Behavior in Groups
You’re more likely to help someone in distress when you're alone than in a crowd. Why?
What is the bystander effect?
When someone cuts you off in traffic and you think “they’re just a jerk,” what kind of attribution are you making?
What is dispositional attribution?
You wear a certain brand of shoes because all your friends do. What social psychology term fits this behavior?
What is conformity?
A teacher believes boys are better at math and gives them more attention during math lessons. This is an example of what?
What is discrimination?
A leader has a magnetic personality and convinces followers to do extreme things. What kind of leader are they?
What is a charismatic leader?
When people feel anonymous in a large group and act in ways they wouldn’t normally, it's called what?
What is deindividuation?
You excuse your friend’s bad mood by saying they had a rough day. What type of attribution is that?
What is situational attribution?
A student doesn’t want to stand during a school assembly, but when a teacher tells them to, they do it anyway—even though they disagree. What social psychology concept explains this behavior?
What is obedience?
Believing that all people from a certain town are rude is an example of what?
What is a stereotype?
A teacher expects a student to do poorly, and they end up doing poorly. What has occurred?
What is a self-fulfilling prophecy?
You’re in a debate club and everyone else supports one side. You decide to go along to keep the peace. What phenomenon is happening?
What is groupthink?
Define the fundamental attribution error in your own words.
What is overestimating personality and underestimating situation when explaining others' behavior?
A classmate persuades you to sign a petition. You’re not forced, but you agree. What is this called?
What is compliance?
Thinking your school is better than all others without reason is showing bias towards what group?
What is ingroup bias?
Give me two key characteristics of a cult...
Isolation from outside world
“Us vs them”
Obedience to leader
high level of conformity
After a heated group discussion, all members have a more extreme opinion than before. This is an example of what?
What is group polarization?
You assume someone who is wealthy must be a good person and someone who struggles must be lazy. What belief system are you using?
What is the just world phenomenon?
You believe cheating is wrong, but you cheat on a quiz and feel uncomfortable afterward. What’s this internal conflict called?
What is cognitive dissonance?
After failing a test, you blame your teacher, but when you ace one, you credit your hard work. What is this called?
What is the self-serving bias?
This is the place where Jim Jones, the leader of the People's Church Cult, established a settlement where he convinced 900+ people to drink poison and commit suicide.
Where is Jonestown, Guyana?
A protest starts as peaceful, but escalates into vandalism as the crowd grows louder and more energized. Explain how multiple group behavior concepts might be interacting here.
What are deindividuation and group polarization?
Imagine you're a teacher. One student always comes in late. Based on fundamental attribution error, what might you assume, and how might that impact your relationship with them?
You might assume they’re lazy (dispositional) instead of considering situational factors, which could lead to unfair treatment or misjudgment.
A friend asks you to help with a simple task. After agreeing, they then ask for a much bigger favor. What technique are they using, and how might cognitive dissonance make you more likely to help again?
What is the foot-in-the-door technique, and because you've already said yes once, dissonance may push you to stay consistent and say yes again.
How are stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination related?
Stereotypes are general beliefs, prejudice is a negative attitude, and discrimination is an action or behavior.
A person slowly joins a group that cuts them off from family, controls their schedule, and uses intense bonding rituals. Explain how at least two social psychology principles are at work here.
What are groupthink, obedience to authority, conformity, and/or cognitive dissonance? (any two with explanation accepted)