Ch. 12 - Social Behavior Flashcards
Social psychology is concerned with…
the way individuals’ thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by others
Person perception is the process of…
forming impressions of others
Illusory correlation occurs when…
people estimate that they have encountered more confirmations of an association between social traits than they have actually seen
—Ex. “I have never met an honest lawyer”
Ingroup is a group that…
one belongs to and identifies with— tend to be viewed in a favorable light
Outgroup is a group that…
one does not belong to or identify with— tend to be viewed in terms of negative stereotypes
Attributions are interferences that…
Individuals make attributions because…
people draw about the causes of events, others’ behavior, and their own behavior
—Ex. conclude that your friend declined your invitation because she is overworked
Individuals make attributions because they have a strong need to understand their experiences
Internal attributions ascribe the causes of behavior to…
personal dispositions, traits, abilities, and feelings
—Ex. if your friend’s business fails and you attribute it to their lack of business skills, you get a bad grade and you say “I’m stupid”
External attributions ascribe the causes of behavior to…
situational demands and environmental constraints
—Ex. if you attribute your friend’s business failing to the nation’s economic climate – this takes more effort so it’s LESS common than internal attributions
Fundamental attribution error refers to the…
observers’ bias in FAVOR of internal attributions in explaining others behavior – this process is basically effortless whereas explaining someone’s behavior in terms of situational factors take significantly more effort
Self-serving bias is the tendency to…
attribute one’s success to personal factors (internal) and one’s failure to environmental factors (external)
Individualism involves…
putting goals ahead of group goals and defining one’s identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group membership
Collectivism involves…
putting group goals ahead of personal goals and defining one’s identity in terms of the groups one belongs to
Interpersonal attraction refers to…
positive feelings toward another person
Matching hypothesis proposes that…
males and females of approximately equal attractiveness are likely to select each other as partners
Attitude alignment is when people…
people who are close gradually modify their attitudes in ways that make them more congruent
Reciprocity is… and is driven by…
liking those who like us and is driven by positive feedback
Passionate love is the…
and is associated with…
complete absorption in another that includes tender sexual feelings and the agony and ecstasy of intense emotion— associated with large swings in positive and negative emotion
Compassionate love is…
warm, trusting, tolerant affection for another whose life is deeply intertwined with one’s own
The Cognitive component of attitudes is made up of: (1)
beliefs that a person hold about the object
The Affective component of attitudes are: (1)
emotions/what you feel
The Behavioral component of attitudes are: (1)
predispositions to act in certain ways toward an object
Explicit attitudes are attitudes that…
one holds and can readily describe
Implicit attitudes…
covert attitudes that are expressed in subtle automatic responses over which one has little conscious control
Mere exposure effect is the finding that…
repeated exposure to a stimulus promotes greater liking of the stimulus
—Ex. study whether a word represented something good or bad and findings showed that the more they were exposed to it the more favorable they rated it
Cognitive dissonance exists when related…
attitudes or beliefs contradict each other— sheds light on why some people come to believe their own lies
need to realign themselves
A study of Cognitive dissonance’s made by…
Which entailed…
Festinger
Study entailed: giving people the most boring task then a questionnaire about the level of enjoyability (scores were low) – then paid one group $20 and one group $1 to tell the next group that it wasn’t that bad – the people paid $1 to lie rated the task higher after lying because $1 is not that much incentive – $20 rated it the same
Conformity occurs when…
people yield to real or imagined social pressure
—Ex. if you were to maintain your lawn only to avoid complaints/comments from your neighbors – no one has to put pressure on you, just what you think may happen or be said – avoids discomfort – usually a positive thing (following a crowd when the fire alarm goes off to find the exit)
Normative influence operates when…
people conform to social norms for fear of negative social consequences—all about being liked
Informative influence operates when…
people look to others for guidance about how to behave in ambiguous situations—all about being right
Obedience to authority was studied by…
Stanley Milgram
Social roles are…
widely shared expectations about how people in certain positions are supposed to behave
Social loafing is the…
reduction in effort by individuals when they work in groups as compared when they work by themselves— diffusion of responsibility
Group polarization occurs when…
the group discussion strengthens a group’s dominant point of view and produces a shift toward a more extreme decision in that direction
Groupthink occurs when…
members of a cohesive group emphasize the concurrence at the expense of critical thinking in arriving at a decision—does not produce effective decision-making
—Ex. someone is explaining something wrong and you don’t speak up because you don’t want to cause tension
Group facilitation is an…
increased performance when others are watching/will be judging— only works when someone has high expertise otherwise they will likely choke under pressure
