Social Psychology - Part Two
Terms
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- natural selection
- the evolutionary process by which nature selects traits that best enable organisms to survive and reproduce in particular environmental niches
- evolutionary psychology
- the study of the evolution of behavior using principles of natural selection
- culture
- the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, and traditions shared by a large group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next
- norms
- rules for accepted and expected behavior. Norms prescribe "proper" behavior. (In a different sense of the word, norms also describe what most others do - what is normal.)
- personal space
- the buffer zone we like to maintain around our bodies. Its size depends on our familiarity with whoever is near us.
- gender
- in psychology, the characteristics, whether biological or socially influenced, by which people define male and female
- aggression
- physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt someone. In laboratory experiments, this might mean delivering electric shocks or saying something likely to hurt another's feelings
- gender role
- a set of behavior expectations (norms) for males and females
- interaction
- the effect of one factor (such as biology) depends on another factor (such as environment)
- conformity
- a change in behavior or belief as a result of real or imagined group pressure
- compliance
- conformity that involves publicly acting in accord with social pressure while privately disagreeing. Obedience is acting in accord with a direct order.
- acceptance
- conformity that involves both acting and believing in accord with social pressure
- autokinetic phenomenon
- self (auto) motion (kinetic). The apparent movement of a stationary point of light in the dark
- confederate
- an accomplice of the experimenter
- normative influence
- conformity based on a person's desire to fulfill others' expectations, often to gain acceptance
- informational influence
- conformity occurring when people accept evidence about reality provided by other people
- reactance
- a motive to protect or restore one's sense of freedom. Reactance arises when someone threatens our freedom of action
- persuasion
- the process by which a message induces change in beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors
- central route to persuasion
- occurs when interested people focus on the arguments and respond with favorable thoughts
- peripheral route to persuasion
- occurs when people are influenced by incidental cues, such as a speaker's attractiveness
- credibility
- believability; a credible communicator is perceived as both expert and trustworthy
- sleeper effect
- a delayed impact of a message occurs when an initially discounted message becomes effective, as we remember the message but forgot the reason for discounting it
- attractiveness
- having qualities that appeal to an audience. An appealing communicator (often someone similar to the audience) is most persuasive on matters of subjective preference
- primary effect
- other things being equal, information presented first usually has the most influence
- recency effect
- information presented last sometimes has the most influence. Recency effects are less common than primacy effects
- channel of communication
- the way the message is delivered - whether face to face, in writing, on film, or some other way
- two-step flow of communication
- the process by which media influence often occurs through opinion leaders, who in turn influence others
- cult
- a group typically characterized by (1) distinctive ritual and beliefs related to its devotion to a god or a person, (2) isolation from the surrounding "evil" culture, and (3) a charismatic leader. (A sect, by contrast, is a spin-off from a major religion)
- attitude inoculation
- exposing people to weak attacks upon their attitudes so that when stronger attacks come, they will have refutations available
- group
- two or more people who, for longer than a few moments, interact with and influence one another and perceive one another as "us"
- co-actors
- co-participants working individually on a noncompetitive activity
- social facilitation
- (1) original meaning - the tendency of people to perform simple or well-learned tasks better when others are present. (2) Current meaning - the strengthening of dominant (prevalent, likely) responses in the presence of others
- evaluation apprehension
- concern for how others are evaluating us
- social loafing
- the tendency for people to exert less effort when they pool their efforts toward a common goal than when they are individually accountable
- free riders
- people who benefit from the group but give little in return
- deindividuation
- loss of self-awareness and evaluation apprehension; occurs in group situations that foster responsiveness to group norms, good or bad.
- group polarization
- group-produced enhancement of members' preexisting tendencies; a strengthening of the members' average tendency, not a split within the group
- social comparison
- evaluating one's opinions and abilities by comparing oneself to others
- groupthink
- "the mode of thinking that persons engage in when concurrence-seeking becomes so dominant in a cohesive in-group that it tends to override realistic appraisal of alternative courses of action"
- leadership
- the process by which certain group members motivate and guide the group