Chapter 12 Flashcards
Know the differences between stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination.
Stereotyping: generalized beliefs about the characteristics of member of social groups
Positive ex: Asian people are good at math
Negative ex: women are bad a driving
Prejudice: evaluations/reactions (e.g., attitudes, emotions) to a social group and its members
Ex:
Discrimination: negative behavior or actions toward members of particular social groups
Ex:
Know the general findings of the “shoot or don’t shoot” study (Correll et al., 2002, discussed in class). Specifically, what is the shooter bias (i.e., how did race and threat cues influence decisions to shoot)? Also, what role did stereotype knowledge play in these findings?
In the “shoot or don’t shoot study”, more black people (with and without a weapon) were shot than white people. They stereotyped black people as “dangerous”/having a weapon on them.
What are internal and external attributions? Could you recognize examples? What is the fundamental attribution error?
Internal attributions (Personal): Ascribe the causes of behavior to personal traits, abilities, and feelings.
Example: If a friend’s business fails, you might attribute it to your friend’s lack of business knowledge
External attributions (Situational): Ascribe the causes of behavior to situational demands and environmental factors.
Example: If a friend’s business fails, you might attribute it to negative trends in the nation’s economic climate.
Fundamental Attribution Error: Bias in favor of internal attributions in explaining others’ behavior
Example:
What is cognitive dissonance? What types of situations could elicit cognitive dissonance? How could a person reduce the dissonance they experience? (Note: both research examples and anecdotal examples are useful here!).
Cognitive dissonance: Exists when related attitudes or beliefs are inconsistent; that is, when they contradict each other.
Example: Thoughts like “I am hardworking” and “I’m playing hooky from work”
People will want to reduce the dissonance because cognitive dissonance creates an unpleasant state of tension. In order to do this, people might try to convince themselves something that they don’t actually believe. Another way they might reduce dissonance is my effort justification
What is informational social influence? Normative social influence? Could you recognize examples?
Informational Social Influence: When people look to others for guidance about how to behave in ambiguous situations (Being Right)
Example: If you’re at a nice restaurant and you don’t know which fork to use for a specific course, you may watch others to see what they’re doing
Normative Influence: When people conform to social norms for fear of negative social consequences (Being liked)
Example: Peer pressure. If my friends around me are telling me to smoke, I’m going to do it because I want them to like me
Know the general findings of the main Milgram obedience study as well as the conclusions psychologist made about obedience based on these findings. What variations were discussed in class? To what extent did these variations increase or decrease obedience?
Milgram’s (Shock Experiment) Findings: 65% administered all thirty levels of shock. Participants obeyed the experimenter, even after voicing concern.
Conclusions: Obedience to authority was even more common than anticipated
Increase Obedience Variation: Peer delivers shock. Diffusion of responsibility. 92% give max shock
Decrease Obedience Variation: Authority is distant, 20% give max shock. AND Authority rebels, 0% give max shock
What is diffusion of responsibility? How does it relate to the bystander effect?
Bystander effect: People are less likely to provide needed help when they are in a group when they are alone.
Diffusion of Responsibility: A reduced sense of responsibility when in a group setting because “someone else will help”
These relate to each other because the sense of responsibility is increased when you are alone because you cannot assume that someone else will help
