Midterm 1 Flashcards
define
Attitudes
and three components!
Attitudes: positive or negative evaluations of objects of thought
3 components:
1. cognitive -> beliefs and ideas
2. affective -> emotions and feelings
3. behavioral -> predisposition to act
list
When do attitudes predict behavior?
3 indicators!
- Strength of attitude
- Accessibility of attitude
- Ambivalence of attitude
- behavior will also be shaped by perceived expectations of others and situational constraints *
define
Cognitive Dissonance
When attitude/behavior A conflicts with attitude/behavior B it creates cognitive dissonance
We cope with this dissonance by creating a rationale (most often changing our attitude) in order to cope
describe
Leon Festinger
- gave participants a boring task
- half were given $1 to lie and say the task was fun to the next participant, the other half were given $20
- when asked to rate how fun the task was, those in the $1 condition were more likely to say it was fun
explanation: $1 is higher dissonance. Believing “I’m an honest person” and then lying creates dissonance -> cope by believing the task was more fun than it was
define
Persuasion
an attempt to influence a person’s beliefs, attitudes, intentions, motivations, or behaviors
list
Process of Persuasion
(there’s four)
- Source factors (who)
- Message factors (what)
- Channel factors (by what means)
- Reciever factors (to whom)
define
Reciprocity
Mutual exchange of privileges
1. be first to give
2. make it personalized
3. make it unexpected
list
Methods of Persuasion
there’s three! (reciprocity not included)
- Foot-in-the-Door: start small, then ask for bigger
- Door-in-the-Face: ask for something big/unrealistic, then ask for something smaller
- Lowballing: starting with an attractive offer, then adding on extra charges to hike it up
define
Stereotype
a generalization about a group of people, where identical characteristics are assigned to all members
true or false:
stereotypes stem from the law of least effort
True! The law of least effort states that the world is too complicated for us to have unique beliefs about everything, so we’ve gotta simplify
define
Prejudice
a hostile or negative attitude toward people based on their membership to a group
define
Discrimination
unjustified harmful action based on membership to a group
list + define
Two Causes of Prejudice
- Social Categorization
-> us versus them mindset - In-Group Bias
-> tendency to evaluate in-group members more
positively than outgroup members
define
In-Group vs Out-Group
In-Group: a group which we belong to and identify with
Out-Group: a group we don’t identify with
describe
Tajfel Study
- Participants were randomly allocated into two groups
-> They evaluated people in their group more positively
than people outside of their group - When given the option of
a) Recieve $2 for your group, $1 for the other group
b) Recieve $3 for your group, $4 for the other group - they were more likely to choose option A because it meant the other group would receive less money
define
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
When we have stereotypes or a perception of a person, we treat them differently -> this leads to them acting differently, reinforcing our perception/stereotypes
define
Stereotype Threat
apprehension/fear by members of a minority group that they might behave in a way that confirms stereotypes
-> effect is stronger when they’re reminded of their minority status
-> leads to a decrease in performance
What’s the opposite of stereotype threat?
Stereotype boost!
define
Causal Attributions
and two influences!
How one explains the behavior/circumstances of another person/group
Two Influences:
1. Dispositional Factors
2. Situational Factors
define
Just-World Attributions
A deep-seated belief that the world is a just and fair place, so people deserve the circumstances they’re in
define
Fundamental Attribution Error
Overestimating the influences of dispositional factors on a person’s situation
define
Ultimate Attribution Error
When in group members attribute:
a) negative outgroup behavior to dispositional causes
b) positive outgroup behavior to luck/”a special case”
describe
Stanley Milgram
- Studied obedience
- Participants were assigned the role of “teacher”
- were instructed (and encouraged later on) by the experimenter to shock the “learner” (a confederate), each time they got an answer wrong, and to continuously increase the level of shocks
- over 50% of people went to 450 volts
list
Key Factors in Milgram’s Study
- Psychological distance between teacher and experimenter
- psychological distance between teacher and learner
- [apparent] credibility of lab and experimenter
define
Social Comparison
and the two types!
We compare ourselves to others to boost our self-esteem and evaluate ourselves
Upward: comparing to someone superior
Downward: comparing to someone inferior
define
Conformity
when people yield to real or imagined social pressure
describe
Solomon Asch
- studied conformity
- one participant, the rest of them were confederates
- tasked to figure out which line was the length of the target line
- sometimes, every one of the confederates would say an incorrect answer
- people conformed and said the wrong answer with the confederates 37% of the trials
list
Two Key Factors of Solomon Asch Studies
- Group unanimity
-> if one other person broke the unanimity, people were less likely to conform - Group size
-> the more people (3-4+), the more likely people were to conform
list
Why do we conform?
three reasons!
- normative influence: people conform to sociall norms for fear of negative consequences
- informational influences: people look to others for guidance abouthow to behave in ambiguous situations
- deindividuation: losing one’s sense of personal identity in a group
social contagion (textbook) = informational infleunces (lecutre)
list
effects of deindividuation
- spending less time thinking about right vs wrong
- larger groups increase anonymity and decrease responsibility
- become outwardly focused
- increased liklihood of antisocial behavior
- may increase physiological arousal
uniforms enhance group identity!
describe
🎃👻Halloween Study👻🎃
- children were instructed to take one candy only
- conditions: anonymous vs non anonymous and group vs individual
- alone and anonymous: ~?? (my notes are not legible) took extra
- group and anonymous: ~57% took extra
- if 1st child steals: 83% anonymous, 67% non anonymous
define
social roles
shared expectations about how particular people are expected to behave within a group
define
social norms
expectations of behavior for an entire group
describe
Philip Zimbardo
Stanford Prison Experiment!
- participants were put into a prison scenario -> were assigned roles of guard or prisoner
- guards began to act sadistically towards the prisoners, led to the prisoners showing signs of emotional disturbance
- the experiment ended up being terminated early
describe
Criticisms of the Stanford Prison Experiment
- participants may have been responding to demand characteristics
- some prisoners admitted to going along and playing it up
- people who sign up for a study like that may be geared towards sadistic behavior
define
Groupthink
an emphasis on group unanimity at the expense of critical thinking
when groups combine knowledge it’s shared knowledge, no net gain of info
Treatment for Groupthink
have dissent, a devil’s advocate!
define
Bystander Effect
the prescence of others makes people less likely to help
define
Pluralistic Ignorance
error of assuming that no one in the group percieves things as we do
ex. you dont understand something in class, but no one else is asking anything so they must all understand
define
Altruism
plus situational factors of why we help!
helping others for nonselfish resons
situational factors: more likely to help when we can’t leave the situation. also dependent on on the characteristics of the victim, our mood, and conformity
describe
Good Samaritin Study
ok so i dont quite remember but i think it goes like
- participants are told they need to give a talk on the good samaritan tale from the bible
- two conditions: need to walk to the area for the talk ASAP vs having time to spare
- otw there they’d pass a confederate slumped over on the sidewalk
- results: people didnt help when in a rush, but helped when they had time to spare
define
Aggression
behavior intended to harm others
