Term
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Definition
| In causal attribution, the tendency for an observer to overestimate the effects of dispositional factors when making attributions about an actor's behavior but to overestimate the effects of situational factors when making self-attributions. |
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Term
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Definition
| A method of reducing the effectiveness of a persuasive message that is based on the medical model. Involves giving the recipient of the message arugments against his/her own position and weak counterarguments (refutations against those arguments). Inoculation has been found to be a particularly effective method for reducing persuasibility. |
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Definition
| Causal attributions are often described in terms of three dimensions - internal/external (dispositional/situational); stable/unstable; and specific/global. |
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Definition
| Sherif used the autokinetic effect (the appearance that a stationary point of light is moving) to study conformity to group norms. |
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Definition
| Methods used to induce compliance in another person. French and Raven have identified six bases for social power: coersive, reward, expert, legitimate, referent, and informational. |
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Definition
| The tendency of people to not intervene in emergency situations with others are present. Bystander apathy has been attributed to three factors: social comparison, evaluation apprehension, and diffusion of responsibility. |
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Definition
| Predicts that an act of aggression reduces an individual's arousal level which then decreases the likelihood that he/she will act aggressively again in the near future. The research has not been very supportive of this claim. |
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Term
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Definition
| Central Traits are characteristics that have a greater impact than others on impression formation. |
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Term
| Characteristics of the Communication |
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Definition
| Several characteristics of a communication affect its persuasiveness - e.g., the level of discrepancy between the positions of the recipient and the message, theh order in which the two sides of an argument are presented (primacy/recent effects), and whether the message is intentionally delivered or overheard. |
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Term
| Characteristics of the Communicator |
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Definition
| Research on attitude change has confirmed that credible communicators are more persuasive. One factor that contributes to credibility is trustworthiness. |
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Term
| Cognitive Dissonance Theory |
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Definition
| Festinger's theory of attitude change that proposes that inconsistencies in cognitions produce discomfort (dissonance), which motivates the individual to reduce the dissonance by changing his/her cognitions. |
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Definition
| Proposes that prejudice may be reduced through contact between members of the majority and minority groups as long as the following conditions are met - e.g., members of different groups have equal status and power and are provided with opportunities that disconfirm their negative stereotypes about members of the other group. |
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Definition
| A state of relative anonymity that allows a person to feel unidentifiable. Deindividuation has been associated with increases in antisocial behaviors, apparently because the deindividuated person's behavior is no longer controlled by guilt, fear of evaluation, or other inhibitory controls. |
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Term
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Definition
| Crowded individuals tend to enhance positive experiences and increase the unpleasantness of negative emotions. Males seem to be more stressed by crowded conditions than females and are more likely to react with increased aggressiveness. This is apparently because males need more personal space. |
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Term
| Effects of Media Violence |
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Definition
| The controversy about the effects of media violence has been fueled by research on observational (social) learning. Although evidence to support each side - that violence either increases or decreases violence - can be found in the literature. In general, media violence does not seem to have a cathartic effect but, instead, increases viewer aggressiveness. |
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Term
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Definition
| Research assessing exposure to violent pornography has generally found that it not only increases aggressive behavior but also promotes a greater acceptance of violence against women. |
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Term
| Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) |
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Definition
| A cognitive theory of attitude change that distinguishes between two information processing routes - central and peripheral. Reliance on central route requires greater mental effort and produces longer-lasting attitude change. |
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Term
| Emotion-in-relationship Model |
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Definition
| A model of emotion in relationships that proposes that there is an innate mechanism that generates emotion in response to unexpected events that disrupt ongoing sequences of behaviors. |
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Term
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Definition
| The theory of motivation that predicts that motivation (e.g., motivation to remain in a relationship) is affected by the comparison of input/outcome ratios. |
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Term
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Definition
| Lewin's theory of human behavior that describes it as a product of interdependent factors in the person and his or her physical and social environment. |
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Term
| Fundamental Attribution Bias |
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Definition
| The attribution error in which an observer tends to overestimate dispositional causes and underestimate situational causes when making attributions about an actor's behavior. |
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Term
| Frustration-aggression Hypothesis |
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Definition
| The theory that aggression is always motivated by frustration. Revised version predicts that frustration leads to aggression in the presence of aggressive cues. |
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Term
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Definition
| The gain-loss effect predicts that liking is related to the pattern rather than the amount of rewards - specifically, people tend to be most attracted to individuals who show increased liking for them and to be least attracted to individuals who show decreased liking for them. |
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Term
| Gender Differences in Affiliation |
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Definition
| The research has shown that females ordinarily spend more time than males engaged in conversation, are more likely to talk to people of the same sex, and may affiliate more than males do in public places. |
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Term
| Heterosexism and sexual prejudice |
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Definition
| As defined by Herek, heterosexism refers to "an ideological system that denies, denegrates, and stigmatizes among nonheterosexual forms of behavior, identity, relationships, or community"; and sexual prejudice refers to "negative attitudes based on sexual orientation, whether the target is homosexual, bisexual, or heterosexual." |
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Term
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Definition
| Illusory Correlation refers to the tendency to see a relationship between variables that are not actually related. |
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Term
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Definition
| A method of learning in which assignments must be completed by teams with each team member being assigned to a different piece of the project. It has been found to improve intergroup relations, cooperation, and self-esteem. It also improves academic achievement, especially for members of minority groups. |
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Term
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Definition
| A learned expectation that one cannot control negative life events, which leads to apathy and depression; associated with internal, stable, and global attributions. |
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Term
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Definition
| The research shows that a minority can influence the majority by maintaining a consistent (but not dogmatic) position. |
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Term
| Misery Loves Miserable Compant |
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Definition
| Refers to Schachter's conclusion that people like to affiliate with those in similar circumstances (i.e., miserable people prefer to affiliate with other miserable people). |
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Term
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Definition
| Lewin distinguished between three motivational conflicts - approach/approach; avoidance/avoidance; approach/avoidance. The latter involves a goal that has both positive and negative aspects and is particularly difficult to resolve. |
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Term
| Obediance to Authority (Milgram) |
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Definition
| Controversial research which evaluated participants' willingness to obey a high-status individual even when doing so seemed to harm another person. |
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Term
| Overjustification Hypothesis |
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Definition
| The notion that, when people are externally rewarded for a task they previously found intrinsically interesting, their intrinsic interest in the task will decrease. |
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Term
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Definition
| Prison stimulation which demonstrated that people alter their behaviors to fit their assigned roles. |
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Term
| Pseudopatient Study (Rosenhan) |
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Definition
| Reseach that demonstrated the roles of the social context and labeling on impression formation. Once admitted to a mental hospital, Rosenhan's pseudopatients were viewed, especially by hospital staff, as mental patients even though they did not exhibit any abnormal behaviors. |
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Term
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Definition
| The tendency to resist being influenced or manipulated by others, usually by doing the opposite of what is desired or expected. |
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Term
| Robber's Cave Study (Sherif) |
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Definition
| Sherif's research at a boy's camp that demonstrated that the most effective way to reduce intergroup hostility is having the members of the groups cooperate to achieve a mutual (superordinate) goal. |
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Term
| Schachter & Singer's Epinephrine Studies |
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Definition
| Research on the perception of emotion that showed that there are no physiological differences between the emotions and that the percetion of emotion depends on a combination fo physiological arousal and a cognitive label for that arousal. |
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Term
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Definition
| Cognitive Structures that organize past information and experience and provide a framework for processing and understanding new information and experiences. |
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Term
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Definition
| Self-monitoring refers to the need for and ability to manage the impression that others form of us. High self-monitors are most concerned about their "public self" and, consequently, strive to match their attitudes and behaviors to the situation. In contrast, low self-monitors are guided by their own beliefs and values and attempt to alter the situation to match their "private self". |
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Term
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Definition
| The theory that individuals make attributions about their own attitudes and behaviors on the basis of observations of their behaviors or other external cues. |
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Term
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Definition
| In causal attributions, the tendency to attribute one's successes to internal factors and one's failures to external factors. |
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Term
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Definition
| Predicts that people prefer accurate information (i.e., information that is consistent with one's self-evaluations) |
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Term
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Definition
| THe theory that individuals use other (usually similar) people as sources of comparison to evaluate their own attitudes and behaviors. |
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Term
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Definition
| A theory of interpersonal relationships that focuses on the magnitude of costs and rewards. |
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Term
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Definition
| The type of learning that occurs simply as the result of observing the behavior of a model; used to explain the acquisition of aggressive behaviors (e.g., the effect of media violence). |
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Term
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Definition
| A theory of attitude change that predicts that we have three "categories of judgement" by which we evaluate persuasive messages - a latitude of acceptance, a latitude of non-committment, and a latitude of rejection - and that we are most liekly to be persuaded when the message is within our latitude of acceptance. |
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Term
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Definition
| Goals that can only be achieved when individuals or members of different groups work together cooperatively; they have been found useful for reducing intergroup conflict. |
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Term
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Definition
| A theory about current, less blatant forms of racism that reflect a combination of anti-African-American attitudes, strong support for traditional American values (e.g., the work ethic), and belief that African-Americans violate those values. |
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Term
| Theory of Planned Behavior |
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Definition
| Theory predicts that attitudes are accurate predictors when the attitude measure assesses all three components of the behavioral intention - the person's attitude toward engaging in the behavior; what the person believees other people think he or she should do; and the person's perceived behavioral control. |
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Term
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Definition
| Often reduces agressiveness, especially when it comes from a person with high status or power. |
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Term
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Definition
| The tendency to remember interrupted and unfinished tasks better than completed ones. |
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