Chapter 12: Social Psychology

Question 1

Describe the costs and benefits of groups

Answer 1

Social Facilitation: improved performance due to having other people around

Social Inhibition: decrease in performance due to having other people around (these have to do with optimal levels of arousal)

Social Loafing: don’t work as hard when we are in a group (work doesn’t count as much and we are not as responsible)

Group Think: group reaches consensus in order to facilitate interpersonal harmony

Group Polarization: groups tend to make decision hat are more extreme than one member alone

Common Knowledge Effect: group discussion focus on info that all members share

Question 2

Distinguish between apparent and genuine altruism

Answer 2

Behaviors that benefits another at a potential coast to oneself

Most altruistic behaviors have hidden benefits

-Kin Selection: evolution selects individuals that cooperate with relatives

• Reciprocal Altruism: expectation that benefits will be returned in the future

Question 3

Explain the biological and cultural factors that influence selectivity in mate choice

Answer 3

Women are more selective than males

1. Biology: Women have less eggs so, sex is also a health risk for them
2. Culture: Women are approached by men more often, can be more selective, men are more picky when choosing a wife rather than just a date

Question 4

Describe the situational, physical, and psychological factors that determine feelings of attraction

Answer 4

Situational:
- mere exposure effect: tendency for linking a stimulus increases with exposure to that stimulus

Physical:
-physically attractive people have more sex, fun, and friends, we associate them with positive personality traits
-body shape (hour glass and Dorito)
-symmetry
-age (cougars and sugar daddies)

Psychological:
-physical is less important when you know each other
-inner qualities are very important
-similarity is important

Question 5

Describe the factors that cause people to get married and divorced.

Answer 5

We remain in marriages as long as the cost benefits ratio is favorable
Passionate love bring us together
Compassionate Love keeps us together
Could we do better in a different relationship?
How much have we already invested in this one?

Question 6

Explain how stereotypes cause people to draw inaccurate conclusions about others

Answer 6

Primacy Effect: our initial belief will color our perceptions

1.) Stereotypes can be inaccurate (they all come from other people)
2.) Stereotypes can be over used (not useful when there is high variability between members of a group)
3.)Serotypes can be self perpetuation
- perceptual confirmation is we see what we expect to see
-self fulfilling prophecy
-stereotype threat
4.) Stereotyping can be unconscious and automatic

Question 7

Explain why stereotypes are so difficult to overcome

Answer 7

1. We see what we want to see
2. Self Fulfilling Prophecy
3. They are unconsious

Question 8

Define an attribution and describe common attribution errors

Answer 8

How we explain behaviors

1. Consensus: is everyone else doing it?
   High: external attribution
   Low: internal attribution
2. Distinctiveness: how has this person acted in other situations? Is behavior distinct to a situation?
   High: external attribution
   Low: internal attribution (act this way across situations)
3. Consistency: how does this person normally act in this same situation
   High: internal or external (wither could cause the behavior)
   Low: external (don’t normally act this way)

Question 9

Describe the hedonic motive and explain how appeals to it can backfire

Answer 9

seek pleasure and avoid pain

over justification effect: reward decreases intrinsic motivation to perform behavior

reactance: unpleasant feeling when being coerced

Question 10

Describe the approval motive and distinguish normative influence, conformity, and obedience

Answer 10

We need to feel approved by others

Normative:
- unwritten rule of society
- norm of reciprocity: people should benefit those who have benefited them
-normative influence: other’s behavior tells us what is acceptable

Conformity: tendency to do what others do
Increase: group size, group cohesiveness, low self esteems, average social status, appearance of unanimity

Obedience: tendency for us to do what others tell us to do
Increase: experimenter in the same room, teacher has authoritarian personality, learner is in a different location, research is at prestigious university

Question 11

Cognitive dissonance

Answer 11

we need our beliefs and actions to match

Feistier and Carlsmith:
boring study but then asked people to say it was fun to next group,

no money and 20= boring in survey
1 dollar = exciting in survey (need actions to match)

Question 12

Compliance

Answer 12

1. Consistency/Commitment:
   you committed now you need to stay true to it
   - foot in the door: small ask followed by lager (they soya yes to first one)
   -low ball: don’t show extra cost until after commitment
2. Reciprocity:
   -door in face: make huge request then follow with smaller, its a compromise
   -that’s not all: sweeten deal like they are doing you a favor
3. Scarcity:
   -hard to get
   -fast approaching deadline

Question 13

Self Serving Bias

Answer 13

our success = internal factor
our failures= external factor

Question 14

Fundamental Attribution Error

Answer 14

attribute behavior to personality even when we know it is not true
pro Castro speech = hate America even though we know they don’t

Question 15

Asch

Answer 15

line test with wrong answers to see if people would conform

Question 16

Milgram’s studies

Answer 16

obedience

Question 17

empathy altruism hypothesis

Answer 17

feelings of empathy for another person produce an altruistic motivation to increase that person’s welfare

Question 18

Love and Attraction

Answer 18

-arousal
-proximity
-mere exposure effect
-reciprocal lining
-attractiveness
-similarity

Question 19

Bystander Effect

Answer 19

diffusion of responsibility