Chapter 13: Social Psychology- Concepts study Guide
social psychology - Answer✔️✔️--study of how peoples influence others'
behavior, beliefs, and attitudes
-think others are vulnerable to social influence but not ourselves
humans as a social species - Answer✔️✔️--natural want to form
interpersonal networks that are very large (150 people or so)
-need-to-belong theory and biologically based need for interpersonal
connects which is why it literally hurts us to be isolated or rejected
-social influence processes are generally adaptive but can become
maladaptive when blind or unquestioning
social comparison theory - Answer✔️✔️--we seek to evaluate our abilities
and beliefs by comparing them with those of others'
-superiors are seen upward and inferiors are seen as downward, both can
boost self-confidence
social contagion - Answer✔️✔️-mass hysteria is a contagious outbreak of
irrational behavior that spreads (ex: UFO outbreaks, urban legends)
social facilitation - Answer✔️✔️--when the mere presence of others enhances
our performance and drives us (bicycle racing, cockroaches running mazes)
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social disruption - Answer✔️✔️--the concept of choking while performing
from fear of failure or psyching ones self out just from the presence of
others
fundamental attribution error - Answer✔️✔️--attributions are assigning
causes to behavior (altered by internal and external influences)
-when we look at others' behavior, we overestimate impact of dispositional
influences, underestimate impact of situational influences because you
can't predict social influences (social pressure)
-doing the opposite for our own behavior and can be associated with
cultural factors (Japanese and Chinese do not commit this error as often)
-may be prone to seeing other's behavior as a combination of both
dispositional and situational influences
social contagious behavior - Answer✔️✔️--people tend to be natural mimics
(copy laughs, yawns, looking up, gestures)
-dangerous in aspects of copycat killers, waves and springs of suicide
conformity - Answer✔️✔️--the tendency of people to alter their behavior as a
result of group pressure
-factors to this would be unanimity (strongest with full agreement), size of
group, difference in the wrong answer (any difference of opinion from
majority matters)
-low self esteem makes you more likely to conform
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