I.

II.

III.

Group Polarization
a. Two explanations for Polarization
i. Exposure to persuasive arguments
ii. Wanting to be above average
Social Influence On Who Receives Help
a. Pluralistic ignorance:
i. People often wait for someone else to decide if an ambiguous situation is
an emergency
b. Diffusion of Responsibility:
i. Even in a clear emergency, each person may ask, Why should I be the
one to risk it?
Love
a. Eros + Ludus
i. Mania
ii. Possessive love
iii. Sometimes I get so excited about being in love with my partner that I
cant sleep
iv. I cannot relax if I suspect my partner is with someone else
b. Pragmatic
c. Eros + Storge
i. Agape
ii. Selfless Love
iii. I would endure all things of the sake of my partner
d. Leudic lovers
i.
Define the fundamental attribution error and the self-serving bias
o Attributions
Are inference that people draw about the causes of events, others
behavior, and their own behavior
Individuals make attributions because they have a strong need to
understand their experiences. They want to make sense out of their own
behavior, others actions, and the events in their lives.
Internal attributions
Ascribe the causes of behavior to personal dispositions, traits,
abilities, and feelings.
External attributions
Ascribe the causes of behavior to situational demands and
environmental constraints.
Fundamental attribution error
refers to observers bias in favor of internal attributions in
explaining others behavior
The self-serving bias in attribution comes into play when people attempt
to explain success and failure
The self-serving bias

Is the tendency to attribute ones successes to personal factors and

ones failures to situational factors
Identify four key factors in attraction
o Physical attractiveness
Level of physical attractiveness
More important for females desirability
o Similarity Effects
Similar in age, race, religion, social class, education, intelligence, physical
attractiveness and attitudes
o Reciprocity Effects
Liking those who show that they like you
Self-enhancement effect
o You help people feel good about themselves
Self-verification effect
o They seek feedback that matches and supports their selfconcepts
o Romantic Ideals
Research suggests that people are happier in their relationship when they
idealize their partners and when their partners idealize them
Define the matching hypothesis
o Proposes that males and females of approximately equal physical attractiveness
are likely to select each other as partners
Evaluate the old saying, opposites attract
o
Distinguish between
o passionate love
is a complete absorption in another that includes tender sexual feelings
and the agony and ecstasy of intense emotion
passionate love
dopamine circuits are activated
o similar to when using cocaine and addictive drugs
o companionate love
is warm, trusting, tolerant affection for another whose life is deeply
intertwined with ones own
more strongly related to relationship satisfaction than passionate
love
Identify three different attachment styles
o Secure attachment
Find it relatively easy to get close to others and described their love
relations as trusting
o Anxious-ambivalent attachment
Preoccupation with love accompanied by expectations of rejection
Described their love relations as volatile and marked by jealousy

o Avoidant attachment
Find it difficult to get close to others as described their relations as lacking
intimacy and trust
State how men and women typically differ in terms of what attracts them
o Men
Generally are more interested than women in seeking youthfulness and
physical attractiveness in their mates because these traits should be
associated with greater reproductive potential
o Women
On the other hand, research shows that women place a greater premium on
prospective mates ambition, social status, and financial potential because
these traits should be associated with the ability to invest material
resources in children
Summarize Aschs findings on conformity, and the determinants of conformity
o Conformity occurs when people yield to real or imagined social pressure
o People confronting a unanimous majority generally tend to resist the pressure to
conform, but given how clear and easy the line judgments were, most social
scientists viewed the findings as a dramatic demonstration of humans propensity
to conform
o Group size and group unanimity turned out to be key determinants of conformity
As groups grow larger, conformity increase up to a point a conclusion
that has been echoed by other researchers
Summarize Milgrams laboratory studies of obedience, and what they tell us about the
power of the situation to cause good people to do terrible things
o Obedience is a form of compliance that occurs when people follow direct
commands, usually from someone in position of authority
o Milgram concluded that obedience to authority was even more common that he or
others anticipated
o Strong pressure from an authority figure can make decent people do indecent
things to others
o Given the right circumstances, any of us might obey orders to inflict harm on
innocent strangers
Give evidence that victims in emergencies are less likely to receive help from large
numbers of people than from individuals, and give an explanation for this effect
o Bystander effect
People are less likely to provide needed help when they are in groups than
when they are alone
Diffusion of responsibility
Apply the same explanation to social loafing
o Two factors appear to contribute to reduced individual productivity in larger
groups
One factor is reduced efficiency
Resulting from the loss of coordination among workers efforts

Second factor contributing to low productivity in groups involves effort

rather than efficiency
o Social loafing is a reduction in effort by individuals when they work in groups as
compared to when they work by themselves
As a group size increases, the responsibility for getting a job done is
divided among more people and many group members ease up because
their individual contribution is less recognizable
Use the concepts of group polarization and groupthink to explain why groups sometimes
make extreme or bad decisions
o Group polarization
Occurs when group discussion strengthens a groups dominant point of
view and produces a shift toward a more extreme decision in that direction
o Groupthink
Occurs when members of a cohesive group emphasize concurrence at the
expense of critical thinking in arriving at a decision
o Group cohesiveness
Refers to the strength of the liking relationships linking group members to
each other and to the group itself
o When groups get caught up in groupthink, members suspend their critical
judgment and the group starts censoring dissent as the pressure to conform
increases
Tell the difference between
o Prejudice
A negative attitude held toward members of a group
o discrimination
which involves behaving differently, usually unfairly, toward the
members of a group
Identify sources of prejudicial attitudes
o Beliefs
o Emotions
o Behavioral dispositions