Social Cognition
15 evidence-labeled concepts on Social Cognition, drawn from the Shrink Atlas. Each concept is a short lesson: what it is, why it matters, how to work with it. Explore the list, or start with the one that fits your question today.
Actor-Observer Bias
For ourselves it was the situation, for others it was their character.
Authority Bias
The badge does some of the convincing before the argument is even heard.
Availability Cascade
Repetition turns a claim into a truth without ever passing through proof.
Bandwagon Effect
The size of the crowd becomes its own argument for joining.
Cognitive Dissonance
The mind hates holding two clashing ideas, so it bends one until the tension eases.
Empathic Accuracy
Empathy is caring, empathic accuracy is caring and being correct.
Halo Effect
A single strong impression quietly colors everything else we judge about someone.
Ingroup Attribution Bias
The same act becomes virtue in us and accident in them.
Just-World Hypothesis
The wish for a fair world can quietly turn into blaming its victims.
Mentalizing
Mentalizing is treating behavior as the visible edge of an inner world.
Moral Licensing
A recent good deed quietly buys a permission slip for a later lapse.
Motivated Reasoning
We use real reasoning, but we aim it at the answer we were hoping for.
Priming
One cue can quietly warm up related ideas, shaping what you think of next.
Shared Reality
Shared reality is the closeness that comes from seeing the same thing together.
Theory of Mind
Theory of mind is the recognition that other minds hold their own separate contents.
How this library is organized
Every concept in Social Cognition lives in one of six realms of the Shrink Atlas and carries an honest evidence label. This page is a navigation aid; the concept pages are where the lessons are. Follow one, or come back tomorrow for the daily concept.
See the whole Atlas · See the frameworks that use these concepts · See guided pathways