Attribution Theory
The theory that we explain behavior by crediting either the situation or the person’s disposition.
What is attribution theory?
Adjusting behavior or thinking to match a group standard.
What is conformity?
The tendency for people to exert less effort in a group task.
What is social loafing?
Feelings influenced by beliefs that predispose responses to objects, people, and events.
What are attitudes?
Voluntary behavior intended to benefit another person.
What is prosocial behavior?
The tendency to overestimate personal traits and underestimate the situation when analyzing others’ behavior.
What is the fundamental attribution error?
The famous psychologist who studied obedience with electric shocks.
Who is Stanley Milgram?
The loss of self-awareness and self-restraint in group situations.
What is deindividuation?
The theory that we act to reduce discomfort when our actions and attitudes conflict.
What is cognitive dissonance theory?
The tendency to be less likely to help when others are present.
What is the bystander effect?
When people make excuses for their own bad behavior due to external causes.
What is the self-serving bias?
Influence resulting from a person’s desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval.
What is normative social influence?
The enhancement of performance on well-learned tasks in the presence of others.
What is social facilitation?
Persuasion route focused on logic and facts.
What is the central route to persuasion?
The tragic event that inspired research into the bystander effect.
What is the Kitty Genovese case?
This error contributes to blaming victims for their misfortunes.
What is victim blaming or fundamental attribution error?
The term for the increased likelihood of conforming when a task is ambiguous.
What is informational social influence?
The desire for harmony that overrides realistic alternatives in a decision-making group.
What is groupthink?
Persuasion route that relies on emotional appeal or superficial cues.
What is the peripheral route to persuasion?
The theory that we help others when we weigh the costs and benefits.
What is social exchange theory?
A belief in a just world often leads to this attribution bias.
What is the just-world phenomenon?
When people follow direct orders from an authority figure, even if they disagree.
What is obedience?
This theory explains how we behave differently when part of a crowd.
What is social contagion or deindividuation theory?
When people change their attitudes to match their behavior to relieve tension.
What is reducing cognitive dissonance?
The expectation that people will help those who have helped them.
What is the reciprocity norm?