History of social psych Flashcards
what are some assumptions of social psych?
1) humans are innately social
2) environment has a large affect on socialisation
3) interactions with others shapes behaviour
what is more predictive environment or personality?
- personality = stable traits overtime
- one is not more predictive than the other as it depends on the situation to determine which has most influence
what are social processes?
our thoughts, feeling, and behaviours are influenced by the people around us, the group to which we belong, the teaching of our parents
what were some early breakthroughs in social psych?
- Wilhem Wundt 1900-1920
- Norman Triplett - social facilitation experiment in 1897
- Floyd Henry Allport 1924 - emphasised importance of experimentation, argued the best way to understand groups was to study the individual not the group
how did WW2 affect the progression of psych
- Hitler’s rise caused many psychologists to flee to the US
- this led to a shift in focus of research being conducted in the US as Gestalt and anti-behaviourist psychologists emphasised cognition
- an example is Kurt Lewin, looked at behaviour as a function of individual and environment. also trained many notable psychologists
what were some key experiments which emerged after WW2?
- emphasis on how groups impact individual differences
- social influence and conformity
- bean estimation experiment - confident in own answer until spoke in a group
- Auto-kinetic effect experiment - if in a group would say a clock moved when it did not
- line study - Asch
- Milgram
- Stanford prison experiment
what is the scientific method?
a systematic way of creating knowledge by observing, forming a hypothesis, testing a hypothesis, and interpreting the results
what is the replication crisis?
- decades of research based on old research which cannot be replicated
- due to data manipulation, false positives
- under powered designs
- stopped collecting data when the hypothesis was met
- dropped conditions if they didnt work
- dropped DV is not consistent with predictions
Qualitative vs quantitative
- numbers vs words
cross-sectional vs longitudinal
- CS = different participants of different ages at the same time
- longitudinal = same participants at different ages at different times
experimental vs quasi experiments (plus issues)
- experimental groups created by experimenter
- quasi = naturally occurring groups
issues - lack of control of comparison group, potentially unreliable
- certain predispositions or individual differences
what is a meta-analysis?
use of statistics to combine results of several individual studies addressing similar Qs into a single pooled measure of an effect size
what are two issues with social experiments?
- ecological validity = modelling social phenomena in controlled lab environment isn’t always an accurate representation of normal contexts
- use of confederates = who play the role of someone in the study, not always convincing
what are explicit operationalisations?
conscious and deliberate, self-report
what are implicit operationalisations
- unconscious and autonomic
- gut reactions or impulsive decisions
- behavioural tasks, natural observations, facial expressions
what is the IAT
- Implicit associations test
- captures associations in memory
- interpreted as implicit preferences or attitudes
- when two concepts are associated it is easy to respond quickly and correctly when categorising
- ease of responding measures association between two concepts
what are controlled process of social cognition?
- deliberate and intentional processes
- goal-dependent –> requires awareness of behaviour, often captured by explicit measures
what are autonomic processes of social cognition?
- uncontrolled or unconscious processes
- captured by implicit measures
- influenced by priming, facial cues, and environment
Describe Gilbert and Hixon’s study on social cognition
- exposed individuals to a person who was either Asian or white
- then asked to fill in gaps with words
- more likely to answer with stereotyped words when exposed to a person who was asian
describe Payne’s study into social cognition
- Weapons identification task
- sort guns vs tools and primed with white vs black faces
- incongruent pairings harder to categorise (black-tool, white-gun)
describe the shooter bias task
- participants are presented with scenes
- some contain people
–> black vs white
–> holding either a gun or other object - make choice whether to shoot target
- also been done with different contexts
what are cues which impact perceptions?
- facial features, gaze and eye contact, inferred personality traits - maturity, trustworthiness, dominance, aggression
- environment, dictating correct behaviour for environment, environment altering other perceptions
what is a self-schema?
- provides frame work for organising and storing info about our personality
self-reference effect
easy remembering of self-referent words as they processed through self-schema
two sources of self
- self-perception theory = our own behaviour is used as a basis for inference for the self schema
- situational factors may determine intrinsic motivations, extrinsic motivation
self-determination theory
- external motivations
–> behaviour driven by reward/situation
–> rewards unrelated to behaviour - approval from others/monetary gain
–> externally motivated behaviours not reflective of the self
–> may reduce motivation to repeat behaviour in the future - internal motivations
–> behaviour driven by self-interest, not the situation
–> no explicit reward for behaviour
–> behaviour is rewarding in itself
–> internally motivated behaviours more reflective of the self
–> associated with increased motivations to repeat behaviour
what is the looking-glass self?
- other’s perceptions of us feed into our self-schema
- sometimes assume what others think about us
- not always accurate
- verbal non-verbal
social comparison theory
- use others to evaluate our own abilities and characteristics
- think of ourselves in terms of what makes us unique
- upward social comparison = when we compare ourselves to someone who is better than us, often to improve on a particular skill
- downward social comparison = when we compare ourselves to someone who is worse than us
what are the 3 selves?
1) actual
2) ideal
3) ought
self-presentation theory
- adapt to fit into situation
- present ourselves to make an impression on others
- impression management and self-monitoring
impression management
consciously engaging in behaviours we hope will lead to desired outcomes and others liking us
what is the importance of self-control?
- ability to override thought, emotion and behaviours
- implement behaviours which are appropriate for the situation
- self-control used to balance between self-expression and self-preservation
Baumeister, Vohs, and Tice threats to self control
- self-control dependent on limited resources
- stress depletes resources
- prolonged use of self-control causes fatigue
- resources need to be replenished before further use
self-control failure - Inzlicht 2014
- controlling behaviour shifts motivation away from further control
- motivation temporarily shifted towards rewarding behaviour
- failure leads to reward seeking
- can reduce efforts to change ideal self
- exaggerated emotional response to rewarding stimuli
Self-discrepancy theory
- self-discrepancy occurs when our selves do not align
- can lead to mental health problems:
–> depression
–> social phobia
–> eating disorders
–> poor self-esteem
define self-esteem
- indicates how you are doing in terms of successes and failures
- confidence in one’s own abilities
- self-worth or respect
- tend to inflate abilities and accomplishments to boost esteem
- self-enhancing biases
how can self-esteem distortions improve psych wellbeing?
- unrealistic optimism
- exaggerated traits
- biased view about negative feedback - someone else’s fault
- biased explanations of success - your achievement
- can lead to narcissism, false confidence, lack of empathy, academic problems
how do you measure attitudes?
- self-report
- observations of behaviour
- physiological measures
- reaction time measures
- implicit associations test
How are attitudes formed?
- affective info = feelings and emotions about object
- behavioural info = info about past, present, or future interactions with object
- cognitive info = facts and beliefs about object
- form attitudes consistent with the info we have with the attitude object
- negative info weighted more heavily in forming attitude than is positive info
what is the APE model?
- Associative-propositional evaluation
- attempt to understand formation of attitudes and how to change them
- learning occurs through:
1) associative learning
2) propositional learning
associative learning - semantic network model
- mental links form between concepts based on shared properties
- shorter path between concepts = stronger association memory
- nearby concepts also activated
- spreading activation
- info can activated regardless of whether you believe the response as appropriate
what is Hebbian law?
neurons paired together so often both fire when only one is activated as assumption made that the other stimuli will appear
what is propositional learning?
- mental links are elaborated upon, requires conscious effort
- creation of causal relation between associations
- attempt to validate association
- explains simple links memory
- may override gut reaction if they are inconsistent or you have the motivation
what is cognitive dissonance?
- uncomfortable state produced by awareness of inconsistencies among attitudes and behaviour
- produces motivation to process and resolve inconsistencies
- change attitudes to match behaviour
what process is undertaken to change attitudes to match behaviour due to cognitive dissonance?
1) individual perceives action as inconsistent with attitude
2) perceives action as freely chosen –> not attributed to external causes
3) experiences uncomfortable state of arousal
4) attributes arousal to the inconsistency
self-perception theory
- our own behaviour is used as a basis for inference for self-schema
- depends whether behaviour is intrinsically or extrinsically motivated
- changes in attitudes not due to uncomfortable states or anxiety/arousal
how is associative and propositional learning applied to the APE model?
1) associative info promotes new automatic behaviour
2) recognising that behaviour is inconsistent with propositional information regarding attitude object
3) change propositional info to match new behaviour
4) associative/propositional info match strengthening the chance of this behaviour to occur in future
priming
- activates information to change behaviour
- conscious/unconscious
- may activate nearby concepts to alter perceptions - sematic network model + spreading activation
what is the elaboration likelihood model?
- when do people accept or reject information?
- elaboration = critical evaluation of arguments
- arguments consistency with self-schema and previously learnt info decide whether is high or low elaboration and whether they are rejected
what are central routes of persuasion?
- scientific evaluation
- logic based arguments
what are peripheral routes of persuasion?
- highly emotional
- aim to change associations in memory
- not effective in changing persistent behaviours
- counterintuitive to longstanding beliefs and attitudes
how to reduce elaboration?
- combine peripheral and central routes
- promote trustworthiness of info or source
how does an expert source affect elaboration?
- elicit lower elaboration
- increase trustworthiness of central routes
- more effective in changing persistent behaviours
- experts may change attitudes even if arguments or statements are weak
–> these effects depend on personality/individual diffs
–> some may be sceptical regardless of expertise
what are the theories of bias?
1) social identity theory
2) realistic conflict theory
3) intergroup threat theory
what is social identity theory?
- we derive self-esteem from our valued group membership
- share and adopt opinions with our in-group to feel validated
- develop belief that outgroup are inferior
what is self-categorisation
- seeing oneself as a member of a social group
- often associate ourselves with several social groups
what is social identity theory?
- in-groups and out-groups
- use group membership to emphasise what is novel about ourselves
- if our in group is a minority that may become central to us
- if our in group is a majority we may discount that membership
Describe Brewer and Weber’s study
- randomly assigned via perceptual estimation task
1) consistent with large amount of student population (majority)
2) consistent with small amount of student population 9
minority) - shown video with either a majority or minority member performing well or poorly on academic talent
- if participant is a majority:
–> and the majority performs good = we feel good
–> and the minority performs bad = we feel good - if you are in the minority:
–> and the minority performs good = we feel good
–> and the majority performs bad = we feel bad - minority performance doesnt affect the majority’s feelings
what is the minimal group paradigm?
- groups can be made arbitrarily e.g. colour of shirt, coin toss
- this allows to study effects of groups in a vacuum
- suggests that intergroup conflict is innate
how does higher group identity change the self-schema?
- thoughts, feelings, and behaviours move towards the in-group
- changes in attitudes are stronger among those with higher group identity
what is the out-group homogeneity effect?
- seeing out-group as less diverse than in-group
- fewer out-group members known
- interactions with out-group more constrained
all in-group favouritism?
- school boys divided into arbitrary groups
- divided between in vs out-group
- generally favoured in-group members
- was this because they were seeking to maximise the benefits of the in-group?
- no - would still discriminate even if it cost the in-group
- would take 11 point from the in-group if it meant points were also taken from the out-group
what are sources of out-group biases?
- social identity theory
- categorisation-competition hypothesis
- self-esteem hypothesis
- realistic group conflict theory
- intergroup threat theory
what is the categorisation-competition hypothesis?
- viewing people in terms of ingroups and outgroups is sufficient to generate intergroup competition
- evidenced by minimal group paradigms - arbitrary assignment to groups creates biases
- competition between groups is innate
what is the realistic group conflict theory?
- evolutionary and economic account for group conflict
- groups ten to compete when resources are contested
- we are motivated to maximise the rewards for in-group, even if it means taking those rewards away from others
- majority groups view competition as zero-sum game
- finite amounts of resources –> gains in minority lead to equal losses in majority –> fear of losing influence and power
what is intergroup threat theory?
- biases come from two types of perceived threats = symbolic threats and realistic threats
- biases may result from combo of threats
- threat of losing positive source of self-esteem just as important as realistic effects
- perceived actions or intentions of outgroups often elicit threat
- threatening status quo maintained by majority group
- anticipated changes to status quo may elicit feelings of threat
- does not need to real or actualised
- mere perception of threats enough to promote conflict
what is a symbolic threat?
- threaten to reduce status, beliefs, or ideologies of group
- undermining source of self-identity or self-esteem
what is a realistic threat?
- threatening to reduce power or resources of group
- physical or material harm to group members
how can the status quo be threatened?
- when in-group is threatened = bias intensifies
- unequal in-group is threatened = bias intensifies
- unequal status = amplified intergroup biases
- attempt to maintain inequalities and retain privilege
- often see outgroup as moral exclusion to justify aggression, hate crimes, genocide
- retained in-group as highest moral authority
- justified hatred and exploitation for out-group
define discrimination
behaving differently towards people based on their membership in a social group. acting in an unfair or demeaning manner toward a disliked group. can also refer to giving undeserved advantage to a liked group
what is blatant discrimination?
unequal and harmful treatment that is intentional and visible
what is subtle discrimination?
unequal and harmful treatment that is typically less visible and obvious, often not noticed because people have internalised it as normal, can be active or passive
what are two examples of subtle discrimination?
covert discrimination
- unequal and harmful treatment that is hidden, purposeful, and often maliciously motivated
- behaviour that attempts to ensure failure in situations
microaggressions
- small-scale, everyday behaviours that demean other social groups or members of those groups
- behaviour can be verbal or nonverbal
what is the theory of planned behaviour?
- behaviour rarely rationale
- prejudiced attitudes can influence behaviour
- interact with social norms and expectations to act morally
- these norms can change based on group identity and context
- interact with availability of self-control to inhibit actions
- may be undermined by fatigue or time constraints
internal motivations to control prejudice
- stems from personal belief that prejudice is wrong
- exposure to members of outgroups implicitly reminds people of their commitment to egalitarianism
- even if prejudiced associations are activated
- people high in internal motivations are more likely to recognise conflict between prejudices and actions
- approach interracial interactions with the goals of treating the other person fairly and having a friendly conversation
external motivations to control prejudice
- result of social pressure
- associated with higher prejudice
- people high in external motivation feel pressured to appear unbiased
- doesnt necessarily prevent discrimination
how suppressing behaviour be difficult resulting in a lose of control?
- suppressing discrimination requires attention and mental effort
- when these resources are reduced people can express their prejudice
- however suppressing behaviour is difficult especially when the underlying attitudes are strongly influencing behaviour
- prejudice may leak out through automatic processes or nonverbal behaviours when trying to control its effects on other behaviours
define stereotypes
impressions of groups that people form by associating the groups with particular characteristics
define prejudice
positive or negative evaluations of a social group or its members
what is social categorisation?
we place others into social groups, beliefs develop about members of these groups, are used to guide future interactions with group members
Basic social categories
- gender
- race
- age
- use this information to draw conclusions about a person’s traits, social roles, and physical characteristics
What is intersectionality/subtypes?
- people belong to more than one basic category at once
- subtypes can be created to incorporate intersectionality
what are bottom-up and top-down processes of categorisation?
- bottom-up = based on the observable characteristics of an individual
- top-down = based upon prior knowledge people have stored in memory and their expectations about interactions
what is prototypicality?
- a bottom-up influence
- extent to which physical features match basic social category
- categorisation faster when observing a prototypical member
what are examples of bottom-up influences?
- body cues = body size and motion provide cues about group membership
- categorisation of ambiguous faces = when cues are ambiguous, categorisation is slower. We tend to classify ambiguous faces as members of the minority or socially subordinate group. these perceptions continue until the majority of their features are stereotypically white
what are examples of top-down ifluences?
- stereotypes - impressions of groups that people form by associating the groups with particular characteristics. the contents of these impressions affect categorisation
- situational influence - the social context can influence categorisation. focus on what makes another person look ‘different’ may shift across varying contexts
- prejudices attitudes - prejudiced individuals pay more attention to characteristics consistent with their attitudes and stereotypic beliefs
–> racist attitudes = focus on race when categorising
–> sexist attitudes = focus on gender when categorising
what are the origins of stereotypes?
- parents
- peers
- the media
- their own observations of the world
- role models
- development/socialisation
- psychological processes = social role theory, illusory correlations
what is social role theory?
- people observe the social roles others occupy
- associate characteristics of role with those who occupy it
- correspondence bias = we tend to assume behaviours of others are due to personality, not external or situational factors. leads to the development and continuation of stereotypic beliefs
what is illusory correlation?
- people incorrectly link two characteristics
- overestimate the relationship between two categories when undesirable information stands out
- inaccurate associations become firmly held
what influence does the media have stereotypes?
- media exposes us to members of majority groups more than minority groups
- representation of minority groups are stereotypic and negative
- the more media people are exposed to, the more they hold stereotypic beliefs
what influence does advertising have on stereotypes?
- women are typically shown in the home
- engage in behaviours which show their dependence and stereotypical gender roles
- men are typically shown in professional roles
what are examples of how advertising influence stereotypes?
Johar = commercials depict women and men in traditional roles.
- undergrad wrote an essay imagining their lives 10 years in future
- women who saw traditional commercial described their future as ‘homemaker’ rather than ‘career women’
- men’s future was not influenced by type of commercial
are stereotypes accurate?
- beliefs are not totally unfounded but the undermine attempts to individuate outgroup members
- self-fulfilling prophecy
what is stereotype knowledge?
Knowledge = extent to which a person is familiar with the content of a stereotype
what is stereotype endorsement
endorsement = extent to which someone personally believes the societal stereotype accurately describes a social group
what is stereotype activation?
extent to which a stereotype is accessible in one’s mind - priming
what is automaticity?
the activation of stereotypes following categorisation
- often occurs without effort or conscious thought
- cues presented subliminally can activate stereotypes
what is stereotype application?
extent to which one uses a stereotype to judge an individual. can be inhibited if motivated enough to engage in self control
what are factors which can facilitate activation
- prototypicality
- situational context
- level of prejudice
what is intersectional invisibility
people with intersectional identities are less likely to be recognised as a prototypical member of either identity
what are the advantages of intersectional invisibility
- stereotypes that are not activated are not used
- may explain why black women typically experience less discrimination than black men
what are disadvantages of intersectional invisibility?
- people who are not seen are also not heard
- may make ‘dual identities’ feel more stigmatised
- often more worried about experiencing discrimination
- have less allies or role models in many contexts
what are factors which promote automaticity?
situational context = context influences if stereotypes are activated - environment/time of day
Timing = when we are pressed for time, we tend to rely on stereotypes, when given time to respond, stereotypes may not be activated
what is the importance of working memory?
- cognitive busy-ness = when we are busy with one mental task while trying to do another, lack of space in working memory disrupts stereotype activation
- Gilbert & Hixon 1991
–> those who engaged working memory during activation phase were less likely to complete words stereotypically
–> stereotypes likely occupy working memory which has a limited capacity, therefore if engaged stereotypes are unlikely to be activated
–> those who engaged working memory during ‘application phase’ were more likely to use stereotypes to describe researcher
–> working memory is needed to inhibit application –> if occupied stereotypes are likely to be applied
what is myopia?
- behaviour based on immediate, readily available information
- long-term consequences not considered
- promotes self-preservation
what triggers myopia?
- tiredness/fatigue
- alcohol - promote myopia –> stronger influence of automatic processes
–> we can inhibit enhanced automaticity via control
–> when control is diminished via ego-depletion, automaticity leads to greater application of stereotypes promoted by alcohol myopia
how to measure activation vs application?
- activation = cognitive process - IAT
- application = observed behaviours - Shooter bias, WIT
- both processes happen very quickly so are hard to disentangle
how do activated stereotypes differ in strength?
- behavioural tasks often activate stereotypes via primes
- activated stereotypes (associated in memory) differ in their strength
- whether we apply these activated stereotypes (regardless of strength) relies on controlled vs automatic processes
what are controlled processes?
engaging inhibition to reduce application
what are automatic processes?
strength of activated stereotypes on behaviour
what happens when the strength of activated stereotypes are strong?
- increased control needed to suppress application
- availability to engage control depends on context and individual differences
what happens when the strength of activated stereotypes are weak?
- little control needed to suppress application
- we may not apply stereotypes, even when control is limited
what is an issue with a person, who is trying to become unprejudiced, including this in their ideal self?
- stereotype activation and application is automatic
- may not be aware of the effects on our behaviour
- unable to inhibit relatively unconscious behaviours
- limitations of self-control
what can be the long term effects of actively engaging control to suppress prejudice?
- can lead to automatic inhibition of stereotypes
- becomes easier with practice
- reduce stereotype activations
- develop cues for control
- engaging control to inhibit prejudice require effort
- not everyone motivated to expend this energy
- limitations of self-control
what are the consequences of suppressing prejudice?
- requires effort
- is affective while the person is focusing on avoiding the unwanted action
- often dependent on motivations
stereotype rebound - unwanted thoughts return in greater strength after suppression
- stereotypes are used to a greater extent after suppression strops
- can exceed typical stereotype use
what is perspective taking?
- making active effort to take someone else’s perspective
what facilitates perspective taking?
- writing a day in the life essay about a social group member
- listening to an interview based on someone’s experiences with discrimination
- having a face-to-face meeting with an outgroup member
what can perspective taking lead to?
- leads to more positive attitudes about the outgroup overall
- perspective takers exhibit less bias on elicit and implicit evaluations
- is effective because they see their experiences overlap with the outgroup, strengthens associations between the ingroup
- strengthens associations between in and outgroups
- leads to internal motivations to reduce bias
- we may lack the depth of knowledge concerning what members of outgroups experience on a daily basis
Zach’s study into perspective taking
- a collective action approach to improving attitudes and self-efficacy towards gender equality among male STEM academic
- context is needed
- if we dont know the extent of the bias experienced by outgroup, we may not fully emulate their perspective
- traditional methods such as essays are limited by imagination
- instead should use collective action (actions taken by group to achieve goal)
- participants took part in perspective taking which emphasises perceived injustices
- then related inequities to men’s social identity via blame/guilt promoting confidence to address gender inequalities
- when they were shown how to take action they were more likely to do so
what is intergroup contact theory
- contact hypothesis
- under the proper conditions, interactions between ingroup and outgroup members leads to positive change
what are the limitations of intergroup contact
- contact may not be effective for people who are:
–> high in prejudice - the longer a person has believed something for a long time its threatening for them to change this belief as its worked for them for such a long time
–> may avoid contact with members of groups they dislike
–> high in intergroup anxiety
–> lacking confidence they can have positive relationship with outgroup - positive contact is more effective and more common
indirect contact
extended contact
- having an ingroup friend who has outgroup friends is associated with lower prejudice and reduced intergroup anxiety
- demonstrates intergroup relationships are permissible and possible
- shows outgroup members are open to such relationships
media contact
- imagined contact
does contact work?
- intergroup contact reduces prejudice if people see members
- leads to more likely and less prejudice toward the outgroup
- awareness that members of both ingroup and outgroup have complex social identities
- salient categorisation - positive attitudes generate by contact will generalise to the group only if the outgroup members are seen as typical of their group
- categories must remain salient if positive attitudes are to apply beyond the immediate contact situation
- outgroup members must be seen as typical of their group and still disconfirm aspects of the group stereotype
common ingroup identity
- ingroup and outgroup embers recategorize themselves into a single group that shares a common identity
why is the health of minority groups generally poorer than that of the majority of the population
- racism
- ethnocentrism
- SES - social economic status groups
- genetics
how does discrimination in the health care system affect minorities?
- reduces access to the system and poorer levels of communication
- expectation that people will change their beliefs to fit those that are british
what are the direct short term consequences of racism on stress
- activation of HPA axis - releases cortisol into blood
- heightened blood pressure
- excess cortisol release
- increases blood sugar
- is good but not when activated too regularly
what are the chronic long term consequences of racism on stress
- blunted stress response - wont adapt to stress, less cortisol released
- changes on HPA responsiveness - activated so often body kind of just gives up
- chronic inflammation
what are the behavioural adaptations caused by stress from racism?
- maladaptive coping mechanisms
- alcohol and substance abuse
what are sources of stress?
- acute stress response via discrimination
- fight or flight
- cardiovascular activity (HPA axis)
- anticipation of future discrimination
–> anxiety for future racism/sexism
–> anticipatory stress and rumination
–> dysregulates homeostasis
what are other issues cause by racism/stress
- health services unofficially favours majority over minority
- often ignore cultural, lifestyle, and language difference
- race strongly linked with SES
- studies for race and health generally control for SES, race-related differences frequently disappear after adjustment for SES
- environment - minority ethnic groups mroe liekly to live in and work in unhealthy environments because of lower SES
what are the genetic issues found in minority groups?
- genetic differences between groups that lead to differing inheritance of disease or health-related traits
- inherited epigenetic changes for stress response
- sickle cell disorder affecting people of African-Caribbean descent
define stigma
unfavourable reactions towards people when they are perceived to possess attributes that are undesirable
how can stigma affect health?
- stereotype threat - fear of confirm to negative stereotype about group, behavioural monitoring due to fear of this. Heightened cardiovascular reactivity, disengagement and anxiety
- often experienced among women in STEM/racial minorities
- stereotypes about math ability or intelligence
- undermine performance and can promote maladaptive stress responses
what is stereotype threat?
- tested men and women on a maths test
- either made aware of gender diffs or not
- if told of gender diffs women did worse
physiological stress response
- looked at blood pressure
- stereotype threat impacts physiology
- if remove safety of believing the stereotype can cause stress to the men increasing blood pressure
environmental cues
- stereotype may be more salient by the environment
- gendered environments are non-inviting
- men and women studied. Put in a computer science classroom, stereotypical vs non-stereotypical room. women were less interested in computers science when in the stereotypical room
what is self-control failure?
stereotype threat requires high self-monitoring and prolonged suppression of emotions and behaviour, impacting subsequent control
- extended stress can reduce self-control
- poor decision making
- promotes rewarding behaviour: overeating, alcohol use, risk taking
what is burnout?
- exhaustion and depletion of emotional and physical resources
- pessimism, demonstration of negative and overly detached attitudes
causes of burnout
- overwhelming amount for work
- feeling lack of control
- large emotional component of job
why social neuroscience?
- need to be able to understand the brai to understand the social processes associated with it
what is TMS
- transcranial magnetic stimulation
- non-invasive and can be applied to humans
- uses magnetic coil to induce voltage in brain tissue
- can deactivate areas of the cortex
- clarifies role of these areas in addiction
- cant be specific to a brain areas just vague region
- lacks EV
what are the uses of tDCS?
- transcranial direct current stimulation
- useful for treating depression and drug related disorders
- can increase memory focus
how does MRI work
- scans measure the radio frequency wave emitted by hydrogen atoms when they are subjected to a strong magnetic field
- ## gives direct structure of the brain, does not necessarily say which is active in the moment
what is fMRI
- use MRI but measures brain activity through BOLD levels accompanying neural activity
- after activity in the brain
1) increase in O2 consumption of brain area
2) increased blood flow to oxygen defiecient area
3) this is area assumed active
how does dehumanisation relate to outgroups?
- outgroups not believed to share the basic human physical features that characterise the ingroup
- info about dehumanised groups processed differently
- brain does not encode them as human beings
- could be reason for moral exclusion
-dehumanisation severs the empathetic bonds that people usually feel for one another - trigger indifference, callousness, and inattention to others pain
- leads to dislike or hatred of dehumanised group
what is the ascent-dehumanisation scale
- social groups rated 0 to 100 (100 = most human)
- affected by social desirability
what is the fusiform face area?
- located in the temporal lobe
- processes facial info
- damage causes inability to recognise faces, shapes or objects
what is error-related negativity?
- measured using EEG
- occurs 50-80 milliseconds after a response
- negative deflection - realisation of a mistake
- greater amplitude after errors
- shows an engagement of inhibition - controlled processes, reflects use of self-control - shows whether their paying attention to spot their errors
what is N170
- occurs 170 milliseconds after stimuli
- negative deflection
- index of facial processing
- if theres a higher amplitude theres a higher processing
- shown for anything with familiarity not just humans
- involves fusiform face area - not confirmed just assumption as cant EEG and MRI at same time
how to measure motivation
- EEG frequencies
- left hemisphere = approach
- right hemisphere = avoidance
- manipulated self control through fatigue levels
- viewed positive vs negative images
- and measured approach responses through EEG
- stress increases motivations towards rewarding stimuli
- shifts in motivtation undermine inhibition and self-control
what is the SAM axis?
- sympathetic-adrenal-medullary axis
- stimulates sympathetic nervous system
- (fight/flight)
1) electrical impulse down spinal cord
2) stimulates hormone response
3) adrenaline or noradrenaline - short-term response to stress
HPA axis
Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis
- stimulates SNS slowly
- long term response to stress
- hormones released into bloodstream from pituitary gland
- stimulates hormone released in adrenal glands - cortisol
cortisol
- promotes release of glucose
- inhibits insulin
- narrows arteries increasing blood pressure
- epinephrine released, causing heart to beat faster
- requires heart to pump blood with more force
- under normal circumstances is temporary
- prolonged chronic stress can extend activation
what can extended cortisol release cause
- suppresses immune system
- suppresses functions of PNS
- anxiety
- digestion
- sexual dysfunction
- cardiovascular disease
- heart begins to wear
- blood vessel damage
what are the cardiovascular measures
1) electrocardiogram - ECG
2) impedance cardiography - ICG
3) Blood pressure - BP
how is an ECG represented
- heart produces electrical signals
- electrodes capture depolarisation of ventricles
- represented as points on ECG waveform
examples of the industrial part of I/O psych
- job analysis
- performance evaluation
- recruitment and interviewing
examples of the organisational part of I/O psych
- workplace diversity
- leadership and management style
- job satisfaction
what is the scientist-practitioner model?
- scientific method as basis for knowledge generation and development of interventions
what factors undermine the scientist-practitioner model?
- lack of data for practitioners
- academics not answering applied questions
- real-world time pressures
what are the Hawthorne studies?
- partnership between Harvard psychologists and Western Electric
- studies aimed at applying science to increase efficiency
- studied effect of lighting (brightness and consistency)
- lighting has no overall effect
- productivity increased when light increased, decreased, or held constant
- had the confounding variable of the workers being observed
what are the commonly studied job attitudes?
1) job satisfaction
2) commitment
3) employee engagement
4) organisational support
what is job satisfaction a good predictor of?
- job performance
- turnover/absences
- overall health
what are the three types of commitment?
1) affective
2) calculative/continuance
3) normative
what is affective commitment?
strong belief in and acceptance of the organisational goals and values, strong desire to maintain membership in the organisation
what is continuance commitment?
decision to remain with an organisation due to the personal time and resources devoted to the company
what is normative commitment?
totality of internalised normative pressures to act in a way which meets organisational goals and interests
what is the process of selection?
- processing of learning about an individual to make an inference
- the goal is to make a prediction of future behaviours
- success in past situations = success in future
- stable, individual differences = predict future behaviour
what are accurate predictions of future behaviour based on?
- correctly linking predictors with job criteria
- relies on job analysis
- accurately measure these predictors and criteria
what are common measures of future behaviour?
- cognitive ability
- intelligence, logical reasoning
- job knowledge
- personality
- big 5, dark triad
- integrity
- emotional intelligence
- physical ability
- situational judgement
what are the advantages of working in a team?
- make better decisions
- make better products
- better information sharing
- better motivation
what are the disadvantages of working in a team?
- extra resources for team maintenance needed
- social loafing
- Groupthink and polarisation
what is social loafing?
effort reduced when performing in group rather than alone due to low accountability, high expected efforts from others
what is group polarisation?
the tendency for group discussion to shift group members toward an extreme position
what is Groupthink?
the tendency toward flawed group decision-making when group members are so intent on preserving group harmony they fail to analyse a problem completely
how can you improve teams?
- use of team roles
- sets of behaviours people are expected to perform
- formally or informally assigned
- informal role assignment occurs during team development and is related to personal characteristics
what type of task is best when designing a good team?
- complex tasks divisible into specialised roles
- well-structured so easier to coordinate - requires resources
- higher interdependence, teams must share material/information/expertise
what team size is best when developing a team?
- smaller teams
- need less time to coordinate roles and resolve difficulties
- more engagement between members
- feel more responsible for team’s success
- must be large enough to accomplish task
why is diversity important when developing a team?
- view problems/alternatives from different perspectives
- broader knowledge base
- better representation of team’s constituents
what are the two ideas which are suggested to predict good leaders?
trait theory
- leaders are born, not made
- we identify specific traits that make someone a good leader
Behavioural
- leaders can be made
- leadership is applying behaviours which can be learned
- could be both = integrated model of leadership
what are the types of leadership?
1) Power and influence approaches
2) contingency approach
3) transformational leadership
4) leader-member exchange theory
5) authentic vs servant leadership
what is the power and influence approach?
- Developed by French and Raven
- four types of power:
1) coercive
2) reward
3) legitimate
4) expert - influence is applying power to change attitudes or behaviour
- coercive power = forcing someone to do something even tho they dont want to
- reward = promotion or raise if someone has worked hard and then been rewarded their sacrifice was worth it
- legitimate = some who is credible. the longer you’ve been in a company the higher ranking you are
- expert = power based on someone’s education, skills and knowledge
what is the contingency approach?
- Fielder
- leadership approaches assumed fixed styles were most effective
- situations and employees variable, adjustment and flexibility needed
what is the transitional leadership theory?
- transformational leadership = leadership through inspiring group to pursue goals and attain results. builds and communicates clear vision, empowers followers to make transformations
- transactional leadership = leadership through allocation of reward/consequences in exchange for behaviour
- Laissez-faire = non-leadership, responsibility deflected. only linked to negative outcomes. good for creativity
what is leader-member exchange theory?
- focuses on the dyadic relationship between leaders and followers –> does not assume that the leader has the same relationship with each follower
- members of ingroup have high-quality relationship with leader - highly motivated
- members of outgroup have more formal relationship with leader
what is authentic leadership?
- good leaders are genuine and transparent in their actions
- make decisions in unbiased ways, solicit other opinions and ideas
- strong morals/values
what is servant leadership?
- good leaders put the needs of others ahead of their own
- lead to more loyalty to leader than the organisation
what is organisational culture?
the language, values, attitudes, beliefs and customs of organisations
what are examples of cultural artifacts of an organisational culture?
stories and legends
- social prescriptions of desired behaviour
- realistic examples of organisations expectations
rituals
- routines of employees
ceremonies
- planned activities
language
- how employees address each other, express emotions, describe stakeholders
- leader uses language to anchor or change culture
building structure
- make shape and reflect culture/behaviour
- office design conveys cultural meaning
