Connection is key + Clashes & Compromise

Question 1

Basic form definition of social psychology

Answer 1

Understanding of everyday life (studying how social influence, social perception and social interactions influence and relate individual and group behaviour)

Psychological aspects: social perception and how we think about others
Behaviour aspects: social interaction, social influence and how we relate to others

Question 2

Hedonism

Answer 2

Humans seek pleasure and avoids pain

Question 3

Alturism

Answer 3

people are empathetic, wanting to bond with and support one another

Question 4

Objective measures

Answer 4

Theories: Integrated sets of principals that explain and predict observed events
- Good theory’s
○ Effectively summarise many observations
○ Allow for clear testable predictions

Hypothesis: Testable predictions based developed from theories
- Hypothesis testing and theory refinement allows us to update our knowledge overtime

Correlation vs Causation
- Correlational studies: Assesses two or more variables and search for associations between them
- Experiments: Manipulation one variable (IV) and ensure another (DV) to examine the cause and effect relationships
Typically involves random allocation

Question 5

Effects of social isolation

Answer 5

• Can be detrimental
• Symptoms are similar to the effects of psychosis (e.g. hallucinations)
• Difficult to study because of ethical considerations
  ○ Schacter (1959) tried to study how long people coped being isolated for short periods
  ○ One participant only lasted 20mins before dining it intolerable

Question 6

Theories why we are social

Answer 6

1. Reinforcement theory
   - Receive positive reinforcement from social interactions
   ○ Sometimes social interactions have not been previously reinforced (desire being in a social situation even if we haven’t previously experienced it)
2. Social comparison theory
   - Comparison to others allows us to make sense of reality
   ○ Helps us develop our world view and figure out what works and doesn’t along with what’s right and wrong
3. Social exchange theory
   - Social interactions are beneficial for both parities and is typically associated with minimal costs
4. Evolution theory
   - Being social was adaptive and promoted survival
   - More likely to survival when social = becomes a general human trait
   Evolutionary psychology: studies how different psychological traits and social behaviour shave been inherited because they enhanced our survival

Question 7

Social brain hypothesis

Answer 7

Idea: A larger brain is needed to navigate more complex social environments
- As our social worlds have become more complex, the size of our brain has increased
Developed by Robin Dunbar

Question 8

Dunbar number

Answer 8

• Identified a positive relationship between different primates group sizes and the size of their neocortex
• Argued that the human brain was equipped to manage a group side of 150 (larger brain = better equipped)

Question 9

Social trap

Answer 9

A situation in which the conflicting parties, by each rationally pursuing its self-interest, becoming caught in mutually destructive behaviour

Question 10

Prisoners dilemma

Answer 10

○ If prisoner A confesses and Prisoner B doesn’t, Prisoner A gets full immunity and Prisoner B gets maximum sentence
○ Both confess = each get moderate sentence
○ Neither confess = each § Both realise that they would mutually profit but mistrust and inability to communicate = locked in to not cooperate
□ Self-preservation kicks in

Question 11

Students dilemma

Answer 11

○ Select whether you want 2 points or 6 points added to your final assignment grade
○ But if more than 10% of the class selects 6 points no one gets any points
§ Motivated by self-interest

Question 12

Tragedy of the commons

Answer 12

• Commons: any shared resource including air, water, energy sources and food supplies
• Occurs when individuals consume more than their share with the cost of doing so dispersed among all causing the ultimate collapse (tragedy) of the commons

Question 13

Features of social dilemmas

Answer 13

• Fundamental attribution error: tend to explain their own behaviour situationally and the behaviour of other dispositionally
• Evolving motives: at first people are eager to win, then to minimise losses, save face and avoid defeat

Question 14

Non-zero sum games

Answer 14

• ‘mixed-motive’ situations
  
  • Games in chich both outcomes don’t need to sum to zero
    ○ With cooperations = both parties can win
    ○ With competition = both parties can lose

Question 15

Resolving social dilemmas

Answer 15

• Regulation (e.g. taxes, laws)
• Less is more (e.g. water conservation)
• Communication
• Changing the payoffs (e.g. drivers to work = congestion, traffic change the calculation = incentive for carpools or cheaper PT)
• Appeals to altruistic norms

Question 16

Sherifs bobbers cave experiment

Answer 16

○ Two groups of boy establish group identities (strong in-group cohesion and pride)
○ Engage in win-lose competition (negative out-group image, group polarisation)
○ Name-calling, flag burning, cabin ransacking, fist fights

Question 17

Intractable conflict

Answer 17

Intense, persistent disputes that resist resolution
○ Own goals are viewed as supremely important
○ Pride in us, devalues them
○ Victimised
○ Patriotism, solidarity, loyalty
○ Celebrate self-sacrifice and suppress criticism

Question 18

Mirror-image perception

Answer 18

• Reciprocal views of each other often held by parties in conflict e.g. each group may view itself as moral and peace-loving and the other as evil and aggressive
  ○ Biases conducive to conflict (exaggerate, misperceive, reluctant to concede)

Question 19

Achieving peace (contact hypothesis)

Answer 19

○ Intergroup contact under optimal conditions can reduce prejudice and increase trust between majority and minority group members

1. Equal status
2. Common goals
3. Intergroup cooperation
4. Support of authorities, laws or customs

Question 20

4 processes of change

Answer 20

1. Learning about the outgroup
   
   • Disconfirming evidence alters stereotypes (under limited conditions)
2. Changes behaviour
   
   • Optimal contact as behaviour modification
3. Affective ties
   
   • Decrease fear and anxiety
   • Increased positive emotion and empathy
4. Ingroup reappraisal
   Contact provides insight

Question 21

Negative contact hypothesis

Answer 21

Intergroup contact may have more negative than positive effects on prejudice, because it makes outgroup members’ social group more salient during encounters
- Negative contact less common in real-world intergroup interactions

Question 22

Types of identities people hold

Answer 22

acknowledgement of subgroup ones (parent, child)
Transcended ones (family)

Subgroup identities (e.g., family roles) can merge into a larger, superordinate identity (e.g., family unit).

Question 23

Social Identity and Cohesion

Answer 23

Being aware of multiple identities promotes social cohesion (e.g., bicultural identity: French Canadian balancing French and Canadian roots).
Salient common ingroup identity:
Does not require ignoring or repressing subgroup identities.
Involves identifying with both mainstream and minority cultures.