Chapter 13

Question 1

What is Social Psychology?

Answer 1

The study of how people think about, influence, and relate to other people.

Question 2

Difference between Sociology and Social psychology?

Answer 2

Sociology: the study of human societies, organizations and institutions. It focuses on the group.
Social psychology is interested in how individuals influence groups and how groups influence individuals.

Question 3

What is the nature of Social psychological research?

Answer 3

It is often experimental. That means that social psychologists are likely to manipulate independent variable to draw casual conclusions about its effects on some outcome.

Question 4

What is Bystander Effect? Why does it happen

Answer 4

The tendency for an individual to be less likely to help in an emergency when other people are present.
1. If no one is helping, maybe I shouldn’t either.
2. Diffusion of responsibility

Question 5

What is Social Cognition?

Answer 5

The way people think in social situations.

Question 6

What is Person perception?

Answer 6

Process by which we use social stimuli to form impressions of others. We make conclusions about individuals by just seeing their face.

Question 7

What is a Stereotype?

Answer 7

Generalization about a group characteristic that does not consider variations from one individual to another. They stem from limits on human cognitive processing, since we use concepts to save energy.

Question 8

What is Self-fulfilling prophecy?

Answer 8

When expectations cause individuals to act in ways that serve to make the expectations come true.

Question 9

What is Attribution?

Answer 9

The process by which we come to understand the causes of others’ behavior and form an impression of them as individuals.

Question 10

What is Attribution theory?

Answer 10

Views people as motivated to discover the underlying causes of behavior as part of their effort to make sense of the behavior

Question 11

Attributions vary along three dimensions. What are they?

Answer 11

Internal/External Causes: Causes inside and specific to the person (his or her traits) VS. causes outside the person (social pressure, weather, luck etc.)
Stable/Unstable Causes: Cause of behavior is permanent VS. temporary. (Honked horn because hostile or in a hurry)
Controllable/Uncontrollable Causes: people have power over some causes but not others.

Question 12

What is an Actor and Observer in Attribution Theory?

Answer 12

Actor is the person who produces the behavior to be explained.
Observer is the person who offers causal explanation of the actor’s behavior.

Question 13

What is Fundamental Attribution Error?

Answer 13

Refers to the tendency of observers to overestimate the importance of internal traits and underestimate the importance of external factors when they explain an actor’s behavior. (Not universal, varies from culture to culture. Western vs. collectivist cultures).

Question 14

What is False Consensus Effect?

Answer 14

Overestimating the degree to which everybody else thinks or acts the way we do. (Overestimating how many people support death sentence because YOU support it.)

Question 15

What is Self-esteem?

Answer 15

The degree to which we have positive or negative feelings about ourselves.

Question 16

What is Self-serving Bias?

Answer 16

Refers to the tendency to take credit for out successes and to deny responsibility for our failures when we make attributions about our own behavior.

Question 17

What is Self-objectification?

Answer 17

Refers to the tendency to see oneself as an object in others’ eyes. Predominant in women.

Question 18

What is Stereotype threat?

Answer 18

Individual’s fast-acting, self-fulfilling fear of being judged based on a negative stereotype about his or her group. (Did worst on tests because opening question was about ethnicity).

Question 19

What is Social Comparison?

Answer 19

The process by which we evaluate our thoughts, feelings, behaviors and abilities in relation to others. (Getting B feeling good, then knowing your friend got an A now you feel like shit).

Question 20

What is a theory of Social Comparison?

Answer 20

When no objective means are available to evaluate our opinions and abilities, we compare ourselves with others.
Can be upward (compare to those who are better off than we are) or downward (compare to those who are less fortunate than us, making us feel better about ourselves).

Question 21

What are Attitudes?

Answer 21

Our opinions and beliefs about people, objects and ideas. Basically how we feel about the world.

Question 22

Conditions under which attitudes predict behavior?

Answer 22

When the person’s attitude is strong (very passionate about something)
When the person shows a strong awareness of an attitude and rehearses and practices it.
When a person has a vested interest. (Acting when the thing affects you personally)

Question 23

What are 2 theories on how behavior influences attitudes?

Answer 23

Cognitive Dissonance Theory: the psychological discomfort caused by two inconsistent thoughts. (Performing a boring task, you have to persuade other people to do it. So now you have to convince yourself you like the task and talk it up, because how are you convincing people about something you don’t believe in? You cant change the task so you change your attitude.)
Self-perception Theory: individuals make inferences about their attitudes by observing their behavior. (If i have waited this long, then I must be passionate about this thing). Here your behavior has led you to recognize your attitude.

Question 24

What is one type of dissonance reduction?

Answer 24

Effort justification: coming up with a rationale for the amount of work we put into getting something, typically by increasing the value associated with things that are difficult to attain.

Question 25

What are 4 elements of persuasion?

Answer 25

The communicator: Trustworthiness, expertise, power, attractiveness, likeability all help a communicator change attitudes.
The medium: The medium used to get the message across. Live images are more powerful than a newspaper for example.
The target: Younger people are more likely to change attitudes than older ones. Weak attitudes change easier than strong ones.
The message: Strong logical arguments VS. exciting, motivational ones. Elaboration likelihood model addresses which is better.

Question 26

What is the Elaboration Likelihood Model?

Answer 26

Identifies two pathways of persuasion.
Central route: works by engaging the audience in logical arguments. Effective when people have the ability and the motivation to pay attention
Peripheral route: involves factors such as the source’s attractiveness or the emotional power of an appeal. Effective when people aren’t paying attention to what is being said.

Question 27

Foot-in-the-door and Door-in-the-face Persuasion Techniques?

Answer 27

Making small requests in the beginning and saving the big request for last. VS.
Making the biggest pitch first, then offering small request after rejection.

Question 28

What is Inoculation?

Answer 28

A way to resist persuasion. Giving people a weak version of a persuasive message and allowing them time to argue against it.

Question 29

What is Altruism?

Answer 29

Giving to another person with the ultimate goal of benefiting that person, even if it incurs a cost to oneself. Not expecting anything back.

Question 30

What is Egoism?

Answer 30

Helping another person for personal gain, or reciprocity.

Question 31

Evolution theory for Altruism?

Answer 31

Reciprocity with nonfamily members is essentially the mistaken application of a heuristic that made sense in human evolutionary history- engaging in selfless acts of kindness to one’s own family.

Question 32

What are some Biological factors in prosocial behavior?

Answer 32

Oxytocin (associated with social bonding) receptor gene, high serotonin, dopamine receptors.

Question 33

What are psychological factors in prosocial behavior?

Answer 33

Empathy: we feel what that person is feeling
Personality: Agreeableness is the trait most strongly associated with prosocial behavior. Agreeableness is related to greater volume in the posterior cingulate cortex (associated with understanding other people’s beliefs and associated with empathy)
Mood: happy people are more likely to help. However, unhappy people can help others to improve mood.

Question 34

Sociocultural factors in prosocial behavior?

Answer 34

Socioeconomic Status: Those with lower tend to be more likely to help others (empathy). Relative wealth promotes focusing on ones own standing in the world.
Media Influences

Question 35

What is Agression?

Answer 35

Refers to social behavior with the objective of harming someone, either physically or verbally.

Question 36

Biological Influences in aggression?

Answer 36

Genes
Neurobiological Factors: Aggressive behavior often results when areas such as the limbic system are stimulates by electric currents. Frontal loves have also been implicated in aggression. Low serotonin. Testosterone.

Question 37

Psychological influences in aggression?

Answer 37

Personality Characteristics: low agreeableness, low conscientiousness, high neuroticism is associated with aggression.
Frustrating and Aversive Circumstances: Frustration, the blocking of an individual’s attempts to reach a goal, triggers aggression. Circumstances like pain, insults, crowding etc. lead to aggression.
Cognitive Determinants: Aggressive behavior often starts with aggressive thoughts. Environment can put thoughts in our head by priming (subliminal messaging). Weapons effect is the tendency for the presence of firearms to enhance aggression.
Observational Learning Factors: Watching others engage in aggressive actions evokes aggression.

Question 38

Sociocultural influences in aggression?

Answer 38

The culture of honor: a man’s reputation is thought to be an essential aspect of his economic survival. If a man’s honor is diminishing, violence is a way to compensate for that loss.
Media: Videogames maybe. (Critics: lab aggression is different than real life, violent video games are more challenging, confounds such as family violence exists).
Violent pornography reinforces the rape myth, the false belief that women desire coercive sex.

Question 39

What is Conformity?

Answer 39

A change in a person’s behavior to coincide more closely with a group standard. It is at work when we obey the rules and regulations that allow society to run smoothly. (When a person drinks alcohol in a party even if they never drank before)

Question 40

What is Asch’s Experiment (Conformity)

Answer 40

The vertical lines with 5 people giving the wrong answer to force the 6th to conform.

Question 41

What are some Biological Factors in Conformity?

Answer 41

The brain responded to judgements that differ from the group as mistakes. Thus, they experienced less activation in the nucleus accumbens and ventral tegmental area (brain’s reward center). Oxytocin is also a factor, since it is associated with social bonding.

Question 42

What are Psychological Factors in Conformity?

Answer 42

Informational social influence: the influence other people have on us because we want to be right. (If car friends told you to buy a certain car and you dont know shit about cars, you’ll trust them because you want to be right).
Normative social influence: influence others have on us because we want them to like us

Question 43

What is a Cultural Factor in Conformity?

Answer 43

Whether the culture is individualistic or values groups. Collectivist cultures conform more to bring about order in the group.

Question 44

What is Obedience?

Answer 44

Behavior that complies with the explicit demands of the individual in authority.

Question 45

What are 2 experiments that provide insight into obedience?

Answer 45

Milgram’s Experiment: The learner being shocked study. “The study must continue” was enough to make participants shock the other person to possibly their death.
The Stanford Prison Experiment: Conducted by Philip Zimbardo. Participants taking the role of prisoners and guards. Things got ugly with prisoners raging, some blocking themselves in cells, and some guards beating the prisoners. Why did the prisoners not quit the study? It is because they internalized their roles. To explain the guards’ cruelty, it was reasoned that when an authority figure removes personal responsibility, when other people are dehumanized and when norms support otherwise horrifying behavior, true evil can emerge.

Question 46

What is Reactance?

Answer 46

The motivation to reject attempts to control us. Occurs when a person feels that someone or something is taking away his or her choices.

Question 47

What is Deindividuation?

Answer 47

Occurs when being part of a group reduces personal identity and erodes the sense of personal responsibility. An explanation is that groups gives us anonymity.

Question 48

What is Social Contagion?

Answer 48

imitative behavior involving the spread of actions, emotions and ideas. (People laugh more when others are laughing, babies cry more when other babies are crying).

Question 49

What are some ways the presence of others can influence performance?

Answer 49

Social Facilitation: Occurs when a individual’s performance improves because of the presence of other. Presence of others arouses us, producing energy. If arousal is too high, we are unable to learn new or difficult tasks.
Social Loafing: Refers to each person’s tendency to exert less effort in a group because of reduced accountability for individual effort.

Question 50

What are 3 aspects of group decision making?

Answer 50

Risky shift and Group polarization: Risky shift is the tendency for a group decision to be riskier than the average decision made by individual group members. Group polarization effect is the solidification of an individual’s position because of a group discussion.
Groupthink: refers to the impaired group decision making that occurs when making the right decision is less important than maintaining group harmony.
Majority and Minority Influence: Majority usually wins.

Question 51

What is Social Identity? 5 types?

Answer 51

Refers to the way we define ourselves in terms of our group membership. 5 types are ethnicity and religion, personal relationships, vocations and avocations, political affiliations and stigmatized groups.

Question 52

What is Social Identitiy Theory?

Answer 52

States that our social identities are a crucial part of our self-image and a valuable source of positive feelings about ourselves. To feel good about ourselves, we need to feel good about the group we are in.

Question 53

What are ingroups and outgroups?

Answer 53

An ingroup is a group that is thought to be better in comparison to other groups. The other worse groups are the outgroups. Favoritism happens if they belong in the same groups, even if it is arbitrary .

Question 54

What is Ethoncentrism?

Answer 54

Tendency to favor one’s own ethnic group over other groups. Its not favoring, its asserting superiority over other groups. May underlie prejudice.

Question 55

What is Prejudice?

Answer 55

An unjustified negative attitude toward an individual based on the individual’s membership in a particular group.

Question 56

What is Explicit/Implicit Racism?

Answer 56

A person’s conscious and openly shared attitude (can be measured in a questionnaire VS. Attitudes that exist on a deeper hidden level (must be measured in methods not requiring awareness).

Question 57

Why do people develop prejudice? 3 reasons

Answer 57

1. Realistic conflict between groups
2. Bolstering self esteem by demeaning outgroup members
3. Relying on stereotypes due to cognitive processing limits.

Question 58

What is Discrimination?

Answer 58

An unjustified negative or harmful action toward a member of a group simply because the person belongs to that group.

Question 59

What are some ways to improve Intergroup Relations?

Answer 59

1. Optimal Group Contact. (task-oriented cooperation)
2. Breaking the Prejudice Habit. (since they are automatic associations)

Question 60

2 things that play a role in attraction?

Answer 60

Proximity (mere exposure effect) and Similarity (we like to associate with people similar to us. we shy away from the unknown)

Question 61

What is the mere exposure effect?

Answer 61

The more we encounter someone or something, the more probable it is that we will start liking the person or thing even if we do not realize we have seen it before.

Question 62

Difference between Romantic and Affectionate Love?

Answer 62

Romantic (passionate) Love: Love with strong components of sexuality and infatuation, predominates in the early part of a love relationship.
Affectionate (compassionate) Love: love that occurs when individuals desire to have the other person near and have a deep, caring affection for the person.

Question 63

2 Theories that explain why long-term relationships last?

Answer 63

Social exchange theory: Looks at human relations as an exchange of rewards between actors. From this perspective, the most important predictor of a relationship’s success is equity, the feeling that each did their own fair share.
Investment Model: Examines the ways that commitment, investment and the availability of attractive alternative partners predict satisfaction and stability in relationships. Relationships will last if both put in a great deal into it and there are no tempting alternatives.