Personality Development and Social Psychology Flashcards
What is social cognition?
Social cognition refers to how people think about others, including both explicit and implicit processes, which can influence judgments and behaviors, often unconsciously.
What are the three components of attitude?
The three components of attitude are:
- Affective (feelings),
- Behavioral (predisposition to act),
- Cognitive (beliefs or knowledge).
How do attitudes influence behavior?
Attitudes influence behavior, but behavior does not always align with attitude. Factors that affect this include strength, stability, relevance, importance, social norms, and ease of access from memory.
What is cognitive dissonance?
Cognitive dissonance occurs when there is a conflict between attitudes and behaviors, causing discomfort. People are motivated to reduce this discomfort by changing their attitudes or behaviors.
How does cognitive dissonance apply in the Festinger and Carlsmith study?
Participants paid less to tell others a boring task was enjoyable experienced more dissonance and changed their attitude, convincing themselves they enjoyed the task to reduce discomfort.
How can cognitive dissonance be reduced?
Strategies include:
- Indirect strategies (e.g., boosting self-esteem in other areas),
- Direct strategies (changing behavior or attitude),
- Trivializing the inconsistency (viewing it as unimportant).
What are the two routes to persuasion in the elaboration likelihood model?
The two routes are:
Central route (focused on the content of the argument),
Peripheral route (focused on superficial cues like attractiveness or frequency).
What characteristics make someone persuasive?
Traits that make someone persuasive include:
- Identity (attractiveness or expertise),
- Fast talking,
- Honesty (being perceived as honest).
What is a stereotype?
A stereotype is a belief about individuals from a particular category (e.g., race, gender, etc.), which may be positive, negative, or neutral and is often an oversimplified or incorrect generalization.
What is prejudice?
Prejudice includes both a cognitive component (beliefs about a group) and an emotional component (negative feelings toward that group). It can be self-perpetuating, as inconsistent information is often disregarded.
What is discrimination?
Discrimination is negative behavior toward a group based on unjustified attitudes or prejudice. It can be subtle and involves treating individuals differently due to factors like gender, race, or religion.
What does the realistic conflict theory explain?
The theory suggests that prejudice arises from competition between groups for scarce resources like jobs or housing, leading to negative views and prejudice.
What is an attitude?
An attitude is an overall evaluation of some aspect of the world—people, issues, or objects.
What are the three components of attitude?
The three components of attitude are:
- Affective (feelings),
- Behavioral (predisposition to act),
- Cognitive (beliefs or thoughts). These are summarized by the acronym (ABC).
What is cognitive dissonance?
Cognitive dissonance is an uncomfortable state that arises from a discrepancy among attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. It is accompanied by heightened arousal, and people are motivated to reduce this dissonance by resolving the conflict.
What is persuasion?
Persuasion is when one person tries to change another person’s attitude.
What is a stereotype?
A stereotype is a belief or set of beliefs about people from a particular category, which can be defined by race, sex, social class, religion, ethnic background, and more. Stereotypes can be positive, negative, or neutral.
What is prejudice?
Prejudice is an attitude that is generally negative toward members of a group.
What is discrimination?
Discrimination is a negative behavior toward individuals from a specific group that arises from unjustified negative attitudes about that group.
What is social categorization?
Social categorization is the process of automatically classifying people into groups as part of “us” (ingroup) or “them” (outgroup). This often leads to biases where the ingroup is favored, and the outgroup is viewed unfavorably.
How does social categorization lead to prejudice and discrimination?
Social categorization leads to prejudice and discrimination by favoring the ingroup and disfavoring the outgroup, sometimes leading to assumptions about undesirable traits of the outgroup.
What is a self-fulfilling prophecy in the context of prejudice?
A self-fulfilling prophecy occurs when expectations about a person lead to behavior that causes the person to act in a way that confirms the stereotype, thus reinforcing the prejudice.
What is implicit prejudice?
Implicit prejudice refers to unconscious biases people hold, which affect their behavior toward others, even if they are unaware of these biases. The Implicit Association Test (IAT) measures these biases.
What is stereotype threat?
Stereotype threat is the fear of confirming a negative stereotype about one’s group, leading individuals to underperform or act in ways that align with the stereotype, often under stress.
What does the jigsaw classroom technique aim to achieve?
The jigsaw classroom technique reduces prejudice by promoting cooperation and interdependence among students from different backgrounds, allowing them to work together on shared goals.
How does implicit prejudice affect behavior?
Implicit prejudice can lead to behaviors such as avoiding interactions with outgroup members or making biased decisions, like sitting further away from or spending less time talking to people from different racial backgrounds.
How does stereotype threat impact performance?
Stereotype threat can cause anxiety and self-monitoring that may reduce a person’s ability to perform well in situations where they feel they might confirm a negative stereotype about their group.
What role does social categorization play in forming stereotypes?
Social categorization simplifies how we perceive others by sorting them into categories (ingroup vs. outgroup), often leading to stereotypes about members of the outgroup.
What happens in the jigsaw classroom’s step 2?
In step 2, students who researched the same topic (e.g., George Washington) form an expert group to share and rehearse their findings before presenting them back to their original jigsaw groups.
What is the jigsaw technique, and how does it decrease prejudice?
The jigsaw technique creates integrated groups of individuals from different backgrounds, requiring interdependence to achieve a common goal. By increasing contact between groups and making each person’s contribution necessary, it helps decrease prejudice by fostering cooperation and shared learning.
What are the two broad types of attributions in social psychology?
The two types of attributions are:
- Internal (dispositional): Explains behavior in terms of personal traits, beliefs, or goals.
- External (situational): Explains behavior in terms of the situation or environment.
What is the difference between internal and external attributions with examples?
Internal attribution (self): “I did well because I am smart.”
External attribution (self): “I did well because the task was easy.”
Internal attribution (others): “She did well because she is smart.”
External attribution (others): “She did well because the task was easy.”
What is the fundamental attribution error?
The fundamental attribution error is the tendency to attribute others’ behaviors to internal causes (e.g., personality traits) rather than external factors (e.g., situational circumstances). It can perpetuate discrimination by ignoring the role of external factors.
What is an example of the fundamental attribution error in real life?
When observing a homeless person, one might assume their condition reflects laziness (an internal cause) rather than external factors like bad luck or systemic issues (e.g., unemployment, lack of affordable housing).
What is the self-serving bias?
The self-serving bias is the tendency to attribute your own successes to internal factors (e.g., abilities) and failures to external factors (e.g., bad luck), while attributing others’ successes to external causes and their failures to internal ones.
How does the self-serving bias influence people’s perceptions of others?
People are more likely to view their own negative actions as justified (external causes) but see others’ negative actions as reflecting their character (internal causes), leading to biased judgments about others.
What is the “belief in a just world” bias?
The belief in a just world is the assumption that people get what they deserve. This belief can lead to victim-blaming, such as viewing disadvantaged groups as deserving their situation due to perceived personal failings.
How can the belief in a just world affect perceptions of social issues?
Those who strongly believe in a just world may view issues like AIDS among gay men or homelessness as deserved punishment, reinforcing discriminatory attitudes and behaviors.
How do prejudice and stereotypes influence attributions?
Prejudices and stereotypes lead to biased attributions, where individuals are judged based on group membership rather than personal circumstances, perpetuating biased thinking and discriminatory actions.
How can you challenge your own biases?
Being aware of biases like attributional errors, self-serving bias, and the belief in a just world is the first step toward reflecting on and correcting unfair judgments, leading to more equitable and unbiased thinking.
What is social categorization?
Social categorization is an example of prejudice where people create ingroups and outgroups.
How does a self-fulfilling prophecy relate to stereotypes
A self-fulfilling prophecy is a stereotype that makes someone behave in ways that elicit behavior from an outgroup member consistent with the stereotype.
What can implicit prejudices lead to?
Implicit prejudices can lead to unconscious biased behaviors and reactions.
What is stereotype threat?
Stereotype threat is the fear of being evaluated negatively because of existing stereotypes about one’s group, leading to underperformance.
What is a jigsaw classroom strategy?
A jigsaw classroom strategy is a three-step process designed to increase interdependence between ingroups and outgroups.
What are the three types of attribution biases?
The three types of attribution biases are fundamental attribution error, self-serving bias, and belief in a just world.
What is an attitude?
An attitude is an overall evaluation of some aspect of the world—people, issues, or objects. It has three components: affective, behavioral, and cognitive (ABC).
What is cognitive dissonance?
Cognitive dissonance is an uncomfortable state arising from a discrepancy among attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. It leads to heightened arousal and motivates people to resolve the conflict.
What is a stereotype?
A stereotype is a belief (or set of beliefs) about people from a particular category, defined by characteristics like race, sex, social class, or hobbies. It can be positive, negative, or neutral.
What is prejudice?
Prejudice is a generally negative attitude toward members of a group, involving a cognitive component (beliefs and expectations) and an emotional component (negative feelings).
What is discrimination?
Discrimination is negative behavior toward individuals from a specific group, arising from unjustified negative attitudes about that group.
How does social categorization relate to prejudice?
Social categorization is an example of prejudice, as people tend to create ingroups and outgroups.
How does a self-fulfilling prophecy relate to stereotypes?
A self-fulfilling prophecy is a stereotype that causes behavior that elicits actions from an outgroup member
What is the impact of implicit prejudices?
Implicit prejudices can lead to unconscious biased behaviors and reactions.
What is stereotype threat?
Stereotype threat is the fear that people will be evaluated negatively due to existing stereotypes about their group, which can lead to underperformance.
What is the jigsaw classroom strategy?
The jigsaw classroom strategy is a three-step process used to increase interdependence between ingroups and outgroups.
What are the three types of attribution biases?
The three types of attribution biases are fundamental attribution error, self-serving bias, and belief in a just world.
What is social cognition?
Social cognition pertains to an individual’s perception of and thoughts about the social world.
What is social behavior?
Social behavior pertains to a wide range of activities and interactions with others, including intimate relationships, social activities, obedience, and domination.
How do emotions like attraction and alienation influence social interactions?
Emotions like attraction, belonging, and alienation influence or are influenced by social interactions, affecting personal choices and decisions.
Why are relationships powerful in influencing emotions?
Relationships can lead to endearing emotions that help people cope with outside events, but can also be sources of painful emotions due to conflicts or disappointments.
What factors influence why we are attracted to or like certain people?
Physical attraction, repeated contact, and similarity can lead to liking, and even disliking, another person, and are key ingredients in initiating a new relationship.
