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.
|