Chapter 1 Flashcards
What is social psychology?
Scientific study of how we think, feel and behave influenced by the actual, imagined or implied presence of others.
What is the ABC of social psych?
Affect
Behaviour
Cognition
What is the Zeigeist
The spirit of the times. The general intellectual, moral and cultural climate of an era.
Is there a war? Violence? How is the economy going? Who are the celebrities?
How does it impact social psych?
What is social facilitation theory?
being around others helps you perform better
What is Gestalt thinking?
Suggests that we take in info as a whole first and then as the sum of its parts (whole>sum of parts)
Who is considered to be the father of social psych?
Kurt Lewin (1936-37)
What is the formula that Kurt Lewin used to show that behaviours are a function of the person and the environment?
Behaviour = f(Person, Environment)
What is social neuroscience?
how our social behaviour influences and is influenced by our brain activity
What is evolutionary adaptation?
assumption that human nature is determined largely by our evolutionary past
protect ourselves and others (concern for those)
What is the evolutionary value of social behaviour?
Most of the traits we have today - including social behaviour - come from our ancestors and were developed to help them survive - most of what makes us “human” is already in our DNA
What is the self-concern?
desire to protect those that are close to us
What is the other-concern?
desire to affiliate with, accept, and be accepted by others close to us
What is kin selection?
strategies that favor the reproductive success of one’s relatives, sometimes even at the cost of the individual’s own survival
What is kin?
People genetically related to us
What is an ingroup?
those whom we view and being similar and important to us even if we do not share genes
What is reciprocal altruism?
they will do the same for us - increases with people closer to us
Where is other-concern at play except in our social circles?
- Communities (ex: at work)
- Meet a partner (being able to grow, meet other cultures)
- Expose to other cultures
- Morality, Compassion, Altruism are in our nature - aggression and hostility are the exception
What is the Social Situation?
the people with whom we interact everyday
The social situation is often a stronger determinant of behaviour than our personality
What is social influence?
the process of how people in our social situations influence our behaviour and how we influence theirs
We might modify who we really are in order to fit in with groups
What is social support?
the comfort we receive from people around us (an example of the influence that others have on us)
What are social norms?
The ways of thinking, feeling or behaving that are shared by group members and perceived by them as appropriate. We aren’t born knowing this, because social norms can vary between groups
What is culture?
A group of people, normally living within a given geographical region, who share common set of social norms, including religious and family values and moral beliefs
Are Western cultures more individualistic or collectivistic?
Individualist
Are Eastern cultures more individualistic or collectivistic?
Collectivistic
