for their bad luck.

  Example. After a stranger's bike is stolen, a man says the owner should have known better than to park there.

• Cognitive dissonance

  The discomfort we feel when our actions clash with our beliefs, or two beliefs clash, which we often ease by changing a belief.

  Example. A teen who says junk food is unhealthy but eats it daily starts saying a little junk food never hurt anyone.

• Central route persuasion

  Persuasion that works through careful thinking about the strength of the arguments, used when people are motivated and able to think.

  Example. A buyer compares battery life and repair costs across three laptops before choosing one.

• Foot-in-the-door technique

  Getting someone to agree to a small request first, which makes them more likely to agree to a larger request later.

  Example. A neighbor who agrees to sign a park petition is later more willing to spend a Saturday cleaning the park.

• Informational social influence

  Going along with a group because we believe the group has accurate information, especially when a situation is unclear.

  Example. In a new city, a tourist lines up at the busiest food stall because the crowd suggests it is the best one.

• Social loafing

  The tendency to put in less effort on a group task when each person's contribution is pooled and not tracked.

  Example. In a five-person class project graded only as a group, one student spends far less time on research than he would on a solo assignment.

• Diffusion of responsibility

  The sense that responsibility to act is shared among everyone present, so each person feels less need to help.

  Example. Dozens of people on a busy platform see a dropped wallet, and each assumes someone else will return it.

• Group polarization

  The strengthening of a group's shared leaning after its members discuss it with one another.

  Example. A club that mildly favors a longer season votes for an even longer one after an hour of discussion.

• Big Five traits

  Five broad trait dimensions used to describe personality: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism.

  Example. A survey places one worker high in extraversion and low in neuroticism: outgoing and emotionally steady.

• Defense mechanism

  In psychodynamic theory, an unconscious way the ego protects a person from anxiety by distorting or redirecting thoughts and feelings.

  Example. A boy angry at his coach slams his bedroom door instead, which is displacement.

• Reciprocal determinism

  The social-cognitive idea that behavior, personal thoughts and the environment all influence one another in both directions.

  Example. A shy girl avoids parties, so she gets little practice talking to new people, which keeps her uneasy at parties.

• Self-efficacy

  A person's belief in their own ability to succeed at a specific task, which affects how hard and how long they try.

  Example. A swimmer who believes she can finish a long race keeps training through a bad week of practice.

• Drive-reduction theory

  The idea that a physical need creates a state of tension, a drive, that pushes us to act to reduce it and restore balance.

  Example. After skipping lunch, a hiker feels a strong urge to eat and stops at the first food stand he sees.

• Yerkes-Dodson law

  The finding that performance is best at a moderate level of arousal, with easy tasks done best at higher arousal and hard ones at lower.

  Example. A bit of nerves sharpens a juggler's routine, but heavy nerves make her drop the balls on a new trick.

• Overjustification effect

  A drop in a person's own interest in an activity after they are given an expected outside reward for doing it.

  Example. A boy who loved building model planes stops after his parents begin paying him for each one and later stop paying.

• Two-factor theory of emotion

  The view that an emotion comes from physical arousal plus the cognitive label we give that arousal based on the situation.

  Example. With a racing heart at a surprise party, a woman decides she feels joy rather than fear because her friends are smiling.

• Display rules

  Cultural norms about when, where and how strongly it is acceptable to show certain emotions.

  Example. At a formal awards dinner, a guest hides her disappointment at losing and smiles politely.