Chapter 13; Social Psychology

Question 1

what is social psychology?

Answer 1

how people influence our thoughts, feelings and actions, and how we in turn influence peoples thoughts feelings and actions

Question 2

Need-to-belong theory

Answer 2

humans have such a strong motivate to belong it can be considered a need, social isolation has many negative impacts

Question 3

social contagion

Answer 3

emotions, behaviours or conditions spreading through a group or network of people

Question 4

social comparison

Answer 4

we evaluate our abilities and beliefs by comparing them with those of others, includes:

upward social comparison: comparing ourselves with people who seem superior when we have a goal of improvement

downwards social comparison:
comparing ourselves to people who seem inferior when we have a goal of enhancement

Question 5

mass hysteria

Answer 5

a contagious outbreak of irrational behaviour that spreads like a flu or epidemic

Question 6

fundamental attribution error

Answer 6

tendency to overestimate the impact of dispositional influences on other people’s behaviour and underestimating the impact of situational influences

Question 7

conformity

Answer 7

a change in behaviour as a result of real or imagined group pressure, horizontal influence

Question 8

obedience

Answer 8

adherence to instructions from those of a higher authority, vertical influence

Question 9

Asch studies

Answer 9

Line studies, tested for conformity, concluded conformity was influenced by:
1. unanimity
2. difference in the wrong answer
3. size

Question 10

Milgram studies

Answer 10

electrocution studies studies, tested for obedience, concluded obedience is influenced by:
1. The greater the psychological distance between the experimenter and participant the less obedience
2. the greater the distance between participant and confederate the greater the obedience
-62% obedience

Question 11

deindividuation

Answer 11

the tendency of people to engage in uncharacteristic behaviour when they are stripped of their usual identities, ex. Stanford prison experiment

Question 12

groupthink

Answer 12

when the unanimity of a group is emphasized at the expense of critical thinking
heavily related to conformity

Question 13

preventing groupthink

Answer 13

encouraging dissent, including a devils advocate, inoculation

Question 14

inoculation effect

Answer 14

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

Question 15

Bystander non-intervention effect

Answer 15

the more people present at an emergency the less likely someone will help someone in distress, has 2 main factors:
1. pluralistic ignorance: error of assuming no one in a group perceives things as we do
2. diffusion of responsibility: more people equals less responsibility on each individuals part

Question 16

Model of helping

Answer 16

we must go through 4 steps and 4 challenges before actually providing help
1. notice the event, challenges: not noticing or stimulus overload
2. interpret is as an emergency, challenge: pluralistic ignorance
3. assume responsibility, challenge: diffusion of responsibility
4. know appropriate form of assistance, challenge: no skills/knowledge

Question 17

enlightenment effect

Answer 17

learning about psychological research such as the bystander effect can change behaviour and make us likely to help in the future

Question 18

social loafing

Answer 18

individuals are less productive in groups as a product of diffusion of responsibility

Question 19

aggression situation and cultural influences

Answer 19

1. exposure to media violence
2. influence of alcohol/myopia
3. warmer temperatures
4. cultures of honour
5. high level of negative emotions/ a lack of closeness to others

Question 20

cognitive dissonance theory

Answer 20

our attitudes change through cognitive dissonance: the unpleasant tension that arises when we have conflicting thoughts or beliefs, 3 options to ease cognitive dissonance :
1. alter first belief
2. alter second belief
3. introduce another belief

Question 21

dual process models of persuasion

Answer 21

there are 2 pathways to persuading others:
1. central route: analytical and motivated, long last and strong
2. peripheral route: superficial, uninvolved, temporary, weak

Question 22

foot-in-the-door technique

Answer 22

making a small request, followed by a bigger request (works because of cognitive dissonance)

Question 23

door-in-the-face technique

Answer 23

making a big request, followed by a smaller request

Question 24

lowball techniques

Answer 24

quoting a lower price then mentioning you need all the add ons

Question 25

but-you-are-free technique

Answer 25

giving a person the sense that they are free to choose but you are actually pressuring them

Question 26

prejudice

Answer 26

prejudging something negatively

Question 27

stereotype

Answer 27

belief about a group’s characteristics that we apply to most members of that group

Question 28

discrimination

Answer 28

the act of treating members of the out-group differently from members in the in-group or on the basis of prejudice/stereotypes

Question 29

in-group bias

Answer 29

the tendency to favour individuals inside our group relative to members outside our group

Question 30

out-group homogeneity

Answer 30

tendency to view all people outside our group as highly similar

Question 31

scape-goat hypothesis of prejudice

Answer 31

prejudice arises from a need to blame other groups for our misfortunes

Question 32

just-world hypothesis

Answer 32

many of us have a deep-seated need to perceive the world as fair, believing everything happens for a reason, leading to victim blaming

Question 33

how to combat prejudice

Answer 33

by getting people to cooperate to achieve a goal