Chapter 12 - Social Psychology Flashcards
What is Social Psychology?
How people and situations affect our behaviours
Fundamental Attribution Error
We are more likely to make dispositional than situational attributions when explaining the behavior of others; we are more likely to “blame” a person for the behavior
Attribution Theory
Fritz Heider (1958) considered how people explain the behaviour of others
Dispositional attributions
Internal factors of a person
Situational attributions
external factors of a person
Actor-Observer bias
Explaining other people’s behaviours because of dispositions, but our own to situations
Actor-observer effect
as the doer of the action, we are more aware of contributing factors for our own behaviour; as observers of others’ behaviour, we are less aware of contributing factors and so assume dispositional influences
Self-serving bias
we tend to make dispositional attributions when evaluating our success
Just World Hypothesis
people get what they deserve
Social Role
set of norms ascribed to a person’s social position, setting, or group
Norms
social rules about how members of a society are expected to act; some are explicit (openly stated); some are implicit (not openly stated)
Descriptive social norms
agreed on expectations about what group members do
Injunctive social norms
agreed on expectations about what group members ought to do
Philip Zimbardo (1971)
Stanford Prison Experiment; examined that power of roles in shaping behaviour
Attitudes
evaluations of things and others; remain relatively stable; influenced by internal and external factors
ABC Model of Attitude
Affective: how we feel, Behavioural: how we behave, Cognitive: what we believe
Mere though effect
merely thinking of something inflates its importance and therefor strengthens our attitude toward it
Attitude specificity
the more specific an attitude, the more likely it is to effect behaviour
Attitude strength
stronger attitudes predict behaviour more accurately than weak or vague attitudes
Social desirability factor
people may not want to disclose how they really feel (the ugly truth)
Bogus pipeline procedure
leads people to believe you can tell if they’re lying, more truthful responses
Implicit attitudes
unconscious attitudes people possess and which may unknowingly guide behaviour
Implicit attitudes test (IAT)
measures response reaction time; faster=endorsing attitude, slower=opposition of an attitude
Cognitive dissonance theory
we experience discomfort (dissonance) when two of our thoughts (cognitions) and inconsistent
Self-perception alternative
suggests that attitudes follow behaviour because we infer our attitudes by examining our own behaviour
Justification of effort
we value goals and achievement that we put a lot of effort into
Persuasion
the process or act of causing people to do or believe something
Central route persuasion
relies on content, factual information, and logic to change attitudes
Peripheral route persuasion
focuses on superficial features to change attitudes (like appearances)
Foot-in-the-door technique
get them to agree to something small so they will agree to something larger later
door-in-the-face technique
ask for something very big knowing they will say no, then ask for the smaller item you really wanted
Appeals to fear
ads make it seem like something bad will happen if you do not comply
Forewarning
letting an audience know you’re trying to persuade them immediately raises their defenses
Beginning weak
not starting with a strong argument makes everything after appear weaker
Chameleon effect
tendency to unconsciously mimic the expressions, gestures, and postures of others
Conformity
tendency to yield to social pressure; Solomon Asch (1955) did a “perception” study
Ash effect
the influence of the group majority on the individual
Unamitiy (conformity reducing factor)
if even one person goes against the group, others may not conform as well
Number of choices (conformity reducing factor)
fewer choices lead to increase in conformity
Privacy (conformity reducing factor)
when a person’s response is not known to the group
Stanley Milgram’s experiment (1963)
studied obedience of ordinary people to authority figures who instructed them to inflict harm on another person; insisted that they had to continue
Groupthink
faulty group decision making as a result of trying too hard to agree; often direct pressure to conform; results in overconfidence
Group polarization
intensification of initial attitudes following discussions within groups; opposing groups become more polarized; strengthens with time and isolation
Social loafing
tendency to exert less effort in a group task especially in very large groups (diffusion of responsibility)
Social facillitation
improvement in performance because others are present (physical and mental tasks)
Group productivity
optimal number of people in group varies according to task
Additive task
performing parallel actions; productivity increases with group size (more = better ex. snow removal)
Conjunctive task
group as productive as its weakest member ex. mountain climbing, programming team
Disjunctive task
single solution is required; usually one person comes up with solution but others brainstorm; better with larger groups ex. NASA
Divisible task
involves simultaneous performance of several sub tasks; larger group is better as long as there’s a leader ex. building a house
Stereotypes
generalized impressions based on social categories
Prejudice
negative and just feelings towards individuals based on their inclusion in a group ex. racism, sexism, ageism
Discrimination
negative actions towards a person due to their group membership; stems from stereotypes and prejudices
Self-fulfilling prophecy
expectations that alter behaviour to be true; peoples expectations can impact our own behaviours
Confirmation bias
seeking out confirmatory info (only looking for things that confirm our beliefs)
In-group bias
groups you belong to are seen as superior to groups you don’t belong to
Scapegoating
placing blame on out-group members where in-group frustrations occur
Tajfel’s Social Identity theory
in social situations people see themselves as a member of the group rather than an individual
Mere categorization effect
we naturally form categories based on similarities
Evolutionary perspectives
stereotypes and prejudice may have some adaptive value
Realistic conflict theory
amount of actual conflict between groups determines the amount of prejudice between groups; experience with specific groups is necessary
What is aggression
broad category of behaviours intended to harm others including physical and verbal attacks; associated with high levels of testosterone and low levels of serotonin
Instrumental aggression
motivated by achieving a goal ex. fist fight in a boxing ring
Hostile aggression
motivated by anger with intent to cause pain ex. fist fight in a bar
Frustration-aggression hypothesis
states that we become aggressive in response to frustration; activates PNS, responsible for anger and fear
Bystander effect (apathy)
the tendency to refrain from helping someone in need due to the presence of others
Alturism
self-sacrificing behaviour carried out for the benefit of others; said to operate on empathy
Social Exchange Theory
we keep tally of the ratio of costs/benefits; we’re motivated to maximize our benefits
Prefrontal Cortex
evaluating intentions of others; emotional state; facial expressions; moral reasoning; empathy
Orbitofrontal Cortex
social reasoning; reward evaluation; reading others; eliciting emotional states
Ventromedial Prefrontal Cortex
processing rewards and punishment; interpreting non-verbal info; social and moral assessment and decisions; feeling empathy
Insula (below frontal cortex)
key role in empathy and reading others; activated when we observe others in physical or emotional pain
Amygdala (temporal lobe)
control of emotions; identifies emotional facial expressions; assess potential threats
