Psychology Online Exam 5

Branch of psychology that studies how we think and behave in social situations.

area of social psychology that investigates the ways we think about other people and ourselves.

deals with the way in which other people influence us to change our behavior and/or our beliefs.

Evaluative belief that we hold about something.

We desire and strive to have attitudes and behaviors that do not contradict one another.

Theory that predicts that we will be motivated to change our attitudes and/or our behaviors to the extent that they cause us to feel dissonance, on uncomfortable physical state.

A type of social influence in which someone tries to change our attitudes.

A style of thinking in which the person carefully and critically evaluates persuasive arguments and generates counterarguments; the central route requires motivation and available cognitive resources.

One does not attempt to critically evaluate the arguments and are instead persuaded by superficial aspects of the arguments such as the likability of the person making them.

One of the most important aspects of social cognition, or how we understand and make judgments about others.

Act of assigning cause to behavior.

An attribution that assigns the cause of the behavior to the traits and characteristics of the person being judged.

An attribution that assigns the cause of the behavior to some characteristic of the situation or environment in which a behavior occurs.

Our tendency to overuse trait information and discount situational explanations of behavior when making attributions about others.

North America and Western Europe (Western cultures) in which individual accomplishments are valued over group accomplishments.

India and Japan (Asian cultures) in which group accomplishments are valued over individual accomplishments.

When we observe our own behavior we tend to take situational factors more into account than we do for others.

Our tendency to make trait attributions for our successes and situational attributions for our failures.

A formed schema for a particular group of people.

A stereotype that is unfairly applied to all members of a group regardless of their individual characteristics.

The behavioral expression of a prejudice.

Our tendency to favor people who belong to the same group that we do.

A group that is distinct from one's own and so usually an objects of more hostility or dislike than one's in-group.

Our tendency to see out-group members as being pretty much all alike.

Theory that prejudice stems from competition for scarce resources.

Theory that contact between groups in an effective means of reducing prejudice between them.

Goal that is shared by different groups

Geographical closeness.

Theory that when we are attracted to people who do not share our attitudes, we feel an imbalance that causes dissonance, which motivates us to change in some way to reduce this dissonance. (p.508)

Theory that we are attracted to people whose level of physical attractiveness is similar to our own.

Unwritten rule or expectation for how group members should behave.

The degree to which members wish to maintain membership in the group or value their group membership.

Behaving in accordance with group norms.

Conformity that occurs when group members change their behavior to meet group norms but are not persuaded to change their beliefs and attitudes.

Conformity that occurs when conformity pressures actually persuade group members to adopt new beliefs and/or attitudes.

A state in which a person's behavior becomes controlled more by external norms than by the person's own internal values and morals.

Occurs when a group fixates on one decision and members assume that it must be the correct one, without carefully examining other alternatives.

Yielding to a simple request.

Yielding to a demand.

Increasing compliance by first asking people to give in to a small request, which then paves the way for compliance with a larger request.

Increasing compliance by first asking people to give in to a very large request and then, after they refuse, asking them to give in to a smaller request.

A strong norm that states that we should treat others as they treat us or we expect others to reciprocate our behaviors.

The use of Foot-In-The-Door compliance in an obedience situation to get people to obey increasing demands. (p.523)

The degree to which one can disassociate oneself from the consequences of his/her actions.

Obedience to immoral, unethical demands that cause harm to others.

After an experiment participants are fully informed of the nature of the study.

Aggression used to facilitate the attainment of one's goal.

Aggression that is meant to cause harm to others.

The theory that frustration causes aggressive behavior.

Helping another without being motivated by selfgain.

Another term for altruism.

The idea that the more witnesses there are to an emergency, the less likely any one of them is to offer help.

Idea that responsibility for taking action is diffused equally to all the people witnessing the event.

The idea that we use the behavior of others to help determine whether a situation is really an emergency requiring our help; if no one else is helping, we may conclude that help isn't needed.

Subfield of psychology that investigates the relationship between people's behaviors and their health.

Any event or environmental stimulus (stressors) that we respond to because we perceive it as challenging or threatening.

A change in one's life, good or bad, that requires readjustment.

The everyday irritations and frustrations that individuals face.

Having to choose between two or more needs, desires, or demands.

A situation in which a person must choose between two like able or positive events.

A situation in which a person must choose between two undesirable or negative events.

A situation in which a person is faced with a desire or need that has both positive and negative aspects.

A situation that poses several alternative that each have positive and negative features.

Our initial interpretation of an event as either irrelevant, positive, or stressful.

The general physical responses we experience when faced with a stressor. (p.551)

First phase of (GAS) it is the bodily responses that are immediately triggered when we initially an event as stressful and activates the endocrine system.

Stage two of (GAS) body continues to cope with stressors and the nervous and endocrine systems continue to be activated. (p.552)

Stage three of (GAS) in which bodily resources are drained, and wear and tear on the body begins.

The corticosteroids and endorphins that are released into our body during the stress response actually reduce and dampen the activity of our immune system or the reduction in activity of the immune system.

The behaviors that we engage in to manage stressors. (p.555)

Behaviors that aim to control or alter the environment that is causing stress.

Behaviors aimed at controlling the internal. subjective, emotional reactions to a stress.

An active and conscious process in which we alter our interpretation of a stressful event.

Sigmund Freud, unconscious emotional strategies that are engaged in to reduce anxiety and maintain a positive self-image.

An electronic device that measures and records bodily changes so that an individual can monitor and control these changes more effectively. (p.558)

A stress management technique in which a person learns how to systematically tense and relax muscle groups in the body.

Having close and positive relationships with others.

Mental exercises in which people consciously focus their attention to heighten awareness and bring their mental processes under more control.

A personality that is aggressive, ambitious, and competitive.

A personality characterized by patience, flexibility, and an easygoing manner.

A passive response to stressors based on exposure to previously uncontrolled, negative events.

A personality, high in the traits of commitment, control, and challenge, that appears to be associated with strong stress resistance. (p.565, salvatore maddi & suzanne kobasa)

Behaviors that increase the chance of illness, disease, or death.

Behaviors that decrease the chance of illness, disease, or death.