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social psychology  The scientific study of how people's thoughts, feelings, and actions are affected by others.
attitudes  Evaluations of a particular person, behavior, belief, or concept.
central route processing  Message interpretation characterized by thoughtful consideration of the issues and arguments used to persuade.
peripheral route processing  Message interpretation characterized by consideration of the source and related general information rather than of the message itself.
cognitive dissonance  The conflict that occurs when a person holds two contradictory attitudes or thoughts (referred to as cognitions).
social cognition  The cognitive processes by which people understand and make sense of others and themselves.
schemas  Organized bodies of information stored in memory that bias the way new information is interpreted, stored, and recalled.
central traits  The major traits considered in forming impressions of others.
attribution theory  The theory of personality that seeks to explain how we decide, on the basis of samples of an individual's behavior, what the specific causes of that person's behavior are.
situational causes (of behavior)  Perceived causes of behavior that are based on environmental factors.
dispositional causes (of behavior)  Perceived causes of behavior that are based on internal traits or personality factors.
halo effect  A phenomenon in which an initial understanding that a person has positive traits is used to infer other uniformly positive characteristics.
assumed-similarity bias  The tendency to think of people as being similar to oneself even when meeting them for the first time.
self-serving bias  The tendency to attribute personal success to personal factors (skill, ability, or effort) and to attribute failure to factors outside oneself.
fundamental attribution error  A tendency to over attribute others' behavior to dispositional causes and minimize of the importance of situational causes.
social influence  The process by which the actions of an individual or group affect the behavior of others.
group  Two or more people who interact with one another, perceive themselves as part of a group, and are interdependent.
conformity  A change in behavior or attitudes brought about by a desire to follow the beliefs or standards of other people.
status  The social rank held within a group.
social supporter  A group member whose dissenting views make nonconformity to the group easier.
groupthink  A type of thinking in which group members share such a strong motivation to achieve consensus that they lose the ability to critically evaluate alternative points of view.
compliance  Behavior that occurs in response to direct social pressure.
industrial-organizational (I/O) psychology  The branch of psychology focusing on work and job-related issues, including worker motivation, satisfaction, safety, and productivity.
obedience  A change in behavior in response to the commands of others.
stereotype  A set of generalized beliefs and expectations about a particular group and its members.
prejudice  A negative (or positive) evaluation of a particular group and its members.
discrimination  Behavior directed toward individuals on the basis of their membership in a particular group.
social neuroscience  The subfield of social psychology that seeks to identify the neural basis of social behavior.
interpersonal attraction (or close relationship)  Positive feelings for others; liking and loving.
reciprocity-of-liking effect  A tendency to like those who like us.
passionate (or romantic) love  A state of intense absorption in someone that includes intense physiological arousal, psychological interest, and caring for the needs of another.
companionate love  The strong affection we have for those with whom our lives are deeply involved.
aggression  The intentional injury of, or harm to, another person.
catharsis  The process of discharging built-up aggressive energy.
prosocial behavior  Helping behavior.
diffusion of responsibility  The tendency for people to feel that responsibility for acting is shared, or diffused, among those present.
altruism  Helping behavior that is beneficial to others but clearly requires self-sacrifice.







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