8 Social processes, attitudes, and behaviour Flashcards
What is the michelangelo phenomenon?
The Michelangelo phenomenon is a phenomenon observed by psychologists in which interdependent individuals influence and “sculpt” each other (opposite of Blueberry phenomenon, in which interdependent individuals bring out the worst qualities in each other. Over time, the Michelangelo effect causes individuals to develop toward what they themselves consider as their “ideal selves”
What is social facilitation?
What is the Yerkes-Dodson law of social facilitation?
The tendency to do better at tasks when surrounded by others
According to the Yerkes-Dodson law of social facilitation being in the presence of others will significantly raise arousal which rises performance in familiar simple tasks and hinders performance of less familiar or complex tasks
Define deindividuation
Loss of individual identities in large crowds
Deindividuation can lead to antinormative behaviour (e.g. terrorism, riots etc.)
Define social loafing
tendency of individuals to put in less effort when in a group setting than individually.
The mechanism behind peer pressure has been explained by the identity shift effect. What is the identity shift effect?
Identity shift effect: the shift in identity to eliminate internal conflict that arises from conforming to the norms, norms that are outside normal behavior, of a group
Define group polarization, risky shift, and choice shift.
In social psychology, group polarization refers to the tendency for a group to make decisions that are more extreme than the initial inclination of its members.
risky-shift effect: A social psychological term, referring to the observed tendency for people to make more daring decisions when they are in groups, than when they are alone. “risky-shift effect.
Choice shift: Choice shift is an aspect of group decision making and is the effect of group processes on the decision making of individual members so that within the group they make different choices than when on their own.
Define groupthink
- Illusion of invulnerability
- Collective rationalization
- Illusion of morality
- Excessive stereotyping
- Pressure for conformity
- Self-censorship
- Illusion of unanimity
- Mindguards
Groupthink: A loss of independent critical thinking
- Illusion of invulnerability: creation of optimism/risk-taking
- Collective rationalization: ignoring warnings against ideas of the group
- Illusion of morality: belief that group’s decisions are morally correct
- Excessive stereotyping: creation of stereotypes against outside opinions
- Pressure for conformity: pressure put on anyone expressing dissenting oppinions
- Self-censorship: withholding of opposing views
- Illusion of unanimity: false sense of agreegment within the group
- Mindguards: appointment of members to the role of protecting against opposing views
Define primary socialization and secondary socialization
anticipation socialization
resocialization
Primary socialization occurs when a child learns the attitudes, values, and actions appropriate to individuals as members of a particular culture.
Secondary socialization refers to the process of learning what is the appropriate behavior as a member of a smaller group within the larger society.
Anticipatory socialization is the process, facilitated by social interactions, in which non-group-members learn to take on the values and standards of groups that they aspire to join, so as to ease their entry into the group and help them interact competently once they have been accepted by it.
Resocialization is the process by which one’s sense of social values, beliefs, and norms are re-engineered. This process is deliberately carried out in a variety of settings such as in many single parent households and military boot-camps, through an intense social process that may take place in a total institution.
What are norms and mores?
Norms: societal rules for acceptable behaviour/social control. Violating invokes sanctions (incarceration, ostradization etc.)
Mores: widely observed social norms
Define folkways
the traditional behavior or way of life of a particular community or group of people (e.g. shaking hands after a sports match)
Deviance, stigmatization, and reputation are strongly linked with the labeling theory. What is labeling theory?
Labeling theory is the theory of how the self-identity and behavior of individuals may be determined or influenced by the terms used to describe or classify them. It is associated with the concepts of self-fulfilling prophecy and stereotyping. Labeling theory holds that deviance is not inherent to an act, but instead focuses on the tendency of majorities to negatively label minorities or those seen as deviant from standard cultural norms.
What is differential association theory?
e.g. ‘falling into the wrong group’
Deviance can be learned through interactions with others.
Intimate exposure to others who engage in deviant behaviour lays the groundwork for one to engage in deviant behaviour him or herself.
When associations with others engaging in deviant behaviour are more numerous or intense than those engaging in normative behaviour, the individual begins to gravitate toward deviant behaviour him or herself.
Define strain theory
Deviance as a natural reaction to the disconnect between social goals and social structure. E.g. people who fall into crime having:
The inability to achieve positively valued goals
The removal of, or threat to remove, positively valued stimuli
To present a threat to one with noxious or negatively valued stimuli
Compare and contrast internalization and identification as social processes
Internalization: changing one’s behaviour to confirm while also privately agreeing with group’s ideas
Identification: acceptance of others ideas without personally taking on those ideas
Describe compliance techniques where a change in behaviour is based on a direct request
- Foot-in-the-door technique: small request is made and then bigger ones follow
- Door-in-the-face technique: large request made at first, and if refused, a smaller second request is made (second goal often the actual goal of requester)
- lowball technique: getting initial commitment and then raising cost
- That’s-not-all technique: adding more before a decision is made
