1). Scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another.

1). Fritz Heider (1958) suggested that we have a tendency to give causal explanations for someone’s behavior, often by crediting either the situation or the person’s disposition.

1). The tendency to overestimate the impact of personal disposition and

underestimate the impact of the situations in analyzing the behaviors of others.

EXAMPLE: We see Joe as quiet, shy, and introverted most of the time, but with friends he is very talkative, loud, and extroverted.

1). A belief and feeling that predisposes a person to respond in a particular way to objects, other people, and events.

If we believe a person is mean, we may feel dislike for the person and act in an unfriendly manner.

Our attitudes predict our behaviors imperfectly because other factors, including the external situation, also influence behavior.

1). The tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request.

In the Korean War, Chinese communists solicited cooperation from US army prisoners by asking them to carry out small errands. By complying to small errands they were likely to comply to larger ones.

1). When our attitudes and actions are opposed, we experience tension.

Why do actions affect attitudes? To relieve ourselves of this tension we bring our attitudes closer to our actions.

1). The greatest contribution of social psychology is its study of attitudes, beliefs, decisions, and actions and the way they are molded.

1). Adjusting one's behavior or thinking toward some group standard.

The Chamelon Effect - We are natural mimics.

Behavior is contagious, modeled by one followed by another. We follow behavior of others to conform.

Other behaviors may be an expression of compliance (obedience) toward authority.

Influence resulting from a person’s desire to gain approval or avoid rejection. A person may respect this kind of behavior because there may be a severe price to pay if not respected.

The price we pay for violating social norms-understood rules for accepted and expected behavior--may be severe.

1). Influence resulting from one's willingness to accept others' opinions about reality.

The group may provide valuable information, and only an uncommonly stubborn persone will never listen to others.

1). Improved performance on tasks in the presence of others.

Triplett (1898) noticed cyclists’ race times were faster when they competed against others than when they just raced against the clock.

1). The tendency of an individual in a group to exert less effort toward attaining a common goal than when tested individually.

1). The loss of self-awareness and self-restraint in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity.

1). Enhances a group’s prevailing attitudes through a discussion.

If a group is like-minded, discussion strengthens its prevailing opinions and attitudes.

1). A mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides the realistic appraisal of alternatives.

1). Social psychology teaches us how we relate to one another through prejudice, aggression, and conflict to attraction, and altruism and peacemaking.

Altruism - The unselfish regard for welfare of others; selfless goodness.

1).An unjustifiable (usually negative) attitude toward a group and its members. It is often directed towards different cultural, ethnic, or gender groups.

1). People with whom one shares a common identity.

1). Those perceived as different from one’s ingroup.

1). The tendency to favor one’s own group.

1). The tendency of people to believe the world is just, and people get what they deserve and deserve what they get.

1). After learning an outcome, the tendency to believe that we could have predicted it beforehand may contribute to blaming the victim and forming a prejudice against them.

1). Any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy. It may be done reactively out of hostility or proactively as a calculated means to an end. Research shows that this kind of behavior emerges from the interaction of biology and experience.

3 Biological Influences on Aggressive Behavior

1).Animals have been bred for aggressiveness for sport and at times for research. Twin studies show aggression may be genetic.

In men, aggression is possibly linked to the Y chromosome.

1). Some centers in the brain, especially the limbic system (amygdala) and the frontal lobe, are intimately involved with aggression.

1). Animals with diminished amounts of testosterone (castration) become docile, and if injected with testosterone aggression increases.

2). Prenatal exposure to testosterone also increases aggression in female hyenas.

1). A principle in which frustration (caused by the blocking of an attempt to achieve a desired goal) creates anger, which can generate aggression.

1). Geographic nearness is a powerful predictor of friendship. Repeated exposure to novel stimuli increases their attraction.

1). The phenomeon that repeated exposure to novel stimuli incresases likeing of them.

1). Once proximity affords contact, the next most important thing in attraction is physical appearance.

1). Indistinguishable views among individuals causes the bond of attraction to strengthen.

1).An aroused state of intense positive absorption in another, usually present at the beginning of a love relationship.

2 Factor Theory of Emotion

1). A deep, affectionate attachment we feel for those with whom our lives are intertwined.

1). A condition in which people receive from a relationship in proportion to what they give.

1). Revealing intimate aspects of oneself to others.

1). Tendency of any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present.

1). Perceived as an incompatibility of actions, goals, or ideas.

The elements of it are the same at all levels. People become deeply involved in potentially destructive social processes that have undesirable effects.

1). Shared goals that override differences among people and require their cooperation.

Communication and understanding developed through talking to one another. Sometimes it is mediated by a third party.

1). Graduated & Reciprocated Initiatives in Tension-Reduction (GRIT): This is a strategy designed to decrease international tensions. One side recognizes mutual interests and initiates a small conciliatory act that opens the door for reciprocation by the other party.