ch13: social psychology Flashcards
confederates
individuals working with the experimenter, unbeknownst to participants
conformity
the extent to which persons modify their behaviour to be consistent with the behaviour of the surrounding group
attribution theory
a framework used to explain the actions of others as the result of either dispositional or situational causes
what are the two basic attributions when interpreting the actions of others
dispositional/internal causes and situational/external causes
dispositional / internal causes
when another’s behaviours is assumed to be a result of their personality traits and characteristics (used for other’s behaviour)
situational / external causes
whether another’s behaviour is assumed to be a result of environmental causes that are beyond one’s control (used for our own behaviour)
Kelley’s covariation model
identified three factors required when making internal or external attributions: consistency, distinctiveness, and consensus
consistency
how a person acts in the same situation across time
distinctiveness
determines whether the person behaves similarly across different situations
consensus
compares the extent to which an individual’s behaviour resembles the behaviour of others
fundamental attribution error (FAE)
the tendency to attribute the behaviour of others to internal/dispositional causes rather than to external/environmental causes
actor-observer bias
one attributes the causes of one’s own behaviour to external causes and the behaviour of others to internal, dispositional causes
self-serving bias
attributing one’s successes to internal causes and one’s failures to external causes (to preserve self-esteem)
false consensus effect
an overestimation regarding the extent to which others share our beliefs
impression formation
the process by which a person formulates either positive or negative opinions and feelings about another person or group
first impression
the tendency for our initial impression that we have about other persons to be rapid and enduring (assessed within seconds of meeting, negative information is given more weight than positive ones)
primacy effect
the initial information learned about another person has the strongest effect on impression formation, which is most pronounced with the initial information is negative
confirmation bias
the tendency to pay attention to information consistent with one’s existing beliefs and ignore or discard information inconsistent with their beliefs
self-fulfilling prophecy
when desired outcomes are more likely to occur because we unwittingly act in ways to bring them about
social influence
the process by which our thoughts and actions are shaped by the presence of others
social norms
prescribed behaviours that vary across contexts, cultures, and time
collectivistic societies
cultures that place emphasis on the group instead of the individual, the benefit of the group supersedes that of the individual
social scripts
learned behaviours that are expected across a variety of situations
Solomon Asch’s conformity effect
- the purpose was to determine whether participants were willing to go stray from group responses where the desire to be correct would outweigh the need for conformity
- conformity level is higher when the group size increases and familiarity with the task is low
- 75% complied with an incorrect answer at least once
groupthink
faulty decision-making that occurs when high degree of conformity and group cohesion are highly valued, and the exclusion of opposing information and ideas
Irving Janis’ theory of groupthink
there are three components contributing to poor decision making
- overestimating the group: an illusion of invulnerability and a belief in the inherent morality of the group
- close-mindedness: collective rationalization and stereotyped views of an out-group
- pressure for uniformity: direct pressure on dissenters, self-censorship, illusions of unanimity)
out-group
the group that a person does not belong to, members of out-group are assumed to be highly homogeneous
what are the 8 characteristics in groupthink situations proposed by Janis
- illusion of invulnerability
- collective rationalization
- belief in inherent morality
- stereotyped views
- direct pressure on dissenters
- self-censorship
- illusion of unanimity
- self-appointed mindguards