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Social Psychology Cheat Sheet

The core ideas of Social Psychology distilled into a single, scannable reference — perfect for review or quick lookup.

PiqCue — piqcue.com/social-psychology/cheatsheet

Quick Reference

Conformity

The tendency for individuals to adjust their thoughts, feelings, or behaviors to align with those of a group or social norm. Conformity can be driven by a desire to fit in (normative influence) or by the belief that the group possesses better information (informational influence).

Cognitive Dissonance

The psychological discomfort experienced when a person holds two or more contradictory beliefs, values, or attitudes simultaneously. To reduce this discomfort, individuals often change one of the conflicting cognitions, add new cognitions, or reduce the importance of the conflict.

Fundamental Attribution Error

The tendency to overemphasize internal, dispositional factors and underestimate situational factors when explaining other people's behavior. This bias leads observers to attribute actions to a person's character rather than to the circumstances they face.

Social Identity Theory

Developed by Henri Tajfel and John Turner, this theory proposes that people derive a portion of their self-concept from the groups to which they belong. Individuals are motivated to maintain a positive social identity, which can lead to in-group favoritism and out-group discrimination.

Bystander Effect

The phenomenon in which individuals are less likely to offer help in an emergency when other people are present. This occurs through diffusion of responsibility, where each person assumes someone else will intervene, and pluralistic ignorance, where everyone looks to others for cues on how to act.

Obedience to Authority

The tendency for individuals to comply with the demands of an authority figure, even when those demands conflict with personal conscience or ethical standards. Stanley Milgram's experiments demonstrated that situational pressures can override moral reasoning in a majority of people.

Self-Serving Bias

The tendency to attribute one's successes to internal, personal factors such as ability or effort, while attributing failures to external, situational factors such as bad luck or unfair conditions. This bias serves to protect and enhance self-esteem.

Groupthink

A psychological phenomenon that occurs within highly cohesive groups when the desire for harmony or conformity suppresses critical thinking, realistic appraisal of alternatives, and dissenting viewpoints. Groupthink leads to irrational and often poor decision-making outcomes.

Attitudes and Persuasion

Attitudes are evaluative judgments toward people, objects, or ideas that comprise cognitive, affective, and behavioral components. Persuasion research examines how attitudes are formed and changed through factors such as source credibility, message framing, and audience characteristics.

Implicit Bias

Unconscious attitudes or stereotypes that affect understanding, actions, and decisions outside of conscious awareness. Unlike explicit biases that people can report, implicit biases operate automatically and can conflict with a person's stated beliefs and values.

Key Terms at a Glance

Conformity:The adjustment of one's thoughts, feelings, or behaviors to align with group norms or expectations, driven by normative influence (desire to be accepted) or informational influence (belief that the group is correct).
Cognitive Dissonance:The state of psychological tension that occurs when a person simultaneously holds two inconsistent cognitions, motivating them to restore consistency by changing beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors.
Fundamental Attribution Error:The pervasive tendency to attribute others' behavior to their character or disposition while underestimating the impact of situational factors.
Social Identity Theory:A framework proposing that individuals derive self-esteem and identity from the social groups to which they belong, leading to in-group favoritism and intergroup discrimination.
Bystander Effect:The inverse relationship between the number of bystanders present during an emergency and the likelihood that any one person will intervene to help.
Obedience:Compliance with the commands or directives of an authority figure, even when those commands conflict with personal morality, as demonstrated in Milgram's experiments.
Self-Serving Bias:The tendency to attribute personal successes to internal dispositional factors and personal failures to external situational factors, functioning to protect self-esteem.
Groupthink:A mode of group decision-making in which the desire for unanimity overrides realistic appraisal of alternatives, often producing irrational or poorly considered outcomes.
Persuasion:The process of changing attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors through communication, studied through models such as the Elaboration Likelihood Model and the Heuristic-Systematic Model.
Implicit Bias:Unconscious and automatically activated attitudes or stereotypes that influence judgment and behavior without the individual's awareness or intentional control.
Social Facilitation:The enhancement of dominant responses in the presence of others, leading to improved performance on simple tasks and impaired performance on complex tasks.
Social Loafing:The reduction in individual effort when working in a group compared to working alone, resulting from decreased personal accountability in collective settings.
Deindividuation:A state of reduced self-awareness and personal accountability occurring in group situations, often facilitated by anonymity and arousal, which can lead to impulsive or normatively constrained behavior.
Prejudice:A preconceived negative attitude toward members of a social group based on their group membership, encompassing cognitive (stereotypes), affective (emotions), and behavioral (discrimination) components.
Stereotyping:The cognitive process of associating a set of characteristics with members of a particular group, which simplifies social perception but can lead to inaccurate generalizations and prejudice.

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Social Psychology Cheat Sheet - Quick Reference Guide | PiqCue