Social psychology
is the study of how people think about, influence, and relate to other people.
Social cognition
is the area of social psychology that explores how people select, interpret, remember, and use social information
Person perception
refers to the processes by which we use social stimuli to form impressions of others
stereotype
is a generalization about a group's characteristics that does not consider any variations from one individual to another
self-fulfilling prophecy
expectations cause individuals to act in ways that serve to make the expectations come true.
Attribution theory
views people as motivated to discover the underlying causes of behavior as part of their effort to make sense of the behavior.
false consensus effect
is the overestimation of the degree to which everybody else thinks or acts the way we do.
positive illusions
favorable views of themselves that are not necessarily rooted in reality.
Self-serving bias
refers to the tendency to take credit for our successes and to deny responsibility for our failures.
Stereotype threat
is an individual's fast-acting, self-fulfilling fear of being judged based on a negative stereotype about his or her group.
social comparison
he process by which we evaluate our thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and abilities in relation to others.
Attitudes
are our feelings or opinions about people, objects, and ideas.
Cognitive dissonance
an individual's psychological discomfort (dissonance) caused by two inconsistent thoughts.
Effort justification
one type of dissonance reduction, means rationalizing the amount of effort we put into something.
Self-perception theory
Bem's theory on how behaviors influence attitudes, stating that individuals make inferences about their attitudes by perceiving their behavior.
elaboration likelihood model
Theory identifying two ways to persuade: a central route and a peripheral route.
altruism
an unselfish interest in helping another person
Egoism
Giving to another person to ensure reciprocity; to gain self-esteem; to present oneself as powerful, competent, or caring; or to avoid social and self-censure for failing to live up to society's expectations.
Empathy
is a person's feeling of oneness with the emotional state of another.
bystander effect
The tendency for an individual who observes an emergency to help less when other people are present than when the observer is alone.
Aggression
refers to social behavior whose objective is to harm someone, either physically or verbally.
Conformity
is a change in a person's behavior to coincide more closely with a group standard.
Informational social influence
refers to the influence other people have on us because we want to be right.
normative social influence
is the influence others have on us because we want them to like us.
Obedience
is behavior that complies with the explicit demands of the individual in authority.
deindividuation
The reduction in personal identity and erosion of the sense of personal responsibility when one is part of a group.
social contagion
Imitative behavior involving the spread of behavior, emotions, and ideas.
Social facilitation
Improvement in an individual's performance because of the presence of others.
Social loafing
Each person's tendency to exert less effort in a group because of reduced accountability for individual effort.
group polarization effect
the solidification and further strengthening of an individual's position as a consequence of a group discussion.
Groupthink
The impaired group decision making that occurs when making the right decision is less important than maintaining group harmony.
Social identity
refers to the way we define ourselves in terms of our group membership.
social identity theory
The view that our social identities are a crucial part of our self-image and a valuable source of positive feelings about ourselves.
ethnocentrism
The tendency to favor one's own ethnic group over other groups
Prejudice
is an unjustified negative attitude toward an individual based on the individual's membership in a group.
Discrimination
refers to an unjustified negative or harmful action toward a member of a group simply because the person belongs to that group
sexual harassment
Unwelcome behavior or conduct of a sexual nature that offends, humiliates, or intimidates another person.
mere exposure effect
The phenomenon that the more we encounter someone or something, the more likely we are to start liking the person or thing even if we do not realize we have seen it before.
Romantic love
also called passionate love, is love with strong components of sexuality and infatuation, and it often predominates in the early part of a love relationship
affectionate love
also called companionate love, is the type of love that occurs when an individual has a deep, caring affection for another person and desires to have that person near.
Social exchange theory
The view of social relationships as involving an exchange of goods, the objective of which is to minimize costs and maximize benefits.
investment model
A model of long-term relationships that examines the ways that commitment, investment, and the availability of attractive alternative partners predict satisfaction and stability in relationships