Chapter 13 - Social Psych Flashcards
1
Q
social psychology
A
- how we think about, influence, and relate to one another (peers, groups, family, etc.)
- focuses on social context and relationships, focuses on normal/everyday people - what do we all have in common?
2
Q
why do we behave the way we do?
A
our behaviour is affected by the way others around us behave
3
Q
social thinking
A
- how do we think about others, especially when they do something unexpected?
- we attribute behaviour to persons vs. situations
4
Q
attribution theory
A
- we have a tendency to give causal explanations for someone’s behaviour (trying to explain why they did what they did)
- either attribute to person (ex. child misbehaved because they’re bad) or situation (ex. child misbehaved because the class was boring)
5
Q
fundamental attribution error
A
- tendency to overestimate the impact of personal disposition and underestimate the impact of the situation when explaning behaviour of others
- ex. person trips on sidewalk -> we tend to think they’re clumsy rather than the sidewalk was uneven
- we don’t do this with our own behaviour -> we tend to emphasize the situation
6
Q
effects of attribution
A
how we explain someone’s behaviour affects how we react to it
7
Q
self-serving bias
A
people take credit for success, deny responsibility for failure
8
Q
attitude
A
- a belief/feeling that predisposes a person to RESPOND in a particular way to objects, people, and events
- imperfect predictor - other factors (ex. external situation) can also influence behaviour
- actions can affect attitudes: not only do people stand for what they believe in, they start believing in what they stand for
9
Q
foot in the door phenomenon
A
tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request
10
Q
cognitive dissonance
A
- when our attitudes and actions aren’t consistent, we feel tension that causes us to change one or the other
- ex. knowing that smoking is harmful, but you smoke -> you’ll either stop smoking because it’s harmful or continue smoking and ignore its harmful effects
11
Q
social influence
A
how social factors influence attitudes, beliefs, decisions, and actions
12
Q
conformity
A
adjusting one’s behaviour or thinking to comply with a group standard
13
Q
chameleon effect/automatic mimicry
A
conformity at its most basic - our brain unconsciously monitors what’s going on and primes us to act in a similar way
14
Q
2 reasons for conformity
A
- normative social influence: conforming in order to fit in
- informative social influence: conforming for informational purposes when we don’t know what to do
15
Q
group pressure and conformity
A
- results from one’s willingness to accept others’ opinions about reality
- solomon asch’s line experiment - lots of people conformed and said the answer they knew was wrong simply because everyone before them had said it
- even if 1 other person says the right answer, you’re much more likely to give the right answer
16
Q
informative social influence
A
- conforming for informational purposes (ie. eyewitness id)
- when something is really important and hard to know, we conform rather than trusting our judgement
- when something is really important and easy to know, we trust our judgement rather than conforming
- when something isn’t important, there’s an equal amount of conformity and trusting our own judgement
17
Q
extreme conformity and role-playing
A
- when we’re in situations where we don’t feel personally accountable, we do things we would never ordinarily do
- when we’re given a role, we strive to follow the social perscriptions until you literally become that role
- ex. Stanford Prison experiement
18
Q
Milgram experiments
A
- effect of authority on obedience
- under what situation will someone be more likely to give lethal shocks? CONTEXT is more important than individual
19
Q
when is obedience highest?
A
- authority figure is salient (next to you)
- authority figure had prestige (prestigious uni, dr. instead of grad student)
- victim depersonalized (in another room)
- no models for defiance (you didn’t see anyone else resisting)
20
Q
various types of groups
A
- 1 person affecting another
- families
- teams
- communities
21
Q
social facilitation
A
- refers to improved performance on tasks in the presence of others (or if you’re bad at the task to begin with, you’ll become worse in the presence of others)
- ex. cyclist’s race times were faster when they competed against others vs. competing against the clock
- social facilitation may be present amongst cockroaches as well
22
Q
social loafing
A
- tendency of an individual in a group to exert less effort towards attaining a common goal than when tested individually
- ex. “it’s fine to throw away one plastic bottle, everyone else recycles, so my behaviour won’t make a huge difference”
23
Q
deindividuation
A
- loss of self-awareness and self-restraint in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity
- ex. vancouver rioters, youtube/online comments where you’re anonymous
24
Q
group polarization
A
- enhances a group’s prevailing attitudes through discussion
- if a group is like-minded, discussion strenghtens its prevailing opinions and attitudes
- ex. if someone is highly prejudiced and gets put in a group with other highly prejudiced people, their prejudice strengthens
25
groupthink
- occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides the realistic appraisal of alternatives
- ex. John F. Kennedy in cuban missile crisis -> got caught up in excitement and nobody wanted to be the person to dampen the mood
26
prejudice
- unjustifiable (usually negative) attitude towards a group and its members (ex. racial, ethnic, cultural groups)
- prejudice has decreased, but is still present
27
3 components of prejudice
- beliefs (stereotypes)
- emotions (hostility, envy, fear)
- predisposition to act (to discriminate)
28
social roots of prejudice
- social inequality
- social divisions
- emotional roots
- cognitive roots
- implicit prejudice
- just-world phenomenon
29
social inequality
- money, power, and prestige can lead to prejudice
- prejudice can rationalize inequality
- ex. believing that poor people are lazy
30
social divisions
- ingroup vs. outgroup
- ingroup: people you share a common identity with (ie. school, sports, ethnicity, etc.)
- outgroup: those perceived to be different from the ingroup
31
ingroup bias
tendency to favour one's own group
32
emotional roots of prejudice
- outlet for anger and blame
| - scapegoating: displacing anger on innocent others
33
cognitive roots of prejudice
- one way to simplify our world is to categorize -> we categorize people into groups by stereotyping them
34
the just-world phenomenon
- the world is just, people get what they deserve and deserve what they get
- leads to blaming victims of prejudice
- ex. big fish, medium fish, little fish example from sociology textbook
35
aggression
physical and verbal behaviours intended to hurt or destroy
36
3 biological influences on aggressive behaviour
- genetic (ex. kid born to 2 aggressive parents more likely to be aggresive)
- neural (ex. functioning of neurotransmitters)
- biochemical (ex. testosterone)
37
implicit prejudice
- implicit association test
| - ex. white people take longer to identify pleasant words (ie. peace, paradise) with black faces than white faces
38
what leads to aggression
- aversive events (ex. losing game 7 in stanley cup)
- learning (ex. if aggression is rewarded in childhood)
- observing models (ex. watching others be aggressive)
- social scripts (ex. examples of how you're "supposed to" behave in certain situations - like boyfriends feeling that they must be aggressive and protect their girlfriends)
39
do violent video games teach or release violence?
- mainly release, but also teach
| - often used by kids who are already aggressive as an outlet for their aggression
40
biopsychosocial approach to aggression
- biological (genetics)
- psychological (learning aggression from role models)
- socio-cultural (situation/context or culture you're in)
41
conflict
perceived incompatibility of actions, goals, or ideas
42
social trap
when conflicting parties pursue their self-interest, thereby engaging in mutually destructive behaviour (ex. social trap game)
43
what predicts attraction
- proximity
- physical attractiveness
- similarity
44
proximity
mere exposure effect: when we're repeatedly exposed to something, we tend to like it more (unless you hated it to begin with)
45
physical attractiveness
- people that are more physically attractive are perceived as having other positive traits (ie. healthier, more successful, happier, etc.)
- doesn't influence our perception of honesty or compassion
46
similarity
- we are more attracted to people with similar attitudes, beliefs, interests, age, religion, ethnicity, intelligence, etc.
- "birds of a feather flock together" is more accurate than "opposites attract"
47
passionate love
- aroused state of intense positive absorption in another
- usually present for first year of relationship
- involves 2-factor theory of emotion
48
2-factor theory of emotion
- physical/emotional arousal (fast heartbeat, pumping adreneline)
- cognitive appraisal of arousal (your reasoning for why you feel that arousal)
49
misattribution theory
we can misinterpret our physiological arousal (ie. believing that you're aroused because of a pretty girl, but really being aroused because you just crossed the Capilano suspension bridge) - can make you fall for someone you otherwise wouldn't
50
companionate love
- deep, affectionate attachment we feel for those with whom our lives are intertwined
- must come after the passionate love stage ends in order for relationship to succeed
51
2 keys to successful relationship
- equity
- self-disclosure
- positive support
52
3 helping theories
- social exchange theory
- reciprocity norm
- social-responsibility norm
53
social exchange theory
if i do something for someone, they might help me later on
54
reciprocity norm
helping someone because you're part of a social circle and it's a norm to reciprocate help to those in your circle
55
social-responsibility norm
helping people because it's the right thing to do
56
bystander effect
we're less likely to help someone if other bystanders are present
57
how to make peace?
- superordinate goals: shared goals that override differences and require communication
- communication: understanding through talking to one another
- GRIT: if someone makes a concession, the other person must also make one
58
persuation
- trying to influence someone's attitudes in order to influence their actions
- 2 types: peripheral route and central route persuasion
59
peripheral route persuasion
influence by incidental cues like physical attractiveness
60
central route persuasion
influence by arguments
61
reward theory of attraction
we like those whose behaviour is rewarding to us, including those who help us reach our goals (ie. people that are close to us, attractive, and share our values are the most rewarding)
62
altruism
unselfish regard for the welfare of others
63
bystander intervention
we'll help others only if we notice the incident, interpret it as an emergency, and assume responsibility to help
64
diffusion of responsibility
when more people share responsibility for helping, a single person is less likely to help
65
enemy perceptions
- forming diabolical images of the person you're in conflict with
- ex. mirror-image perceptions and self-fufilling prophecy
66
mirror-image perceptions
mutual views often held by conflicting people - each side sees itself as ethical and peaceful and views the other side as evil and aggressive
67
self-fufilling prophecy
beliefs that lead to their own fufilment (ex. Juan believed Maria was mad at him, so he gave her the silent treatment, so then she got mad at him)
