LCT16: Social Psychology Flashcards
Social Psychology
the study of how we influence each other
What can social factors cause us to do?
can influence us to think or do things that we normally wouldn’t think or do on our own
Effects of social constructs
the social constructs that people are placed into or among really have a major impact on how people respond and react
Standford Prison Experiment
textbook
Nonverbal Actions and Expressions
first impressions are greatly influenced by nonverbal cues
Which facial expression is one of the first things people notice?
eye contact - interpretation of facial expressions varies by culture
Body Language
“thin slices of behavior” - brief observations of body language
Impression Formation
accurate judgements can be made after only a few seconds
What can be predicted through observing how somebody walks for a few seconds?
happiness, hostility, anger, and sexual orientation
Attributions
peoples explanation for why actions and events occur, including behavior
“Just-World” Hypothesis
the need to believe that the world is fair, or that justice is served. Can lead to victim-blaming
Attribution Theory
people are motivated to draw inferences in part by a basic need for order and predictability in their lives
- tend to explain behaviors as situational or personal
Psychologist associated with Attribution Theory
Frits Helder
Situational attributions
outside events, accidents, or the actions of other people
- external, temporal
Personal attributions
within a person, such as abilities, traits, moods, or effort
- internal, dispositional
Self-serving bias
choosing explanations that are favorable to oneself - tendency to take credit for success and to deny responsibility for failures
Fundamental attribution error
Judging other people’s behaviors, we tend to:
- overestimate importance of personality traits
- underestimate importance of the situation
Actor/observer discrepancy
- when interpreting our own behaviors, we focus on the situation
- when interpreting others behaviors we refocus on the disposition
Stereotypes
Attitudes and beliefs about groups
Cognitive schemas
Help us organize information about people on the basis of the membership of certain groups
- do not consider variations between individuals
Self-fulfilling prophecy
Tendency to behave in ways that confirm one’s own or others expectations
Rosenthal study of “academic blooming”
Textbook
Stereotype threat
Tendency for stereotypes to influence members of the stereotyped group - about performance not self-esteem
What do stereotypes affect?
Both our perception and memory
Perceptual confirmation
We tend to perceive what we expect to perceive
What information do we remember about stereotypes?
We tend to remember the information that already matches our stereotypes
What does are skewed perception and memory of stereotypes create?
Illusory correlation
Illusory correlation
Believe a relationship exists when one does not
Negative stereotypes can lead to…
Prejudice and discrimination
Prejudice
Negative feelings, opinions, and beliefs towards others are based solely on their membership in a certain group
Discrimination
Inappropriate and unjustified treatment of people as a result of prejudice
Ingroups and Outgroups
“Us versus Them”
Outgroup homogeneity affect
People assume that members of an out group are all alike
Ingroup favoritism
People favor or privilege members of their ingroup
How can negative stereotypes be countered?
Through learning and self-regulation
Between stereotyped thinking is…
Difficult and requires self-control
Sherif’s “Robber’s Cave” Experiments
Created hostility, prejudice, and discrimination, and then tried to reduce it
Cooperation
Together for a greater purpose I hope people overcome group hostilities
Superordinate goal
Task oriented cooperation
Peoples evaluations of objects, events, or ideas
- opinions, beliefs, and feelings
- shaped by social context
- shape how we evaluate and interact with other people
Explicit attitudes
Those you are aware of and can report
Implicit attitudes
Those you are not aware of
- influence feelings and behavior at an unconscious level
Cognitive Dissonance
And uncomfortable state that occurs when there is a contradiction between two attitudes or an attitude and a behavior
How do people reduce dissonance (contradiction)?
By changing their attitudes or behaviors OR rationalize or trivialize the discrepancies (the way we are thinking)
The “looking glass effect”
Mirrors reduce cheating on tests and eating unhealthy foods (changing behaviors to match attitude noticed)
Abu Ghraib
Abuse and torture can feel justified prisoners or seen as subhuman or evil (rationalization or justification of behaviors)
Postdecisional Dissonance
After decision, focus on the positive aspects of selected option and negative aspects of rejected option
Insufficient justification
Changing behavior first, with little incentive or reason. Attitude changes.
Psychologists associated with insufficient justification
Festinger and Carlsmith (1959)
The presence of others can…
Improve our performance, but sometimes impair it
Social facilitation
Arousal enhances the dominant response, which usually improves performance if the task is easy
Psychologist associated with social facilitation
Zajonc (1965)
Social loafing
- people work less hard in a group then when working alone
- no one person’s efforts are identified
Deindividuation
- people sometimes lose their individuality when they become part of a group
- State of reduced individuality, self-awareness, and attention to personal standards
Group polarization
Initial attitudes of members determine what the group is riskier or more cautious
Groupthink
Extreme form of group polarization that results when members are very concerned with maintaining the groups cohesiveness
Conformity
Altering ones behaviors and opinions to match those other people or to match other people’s expectations
- necessary in a civilized society, to some degree
How many people conformed to Solomon Asch’s objective line length test?
3/4 of participants
Who conducted one of the most controversial studies in social psychology, and what was it over?
Stanley Milgram - obedience
What percent of participants completely obeyed the experimenter in the obedience studies? What about a recent replication?
- nearly two thirds (65%)
- 70%
Bystander Intervention Effect
failure to offer help to someone observed to be in need
Cases apart of the Bystander Intervention Effect
- murder of Kitty Genovese inspired the study of bystander intervention
- Latane & Darley studied bystanders in many types of “emergencies” and found frequent failures to intervene
Four major factors in the bystander effect
1) Diffusion of responsibility
2) Fear of social blunders
3) Anonymity
4) Perceived risk
Prosocial Behaviors
behaviors that benefit others
Altruism
the providing of help in the absence of apparent rewards for doing so
- linked to empathy
Elaberation likelihood model
A theory of how persuasive messages lead to attitude changes
Social norms
Expected standards of conduct, which influence behavior
Compliance
The tendency to agree to do things request by others
