Chapter- 13 Social Psychology Flashcards
social psychology
study of how people influence others behaviour, beliefs and attitudes
need to belong theory
him and have a biologically based need for interpersonal connections
Social comparison theory
people seek to evaluate their own beliefs and abilities by comparing them with those of others
Upward social comparison (Superior)
people who are not much different from us “if he can achieve that, I bet I can too”
Downward social comparison (inferiors)
we often end up feeling superior to our peers who are less competent than us in an important domain of life. Such as being the brightest students in a class of poorly performing students
Mass hysteria
outbreak of irrational behaviour that is spread by social contagious
collective delusions
Many people simultaneously come to be convinced of bizarre things that are false
Attribution
Process of assigning causes to behaviour
Urban legends
False stories that have been repeated so many times that people believe them to be true
Fundamental attribution error
tendency to overestimate the impact of dispositional influences on other behaviour
conformity
refers to the tendency of people to alter their behaviour as a result of group pressure
3 types of independent variable
- unanimity
- difference in the wrong answer
- size
unanimity
If all confederates gave the wrong answer, the participant was more likely to conform. If one’s confederate gave the
the correct response, the level of conformity plummeted by 3/4
difference in the wrong answer
knowing that someone else in the group differed from the majority (even if that person held a different view from the participant), made the participant less likely to conform
size
the size is the majority made a difference, but only to about five or six confederates. people were no more likely to conform in a group of ten than in a group of five
Deindividuation
the tendency of people to engage in a typical behaviour when stripped of their usual identities
groupthink
An emphasis on group unanimity at the expense of critical thinking
cults
groups that exhibits intense and questioning devotion to a single cause
cults promote groupthink in four major ways
- having a persuasive leader who fosters loyalty
- disconnecting group members from the outside world
- discouraging questioning of the groups assumptions
- establishing training practices that indoctrinate members
inoculation effect
approach to convincing people to change their minds about something by first introducing reasons why the perspective might be correct and then debunking those reasons
obedience
adherence to instructions from those of higher authority
social dilemma
a situation in which a self- interested choice by everyone will create the worst outcome for everyone
pro social behaviour
behaviour intended to help others
antisocial behaviour
Includes aggressive acts
pluralistic ignorance
the error of assuming that no one in the group perceives things as we do
diffusion of responsibility
the presence of others make each
person feel less responsible for the outcome
social loafing
phenomenon in which people slack off in groups
altruism
helping others for unselfish reasons
enlightenment effect
learning about psychological research can change real-world behaviour for the better
Aggression
behaviour intended to harm others, either verbally or physically
situational influences
- interpersonal provocation
- frustration
- media influences
- Aggressive cues
- arousal level
- alcohol and other drugs
- temperature
relational aggression
a form of indirect aggression marked by spreading rumours, gossiping, social exclusion, and nonverbal put downs for the purpose of social manipulation
culture of honour
a social norm of defending one’s reputation in the face of perceived insults
attitude
belief that includes and emotional component
origins of attitudes
- recognition
- attitudes and personality
- religion
recognition (recognition heuristic)
makes us more likely to believe something we have heard many times
attitude and personality
personality traits are the “psychological glue” that binds together conservatives’ political attitudes toward the death penalty
religion (religiosity)
the depth of our religious conviction is linked to certain personality traits
cognitive dissonance theory
unpleasant mental experience of tension resulting from two conflicting thoughts or beliefs
self perception theory
we acquire our attitudes by observing our behaviours
impression management theory
we do not really change our attitudes in cognitive dissonance studies, but report that we have, so they our behaviours appear consistent with our attitudes
dual process theory
there are two path ways to persuading others
- central route
- peripheral route
central route
focuses on informational content
peripheral route
focuses on more surface aspects of the argument
foot in the door technique
we start with a small request and move to a larger one
door in the face technique
starts off big then backs off
lowball technique
starts with a low price, then “adds on” all the desirable options
but you are free technique
we convince someone to perform a favour for us by telling them that they are free not to do it
implicit egotism effect
we are more positively disposed toward people, places or things that resemble us across many domains
prejudice
drawing negative conclusions about a person or situation prior to evaluating the evidence
stereotypes
a belief, positive or negative, about the characteristic of members of a group that is applied generally to most members of the group
ultimate attribution error
assumption that behaviours among individual members of a group are due to their internal dispositions
adaptive conservatism “better save then sorry”
evolutionary principle that creates a predisposition toward distrusting anything or anyone unfamiliar or different
in group bias
tendency to favour individuals within our group over those from outside our group
outgroup bias homogeneity
tendency to view all people outside of our group as highly similar
discrimination
negative behaviour toward members of out group
minimal intergroup paradigm
a laboratory method for creating groups based on arbitrary difference
scapegoat hypothesis
claim that prejudice arises from a need to blame other groups for our misfortunes
just world hypothesis
claim that our attributions and behaviours are shaped by a deep-seated assumption that the world is fair and all things happens for a reason
conformity
going along with others’ opinions
explicit prejudice
unfounded negative belief of which we are aware regarding the characteristics of an out group
implicit prejudice
unfounded negative belief of which we are unaware regarding the characteristics of an out group
jigsaw classroom
educational approach designed to minimize prejudice by requiring all children to make independent contributions to a shared project
