Ch. 9- Social Psychology Flashcards
psychological arousal
alertness and readiness to respond
social facilitation
you perform better in higher psychological arousal settings
Yerkes-Dodson law
you will perform the best under conditions of moderate arousal
social loafing
being less helpful/productive in a group because other people will pick up the slack
bystander effect
if there are bystanders present, you’re less likely to help someone in distress because you think “someone else is going to help them”
deindividuation
people tend to lose their sense of self-awareness in a large group setting (low perceived responsibility)
what three main factors contribute to deindividuation?
anonymity, diffused responsibility, and group size
anonymity (deindividuation)
the sense that no one will know what you do in a crowd
diffused responsibility (deindividuation)
the sense that you’re not really responsible for what happens
group size (deindividuation)
a factor that increases the effects of anonymity and diffused responsibility
group polarization
tendency of a group to make decisions or final opinions that are more extreme than the initial positions of the individuals in the group (ie. people saying “yeah chocolate is good” -> “CHOCOLATE IS THE ULTIMATE SUPERFOOD”)
two main factors that contribute to group polarization
informational influence and normative influence
informational influence
idea that in a group discussion, people who aren’t sure about their opinions tend to think that other people in the group are more knowledgeable, therefore trusting their ideas more
normative influence
desire to be socially accepted, so tend to agree with the group you want to be part of
groupthink (Irving Janis)
irrational decisions are made within a group due to pressures towards harmony and individual conformity. has 8 main factors
8 main factors of groupthink (3 illusions + CEMPS)
- illusion of morality
- illusion of unanimity
- illusion of invulnerability
- collective rationalization
- excessive stereotyping
- mindguards
- pressure on dissenters
- self-censorship
collective rationalization
group members ignore warnings and do not reconsider their actions, assumptions, or beliefs
excessive stereotyping
members construct negative views of those outside the group who have dissenting opinions
illusion of invulnerability
an unjustified and excessive sense of optimism encourages risk-taking
illusion of morality
members of the group believe in the moral rightness of their cause and therefore ignore the consequences of their actions
illusion of unanimity
the majority views of the group are assumed to be unanimous
mindguards
members of the group protect the group’s cohesiveness by filtering out information that would be problematic
pressure on dissenters
members who express opposing views are pressured to conform and remain loyal to the group
self-censorship
members who do hold dissenting opinions do not share them
what is the difference between group polarization and groupthink?
group polarization involves an increase in extremeness of views, but does not involve making decisions. Groupthink involves making irrational decisions
conformity
situations where someone’s behavior, beliefs, or thinking changes to line up with someone else’s or the social norms
convergence/congruence
someone’s beliefs or behaviors just happen to line up with those of the group
internalization/conversion (subtype of conformity)
genuine change in someone’s beliefs
compliance (subtype of conformity)
someone goes along with the group but internally dissents
identification
middle ground: someone’e behavior and beliefs change, but only kind of, and only in the presence of that group.
Solomon Asch experiment
indicates conformity power: how likely someone was going to go along with the group to give an incorrect answer
compliance (request-related)
obeying requests from someone who has no power to enforce them
foot-in-the-door technique
first making a small request, then later making a large request. people saying yes to the small request are more likely to also say yes to the larger request
door-in-the face technique
making a large request that you know someone will say no to, then making a smaller request that seems more reasonable.
low-ball technique
offering something at a low price, then raising it at the last minute after the customer is invested in the purchase
obedience
change in behavior in response to a direct request from someone who has the power to enforce that request
the Milgram experiment
experiment where people were “told” to shock someone else when they made a mistake to see how far people would go in inflicting pain on others when directly told to do so
Stanford Prison Experiment
an experiment where people were simulated prisoners and guards and watched their behavior towards each other (prisoners got depressed, guards got sadistic)
social control
the ways that norms are taught, enforced, and perpetuated.
deviance
when someone doesn’t follow a norm
formal norms
a norm that’s a law with penalties for violations of that norm
informal norms
a norm that’s not written down anywhere and are more expectations than rules, no fixed penalties for violation
folkways
relatively insignificant informal norms that typically involve small everyday life details in behavior (ie. mismatched clothing)
mores
significant informal norms- you’ll get some serious disapproval for violating them. (ie. cheating on your SO, being a jerk)
taboos
things that you DO NOT do, can be culture specific, sometimes blur the lines between formal and informal norms (ie. cannibalism, incest)
sanctions
any punishment or negative consequence for violating a social norm AND reward for following the norms
peer pressure
how the desire of approval from your peer group (or fear of disapproval) can be a powerful motivator
anomie
there is no longer a good match between society’s stated norms and the norms that an individual responds to
differential association theory
deviance = a behavior you learned in a social setting
symbolic interactionism theory
society is created and maintained through face-to-face, repeated, meaningful interactions among individuals
labeling approach to deviance
being labeled as a deviant shapes people’s identity in a way that increases the frequency of the behavior
primary deviance
deviant acts committed before someone is labeled a deviant
secondary deviance
deviant acts committed after being labeled a deviant (partially in retaliation to the label)
strain theory
deviant behavior occurs in some people where there is a mismatch between socially acceptable goals and socially acceptable ways to get there
general strain theory
people who experience social, economic, or personal stressors may have negative emotional experiences that push them towards deviance or crime
socialization
how we learn the formal and informal norms that govern society
mass hysteria
a fad, but the behavior that becomes “popular” is people irrationally freaking out about a percieved threat (ie. witch trials, anti-vax)
fads
a new behavior becomes super popular, then its popularity fades
riots
spontaneous episodes of civil disorder where people violently lash out against some form of authority (vandalism, destruction of property)
attributions
ways to explain people’s good or bad behaviors
dispositional attribution
attributing someone’s behavior to their disposition or character
situational attribution
attributing someone’s behavior to their situation or an external focus
consistency cues
if someone’s behaviors are consistent over time, we can make a dispositional attribution.
distinctiveness cues
if someone shows inconsistent patterns of behavior in otherwise comparable situations, we can make a situational attribution
consensus cues
if someone’s behavior doesn’t line up with what’s socially expected, we’re likely to make a dispositional attribution
actor-observer bias
we’re more likely to make a dispositional attribution of someone else, but a situational attribution for ourselves
fundamental attribution error
we’re more likely to apply dispositional attributions than situational attributions to other people
self-serving bias
we’re more likely to make dispositional attributions of our own behavior if the outcomes are good, and situational attributions if the outcomes are bad.
internal locus of control
people think they are able to affect their own personal situations
external locus of control
people use situational attributions to explain their outcomes
halo effect
how positive or negative impressions of someone in one domain can exand to affect our judgements of them in other domains
just-world hypothesis
the idea that good things happen to good people, and bad things happen to bad people.
prejudice
irrational attitudes (positive or negative) towards various groups or objects. (immediate thumbs up or thumbs down based on what you see first thing.)
-emotional
stereotypes
people have certain opinions about what things signal about a person (ie. clothes, race, gender)
-contentful
stereotype content model
stereotypes of social groups can be arranged on two axes: warmth and competence
paternalistic stereotype
high warmth and low competence- low status in society but don’t pose a competitive threat (children, elderly)
admiration stereotype
high warmth and high competence- people felt to be high status and don’t pose a competitive threat (friends, in-group, allies)
contemptuous stereotype
low warmth and low competence- people felt to be low status and pose a competitive threat of some sort (marginalized social groups)
envious stereotype
low warmth and high competence- people felt to be high status and that pose a competitive threat (elites)
discrimination
actions taken to treat somebody differently based on their group or demographic category membership and/or existing prejudices
self-fulfilling prophecy
we alter or sabotage our behavior in response to stereotypes
individual discrimination
reflects behavior on the individual level- a single person treats other people differently based on their groups
institutional discrimination
larger patterns of unequal behavior or outcomes, as mediated by entire institutions
stereotype threat
being reminded (even indirectly) of relevant stereotypes can affect someone’s performance
stereotype boost
people can perform better if they are reminded of positive stereotypes that apply to them
stigmatized
when society strongly disapproves of certain behaviors and identities (aka. has stigma)
ethnocentricism
viewing all phenomena through one’s cultural lens
cultural relativism
taking the perspective of different cultures with different normative behaviors from one’s own
