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• Attributions are explanations for behaviors, helping understand social interactions by determining causes behind actions.

Dispositional (Internal) Attributions

• Assigning actions to internal factors like personality or character; for instance, lateness attributed to irresponsibility.

Situational (External) Attributions

• Assigning actions to external factors or circumstances; someone being late due to traffic.

Explanatory Styles

• Habitual ways of explaining events that influence reactions and expectations.

Optimistic Explanatory Style

• Attributes negative events to external, unstable, specific factors, and positive events to internal, stable, global factors.
• Leads to resilience and a positive outlook
• An example is failing a test due to its difficulty (external) while affirming one's math skills (internal).

Pessimistic Explanatory Style

• Attributes negative events to internal, stable, global factors, and positive events to external, unstable, specific factors.
• Can cause feelings of helplessness and depression
• An example is attributing a failed test to a lack of intelligence (internal) and expecting to always struggle (stable).

Actor/Observer Bias

• Explains the tendency to attribute own actions to situational factors, and others' actions to dispositional factors.
• Self: "I cut off that driver because I was in an emergency."
• Others: "He cut me off because he's a reckless driver."

Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE)

• It is overemphasizing dispositional and underestimating situational factors when judging others.
• It can cause misunderstandings and unfair judgments.
• Assuming a colleague is unfriendly because they're quiet (dispositional) without considering they might be stressed (situational).

Self-Serving Bias

• Claims Successes are attributed to internal factors and failures to external ones protecting self-esteem.
• Success: "I aced the presentation because I'm skilled."
• Failure: "The presentation went poorly because the audience was uninterested."

Locus of Control

• It refers to an individual's belief about their control over events.

Internal Locus of Control

• Belief: Outcomes are a result of one's own efforts or abilities.
• Impact: Associated with proactive behavior and a sense of personal responsibility.
• Example: "I can improve my grades by studying harder."

External Locus of Control

• Outcomes are determined by external forces like luck or fate.
• May lead to passivity or reliance on external factors.
• Example: "My grades depend on how easy the teacher makes the tests."

Person Perception

• It involves forming impressions and judgments about others.

Mere Exposure Effect

• Repeated exposure to stimuli increases preference, which can influence attraction and likability.
• Liking a song more after hearing it several times.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

• An individual's expectations about another person lead that person to behave in ways that confirm those expectations.
• Expectation: You believe a student is highly capable.
• Behavior: You give them more attention and opportunities.
• Result: The student performs better, confirming your belief.

Social Comparison

• Involves evaluating oneself by comparison with others.

Upward Social Comparison

• Involves comparing oneself to those who are better off which may motivate but also cause dissatisfaction.
• Comparing your athletic ability to a professional athlete.

Downward Social Comparison

• Involves comparing oneself to those who are worse off which can enhance self-esteem but discourage self-improvement.
• Feeling better about your skills after noticing a beginner.

Relative Deprivation

• Feeling deprived or entitled based on comparison to others, which can lead to frustration and discontent.
• Feeling underpaid when discovering colleagues earn more for the same job.

Attitudes

• Attitudes is a learned predisposition to respond favorably or unfavorably to a particular object, person, or idea.
• Components: Cognitive(beliefs/thoughts), Affective(emotional feelings), and Behavioral(predisposition to act).

Stereotype

• A stereotype is a generalized belief about a group, assigning traits to all members, which simplifies social perception but can lead to inaccuracies.
• Believing all elderly people are bad with technology.

Prejudice

• An unjustified negative attitude toward an individual based on group membership.
• Components: Cognitive (stereotypes), Affective (fear/hostility), and Behavioral (discrimination).

Discrimination

• Unjustified negative behavior toward a group or members due to prejudice.
• Refusing to hire someone because of their race.

Implicit Attitudes

• Unconscious attitudes that may influence behavior inadvertently, often measured by the Implicit Association Test (IAT).
• Can cause unintended discrimination.

Just-World Phenomenon

• The belief that the world is fair, leading people to get what they deserve.
• Leads to victim-blaming and rationalizing misfortunes, such as assuming homelessness is due to laziness.

Out-Group Homogeneity Bias

• It involves perceiving members of out-groups as more similar than they are.

In-Group Bias

• Favoring one's own group over others.

Ethnocentrism

• A belief in the superiority of one's own ethnic or cultural group.

Belief Perseverance

• Maintaining beliefs even after they have been discredited.

Confirmation Bias

• Seeking information that confirms preconceptions leading to skewed perceptions and reinforced stereotypes.
• Only reading news that supports your political views.

Cognitive Dissonance

• Discomfort from holding conflicting cognitions (beliefs, attitudes).
• Resolution: May change attitudes/behaviors to reduce discomfort.
• Believing smoking is unhealthy but continuing to smoke, then quitting or downplaying health risks.

Social Norms

• Unwritten rules about appropriate behavior in a society guiding behavior and promoting social order.
• Dressing appropriately and using polite language.

Social Influence Theory

• It explores how individuals are influenced by others in their social environment.

Normative Social Influence

• Influence to gain approval/avoid disapproval.
• Dressing a certain way to fit in.

Informational Social Influence

• Influence due to accepting others' opinions about reality.
• Following someone's directions in a new city.

Persuasion

• It is the process is the process of changing beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors through argument, reasoning, or pleading.

Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM)

• Central Route involves critical thinking for longer-lasting attitude change
• Peripheral Route involves superficial cues for temporary attitude change.

Halo Effect

• Letting overall impression influence judgments, and can cause biased evaluations.
• Assuming an attractive person is also intelligent.

Foot-in-the-Door Technique

• Starting with a small request to increase the likelihood of agreeing to a larger one later, which leverages consistency in self-perception.
• Asking for a small donation before requesting a larger one.

Door-in-the-Face Technique

• Making a large request likely to be refused before a smaller one, which relies on perceived concession.
• Asking for a two-week volunteer commitment, then reducing it to one day.

Conformity

• Adjusting behavior/thinking to match a group.
• Factors Increasing Conformity: Group size, unanimity, and admiration of the group.
• Classic Study: Solomon Asch's line experiment demonstrated the power of conformity.

Obedience

• Following orders from an authority figure.
• Key Study: Stanley Milgram's obedience experiment showed people would administer shocks to others under authority's orders.
• Presence of authority, proximity to the victim, and institutional authority can influence obedience..

Cultural Influences

• Individualism emphasizes personal goals, promoting independence. Common in Western cultures.
• Collectivism prioritizes group goals, encouraging conformity, common in Asian, African, and Latin American cultures.
• Multiculturalism recognizes/appreciates cultural diversity, promoting inclusivity.

Group Polarization

• Group discussions strengthen dominant viewpoints leading to more extreme positions, and intensifies shared opinions.
• Political group discussions amplifying political views.

Groupthink

• Harmony in a group overrides realist appraisal of alternatives.
• Symptoms: Illusion of invulnerability, self-censorship and pressure to conform.
• Prevention involves encouraging open dialogue and dissenting opinions.

Diffusion of Responsibility

• Individuals feel less responsible for taking action when others are present.
• Can cause inaction during emergencies, Like not calling 911 because you assume someone else will.

Social Loafing

• Individuals put in less effort when working in a group.
• Caused by feeling less accountable or believing others will pick up the slack.
• Preventative measures, assign individual responsibilities.

Deindividuation (Mob Mentality)

• Loss of self-awareness and restraint in group situations fostering arousal and anonymity.
• Can lead to impulsive and deviant acts, like rioting in large crowds.

Social Facilitation

• Improved performance on simple tasks and worsened performance on complex tasks in the presence of others.
• Presence of others increases physiological arousal.
• Athletes performing better during competitions.

False Consensus Effect

• The tendency to overestimate how much others share beliefs/behaviors, can lead to misunderstanding and conflict.
• Believing that everyone agrees with your opinion on an issue.

Superordinate Goals

• Shared goals override differences and require cooperation, and helps reduce intergroup hostility.
• Two rival groups working together during a crisis.

Social Traps

• In situations where conflicting parties pursue self-interest, which leads to mutually destructive behavior.
• Tragedy of the Commons: Overusing shared resources.
• Prisoner's Dilemma: Individuals choose between cooperative and competitive moves.

Altruism

• Unselfish concern for the welfare of others.
• Motivation: Empathy, moral principles, societal expectations.

Social Reciprocity Norm

• Expectation that people will help those who have helped them, which encourages mutual aid and cooperation.
• Returning a favor to a colleague.

Social Responsibility Norm

• Expectation that people will help those needing assistance, which promotes helping behavior toward the vulnerable.
• Assisting an elderly person with crossing the street.

Bystander Effect

• Individuals are less likely to help in an emergency when others are present due to diffusion of responsibility and pluralistic ignorance.
• The Kitty Genovese incident highlighted this phenomenon.

Industrial-Organizational (I/O) Psychologists

• They apply psychological principles to improve productivity, work-life balance, and employee satisfaction.
• Areas of Focus: Employee selection/training, leadership development, organizational development, ergonomics/workplace design.