Chapter 13

Question 1

Social psychology is the study of the _____ and ______ of sociality

Answer 1

causes; consequences

Question 2

Define aggression

Answer 2

behavior whose purpose is to harm another

Question 3

What is the frustration-aggression hypothesis?

Answer 3

animals aggress when their goals are frustrated i.e. chimp wants banana, pelican a/b to take it, chimp shakes fist

Question 4

Define cooperation

Answer 4

behavior by two or more individuals that leads to mutual benefit

Question 5

What shows that cooperation is risky?

Answer 5

prisoner’s dilemma; mutual cooperation leads to a moderate benefit to both players, but if one player cooperates and the other doesn’t, the cooperator gets no benefit and the non cooperator gets a large benefit

Question 6

Describe ppls reactions to fairness using $ experiment

Answer 6

one person can offer another person a portion of amount of $; other person either accepts this amount, or rejects it and both ppl get nothing; shows that ppl are willing to forego $ reward to punish ppl who treat them unfairly

Question 7

Define prejudice

Answer 7

an evaluation of another person based solely on their group membership

Question 8

What is the common knowledge effect?

Answer 8

the tendency for group discussions to focus on information that all members share

Question 9

What is group polarization?

Answer 9

the tendency for groups to make decisions that are more extreme than any member would have made alone i.e. PTA meeting voting to build new school instead of renovating gymnasium

Question 10

What is groupthink?

Answer 10

the tendency for groups to reach consensus in order to facilitate interpersonal harmony

Question 11

What is deindividuation?

Answer 11

when immersion in a group causes ppl to become less concerned with their personal values

Question 12

What is diffusion of responsibility?

Answer 12

the tendency for individuals to feel diminished responsibility when they are surrounded by others who are acting the same way

Question 13

What is social loafing? example

Answer 13

the tendency for ppl to expend less effort when in a group than when alone i.e. ppl are less likely to clap loudly after a performance when in a large group than in a small group

Question 14

What is bystander intervention?

Answer 14

the act of helping strangers in an emergency situation

Question 15

People are (more/less) likely to help an innocent person in distress when there are many other bystanders present

Answer 15

less; b/c they assume that the other bystanders are collectively ore responsible than they are

Question 16

Define altruism

Answer 16

intentional behavior that benefits another at a cost to oneself

Question 17

What is the relationship between testosterone and aggression?

Answer 17

studies show that aggression is strongly correlated with testosterone, which is typically higher in men than women, younger men than older men, and violent criminals than nonviolent criminals ; makes ppl feel confident in their ability to prevail in interpersonal conflicts

Question 18

What is kin selection?

Answer 18

the process by which evolution selects for individuals who cooperate with their relatives

Question 19

What is reciprocal altruism?

Answer 19

behavior that benefits another with the expectation that those benefits will be returned in the future

Question 20

What is the mere exposure effect?

Answer 20

the tendency for liking to increase with the frequency of exposure

Question 21

What is passionate love?

Answer 21

an experience involving feelings of euphoria, intimacy, and intense sexual attraction

Question 22

What is companionate love?

Answer 22

an experience involving affection, trust, and concern for a partner’s well-being

Question 23

What is a comparison level?

Answer 23

the cost-benefit ratio that a person believes he or she could attain in another relationship

Question 24

What are the physical features people, on
average, find attractive? Why do
researchers believe these features are
important in attraction?

Answer 24

men– v shape, broad shoulders
women– small waist, hourglass shape
-symmetry b/c its a sign of health
-age b/c younger women are more fertile and older men have more resources
-testosterone causes mens bodies to be triangles, so theyre more socially dominant and tend to have more resources for their offspring
-estrogen causes hourglass bod and women w/estrogen are esp. fertile

Question 25

What is equity?

Answer 25

a state of affairs in which the cost-benefit ratios of two partners are roughly equally favorable

Question 26

What are the three basic motivations that make them susceptible to social influence?

Answer 26

1) hedonic motive- experience pleasure and avoid pain
2) approval motive- accepted, not rejected
3) accuracy motive- believe what is right, not wrong

Question 27

What are norms?

Answer 27

customary standards for behavior that are widely shared by members of a culture

Question 28

What is a norm of reciprocity?

Answer 28

the unwritten rule that people should benefit those who have benefited them

Question 29

What is normative influence?

Answer 29

another person’s behavior provides information about what is appropriate

Question 30

What is the door-in-the-face technique?

Answer 30

an influence strategy that involves getting someone to deny an initial request; works b/c of reciprocity; i.e. supervise kid at detention center every week vs. go on 1 field trip

Question 31

Describe Asch’s conformity study

Answer 31

real participant was very likely to give wrong answer to simple question (which line matches the original line) after two other participants (actors) did as well

Question 32

What did Milgram’s experiment show?

Answer 32

ppl would shock other people simply because a person in a lab coat told them they had no choice

Question 33

Define attitude

Answer 33

an enduring positive or negative evaluation of an object or event

Question 34

Define belief

Answer 34

an enduring piece of knowledge about an object or event

Question 35

What is informational influence? Ex

Answer 35

another person’s behavior provides info about what is true i.e. ppl are screaming and running for an exit

Question 36

Define systematic persuasion

Answer 36

the process by which attitudes or beliefs are changes by appeals to reason

Question 37

Define heurisitic persuasion

Answer 37

the process by which attitudes or beliefs are changed by appeals to habit or emotion

Question 38

What were the results of the study looking at heuristics?

Answer 38

when students were motivated/would be affected by proposal, they evaluated the arguments based on merit; when they were unmotivated, they chose the Princeton professor over the high school student regardless of content

Question 39

What is the foot-in-the-door technique?

Answer 39

a technique that involves making a small request and following it with a larger request; occurs b/c of cognitive dissonance/lying

Question 40

Define cognitive dissonance

Answer 40

an unpleasant state that arises when a person recognizes the inconsistency of his or her actions, attitudes, or beliefs

Question 41

We normally think ppl pay for things b.c they value them, but sometimes ppl value things because….
example?

Answer 41

they have paid for them with money, time, blood, sweat, tears; hazing, gourmet food

Question 42

Why is white lying a phenomenon?

Answer 42

because the large consistency of being nice to friends justifies the small inconsistency of lying about a hairstyle; reduces cognitive dissonance

Question 43

Describe results of boring knob experiment

Answer 43

ppl given boring knob turning task to do; researcher gave one group $1 to recruit more ppl and another group $20; ppl in $1 group reported task to be more enjoyable b/c of cognitive dissonance; $20 a lot of money so it justified the lie

Question 44

What is the self-fulfilling prophecy? ex

Answer 44

the tendency for ppl to behave as they are expected to behave i.e. black students marking their race, getting nervous on test, doing worse

Question 45

What is perpetual confirmation?

Answer 45

the tendency for ppl to see what they expect to see

Question 46

Define subtyping

Answer 46

the tendency for ppl who receive disconfirming evidence to modify their stereotypes rather than abandon them

Question 47

What are attributions?

Answer 47

inferences about the causes of ppl’s behaviors

Question 48

What kinds of attributions do we make for ppls behaviors?

Answer 48

situational attributions = temporary aspect of situation i.e. wind helped player hit ball
dispositional attributions = relatively enduring tendency to think, feel, or act i.e. great eye and powerful swing

Question 49

Define the covariation model of attribution and use cheese hat as an example

Answer 49

consistency– does he perform action on regular basis?
consensus– do most ppl perform action?
distinctiveness– does the person perform similar actions?
low consistency+high consensus+high distinctiveness= situational attribution
high consistency+low consensus+low distinctiveness= dispositional attribution

Question 50

What is the correspondence bias?

Answer 50

the tendency to make a dispositional attribution when we should instead make a situational attribution

Question 51

Describe quizzing experiment a/b correspondence bias

Answer 51

one person was assigned quizmaster and other had to answer questions the q.m. made up; tricky questions, got a lot wrong; third observer rated quizmaster higher on intelligence and was more likely to choose them for their team even though switching roles would have yielded a different result

Question 52

What causes the correspondence bias?

Answer 52

1) situational causes of behavior are not as tangible as behaviors i.e. students laughing @ professor vs. strong incentive to please grademaker
2) situational attributions are more complex

Question 53

What is the actor-observer effect?

Answer 53

the tendency to make situational attributions for our own behaviors while making dispositional attributions for the identical behavior of others i.e. choosing college major (I chose econ cuz my parents want me to make $ vs. Leah chose econ cuz she’s materialsitic)