Module 42 Flashcards
social norms
rules for expected and accepted behavior
chameleon effect
social contagion; applies to emotions and behavios; allows us to empathize; can be positive or negative (shootings, etc come in behavior clusters)
mood linkage
sharing of moods; empathetic mimicking fosters fondness
positive herding
positive ratings generate more positive ratings
conformity
adjusting our behavior/thinking to coincide with a group standard
when are we most likely to conform
made to feel incompetent/insecure; are in a group of 3+ ppl; in a unanimously-agreeing group; admire the group; haven’t made a commitment to a prior response; behavior is being observed; from a culture that encourages respect for social standards (collectivist)
group size principle
once reaching a group size of 5-6 people, more pressure to conform isn’t added
Sherif
studied social influence in ambiguous situations via autokinetic phenomenon (light seems to be moving but isn’t)
Asch
studied conformity in unambiguous situations; pressure to conform decreases from ambiguous situations, but still present; people conformed 1/3 of the time; 74% of people conformed at least once
normative social influence
influence resulting from a person’s desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval
informational social influence
influence resulting from one’s willingness to accept other’s opinions about reality to be correct; can be good (donating) or bad (bullying)
reactance
desire to protect/restore one’s freedom of action; when social pressure restricts this, resistance occurs; people want to seem like nonconformist; resistance usually occurs early and is a minority of people
Milgram
studied obediencce via roleplaying and shocks; debate over ethics
obedience is highest when:
person giving orders was close at hand and was perceived to be a legit authority figure; authority figure was supported by a powerful/prestigious institution; victim was depersonalized or at a distance; no models for defiance
social control
power of the situation in conformity and obedience
personal control
power of the individual in conformity and obedience; some people can resist better than others; some people do the opp when is asked and pressured to do something
minority influence
power of 1-2 people to sway majorities (even via sympathy)
social facilitation
improved performance on simple or well-learned tasks in the presence of others; Triplett; when others observe us and in crowds (or around other people), we become aroused and reactions are amplified; what you would normally do well is easier and vice versa for things you normally don’t do well
social inhibition
anxiety increases about failure, coordination with a physical task, retrieval, and cognition decrease due to fear of social disapproval; things you would normally not do well are harder in front of people
social loafing
tendency for people ni a group to exert less effort when pooling efforts towards attaining a common goal than when individually accountable; esp common with men from individualistic cultures and in group projects
what causes social loafing
when people act as part of a group, they may feel less accountable, worry less about what others think, view individual contributions as dispensable, overestimate their own contributions (neglecting others actions), slack off if share equally in benefits regardless of how much they contribute (unless highly motivated and strongly identified with group, people may free ride won others’ efforts)
deindividualization
loss of self-awareness and self-restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity; causes uninhibited behavior
bystander effect
tendency for people to be less likely to offer help in an emergency if other people also witnessed the event
group polarization
beliefs and attitudes we bring to a group/characteristic of a group grow stronger when discussed with group; can be good or bad; polarization of virtual groups can be even stronger bc easier to share with and follow like-minded people, spread info and misinfo; people become more extreme and suspicion becomes conviction
groupthink
Janis; people’s desire to maintain group loyalty becomes more important than making the best choices; unanimous agreement despite actual disagreement; fed by overconfidence, conformity, self-justification, and group-polarization; has led to fiascos in history; prevented when a leader welcomes various opinions, invites experts’ critiques of developing plans, and assigning people to identify possible problems (esp relevant w diverse groups)
hazing
any activity required implicity/explicitly as a condition of initiation/continued membership to a group; usually causes negative well-being; sharing experiences, especially trauma, builds bonds and us vs. them mentality (> embarrassment = > like for group); cog dissonance forces people to believe that hazing wasn’t so bad or that group must be extra good; wears down individual sense of identity and increases dependency on the group; dissent is discouraged