social psychology

6 articles · All tags

• What Is Groupthink and Why Do Groups Make Bad Decisions?
  Groupthink is a pattern in which a close-knit group suppresses doubt to reach quick agreement, a process Irving Janis described in 1972 and linked to poor decisions.
• The Barnum Effect: Why Vague Personality Readings Feel True
  The Barnum effect is the tendency to rate vague personality descriptions as accurate for oneself, which helps explain why cold readings and horoscopes feel personal.
• The Hawthorne Effect: What It Is and Whether It Holds Up
  The Hawthorne effect is the tendency of people to change their behavior when they know they are being observed, a claim later reviews have made much less certain.
• Social Loafing: Why People Work Less in Groups
  Social loafing is the tendency to put in less effort when working in a group than alone, especially when no one can see how much each person contributed.
• Cognitive Dissonance
  The psychological discomfort caused by holding conflicting beliefs or acting against one's attitudes, and the drive to reduce it.
• The Bystander Effect
  Why the presence of other people can reduce the chance that anyone helps, and what actually enables intervention.