12 Social Psychology Flashcards
has been defined as the study of how people think about,
influence, and relate to other people and on how people’s thoughts, feelings, and
actions are affected by others
social psychology
is the area of social psychology that explores how people
select, interpret, remember, and use social information
social cognition
refers to seeing someone and then forming impression
and making judgments about that person’s likability and the kind of person he
or she is.
person perception
what are the four factors that influence your judgement
- physical appearance
- need to explain
- Influence on behavior.
- Effects on race.
This factor influences your initial impressions and judgments of a person
physical appearance
When you see a person, you don’t just look at him/her, but rather you try to
explain why he looks, dresses, or behaves in a certain way.
need to explain
The first impression you have on a person influences how you would
interact with a person.
influence on behavior
This means we may perceive faces that are racially different from our own
in a biased way because they do not appear as distinct as faces from our won race.
effects on race
has been recognized as a powerful social cue
physical attractiveness
is a general belief about a group’s characteristics that does not consider any
variations from one individual to another.
stereotype
two major functions of stereotype
- Thought – saving device.
- Alertness and survival
In making social decisions, stereotypes help us conserve
time and energy thus make quick (and sometimes inaccurate) decisions by not
having to analyze an overwhelming amount of personal and social information.
thought-saving device
It makes us alert and
cautious around members of an unfamiliar group.
alertness and survival
helps us get explanation on the underlying causes of a person’s
behaviors (situational and dispositional).
attribution theory
are based on the external circumstances or situations which are
outside the person
situational causes
(based on her internal traits or personality characteristics)
dispositional cause
Typical attribution biases include the following:
- halo effect
- assumed-similarity bias
- self-serving bias
- fundamental attribution error
refers to a phenomenon in which an initial understanding that a person has
positive traits is used to infer other uniformly positive characteristics.
halo effect
would occur when we assume that people’s attitudes, opinions,
likes and dislikes are fairly similar with ours even when we just meet them for the first time.
assumed-similarly bias
refers to the tendency to attribute personal success to personal factors
(skill, ability or effort) and to attribute failure to factors outside oneself.
self-serving bias
refers to the tendency to over attribute others’ behavior
to dispositional causes and the corresponding minimization of the importance of situational
causes.
fundamental attribution error
is any belief or opinion that includes an evaluation of some object, person,
or event along a continuum from negative to positive and that predisposes us to act in a
certain way toward that object, person, or event.
attitude
This component of attitude includes both thoughts and beliefs
that are involved in evaluating some object, person, or idea.
cognitive component
involves emotional feelings that can be weak or strong,
positive or negative.
affective component
involves performing or not performing some behavior.
behavioral component
3 components of attitudes
- cognitive component
- affective component
- behavioral component
Attitudes are form on the basis of our personal experiences
attitude formation
Just as attitudes guide behavior, several evidences also exist that
changes in behavior sometimes precede changes in attitudes
attitude change
two popular theories that explain why people change their attitudes:
- cognitive dissonance
- self-perception theory
It is an uncomfortable state that occurs when our outward
behavior doesn’t match our attitude.
cognitive dissonance
was conceptualized by Daryl Bem (1967). It says that we
first observe or perceive our own behavior and then, as a result, we change our
attitude.
self-perception theory
is described as the process of changing attitudes; one of the central concepts of
social psychology.
persuasion
two primary information-processing routes to persuasion and they
are:
- central route processing
- peripheral route processing
occurs when the recipient thoughtfully and carefully
considers the issues and arguments involved in persuasion.
central route processing
occurs when people are persuaded on the basis of
factors unrelated to the nature or quality of the content of a persuasive message.
peripheral route processing
Groups typically have rules for behavior, known as
social norms
can be explicit, or conscious;
can also be implicit, or unconscious.
social norms
refers to a change in behavior or attitudes brought about by a desire to follow
the beliefs or standard of other people
conformity
occurs when we simply agree to do something because another person asks
us to do it, even if that person has no authority over us.
compliance
refers to the performance of some behaviors in response to an order given
by someone in a position of power and authority.
obedience
3 approaches of aggression
- instinct theories
- frustration-aggression theory
- observational learning
refers to social behavior whose objective is to harm someone,
either physically or verbally.
aggression
propose that aggression is primarily the outcome of innate or inborn urges.
instinct theories
Lorenz an ethologist (a scientist who studies animal behavior)asserted that aggressive energy
constantly builds up in an individual until the person finally discharges it in a process
catharsis
suggests that frustration produces anger, leading to a
readiness to act aggressively.
frustration-aggression theory
asserts that people learn to behave aggressively by observing
aggressive models and by having their aggressive responses reinforced
observational learning
which is also called helping, is any behavior that benefits others or
has positive social consequences
prosocial behavior
an unselfish interest in helping another person
altruism
In contrast to
altruism is _____ which involves giving to another person to gain self-esteem
egoism
means that we behave kindly under the assumption that
someone will show us the same kindness someday
principle of reciprocity
a group togetherness, which is determined by how much group
members perceived that they share common attributes
group cohesion
which is described as formal or informal rules about how group members
should behave, can exert powerful influences, both good and bad, on group member’s
behaviors
group norm
states that we are driven to compare ourselves to others who are
similar to us, so that we can measure the correctness of our attitudes and beliefs
social comparison theory
group membership
social comparison theory
group influence
- deindividuation
- social contagion
the increased tendency for subjects to behave irrationally or perform
antisocial behaviors when there is less chance of being personally identified .
deindividuation
is defined as an imitative behavior involving the spread of behavior,
emotions, and ideas
social contagion
group performance
Social facilitation
occurs when the presence of other people changes individual performance
social facilitation
refers to a person’s tendency to exert less effort in a group because of
reduced accountability for individual effort. Its effect is lowered performance
social facilitation
Being in a group creates social pressures that influence how we think and
make decisions.
group decision making
2 important factors to consider to understand group decision making
- group polarization
- group think
When individuals discussed the dilemmas as a group, they were more willing to
endorse riskier decisions than when they were queried alone
group polarization
Refers to the impaired group decision making that occurs when making the right
decision is less important than maintaining group harmony
group think
(interpersonal attraction) factors that initially attract two people to each other
- proximity or physical closeness
- mere exposure
- similarity
- physical attractiveness
You are more likely to become
attracted to an individual you pass in the corridor everyday than
someone you rarely see.
proximity or physical closeness
This concept stresses that repeated exposure to a
person is often sufficient to produce attraction.
mere exposure
Knowing that others have similar attitudes, values, or
traits makes us like them more.
similarity
People who are physically attractive are
more popular than physically unattractive ones.
physical attractiveness
starts with sharing personal information about yourself which
follows a regular progression as people become more intimate with each other.
building relationship
sternberg’s triangular theory of love
- decision/commitment
- intimacy
- passion
the initial thoughts that one loves someone and the intent to
maintain the relationship over time.
decision/commitment
refers to the feelings of closeness and connectedness.
intimacy
the motivational drives relating to sex, physical closeness, and romance.
passion
people continue to use openness
and self-disclosure as relationship mature, along with
participation in joint activities, provision of reassurance, and
communication
maintaining relationship
There are times when maintaining a relationship is
difficult, one of the reasons could be that one person is
just wrong for someone. A sense of inequity or unfairness
in a relationship may also cause it to end
ending relationship
