P1 - Sociocultural - individual and the group Flashcards
social identity theory, social cognitive theory, stereotypes
what is social identity theory
theory where an individual’s sense of who they are is developed by group membership.
what are the four stages on the social identity theory
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
what study do we use for social identity theory?
Tajfel 1970
Tajfel 1970 aim
to investigate minimal conditions under which discrimination between social groups could be brought about
Tajfel 1970 procedure
- 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
Tajfel 1970 findings
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
what was the conclusions of Tajfel (1970)
- 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
link the findings of Tajfel to the four cognitive processes
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
what is social cognitive theory?
behaviour and social norms are learned through observation of others
direct learning - teacher showing you how to do something
indirect learning - learning through observation
what makes a role model stick out to us?
- if a model stands out
- if a models behaviour is consistent
- if model is liked and respected by observer
- observer perceives similarity
what are the four conditions that influence if observed behaviour is replicated?
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
what is the study we use for Social Cognitive Theory?
Bandura et al (1961)
what is the aim of Bandura et al?
to investigate whether aggression can be learned through observation and imitation
what is aggression?
spoken or physical behaviour that is threatening or involved harm to someone or something
what is the procedure of Bandura et al?
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
what were the findings of Bandura et al?
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
link ARRM to Bandura et al
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
what is a stereotype?
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’
why do psychologists say stereotypes are formed?
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
are stereotypes helpful?
- helps us respond rapidly to potential dangerous situations
- prejudged assumptions on situations could be harmful and untrue
what study do we use for formation of stereotypes?
Tajfel (1970)
how does tajfel link back to the theory of stereotypes?
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.
