P1 - Sociocultural - individual and the group

Question 1

what is social identity theory

Answer 1

theory where an individual’s sense of who they are is developed by group membership.

Question 2

what are the four stages on the social identity theory

Answer 2

social categorisation: division of in vs out group where an individual identifies with a group

social identification: individual identifies strongly with an ingroup and adopts norms and attitudes

social comparison: individual compares their in groups with out groups

positive distincitiveness: individuals motivation to show that an ingroup is preferable to an out group

Question 3

what study do we use for social identity theory?

Answer 3

Tajfel 1970

Question 4

Tajfel 1970 aim

Answer 4

to investigate minimal conditions under which discrimination between social groups could be brought about

Question 5

Tajfel 1970 procedure

Answer 5

• 48 schoolboys aged 14-15
• shown 6 slides of abstract paintings and were asked to express their preferences for either Klee or Kandinsky
• boys were randomly allocated to either Klee or Kandinsky groups
• boys had to allocate points (1/10 of a penny)

maximum joint profit - 13-13 = biggest rewards to both

largest reward to in group - 19-25: biggest reward to ingroup regardless of outgroup

maximum difference - 7-1: biggest possible difference

Question 6

Tajfel 1970 findings

Answer 6

boys maximised profit for their own group
boys were more concerned about creating a large difference than gaining a greater amount for everyone
participants were in favour of their in groups

Question 7

what was the conclusions of Tajfel (1970)

Answer 7

• blatant discrimination associated with categorisation of the boys into social groups
• randomly categorisation led to in groups bias and out group categorisation, which shows it can come automatically in any group situation

Question 8

link the findings of Tajfel to the four cognitive processes

Answer 8

social categorisation : random categorisation to Klee or Kandinsky

social identification: being assigned to the group let to being identified with the group

social comparison: boys favourably compared their group and assigned them more points

positive distinctiveness : most difference with points between groups

Question 9

what is social cognitive theory?

Answer 9

behaviour and social norms are learned through observation of others

direct learning - teacher showing you how to do something

indirect learning - learning through observation

Question 10

what makes a role model stick out to us?

Answer 10

• if a model stands out
• if a models behaviour is consistent
• if model is liked and respected by observer
• observer perceives similarity

Question 11

what are the four conditions that influence if observed behaviour is replicated?

Answer 11

attention : paying attention to model

retention: remembering what the model did

reproduction: people must have capacity for imitating behaviour

motivation: people must be motivated to imitate behaviour

Question 12

what is the study we use for Social Cognitive Theory?

Answer 12

Bandura et al (1961)

Question 13

what is the aim of Bandura et al?

Answer 13

to investigate whether aggression can be learned through observation and imitation

Question 14

what is aggression?

Answer 14

spoken or physical behaviour that is threatening or involved harm to someone or something

Question 15

what is the procedure of Bandura et al?

Answer 15

sample: 36 boys and 36 girls, between the ages of 3 and 6 from Stanford Uni Nursery School

• tested on everyday aggression and matched based on this
• given 10 minutes to play with toys whilst being watched through a one day mirror

group 1 - 24 children + m/f model display physical and verbal aggression against the bobo doll such as “hit him down” “pow”

group 2 - 24 children +m/f model non agressive model playing with tinkertoys

group 3 - control with no model

all children were primed for aggression as they started playing with toys but took them away to make them become irritated and aggressive, then were allowed to play with toys again whilst being observed

Question 16

what were the findings of Bandura et al?

Answer 16

28.8 - male subjects and male model of mallet aggression

group 1 - exhibited more aggressive behaviours and exhibited same forms of physical and verbal behaviour.

boys tended to imitate more physically agressive, and girls had verbal aggression

transference of behaviour - children used a toy gun which wasnt exhbitly used but aggressive

Question 17

link ARRM to Bandura et al

Answer 17

attention: same sex modelling, watched them in their group

retention: 10 minutes watching them would be long enough

reproduction: old enough to produce behaviour and had same toys

motivation: motivated as they had no punishment and were fusterated after toys were taken

Question 18

what is a stereotype?

Answer 18

oversimplified and generally fixed perception about a group of people

stems from prejudice or an unjustified negative attitude towards an individuals based off an individuals membership of a group.

Fiske and Taylor suggests stereotypes are ‘cognitive aspect of bias’

Question 19

why do psychologists say stereotypes are formed?

Answer 19

originating from conflicts over resources, conflict has to be percieved for stereotyping to happen (Fiske and Taylor)

when people get aggressive, stereotypes start to happen.

human social world is so complex and people use stereotypes because they save energy and can easily be applied to people to make sense of the world

Question 20

are stereotypes helpful?

Answer 20

• helps us respond rapidly to potential dangerous situations
• prejudged assumptions on situations could be harmful and untrue

Question 21

what study do we use for formation of stereotypes?

Answer 21

Tajfel (1970)

Question 22

how does tajfel link back to the theory of stereotypes?

Answer 22

Tajfel found that there was discrimination against the outgroup, which links to stereotypes as people stereotype those who don’t fit into our out-group due to prejudice and discrimination.

There could have been realistic conflict theory where the two groups of boys could have been fighting for the limited points, which resulted in tension and giving an ingroup more resources, and outgroup less resources.