Alphabetical Glossary
a b c d e f g h i jkl m n o pq r s t uvwxyz
idiosyncrasy credits
the credits a person earns, over time, by conforming to group norms; if enough idiosyncrasy credits are earned, the person can, on occasion, behave deviantly without retribution from the group
illusory correlation
the tendency to see relationships, or correlations, between events that are actually unrelated
implicit personality theory
a type of schema people use to group various kinds of personality traits together; for example, many people believe that if someone is kind, he or she is generous as well
impression management
our conscious or unconscious orchestration of a carefully designed presentation of self so as to create a certain impression that fits our goals or needs in a social interaction
in-group bias
especially positive feelings and special treatment for people we have defined as being part of our in-group, and negative feelings and unfair treatment for others simply because we have defined them as being in the out-group [13]in-group: the group with which an individual identifies and feels he or she is a member of
independent variable
the variable a researcher changes or varies to see if it has an effect on some other variable; this is the variable the researcher thinks will cause a change in some other variable
independent view of the self
a way of defining oneself in terms of one's own internal thoughts, feelings, and actions, and not in terms of the thoughts, feelings, and actions of other people
individual differences
the aspects of people's personalities that make them different from other people
informational social influence
the influence of other people that leads us to conform because we see them as a source of information to guide our behavior; we conform because we believe that others' interpretation of an ambiguous situation is more correct than ours
informed consent
the procedure whereby the nature of the experiment is explained to participants before it begins and their consent to participate in the experiment is obtained
ingratiation
the process whereby people flatter, praise, and generally try to make themselves likable to another, often higher-status person
injunctive norms
socially sanctioned behaviors-that is, people's perceptions of what behaviors are approved of by others
institutionalized racism
racist attitudes that are held by the vast majority of us because we are living in a society where stereotypes and discrimination are the norm
institutionalized sexism
sexist attitudes that are held by the vast majority of us because we are living in a society where stereotypes and discrimination are the norm
instrumental aggression
aggression as a means to some goal other than causing pain
instrumental conditioning
the case whereby behaviors that people freely choose to perform increase or decrease in frequency, depending on whether they are followed by positive reinforcement or punishment
insufficient punishment
the dissonance aroused when individuals lack sufficient external justification for having resisted a desired activity or object, usually resulting in individuals devaluing the forbidden activity or object
integrative solution
a solution to a conflict whereby the parties make trade-offs on issues according to their different interests; each side concedes the most on issues that are unimportant to it but important to the other side
interdependent view of the self
a way of defining oneself in terms of one's relationships to other people; recognizing that one's behavior is often determined by the thoughts, feelings, and actions of others
interjudge reliability
the level of agreement between two or more people who independently observe and code a set of data; by showing that two or more judges independently come up with the same observations, researchers ensure that the observations are not the subjective, distorted impressions of one individual
internal attribution
the inference that a person is behaving in a certain way because of something about him or her, such as the person's attitudes, character, or personality
internal justification
the reduction of dissonance by changing something about oneself (e.g., one's attitude or behavior)
internal validity
making sure that nothing else besides the independent variable can affect the dependent variable; this is accomplished by controlling all extraneous variables and by randomly assigning people to different experimental conditions
intrapersonal conflict
tension within one individual due to two or more incompatible goals (e.g., a parent's desires to stay home with his or her children and to pursue a career)
intrinsic motivation
the desire to engage in an activity because we enjoy it or find it interesting, not because of external rewards or pressures
introspection
the process whereby people look inward and examine their own thoughts, feelings, and motives
investment model
the theory holding that people's commitment to a relationship depends on their satisfaction with the relationship in terms of rewards, costs, and comparison level; their comparison level for alternatives; and how much they have invested in the relationship that would be lost by leaving it