COM 300 Exam 2 Flashcards
Definition of Cognitive Dissonance
The distressing mental state caused by inconsistency between a person’s two beliefs or a belief and an action
Selective Exposure
Defined: The tendency people have to avoid information that would create cognitive dissonance b/c it’s incompatible with their current beliefs (want to expose ourselves to the information we want to hear/see)
Selecting information that lines up with what you already believe, avoiding anything that causes discomfort
Confirmation bias: to search for, interpret, and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one’s prior beliefs or values e.g. Social media recommendations
Post-decision dissonance
Defined: Strong doubt experiences after making an important, close-call decision that is hard to revere
Heightening post-decision dissonance —-
1. The more important the issue
2. The longer an individual delays in choosing between two equally attractive options
3. The greater the difficulty in reversing the decision
Once the decision has been made, the option not picked begins to look more attractive
e.g. picking between colleges, selecting a house
Minimal justification
Defined: A claim that the best way to stimulate attitude change in others is to offer just enough incentive to elicit counter-attitudinal behavior
Minimal Justification revere the sequence
- Do things, later convince oneself that we like these things, change behavior - change attitude
e.g. salary for certain jobs
Thus, if a person is offered less the persuader can actually expect better results
Three Revisions: Self-consistency
Something that can produce dissonance is an inconsistency between a cognition and our self-concept
Self-Consistency: how we perceive ourselves
In the $1/$20 experiment, the Stanford students felt dissonance b/c they were asked to act in a way they didn’t feel represented who they are _________
Three Revisions: Personal responsibility for bad outcomes
We experiment with dissonance when we believe our actions have unnecessarily hurt someone else
In the $1/$20 experiment, the student deliberately dubbed other students
Three Revisions: self-affirmation to dissipate dissonance
This approach speaks to the question of dissonance reduction
Claude Steele doesn’t assume that dissonance always drives people to justify their actions
- He claims that people can call up a post of positive thoughts about themselves that we will blot out a concern for restoring consistency
High self-esteem is a resource for dissonance reduction
APA style: know how to cite sources
Social Identity Theory:
Personal Identity & Social Identity
Personal Identity: Comprises the distinctive attributes of a person
e.g. ability, charism, intelligence, personality, etc.
Social Identity: A person’s sense of who he/she is based on group membership
e.g. student, middle class, American, Caucasian, etc.
In-group & Out-group
The group to which people belong is an important source of pride and self-esteem (personal assessment of self-worth)
How do we maintain and enhance self-esteem?
We need to compare favorably with other groups
In-group Favoritism
People tend to associate with certain successful groups, which serve to bolster the self-esteem
A sense of belonging to the group, and self-enhancement need
therefore, people show favoritism and preference to in-group (members)
- evaluate the actions of their group or team members much more favorably than those of out-group members
e.g. job recruitment, sports fans
Out-group Derogation
An out-group is perceived as being threatening to the members of an in-group
Out-group derogation
- Refers to discriminating against the out-group
e.g. stereotyping and prejudice, gender, race, social class
- Occurs when an out-group is perceived as blocking or hindering the goals of an in-group
Out-group derogation is a natural consequence of the categorization process
BIRGing and CORFing
BIRGing = basking in reflected glory (“we won”)
CORFing = cutting of reflected failure (“they lost”)
SIT Central Hypotheses
Seek to find negative aspects of out-group to enhance the self-image
Seek to find intergroup differences
- All out-group members possess the same characteristics and are guided by similar norms
Seek to find intragroup similarities to generate a “wellness” feeling
- e.g. nationalism
Maximize out-group differences and minimize the in-group differences to increase group favoritism which ultimately leads to self-enhancement
Definition of Face and Facework
Face: the projected image of one’s self in a relational situation
Facework: Specific verbal and nonverbal messages that help to maintain and restore face loss and uphold and honor face gain
Individualistic Culture & Collectivistic Culture
Individualistic Culture: people look out for themselves and their immediate families, “I” identity; a low-context culture
Collectivistic culture: People identify with a larger group that is responsible for providing care in exchange for group loyalty; “we” identity, a high-context culture
e.g. China, Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Ecuador, India, Brazil
Definition of Self-Construal
the degree to which people conceive of themselves as relatively autonomous from, or connected to, others
Independent Self-construal
Values the “I” identity; prevalent within individualistic cultures
Interdependent Self-construal
Values “we” identity; emphasis relational connections; prevalent within collectivistic cultures
Primary Conflict styles: Dominance
Self-face, win-lose; tries to maintain a credible image with the goal of winning the conflict
Defend: Stand up for one’s opinion; try to persuade
Express emotion: Verbally express one’s feelings
Aggression: Make a direct or passive effort to hurt
Primary Conflict Styles: Integration
Mutual-face, win-win; focus on content resolution and maintaining the relationship
Apologize: Express sorrow for the past behavior
Private talk: Avoid public confrontation
Remain calm: Stay composed during the conflict
Problem solve: engage in behaviors to join perspectives together
Respect: Demonstrate regard for the other by listening
Primary Conflict Styles: Avoidance
Other-face, lose-win; attempts to preserve harmony in the relationship by dealing with the conflict indirectly
Give in: Accommodate the other’s wishes
Pretend: Act like the conflict doesn’t exist
Third-party: Seek an outside party to help resolve the conflict ;
11 facework strategies based on conflict styles
Preventive Facework
Is the act of communicating to safeguard the threat of face being lost (avoid or minimize potential face threat)
Restorative Facework
Is the act of reinstating face after the loss of it has taken place (repair a damaged face, use apology, humor, etc.
Definition of Dominant Culture & Co-Cultural Group
Dominant culture: a cultural practice that is dominant within a particular political, social, or economic entity, in which multiple cultures co-exist
- In the /u.s., well-off, white, European American , non-disabled, heterosexual men
co-cultural group: Non-dominant cultural groups in a national culture
- Minority groups, less power
- In the U.S. marginalized groups such as women, people of color, the economically disadvantaged, people with physical disabilities, LGBTQ, very old and very young, and religious minorities
Definition of Co-Cultural Communication
Communication between the dominant group and co-cultural group members from the perspective of co-cultural group members
Communication Orientation
The combination of a co-cultural group member’s preferred outcome and the communication approach they choose to achieve that goal.
Definition of 3 outcomes and 3 approaches
Nonassertive approach: Inhibited and non-confrontational; putting the needs of others before your own
Assertive approach: self-enhancing, expressive behavior that takes the needs of self and others into account
Aggressive approach: Hurtfully expressive, self-promoting, assuming control over the choices of others
specific examples of the nine types of communication orientations
Definition of Standpoint
A place from which to critically view the world around us
Definition of Social Location
Our group memberships that shape our experiences of the world and our ways of understanding it
Two Philosophical Foundations of Standpoint theory
Standpoint Theory is built on the scholarship about the struggle of the oppressed against those with power
1807: George Hegel - master-slave relationship to show what people “know” about themselves, others, and society depends on which group they are in; Masters have the power to make rules
Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels - capitalist-worker; The proletarian standpoint shows socioeconomically poor are ideas knowers as they know the class struggle
Intersectionality & Intersectional Feminism
Definition of Local Knowledge
Knowledge situated in time, place, experience, and relative power, as opposed to knowledge from nowhere that’s supposed to be value-free
Strong Objectivity
Defined: The strategy of starting research from the lives of women and other marginalized groups, which upon critical reflection and resistance provides them with a less false view of reality
Knowledge generated from the standpoint of dominant groups offers only weak objectivity
People with subordination status have greater motivation under the prospect of more powerful groups than vice versa
Definition of Muted Group
People belonging to low-power groups who must change their language when communicating publicly; their ideas are often overlooked
Language and Naming
The public-private distinction in language-gender differences: women speak in a small world (e.g. home), men talk in public spaces (e.g. debates, meetings)
women need to be careful about the way they talk, women are not as free as men to say what they wish, because the words and norms for their use are formulated by men
Men as Gatekeepers of Communication
Gatekeeper: editors and other arbiters of culture who determine which books, essays, poetry, scripts, plays, film scripts, etc. will appear in the mass media
