Chapter 13 Flashcards
social cognition
how people perceive, interpret, and classify their own and other’s social behaviours
attitudes
positive or negative reactions toward a stimulus
3 components of attitude
1.) Cognitive → beliefs, ideas
2.) Affective → emotions, feelings
3.) Behavioural → predispositions to act
when do attitudes have the strongest influence on behaviour?
- situational factors are weak
- attitude is stable
- attitude is specific to the behaviour
- attitude is easily recalled
two routes of persuasion
central route and peripheral route
central route persuasion
- logic driven through the rational mind
- influencing attitudes with evidence and facts
peripheral route persuasion
changing attitudes by going around the rational mind and appealing to fears, desires and associations
persuasion strategies
Foot in the door technique and door in the face technique
foot in the door technique
Get them to agree to something small so they will agree to something larger later on
door in the face technique
Ask them for something large, expecting a rejection, so that they are more likely to agree to a smaller request
dissonance theory
a state of emotional discomfort people experience when they hold two contradictory beliefs or hold a belief that contradicts their behaviour
implicit attidude
an attitude of which the individual is unaware
stereotypes
unfair/untrue belief about people or things with a particular characteristic (may be positive or negative)
prejudice
negative stereotypical attitudes towards all members of a group (racism, sexism etc)
contributors to stereotypes and prejudice
1.) evolutionary perspective
2.) realistic conflict theory
3.) social identity theory
evolutionary theory
says there may be some adaptive value to stereotypes
realistic conflict theory
says that the amount of conflict between groups determines the amount of prejudice between groups
social identity theory
says that social cognitive factors contribute to the onset of prejudice (social categorization, social identity, social comparison)
attributions
- how we explain others behaviour
- inferences that people make about the causes of events and behavior
2 types of attributions
1.) dispositonal (internal) = believe behaviour caused by the person’s inner traits
2.) situational (external) = believe behaviour caused by aspects of the situation
fundamental attribution error
tendency people have to overemphasize personal characteristics (dispositional) and ignore situational factors in judging others’ behaviour.
actor observer effect
make situational attributions about our own behaviour and dispositional attributions about the behaviour of others
self serving bias
use dispositional attributions for successes and situational attributions for failures
conformity
adjusting our behaviour or thinking to fit with a group standard
components of conformity
- automatic mimicry
- social norms
- normative and informative social influence
automatic mimicry
unconscious and unintentional imitation of other people’s accents, speech patterns, gestures, moods, and emotions
what did the Asch comformity study say?
1/3 of people will agree with obvious mistruths to go along with the group
when is someone more likely to conform?
- you’re not firmly committed to one set of belief/behaviour
- the group is medium sized and unanimous
- make you feel positive toward the group
- the group tries to make you feel incompetent/insecure
- your culture encourages respect for norms
2 types of social influence
normative and informational social influence
normative social influence
Going along with others in pursuit of social approval or belonging (and to avoid disapproval/rejection)
informative social influence
Going along with others because their ideas and behaviour make sense, the evidence in our social environment changes our minds.
obedience
adjustment of individual behaviours, attitudes and beliefs to the orders of an authority figure (could be good or could be bad)
milgram study
- 65% obeyed to highest level of shock
- No gender differences
what factors increase obedience?
- remoteness of victim
- closeness and legitimacy of authority figure
- someone else doing dirty work
- when all other participants obey and no one disobeys
- personal characteristics not important (political orientation, occupation, religious beliefs, etc..)
group dynamics
how membership or participation in a group influences our thoughts and behaviours
additive task
productivity increases with group size
conjunctive task
group is as productive as its weakest member
disjunctive task
a single solution is required, the strongest group member is likely to provide the solution
divisible task
simultaneous performance of several tasks
social facilitation
- the improvement in performance because others are present
- operates for both physical and mental tasks
social loafing
the tendency to expend less individual effort when working in a group than when working alone
what causes social loafing?
- individual performance is not being monitored
- goal or task has little value/ meaning to person
- task is simple and person’s effort is redundant
what is social compensation in social loafing?
- thee tendency to exert more effort when working in a group than when working alone
- compensate for the lack of effort on the part of group members
group polarization
- when people of similar views form a group, discussion within the group makes their views more extreme
- different groups become MORE different, more polarized, in their views
groupthink
in pursuit of social harmony (and avoidance of open disagreement), groups will make decisions without an open exchange of ideas
bystander effect
when people are less likely to provide needed help when they are in groups than when they are alone
why does the bystander effect happen?
- diffusion of responsibility
- following what others are doing
- rationalization about lack of help
when are bystanders most likely to help?
The person we might help….
→ appears to be in need, deserving of assistance
→ is a woman, and/or is similar to us in some way
→ is in a small town or rural area
OR
At the time, we are….
→ feeling some guilt and/or just saw someone else trying to help
→ not in a hurry and/or preoccupied
→ in a good mood (strongest predictor of helping!)
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
what are the gender differences in aggression?
Women = relational aggression = snubbing, gossiping and exclusion from groups
Men = direct aggression = erbal and physical abuse
at what time of the year is aggression at its highest?
hot, summer months
what causes initial attraction in social relationships?
→ Physical proximity (mere exposure effect)
→ Similarity
→ Reciprocity
→ Physical attractiveness (matching effect)
what is considered physically attractive
- standards differ from culture to culture
→ men seek apparent youth and fertility
→ women seek maturity, masculinity, affluence
→ both like facial symmetry and ‘averageness’
what is sternbergs triangular theory of love?
Passion (infatuation), Intimacy (liking) and Commitment (empty love)….
passionate love
A state of strong attraction, interest, and excitement that is felt so strongly that people are absorbed in each other
compassionate love
Deep caring, affectionate, and strong attachment or commitment
romantic love
1.) start with attraction, or friendship
2.) phase of passionate love
3) grows to compassionate love
4.) made closer by equity and self disclosure
5.) held together by positive interaction and support
what happens when there’s warm, responsive parenting?
securely attached infant = secure adult attachment style
→ comfortable, do not fear becoming close or being abandoned; 53% of adults
what happens when there’s cool, rejecting parenting?
= avoidant attached infant = avoidant adult attachment style
→ uncomfortable, have difficulty trusting others; 26% of adults
what happens when there’s ambivalent, inconsistent parenting?
anxious-ambivalent attached infant = anxious-ambivalent adult attachment style
→ Insecure and worry that their partners do not really love them and will leave; 20% of adults
what happens in orbitofrontal cortex?
- social reasoning
- reward evaluation
- reading other people
- eliciting emotional states
what happens in ventromedial prefrontal cortex?
- processing of rewards and punishments
- interpreting non-verbal social information
- making social and moral assessments and decisions
- feeling empathy
what happens in insula?
empathy and reading others
what happens in the amygdala?
- identify emotional facial expressions of other people
- pay attention to stimuli that may be unpredictable, potentially rewarding, or potentially punishing
