Human Relationships

Question 1

What is co-operation?

Answer 1

Groups or individuals working together for a mutually beneficial outcome, characterised by effective communication, common goals, basic similarity in beliefs and values and a sense of trust.

Question 2

What is competition?

Answer 2

Groups or individuals working against each other for selfish benefits, characterised by lack of trust, suspicion of others’ intentions, focus on individuals’ negative traits, rejection of individuals’ negative traits, rejection of individuals’ ideas, rigid thinking and unlikely to welcome compromise.

Question 3

What happens when competition escalates and becomes explicit?

Answer 3

It takes the form of a conflict.

Question 4

What is the sociocultural support of co-operation and competition?

Answer 4

Social Identity Theory (SIT) and Realisitic Conflict Theory.

Question 5

How does SIT support co-operation or competition?

Answer 5

SIT can show competition.

Question 6

How does Realistic Conflict Theory show co-operation or competition?

Answer 6

It can show co-operation.

Question 7

What are the approaches to researching co-operation and competition?

Answer 7

Field experiment, random allocation, true-lab experiment.

Question 8

What are the ethical considerations when researching co-operation and competition?

Answer 8

Deception, uninformed of true aims of study, deliberately starting conflicts which may lead to physical/ psychological harm, confidentiality (use of cameras/ microphones).

Question 9

What is prejudice?

Answer 9

A favourable or unfavourable predisposition towards any member of the category in question.

Question 10

What is discrimination?

Answer 10

Negative behaviour towards a group of people; it involves treating people in an unfair way based on their group membership

Question 11

What forms does discrimination take?

Answer 11

Explicit bias against another group of people such as being hostile or violent against another group. It can also be less direct or unintentional.

Question 12

What is the cognitive support for prejudice and discrimination?

Answer 12

Stereotypes, heuristics, and cognitive schema.

Question 13

How do stereotypes support prejudice and discrimination?

Answer 13

Stereotypes are an important factor in the development of prejudice is the way people make decisions.

Question 14

How do heuristics support prejudice and discrimination?

Answer 14

People make judgements based on the available heuristics. That is, they base decisions on the information that is most readily available.

Question 15

How do cognitive schemas support prejudice and discrimination?

Answer 15

A person’s knowledge is stored in cognitive schema meaning that information processing related to opinions of others is largely automatic based on schemas and often not a conscious process.

Question 16

What is the sociocultural support of prejudice and discrimination?

Answer 16

SIT, self-categorisation, social cognitive theory (SCT), social norms, and culture.

Question 17

How does SIT support prejudice and discrimination?

Answer 17

Suggests that in-groups are stereotyped positively, and that out-groups are stereotyped negatively. Prejudice and discrimination are caused by in-group favouritism. As individuals categorise themselves into in-groups and out-groups, they exhibit prejudice and discrimination in order to enhance their social identity in a particular social group. This means they will have negative attitudes (prejudice) and behaviours (discrimination) towards the out-group based on their prior beliefs (stereotypes).

Question 18

How does self-categorisation support prejudice and discrimination?

Answer 18

Suggests that if some in-group holds a stereotype, then other members of the in-group may adopt that stereotype as well.

Question 19

How does SCT support prejudice and discrimination?

Answer 19

Suggests that stereotypes are learned through observational learning, from parents, peers, the media, and role models.

Question 20

How do social norms support prejudice and discrimination?

Answer 20

Social norms shape one’s beliefs, therefore they play a key role in a society’s prejudices. For example, Western society had strong prejudice against gays and lesbians but if the social norms change, there is a a shift towards tolerance as the society becomes more open about gay marriages. This means that members of a group conform to the new norms over time.

Question 21

How does culture support prejudice and discrimination?

Answer 21

Cultural dimensions, influence of culture, enculturation.

Question 22

What are the approaches to researching prejudice and discrimination?

Answer 22

Double-blind experiment and independent measures design.

Question 23

What are the ethical considerations when researching prejudice and discrimination?

Answer 23

Deception.

Question 24

What is by-standerism?

Answer 24

The phenomenon in which individuals do not intervene or offer help when other people are present despite being aware of another person’s suffering.

Question 25

What is the sociocultural support for by-standerism?

Answer 25

SIT.

Question 26

How does SIT support by-standerism?

Answer 26

In Pilivan et al it showed that one may be more likely to help member os their own in-group. This questions whether it is just natural behaviour dictated by SIT, or if the behaviour could be more complex.

Question 27

What are the approaches to researching by-standerism?

Answer 27

True-lab experiment and field experiment.

Question 28

What are the ethical considerations when researching by-standerism?

Answer 28

Undue stress or harm.

Question 29

What is prosocial behaviour?

Answer 29

Any behaviour that is intended to benefit others e.g. donating to charity, sharing, volunteer work, giving up your seat on the bus.

Question 30

What is egoistic motivation?

Answer 30

Behaviour that is done to make ourselves feel good.

Question 31

What is altruism?

Answer 31

Engaging in helping or prosocial behaviour without the expectation of any benefit to oneself. It may been come at a cost to the individual engaging in the altruistic behaviour.

Question 32

What is altruistic motivation?

Answer 32

Being motivated by wanting to increase another person’s welfare.

Question 33

What are the biological aspects that support prosocial behaviour?

Answer 33

Kin selection theory.

Question 34

What is kin selection theory?

Answer 34

It is based on genetic determinism and evolution and suggests that people are more altruistic towards family members. It is also based on the concept of inclusive fitness, which suggest that an individual is altruistic not for the benefit of another, but for the benefit of one’s own genes and their chances of survival.

Question 35

What is the cognitive support for prosocial behaviour?

Answer 35

That altruistic behaviour may have an emotional core that is guided by rational decisions to help others, even at cost to oneself.

Question 36

What is the sociocultural support for prosocial behaviour?

Answer 36

Cultural norms and SCT appear to have some influence on prosocial behaviour. However, it is unclear in how much culture may vary in prosocial behaviour and why.

Question 37

What are the approaches to researching prosocial behaviour?

Answer 37

Self-report.

Question 38

What are the ethical considerations when researching prosocial behaviour?

Answer 38

Undue stress or harm.

Question 39

What is the cognitive support for promoting prosocial behaviour?

Answer 39

Targeting the psychological strategies that aim to teach people skills associated with prosocial behaviour or to train people in ways that make them more responsive to the needs of others.

Question 40

What is the sociocultural support for promoting prosocial behaviour?

Answer 40

SCT, if we can model aggression, we should be able to model prosocial behaviour.

Question 41

What are the approaches to researching promoting prosocial behaviour?

Answer 41

Randomly assigned groups and 12-week programs.

Question 42

What are the ethical consideration when researching promoting prosocial behaviour?

Answer 42

Parental consent for children’s participation.