CHAPTER 6 - Social Psychology Flashcards
social exclusion (2)
social segregation- external factors separate groups, so some are pushed to the fringes and get less resources
social isolation- voluntary separation from society, Mormons
social support (2)
one is cared for and member of social network, important for stress management, physical health
buffering hypothesis- protective layer creating psychological distance between person and stressful events
direct effects hypothesis- social support provides better health and wellness, means better able to manage stress
Self concept/ self identity
The knowledge of someone of him/herself. Beliefs about who you are
Different than self consciousness which is awareness of one’s self
self-schema- ideas about yourself, used to organize information relevant to you, based on past experiences, like I’m smart
self-efficacy- how good you think you are at something
self-esteem- belief about self-worth
Theory of self-verification - individuals want to be understood in term of their deploy beliefs
The self reference effect is when one remembers information relevant to ourselves.
If something happens that opposes self concept ppl tend to attribute it to external factors. Ppl with positive self concepts act positively, those with negative are dissatisfied and unhappy
Types of identity
Social identity: social definitions of who one is, like race, religion, gender. - objective
Personal identity: what you think about yourself - subjective
self verification - individuals want ppl to understand them based on their core value
ADRESSING framework
Aspects of one identity
Age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, Socioeconomic class, indigenous background, national origin, gender
Self reference effect
one tends to remember information that is relevant to us
Carl Rogers
Humanistic psychology. Personality is composed of the ideal self - person you want to be - and real self - who you are -.
If similar = positive self concept
if not = incongruity - personal self not close to ideal
locus of control (2)
internal- you have control of outcomes
external- outcomes controlled by external factors.
Learned helplessness - ppl learn from past experience they dont have control so they dont act anymore
Stages of identity development
Identity formation - development of personality most critical during adolescence – Erik Erikson
Influence of individuals on identity formation
Looking- glass self - the sense of self develops based on what others think of me.
George Mead -> social behaviorism – the mind and self created through communication or use of symbols – base of symbolic interactionism school.
Child follows a path on the development of the self = imitate others, play stage, game stage, understanding of the generalized other.
role-taking (5)
social perspective taking, understanding other point of views
egocentric role (level 0)- no differentiation means cannot distinguish perspective, no integration means cannot relate perspectives
subjective role (level 1)- differentiation, no integration
self-reflective role (level 2)- poor integration
mutual role taking- integration
social role
social comparison theory
all have drive to gain accurate self-evaluations, identity shaped by comparison with reference groups
dramaturgical perspective (4)
from symbolic interactionism, we have front stage self and back stage self
defines how we manifest our sense of self in social world
impression management- self-presentation, we try to influence the perception others have of us
self-handicapping- we create obstacles and excuses to avoid blame
emotional expression (3)
nonverbal communication- facial cues and body language communicate emotions
factors:
1. introverts are better at reading emotional cues
2. women are better at reading emotional cues, greater emotional response/expression except for anger
3. Western cultures encourage emotional expression
animal communication (4)
warning colors- warning to predators of toxin
mimicry- pretends to be another organism
pheromones- chemical messengers for warning and mating
mating behaviors- colors, songs, dances
Influence of culture and socialization on identity formation
Socialization - people learn to be members of society. This is what allies to pass on values
Feral children - examples of growing up without proper human care and contact
Influence of social norms (5) on identity formation
Formal norms - written down vs informal norms - generally understood
sanctions: rewards/ punishments that encourage a social behavior. Formal (rewards/punishment) vs informal (recognition/stigma)
folkway- standard of behavior socially approved but not morally significant, etiquette
more- strict norm that controls moral behavior
taboo- vehemently prohibited, considered morally reprehensible
anomie- lack of social norms causes disconnect between individual and community
What is a deviance
violation of the social norms. Can be seen as criminal - social construct. Can result in
1. legal sanction- formal deviance
2. stigmatization- informal deviance, disapproval of a deviant attribute or behavior
3 theories on deviance:
1. differential association- deviance is learned (fails to consider individuals)
- labeling theory- society labels people as deviant, they then become deviant,(fails to consider individuals) —> self fulfilling prophecy
agents of social control have the capacity to stigmatize certain behaviors - structural strain theory- structures not adequate for achieving goals, so pursue deviance (fails to account for behaviors with no purpose)
Stigma: demeaning labels assigned to deviant member. Follow them and affect their lives
Collective behavior (4)
Spontaneous, short lived, loss of self to belong to a group
1. crowd: group that shares a purpose, influences an individual behavior (herd behavior). Different types. Panic (collective behavior)n. Mob - emotion is heightened and there is a violent cause
2. publics: group discuss one issue
3.Masses: formed through mass media, not physically close, common interest.
4. Social movements: promote a change, 2 - active movement (social change ir revolutions) and expressive movement (individual change ie support groups). Can become permanent.
3 examples:
1. fad- short craze driven by media, “viral”. boost - popular- rapid decline vs trends that are longer and lead to changes
2. mass hysteria- delusion of threat (panic). Moral panic - threat to social order
3. riots- they are usually rational. Chaotic and disorganized (spontaneous)
Agents of socialization
- Family: social developmet, teach
- school: norms and values, self identity
-Peer groups: popularity - Workplace: through written codes and informal norms. occupation = identity
-Religion/Goverment: set milestones and stablish laws that influence course of cultural change
-Mass media/Tech: affects culture through connection and other influences
Subcultures
Have distinct patterns from the traditional culture - culture within a big dominant culture
counterculture - opposes the dominant culture
Moral development - Kohlberg’s stages of moral development (3 levels)
ppl dont pass four and havent identify smn at stage 6
Level 1 - children: doenst know right or wrong, distinguish by consequences. Pre moral reasoning
-stage 1: obedience and how to avoid punishment
-Stage 2: do what is best for their interest
Level 2 - adolescents and adults: accept what is right or wrong according to society. Moral reasoning
-Stage 3: try to be liked by others
-Stage 4: person follow laws and rules
Level 3 - many ppl never. follow internal guidelines, rules are malleable. Post moral reasoning.
-stage 5: laws can be changed for general wellbeing
-stage 6: universal ethical principles make laws valid if they are just
Attribution (3)
Attribution theory - explains behavior.
Dispositional attribution: the behavior is due to internal causes
Situational attribution: due to external causes
Attribute situation to external or internal cause based on:
1. Consistency: if the behavior repeated (internal/dispositional) or once (situational/external)?
2. Distinctiveness: is it towards everyone (dispositional/internal) or me (situational/external)?
3. Consensus: is everybody adopting the behavior (situational/external) or just this person (internal/dispositional)?
Attributional Biases (7)
Fundamental attribution error: people act based on their personalities and no situations
Actor/observer bias: blame our actions on situations and the actions of others on their personalities
Self-serving bias: successes due to our own abilities, fails due to external causes
Optimism bias: bad things happen to others and not us
Just world belief: ppl get what they deserve
ultimate attribution error- attribute out group’s negative behavior to internal factors, attribute in group’s negative behavior to external factors, and vice versa for positive
Hindsight bias: an event that occurred was predictable
Halo effect: impression impacts assumptions about overall character
type of halo effect =physical attractiveness stereotype: attrative ppl are rated better in everything else
Culture affects attributions
Western cultures - individualistic attitude thus ppl look for internal attributions for success and failure
Eastern Asian cultures - external attribution more predominant, the system is judged more than the individual.
How Social perception affects perception of others
Social perception is how we perceive others (judge/impressions)
social cognition is how the brain store information of social perceptions
False consensus: we assume that everybody agrees with what we do
Projection bias: others have the same beliefs we do
Thomas theorem
if men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences.” This means that people’s perceptions and definitions of a situation can influence their behavior and the outcomes of that situation, regardless of the objective reality.
Stereotype, prejudice and discrimination
Stereotype - oversimplified thoughts
Prejudice: thinking - attitude (ABCs - affects, behavioral tendencies, cognitions)
Discrimination: similar prejudice but this is action a certain way towards a group
Institutional discrimination: discriminatory practices codified in the procedures of the institutions
Affirmative action: give some benefit to underrepresented - ppl argue can cause reverse discrimination ie discrimination against majority
Racism: one race is inferior to another
Attitude vs Behavior
Attitude refers to a person’s mental view or perception of something. ABCs - affect (feelings), behavioral tendencies, cognitions (beliefs)
behavior refers to the actions or conduct of an individual
Emotion and cognition in prejudice
Scapegoats: those that receive the effects of prejudice
Stereotypes: are formed from shortcuts our brain takes to organize data based on similarities
Illusory correlation: consider everybody from a group to have a characteristic based on a specific case (all black are good in basketball)
Self fulfilling prophecy and stereotype threat
Self-fulfilling prophecy: adopting behaviors that reinforce a stereotype.
Stereotype threat: fear of confirming a negative stereotype negatively affect performance and reinforce stereotype
Ethnocentrism vs cultural relativism
Ethnocentrism: judge people based on own culture
Cultural relativism: judging other culture based on its own standard
Groups
Share similar norms, values and expectations
-Primary groups: smaller, emotional, in person, long term. Expressive functions ie emotional needs
-Secondary group: larger, impersonal, specific reason, short period/ Instrumental functions
-in-group: individual belongs to (+ stereotypes)
-out-group: does not belong (neg stereotypes)
-reference group: ppl compare themselves to
-group size: dyad/triad more or less stable depending on situation
- aggregate: ppl in same space that do not interact (coffee shop)
-Category: ppl w similar characteristics that are not tied (all ppl studying for MCAT this year)
Bureaucracy: surges from division of labor, administrative body have tasks. Principles –> hierarchy, specialized, predictability, control, efficiency. Cons not flexible
-rationalization: completing tasks more efficiently – McDonalization: rationalization of fast food procedures
Iron law of oligarchy: organizations try to be creative/revolutionary but as they grow in complexity become more rigid and less revolutionary
oligarchy - rule by the elite
Social Facilitation
Mere presence: people are simply there in the others presence - effect in performance
Social facilitation effect: ppl perform better if the task is well learned, but poorly in new tasks
Social loafing
social loafing- people in groups exert less effort and are less creative than if they were working independently (contrary to social facilitation)
Bystander effect: ppl are less responsible when there are others preset
Group Polarization
Group intensifies preexisting views of members, average view becomes more accentuated and tend to more extreme version of the opinion
-informational influence: ideas that follow the dominant viewpoint emerge more commonly and so others follow the stronger opinions and strengthen them
-normative influence: take a more intense opinion than you actually have just bc is socially desirable
-Social comparison: evaluating opinions by comparing them to the others
Hawthorne effect
he alteration of behavior by the subjects of a study due to their awareness of being observed
social desirability- people provide socially acceptable answers in front of others
deindividuation
lose identity and form mob mentality –> lack of self awareness and disconnection increase sense of deindividuation
Deindividuation is influenced to occur by:
-group size: larger groups
-Physical anonymity
-arousing activities
bystander effect- diffusion of responsibility in Kitty murder, people less likely to receive help the more people there are
Groupthink
desire for harmony and minimize conflict results in members ignoring alternative views and making bad decisions that favor a lider
Symptoms:
- group optimistic about its capabilities
-extreme justification of the opinions and demonization of others
- mindguarding prevent dissenting opinions from entering the group
-pressure to conform
Conformity and obedience
Asch experiment: effects of group pressure ie peer pressure
1. how tall are lines, confederates (part experiment) answer incorrectly
2. influences subjects to conform to wrong answer
3. 1/3 conformed and answered incorrectly vs when answering alone
Milgram experiment:
1. learner and teacher roles
2. experiment tells teacher to give shocks
3. 65% administered shocks to highest level, did not questioned authority figure.
Obedience decreased when closeness to learner, distant from the authority, and more casual clothes of the authority
Social influences of behavior
-informational social influence: compliance due to need to be right
-normative social influence - compliance due to the need to be liked
social influences motivate behavior in 3 ways:
1. compliance: desire for rewards and punishment, no private acceptance
2. identification- desire to be in a group, no private acceptance
3. internalization- private acceptance due to values and beliefs
Factors that influence conformity
Group size - large
Unanimity - all think the same
Cohesion - agree with ppl that identify with
Status - higher status more influential
Accountability - conform in front of others more than private bc held accountable
no prior commitment - public commitments lead to conform
Social Structures (5)
- Statuses: positions within society, can be multiple at the same time. Master status is the one predominant and determines someone’s position in society (might not be the preferred one)
1.1 Ascribed statuses are given by society
1.2 Achieved statuses - effort - Social Roles: expectations according to status.
-role conflict - conflict in expectations for multiple statuses held by the same person (gay priest, male nurse)
-role strain: conflict in expectation for single status. (Homosexual not being gay enough or being too gay)
-role exit: taking another role (student to professional) - groups
4.Networks: social network a web of social relationships
- organizations: groups hierarchically structure that meet goals.
-utilitarian organizations - members get paid (bussiness)
- normative organizations - join based on morality
-coercive: no choice of joining (prison)
Expressing and detecting emotions/what shapes expression
Emotions have an evolutionary significance to keep us safe
Introverts are better at reading emotions and extroverts are easily read.
Shapes expression:
- Gender - females are better at reading emotions. Some emotions (like anger) might be associated with one gender (masc)
Empathy - identify others emotions, women more empathetic. - culture emotions are expressed in dif ways across cultures.
-impression management/self presentation: people influence how others see them by managing their own image.
-Self handicapping: creating obstacles and excuses to justify poor performance/behavior.
Dramaturgical perspective (2)
Life is a stage and we play roles when in front of others
- Front stage: how we present to others
- back stage: how we really are when not in front of others
Social Behavior (4)
- Attraction: between members of the same species, due to proximity, physical attractiveness, and similarity.
- Proximity: predictor of friendship. The mere exposure effect is that ppl prefer repeated exposure to same stimuli. Tendency to like those close bc evolution = familiar faces = trusted - Aggression: Protective source in animals. Predictors for aggression - genetic, neural (brain areas), biochemical (alcohol). Aggression occur again if it has worked in previous instances.
-Frustration aggression principle: when cannot achieve goal, frustration can lead to aggression.
-instrumental aggression- goal-oriented, predatory, planned to obtain something else - Attachment: interaction is essential for development
- Social Support: determinant of health, not only human-human
attachment
Harlow experiment with baby monkeys showed that they preferred soft cloth surrogate mother over bare wire with bottle mother, shows that attachment to mother is not based on need for food
Ainsworth experiment with toddlers showed that securely attached toddlers are happy with mother, cry when she leaves, consoled when she returns
insecure attachment (4)
Ainsworth experiment
secure attachment- toddlers are happy with mother, cry when she leaves, consoled when she returns
ambivalent attachment- toddler cries when mother leaves, remain upset even when she returns
avoidant attachment- toddler does nothing when mother leaves or returns, but is internally stressed out
indifferent attachment- fluctuates between avoidant and ambivalent
animal behavior
- foraging- search for food, use observational learning to conserve energy
- Mating and mate choice-
- random mating: all are equally likely to make - genetic diversity, protects against bottle neck and genetic drift
-Assortative mating: nonrandom mating where similar organisms mate more frequently.
- disassortative mating: negative assortative – more disparate and different traits mate more frequently - inclusive fitness- defined by number of offspring.
- Altruistic behavior improve genetic survival by sacrificing self for family - game theory- predict behavior of large group of organisms
persuasion
To change an attitude/behavior. Elements that determine persuasion level of a message:
message characteristics- message itself: logic, grammar, length
source characteristics- who gives message: expertise, trustworthiness, journal
target characteristics- who receives message: self-esteem, intelligence
elaboration-likelihood model
when people are influence by the contents vs superficial characteristics of speech
Cognitive routes persuasion follows
-central route- people are persuaded by content of argument, motivated to think, longer lasting persuasion. Ppl choose this one when motivated to listen, interested, not distracted.
- peripheral route- persuaded by superficial characteristics of source, low motivation to think, temporary persuasion
persuasion techniques
foot-in-the-door- ask for small request first, get compliance, then ask for larger request
door-in-the-face- ask for large request first, get denied, then ask for smaller request
low-ball technique- gain compliance with lower cost, then changing to a higher cost
gain compliance with lower cost, then changing to a higher cost
ingratiation technique- gain compliance by gaining personal approval first
norm of reciprocity- more likely to comply with request from someone who has done us a favor in the past
Social Cognitive Theory
Cognition (how we process the environment), memories, experiences influence our behavior. Different than behaviorism where the environment controls us.
Social factor influence attitudes
reciprocal determinism - interaction between person’s behavior, personal factors (motivations, cognitions, personalities), and environment.
Individuals and environments interact in three ways:
- ppl chose the environment which also shapes them
- personalities shape how ppl interpret environment
- someone’s personality affects the situation to which they react ie treating someone influence how they reciprocate
Behavioral genetics
Nature vs nurture, heredity and experience influence in personality.
Phenotype vs genotype
Twin studies: MZ - monozygotic twins are identical and 100% genes vs dizygotic 50% identical.
Adoption studies - genetic vs environmental relatives. Personalities similar to biological and values similar to adoptive
Transgenesis - introduction of an exogenous gene vs knockout - to eliminate
Adaptation - some genes turned on/off in certain environments
Temperament - genetically predisposed.
Intellectual functioning
Definition - learn from experience, problem solve, adaptation.
Theories of intelligence
- Francis Galton: biologically/genetically determined.
-Alfred Binet: IQ test
-Charles Spearman: general intelligence - intelligence quantified by tests and intelligent ppl do well in many things
-Raymond Cattell: fluid intelligence (think on your feet) vs crystallized intelligence (ability to apply already learned knowledge ie school)
-Howard gardner - 8 different (logical, longuistic, spatial, musical, kinesthesis, naturist, interpersonal, and intrapersonal)
Emotional intelligence (own emotions) vs social intelligence
intelligence is a social construct determined by cultural context.
Heritability and environment influence
Intellectual disability - difficulty adapting to daily demands
Life course perspective
aka life course approach - how key events in life determine someone’s development.
bases of power
legitimate power- position
referent power- charisma
expert power- expertise
reward power- reward
coercive power- punishment
ethnographic method
observing social interactions in real social settings
