c13 Flashcards
Social Psychology
examines the influence of social processes on the way people think, feel and behave
Social Cognition
Initial Impressions: initial perceptions make a difference; and have shown strong effects
A person presented with positive traits first was found to be more sociable and happier
Social Influence:
the presence of others energizes performance
Social Norms:
shared expectations about thoughts, feelings and behavior; can vary by time and place; culturally sensitive
Social Role:
Social Role: a set of norms which characterize how people in specific social positions should behave
Role Conflict:
Role Conflict: norms accompanying different roles may clash
Conformity:
Conformity: the adjustment of people’s behavior, attitudes and beliefs to a group.
Informational social influence:
: follow the opinions of those we believe have accurate knowledge and believe they are doing the right or correct or desirable thing.
Normative social influence:
conform to obtain rewards that come from being accepted by other people while trying to avoid rejection.
Situational Influence on behaviors:
Situational Influence on behaviors: see others engaging in a behavior, likely to be influenced by it
Asch Conformity Study
When people were alone they got the answer correct
When in a group only ~ 25% appeared to remain completely independent in their responses.
Factors which affected conformity
Group size: conformity increased from 5-35% as group size increased
After 5 this stabilized
Presence of a dissenter: when someone else dissents he/she serves as a model and it significantly reduces conformity
Cognitive Dissonance
an unpleasant state that arises when a person recognizes inconsistencies in actions, attitudes and beliefs.
Strategies to reduce dissonance:
Focus on more supportive beliefs
Reduce the importance of the conflicting belief
Change the conflicting belief
Attitudes
a positive or negative evaluative reaction toward a person, object or concept
Attitude Strength: ABCD
the durability or impact of an attitude
Durability: if it lasts over time
Impact: if it impacts behavior or thoughts
Cognitive: beliefs about the object
Affective: emotional feelings about the object
Behavioral: predisposition to act in a certain way toward an object
Attitudes do not necessarily determine or predict our behavior
influenced by several factors
Attitudes influence behavior more strongly when the counteracting situational factors are weak
Attitudes
a greater influence over our behaviors when we are aware of them and when they are strongly held
Group effects-Social Loafing:
reduced effort that occurs when people work in groups
Group Polarization:
group discussions lead to more extreme positions
Groupthink:
groups may be less effective to keep agreement among members
Persuasion
the deliberate effort to change or impact one’s attitude
Norm of reciprocity:
: the golden rule; to get you to comply with a request you are given an unsolicited favor or gift
Door in the face technique:
persuader makes a large request expecting you to reject and then makes a smaller request believing you will be more likely to comply
Foot in the Door:
a persuader gets you to comply with a small request and then presents a larger request thinking you will now be more likely to comply
Low-balling:
the persuader gets you to commit to an action then before you perform it the “cost increases”
Obedience:
Obedience: a form of compliance that occurs when people follow direct commands, usually from someone in a position of authority
Altruism
WHEN U DO SOMETHING THAT DOESNT BENEFIT U
Diffusion of responsibility:
when others are present the responsibility to help is divided among those present
Bystander Effect:
people are less likely to provide help when in groups
Bystander Research
Bystander Research
Bystander won’t help if they don’t notice
Decide if it is an emergency
If an emergency: intervene or not
Take on responsibility: begin to question
self-efficacy and confidence
Intervene regardless of cost
Who we are more willing to help:
People who are more similar to us
Women are more likely to be helped than men
Perceived responsibility: more likely to help those who we view as “true victims”
Gender, Race and SES are all variables that impact rates of altruism.
Attraction
Situational Factors:
Proximity: being near increases likelihood;
Exposure/availability increases attraction
Psychological Factors
Similarity in attitudes, values and interests
Physical Factors
Body Shape: males as inverted triangles, females as hour glass
Symmetry: bilaterally symmetrical more attractive
Matching Hypothesis
people tend to opt for those at their same level of attractiveness
Gender Differences:
males and females place significant emphasis on physical attraction in early stages of relationships, but the strength of this feature may not last as long for women (
Passionate Love:
Passionate Love: intensely emotional and physical
Companionate Love:
Companionate Love: deep affection, share emotional intimacy and friendship
Intimacy:
Intimacy: sense of closeness and sharing
Passion:
Passion: emotional, physical
Commitment:
efforts to maintain the relationship with difficulties and costs
Tell me the triangle
ans
Prejudice:
Prejudice: negative attitudes towards people based on membership in a group
Stereotypes:
Stereotypes: characteristics we attribute to people based on their membership in a group
—————— impact our impressions and attributions
Prejudice and stereotypes impact our impressions and attributions
Discrimination
Discrimination: treat people differently and unfairly based on group affiliation
Illusory correlation:
Illusory correlation: people tend to overestimate the number of confirmations of an association between social traits.
Self-serving bias:
We attribute our successes to personal factors and our failures to situational forces.
Fundamental Attribution Error (Bias):
In contrast to the self-serving bias, we assume others’ failures are due to personal or internal or dispositional factors.
collectivistic cultures
People from collectivistic cultures are less prone to the fundamental attribution error or the self-serving bias
counter biases
but learning about them is one way to start the process.
group membership
Group Membership: We categorize ourselves as “in group” or “out group” and view our members in more favorable terms. Desire to put things into categories had some
Homogeneity Bias:
Homogeneity Bias: believe those in the “out group” are all the same, although we see the diversity within our own group
group conflict.
Working on a common task or goal (superordinate goal) is an effective way to reduce in/out group conflict.
solutions for complex challenges such as systemic racism and bias.
Teaching about implicit biases and challenging incorrect assumptions can be helpful in reducing negative stereotypes and behaviors.
Direct contact with individuals from another group reduces prejudice.
Intergroup contact can increase a new intergroup identity encouraging more positive and realistic perceptions of those in the other group.
Direct contact through the development of intergroup friendships is a particularly successful method to reduce prejudice and negative attributions.
