Social Psychology Overview

The tendency of individuals to exert less effort when working in a group compared to when working alone.

Providing feedback to individuals in a group can increase their effort and performance, combating social loafing.

Individuals with experience in a task tend to exert more effort than those with no experience.

Anonymity can lead to deindividuation, a state where individuals feel less personal responsibility and are more likely to engage in risky or antisocial behavior.

Social loafing is a phenomenon observed across different cultures, indicating its universality.

Anonymity and deindividuation can increase aggressive behavior, as seen in the KKK study.

Anonymity can lead to increased transgression, such as taking extra candy while trick-or-treating.

Cultures with depersonalized warriors tend to exhibit greater brutality towards enemies.

Judging someone positively based on their physical attractiveness, assuming they have other desirable traits too.

People changing their behavior when they know they're being watched.

The tendency to think we knew an outcome beforehand, even if we didn't.

Testable predictions derived from theories.

Making people aware of inconsistencies between their values and actions to reduce prejudice.

The person we would most like to be, impacting self-esteem.

Focusing on individual needs and goals, rather than group needs.

Unconscious, automatic evaluations formed through repeated pairings.

Whether a cause applies across different situations or is specific to the current one.

Whether an action was intended or unintended.

The importance the actor places on repeating a positive outcome or avoiding a negative one.

The actor's perception of the probability of attaining the desired outcome (or avoiding the undesired one).

The tendency for the presence of others to enhance performance on easy tasks, but to impair performance on difficult tasks.

The presence of others increases arousal, which enhances dominant responses. Easier tasks have correct dominant responses, harder tasks have incorrect ones.

The negative impact on performance that occurs when a person is aware of a negative stereotype about their group.

Concern about how others are evaluating us, leading to increased arousal.

A personality trait characterized by blind obedience to authority and a rigid adherence to social norms.

The tendency for people who are incompetent in a skill to overestimate their ability.

Beliefs about the characteristics, roles, and abilities that are expected of men and women.

The impact of feeling physically unstable on perceptions of personal relationships.

The explanations we give for our own or other people's behavior.

Emotional signals or prompts that impact our cognitive processes.

A phenomenon where a group's desire for harmony overrides critical thinking, leading to flawed decisions.

Groupthink symptom where members believe they cannot fail, leading to excessive confidence and risk-taking.

Groupthink symptom where members ignore ethics, believing their group always acts morally.

The process by which a minority group can persuade a majority to adopt their perspective.

A minority's influence increases when they consistently express their viewpoint, regardless of opposition.

Researchers must thoroughly explain the details of a study to participants before they agree to participate.

Only allowed when absolutely necessary and approved by an ethics review board, used cautiously.

Jurors tend to lean towards acquittal rather than conviction during deliberation, especially with weak evidence.

A sense of self that is deeply connected to relationships and social roles. Individuals with this self-concept may experience greater self-esteem damage when their social identity is threatened.

The aspect of the self that focuses on social presentation, image, reputation, and how we are perceived by others.

When the demands of different roles a person plays clash, creating tension and difficulty in fulfilling all obligations.

A strategy to alleviate inter-role conflict by finding creative solutions to reconcile the demands of different roles.

A leadership style that focuses on both task accomplishment and maintaining good relationships with followers by addressing individual needs.

A concept in attribution theory explaining whether the cause of an event is perceived as internal (within the person) or external (outside the person).

The tendency for individuals to present themselves in a socially favorable way, even if it means distorting their true opinions or behaviors.

The simple presence of other people can create arousal or increased alertness, even without direct interaction or evaluation.