Chapter 13: Social Psychology Flashcards
What is Social Cognition?
the process of analyzing and interpreting things in the world
What are Attributions?
the process by which a person infers other people’s motives or intentions (Why are they doing ___ )
What are the 4 Functions of Attributions? (HHII)
- help predict & control environment
- help determine self/others thoughts, feelings, & behaviours
- influence expectations for future
- impact our own performance
What is Dispositional vs Situational Attributions? Who developed them?
Friz Heider
- Dispositional
- are causes for behaviour that originate internally (mood, ability) - Situational
- are causes for behaviour that originate in events or situations externally (luck, weather)
What are the 3 factors proposed by Harold Kelley we take into account when making attributions? (CCD)
- Consensus
- degree to which other people, if in the same situation, would behave similarly to the person being observed - Consistency
- whether the person being observed behaves the same way when faced with the same set of circumstances - Distinctiveness
- the observed person acts differently in different types of situations
What causes Internal vs external attributions?
- Internal
- Low Consensus
- High consistency
- Low distinctiveness - External
- High everything
What 2 things do people with Self-Serving Bias do?
- feel their positive behaviours are due to their internal traits
- blame their failures and shortcomings on external, situational factors
What is the Fundamental Attribution Error?
Dual tendency for people to overestimate dispositional factors and to underestimate situational factors when searching for the cause of someone else’s behaviour
What are attitudes?
Positive or negative evaluations of people, objects, and ideas (conscious & unconscious)
What are the 3 dimensions of attitudes? (CEB)
- Cognitive dimension: thoughts/beliefs
- Emotional dimension: Like/dislike/evaluations
- Behavioural dimension: How beliefs and evaluations are demonstrated
What is Cognitive Dissonance?
a state of mental discomfort that arises from a discrepancy between two or more of a person’s beliefs, or between beliefs and behaviour
example> You are told your friend is loyal but another friend tells you they are a thief.
How can attitude change? 2 ways (CP)
- Central Route: Emphasizes conscious, thoughtful consideration of an argument. Attitude change via this route depends on effective, authoritative and logical communication.
- Peripheral Route: Emphasizes more emotional, superficial evaluations of an argument. It’s indirect but powerfully effective especially when there are no logical arguments that can force using the central route.
What is Prosocial behaviour?***
Behaviour that benefits someone else or society that offers no obvious benefit to the person performing it and may involve personal risk or sacrifice
What are the 4 motives for Prosocial behaviour?*** (AECP)
- Altruism (benefit others)
- Egoism (benefit self)
- Collectivism (benefit group)
- Principlism (uphold moral principles)
What is the Bystander effect?
As the number of people present at an emergency increases, people often watch, but do not help.
What is Social Facilitation?
A change in behaviour when people are (or believe they are) in the presence of others
-can enhance or inhibit a person’s ability to perform a task.
What his Social Loafing?
- a decrease in effort as a result of working in a group
- when individual performance cannot be evaluated
What is Groupthink?
tendency for group members to seek concurrence with one another. (look for agreement)
What is Deindividuation?
loss of self-awareness and distinctive personality in a group (do things they normally wouldn’t do because they are in a group).
What is Conformity?
When a person changes their attitudes or behaviours so they are consistent with those of other people or norms
What is the Foot in the door technique?
asking for a small favour, then escalating the compliance by asking for increasingly larger favours
What is the Door in the face technique?
asking first for something large and outrageous, and when refused, then asking for a smaller request
What is the Lowball technique?
obtaining a commitment and then raising the cost of the commitment
4 Basis’s for Social Influence? (RLSA)
- Reciprocation: When someone does a favour and hoping they are reciprocated
- Liking: we comply with those we like
- Scarcity: Not many people like them
- Authority: Listen to higher authority
