Chapter 7 Flashcards
What are social decisions based off
Our social cognition
What is social cognition
How we perceive, interpret, and understand social information about ourselves and others
What does our social cognition involve, and is based off
1- How we perceive others
2- How we interpret, analyse, remember and use information to judge people in social settings
3- How we explain (attribute) the behaviours of other people
4- How we mentally construct our world
5- How we from attitudes towwards people, including stereotypes that might lead to prejudice and discrimination
How does social cognition lead to cognitive bias
When our brain creates shortcuts to simplify the information coming in and make assumptions based on our prior experiences this can lead to cognitive bias
Cognitive bias
Errors in our judgement/thinking due to oversimplifying a complicated situation
What is person perception
The way we form impressions of others and make judgements about their characteristics, emotions and intentions based on observable cues and behaviours
What are person perceptions formed by
These impressions are formed by the schema we have
What is schema
- a concept or idea that helps us organise and interpret information
-including both abstract knowledge and specific examples about a person, group or situation
What are the factors that influence person perception
01- Physical cues
02- Body language
03- Saliency Detection
04- Social Categorisation
Person perception - 01- Physical Cues
- What a person looks like
- what they are wearing
- how they conduct themselves
What is Cognitive Bias - Physical Cues (Halo Effect) and what examples
A cognitive bias in which assume that because people have one good quality, all other qualities they possess must be good. Also vice versa
Percieved as kind may also be considered intelligent
Percieved as antisocial or rude might also be uninteligent
Person perception - 02- Body language
Refers to non-verbal communication is used to express a certain message
includes posture, eye movement, facial expressions ect
A persons body language enables quick and often accurate judgements to be made
Person perception - 03- Saliency Detection
We initially judge people on their salient characteristics as it is the most noticable thing about them in their environment
depends on context of situation e.g seeing a man in a suit wich isnt extraordinary but seeing a man in a suit with a red mohawk
What is salient characteristics
anything that is noticable in comparison to its surrondings
What is Attribution
The process by which people explain the causes of thier own and other peoples behaviours
How can Attributes explaining behaviours be grouped
2 categories
- personal (dispositional)
- situational
Internal (dispositional) Attribution
An explanation due to the characteristics of the person involved (e.g personality, ability, attitude, motivation, mood or effort)
These are internal factors that are sourced within the person
External (situational) Attribution
An explanation due to the factors external to the person involved (e.g actions of another person, some aspects of the environment, the task, luck and fate)
Attribution errors
Researches have identified 3 general biases that affect our attributes
1- Fundamental attribution error
2- Actor-observer bias
3- Self-serving bias
1- Attribution - Fundamental attribution error
The tendency to overestimate the influence of personal factors and underestimate the impact of situatioinal factors on other peoples behaviours
When we do this, we attribute a persons behaviour to internal rather than external factors
Why does Fundamental attribution occur?
1 explanation is that the persons behaviour tends to be more clearly visable and noticable (‘salient’) than the situation in which it is occuring
This is called saliency bias
It works like a figure-ground in visual perception- the person stands out in the foreground and the situation is barely noticeable in the background
Just world hypothosis
is the belief that the world is a just place in which people usually get what they deserve and deserve what they get
this allows us to better understand and feel safer in a world where we do not always have control over our circumstances and can be therefore exposed to cruel twists of fate
e.g bad things happen to bad people and good things happen to good people
2- Attribution - Actor-observer bias
our tendency to attribute our own behaviour to external or situational causes, yet attribute others behaviours to internal factors
e.g if you fail a test you may blame it on the test being overly difficult, but you might say your friend failed because they didnt study hard enough
3- Attribution - Self serving bias
When judging ourselves we tend to take the credit for our successes and attribute failures to situational factors
Attribution - Why does self serving bias occur?
1 explanation of this bias is that we are motivated by a desire to protect our self-esteem so we distance ourselves from failure
Attribution - Culture and Attribution
Individualist culture
being individual and independent = valued and encouraged
achieving personal goals is more important than achieving group goals
In these cultures, it is acceptable to place achievement of personal goals ahead of achieving group goals
Attribution - Culture and Attribution
Collectivist culture
achieving group goals is more important that the achievement of individual goals
Individuals are encouraged, and sometimes expected, to place group goals ahead of their personal goals
Attitudes
- a persons evaluation about:
- ourselves
- others
- objects
- experiences
- are judgements
- are learned through experiences
- can cause a person to respond in a positive or negative way
What are the Attitudes; Tri-component model componets
Attitudes have 3 components (ABC)
- Affective
- Behavioural
- Cognitive
Affective in Tri-component model
- Emotional reation or feelings
- Based on judgements which result in a positve, negative or neutral response
- The feeling component of an attitude
Behavioural in Tri-component model
- Way in which an attitude is expressed through out actions
- the doing component of an attitude
Cognitive in Tri-component model
- the beliefs we have
- it is linked to what we know and develop as a result of our experiences. Some are based on fact and others are false
- the thinking/knowledge component
Example of Tri-compnent model
Affective
- you are scared of spiders
Behavioural
you avoid coming into contact with them by leaving a room if you know one is in there
Cognitive
- you know that spiders bite and can be harmful
Limitations of the Tri-component theory
1- this model suggests that all components must be present before it can be said that an attitude exists
2- Some suggest that an attitude only has affective and cognitve components and that there is no behavioural component
3- A persons attitudes and behaviours are not always consistent
4- attitudes and observable behaviours can be unrelated
Do psychologists support the Tri-component model
Most psychologists still support the Tri-component model of attitufes
But they accept that it is unrealistic to expect attitudes to always corresppond perfectly with behavuour
Behaviour is rarely the product of a single influence
Social cognition - Stereotypes
Fixed collectioin of beliefs that we have about the people who belong to a certian group
regardless of individual differences among memebers of that group
Social cognition - Stereotyping
The process of creating stereotypes and assigning them to people
Stereotypes can lead to stigma and/or prejudice
Social cognition - Positives of stereotyping
- offer information that helps us interact with people we dont know well
- allow us to make decisions about others more quickly
Social cognition - Negatives of stereotyping
- often include incorrect information that leads to overgeneralisations about members of a social group
- can lead to stigma
- can lead to prejudice
Social cognition - Stigma
Negative attitudes against someone based on a distinguishing characteristic such as:
- Mental illness - Disability - Gender - Sexuality - Race - Religion - Culture -
Social cognition - What is Ingroups
- any group you belong to or identify with
- your friendship groups - peer group - family - school - religion - sex - race - culture - AFL team you barrak for -
Social cognition - What is Outgroups
- Any group you do not belong to or identify with
What is cognitive dissonance
the feeling of discomfort that arises from an inconsistency in their tri-component model of attitude
Avoiding cognitive dissonance
Cognitive dissonance cannot be avoided as a whole
our brain uses cognitve biases to misinform our thinking so that the outcome matches our expected outcome
Cognitive Biases used to decrease cognitive dissonances
1- Actor-observer bias
2- Attentional bias
3- Confirmation bias
4- Self serving bias
Cognitive dissonance - Actor-observer bias
this bias involves attributing ones own behaviour to situational factors while attributing others behaviours to internal factors
Cognitive dissonance - Attentional bias
this bias involves paying attention to some things, yet ignoring others, therefore limiting our options
‘see no evil, do no evil’ mentality
Cognitive dissonance - Confirmation bias
this bias involves the tendency to seek out the information that only supports your belief, and not anything that goes against your belief
‘Ignorance is bliss’ mentality
Cognitive dissonance - Self-Serving bias
This bias involves attributing positive outcomes to internal factors (such as personal abilities or effort) and negative outcomes to external factors (such as situational influences)
What are Heuristics
Heuristics are mental shortcuts that allow us to make quick decisions from limited information
They are a problem-solving stratergy that uses generalisations to reduce our cognitive load
They are subjective and based on past and personal experiences
Heuristics - Cognitive load
The amount of information our working memory can hold at any given time
Benefits of using Heuristics
1- Help with problem-solving
2- Speed up decisions making processes
3- Simplify complex and difficult questions
4- Reduce mental effort needed to make decisions
5- Increase creativity when problem-solving
Types of Heuristics
- Availability
- Representative
- Affect
Heuristics - Availability
- A mental shortcut that uses the first thoughts that come to a persons mind when they are evaluating an issue or deciding what to do
Heuristics - Representative
- Occurs when we estimate the probability of an event based on how similar it is to a known situation. We compare it to a situation prototype or stereotype we already have in mind
Heuristics - Affect
A mental shortcut that is basedn on a persons current emtional state
Heuristics - Availability positives and negatives
positives- saves time and effort in terms of recalling similar situations and analysing them
negatives- it tends to overestimate the likelihood of recent events reoccuring
Heuristics - Representativeness positives and negatives
positive- it allows us to understand a new object or event by comparing its characteristics to those we have already established for other objects and events
negatices- we often overestimate the similarity between the two things we are comparing, leading to mistakes in our decision-making
Heuristics- Affect positives and negatives
positive- it might encourage us to take bigger risks than we usually would if we are in a positive mood
negatives- if we are in a negative mood, then the heuristic tends to keep us there because we wont risk doing new things, which limits our ability to learn from new and challenging situations
Prejudice
pre judjement. It is a negative attitude towards the members of a group, soley based on their membership of that group
4 basic characteristics of prejudice
1- they tend to believe that they (majority) are superior than the minority
2- The majority group believes that the minority is different and they do not belong
3- The majority tends to believe that they are more powerful and important
4- A majority group that displays prejudice is insecure and fearful that the minority will overpower
examples of prejudice
- Sexism discrimination based on gender
- Racism discrimination based on race
- Ageism discrimination based on age
Types of prejudice
1- old fashioned -> open rejection of minority, blatant with their views
2- Modern -> subtle, hidden. Might hide their thoughts
3- Implicit -> Unconsciously held prejudices, sometimes beyond their control
Explicit -> coniously held, deliberately thought about
**
Discrimination
- Refers to positive or negative behaviour that is directed towards a social group and its members
- un equal treatment of members of society who should have the same rights as others
Types of discrimination
Direct- when a person treats, or proposes to treat, someone unfavourable based on personal characteristics
Indirect- When treating everyone equal disadvantages certain indivviduals because of personal characteristics e.g head covering in work
Intersectional- occurs when someone belongs to two or more groups that are discriminated against
prejudice vs discrimination
prejudics = thoughts
discrimination = action
Effects of discrimination
- elevated blood pressure
- a weakend immune system
- higher rates of smoking
- alchohol use
- drug use
Relationship between stereotypes and stigma, prejudice and discrimination
stereotyping and stigma can lead to prejudice, which in turn can result in discrimination
Stereotypes, stigma, prejudice and discrimination in the ABC model
Affective (prejudice) - feelings that are either friendly or hostile towards a group of people
Behavioural (discrimination) - behaviour towards a group of people
Cognitive (stereotypes and stigma) - the categorisation of a group of people as ‘the same’
Methods to reduce prejudice
1- Law, Anti-discrimination laws have led to a reduction of observable expressions of prejudice
2- Campaigns, Educational campaigns about social problems associated with prejudice education the majority and give a voice to minority
3- Research, Research studies also find new, effective ways of reducing prejudice as society changes
Contact Hypothesis
(Gordon Allport)
- social contract between groups is sufficient to reduce inter-group prejudice
- there must be:
mutual interdependence
**Equality between groups
A common goal
**Support from authorities, laws or norms
Intergroup contact
- Increased intergroup contact reduces prejudiced groups
- Increasing direct contact between two prejudiced groups
- Needs to be under specific conditions to be effective:
Ongoing contact
**Works best when we rely on each other for something and both have equal status
Sustained Contact
- For intergroup contact to be effective, it must occur over a sustained period of time
- one encounter will be ineffective - might have negative effects
- Outgroup interaction over a long period allows individual characteristics to override stereotypes
Superordinate goals
- goals that cannot be achieve by any one group alone
- it overrides any existing goals that each group may individually have
- Common throughout the world - example is the USA and Russia in WW2
Mutual Interdependence
- If two prejudicedd groups depend on each other for something, there is a greater likelihood that negative stereotypes are broken down and prejudiced is reduced
Equality - Equal status
- The groups must have equal status when in contact
- If one is percieved as ‘better’, they become the ‘more important’ grouo and equality is gone
- when both groups percieve themselves as being important as eachother, they have equality of status
- when it is unequal, the group members view each other different, and treat eachother differently
Cognitive interventions
- Involves changing the way in which something thinks about prejudice
e.g perspective or have their negative prejudices challenged and broken down
- If people can understand others basted on their individual characterisitcs rather than stereotypes, it will reduce prejudice. Be an empath!
Changing social norms
- Through education
- Through legislation
- Through media influences
- Through politics
