Ch. 12 soc psych Flashcards
social psychology
Influence of real, imagined or implied presence of others on the person’s THOUGHTS, FEELINGS, BEHAVIOR
social Influence
Process through which the real or implied presence of
others can directly or indirectly influence the
thoughts, feelings and behavior of an individual
Conformity:
* changing one’s own behavior to match that of other
people
Social Cognition
Ways in which people think about other people.
Social Interaction
– Positive and negative aspects of people relating to
others.
Asch’s Study
Conformity increased with each new
confederate un5l there were 4 confederates.
(More than that did not increase par5cipants’
tendency to conform)
* Conformity decreased if there was at least 1
person who gave the correct answer.
* Culture & Era played a rol
Groupthink
occurs when people place more
importance on maintaining group
cohesiveness than on assessing the facts of
the problem with which the group is
concerned
Characteristics of Groupthink
Invulnerability –Members feel they cannot fail.
Rationalization–Members explain away warning signs and help each other rationalize their decision.
Lack of Introspection– Members do not examine the ethical implications of their decisions because they believe that they cannot make immoral choices.
Stereotyping– Members stereotype/label their enemies as weak, stupid, or unreasonable.
Pressure –Members pressure each other not to question the prevailing opinion.
Lack of disagreement –Members do not express opinions that differ from the group consensus.
Self-deception Members share in the illusion that they all agree with the decision.
Insularity –Members prevent the group from hearing disruptive but potentially
useful information from people who are outside the group.
Group polarization
members involved in a
group discussion tend to take somewhat more
extreme posi5ons and suggest riskier ac5ons
when than do individuals who have not
par5cipated in a group discussion
Social facilitation
positive influence
of others on performance
Social impairment
negative influence
of others on
performance
social loafing
other’s presence leads to less effort
–>i.e. freeloading off group work
Deindividuation
a lessening of one’s sense of
personal identity and personal responsibility
– groups or crowds can offer a sense of anonymity
Compliance
changing one’s behavior as a result of other
people directing or asking for the change
Consumer psychology
branch of psychology that studies the habits of consumers in the marketplace, including
compliance
Techniques of compliance
- Foot-in-the-door technique: asking for a small commitment and, after gaining compliance,
asking for a bigger commitment - Door-in-the-face technique: asking for a large commitment and then, after being refused, asking for a smaller commitment
– Norm of reciprocity - Lowball technique: getting a commitment from a person and then raising the cost of that commitment
Obedience
Changing one’s behavior at the command of
an authority figure
Milgram’s Obedience Study
an authority figure ordered participants to deliver what they believed were dangerous electrical shocks to another person
–results suggested that people are highly influenced by authority, and highly obedient.
-the higher the voltage, the more agony experienced (expressed by learner’s script)
Social Cognition
the mental processes that people use to make
sense of the social world around them
Attitude
The tendency to respond posi5vely or
negatively toward a certain person, object,
idea, or situation
–>Formed through experiences and interactions with people.
–> Attitudes are often poor predictors of behavior unless the attitude is very specific or very strong
3 components of attitude
affective, cognitive, behavioral
How are attitudes formed?
vicarious conditioning: watching the ac5ons
and reactions of others to ideas, people,
objects, and situations
–> direct interactions with people and instructions by people
Persuasion
the process by which one person
tries to change the belief, opinion, position, or course of action of another person through argument, pleading, or explanation
key elements in persuasion?
message, source of message, target audience, medium/way of persuasion
elaboration likelihood model
people more likely to predict the future actions of someone if they elaborate
–> people will either elaborate on the persuasive
message or fail to elaborate on it
central-route processing
involves amending to the
content of the message itself
–> the speaker is clear
–> paying attention
peripheral-route processing
attending to factors not involved in the message, such as the expertise of the source of the message, the length of the message, and other non-content factors
–> talk is too long
–> person knows what they’re talking about
Cognitive dissonance
sense of discomfort or
distress that occurs when a person’s behavior does not correspond to that person’s impression
how is cognitive dissonance reduced?
changing the conflicting behavior,
changing the conflicting attitude, or forming a new attitude to justify the behavior
Festinger’s Study (1957)
- Subjects will be told that
they will be participating in a two-hour
experiment. - The subject will be shown the first task which involves putting 12 spool into a tray, emptying it again, refilling the tray and so on.
- “You will be paid ($1 or
$20
Impression formation
forming of the first knowledge a person has about another person
primacy effect
very first impression persists despite evidence of the contrary over time
social categorization
the assignment of a person one has just met to a category based on characteristics the new person has in common with other people with whom one
has had experience in the past
–> stereotypes: a set of characteristics that people believe is shared by all members of a particular social category
Implicit personality theory:
sets of assumptions about how different types of people, personality traits, and actions are related to each other
Implicit Association Test (IAT): measures the degree of association between concepts
i.e. word association
Schemas
mental patterns that represent what a
person believes about certain types of people
Attribution
the process of explaining one’s
own behavior and the behavior of others
Attribution theory
how we attribute feelings and intentions to people to understand their behavior.
–> unconsciously apply this theory when we see someone shouting on public transport & assume they’re a hostile and angry person usually
Situational cause
cause of behavior attributed
to external factors
–delays
–others’ actions
Dispositional cause
cause of behavior
attributed to internal factors
-personality
-character
Fundamental attribution error
the tendency to overestimate the
influence of internal factors in determining
behavior while underestimating situational
factors
Prejudice
negative attitude held by a person
about the members of a particular social
group
Discrimination
treating people differently because of prejudice toward the social group
to which they belong
in-groups
social groups with whom a person
identifies
out-groups
social groups with whom a
person does not identify with
Scapegoating
tendency to direct prejudice and discrimination at out-group members
who have limited social power or influence
Social cognitive theory
views prejudice as an attitude acquired through direct instruction, modeling, and other social influences
Social identity theory
the formation of a person’s identity within a particular social group is explained by social categorization, social identity, and social comparison
social identity
the part of the self-concept
including one’s view of self as a member of a
particular social category
social comparison
the comparison of oneself to
others in ways that raise one’s self-esteem
Stereotype vulnerability
the effect that people’s awareness
of the stereotypes associated
with their social group has on
their behavior
Self-fulfilling prophecy
the tendency of one’s expectations to affect one’s behavior in such a way as to make the expectation more likely to occur
see also: Jared
Equal status contact
contact between groups
in which the groups have equal status, with
neither group having power over the other
“Jigsaw classroom”
educational technique in which each individual is given only part of the information needed to solve a problem, forcing individuals to work together to find
the solution
Interpersonal attraction
liking or having the desire for a relationship with another person
–physical attraction
–proximity
-people like people who are similar to themselves
OR who are different from themselves
(complementary)
– reciprocity of liking: tendency of people to like other people who like them in return
Love
a strong affection for another person
due to kinship, personal ties, sexual attraction,admiration, or common interests
components (Sternberg): intimacy, passion, commitment
Sternberg’s triangular theory of love
intimacy. passion, commitment combine to make diff types of love: liking, infatuation, empty love, romantic love, companionate love, fatuous love
OR:
1. Eros :High passion, chemistry ,Intense & sudden love
- Storge: Believes that friendship is most important ,Sees partner as best friend, Comfortable love based on compatibility
- Ludus :Playful lovestyle, Sees love as game; not interested in commitment, Wants to chase & be chased; When relationship isn’t fun anymore, it’s run its course
- Pragma:Practical love,Based on criteria, Practical approach to romantic relationship
(i.e. dating apps with prompts (Bumble)
5.Mania: Highest of highs or in depths of despair, Super happy with partner or questioning relationship, Tests & games to evaluate commitment
- Agape :Selfless, unconditional love, Combo of storge & eros
Aggression
behavior intended to hurt or destroy
another person
What was the purpose of aggression proposed by Konrad Lorenz?
aggression as an instinct for
fighting to promote the survival of our species
* Biological influences on aggression may include
genetics, the amygdala and limbic system, and testosterone and serotonin levels
frustration-aggression hypothesis
aggression as reaction to frustration
-heat, pain, irritation
social role
the pattern of behavior that is
expected of a person who is in a particular
social posi5on
Altruism
socially desirable behavior that is done with
no expectation of reward and may involve the risk of harm to oneself
Bystander effect
the effect that the presence
of other people has on the decision to help or not help
What happened in the case of Kitty Genovese?
murdered and it was widely reported that numerous witnesses to the murder – as many as 38 – failed to intervene
Diffusion of responsibility
a person fails to take responsibility for action or for inaction because of the presence of other people who are seen to share the responsibility
–> people who were alone were more likely to help in an emergency than people who were with others (Latané and Darley)
5 steps to be a more proactive bystander
-noticing
– defining an emergency
– taking responsibility
– planning a course of action
– taking action
Social neuroscience
the study of how biological processes influence social behavior
– studies use fMRI and other imaging techniques to discover areas of the brain involved in social actions
