Alphabetical Glossary
a b c d e f g h i jkl m n o pq r s t uvwxyz
scapegoating
the tendency for individuals, when frustrated or unhappy, to displace aggression onto groups that are disliked, visible, and relatively powerless
schemas
cognitive structures people have to organize their knowledge about the social world by themes or subjects; schemas powerfully affect what information we notice, think about, and remember
secure attachment style
an attachment style characterized by trust, a lack of concern with being abandoned, and the view that one is worthy and well liked
self-affirmation theory
a theory suggesting that people will reduce the impact of a dissonance-arousing threat to their self-concept by focusing on and affirming their competence on some dimension unrelated to the threat
self-awareness theory
the idea that when people focus their attention on themselves, they evaluate and compare their behavior to their internal standards and values
self-concept
the contents of the self; that is, our perception of our own thoughts, beliefs, and personality traits
self-esteem
people's evaluations of their own self-worth-that is, the extent to which they view themselves as good, competent, and decent
self-evaluation maintenance theory
the theory that one's self-concept can be threatened by another individual's behavior and that the level of threat is determined by both the closeness of the other individual and the personal relevance of the behavior
self-fulfilling prophecy
the case whereby people (a) have an expectation about what another person is like, which (b) influences how they act toward that person, which (c) causes that person to behave in a way consistent with people's original expectations
self-handicapping
creating obstacles and excuses for ourselves, so that if we do poorly on a task, we have ready-made excuses
self-justification
the tendency to justify one's actions in order to maintain one's self-esteem
self-perception theory
the theory that when our attitudes and feelings are uncertain or ambiguous, we infer these states by observing our behavior and the situation in which it occurs
self-persuasion
a long-lasting form of attitude change that results from attempts at self-justification
self-presentation
the attempt to present who we are, or who we want people to believe we are, through our words, nonverbal behaviors, and actions
self-schemas
organized knowledge structures about ourselves, based on our past experiences, that help us understand, explain, and predict our own behavior
self-serving attributions
explanations for one's successes that credit internal, dispositional factors and explanations for one's failures that blame external, situational factors
self-verification theory
a theory suggesting that people have a need to seek confirmation of their self-concept, whether the self-concept is positive or negative; in some circumstances, this tendency can conflict with the desire to uphold a favorable view of oneself
sensory overload
the situation in which we receive more stimulation from the environment than we can pay attention to or process
social cognition
how people think about themselves and the social world; more specifically, how people select, interpret, remember, and use social information to make judgments and decisions
social comparison theory
the idea that we learn about our own abilities and attitudes by comparing ourselves to other people
social dilemma
a situation in which the most beneficial action for an individual will, if chosen by most people, have harmful effects on everyone
social exchange theory
the theory holding that how people feel about a relationship depends on their perceptions of the rewards and costs of the relationship, the kind of relationship they deserve, and their chances for having a better relationship with someone else
social facilitation
the arousal that results when other people are present and our performance can be evaluated; this arousal enhances our performance on simple tasks but impairs our performance on complex tasks
social groups
groups in which two or more people are interacting with each other and are interdependent, in the sense that to fulfill their needs and goals they must rely on each other
social impact theory
the theory that conforming to social influence depends on the strength, immediacy, and number of other people in a group
social learning theory
the theory that we learn social behavior (e.g., aggression) by observing others and imitating them
social loafing
the relaxation that results when people are in a group and their individual performance cannot be evaluated; this relaxation impairs performance on simple tasks but enhances performance on complex tasks
social norms
the implicit or explicit rules a group has for the acceptable behaviors, values, and beliefs of its members
social perception
the study of how we form impressions of and make inferences about other people
social psychology
the scientific study of the way in which people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other people.
social support
the perception that others are responsive and receptive to one's needs
social-role theory
the theory that sex differences in social behavior are due to society's division of labor between the sexes; this division leads to differences in gender-role expectations and sex-typed skills, both of which are responsible for differences in men's and women's social behavior
sociobiological approach to love
an approach derived form evolutionary biology, which states that men and women are attracted to different characteristics in each other (men are attracted by women's appearance; women are attracted by men's resources) because this maximizes their reproductive success
sociobiology
the application of evolutionary theory to social behavior
source monitoring
trying to identify the source of one's recollections; sometimes people make errors about the source of their memories (e.g., believing a man looks familiar because they saw him at the scene of a crime, when in fact he looks familiar because they saw his picture in the newspaper)
split cable market tests
techniques used to test the effectiveness of advertising, whereby advertisers, in conjunction with cable television companies and grocery stores, show a commercial to a randomly selected group of people and then see whether these people are more likely to buy the product than those who did not see the commercial are
stability
information that indicates whether the cause of the success (or failure) is an enduring characteristic or one that changes or disappears over time
stable attribution
the belief that the cause of an event is due to factors that will not change over time (e.g., your intelligence), as opposed to unstable factors that will change over time (e.g., the amount of effort you put into a task)
stereotype
a generalization about a group of people in which identical characteristics are assigned to virtually all members of the group, regardless of actual variation among the members
stereotype vulnerability
the apprehension experienced by members of a minority group that they might behave in a manner that confirms an existing cultural stereotype
storage
the process by which people store in memory information they have acquired from the environment
stress
the negative feelings and beliefs that occur whenever people feel they cannot cope with demands from their environment
subjective norms
people's beliefs about how those they care about will view the behavior in question
subliminal messages
words or pictures that are not consciously perceived but that supposedly influence people's judgments, attitudes, and behaviors
subtyping model
information inconsistent with a stereotype that leads to the creation of a new substereotype to accommodate the information without changing the initial stereotype
systematic observation
a form of the observational method whereby the observer is a trained social scientist who sets out to answer questions about a particular social phenomenon by observing and coding it according to a prearranged set of criteria