4.3 Social Situations

Social impairment

• Improved performance on familiar tasks in the presence of others.

• Worsened performance on difficult or unfamiliar tasks in the presence of others.

• No change in performance regardless of the presence of others.

• Enhanced social skills in group settings.

Conformity

• Adjusting one's behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard.

• Making decisions independently of group influence.

• Seeking to stand out and be unique in a group.

• Following personal beliefs regardless of social norms.

Altruism

• A self-centered approach to life.

• Unselfish regard for the welfare of others.

• A strategy for personal gain.

• Indifference to the needs of others.

Normative social influence

• Adjusting behavior to fit in with a group and gain their approval.

• Making decisions based on personal beliefs regardless of group opinion.

• Following rules and regulations set by authority figures.

• Changing one's opinion to align with factual information.

Group polarization

• The tendency for a group's prevailing attitudes to become more extreme after discussion.

• The process by which individuals in a group make decisions that are more cautious than they would individually.

• The phenomenon where group members suppress dissenting viewpoints to maintain harmony.

• The tendency for groups to make decisions that are riskier than the individual members would make alone.

Internal locus of control

• The belief that one controls their own destiny.

• The belief that external factors control one's life.

• The belief that luck determines outcomes.

• The belief that others are responsible for one's success.

Self-fulfilling prophecy

• A belief that leads to its own fulfillment.

• A false belief that is easily disproven.

• A belief that has no impact on reality.

• A belief that is universally accepted.

Groupthink

• A way of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives.

• A method of brainstorming that encourages all ideas to be considered equally.

• A decision-making process that prioritizes individual opinions over group consensus.

• A strategy for conflict resolution that avoids confrontation.

Superordinate goal

• A shared goal that necessitates cooperative effort, overriding people's differences.

• A personal objective that individuals pursue independently.

• A goal that is only achievable through competition.

• A goal that is irrelevant to group dynamics.

Social trap

• A situation where individuals prioritize long-term benefits over short-term gains.

• A scenario where a group works together to achieve a common goal without negative consequences.

• A situation in which a person or group actively work to attain a short-term goal then ends in long-term consequences for a larger population.

• A condition where cooperation leads to mutual benefits for all parties involved.