Ch 13-Behaviour in a Social Context

Question 1

social psycholgoy

Answer 1

study of causes and consequences of sociality, how ppl interact with each other and influence others to change
-humans are one of only a few ultra social species (form societies, have division of labour, cooperate fro mutual benefits), which helps in terms of survival, especially when resources are limited or scarce

Question 2

cooperation

Answer 2

behaviour by 2+ indvs that leads to mutual benefit

• can be risky, and often requires high degree of trust in the other, but has the potential for great reward
  ex. the prisoners’ dilemma, the ultimatum game

Question 3

group

Answer 3

a collection of people with something in common that distinguishes them from other groups

Question 4

prejudice

Answer 4

negative evaluation/attitude based on group membership

Question 5

discrimination

Answer 5

negative behaviour based on group membership

Question 6

deindividuation

Answer 6

being part of a group causes and indv to lose their own values and instead adopt those of the group
-this can lead to diffusion of responsibility, which in turn contributes to the bystander effect

Question 7

altruism

Answer 7

acting in a way that benefits another without benefiting oneself
-debate as to whether true altruism exists, as it almost always results in a feel-good benefit
reciprocal altruism is a subset where it is unspokenly presumed that the benefits will actually be returned somewhere down the line

Question 8

attraction

Answer 8

cause by 3 factors:
situational (proximity breeds fondness and familiarity, mere exposure effect (tendency for liking someone/thing to increase as exposure increases))
physical (physical arousal, which may be misinterpreted as attraction, as well as general physical attractiveness (which is a major factor and elicits preferential treatment))
phsychological (we prefer mates with similar attitudes, beliefs, emotions, as it’s easier to connect with them; this is sometimes a precursor to physical attraction)

Question 9

passionate love

Answer 9

• one of 2 basic kinds of love
• experience involving euphoria, intimacy, intense sexual attraction
• often spikes early on in a relationship and drops off we progress

Question 10

companionate love

Answer 10

• one of 2 basic kinds of love
• experience involving affection, trust, concern for partner’s well-being
• grows and develops slowly over the course of the relationship
• likely the reason some arranged marriages work out
• if it fails to develop before passionate love dies down, the marriage might fail

Question 11

social exchange

Answer 11

favourable ratio of costs to benefits within a relationship

• ppl tend to remain in relationships only if they perceive a favourable ratio
• comparison level indicates status and satisfaction in a relationship
• comparison level for alternatives is a ratio of what ppl think they deserve and whether they think they could do better with somebody else; indicates commitment to current relationship
• equity, a state of affairs in which both indv have roughly equal cost-benefit ratios, is ideal (matching effect)

Sunken cost theories say that following a great investment, individuals will settle for less than optimal cost-benefit ratios

Question 12

social norms

Answer 12

customary standards for acceptable behaviours, widely shared by members of a culture

Question 13

normative social influence

Answer 13

desire to have our behaviour accepted by those around us, so we base our actions on what others are doing

Question 14

informational social influence

Answer 14

desire to be correct; act based on knowledge that others appear to have

Question 15

norm of reciprocity

Answer 15

feeling of obligation to pay ppl back (the subjects who sent the researcher a christmas card in return the next year)

Question 16

door-in-the-face technique

Answer 16

• strategy that uses reciprocating concessions to influence behaviour
• asking for more than you expect and then asking for something smaller or more reasonable when they almost inevitably deny the first request

Question 17

obedience

Answer 17

tendency to do what powerful people tell us to do
-milgram’s obendience study (how far will people follow the instructions of a researcher commanding them to administer shocks as punishment? in other words, how long will someone bend to normative pressure?)

Question 18

foot-in-the-door technique

Answer 18

kinda opposed the door-in-the-face technique
-follow up a (granted) small request with a larger request; ppl will be more likely to agree to stay consistent (ex. asking if we can put up the big ugly sign after asking you to sign a petition to support safer driving in the neighbourhood)

Question 19

cognitive dissonance

Answer 19

• unpleasant state of not being consistent in one’s beliefs, behaviours, actions or attitudes
• forces the indv to change their beliefs to alleviate the anxiety or else justify the inconsistencies

Question 20

social cognition

Answer 20

the process by which people come to understand others, often by making inferences based on the categories to which they belong, the things they say and do

Question 21

sterotyping

Answer 21

making inferences about others based on hearsay, observation, assumption and the categories to which they belong
-can be inaccurate and lead to prejudice and discrimination

Question 22

in-group favouritism

Answer 22

tendency to favour members of our own group

Question 23

out-group derogation

Answer 23

attributing negative qualities to people who aren’t members of our own group

Question 24

out-group homogeneity bias

Answer 24

tendency to label all members of out-groups as the same (ex. all women are super emotional)

Question 25

realistic conflict theory

Answer 25

theory that prejudice grows when there’s a competition for limited resources or any sort of threat to the in-group

Question 26

social identity theory

Answer 26

belief that prejudice stems from the need to enhance our own self-esteem (by bringing others down)

Question 27

self-fulfilling prophecy

Answer 27

the tendency for people to cause what they expect to see (ex. black participants asked to list their race in addition to their name on a test performed worse than those who only had to list their names)

Question 28

attribution

Answer 28

an inference about people’s behaviour
comes in 2 flavours:
situational (external) attributions-belief that the behaviour is caused by the situation
personal (internal) attributions-belief that someone’s behaviour is because of who they are (personality)

Question 29

fundamental attribution error

Answer 29

tendency to mistakenly attribute behaviour to personal factors without considering the possibility of situational ones

Question 30

reducing prejudice

Answer 30

equal status contact

• ppl engage w one another in close contact
• eliminate power struggle by equalizing status
• cooperating to achieve a common goal
• supporting with broader social norms