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Credit Sprint's Guide to AP® Psychology, Unit 4: Social Psychology and Personality

AP® weight 15–25%CLEP® Social, personality, motivation

Unit 4 asks how other people shape our thoughts and actions and what makes each person distinct. It covers attitudes, attribution, conformity, obedience, group behavior, helping and prejudice, then personality theories and the motives and emotions that drive behavior.

Maslow's hierarchy of needsSelf-actualization Esteem Love and belonging Safety Physiological needs Lower needs are usually met before higher ones

What you need to know

  • Attribution theory explains how we explain behavior. The fundamental attribution error overweights personality and underweights the situation when judging others, and the self-serving bias credits ourselves for success and blames the situation for failure. Cognitive dissonance (Festinger) is the discomfort of holding conflicting thoughts or actions, which people reduce by changing their attitudes. The foot-in-the-door and door-in-the-face techniques are persuasion strategies.
  • Conformity was shown by Asch's line studies, obedience by Milgram's shock experiments, and role effects by Zimbardo's Stanford prison study. Groups can produce social facilitation, social loafing, deindividuation, groupthink and group polarization. The bystander effect (diffusion of responsibility) explains why people help less when others are present, as with Kitty Genovese's case.
  • Prejudice is a negative attitude, stereotypes are beliefs and discrimination is behavior. Ingroup bias, scapegoating and the just-world phenomenon feed prejudice. Contact under equal status and shared goals (Sherif's Robbers Cave) reduces conflict. Interpersonal attraction is shaped by proximity, similarity, familiarity (mere exposure) and reciprocity. Aggression arises from biology, frustration and learning.
  • Personality theories include psychodynamic (Freud's id, ego, superego, defense mechanisms, psychosexual stages; Jung and Adler as neo-Freudians), humanistic (Rogers' unconditional positive regard and self-concept; Maslow's self-actualization), trait (the Big Five: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism) and social-cognitive (Bandura's reciprocal determinism, self-efficacy, locus of control).
  • Personality assessment includes self-report inventories such as the MMPI, projective tests such as the Rorschach and TAT (criticized as low in reliability and validity) and behavioral observation. The person-situation debate asks how much behavior reflects traits versus context.
  • Motivation theories include instinct, drive reduction, arousal theory (Yerkes-Dodson law: moderate arousal is best for most tasks), incentive theory, Maslow's hierarchy of needs, self-determination (intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation, and the overjustification effect) and the set point for hunger and weight.
  • Emotion theories include James-Lange (arousal first, then emotion), Cannon-Bard (arousal and emotion at the same time), Schachter-Singer two-factor (arousal plus a cognitive label) and Lazarus (appraisal). The amygdala is central to fear, and the facial feedback hypothesis says expressions influence feelings. Display rules differ across cultures, but basic facial expressions are widely recognized.

Exam traps

Watch forFundamental attribution error is about judging other people; self-serving bias is about explaining your own outcomes. They are different.
Watch forPrejudice (attitude), stereotype (belief) and discrimination (behavior) are three separate things.
Watch forJames-Lange: body reacts first, then you feel. Cannon-Bard: both at once. Schachter-Singer: arousal plus a label. Match each to its clue.
Watch forProjective tests like the Rorschach have weak reliability and validity; the MMPI is an objective, self-report inventory.

Key terms

  • Fundamental attribution error: Overestimating personality and underestimating the situation when explaining other people's behavior.
  • Self-serving bias: Taking credit for success and blaming outside causes for failure.
  • Cognitive dissonance: Discomfort from holding two inconsistent thoughts or acting against attitudes, which people reduce by changing something.
  • Foot-in-the-door phenomenon: Agreeing to a small request first makes people more likely to agree to a larger one later.
  • Conformity: Adjusting behavior or thinking to match a group standard.
  • Obedience: Following the orders of an authority figure.
  • Social facilitation: Improved performance on easy tasks when others are present.
  • Social loafing: Putting in less effort when working in a group than when working alone.
  • Deindividuation: Loss of self-awareness and restraint in a group, often arousing and anonymous.
  • Groupthink: A group's desire for harmony overrides realistic appraisal of alternatives.
  • Group polarization: Group discussion strengthens the members' initial leanings.
  • Bystander effect: People are less likely to help when other people are present.
  • Prejudice: An unjustified, usually negative attitude toward a group and its members.
  • Stereotype: A generalized belief about the traits of a group of people.
  • Discrimination: Unjustified negative behavior toward a group and its members.
  • Ingroup bias: Favoring one's own group over others.

Practice questions

Five of the 92 Unit 4 questions in Credit Sprint. Every choice is explained in the app.

1. Which term best fits this description: putting in less effort when working in a group than when working alone?
  1. Self-serving bias
  2. Social loafing
  3. Overjustification effect
  4. Superordinate goals
Show answer

Social loafing. Social loafing fits this description: Putting in less effort when working in a group than when working alone.

2. Which statement best defines the term Repression?
  1. The defense mechanism that pushes unacceptable thoughts out of awareness
  2. An unjustified, usually negative attitude toward a group and its members
  3. Cultural rules about when and how to express emotions
  4. Unjustified negative behavior toward a group and its members
Show answer

The defense mechanism that pushes unacceptable thoughts out of awareness. Repression is defined this way: The defense mechanism that pushes unacceptable thoughts out of awareness.

3. Which term best fits this description: people are less likely to help when other people are present?
  1. Bystander effect
  2. Fundamental attribution error
  3. Projective test
  4. Group polarization
Show answer

Bystander effect. Bystander effect fits this description: People are less likely to help when other people are present.

4. Which statement best defines the term Id?
  1. The idea that emotional experience and bodily arousal occur at the same time
  2. Freud's part of personality with unconscious drives that seeks immediate gratification
  3. Maslow's term for the drive to fulfill one's potential
  4. Taking credit for success and blaming outside causes for failure
Show answer

Freud's part of personality with unconscious drives that seeks immediate gratification. Id is defined this way: Freud's part of personality with unconscious drives that seeks immediate gratification.

5. Which term best fits this description: the idea that emotional experience and bodily arousal occur at the same time?
  1. Prejudice
  2. Bystander effect
  3. Cannon-Bard theory
  4. Cognitive dissonance
Show answer

Cannon-Bard theory. Cannon-Bard theory fits this description: The idea that emotional experience and bodily arousal occur at the same time.