PL1035 Social Psychology Flashcards
Your Deck Mentor for the Social Psychology deck is Nathalie. You can email nathalie.malhoe@forward-college.eu with any questions/suggestions about the flashcards in this deck.
A ‘self-schema’ is
an internalised cognitive framework or belief system relating to ourselves which inform our perception and attention. They can relate to personality traits, physical characteristics, and interests.
a renewable resource that will continually support many people provided that everyone shows restraint in ‘harvesting’ the resource
replenishable ressource dilemma
A study examining impression-management that evaluates the effectiveness of a certain type of bragging
Sezer, Gino & Norton (2018)
A study on temporal comparisons
Wilson and Ross (2001)
A study showing a real-world application of theory on possible selves.
Oyserman and Markus (1990)
Classical Study on Self-Discrepancy Theory
Higgins et al 1986
Cognitive dissonance as a public communication strategy Fear or morality appeals:
Adding dissonant cognitions (or drawing attention to them) to change attitudes and behaviour
Actual, Ideal and Ought Self
- how a person sees the self at the present time
- how a person would like to see the self
- how a person thinks they ought to be, based on ideals of duty and responsibility.
Shim, Lee-Won & Park, 2016?
people with public self-consciousness make more effort to present themselves positively -> posting pictures having fun or being with friends
Attentional bias
previous exposure to stimuli leads to increased identification of similar stimuli
attribution theory
the study of how people explain events
Availability Heuristic
making decisions based upon how easy it is to bring something to mind likely judging these outcomes as being more common or frequently occurring.
Beamer, Klentz, Diener and Svanum (1979) reported that:
children who believed they were alone were less likely to steal sweets when a mirror was placed in front of them. It is an example of how private self-awareness can be primed.
behaviourism
Approach based on explaining behaviours in relation to reinforcement
Bounded Rationality
describes the way that humans make decisions that departs from perfect economic rationality, because we’re limited by our thinking capacity, the information that is available to us, and time.
Consider that there is always a potential dispositional cause and a potential situational cause for any given action.
Why does this statement potentially highlight a limitation to the translational value of the Fundamental Attribution Error in the real world?
Because it suggests that it is difficult to isolate either the actor’s attributes or environmental factors as the ‘true’ cause of any behaviour
Consider which email employs the gain frame and which employs the loss frame.
According to Kahneman & Tversky, which version would make your pre-June ticket purchase more likely?
Individuals are loss aversive, and losses loom larger than gains.
Paying the late penalty fee (loss = losing money) feels more ‘painful’ to an individual than the corresponding ‘pleasure’ of being awarded an early purchase discount (gain = saving money) of the same monetary value. Individuals may be more responsive to the version
b) to avoid this perceived loss.
Discursive psychology
language is viewed as social action, through which people construct their social world.
Downward social comparison
I am ‘better’ than the other in a specific domain
Dual process model identifies two modes of decision-making (Kahneman, 2003)
- System 1: impulsive, fast, difficult to modify or control (more likely periphiral route to persuasion)
- System 2: slow, effortful, guides behaviours through long-term goals and in-depth logic. (central route to persuasion)
ego depletion
self-control and willpower are a finite resource that can be used up (controversial to proof)
Experiments testing correspondent inference theory/FAE?
Jones & Harris 1967
Explain Cognitive Dissonance and resolution using the following.
Belief: Monogamy is an important feature of my marriage. Problem: I’m having an affair. I don’t like experiencing this nagging and uncomfortable cognitive dissonance. I’m on edge.
Changing a belief: changing one or more of the inconsistent cognitions ‘What’s wrong with continuing if no one finds out?’ This can be facilitated by derogating the source of one of the cognitions: ‘Fidelity is a construct of religious indoctrination’.
Changing an action: Stop having the affair.
Changing the perception of the action: ‘My partner doesn’t understand me, so this was always going to happen’, which can again be facilitated by challenging the original perception of the action. ‘Fidelity is a construct of religious indoctrination and isn’t necessarily an ideal to aspire to. Extramarital activity is not indisputably wrong’.
Explain Lavin & Groarkes’ findings (2005)
Implementation intentions were not found to be an effective intervention in increasing dental floss behaviour. Results suggest that interventions should target an individual’s attitude and perceptions of control in order to increase dental floss intentions and behaviour.
What is the maxim of cognitive dissonance model?
➜ The maxim appears to be: The greater the dissonance, the stronger the attempts to reduce it.
familiarity heuristic
people tend to have more favorable opinions of things, people, or places they’ve experienced before as opposed to new ones
Festinger and Carlsmith (1959) findings on cognitive dissonance
Those paid less ($1) reported more positive attitudes towards task
Festinger and Carlsmith (1959) study on cognitive dissonance
Completed boring task for 30 minutes Paid $1 or $20 to convince fellow student that task was funControl group not asked to convince anyone later had to rate (task enjoyment, scientific importance and their willingness to participate in similar studies)
Findings and Methods of Higgins et al. 1986
gathered data on participants’ self-discrepancies had them describe differences between actual/ideal and actual/ought high actual/ideal discrepancy participants = dejection (sad, disappointed)high actual/ought discrepancy participants = agitation low discrepancy no significant changes
Four key points from Tversky & Kahneman (1981) on heuristics and biases
- Preferences change when the same scenario/problem is framed differently
- In a gain frame (lives saved, money gained), people prefer certain options for gains
- In a loss frame (i.e. lives lost, money lost), people prefer risky options for losses
- Loss Aversion: losing something (an amount of money, an item) feels more ‘painful’ to an individual than the equivalent ‘pleasure’ of acquiring the same thing. For example, the degree of pain associated with losing £20 is greater than the degree of pleasure of winning £20. It is a simple, but powerful bias.
What assumption can we make about Maxine, who feels like being a mother, someone who enjoys football and wine, is connected?
Maxine has an interdependent self-construal (and not social identity), which is typical in a collectivist culture
Froming, Allen and Jensen (1985) study
1st, 2nd and 3rd American graders donated M&M candies to other children: in private or in the presence of an evaluative adult (who watched the child), a nonevaluative adult (present but busy looking at papers), or in front of a mirrorevaluative presence => increased donations among older children (2nd and 3rd graders) less donations made in privatefindings by proposing that older children had learned that the social norm for helping behaviour was valued by adults, and so they complied with this norm in the presence of an adult. public self-awareness was activated in the presence of an attentive adult, and the older children showed more pro-social behaviour.
Gaining the benefits of group membership by avoiding costly obligations of membership and by allowing other members to incur those costs
free-rider effect
Gestalt psychology
partly emerged out of the limitations of behaviourism. focuses on a more holistic view as perception is important in determining attitudes and behaviours → Kurt Lewin’s force field analysis
Glassman & Albarracín (2006) As attitudes are being formed, they correlate more strongly with a future behaviour when:
attitudes are accessible (easy to recall) are stable over time People have had direct experience with the attitudes objectPeople frequently report their attitudes
goods are provided for everyone: for example, public health, national parks, the national road network, public radio and TV. Because public goods are available to all, people are tempted to use them without contributing to their maintenance. This describes what?
public goods dilemma
Hindsight bias
The tendency for people to see an outcome as inevitable once the actual outcome is known.
How are stereotypes helpful
Making sense of the diversity of thesocial world, reducing self-uncertainty, classifying social roles, power differentials and intergroup conflicts , contributing to positive sense of ingroup identity
How are the theory of reasoned action and planned behaviour linked
expansion of the reasoned action: if people believe they have control over a behaviour it’s easier to predict it from a measure of attitude; this expansion was needed because it wasn’t a good predictor behaviour
How can stereotype threat be diminished?
Know streotype threat Reduce degree to which identity is tied to performance which could then be used tomake inferences Sever self-esteem from performance Identify strongly with stigmatised group Extensive favourable intergroup contact with anxiety inducing outgrouo
How did Lavin & Groarke 2005 use the TPB
To look at techniques to encourage flossing among young people?
How do aggression and self-esteem relate?
There is no clear causal relationship between low self-esteem and aggressive behaviour, a correlational relationship may exist.
How do mood regulation and self-esteem relate to each other?
higher levels of self-esteem may show an improved ability to regulate their mood, compared with those with lower self-esteem.
How do people, according to Latané and Darley’s model, decide whether to help?
.
How does Festinger 1957 define cognitive dissonance
unpleasant state of psychological tension generated when a person has two or more cognitions (bits of information) that are inconsistent or do not fit together.
How does it relate to realistic conflict theory
Competetive intergroup behaviour also emerges when goal relations are not interdependent between groups, when the groups are explicitly non-competitive and explicitly cooperative
How does LaPiere (1934) touring USA with a Chinese couple relate to attitudes and emotions?
They visited - 184 hotels/restaurants visited 1 refused service. He contacted them 6 months later to check on changed attitudes?
How does mortality salience and self-esteem relate to each other?
Study participants who have chronically (enduring) high self-esteem, or whose self-esteem is temporarily elevated by an experimental procedure, are less susceptible to the effects of induced mortality salience.
How does narcisim relate to self-esteem?
high self-esteem (measured through positive self-reported evaluations) does not equate to a stable sense of self-worth, as measured through implicit association measures -> need for validation to maintain self-concept (Kernis & Paradise 2002) -> might lead to aggression when faced with criticism
How does social facilitation occur
because others might be doing the same thing as you, the audience –> goverened by physiological, cognitive and attentive factors like anxiety or focus
How might Bem’s self-perception theory offer a better explanation to cognitive dissonance resolution?
Attitudes may be changed through a self-attributional process when the behaviour falls within a range of personally acceptable conduct. So when someone acts outside of this range of acceptable behaviour cognitive dissonance resolution accont better for attitude change
How was Schachter & Singer’s study 1962 structured
Some participants received adrenaline shot (increase in arousal) Others received placebo (salt solution)Some participants were told that injection would cause these effects, others remained uninformed or misinformed
How would Freud, LeBon and McDoughall?
crowds unlock the unconscious and strip the super-ego that is norm conformative of controlanonzmitz, contangion and suggestibility make us antisocial and violentmost widespread instinctive emotions are the simple primitive ones (e.g. fear, anger) primate sympathy leads to the snowballing also aggregated by depersonalisation
How’s the above-average effect a self-serving bias?
act of attributing behaviour in a distorted way to either enhance or protect our self-esteem (e.g. taking credit for success but explaining away failures). one inflates their own ability or performance in the above-average effect related to one’s self-esteem and self-image that the self-serving bias is protecting/enhancing.
Importance of attitudes
cognitive and behavioural effects social norms (reciprocal) which are subject to change
Impression management
active process of self-presentationpeople take steps to monitor their presentation of self in their interactions with others, so that they appear to others in the best possible light.
Impression-management describes
managing your self-presentation
In what ways has research in social psychology suggested that a person’s level of self-esteem influences how they think and act in life? (1)
Mood regulation, buffer against the inevitability of death, aggression, narcissism.
What is the interaction effect?
Different causes may interact with each other to produce changes in a dependent variable (e.g, contact between groups and equality of status between groups interact to predict reductions in prejudice) 💡 f1: contact between groups f2: equality of status between them interaction: f1+f2= outcome
Katz (1950) on functions and utility of attitudes?
high-functionality mechanisms in avoidance and approach of stimuli, protect self-esteem and consequently self-concept
LaPiere (1934) findings ‘Will you accept members of the Chinese Race as guests in your establishment?’
118 (92%): no 1 (0.8%): yes 7 (5%): ‘Uncertain, depends on circumstances.’
Lewandowski, Nardone and Raines (2010) Findings
self-concept clarity bolsters wellbeinglisting times when participants felt their behaviour was consistent with self-concept vs. participants that were assigned to self-concept confusion condition had to do the inversionparticipants in the clearity condition felt bettershows that it is not personality variable -> Nezlek & Plesko 2001 p.58
Lewis and Brooks-Gunn (1978) Study and Conclusion
the development of self-awareness:
* placed a spot of rouge on the noses of infants aged 9- 12 months and sat them in front of a mirror
* looked at their mirror image with no recognition and no effort to touch the rouge on their own noses.
= lack of awareness, self-concept children around 18 months of age who performed the same task made a concerted effort to rub the rouge from their own noses. p.58
Loss aversion
people have a tendency to want to avoid losses much more than they would desire acquiring equivalent gains
Manu watches all the “Jaws” movies, in which sharks attack people at sea. Manu decides she will never swim in the sea again, because she worries about the possibility of getting attacked by a shark-> heuristic?
availability heuristic
mediation
effect of one variable on the outcome works through another interaction of groups -> anxiety about interaction with other groups(intermediate)= prejudice
meta-cognitive skills
skills needed to evaluate oneself and others
Miller (1984) Culture and the development of everyday social explanation what is the key finding?
As they grew older, American children were found by Miller (1984) to place increasing reliance upon disposition as an explanation of events observed. Hindu children of India, by contrast, based their explanations more on situations.
moderation
is part of the interaction effect and means that the effect of a variable on the outcome is changed by a third variable contact between groups * equal structures within groups = prejudice?
morality salience
The awareness of one’s own inevitable death
Multiple role theory
Theory asserting that it is beneficial for a person’s health and well being to have multiple self-identities.
Multiple Role Theory
self-identifying with different roles (parent, friend, employee)stabalising effect (growth and enjoyment vs. negative emotions)
One study illustrating self-perception theory?
Van Gyn, Wenger and Gaul (1990)
Optimism Bias
People believing that good things are more likely to happen to them than bad things
Possible selves (Oyserman, Markus 90)
future-oriented components of the self-conceptthe link between the self-concept and a motivation to actimagined selves we could, would like to become, or are scared of becoming. incentive future behaviours and function as criteria against which outcomes are evaluated.
Postmodernism
An intentionaI departure from previously dominant approaches of enquiry, emphasizing that apparent realities are only social constructs and are therefore subject to change.
Priming
Exposure to stimuli that activate a mental representation of a particular concept, value, goal or object.
Private Self-consciousness
Chronic private self-awareness and concern about pnvate aspects of the self.
Public Self-awareness (Buss 1980)
a person becomes aware of the public aspects of the self and how they could be judged by other people
Public Self-consciousness
Chronic public self-awareness and concern about how one looks and is evaluated by others.
Replication
direct/exact: study is repeated as exactly as possible → way to verify the validity of research results or methods
BUT: realistically impossible
conceptual: ability to replicate the results after changing the methods used so that the results can be applied generally
Representativeness heuristic (Tversky & Kahneman, 1971)
- compare aspects of the individual incident to other mental examples
- likelihood of an event depends on the similarity/ representativeness of said event -> stereotype
Scarcity heuristics
we view things that are scarce or less available to us as inherently more valuable. -> “limited time only”
Schachter & Singer (1962) empirical research study findings
Participants experienced their adrenaline surge differently depending on context. This supports the Schacter and Singer theory as it shows participants drew meaning from ambiguous changes in arousal and used that to construct emotions.
Schematic’ and ‘aschematic’ mean…
particularly important or unimportant to a person’s sense of self
Schwartz et al. (1991) conducted a compelling research study to show how a certain heuristic influences an individual’s thinking. Participants were asked to recall 6 or 12 times when they had been assertive or unassertive in their lives. What was the study’s conclusion?
Attributional processes underpin the availability heuristics
Self-awareness
state of being aware of one’s unique characteristics, feelings and behaviours, which develops in early childhood.
Self-Concept Clarity (Campbell et. al. 1996)
The extent to which self-schemas are clearly and confidently defined, consistent with each other, and stable across time.
Self-discrepancy theory
people’s awareness of between how they are, how they would like to be and how they think they ought to be (ideal, actual, ought)Higgins, 1987
Self-perception (Bem, 1972)
people may learn about themselves by examining their own thoughts, feelings and behaviours. behaviours are considered most important because they are more objective and easier to observe
Self-presentation (Goffman, 1959)
people make concerted efforts to create an impression (usually a good one) of themselves to others.
Self-presentation is
the way the self is presented to others (usually to a favorable effect)
self-regulation
changing aspects of their behaviour in order for their actual self to become more in line with the ideal or ought self
Self-schemas (Markus 1977)
beliefs people hold about themselves, and usually relate to dimensions of the overall ‘self’ (such as considering oneself as sensitive or assertive). =schematic vs aschematic set of self-schemas make up the overall self-concept
Sezer, Gino & Norton (2018)
asked participants (453) about experience of another person humblebragging (recency, type, prevalence, gender/age)416 brags where typed as either complaint based or humility basedhumblebrags failed because of a lack of sincerity
Social comparison
emphasises an individual’s need to compare themselves to other people. through such comparison, people learn information about themselves, and how to perceive themselves
Social constructionism
Approach emphasizing the way social phenomena develop in social contexts.
Social dilemma in which cooperation by all benefits all, but competition by all harms all
commons dilemma
Social representations
Socially shared beliefs or widely shared ideas and values associated with our cultures.
Spurious correlation
two variables have no direct connection but it is wrongly inferred they do, due to coincidences or boundary condition. Ex.: narcisism and well-being (moderated by self-esteem)
strength model of self-control
self-control cannot be maintained for an unlimited period of time and needs to be replenished
Study on Temporal Comparison
Wilson & Ross, 2000
Study relating FAE and Culture
Miller 1984
Study to Illustrate the Implications of the Availability Bias
Schwartz 1991
Symbolic interactionism
investigation of how people create meaning through social interaction and how they construct and represent the self and how they define situations when they are with others
Temporal comparison (Albert, 1977)
‘me’ compared with either actual past or anticipated future ‘me’
The dunning-kruger effect is a prime example of peoples limited self-knowledge and awareness as it
illustrates that in a series of questions people lacking certian skills disproportionatly overestimate themselves and others higher or lower for their competences and performance despite not having any knowledge (lacking meta-cognitive skills) 1999
The self-concept is
the image we have of ourselves, or who we believe we are and consists of our self-schemas
Trial and error heuristic
people use a number of different strategies to solve something until they find what works -> video gaming, driving
True Self
Characteristics of the self-concept that are essential for making a person who they are.
Three Gigerenzer (1996) critiques of Tversky & Kahneman (1981)
ignored contextual and environmental influece on choiceonly superficial descriptor for and no explanation for cognitive processes that lead to judgement = no true understandingaverage person’s capacity to make judgments is undermined by dismissal of heuristics as unsound
Two studies showing the effects of activating public and private awareness
Allen and Jensen 1985 public Scheier and Carver 1977 private
Two things to consider for Miller (1984)
Has society (and culture) changed since the study was conducted? If yes, in what way(s)? Consider the reasons why culture can influence individuals’ attributions.
Upward social comparison
the other is ‘better’ in a specific domain
Van Gyn, Wenger and Gaul (1990) Methods and Findings
two groups of runners: 1. trained on exercise bikes and one didn’t half of each group had to imagine themselves training performance of the ones that imagined themselves training was better evidence of possible influence on the self-concept which led to regulation of behaviour
Völkerpsychologie
the collective mind and how people think about society how their thoughts are informed by their surroundings → no individual mind possible as people in large groups start to act more primitively or antisocially after losing their sense of individuality
What and by whom is the Elaboration likelihood model ELM
Petty & Cacioppo (1984) Dual process theory of cognitive (thinking) elaboration
What are altruism and helping behaviours in contrast to prosocial behaviour
Subcategories of prosocial behaviour whereby helping behaviours are acts that intentionally help others and altruistic acts aim to benefit others at the possible detriment of oneself
What are attitudes
Overall positive or negative evaluation or attitude towards a behaviour
What are cognitions
thoughts, attitudes, beliefs or states of awareness of behaviour.
What are common themes of prejudices and what do they result in
dirty, stupid, insensitive, repulsive, aggressive and psychologically unstable Dehumanisation because they’re not worthy of dignity and respect that can lead to aggression and violence exacerbated when people feel interconnected in a socially satisfactory way because they can then safely dehumanise outgroup members
What are critique points of the Robbers Cave study
Artificial situations → applicability of findings Ethical issues: deception to insight conflict that caused physical and possibly psychological harm Generalisability: 12 y/o white boys
What are groups?
group of people working towards a common objective that might not include their personal goal but enables an interactive setting
What are prosocial behaviours?
Voluntary and intentional acts that are valued positively by society – having positive social consequences and contributing to the physical or psychological well-being of another person.
What are stereotypes
Widely shared generalisations about groups that are not static but object to change, that persistent if theyre readily available and seem logical
What are subjective norms
perceived social pressure to engage or not to engage in a behaviour
What are superordinate goals
Goals that both groups desire but that can be achieved only by both groups cooperating
What are the different stages of the Robbers Cave study
1: boys arrived at the camp, and engaged in camp-wide activities, formed friendships.
2: camp was divided into two separated and isolated groups that split up friendships. The groups made little reference to each other apart from some embryonic ethnocentrism
3: groups were brought together to engage in organised intergroup competitions embracing sports contests and other activities. generated competition and intergroup hostility → generalised to situations outside the organised competitions. Ethnocentric attitudes and behaviour were amplified and coupled with intergroup aggression and ingroup solidarity. intergroup encounters => intergroup hostility. Intergroup relations deteriorated so dramatically that two of the experiments were hastily concluded at this stage
4: The two groups were provided with superordinate goals, goals they both desired but were unable to achieve on their own. The groups had to work together in cooperation
What are the four criticisms of James-Lange’s theory by Cannon & Bard (1927,1931)?
- Context matters
- How the situation is ‘cognitively assessed’ is important
- The physical arousal triggered by a stimulus can create different emotions (heart pounding: fear, joy)
What are the four motivations that influence social cognition?
Self-assessment, self-enhancement, self-verification and the illusion of control
What are the functions of attitudes? (Katz, 1960)
- Knowledge
- Instrumentality/Adjustment (means to an end or goal)
- Ego-defence (protecting one’s self-esteem) * Value-expressiveness (allowing people to display values that uniquely identify and define them).
What are the implications of this study for our understanding of intergroup competition and reconciliation?
Identifying common goals and intrests → superordinate goals Embryonic ethnocentrism was found in the absence of conflict
What are the three branches of theories of aggression
psychodynamic, ethological and biosocial
What are the two options when neither favourable nor unfavourable thoughts dominate the cognitive elaboration and information is processed through the peripheral route?
.
What are three characteristics of an individualist (as opposed to collectivist) culture?
Directness, uniqueness, promotion of one’s own goals (Markus, Kitayama 1991) p.30/31
What are three problems of nudges (Sugden, 2009)?
- finding out what would make people better off, as judged by themselves.
- Policies do not correct reasoning failure (quality of decision-making) but use reasoning failure as an attempt to correct the outcomes of that failure.
- Infringement on autonomy (Refute: simple adjustment of the context in which one can continue to exercise one’s autonomy)
What are three types of resistance
forewarning, inoculation and reactance
What are two challenges of Cognitive dissonance
Dissonance was not as easy to create as Festinger had outlined Bem’s (1972) self- perception theory may provide a more robust explanation in some cases
What contributes to bystander apathy
- Diffusion of responsibility (social loafing): “he’ll do it”
- Fear of social blunders
- Audience inhibition
- Social influence: other people’s passivity correlated to one’s own
What did Doll & Ajzen (1992) find (3) on the consistency between attitude behaviour?
Consistency is best when attitude is accessible expressed publiclyThe attitude holder identifies with a group for which the attitude is normative
What did Strack, Martin and Stepper (1988) do their empirical research on?
Pen between teeth (vs lips) = cartoons are deemed funnier (facial feedback hypothesis)
What did Tafjel (1971) find
- Children strongly favoured their ingroup (social-categorisation)
- Ingroup members were favoured even when there’s no personal gain, less opportunity to identify with other members of the group, the group members being selected randomly
What does FAE not help us with?
- doesn’t help us understand the relative strength of dispositional vs. external factors that lead to observable behaviours
- we cannot know the true influence of someone’s disposition vs. their situation and to what degree they each played a role in the displayed behaviour. However, we can predict the FAE of others
What does HARKing stand for?
HARKing involves presenting a hypothesis (which had been formed based on what the study’s results show) in one’s research report as if it were, in fact, an a priori hypothesis (had been thought of before conducting the research). This practice can lead to misleading outcomes. To maximise transparency in light of HARKing, some researchers now publish a protocol paper of their intended research before they collect data, which outlines the research they plan to conduct, and the hypotheses they hold, before actually conducting it.
What does the Behavioural theory of rational choice claim?
bounded rationality => limited computational ability + short-term memory and selective perception Homo Sapiens= settle for satisficing methods instead of maximum utility or optimisation
What historical event has had a great impact on social psychology?
The holocaust. It was a really poignant example for social influence and conformity, social loafing, bystander intervention → general impact on the study of antisocial behaviours which is counter-measured by positive psych
What implementation intentions
specific action steps make the possibility of following through with an action more probable
What is a bias
They result from heuristics that cause incorrect judgments which we consequently become drawn to under certain circumstances
What is a heuristic?
“…a simple procedure (cognitive shortcut) that helps find adequate, though often imperfect, answers to difficult questions. The word comes from the same root as eureka.” (Kahneman, 2011)
What is a Nudge, according to Hausman & Welch (2010) and Thaler & Sunstein (2008)?
- intentional intervention enacted by one party systematically to influence the choice of another party (Hausman & Welch, 2010).
- behavioural policy interventions that could alter people’s behaviour in a predictable way without forbidding any options or significantly changing their economic incentives. To count as a mere nudge, the intervention must be easy and cheap to avoid (Thaler & Sunstein, 2008).
What is Billig’s (1996) principle to keep in mind when learning about social psychology?
Every argument (or conclusion) you read in social psychology should be considered against the possibility of its opposite (or alternative).
What is Choice Architecture?
decisions we make are affected by the layout / sequencing / and range of choices that are available.
What is cognitive consistency theory?
people try to maintain internal consistency, order and agreement among their various cognitions.
What is cognitive dissonance (Festinger, 1957)
an unpleasant state of psychological tension generated when a person has two or more cognitions that are inconsistent or do not fit together.
What is compliance
Superficial, public and transitory change in behaviour and expressed attitudes in response to requests, coercion or group pressure
What is conformity
includes a change in behaviour and a change in beliefs or attitudes needs to be response to a majority →hard to track with Asch
What is Deindividuation
Process whereby people lose their sense of socialised individual identity and engage in unsocialised, often antisocial, behaviours (Festinger, Pepitone, Newcomb 1952)
What is empathy
Ability to feel another person’s experiences; identifying with and experiencing another person’s emotions, thoughts and attitudes.
What is forewarning
the act of notifying someone of persuasive efforts before undertaking them
What is group polarisation
tendency for a group to produce decicisions that are more extreme than the previously presented average of individual opinions
What is groupthink
group decision making that leads to poor decisions because the need for group harmony is stronger than the need to make rational decisions
What is important about nudges?
Choice architecture already in place, no context vacuumCannot escape status quo/default Marketing tactics nudge us all the time Measurable efficacy – it seems to workWhat’s the alternative?
What is inoculation
form of protection initiated by exposing a person to a weakened counter-attitudinal argument.
What is Libertarian Paternalism?
a policy is paternalistic ‘if it tries to influence choices in a way that will make choosers better off, as judged by themselves’
What is majority influence
public compliance with majority views with little or no private attitude change due to the desire of fitting in, normative or informational influences
What is meant by bystander intervention and what is it influenced by
This occurs when an individual breaks out of the role of a bystander and helps another person in an emergency. Presence of a group because a lone bystander is more likely to help
What is minority influence
Social influence processes whereby numerical or power minorities change the attitudes of the majority.
What is obedience
can be imposed bz an individual forced compliance
What is perceived behavioural control?
perceived knowledge, skills and capacity to perform behaviour
What is reactance jack brehnm 1966
A psychological state we experience when someone tries to limit our personal freedom
What is risky shift
one person considering capital punishment meets other people who are in favour of capital ⇒ group decisides on capital punishment
What is social facilitation?
improvement in performance induced by the real, implied, or imagined presence of others. → co-action and audience effect
What is social loafing
decreased group performance because of group workings and diffusion of responsibility
What is stereotype lift
members of groups that attract favourable societal stereotypes
What is stereotype threat
Feeling that we will be judged and treated in terms of negative stereotypes of our group, and that we will inadvertently confirm these stereotypes through our behaviour Impairs performance and increases anxiety (Steele and Aronson)
What is the biosocial or evolutionary psychologist explanation of aggression
Tries to explain sociopsychological behaviour through Darwinian and evolutionary perspectives Aggression is important for survival of the species- potentially increases resources kin-selction and so on
What is the bystander effect
People are less likely to help in an emergency when they are with others than when alone. The greater the number, the less likely it is that anyone will help.
What is the Bystander-calculus model
- In attending to an emergency, the bystander calculates the perceived costs and benefits of providing help compared with those associated with not helping.
- physiological arousal:
- The greater the arousal, the greater the chance that we will help.
- e.g. the quicker our heartbeat, the quicker we respond (Gaertner & Dovidio, 1977).
- Labelling the arousal as an emotion
- Evaluating the costs of helping against the plight of the victims
What is the catharsis hypothesis
notion that acting aggressively, or even just viewing aggressive material, reduces feelings of anger and aggression
What is the central premise of multiple role theory?
Research findings indicate that having multiple social roles increases individual wellbeing. However, the quality, rather than quantity, of roles may be an influencing factor, and roles that create identities which are perceived as misaligned (butcher and animal advocate) can cause distress.
What is the difference between social psychology and sociology?
Sociology is focused on behaviour at a group or cultural level, whereas social psychology is interested in the individual’s behaviour within such a group. p.36
What is the ethnological explanation of aggression
a. Potential for Aggression, is instinctual but aggressive behaviour is elicited by the environmental stimuli = releasers
What is the intention-behaviour gap
illustrates how attitudes can be a poor predictor of behaviour become sometimes situational factors override ones attitude (people who care about animals being carnivours) → behaviour is not changed or mantained despite intention
What is the minimal group paradigm
Minimal conditions for intergroup behaviour to be ethnocentric and culminate in intergroup conflict or hostility
What is the psychodynamic explanation of aggression
Aggression, rooted in the death instinct Thanatos which is opposed to the life instinct Eros, Self-destructive Thanatos is externalised throughout life because of bodily tensions The neo-freudians: viewed aggres- sion as a more rational, but nonetheless innate, process, whereby people sought a healthy release for primitive survival instincts that are basic to all animal species
What is the relationship between basic and applied research in social psychology?
Findings from basic research can be subsequently applied to a real-world problem of interest or concern to society in applied research.
What is the replication crisis?
The discovery that findings that were long thought to be robust in social psychology (and other branches of psychology) have been shown to be difficult to reproduce in replication studies. (ego depletion, social priming)
What is the result of the Sherif Field Experiment 1966
prejudice, discrimination and ethocentrism arose as a result of intergroup conflict that was realintergroup relations were gradually improved through cooperative intergroup relations centred around superordinate goalsless frustrated groups (winners) was more aggressive
What is the Robbers Cave study (1966)
study on intergroup dynamics and groundwork for realistic conflict theory
What is the theory of reasoned action
behaviour is performed if a person’s attitude and said action is favourable so a specific attitude has normative support which predicts the intention to act
What neuroimaging tool has been particularly beneficial over the last 20 years, and integral to the growth of social cognitive neuroscience?
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) produces brain scan images -> researches in social cognitive neuroscience to closely examine changes in brain activity before, during or after people experience phenomena of interest in social psychology. fMRI has also revealed that brain regions function as highly interconnected network of activity, and it is difficult to attribute complex social psychological behaviours/thoughts (i.e. social rejection, prejudice) entirely to one specific brain area.
What traditions existed and what was their distinguishing factor?
German tradition: focused on the ‘collective mind’ without any concrete empirical methods in place to test theories American tradition: proposed in Floyd Allport’s publication, inspired by the growth of experimental psychology in the USA
What was Schachter & Singers’ starting assumption in their theory of emotion?
Emotions are determined jointly by perception of physiology (as in James-Lange) AND cognitive assessment of the situation
What was the hypothesis of Schachter & Singer’s (1962) study
Irritating context vs. humorous context = anger vs. euphoria
What’s the common definition for social psychology?
Social psychology is the scientific investigation of how the thoughts, feelings and behaviours of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined or implied presence of others (Allport, 1956)
What’s the frustration-aggression hypothesis by Dollard?
simplistic and circular explanation of how aggression is caused by a frustrating event whereby frustration is loosely defined
What’s the objective of libertarian paternalism
‘balance the extent to which we believe people actually fail to make adequate judgements in their own interests, and how much we are willing to restrict people’s (perceived) autonomy, against the amount of good which can be promoted or harm prevented as a result’.
When does a nudge become a push?
When the possibility of choice is removed
When is an act truly altruistic (Batson, Duncan, Ackerman, Buckley, & Birch, 1981)
act is truly altruistic only if people seek to help even when they will no longer be troubled by observing the suffering of another person (e.g. turning back to help after pass- ing a stranded motorist). This invites a different perspective on the Genovese case. The bystanders felt disturbed, but not enough to act: perhaps they could not identify with the victim Probably occurs in situations easy to escape
When is public self-awareness helpful to individuals and society?
- may prepare to perform better at a public event because they know others will be evaluating them.
- follow social norms that are in the collective interest to adhere to (i.e. not listening to loud music on public transport).
Where does cognitive dissonance follow from in Festinger and Carlsmith (1959) experiment
Dissonance follows from the fact that you have agreed to say things about what you have experienced when you know that the opposite is true. You have been induced to behave in a counter-attitudinal way
Which one of the following statements does NOT describe research on self-schemas by Markus (1977):
a) Identifying as self-schematic on words related to a trait increases the speed of association with words related to that trait in a reaction time task
b) Being self-schematic on one dimension (of independence or dependence) increases the ability to remember autobiographical memories showing this dimension
c) Participants identifying as aschematic on dimensions of independence and dependence were slower to accurately categorise words related to both dimensions in a reaction time task
d) A person who identifies as self-schematic on introversion can use this self-awareness to be more extraverted in social contexts
d
Which one of these aspects (approachable, optimistic, cynical, ethical) would a person rate themselves more poorly on, in comparison to a rating they would give to an average person?
a person would rate themself more negatively on the attribute of being cynical since it is a negative attribute in comparison to the other options that are generally more positive and due to the above-average-effect (pp.137) people rend to rate themselves higher on positive attributes and lower on negative attributes
Which three invisible factors can threaten the validity of theory and research?
Incentives, the file-drawer problem/ publication bias, biases.
Who argued for the separation of Social Psychology from what, when and why?
It was Floyd Allport’s publication from 1924 which truly set a distinction as he argued the use of experimental science could act as an distinction of SP from the other disciplines.
Who presented approaches crowd behaviour?
McDoughall, Freud, LeBon
Why is having an attitude useful?
Because we orient towards the attitude object and react accordingly, as long as the attitude is easily accessible.
Why is the concept of catharsis rejected Bushman, Baumeister and Stack (1999)
Bushman, Baumeister and Stack (1999) found that those who hit a punching bag, believing that it reduced stress, were more likely later to punish someone who had transgressed against them
Who are the fathers of social psychology?
- German: Immanuel Kant, Willhelm von Humbolt, Johann Friedrich Herbart
- British: David Hume and Adam Smith
- French: Auguste Comte
What can be said at large about the “fathers of psychology” when it comes to social psychology?
Though Humes and Smiths’ publications are also very crucial to the field, it is mostly Herbart and, even more frequently, Comte who have been dubbed as the fathers of Social Psychology.
Ultimate Attribution Bias was proposed by?
Pettigrew (1979)
Ultimate Attribution Bias proposes that
negative outgroup behaviour is dispositionally attributed, while positive outgroup behaviour is externally attributed to the preservation of an outgroup image.
Important theorist behind the concept of self-esteem
Rosenberg (1968)
Self-esteem can be defined as?
people’s subjective appraisal of themselves as intrinsically positive or negative
Private Self-awareness was proposed by?
Buss (1980)
Private self-awareness describes the
psychological state where an individual is aware of the private, personal aspects of the self
What do attribution theories describe?
Describe how we attribute causes to our own or other’s behaviour
What are the seven main theories of attribution?
- Naive Psychology Theory
- Correspondent Inference
- Attributional Style
- Covariation Theory
- Self-Perception Theory
- Attributional Theory
- Intergroup Attribution
Who’s the theorist behind Intergroup Attribution and what do they propose?
Deschamp (1983) suggests that we assign cause of one’s own or others’ behaviour to group membership
Who’s the theorist behind Attributional Theory and what do they propose?
Weiner (1979,1985) proposes that attribution is based on how well people perform on a task
Who’s the theorist behind Self-Perception Theory and what do they propose?
Daryl Bem (1967, 1972) suggests we make self-attributions to gain knowledge about ourselves
Who’s the theorist behind Covariation Theory and what do they propose?
Harold Kelley (1967) suggests that assigning a cause to behaviour depends on the factor that seemingly covaries the most, to make an internal/dispositional or external/environmental attribution (consistency, distinctiveness, consensus)
Who’s the theorist behind Attributional Style and what do they propose?
Rotter (1966) claims the existence of personal pre-dispositions to make a certain type of attribution (Internal vs. External) -> locus of control}}
Who’s the theorist behind Correspondence Inference and what do they propose?
Jones and Davis (1965) propose the idea that behaviour corresponds with personality traits, which is how we can infer about it so we can maintain the idea of control and a predictable world
Who’s the theorist behind Naive Psychology Theory and what do they propose?
Heider (1958) suggests people use cause-effect analyses in order to understand the world
By whom was Fundamental Attribution Error proposed?
Ross (1977)
What does fundamental attribution error describe?
tendency to attribute more internally dispositional causes to other’s behaviour than externally situational causes in others
What is fundamental attributon error the basis for?
Ultimate Attribution Bias Pettigrew (1979) focused on outgroup behaviour
What are three ways mood regulation and self-esteem relate to each other?
- Individuals with lower levels of self-esteem are less likely to make the effort to make themselves feel better (Heimpel et al. 2002)
- lower self-esteem is likely to downplay the positive feelings they experienced when recalling positive life events (Wood et al., 2003)
- tendency to make themselves feel less positive and distract themselves from the positive feelings. (Wood et al., 2003)
p.78
How do mortality salience and self-esteem relate to each other?
- against the anxiety of death, individuals collaborate to construct a cultural worldview -> impart meaning, permanence and stability to life
- agreed standards => may be evaluated & alignment with standards of value = hope of transcending death (literally or symbolically)
- terror management theory: self-esteem through sociometer theory
- self-esteem is a tremendous buffer
p.79
Who proposed impression management?
Goffman (1959)
What does impression management describe?
active process of self-presentation, which consists of taking steps to monitor their presentation of self in their interactions with others so that they appear to others in the best possible
On what do individualist cultures focus on to what effect on relationships?
individuality of each person → social relationships are voluntary
Which are valued aspects of individualist cultures?
- uniqueness
- expressing one’s own views
- promotion of one’s own goals
- directness
Key difference between Emotion and Mood?
- Emotion: Short in duration, intense, clear target
- Mood: long in duration, subliminal, no clear direction
Who proposed the Actor-Observer Effect, and what is it an extension of?
Jones and Nisbett (1972) proposed it as an extension of correspondence bias
What does the Actor-Observer Effect describe?
tendency to attribute others’ behaviour internally to dispositional factors (observer) and one’s own to external factors (actor)
What is the role of perceptual focus in the Actor-Observer Effect?
Actors can’t see themselves behaving
What is the role of informational difference in the Actor-Observer Effect?
actors tend to have a wealth of information enabling them to make external attributions
What does the Covariation model describe?
What are collectivist cultures characterised by?
social interactions with each other, social beings who are inseparably connected to others
What implication does the characterisation of collectivist cultures have on relationships?
social interactions are involuntary and vital as they make the person what they are
What is valued in collectivist cultures?
- belonging
- being aware of other’s views
- indirectness
What are biases (Fiske & Taylor 2013)?
systematic errors in our rational thinking, perception and attitudes
What is a different way to define biases?
adaptive characteristics of ordinary, everyday social perception
By whom was confirmation bias coined?
Trope & Thompson, 1997
What is confirmation bias?
the tendency to seek, interpret, create information that confirms existing ideas, explanations for the cause of an event
Moderation describes?
a relationship between two variables depending on the level of a third variable.
What are five strengths of the theory of planned behaviour?
- continuing heuristic value
- more or less consistent predictions of the likelihood of behaviour based on PBC and intentions
- when enough variables are added –> good predictive validity
- considers behaviour-cognition feedback loops
- useful framework for interventions
What are common criticisms of the theory of planned behaviour?
- incomplete account of intentional variance
- no actual techniques for effective attitudinal change
- inconsiderate of unconscious influences and emotions
- limited predictive validity (people who set intentions but fail)
- potentially undervalues age, SES, mental health & identity effects
How has the TPB criticism of it being inconsiderate of unconscious influences and emotions been countered?
unconscious influences are considered as they flow through subjective norm, attitudes and perceived control
How has the TPB’s criticism of not providing strategies to produce effective change in beliefs been countered?
the goal is to predict and explain, not to be prescriptive
According to the Yale approach to communication and persuasion, through which processes can people be persuaded?\
attention, comprehension and acceptance
According to the Yale approach to communication and persuasion, which factors are crucial for persuasion?
message, source, audience
According to the Yale approach to communication and persuasion, what are the possible changes persuasive communication can produce?
opinion, perception, affect or action change
What did Markus (1977) find?
What five components of the audience affect persuasive communication?
- Persuasibility
- Initial position
- Intelligence
- Self-esteem
- Personality
What five components of the source affect persuasive communication?
- Expertise
- Trustworthiness
- Likeability
- Status
- Race
What four components of the source affect persuasive communication?
- Order of arguments
- one- or two-sided arguments
- Type of appeal
- explicit vs implicit conclusion
What did Jones and Harris (1967) find?
What are the dimensions in Weiner’s Task Performance Attribution (1979)?
Whether Control or Lack of control are internal/external and stable/unstable
What does stability mean in Weiner’s Task Performance Attribution (1979)?
is the internal/external cause stable/unstable?
What does locus mean in Weiner’s Task Performance Attribution (1979)?
performance is caused (internally) by the actor or (externally) by the situation
In Weiner’s Task Performance Attribution/ Attributional Theory (1979), what happens if someone deems something permanently within their control?
They show typical effort towards it
In Weiner’s Task Performance Attribution/ Attributional Theory (1979), what happens if someone deems something changing and outside their control?
They rely on luck
What was the conclusion of Scheier and Carver (1977)?
a person being in a positive/negative mood impacts the focus of their self-reflection and thus furthering the current feeling of positivity/negativity
What was the Wilson and Ross (2001) study on, and what was their conclusion?
Temporal comparison: People create disadvantaged past selves for temporal downward comparison
What is the central route governed by?
motivation and ability
What is the peripheral route?
the “lazy” route through which attitude change is temporary and less likely to predict future behaviour
What is the central route?
route where information is cognitively elaborated/ analysed to produce attitude change that is likely enduring and predictive
What is someone with an interdependent self-construal likely pursuing?
self-critical self-improvement
What is an independent self-construal, and when are they common?
What is an interdependent self-construal, and when are they common?
What is someone with an independent self-construal likely pursuing?
positive and unique self-identification and strive for self-enhancement
What is a self-construal?
self-concept
What was Miller (1984) about, and what was the conclusion?
- Compared 4 age groups of Indian and Americans who narrated prosocial and antisocial behaviour and gave theoir spontaneous explanations
- Miller coded the responses
- In western cultures: more internal attributions with increasing age
What are possible goals in realistic conflict theory (Sherif, 1966)?
Shared goals or mutually exclusive goals
What do shared goals require (Sherif, 1966)?
cooperation of groups
What is realistic conflict theory (Sherif, 1966)?
goal relations between individuals and groups determine cooperation or competition between groups and thus, interpersonal and intergroup behaviour
How would an interpersonal relationship go if there were shared goals?
How would an intergroup relationship go if there were shared goals?
How would an intergroup relationship go if there were mutually exclusive goals?
How would an interpersonal relationship go if there were mutually exclusive goals?
How can the depersonalised effects of social identity theory that might cause identity fusion and aggressive behaviour be avoided with social mobility?
individual mobility, aka. assimilating into the high-status group
How can the depersonalised effects of social identity theory that might cause identity fusion and aggressive behaviour be avoided with social change when there are no present cognitive alternatives?
social creativity
What are three tactics specific to social creativity?
- Redefining value of existing dimensions
- Comparing to different outgroups
- Creating new dimension of intergroup comparison
How can the depersonalised effects of social identity theory that might cause identity fusion and aggressive behaviour be avoided with social change when there are present cognitive alternatives?
social competition
What are tactics used when someone is trying to improve social identity with social competition?
civil rights activity, political lobbying, terrorism, war
How are groups defined in social identity theory and realistic conflict theory?
- SIT: groups as manifestations of social categories
- RCT: groups as collectives working towards shared goals
Where does conflict originate in social identity theory and realistic conflict theory?
- SIT: desire to feel positive about ingroup compared to outgroup
- RCT: competition due to limited resources
What is the most important resource in social identity theory and realistic conflict theory?
- SIT: symbols of importance
- RCT: material or political power
What is the group’s goal in social identity theory and realistic conflict theory?
- SIT: relative superiority
- RCT: absolute resources and superiority
What is the individual’s goal in social identity theory and realistic conflict theory?
- SIT: self-esteem, understanding oneself, meaning
- RCT: material security, belonging to group
What was Schwartz’s (1991) study about ?
- participants asked to recall 6 vs. 12 assertive or friendly
- some only had to do 6 vs 6
- participants saw themselves as less assertive/friendly after listing 12 because too many to remember (availability bias and attributional processes)
What happened when participants were told that other (imaginary) participants struggled more or less (Schwartz, 1991)
-> changed their previous opinion
