Chapter 13 - Social Psychology Flashcards
Social Psychology
how other influence our thoughts, feelings, and behaviours
- the way we see the world, what we think and feel
social norms + roles
formal and informal rules and patterns that guide social life
Persuasion (social influence)
- influencing attitudes or behaviours through communication
Advertisements;
- scarcity effect - only 2 left
- reciprocity effect - you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours
- social proof - kylie jenner says sugar bear hair works
Conformity (social influence)
- tendency to act and think like the people around us
driven by:
- not wanting to stand out
- unconsciously copy them
- maybe they know something i don’t - informational influence
attraction
- why you develop an interest in certain people over others
Exposure (reason of attraction)
- the girl or boy next door effect
- like them bc you have been exposed so many times
Birds of a feather (reason of attraction)
- attracted to those who are similar to us in social characteristics - attitudes, intelligence, attractiveness
Physical attractiveness (reason of attraction)
universal attractive features for males and females
Interpersonal marketplace (reason of attraction)
- women’s worth based on looks
- men’s worth based on success
Reinforcement theory (reason of attraction)
we like people who confer rewards on us
- interacting with similar others is emotionally rewarding
- physically attractive partners are socially rewarding
Sociobiology (reason of attraction)
sexual strategies theory
- men like women younger than them because they are more likely to have healthy children
Likeability (reason of attraction)
you think your friends are hotter than they are because you know their personality and not just based on looks
Obedience (social influence)
following orders or requests from people perceived to be in a position of authority
Obedience study
Milgram
participant, experimenter, confederate who pretended to be a participant (learner)
- 66% of participants shocked all the way
- tested to see if people would keep shocking when the learner screamed in pain (lots hesitated but were told that the study requires them to go on)
Social cognition
how we think about and feel toward others
- what are we doing and why?
Attitudes (concept of social cognition)
set of opinions, beliefs and feelings about people, groups, ideas, or activities
evaluating an entity with some degree of favour
explicit, implicit
Social identities
a person’s self-concept that is based on their identification with a nation, religious group, occupation
related to social rules but not individual characteristics
stereotype
impression of a group in where a person believes that all members of the group have a common trait
ex) the elderly are frail
* not all stereotypes are negative* - kids love to play and eat ice cream
prejudice
how a person feels about an individual based on their group membership
- includes emotions, thoughts
ex) redheads are heartbreakers
discrimination
treating members of a certain group in away that follows prejudice held against the group
Validity effect (influencing attitudes)
tendency to believe something is true or valid simply because it has been repeated many times
ex) full moon makes people crazy
Familiarity effect (influencing attitudes)
the tendency for people to feel more positive toward a person, item as they become familiar with it
ex) we buy lots of cheerios bc we see lots of cheerio commercials
- when you go to a party you might hang out with ppl you are familiar with even tho you might not like them
Attribution theory
we are motivated to explain our own and other people’s behaviour by assigning causes/motives to these acts
how people explain causes of behaviour and events
Fundamental attribution error
tend to overestimate personality factors when explaining other people’s behaviour and underestimate the influence of the situation
Diffusion of responsibility (how people behave in crowds)
responsibility for an outcome is spread among many people, reducing an individual’s sense of accountability
Ex) the more people that are around, the less likely each person feels they should help (little girl in china)
Deindividuation (how people behave in crowds)
individuals lose awareness of their own individuality and are ran by the mood/actions of large crowds
ex) marty graw boob flash on the streets - we don’t do this everyday
why do people obey social roles/situational norms
- threat of punishment
- hope of reward
- perceived legitimacy of authority figures
- process of entrapment
coercive persuasion
attempts to influence the beliefs, attitudes, or behaviours of others by suppressing an individuals ability to make choices for their best interest
coercive persuasion factors
- entrapment (obedience)
- problems explained by simple attributions (situational, self not to blame)
- continuous exposure to symbols (familiarity and validity effect)
- promise of salvation (reward-obedience)
- control access to disconfirming information (silencing disagreement - obedience)
Situational attributions
assigning the cause to behaviour to some situation or event outside the person’s control
ex) a student fails an exam and the parents think the questions were difficult or she had a bad teacher
Dispositional attributions
assigning the cause or responsibility of a certain behavior or action to the internal characteristic
ex) a student fails an exam an exam. her parents think its because she pay enough attention in class
