Ch 13- social psychology Flashcards
halo effect
those who are physically attractive are considered to have more positive qualities: they are considered nicer, more well-adjusted psychologically, more competent and honest.
schemas
Our expectations about the type of person someone is, or what a particular experience should be, affects our impression.
Attributions
are the inferences that people make about what causes behaviour.
The most common ways we define others’ behaviour is in terms of whether it’s an _____ or an ______ cause.
- internal (dispositional)
2. external (situational)
Fundamental attribution error
the tendency to use dispositional attributions to explain the behaviour of other people.
Defensive attributions
we blame victims for their predicament.
Self-serving bias
we attribute our failures to situational factors and our successes to dispositional factors
Actor-observer bias
the discrepancy between how we explain other people’s behaviour (dispositionally) and how we explain our own behaviour (situationally).
ex of self-serving bias
If you fail an exam, you might say, “I was too stressed”. If you do well, you instead say, “I’m awesome!!!”
ex of Actor observer bias
“Smokers are weak; I’m just smoking because I’m stressed”
Collectivist cultures are those who put group goals ahead of ________-
one’s own individual goals (Eastern cultures).
Collectivists are less likely to make the ________ error and commit _____ than North Americans, who tend to be individualistic (focusing on one’s own goals over the group).
- fundamental attribution
2. self-serving bias
the ABC’s of attitudes:
A = affect; B = behaviour and C = cognition.
cognitive component
beliefs, ideas
affective component
emotions, feelings
behavioural component
predispositions to act
Measuring attitudes can be done what two ways?
- explicitly
2. implicitly
explicitly
using self-report measures to assess our conscious attitudes
implicitly
using more subtle, covert ways, detectable only through automatic or unobtrusive measures.
Implicit Association Task (IAT)
The theory behind it is that we have quicker reaction times to things we like or agree with.
Many studies show a difference on implicit measures compared to explicit measures; we may be _____ , but ______.
- explicitly non-prejudiced
2. implicitly prejudiced
aggression
a broad range of behaviours intended to harm others.
altruism
self-sacrificing behaviour carried out for the benefit of others.
cognitive dissonance
a state of emotional discomfort people experience when they hold two contradictory beliefs or hold a belief that contradicts their behaviour.
conformity
the tendency to yield to social pressure.
group
an organized, stable collection of individuals in which the members are aware of and influence one another and share a common identity.
group polarization
the intensification of an initial tendency of individual group members brought about by group discussion.
implicit attitude
an attitude of which the person is unaware.
norms
social rules about how members of a society are expected to act.
obedience
the act of following direct commands, usually given by an authority figure.
prejudice
negative and unjust feelings about individuals based on their inclusion in a particular group.
self-perception theory
a theory suggesting that when people are uncertain of their attitudes, they infer what the attitudes are by observing their own behaviour.
social cognition
the way in which people perceive and interpret themselves and others in their social world.
social facilitation
an effect in which the presence of others enhances performance.
social identity theory
a theory that emphasizes social cognitive factors in the onset of prejudice.
social loafing
a phenomenon in which people exert less effort on a collective task than they would on a comparable individual task; also known as free riding.
social psychology
an area of psychology that seeks to understand, explain, and predict how people’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviours are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others.
stereotypes
fixed overgeneralized and oversimplified beliefs about a person or a group of people based on assumptions about the group
triangular theory of love
a theory proposed by Robert Sternberg that love is composed of three elements: intimacy, passion, and commitment.
A stressor may be ____ (short term) or ____ (long term).
- acute
2. chronic
People may experience stress as what
frustration, pressure, conflict, or danger
Kinds of stressors include
- include daily hassles
- life changes
- traumatic events
- chronic negative situations
- special socio-cultural conditions.
There are two main physiological pathways of stress
- the sympathetic nervous system
2. the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis.
Hans Selye first described the effects of chronic stress, which he called the general adaptation syndrome (GAS). what are the three stages:
- alarm
- resistance
- exhaustion.
The more stress a person experiences, the more ____ the emotions.
negative
the ___ justifiable the inconsistency is, the less ____ there will be
- more
2. dissonance
the ____ justifiable the inconsistency, the more ___ there is, which leads to more attitude change
- less
2. dissonance
effort justification
if we put a lot of effort into something, we’ll claim to like it even more than if we hadn’t put effort into it
conformity will increase with various factors:
the larger the group, the greater the conformity, and the more group unanimity the more conformity
Bystander effect
whereby help becomes less likely when people are in groups versus alone
diffusion of responsibility,
where you think someone else will help
Groupthink
is a common organizational phenomenon whereby a group will suppress critical thinking due to group cohesiveness.
A group can pressure dissenters into agreeing with them, and signs this could be happening in a group near you are:
- Illusion of invulnerability
- Collective rationalization
- Belief in inherent morality of the group
- Stereotypes of out groups
- Direct pressure on dissenters
- Self-censorship
Illusion of unanimity - Self-appointed mind guards
matching hypothesis
whereby people tend to like those of equal attractiveness
Love has been distinguished as ______ (this is the trust, and intimacy type) vs ____ (this is the attraction and sex type).
- compassionate
2. passionate
Passionate love activates the same brain areas as _____
addiction.
4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse as argument strategies that should be avoided:
- being critical of your partner
- contempt (humiliating your partner)
- being defensive
- stonewalling (disengaging in an argument).
