The links below are designed for print; more screen reader friendly documents can be found on the Students: Additional Lumen Resources page.<\/p>\r\n
Download a PDF of this page here.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\r\n Download the Spanish version here.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\r\n <\/p>\r\n actor-observer bias<\/strong><\/p>\r\n phenomenon of explaining other people\u2019s behaviors are due to internal factors and our own behaviors are due to situational forces<\/p>\r\n ageism<\/strong><\/p>\r\n prejudice and discrimination toward individuals based solely on their age<\/p>\r\n aggression<\/strong><\/p>\r\n seeking to cause harm or pain to another person<\/p>\r\n altruism<\/strong><\/p>\r\n a motivation for helping that has the improvement of another\u2019s welfare as its ultimate goal, with no expectation of any benefits for the helper; humans\u2019 desire to help others even if the costs outweigh the benefits of helping<\/p>\r\n arousal: cost\u2013reward model<\/strong><\/p>\r\n an egoistic theory proposed by Piliavin et al. (1981) that claims that seeing a person in need leads to the arousal of unpleasant feelings, and observers are motivated to eliminate that aversive state, often by helping the victim.<\/p>\r\n Asch effect<\/strong><\/p>\r\n group majority influences an individual\u2019s judgment, even when that judgment is inaccurate<\/p>\r\n attitude<\/strong><\/p>\r\n evaluations of or feelings toward a person, idea, or object that are typically positive or negative<\/p>\r\n attribution<\/strong><\/p>\r\n our explanation for the source of our own or others' behaviors and outcomes<\/p>\r\n bullying<\/strong><\/p>\r\n a person, often an adolescent, being treated negatively repeatedly and over time<\/p>\r\n bystander effect<\/strong><\/p>\r\n situation in which a witness or bystander does not volunteer to help a victim or person in distress<\/p>\r\n bystander intervention<\/strong><\/p>\r\n the phenomenon whereby people intervene to help others in need even if the other is a complete stranger and the intervention puts the helper at risk<\/p>\r\n central route persuasion<\/strong><\/p>\r\n logic-driven arguments using data and facts to convince people of an argument\u2019s worthiness<\/p>\r\n cognitive dissonance<\/strong><\/p>\r\n psychological discomfort that arises from a conflict in a person\u2019s behaviors, attitudes, or beliefs that runs counter to one\u2019s positive self-perception<\/p>\r\n collectivist culture<\/strong><\/p>\r\n culture that focuses on communal relationships with others such as family, friends, and community<\/p>\r\n companionate love<\/strong><\/p>\r\n type of love consisting of intimacy and commitment, but not passion; associated with close friendships and family relationships<\/p>\r\n confederate<\/strong><\/p>\r\n a person who works for a researcher and is aware of the experiment, but who acts as a participant; used to manipulate social situations as part of the research design<\/p>\r\n confirmation bias<\/strong><\/p>\r\n seeking out information that supports our stereotypes while ignoring information that is inconsistent with our stereotypes<\/p>\r\n conformity<\/strong><\/p>\r\n when individuals change their behavior to go along with the group even if they do not agree with the group<\/p>\r\n consummate love<\/strong><\/p>\r\n type of love occurring when intimacy, passion, and commitment are all present<\/p>\r\n cost\u2013benefit analysis<\/strong><\/p>\r\n a decision-making process that compares the cost of an action or thing against the expected benefit to help determine the best course of action<\/p>\r\n cyberbullying<\/strong><\/p>\r\n repeated behavior that is intended to cause psychological or emotional harm to another person and that takes place online<\/p>\r\n deindividuation<\/strong><\/p>\r\n the idea that individuals may feel a sense of anonymity when part of a group and therefore a reduction in accountability when among others<\/p>\r\n diffusion of responsibility<\/strong><\/p>\r\n tendency for no one in a group to help because the responsibility to help is spread throughout the group; when deciding whether to help a person in need, knowing that there are others who could also provide assistance relieves bystanders of some measure of personal responsibility, reducing the likelihood that bystanders will intervene<\/p>\r\n discrimination<\/strong><\/p>\r\n negative actions toward individuals as a result of their membership in a particular group<\/p>\r\n dispositionism<\/strong><\/p>\r\n describes a perspective common to personality psychologists, which asserts that our behavior is determined by internal factors, such as personality traits and temperament<\/p>\r\n egoism<\/strong><\/p>\r\n a motivation for helping that has the improvement of the helper\u2019s own circumstances as its primary goal<\/p>\r\n empathic concern<\/strong><\/p>\r\n according to Batson\u2019s empathy\u2013altruism hypothesis, observers who empathize with a person in need (that is, put themselves in the shoes of the victim and imagine how that person feels) will experience empathic concern and have an altruistic motivation for helping<\/p>\r\n empathy<\/strong><\/p>\r\n capacity to understand another person\u2019s perspective\u2014to feel what they feel<\/p>\r\n empathy\u2013altruism model<\/strong><\/p>\r\n an altruistic theory proposed by Batson (2011) that claims that people who put themselves in the shoes of a victim and imagining how the victim feel will experience empathic concern that evokes an altruistic motivation for helping.<\/p>\r\n foot-in-the-door technique<\/strong><\/p>\r\n persuasion of one person by another person, encouraging a person to agree to a small favor, or to buy a small item, only to later request a larger favor or purchase a larger item<\/p>\r\n fundamental attribution error<\/strong><\/p>\r\n tendency to overemphasize internal factors as attributions for behavior and underestimate the power of the situation<\/p>\r\n group polarization<\/strong><\/p>\r\n strengthening of the original group attitude after discussing views within the group<\/p>\r\n groupthink<\/strong><\/p>\r\n group members modify their opinions to match what they believe is the group consensus<\/p>\r\n homophily<\/strong><\/p>\r\n tendency for people to form social networks, including friendships, marriage, business relationships, and many other types of relationships, with others who are similar<\/p>\r\n homophobia<\/strong><\/p>\r\n prejudice and discrimination against individuals based solely on their sexual orientation<\/p>\r\n hostile aggression<\/strong><\/p>\r\n aggression motivated by feelings of anger with the intent to cause pain<\/p>\r\n individualistic culture<\/strong><\/p>\r\n culture that focuses on individual achievement and autonomy<\/p>\r\n informational social influence<\/strong><\/p>\r\n people conform because they believe the group is competent and has the correct information, particularly when the task or situation is ambiguous<\/p>\r\n in-group<\/strong><\/p>\r\n group that we identify with or see ourselves as belonging to<\/p>\r\n in-group bias<\/strong><\/p>\r\n preference for our own group over other groups<\/p>\r\n instrumental aggression<\/strong><\/p>\r\n aggression motivated by achieving a goal and does not necessarily involve intent to cause pain<\/p>\r\n internal factor<\/strong><\/p>\r\n internal attribute of a person, such as personality traits or temperament<\/p>\r\n interpersonal<\/strong><\/p>\r\n pertaining to dyads and groups<\/p>\r\n intrapersonal<\/strong><\/p>\r\n pertaining to the individual<\/p>\r\n justification of effort<\/strong><\/p>\r\n we value goals and achievements that we put a lot of effort into; if something is difficult for us to achieve, we believe it is more worthwhile<\/p>\r\n just-world hypothesis<\/strong><\/p>\r\n ideology common in the United States that people get the outcomes they deserve<\/p>\r\n mere-exposure effect<\/strong><\/p>\r\n the more often we are exposed to a stimulus (e.g., sound, person) the more likely we are to view that stimulus positively<\/p>\r\n normative social influence<\/strong><\/p>\r\n people conform to the group norm to fit in, feel good, and be accepted by the group<\/p>\r\n obedience<\/strong><\/p>\r\n change of behavior to please an authority figure or to avoid aversive consequences<\/p>\r\n out-group<\/strong><\/p>\r\n group that we don\u2019t belong to\u2014one that we view as fundamentally different from us<\/p>\r\n peripheral route persuasion<\/strong><\/p>\r\n one person persuades another person; an indirect route that relies on the association of peripheral cues (such as positive emotions and celebrity endorsement) to associate positivity with a message<\/p>\r\n persuasion<\/strong><\/p>\r\n the process of changing our attitude toward something based on some form of communication<\/p>\r\n pluralistic ignorance<\/strong><\/p>\r\n relying on others to define the situation and then erroneously concluding that no intervention is necessary when help is actually needed<\/p>\r\n prejudice<\/strong><\/p>\r\n negative attitudes and feelings toward individuals based solely on their membership in a particular group<\/p>\r\n prosocial behavior<\/strong><\/p>\r\n social behavior that benefits another person; voluntary behavior with the intent to help other people<\/p>\r\n racism<\/strong><\/p>\r\n prejudice and discrimination toward individuals based solely on their race<\/p>\r\n reciprocal altruism<\/strong><\/p>\r\n according to evolutionary psychology, a genetic predisposition for people to help those who have previously helped them<\/p>\r\n reciprocity<\/strong><\/p>\r\n give and take in relationships<\/p>\r\n romantic love<\/strong><\/p>\r\n type of love consisting of intimacy and passion, but no commitment<\/p>\r\n scapegoating<\/strong><\/p>\r\n act of blaming an out-group when the in-group experiences frustration or is blocked from obtaining a goal<\/p>\r\n script<\/strong><\/p>\r\n a person\u2019s knowledge about the sequence of events in a specific setting<\/p>\r\n self-disclosure<\/strong><\/p>\r\n sharing personal information in relationships<\/p>\r\n self-fulfilling prophecy<\/strong><\/p>\r\n treating stereotyped group members according to our biased expectations only to have this treatment influence the individual to act according to our stereotypic expectations, thus confirming our stereotypic beliefs<\/p>\r\n self-serving bias<\/strong><\/p>\r\n tendency for individuals to take credit by making dispositional or internal attributions for positive outcomes and situational or external attributions for negative outcomes<\/p>\r\n sexism<\/strong><\/p>\r\n prejudice and discrimination toward individuals based on their sex<\/p>\r\n situationism<\/strong><\/p>\r\n describes a perspective that behavior and actions are determined by the immediate environment and surroundings; a view promoted by social psychologists<\/p>\r\n social exchange theory<\/strong><\/p>\r\n humans act as na\u00efve economists in keeping a tally of the ratio of costs and benefits of forming and maintain a relationship, with the goal to maximize benefits and minimize costs<\/p>\r\n social facilitation<\/strong><\/p>\r\n improved performance when an audience is watching versus when the individual performs the behavior alone<\/p>\r\n social loafing<\/strong><\/p>\r\n exertion of less effort by a person working in a group because individual performance cannot be evaluated separately from the group, thus causing performance decline on easy tasks<\/p>\r\n social norm<\/strong><\/p>\r\n group\u2019s expectations regarding what is appropriate and acceptable for the thoughts and behavior of its members<\/p>\r\n social psychology<\/strong><\/p>\r\n field of psychology that examines how people impact or affect each other, with particular focus on the power of the situation<\/p>\r\n social role<\/strong><\/p>\r\n socially defined pattern of behavior that is expected of a person in a given setting or group<\/p>\r\n Stanford prison experiment<\/strong><\/p>\r\n Stanford University conducted an experiment in a mock prison that demonstrated the power of social roles, social norms, and scripts<\/p>\r\n stereotype<\/strong><\/p>\r\n negative beliefs about individuals based solely on their membership in a group, regardless of their individual characteristics<\/p>\r\n triangular theory of love<\/strong><\/p>\r\n model of love based on three components: intimacy, passion, and commitment; several types of love exist, depending on the presence or absence of each of these components<\/p>\r\n <\/p>","rendered":" The links below are designed for print; more screen reader friendly documents can be found on the Students: Additional Lumen Resources page.<\/p>\nEssential Concepts<\/h2>\r\n
Social Psychology and Self-presentation<\/h3>\r\n
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Attitudes and Persuasion<\/h3>\r\n
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Group Behavior<\/h3>\r\n
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Relationships<\/h3>\r\n
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Prejudice and Discrimination<\/h3>\r\n
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Glossary<\/h2>\r\n