Ch 8 - Social Processes, Attitudes, and Behavior

Question 1

What is social facilitation?

Answer 1

describes the tendency of people to perform at a different level based on the fact that others are around

Question 2

What is deindividuation?

Answer 2

a loss of self-awareness in large groups, which can lead to drastic changes in behavior

Question 3

What is the bystaner effect?

Answer 3

describes the observation that when in a group, individuals are less likely to respond to a person in need

Question 4

What is peer pressure?

Answer 4

refers to the social influence placed on individuals by others they consider equals

Question 5

What is group polarization?

Answer 5

the tendency toward making decisions in a group that are more extreme than the thoughts of the individual group members

Question 6

What is groupthink?

Answer 6

• the tendency for groups to make decisions based on ideas and solutions that arise within a group without considering outside ideas
• ethics may be disturbed as pressure is created to conform and remain loyal to the group

Question 7

What is culture?

Answer 7

describes the beliefs, ideas, behaviors, actions, and characteristics of a group or society of people

Question 8

What is assimilation?

Answer 8

the process by which a group or individual’s culture begins to melt into another culture
- usually uneven, merging of cultures (melting pot)

Question 9

What is multiculturalism?

Answer 9

refers to the encouragement of multiple cultures within a community to enhance diversity

Question 10

What are subcultures?

Answer 10

refer to a group of people within a culture that distinguish themselves from the primary culture to which they belong

Question 11

What is socialization?

Answer 11

the process of developing and spreading norms, customs, and beliefs

Question 12

What are norms?

Answer 12

what determine the boundaries of acceptable behavior within society

Question 13

What are the agents of socialization?

Answer 13

family, peers, school, religious affiliation, and other groups that promote socialization

Question 14

What is stigma?

Answer 14

the extreme disapproval or dislike of a person or group based on perceived differences from the rest of society

Question 15

What is deviance?

Answer 15

refers to any violation of norms, rules, or expectations within a society

Question 16

What is conformity?

Answer 16

changing beliefs or behaviors in order to fit into a group or society

Question 17

When does compliance occur?

Answer 17

• occurs when individuals change their behavior based on the requests of others

Question 18

What are the methods of gaining compliance?

Answer 18

• foot in the door: small request made and after gaining compliance, a larger request is made
• door in the face: large request made first and if refused, smaller request made
• lowball: requestor gets an initial commitment from an individual and then raise the cost of the commitment
• that’s not all: offer made, but before making a decision, is told the deal is even better than expected

Question 19

What is obedience?

Answer 19

a change in behavior based on a command from someone seen as an authority figure

Question 20

What are attitudes?

Answer 20

tendencies toward expression of positive or negative feelings or evaluations of something

Question 21

What are the components of attitude?

Answer 21

ABC

• affective (emotional component): the way a person feels toward something
• behavioral: the way a person acts with respect to something
• cognitive: the way an individual thinks about something which is usually a justification for the other 2 components

Question 22

What is the functional attitudes theory?

Answer 22

states that there are 4 functional areas of attitudes that serve individuals in life: knowledge, ego expression, adaptability, and ego defense

Question 23

What is the learning theory?

Answer 23

states that attitudes are developed through forms of learning: direct contact, direct interaction, direct instruction, and conditiong

Question 24

What is the elaboration likelihood model?

Answer 24

states that attitudes are formed and changed through different routes of information processing based on the degree of elaboration (central/peripheral route processing)

Question 25

What is the social cognitive theory?

Answer 25

states that attitudes are formed through observation of behavior, personal factors, and environment

Question 26

What is Yerkes-Dodson law of social facilation?

Answer 26

being in the presence of others will significantly raise arousal, which enhances the ability to perform tasks one is already good at and hinders the performance of less familiar skills

Question 27

What is the difference between risky and choice shift?

Answer 27

• risky: groups tend to make riskier decisions than individuals
• choice: behavior change of the group as a whole

Question 28

What is the difference between Illusion of invulnerability, Illusion of morality, and illusion of unanimity?

Answer 28

• invulnerability: the creation of optimism and encouragement of risk taking
• morality: the belief that the group’s decisions are morally correct
• unanimity: the false sense of agreement within the group

Question 29

Collective rationalization?

Answer 29

ignoring warnings against the ideas of the group

Question 30

Excessive stereotyping?

Answer 30

the construction of stereotypes against outside opinions

Question 31

Pressure for conformity?

Answer 31

the pressure put on anyone in the group who expresses opinions against the group, viewing the opposition as disloyal

Question 32

Self censorship?

Answer 32

the withholding of opposing views

Question 33

Mindguards?

Answer 33

the appointment of members to the role of protecting against opposing views

Question 34

What is social loafing?

Answer 34

refers to a decrease in effort seen when individuals are in a group

Question 35

What is the difference between internalization and identification?

Answer 35

• internal: involves changing one’s behavior to fit with a group while also privately agreeing with ideas of the group
• identification: outward acceptance of others’ ideas without personally taking on these ideas

Question 36

What is the difference between primary and secondary socialization?

Answer 36

• primary: initial learning of acceptable behaviors and societal norms during childhood, which is facilitated mostly by parents and other trusted adults
• secondary: learning the norms of specific subgroups or situations during adolescence and adulthood

Question 37

What is the difference between central and peripheral route processing?

Answer 37

• central (high elaboration): scrutinizing and analyzing the content of persuasive information
• peripheral (low elaboration): focusing on superficial details of persuasive information, such as appearances, catchphrases and slogans, and credibility

Question 38

What are the 3 interactive factors of Bandura’s triadic reciprocal causation?

Answer 38

behavior, personal factors, and environment

Question 39

What is the difference between social action and social interaction?

Answer 39

• action: effects of a group on an individual’s behavior (social facilitation, deindividuation, bystander effect, social loafing, and peer pressure)
• interaction: effects that multiple individuals have on each other (group polarization, group thinking)