Ch 12 Social Psychology Part 1 Flashcards
What are the three main areas of social psychology.
- Social Influence – how we are influenced by others.
- Social Cognition – how we think about others.
- Social Interaction – how we interact with others.
What is conformity?
Conformity is a characteristic of social influence, changing ones behavior to more closely match the actions of others.
Asch’s Classical study on conformity saw the fact we can get intelligent people to conform to something not true with the line study. When subjects were asked to judge line lengths in a group. 7 subjects: the 6th was real, rest were confederates. Confederates consistently gave obvious wrong answers. The subject often conformed (about 1/3 of the time) and gave the wrong answers.
What are the conditions that increase with conformity?
- Group size- conformity increase as group size increases up to 4.
- Group is unanimous (lack of dissensions) – even one dissenter significantly reduces conformity.
- Group observes one’s behavior – when behavior s not private , but publicly known.
- Culture-collectivist cultures tend to show more conformity than individualistic cultures.
- Other researchers has shown feeling of incompetence, insecurity, and low self esteen all increase conformity.
What are the reasons for conformity?
There are two reasons for conformity.
1. Normative Social Influence which is a person’s desire to gain approval or avoid rejection. Respecting normative behavior, because price may be severe if not followed.
- Informational Social Influence where group may provide valuable information. When the task is difficult or you are unsure, it makes sense to listen to others.
What is group think?
Goupthink occurs when people place more importance on maintaining group cohesioness than on assessing the fact of the problem with which the group is concerned.
What are the characteristics of group think?
The Characteristics groupthink include:
- Invulnerability-member feel the cant fail.
- Rationalization- members explain away any warning signs.
- Lack of introspection-members do not examine ethical implications of their decisions because they believe they cannot make immoral decisions.
- Stereotyping- member stereotype enemies as weak.
- Pressure- members pressure each other to not question the prevailing opinion.
- Lack of disagreement- members don’t express opinion that differ from the group consensus.
- Self deception- member share share in the illusion that they all agree with the decision.
- Insularity- member prevent the group rom hearing disruptive, but potentially useful information rom people who are outside the group.
What is social influence.
Social influence is the ways in which a person’s thoughts feelings, and behavior can be affected by others. It includes conformity, compliance, obedience, and group Influence.
Describe group behaviors?
Conformity and Groupthink provide examples of a group influencing behavior, but there are others including:
Group polarization, social facilitation, social impairment, and deindividuation.
What is group polarization?
Group polarization occurs members involved in a group discussion tend to take somewhat more extreme positions and suggest riskier actions when than do individuals who have not participated in a group discussion.
What is social facilitation?
Social facilitation is a positive influence of others on performance.
What is social impairment?
Social impairment i the negative influence of others on performance. It includes social loafing when people who are lazy tend not to do as well when other people are also
working on the same task, but they can do quite well when working on their own because it is easier to hide laziness when working in a group.
What is deindividualization?
Deindividuation is a lessening of one’s sense of personal identity and personal responsibility due to the fact that groups or crowds can offer a sense of anonymity.
What is compliance?
Compliance occurs when people change their behavior as a result of another person or group asking or directing them to change. There are 3 components of compliance: foot-in-the-door, door-in-the-face, and lowball.
Describe the foot-in-the-door compliance technique.
Foot‐in‐the‐door technique is asking for a small commitment and, after gaining compliance, asking for a bigger commitment.
Describe the door-in-the-face compliance technique.
Door‐in‐the‐face technique is asking for a large commitment and then, after being refused, asking for a smaller commitment.
