Chapter 13 Flashcards
Social psychology
The study of how people think about, influence, and relate to other people
The bystander effect
The tendency of an individual who observes an emergency to help less when other people are present than when the observer is alone. Darley and Latane did a study on how the presence of others would lead individuals to be less likely to help a person in distress (Kitty Genovese situation), and also with children helping clean up a spill. Diffusion of responsiblity
Social cognition
The area of social psychology that explores how people select, interpret, and remember, and use social information.
Person perception
The process by which we use social stimuli to form impressions of others.
Physical attractiveness
Face provides cue for trustworthiness and dominance. Can lead to stereotypes.
Stereotypes
A generalization about a group’s characteristics that does not consider any variations from one individual to another. “Beautiful is good”
Self-fulfilling prophency
Social expectations that cause an individual to act in such a way that expectations are realized. Study done on teachers who had student labeled “late bloomers” meaning had higher levels of ability. So, teachers set high standards and these random students lived up to those standards.
Attributions
Explanations for why people behave the way they do.
Attribution theory
The view that people are motivated to discover the underlying causes of behavior as part of their effort to make sense of the behavior. Three dimensions: internal/ external causes, stable/unstable causes, and controllable/uncontrollable causes.
Internal/external causes
Internal attributions are causes inside and specific to the person, such as her traits and abilities
External attributions are causes outside the person, such as social pressure, aspects of the social situation, the weather, and luck.
Did Beth get a D on the test because she didn’t study, or the test was hard?
Stable/unstable
Whether the cause of behavior is relatively enduring and permanent or temporary influences attributions. Did Taylor honk her car horn because she is a hostile person or because she happens to be in a big hurry that day?
Controllable/Uncontrollable
We perceive that people have power over some causes but not others. (Preparing delicious food for picnic/ then it is raining.)
Fundamental attribution error
Observers’ overestimation of the importance of internal traits and underestimates the importance of external situation when they seek explanations of an actor’s behavior.
Observers often explain actor’s behaviors incorrectly. Actors often explain own behaviors in terms of external causes.
Heuristics
Cognitive shortcuts that speed decision making
False Consensus Effect
A person’s overestimation of the degree to which everybody else thinks or acts the way he or she does. (Use our own outlook to predict that of others)
Self esteem
The degree to which we have a positive or negative feelings about ourselves
Positive illusions
Favorable views of the self that are not necessarily rooted in reality. (think about ourselves “above average)
Self-serving bias
The tendency to take credit for one’s successes and deny responsibility for one’s failures.
Self-objectification
The tendency to see oneself primarily as an object in the eyes of others.
Stereotype threat
An individual’s fast acting, self-fulfilling fear of being judged based on a negative stereotype about his or her group.
Social comparison
The process by which we evaluate our thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and abilities in relation to other people.
Social comparison theory
When no objective means available, we compare ourselves to others.
Attitudes
An individual’s opinions and beliefs about people, objects, and ideas- how the person feels about the world.
Can attitudes predict behavior?
When attitudes are strong. If passionate about recycling, less likely to throw soda can in trash.
When attitudes are rehearsed. Makes a speech about recycling more likely to recycle
When person has vested interests. Something that will affect them personally.
Can behavior predict attitudes?
Cognitive dissonance and self perception
Cognitive dissonance
An individual’s psychological discomfort (dissonance) caused by two inconsistent thoughts.
I hate my job
But I work hard at it.
I need to fix my attitude
Dissonance Reduced by?
Changing behaviors to match attitude. Changing attitudes to match behavior.
Self-Perception theory
Individuals make inferences about their own attitudes by perceiving their own behavior, especially if their attitudes are unclear.
I spend all my time thinking how bad my job is.
I must really hate it.
The communicator
The person doing the persuading. Trustworthiness, expertise, attractiveness, likeability, similarity
Medium
Medium or technology used to get the message across. (television versus print)
The target
The audience or target of a message. (age, attitude, strength)
Message
The message itself (rational/ logical appeal versus emotional strategy)
Elaboration likelihood model.
Theory identifying two ways to persuade: a central route and a peripheral route.
Central route
Involves factors such as the source’s attractiveness or the emotional power of an appeal
Peripheral route
Effective when people are not paying close attention or lack the time or energy to think about the message
Foot-in-the-door technique
Involves making a smaller requires at the beginning, saving the biggest demand for last. Relies on customer agreeing on smaller one and establishing trust
Door-in-the-face technique
Involves making the biggest pitch first, which the customer probably will reject, and then making a smaller, “concessionary” demand). Relies on customer to feel sense of obligation (I already said no once).
Inoculation
When individuals are warned that they are going to be hit with persuasive appeals and are given arguments to help them resist these pitches, they are able to do so.
Altruism
Unselfish interest in helping another person
Egoism
Giving to another person to ensure reciprocity, to gain self-esteem; to present oneself as powerful, competent, or caring; or to avoid censure from oneself and others for failing to live up to society’s expectations (personal enhancement).
Reciprocity
That we will help another person to increase the chances that the person will return the favor.
Evolutionary: explanation of altruism
Genetics play a role in prosocial behavior (oxytocin receptor gene), high levels of serotonin, dopamine receptors too.
Psychological factors: explanation of altruism
Mood: Our mood can determine whether or not we engage in kind behaviors.
Empathy: A person’s feeling of oneness with the emotional state of another. We feel what that person is feeling.
Sociocultural factors: explanations of altruism
Market economies (socioeconomic status): lower status tend to be more likely to help than those who have more.
Investment in established religion
Gender
Media influence: explanation of altruism
Seeing someone preform an act of kindness can move us to behave kindly as well. (listening to music too)
Aggression
Behavior that is intended to harm another person
Biological influence: aggression
Evolutionary views: Selective breeding
Genetic basis
Neurological factors: limbic system and frontal lobes of brain, low levels of serotonin, testosterone is specific hormone implicated in aggressive behavior
Psychological influences: aggression
Aversive circumstances: frustration (weather, physical pain, and crowding)
Cognitive determinants: priming (involve making something salient to a person), perception of unfairness
Observational learning
Sociocultural influences: aggression
Cultural variations: culture of honor (a man’s reputation is thought to be an essential aspect of his economic survival)
Media violence: aggression
Television
Violent pornography
Violent video games
Psychological: factors that contribute to conformity
Informational social influence: the influence other people have on us because we want to be right.
Normative social influence: The influence others have on us because we want them to like us.
Biological: factors that contribute to conformity
Brain equates non-conformity with making an error.
Oxytocin promotes conformity.
Cultural: factors that contribute to conformity
Collectivism promotes conformity
Obedience
A change in a person’s behavior to coincide more closely with a group standard.
Factors that contribute to disobedience (Milgram’s Experiments)
Disobedient models
Authority figure not legitimate or not close by
Victim made to seem more human
Ethical Concerns- deception
Deindividuation
The reduction in personal identity and erosion of the sense of personal responsibility when one is part of a group (anonymity)
Social contagion
Imitative behavior involving the spread of actions, emotions, and ideas
Social facilitation
Improvement in an individual’s performance because of the presence of others (arousal with well-learned tasks)
Social loafing
Each person’s tendency to exert less effort in a group because of reduced accountability for individual effort.
Risky shift
The tendency for a group decision to be riskier than the average decision made by the individual group members.
Group polarization effect
The solidification and further strengthening of an individual’s position as a consequence of a group discussion or interaction.
Groupthink
The impaired group decision making that occurs when making the right decision is less important than maintaining group harmony.
Symptoms of groupthink
Overestimating the power and morality of one’s group, close-mindedness and unwillingness to hear all sides of an argument, and pressure for uniformity.
Avoiding groupthink
Avoid isolation, allow the airing of all sides of an argument, have an impartial leader, include outside experts in the debate, and encourage members who are strongly identified with the group to speak out in dissent.
Majority-minority influence
majority: normative and informational pressure
minority: informational pressure
Group identity
“us” versus “them”
Social identity
The way individuals define themselves in terms of their group membership.
Social identity theory
Tajfel’s theory that social identity, based on group membership, is a crucial part of self-image and a valuable source of positive feelings about oneself.
ingroup: individuals invariably think of the group to which they belong
outgroup: a group that has special value in comparison with other groups
Ethnocentrism
The tendency to favor one’s own ethnic group over other groups
Prejudice
An unjustified negative attitude toward an individual based on the individual’s membership in a group.
Explicit racism
A person’s conscious and openly shared attitude, which might be measured using a questionnaire.
Implicit racism
Refers to attitudes that exist on a deeper, hidden level. Sometimes measured using the Implicit Associations Test (IAT), a computerized survey that assesses the ease with which a person can associate a Black or White person with good things or bad things.
Explanation for Prejudice
Competiton between groups
Cultural learning
motivation to enhance self-esteem
Limitations in cognitive processes.
Discrimination
An unjustified negative or harmful action toward a member of a group simply because the person belongs to that group.
Intergroup contact is likely to reduce prejudice when groups members? (contact alone is not effective
- Think they are of equal status
- Feel an authority figure approves positive relations
- Anticipate emergent friendship
- Engage in cooperative tasks
Aronson’s jigsaw classroom
Where all of the students had to pull together to get the “big picture.” Learning about Parks’s life becomes a class project divided into six parts, with one part given to each member of the six-person group
Sherif’s Robbers Cave Study
Divided a group of boys into Eagles and Rattlers who did not like each other and made them work together which created a more positive relationship between the two.
Mere exposure effect
The phenomenon that the more individuals encounter someone or something, the more probable it is that they will start liking the person or thing even if they do not realize they have seen it before.
Proximity
Physical closeness
Consensual validation
Explains why people are attracted to others who are similar to them.
Romantic Love
Passionate love. Strong sexuality and infatuation. Early part of a love relationship.
Affectionate Love
Companionate love. Deep caring affection and have another person near. Passion tends to give way to affection.
Social Exchange Theory
The view of social relationships as involving an exchange of goods, the objective of which is to minimize costs and maximize benefits.
Investment model
A model of long-term relationships that examines the ways that commitment to partner, investment in relationship, and the ability of attractive alternative partners (lack of attractive alternatives) predict satisfaction and stability in relationships.
Social ties and health
Isolation and mortality. Social support and coping
Fighting loneliness
Join activities with others
Act pleasant
Get help
