Appendix C: Glossary of Terms

Appendix C: Glossary of Terms

Definitions provided by: (Baumeister & Bushman, 2008).

*Indicates a different source.

Aggression - any behavior intended to harm another person who is motivated to avoid the harm.

Authoritarian personality - is a pattern of cross-situational attitudes and behaviors that reflect conventional values, respect for authourity figures, and a desire to punish others who defy authority.

Confirmation bias - the tendency to look for information that supports our views.

Conformity - going along with the crowd.

Deindividuation - the loss of self-awareness and of individual accountability in a group.

Diffusion of responsibility - the reduction in feeling responsible that occurs when others are present.

Discontinuity effect - groups are more extreme, and often more hostile, than individuals.

*Ethnocentrism - a tendency to glorify the ingroup while denigrating outgroups (Bethlehem, 1985).

In-group favouritism - preferential treatment of, or more favourable attitudes toward, people in one's own group.

Ingroup members - people who belong to the same group or category as we do.

Minimal group effect - people show favoritism toward ingroup members even when group membership is randomly determined.

Outgroup homogeneity bias - the assumption that outgroup members are more similar to one another than ingroup members are to one another.

Outgroup members - people who belong to a different group or category than we do.

Prejudice - a negative feeling toward an individual based solely on his or her membership in a particular group.

Scapegoat theory - blaming problems and misfortunes on outgroups contributes to negative attitudes toward these outgroups.

Self-defeating prophecy - a prediction that ensures, by the behavior it generates, that it will come true.

Self-fulfilling prophecy - a prediction that ensures, by the behavior it generates, that it will come true.

Self-serving bias - a pattern in which people claim credit for sucess but deny blame for failure.

Social categorization - the process of sorting people into groups on the basis of characteristics they have in common (e.g., race, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation).

*Social influence theory - has been useful in explaining the behaviour of individuals in groups or individuals given requests by important authority figures (Harrington, 2003/04).

*Social learning theory - (paraphrased) stereotypes and prejudice result from socialization. (Stroebe & Inkso, 1989).

Stereotypes - beliefs that associate groups of people with certain traits.