Midterm Exam Flashcards
Based on lectures 2-6
Definition of social psychology
Scientific attempt to understand how thoughts, behavior, & feelings of individuals are influenced by the presence of others
The 5 Historical foundation
- Auguste Comte, positivism
- Carlo Cattaneo coined term social psych
- Norman Triplett & theory of Dynamogenisis
- 2 textbooks published: sociology and psych
- Floyd Allport solidifies definition of social psych with his book
Auguste Comte & positivism
- Research should be done the same way as natural sciences, thought to of legitimize social psych
- We should only study what we can observe via our senses
Carlo Cattaneo coined what term
social psych
Norman Triplett & theory of Dynamogenisis
○ Used imperial research to understand how ppl interact via Cyclists
○ His theory: cyclists bike faster when competing with others
what did the 2 published textbooks indicate?
Good indicator that sociology and psych made it/ was official
Floyd Allport solidifies definition of social psych with his book
○ Looks at group influence, group experiments
○ Social facilitation try’s to explain the observation that when others are present our performance is enhanced
The Golden Age of Social Psychology
- Boom in post war America
○ How social psych can help war - Interest & funding from branches of America
- Migration of Jewish scholars out of Europe to America
Historical foundation- 3 Criticism
- Factors that contribute to widespread criticism
- Experimenters expectations were influencing the results, effecting data/ getting the results they want
2, Relevance
-Not relevant to the real world
-Norms were changing fast
- The problem with theory
-Since theory was based on experiments, the were thought to be too small
difference between Psychological social psych & Sociological social psych
Sociological social psych:
○ Focus on group & group behaviour, the effect of social environment on behaviour, how interactions shape social structure
Psychological social psych:
○ Focus on what/ how individuals think
○ Attribution therapy: how ppl attribute behaviour
What is Theory?
-Imperially tested idea
-“A theory is a set of interrelated concepts, definitions, and propositions that explains or predicts events or situations by specifying relations among variables”
the 3 Level of theory
1.Grand theory- Paradigms
○ Frameworks, larger perspectives
-What we will talk about the next few weeks
○ Umbrella ideas of other theory
○ Abstract/ overarching ideas
2.Middle range theory
○ Integrate imperial research and its ideas
○ Develop therapy off of research
3.Case specific/ mini theories
○ small
what is Grand theory- Paradigms
-1st big level of theory
-larger perspective
-What we mostly talked about in class
what is middle range theory
-2nd level of theory
-Integrate imperial research and its ideas
-Develop therapy off of research
the 3 functions of social psych theory
- Organization
○ Theory organizes observations
○ Like a blue print - Direction
○ Theory has the potential to pin you into a direction you have not considered - Intervention
○ We should develop therapy to help in some way
○ Should have some real world applicability
7 things to make a good theory
- Usefulness
- Parsimony : easy to understand
- Scope - good theory goes beyond its case
- Logical consistency - does it make sense?
- Testability - can you ground it?
- Empirical validity
- was my idea supported by the evidence gathers?
- MOST IMPORTANT - Policy implications
- can this theory create change in so way/shape/form?
having a good theory is difficult
What is symbolic interactionalism?
- Society is created, maintained, & changed via repeated & meaningful interactions between people
- Without these interactions we have no society
-We create meaning/ norms via interactions, not often intentional actions
Key Theorists in Symbolic Interactionism
- George Herbert Mead
- Charles Horton Cooley
- William Isaac Thomas
- Herbert Blumer
Core ideas in Symbolic Interactionism
- It is via interactions that we create the symbols that construct our social reality
- Symbols: culturally derived objects with shared meaning
- Could be physical, a gesture, anything really
What is Anti-determinism in Symbolic Interactionism
- Developed during social Darwinism
-the idea that social traits are genetic and class was apart of that
- i.e. women who were seen as ‘crazy’ were sterilized so they could no reproduce
What is Field studies in Symbolic Interactionism
- Going out into the world to study: lab experiments
- Personal observation is important
- Start to see the relations between method and theory
Blumer’s 3 premises
- Humans act towards things on the basis of the meaning that things have for them
- The meaning of things are derived from social interactions
- These meanings are dependent on, and modified by an interpretative process of the people who interact with one another
core ideas of Blumer’s 3 premises
- Perspective is key: we act towards something/ someone based on the meanings we have for them
- Its a learned process, very interpretive, can change overtime
The Thomas Theorem
- “if men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences”
- The idea of perception
core ideas of The Thomas Theorem
- Groundwork for social constructionism
History of social interactionist thoughts quote
“we didn’t think symbolic interaction was a perspective in sociology, we thought it was sociology”
3 Early Influence of social interactionist
- Neo-Kantian Relativism
- Pragmatism
- American psych and sociology
Neo-Kantian Relativism
- early influence of social interactionist
- Ppl need to create conceptual categories to make sense of the chaotic world
Pragmatism
- early influence of social interactionist
-Pragmatism is actually doing something with the ideas, actually imperially grounding the ideas
-Theory and philosophy is only valid if it is useful
American psych and sociology
- early influence of social interactionist
-society is important to a persons development nature
James Mark Baldwin as an early influence of social interactionist
-Society as a component in the development of a persons human nature
-We cant develop consciousness without others: need a ‘I’ and ‘me’
-American psychology
William James as an early influence of social interactionist
-Emphasis on the functions of the streams of conscious
-American psychology
Cooley & the looking glass self
- We imagine how we appear to others
-Our self acceptance is based on the appraisal of others (impacts you more with people you care about), more explicit
-American sociology
The Chicago school (wave 1)
- Pragmatist take root, more field work
- 1st wave of emphasized:
- The self and society are inseparable- Importance of defining the situation
- Meaning is central to human action
- qualitative research: lab work etc
Second Chicago school
Key scholars/players:
- Goffman, Becker, Gusfeild, Blumer
Working in counter with structure functionalism
Focused on grounding ideas using ethnographic research
-Found what was actually going on in the world
Iowa school
-Manford Kuhn
- Emphasis on operationalizing SI concepts
- More quantitative approach to studying & understanding self
- 20 statement test
- 20 blank ‘I am’ statements
- Suppose to quantify the study of the self
the 3 SI theory
- Dramaturgy
- Labelling theory
- Identity theory
Dramaturgy
- By: Erving Goffman
- We are preforming to our audience
- Front stage: mindful of how you speak, look, censoring, etc bc of the social setting
-Back stage: we can be our real self
- ‘life is a stage’
-a SI theory
Labelling theory
- By: Howard Becker
- Nothing is inherently deviant, deviance is a social perception
- self fulfilling prophecy: label is internalized
- A SI theory
Identity theory
Sheldon Stryker
-Multiple identity’s but create a unified sense of who we are
-depending on who we are with, you will activate the most useful identity
-Identity salience hierarchy: The more important/ most used identity are at the top
I.E.: i am a student, sister, daughter, grand daughter, friend, girlfriend
5 Criticism of SI
- Neglects macro: some theory’s do and others don’t
- Far too subjective
- No right and wrong
- Concepts are too vague & imprecise
- Cant be operationalized
- Criticism of looking glass self & reflected appraisals
- Even tho ppl see themselves as other see them, they found that others do not see them as the same
- Problems with remaining objective
- Like ethnography’s
What is Cognitive Social Psychology?
-Psychological Social psychology Approach
-People Actively Structure their Worlds Cognitively
- Cognitive Processes
2 Key Concepts of Cognitive Social Psychology
- Cognitive Structures
- Cognitive Schemas
Cognitive Structures in Cognitive Social Psychology
-The Mental Processes That Our Brain Uses to Understand Information
-The world = complex and our brains help us organize the info
-Organizations info into meaningful concepts
Cognitive Schemas in Cognitive Social Psychology
- A framework/ typification: a tool, general
-Helps us to organize and interpret info
-Provide us with an interpretive framework to help with inferences and framework of social world
Prototype in Cognitive Social Psychology
- Cognitive reference point for a category
- Prototypes allow us to distinguish one group from another
○ Typification
Scripts in Cognitive Social Psychology
Provide a conceptual structure
-What is expected in specific situations, what to or not to say
what to say
-Concerned with: actions and temporal sequence of events
Cognitive Misers
-Fiske & Taylor
-Focus on: the state of the perceiver, who’s making the short cuts
-People tend to take cognitive shortcuts when making judgements and inferences
-Brains are lazy + don’t want to do a lot of work
Roots of Cognitive Social Psychology
- Gestalt Psychology
-Core idea: ppl understand stimuli via context of a whole system
Gestalt Psychology
- Max Wertheimer
- Perception: Understanding the Human Mind and Human Behavior More Holistically
-KEY PRINCIPLE: Pragnanz
- When presented with a complex or ambiguous idea or image, your brain will work to perceive it in its simplest form
-developed in response to structural psychology
What is the key Principle of Gestalt Psychology
Pragnanz
-When presented with a complex or ambiguous idea or image, your brain will work to perceive it in its simplest form
-Our brain is lazy so we wants to rely on the symbols/ meanings we already know to figure out what is happening
the 2 Cognitive Theories
- Cognitive Dissonance
- Elaboration Likelihood Mode
what is Cognitive Dissonance
- Leon Festinger
- That tension motivates us to find consistence and reduce discomfort
-People will change attitudes/ beliefs in an Effort to Restore Cognitive Consistency
Three Features
1. Dissonance is experienced as discomfort
2. Dissonance propels or drives people to take action
3. After the action is taken, people feel more comfortable
Three Features of Cognitive Dissonance
AKA the motivational aspect
- Dissonance is experienced as discomfort
- Dissonance propels or drives people to take action
i. Bc we don’t want to feel uncomfortable - After the action is taken, people feel more comfortable
i. We feel better abt ourselves
what is the Elaboration Likelihood Model
(E.L.M)
- by: Petty and Cacioppo
-How Attitudes are Changed and Formed
-How people can be persuaded to change their attitudes
-To understand persuasion, we need to understand elaborated
-2 levels of elaboration
-Route of persuasion: Central & Peripheral route
-2 main postulates
1. People are motivated to hold correct attitudes
2. Although People Want to Hold Correct Attitudes, The Amount and Nature of Issue-Relevant Elaboration in Which they are Willing or Able to Engage to Evaluate a Message Vary with Individual and Situational Factors
the levels of persuasion in E.L.M
2 levels of elaboration
- Higher= taking a lot of time to think important things over
-Lower= using less time to think less important things over
2 Route of persuasion in ELM
- Central route: time to think, strongly motivated to change their attitude
-Usually something personal happens where motivated to change their attitude - Peripheral route: less time to think, not that important to us
-rushed to make a decision
-Can help us understand things on larger scale, national levels
the 2 main postulates in E.L.M
- People are motivated to hold correct attitudes
-Correct but not on a wide scale, correct to them
-Connects to Cognitive dissonance - Although People Want to Hold Correct Attitudes, The Amount and Nature of Issue-Relevant Elaboration in Which they are Willing or Able to Engage to Evaluate a Message Vary with Individual and Situational Factors
-It cant be correct all the time, we will experience dissonance- Context plays a role
4 Criticisms for Cognitive Social Psychology
- Too focused on individual behavior
- Assumption that changes in environment will lead to change in behavior
- “if we change the environment ppl will change” not typically true
- Doesn’t take into consideration regarding biological or hormonal predispositions
- Difficult to operationalize some of the concepts/ ideas
1 main Criticisms for cognitive dissonance
- Methodological issues
-Questions the imperial break thoughts that have been down in cognitive dissonance
1 Criticisms for attribution theory
1.Assuming people are rational & logical
○ We r not usually
Theoretical Influences of Social Exchange Theory
- Blends Sociology and Psychology
- See principles of:
○ Operant conditioning
○ Basic economics
○ Rational choice theory
○ Reinforcement theory
Core Assumptions of Social Exchange Theory
- ppl want to get rewards and avoid punishment
- ppl look for max profit with minimal cost
- ppl think abt cost- benefit prior to interactions
-“is this relationship worth it?” - ppl understand that the ‘payoff’ varies from person to person
The 4 Basic Elements of Social Exchange Theory
- Actors
- Resources
- Exchange Structures
- Exchange Processes
Actors in The 4 Basic Elements of Social Exchange Theory
-The Assumption that People are Self Interested
-Actors can be Individuals or Groups
-Can look at via…
-Rational Actor Model
-Forward-Looking
-How can I work towards getting positive goals, what will get me the best outcome
-the Learning Model
-Backward-Looking
-Big on learning from past actions
resources in The 4 Basic Elements of Social Exchange Theory
- A Resource is ‘Valued by One Actor and Held By Another’
-Anything can be a resource
-The value of the relationship is based on subjective appraisal
-Coleman’s Four Dimensions of Resources:
1. Divisibility: divided into parts
2. transferability: Can resource be used in future exchange
3. duplicability: Can resource be simultaneously giving to others
4. conservation: Can the resource be replenished
exchange structure in the 4 Basic Elements of Social Exchange Theory
-Based in Mutual Dependence: Both actors depend on each other
Types of Exchange Structures
1. Negotiated : joint decision making
- Reciprocal: More implicit, abt fairness
- Generalized: pay it forward’
- Productive: i.e. group work in school
exchange process in the 4 Basic Elements of Social Exchange Theory
- The giving and taking of resources through social interaction
-Exchange Opportunity → Offer → Exchange
-CAN LEAD TO AN EXCHNAGE RELATIONSHIP
Rational Actor Model
apart of ‘actors’ in the 4 Basic Elements of Social Exchange Theory
- Forward-Looking
-How can I work towards getting positive goals, what will get me the best outcome
the Learning Model
apart of ‘actors’ in the 4 Basic Elements of Social Exchange Theory
-Backward-Looking
-Big on learning from past actions
Coleman’s Four Dimensions of Resources
from Resources in 4 Basic Elements of Social Exchange Theory
- Divisibility: divided into parts
- transferability: Can resource be used in future exchange
- duplicability: Can resource be simultaneously giving to others
- conservation: Can the resource be replenished
Types of Exchange Structures
- Negotiated
-Actors are apart of joint decision making - Reciprocal
-More implicit, abt fairness - Generalized
- ‘pay it forward’
-Given a benefit and you pass it on to someone else, to another person - Productive
-A resource that has been jointly created
-Cooperation is key
-i.e. group work in school
Affect Theory
-Edward Lawler
-Bringing emotions in social exchange theory
-Our Rational and Cognitive Processes have an Emotional Basis
-They Impact Actors
-Jointness and Social Order
5 assumptions
1. social exchange create global emotions
2.feeling good= reinforcement Vic versa
3.want to reproduce good feelings
4.why do we feel good/ bad abt this relationship
5.global emotions are motivators
Five Assumptions of Affect Theory
- That social exchange generates global (good, bad, even feelings) emotions and feelings
- That global emotions constitute internal self-reinforcing or punishing stimuli
- That actors strive to reproduce global positive emotions and avoid negative global emotions
- We want to reproduce feeling good, not bad
- That global emotions from exchange trigger cognitive efforts to understand the sources or causes of global emotion or feelings
-Why do we feel good or bad abt this relationship? - That actors interpret and explain their global emotions with reference to social units within which they experience the emotions
-Global emotions are motivators
Power Dependence Theory
- Richard Emerson
- based on power relations
-Relationships are Based on Mutual Dependence, aka interdepended
-Reliance on Resources Can Determine the Distribution of Power in Relationships
○ Dependence on each other
-Social Networks Contain Nodes That Are Interconnected by Ties
-Nods: individual actors
-Ties: the relationships
-3+ Nodes are needed to create an exchange network
-Our Position Within the Network Determines Power
4 Criticisms of Social Exchange Theory
- Simplistic
- Altruism?
-Definition: the selfless good deed, u will do anything for someone - The Assumption that Relationships are Linear
- Reductionist
-reducing our interactions to reactional choice based on economic principles
-We r not always rational
Three Principles of Personality and Social Structure Framework
- COMPONENTS PRINCIPLE
- PROXIMITY PRINCIPLE
- PSYCHOLOGY PRINCIPLE
COMPONENTS PRINCIPLE
in Three Principles of Personality and Social Structure Framework
-Identify the Components of society that r most Likely to Affect Attitudes and Behaviors
-Components like Status, Roles, Norms, Networks
PROXIMITY PRINCIPLE
in Three Principles of Personality and Social Structure Framework
-Understand the Contexts that Most Affect Us
-contexts: the social structure that most effect us & how people experience social structure
-Emphasis on Work and Family
i.e. working a typical 9-5 job will effect ur attitude/ behaviour etc
PSYCHOLOGY PRINCIPLE
in Three Principles of Personality and Social Structure Framework
-Psychological Mechanisms of Proximal (meaning what’s close to you)
-How the environment that have been shaped become apart of the individuals beliefs/ actions
-Least of the Three Principles to Get Scholarly Attention, but important
Elementary Theory
-Emanuelson and Willer
-Combines Social Psychology with Geometry
-About building a Tool to Predict how Social Structure Influences People’s Decisions and Actions
-its 2 components: sanctions & social relations
Elementary Theory 2 components:
Sanctions
-Positive (increases pay off) and Negative (decreases pay off)
-Similar to social exchange theory
Social Relations
-2 types of economic
1. Coercion
- i.e. slave and master
2. Conflict
-When 2 ppl are in conflict: negative & negative
3 Criticisms of Elementary Theory
- Too Psychological
-Problems with Definitions of Key Concepts - Psychological reductionism
-The tendency to homogenizing nations & groups
3.Doesn’t allow for change
-Weights macro too much, doesn’t allow for change
What Is Personality and Social Structure Perspective
- An interdisciplinary approach
-This is a perspective, not a Theory
