exam 1 Flashcards
what is social psychology?
scientific study of how people’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by real or imagined presence of others
at heart of social psychology is…
social influence
what is social influence?
the effect that words, actions, or mere presence of other people have on our thoughts, feelings, attitudes, and behavior
what are empirical questions?
questions that can be answered by observation or real-world experience
what is folk wisdom and common sense?
folk wisdom = common sense
how is folk wisdom and common sense different from social psychology?
social psychologists predict behavior by forming hypotheses and test them scientifically
why can’t we rely on folk wisdom and common sense?
hindsight bias
what is the fundamental attribution error?
tendency to explain our own and other people’s behavior entirely in terms personality traits
what is hindsight bias?
tendency people have to assume they knew the outcome of the event after it has already been determined
what happens when we fail to take into account the power of the situation
we oversimplify complex situations
decrease our understanding of the true causes of behaviors
blame the victim when people are overpowered by social forces
what is a hypothesis similar to?
a hunch
what is behaviorism?
understanding human behavior by focusing on the effects of their environment
an objective worldview
ignores construals/definitions of a situation
does not look at situation from viewpoint of people in it to see how they construe the world around them
what does a scientist do if they think someone else’s research is flawed?
replicate study to verify findings
Why did Latane and Darley think no one helps out in an emergency?
diffusion of responsibility (Kitty Genovese)
What is observational research?
researcher observes people and records behavior, used to describe behavior
What are observational method limitations?
certain behaviors are hard to observe (rarely occur, in private)
archival analysis (original sources may not have all needed info)
does not allow prediction and explanation (only limited to description)
What does a schema encompass?
our knowledge and impression of others, ourselves, social roles, specific events
How can a schema become accessible? (3 reasons)
chronically accessible due to past experience
it is related to a current goal
temporarily accessible because of our recent experience
What is/are the downside(s) to
using schemas?
seen as stereotypes, can affect perception
what is social cognition?
how people think about themselves and the social world
how people select, interpret, remember, and use social information to make judgements and decisions
What happens when people encounter a new situation?
automatic thinking - relate it to past experiences, use schemas
What is automatic thinking?
thinking that is nonconscious, unintentional, involuntary, and effortless
How does automatic thinking differ from controlled thinking?
automatic = quick, no conscious deliberation of thoughts, perceptions, assumptions
controlled = effortful, deliberate, thinking about self/environment, carefully selecting right course of action
What is the self-fulfilling prophecy?
people have an expectation about what another person is like, influencing how they act toward that person
causes that person to behave consistently with people’s original expectations - makes expectation come true
What is priming?
process by which recent experiences increase accessibility of a schema, trait, or concept
ex: being primed with yellow will make you think of bananas
Why is reality tv so attractive to people?
we can relate and empathize with the people on the show
what is social perception?
study of how we form impressions of and make inferences about others
What did Darwin assume about facial expressions? Are they culture specific?
nonverbal forms of communication is species specific (NOT CULTURE SPECIFIC)
What is thin-slicing? How is it used?
drawing meaningful conclusions about another person’s personality/skills based on extremely brief sample of behavior
making quick judgements about something
What are cultural display rules?
dictate what kinds of emotional expressions people are supposed to show (is culture specific)
Do great apes have a sense of self? How do we know?
Yes - they can recognize themselves in a mirror
What is the self-concept?
overall set of beliefs that people have about their personal attributes
how does our self-concept change with age?
we focus less on our physical characteristics and more on psychological states/how others judge us
it is shaped by the people around us
Where do we learn causal theories and what are some examples?
from our culture; perception, social comparison
what is self-esteem
people’s evaluation of their own self-worth - the extent to which they view themselves as good, competent, and decent
what is cognitive dissonance?
discomfort that people feel when two cognitions (beliefs/attitudes) conflict, or when they behave in ways that threaten their self-esteem
what does cognitive dissonance lead to?
important and provocative social psychological theory and threats to self-image
how do we reduce cognitive dissonance?
change behavior, justify behavior by changing one of the dissonant cognitions. justify behavior by adding new cognitions
what is post decision dissonance?
dissonance aroused after making a decision
what happens when decisions are irrevocable?
dissonance & motivation to reduce dissonance increases
what is rationalizing?
using logical explanations to justify behavior, thoughts, or feelings
why do so many people use rationalizing?
protects themselves from anxiety, guilt, or criticism
what are the traits of a narcissist?
do less well academically
less successful in business
more violent/aggressive
disliked by others
won’t admit they’re wrong
self-love and lack of empathy
what represents the “generalized other”?
a person’s (ME) understanding of common expectations/norms of their society
what are Mead’s 3 stages in role-taking process?
Preparatory Stage (birth - 2/3) - they are the focus of their world
Play Stage (3-6) - pretend to be their significant others
Game Stage (7+) - development of your “me”
what was the difference between Mead and Cooley’s beliefs on the looking-glass self?
both theorized that your sense of self comes from reflecting on your interactions with others BUT
- Cooley theorized that this happened throughout your life with anyone you encountered
- Mead theorized that this happened at particular points in your life and when you reflected on particular people (especially during first 3 stages of life)
what is direct vs. indirect social influence?
direct - when someone directly affects another’s behavior through open interaction
indirect - when someone’s behavior is impacted by observing others without direct contact
what is self-awareness theory?
when people focus their attention on themselves, evaluating and comparing their behavior to their internal standards/values
what happens when we bring our self-concept into our consciousness?
we recognize our worth
