Class Three Flashcards
what is self concept/identity
the sum of an individual’s knowledge and understanding of him/herself
what is self consciousness
awareness of one’s self
what are self schemas
beliefs that a person has about him/herself
what is personal identity
one’s own sense of personal attributes
what is social identity
social definitions of who you are
theory of self-verification
individuals want to be understood in terms of their core beliefs
self-reference effect
tendency to better remember information relevant to ourselves
Carl Rogers - theory
personality is composed of the ideal self and the real self
what is the ideal self
constructed out of life experiences/social expectations/role models → person you want to be
when the ideal self and the real self are similar..
results in positive self-concept
not meeting the ideal self
impossible standard to meet - when real self falls short → incongruity
influences on one’s development of self-concept (x3)
self-efficacy
locus of control
self-esteem
what is self-efficacy
how capable we believe we are of doing things
can vary for different tasks
locus of control can be..
internal or external
internal locus of control
these people believe that they are able to influence outcomes through their efforts/actions
external locus of control
these people perceive outcomes as controlled by outside forces
learned helplessness
people choosing not to act because they believe it won’t affect the outcome
strong external locus of control
a strong external locus of control is seen in..
depressed/oppressed people → results in passivity
what is self-esteem
one’s overall self-evaluation of one’s self-worth
can self-efficacy improve self-esteem
yes, if it is for something that someone values
low self-esteem leads to..
drug use, depression and suicide
inflated self-esteem is seen in..
gang members, terrorists and bullies
inflated self-esteem can be due to..
conceal inner insecurities
identity vs role confusion stag
stage relevant to identify formation (ages 12-20)
adolescents try to figure out who they are & form basic identities
Charles Cooney - theory
looking-glass self → one’s sense of self develops from how others perceive them
who developed the idea of social behaviourism
George Herbert Mead
social behaviourism
the mind & self emerge through the process of communicating with others
stages of self-development (Mead)
preparatory stage: imitation (children)
play stage: take on the roles of others through playing
game stage: understanding the responsibilities of others
what is the generalized other
the common behavioural expectations of general society
what is socialization
process where people learn to be proficient and functional members of society
what allows for a culture to pass on its values through generations
socialization
significance of feral children
feral children: not raised with human contact or care
shows the importance of socialization & social contact
what are norms
unspoken/spoken rules/expectations for the members of society
normative behaviour
social behaviours that meet the ideal standard
what are sanctions
rewards and punishments for behaviour that align/go against norms
how is normative behaviour reinforced
through sanctions
formal vs informal norms
formal: written down → laws
informal: generally understood → no punishments
mores vs folkways
mores: important for society’s benefit, strictly enforced
folkways: less important but shape everyday behaviour
taboo - norms
violation of norm is forbidden + punishable
is there universal taboo
no
what is anomie
social condition where there are no firm guidelines for norms/values → minimal moral ethic
anomie is characteristic of societies where..
social cohesion is less pronounced → individualism, disintegration of social bonds
non-normative behaviour
seen as incorrect → challenges shared values & institutions → threatens social structure & cohesion
sick individuals seen as deviant, what perspective is this
functionalist
differential association - deviance
deviance is a learned behaviour resulting from social interactions
how are you more likely to partake in deviant behaviours
when your close groups do & they condone their behaviour
criticism of differential association
individuals are reduced to their environments → doesn’t consider people as rational actors
labeling theory - deviance
deviance is the result of society’s response to a person, instead of their actions
which deviance theory is in accordance with the interactionist perspective
labeling theory - social constuct
criticism of labeling theory
considers deviance to be an automatic process → ignores individuals’ ability to resist social expectations
structural strain theory - deviance
deviance is the result of experienced strain (individual or structural)
criticism of structural strain theory
not applicable to social goals, only economic
what is collective behaviour
when social norms for the situation are absent/unclear
people engage in actions that are usually unacceptable
loss of the individual
who coined collective behaviour
Herbert Blumer
most common example of collective behaviour
crowds
herd behaviour
seen in crowds - emotional & loss of rational thought
acting crowds
join together for a purpose - protestors
casual crowds
not interacting - spontaneous
conventional crowds
gather for a planned event - football game
expressive crowd
gather to express emotion - funeral attenders
common theme in collective behaviour
panic
what is a public
a group of individuals discussing a single issue → share ideas
what is a mass
group whose formation is promptly through the efforts of mass media
what is a social movement
collective behaviour with the intention of promoting cab ge
2 types of social movement
active & expressive movements
forms of collective behaviour
crowds
publics
masses
social movements
fad vs trend
trends are longer lived & often lead to permanent social change
mass hysteria
collective delusion of a threat that spreads through emotions
what is moral panic
specific form of panic as a result of a perceived threat to social order
what is a social agent
social forces that influence lives & development of culture
examples of agents of socialization
family, school, workplace, friends, religion, technology
assimilation
individual gives up their culture to adopt another culture
amalgamation
majority and minority groups combine to form a new group
unique cultural group is formed
multiculturalism
endorses equal standing for all cultural traditions
pros and cons of multiculturalism
pro: promotes diversity
con: hinders cohesiveness of a society
what is a subculture
segment of society that shares a distinct pattern of traditions/values that differs from society
Kohlberg’s stages of moral development
form the basis of ethical behaviour
steps cannot be skipped
people early surpass the fourth stage (six stages)
attribution theory
attempts to explain how individuals view behaviour (own and others)
dispositional vs situational attribution
dispositional - attributed due to internal reasons
situational - attributed due to external causes
when do we use dispositional vs situational
dispositional for others and situational for ourselves (cutting ourselves some slack)
3 factors that determine whether we attribute behaviour to internal/external causes
consistency
distinctiveness
consensus
fundamental attribution error
underestimate the impact of the situation and overestimate the impact of internal causes
actor-observer bias
tendency to blame our actions on the situation and blame the actions of others on their personality
self-serving bias
attributing successes to ourselves and failures to others
optimism bias
belief that bad things happen to other people, but not to us
just world phenomenon
tendency to believe that the world is fair and people get what they deserve
hindsight bias
tendency to believe an event was predictable after it has already occured
halo effect
tendency to believe that people have inherently good or bad natures
physical attractiveness stereotype
specific type of halo effect
tendency to rate attractive people more favourably
social perception
understanding go others in our social world
responsible for our judgments about other people
social cognition
ability of the brain to store and process information regarding social perception
false consensus
when we assume that everyone agrees with what we do
projection bias
happens when we assume others have the same beliefs as us
stereotypes
oversimplified ideas about groups of people based on characteristics
prejudice
thoughts, attitudes and feelings someone holds about a group that are not based on actual experience
discrimination
acting a certain way toward a group
affirmative actions
policies that take race/sex etc. into consideration to benefit underrepresented groups in admissions or job hiring decisions
reverse discrimination
“discriminating against the majority”
institutional discrimination
unjust and discriminatory practices employed by large organizations
three components of attitudes
ABCs
affect (feelings)
behavioural tendencies
cognition (beliefs)
at the core of prejudice is..
fear or frustration
scapegoats
displaced aggression is directed at these people
usually marginalized communities
where do stereotypes stem from
from our mental shortcuts that simplify our conceptualizations of the world
illusory correlation
created between a group of people and a characteristic based on unique cases
self-fulfilling prophecy
behaviours that affirm the original stereotypes
stereotype threat
self-fulfilling fear that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype
ethnocentrism
judging people from another culture by the standards of one’s own cultureC
cultural relativism
judging another culture based on its own standards
primary vs secondary groups
primary: smaller, long-term, emotional interactions
secondary: impersonal, larger, short-term
expressive vs instrumental functions
expressive: meets emotional needs (primary group)
instrumental: pragmatic needs (secondary group)
reference group
standard measure that people compared themselves to
what is a dyad
smallest social group - 2 members
what is an aggregate
people who live in the same space but do not interact
what is a category
people who share characteristics but do not interact
rationalization
process by which tasks are broken down into component parts
McDonalization
rationalization of fast food production
iron law of oligarchy
as organizations become more complex, they become more conservative and less able to adapt
social facilitation effect
doing simple tasks better/faster in the presence of others
deindividuation
people losing their sense of restraint & individual identity in exchange for identifying with a group (mob mentality)
factors that create the ideal conditions for deindividuation (3)
large group size
physical anonymity
arousing activities (escalation)
alcohol + social roles help as well
Kitty Genovese case
someone was killed and no one called the police because they assumed their peers already did
bystander effect
person is less likely to provide help if there are other bystanders
diffusion of responsibility is associated with what effect
bystander effect
social loafing
people exert less effort if they are in a group than if they were individually accountable
group polarization
a group tends to lean towards the more extreme versions of the average view they had before
why does group polarization occur (2)
informational influence
normative influence
what is informational influence
the most common ideas that emerge are the ones that favour the dominant viewpoint
what is normative influence
social desirability → internalizing the group’s belief system to fit in
groupthink
state of harmony within a group → state of agreement
conformity
adjusting behaviour/thinking based on others
Solomon Asch experiment
group pressure, people started saying the wrong answer when people around them did the same
Stanley Milgram experiment
giving shocks to a “learner”
even though it was questionable to hurt someone, not many people questioned it → obedience
factors that affect obedience in Milgrim’s experiment (4)
distance of learner
distance of authority figure
wardrobe of authority figure
office location (environment)
ways that behaviour can be motivated by social influences (3)
compliance
identification
internalization
normative social influence
people conforming because they wanted to be liked/accepted by others
informational social influecne
complying because we want to do the right thing and feel like others know something we don’t
more likely to apply to new situations
status
socially defined positions within society
master status
dominates other statuses and determines one’s general position in society
social roles
expectations for people of a given social status
utilitarian organization
members get paid for their efforts (business)
normative organization
motivate membership based on morally relevant goals MADD
coercive organizations
members do not have a choice in joining (prison)
impression management
conscious/unconscious process where people attempt to manage their own image by influencing the perceptions of others
self-handicapping
strategy where people create excuses to avoid self-blame when they do poorly
dramaturgical perspective
stems from symbolic interactionism
we imagine ourselves as playing certain roles when interacting with others
our identities are dependent on our interactions with others
front vs back stage social interactions
front stage: playing a role and using impression management
back stage: letting our guards down and being ourselves
warning colours in animals
bright colours that show predators that they are toxic
pheromones - animals
chemical messengers employed by animals to communicate
characteristics that foster attraction (3)
proximity, physical attractiveness & similarity
mere exposure effect
people prefer repeated exposure to the same stimuli → makes someone like someone else better
predictors for aggressive behaviour (3)
genetic
neural
biochemical
frustration aggression principle
when someone is blocked from achieving a goal → aggression
foraging behaviour
search for food resources by animals
must be adaptable → employ learning behaviour
inclusive fitness
defined by the number of offspring one has and how it supports them (& how they support others)
altruistic behaviours
helps ensure the success/survival of the rest of a social group
game theory
is used to try and predict large, complex systems
elaboration likelihood model
explains when people will be influenced by logic and when people will be influenced by superficial characteristics
things that have an impact on persuasion (3)
message, source and target characteristics
message characteristics
features of a message → logic, length of a speech and grammar
source characteristics
where is the knowledge coming from? credentials of the person delivering the message
target characteristics
characteristics of the person receiving the speech (intelligent people are less easily persuaded)
two cognitive routes that persuasion follows
central and peripheral routes
central route - persuasion
people are persuaded by the content of the argument
peripheral route - persuasion
when people focus on superficial characteristics of the speech/speaker
which route has longer lasting persuasive outcomes
central
social cognitive theory
theory of behaviour change that emphasizes the interactions between people and their environment
reciprocal determinism
interaction between a person’s behaviours, personal factors and environment
what does behavioural genetics try to figure out
how the genotype and environment affect the phenotype
what studies are used in behavioural genetics
twin studies
adoption studies
what is compared in twin studies
traits in monozygotic and dizygotic twins
looks at genetic effects and environmental
what happens in adoption studies
adopted individuals are compared to both their genetic and environmental relatives
transgenesis
introduction of an outside gene
common definition of intelligence
ability to learn from experience, problem-solve and use knowledge to adapt to new situations
Francis Galton - theory of intelligence
believed that intelligence had a strong biological basis → could be quantified with cognitive tasks
Stanford-Binet intelligence scale
now known as the IQ test
Charles Spearman
coined the term general intelligence (aka g)
someone would high g would do well on lots of different measures of cognitive ability
Raymond Cattell - intelligence
proposed fluid intelligence (ability to think on feet) and crystallized intelligence (ability to recall already learned info)
Howard Gardner - intelligence
theory on multiple intelligences
intellectual disability
those who score under 70 on IQ and have difficulty adapting to everyday demands of life
life course perspective
looks at how key events in a person’s life unfold over time and lead to a person’s development
when does learned helplessness occur
when someone has low self-efficacy and external locus of control
rules that govern appropriate emotional responses
display rules
