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Social Psychology > Prosociality, Aggression, & Prejudice > Flashcards

Prosociality, Aggression, & Prejudice Flashcards

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1
Q

What is prosociality?

A

The tendency to perform acts with the goal of helping another person.

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2
Q

What is altruism?

A

The desire to help another person even if it has a cost to the person doing the helping; there is no reward for providing help.

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3
Q

How does altruism differ from prosociality?

A

Altruism has no benefit to the one who performs the helpful act.

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4
Q

Why are people prosocial?

A

To voluntarily benefit others (and possibly themselves in certain ways).

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5
Q

What are the main evolutionary explanations for prosocial behavior?

A
  1. Kin selection – we are more likely to help others who are genetically similar to ourselves. This will up our chances of our genes being passed down.
  2. Reciprocity – we help unrelated others b/c it ensures that they will have a potential reason to help us later. Could provide a possible explanation for gratitude.
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6
Q

What motivates prosocial behavior?

A
  1. Kin selection
  2. Reciprocity
  3. Maximize social rewards
  4. Minimize social costs
  5. Altruism
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7
Q

According to social exchange theory, why do people engage in prosocial behavior? Why might the avoid engaging in prosocial behavior?

A

People engage in prosocial behavior to maximize social rewards relative to social costs.

  • Rewards are: future help, upholding reciprocity norm, social approval, self-worth, self-esteem, identity consistency, relieving dissonance, feeling good.

People will not help when it is costly to help and outweighs potential benefits.

  • Costs are: physical danger, time, energy, pain, embarrassment, dwindled resources.
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8
Q

What is the empathy-altruism hypothesis?

A

That empathy serves as a mediating factor in delegating when or when not to help. When we feel empathy for someone, we will be more likely to help regardless of personal gains or rewards.

Modeled as: 

	Observe someone -> if the observer has empathy?

No empathy -> help ONLY if there is a benefit to you
Has empathy -> help b/c of empathic benefit

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9
Q

What is the altruistic personality?

A

A hypothetical collection of qualities that cause an individual to help in a wide variety of situations and settings.

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10
Q

Do people with an altruistic personality help people more than people who do not have an altruistic personality?

A

Not necessarily. It depends on the context of the situation and the environment that the individual is in, as well as their values and other influences (e.g., religiosity, mood, culture, etc).

  • Studies of both children and adults have confirmed that those w/ high scores on the altruistic personality are not more likely than others to help.
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11
Q

What elements of the situation affect people’s tendency to engage in prosocial behavior?

A
  1. Good Mood – people in a good mood are much more likely to help; shown by study where participants who found 5 cents at a payphone helped by picking up an envelope more than others.
  2. Guilty Mood – people were much more likely to be prosocial if they felt guilty than if they did not feel guilty; participants donated more to charity after confession.
  3. Attitude accessibility – if something is more cognitively accessible, we are more likely to behave in a manner consistent with that attitude. Example: playing prosocial video games, or priming for prosocial behaviors, increased helping.
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12
Q

What elements of the situation can cause people to engage in less prosocial behavior?

A
  1. Pluralistic ignorance: we assume that everyone interprets the situation in the same way we do; causes us to pay less attention to or not notice when others need help.
    - In cases of bystander non-intervention, people do not help b/c nobody else seems concerned and they assume that it is not an emergency
  2. Diffusion of responsibility: as the number of bystanders increases, individual sense of responsibility decreases.
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13
Q

What increases prosocial behavior?

A
  1. Feeling good or being in a good mood
  2. Feeling guilty
  3. Accessibility for a prosocial schema (e.g., playing a prosocial video game increases helping b/c of the association)
  4. Presence of less bystanders
  5. Less time pressures
  6. Gender in certain situations, personality differences, and religiosity (when in public as opposed to private)
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14
Q

What decreases prosocial behavior?

A
  1. Pluralistic ignorance
  2. Time constraints/increased time pressures
  3. Diffusion of responsibility
  4. Bystander apathy
  5. Distractions
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15
Q

What is kin selection?

A

We are more likely to help others who are genetically similar to us b/c it helps ensure that our genes make it into subsequent generations; or a preference to help those who are genetically similar to us.

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16
Q

Are there gender differences in prosocial behavior?

A

Women – slightly more likely to help by providing social support to friends and volunteering.

Men – slightly more likely to help in dramatic, heroic type situations; more likely to risk their lives to help others.

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17
Q

What cultural differences are there in prosocial behavior?

A

Based on studies of simpatia in different countries, those countries that value friendliness and prosocial behavior may be more likely to help strangers on city streets. However, there is not clear evidence of exaggerated helping behavior across cultures per se; just correlations between valuing prosocial behavior and helping.

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18
Q

Does religion make people more prosocial? If so, why? If not, why not?

A
  1. Religion makes people more prosocial in situations where other people see them helping, but it does not make them help more in situations where nobody else will know they helped.
  2. Religious people feel the same amount of empathy as non-religious people
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19
Q

What is the urban overload hypothesis?

A

The theory that people living in cities are constantly bombarded w/ stimulation and that they keep to themselves to avoid being overwhelmed by it.

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20
Q

How does living in one place for a long time vs. moving a lot affect people’s tendency to be prosocial?

A

People who have lived in one place for a long time are more likely to engage in prosocial behaviors that help the community. Residing in one place leads to greater attachment to the community, more interdependence on neighbors, and a greater concern about reputation compared to the rest of the community.

When people move frequently, they feel less attachment and are less connected to the community as a whole. They are also more likely to continue moving for some reason or another. This lack of commitment leads to less prosocial behavior.
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21
Q

What is the bystander effect?

A

The tendency to not help someone in need when other people are present.

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22
Q

When is the bystander effect most likely to occur?

A
  1. People fail to notice the event/are distracted
  2. People interpret the event as not an emergency (pluralistic ignorance)
  3. People fail to assume responsibility to help (diffusion of responsibility)
  4. People lack the knowledge to recognize what form of assistance to give
  5. People feel there might be some danger/harm/cost to themselves
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23
Q

How does mood affect prosocial behavior?

A

Mood can increase prosocial behavior. This is especially true if the person providing help is either feeling good (or in a good mood), or feeling guilty.

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24
Q

What is pluralistic ignorance?

A

Pluralistic ignorance: we assume that everyone interprets the situation in the same way we do; causes us to pay less attention to or not notice when others need help.

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25
Q

What is diffusion of responsibility?

A

Diffusion of responsibility: as the number of bystanders increases, individual sense of responsibility decreases.

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26
Q

Who is most likely provide social support for friends?

A

Women.

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27
Q

Who is more likely to help people in dramatically heroic ways?

A

Men.

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28
Q

How does the media affect prosocial behavior?

A

The media can make people feel and behave more in prosocial ways. This is accomplished through two parts:

  1. It increases empathy towards someone in need of help
  2. It increases the accessibility of thoughts about helping others

These combined factors prime the person to respond more helpfully than they might do when not engaging with prosocial media. This effect is also found when the media is about love.

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29
Q

What are the four main types of aggression?

A

Indirect – attempt to hurt others without obvious face-to-face conflict.
Direct – behavior intended to hurt someone “to his or her face”
Emotional – hurtful behavior that stems from angry feelings
Instrumental – hurting another to accomplish some other (non-aggressive) goal

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30
Q

What is the Freudian perspective of aggression?

A
  1. We have an instinct to be aggressive
  2. Aggression is cathartic
  3. Hydraulic theory – aggression is instinctive and builds up over time, but is then released through aggressive behaviors.
  • There is not compelling evidence for this theory
  • Catharsis does not reduce aggression; it often increases it instead
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31
Q

According to the Freudian perspective, how can aggression be reduced?

A

Releasing it through aggressive behaviors, words, and actions.

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32
Q

What are the biological theories of aggression?

A
  1. Aggressive impulses may be hereditary in nature
  2. Twin studies – higher correlations of aggression among monozygotic twins as opposed to dizygotic pairs; studies used mother’s self-reports, and evidence may not be reliable
  3. Amygdala – aggression is centered in the amygdala, which may imply that this is an origin point of aggressive behaviors
  4. Serotonin – decreased serotonin seems to be related to an increase in aggressive behaviors b/c it inhibits violent behaviors originating from the amygdala
  5. Testosterone – increased testosterone seems to correlate w/ higher aggression in general
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33
Q

According to the biological theories, how can aggression be reduced?

A
  1. Perform surgery on the amygdala.
  2. Reduce testosterone
  3. Increase serotonin

These approaches are generally not seen as ethical and they have a number of other side effects (e.g., memory loss, impaired attention, even death)

34
Q

What is the social cognitive perspective of aggression?

A

It assumes that aggression is learned from scripts, role models, and other influences; the social cognitive perspective does not postulate that aggression is innate.

35
Q

According to the social cognitive perspective, how can aggression be reduced?

A
  1. Social learning perspective – use mild threats to encourage compliance (dissonance theory); use severe, certain, and swift punishment (deterrence theory); provide better role models; teach people to apologize.
  2. Use self-affirmation
  3. Remove or reduce cues to aggression in order to discourage aggressive behaviors/priming
36
Q

Are there gender differences in aggression? If so, what are they?

A

Yes, there are some distinct gender differences in aggression. However, most of these differences are minor at best, and there are no clear differences in reporting feelings of anger between men and women.

37
Q

How do men manifest aggression?

A

Men – more likely to attack physically when provoked.

  • Use more physical and direct forms of aggression
  • Men’s aggression is more likely to do physical harm
  • Men commit the vast majority of homicides
38
Q

How do women manifest aggression?

A

Women – aggression evens out in comparison to men when provoked, but are less likely to use physical and direction means of aggression.

  • Use more indirect forms of aggression
  • More likely to use physical aggression against their partners in general, but this does less harm as a whole (e.g., slapping is LESS damaging than male aggression)
39
Q

Why are people aggressive?

A
  1. When intoxicated – alcohol impairs normal inhibitory processes and changes how we understand information; we focus more on immediate feelings and reactions rather than the larger picture.
  2. When they are provoked
  3. When they are frustrated
  4. When it is hot and uncomfortable in the environment
40
Q

How is aggression measured?

A

Aggression can be measured using noise blasts, electric shocks, hot sauce allocation, and punching a punching bag.

  • Measures are artificial and setting is artificial, but measurements map on well to real life aggression
  • Lab and field measures are highly correlated (at an r = .728), which means aggression in the lab most likely represents the same constructs it would in natural settings
41
Q

What cultural differences in aggression exist?

A
  1. Cultures that value cooperative and collectivist ideas have lower levels of aggression
  2. Cultures that are close-knit and where members depend on one another for survival also have lower aggression
  3. Cultures of honor reflect higher aggression b/c social norms (e.g., protecting cattle, land) demanded that members protect their resources
  4. In some cultures, male aggression constitutes a powerful aspect of male identity in order to display power or status, and so aggression is higher in men
42
Q

Does consuming alcohol make people more aggressive?

A

Yes, however just the mention of or abstract priming of alcohol as a stimulus can cause more aggressive behaviors. (Or: alcohol itself is not needed to increase aggression, b/c just the idea of alcohol is enough)

43
Q

How is the idea of alcohol related to other aggression-related stimuli (e.g., guns)?

A

Alcohol can prime people to respond faster and more readily to aggression-related stimuli. People associate alcohol w/ aggression as a general concept.

44
Q

What was the original frustration-aggression hypothesis?

A

Original – aggression is an automatic response to any blocking of goal-directed behavior. However, had some issues:

  • People do not always act aggressively when frustrated
  • Theory doesn’t specify what sources of frustration are
  • Can’t account for instrumental aggression
45
Q

What is the revised frustration-aggression hypothesis?

A

Revised – one of the consequences of frustration can be aggression; any unpleasant situation will lead to emotional aggression to the extent that it generates unpleasant feelings. Negative feelings -> aggression.

46
Q

Why was the original frustration-aggression hypothesis revised?

A
  1. People do not always act aggressively when frustrated
  2. Theory doesn’t specify what sources of frustration are
  3. Could not account for instrumental aggression (or aggression done to satisfy non-aggressive goals)
47
Q

What was the revision to the frustration-aggression hypothesis?

A

Any negative emotion can cause emotional aggression depending on how much unpleasant feeling that it creates.

48
Q

Why are there more violent crimes and aggressive acts when the weather outside is warmer?

A

Heat generates more negative feelings and is uncomfortable in comparison to other types of weather. This makes people more reactive, and increases violence b/c people feel less inhibited and their threshold for violence is lowered.

49
Q

What theory provides one explanation for this?

A

The Heat Hypothesis or Temperature-Aggression hypothesis; the propensity for aggression increases at uncomfortably hot temperatures and often overrides more rational considerations.

50
Q

What are the Bobo Doll studies?

A

Early studies on aggression conducting using blow-up toy clown dolls. Children were exposed to either adults who interacted violently w/ the doll or who did not interact w/ it. Children who say this mimicked their aggressive behaviors and treated the dolls poorly.

51
Q

What did the Bobo Doll studies show?

A
  1. An example of learning by observing others – social learning theory.
  2. Both boys and girls showed these behaviors.
  3. More imitated aggression occurred when rewarded and when the identification w/ the model was high (or model was someone similar to them or who the children admired).
  4. Even when the model was punished for violent behaviors, the children still imitated them.
52
Q

What does the presence of weapons do to our cognitions?

A

The mere presence of aggressive stimuli increases aggressive thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and actions.

53
Q

When do video games make people who play them behave more aggressively? Less aggressively? More prosocially?

A
  1. More aggressive behaviors – when there is greater blood or concrete demonstrations of violence. Heightened if the person is already prone to violent and aggressive behaviors.
  2. Less aggressive behaviors – when just observing violent acts that are not graphic in nature; can cause dehumanization and less direct forms of aggressive behavior.
  3. More prosocial behaviors – when the game being played primes for prosocial behaviors or encourages helping over violence.
54
Q

What are stereotypes?

A

Generalized beliefs about members of a group.

55
Q

Where do stereotypes come from?

A

Our thoughts and cognitions about members of a group.

56
Q

What is prejudice?

A

A generalized attitude (dislike/disliking) of members of a group. Arises from our affect, or our feelings, about members of a group.

57
Q

What is discrimination?

A

Behaviors directed towards people on the basis of their group membership. Arises from our behaviors towards members of a group.

58
Q

What is social identity theory?

A
  1. In our social matrix, we like people who are in the same group as us more than people in different groups from us.
  2. We tend to view people who belong in other groups (“outgroups”) as being all the same (“outgroup homogeneity”).
59
Q

What is realistic conflict theory?

A

Limited resources lead to conflict among groups and result in prejudice and discrimination.

  • Discrimination against out-groups correlates w/ the scarcity of jobs
  • Example: the difference in the price of cotton and the numbers of lynchings
60
Q

How do stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination map onto different components of attitudes?

A

Affect – our feelings/emotions about members of a group = prejudice.
Behavior – our actions towards members of a group = discrimination.
Cognition – our thoughts about members of a group = stereotypes.

61
Q

Who uses stereotypes? Who is prejudiced?

A

Everyone forms stereotypes and everyone is prejudiced to some extent.

62
Q

How can stereotypes be changed?

A

Stereotypes can be changed by interacting or encountering someone who does not behave consistently with the stereotype.

  1. Complete change – there is mismatch of expectation and the individual’s characteristics; it is the result of the person rather than the situation; and the individual is a typical member of the stereotyped group (e.g., a feminine woman being good at math).
63
Q

When do people update the stereotypes they have of certain groups of people?

A

Subtype – there is a mismatch of expectation and the individual’s characteristics; it is the result of the person rather than the situation; and the individual is very atypical of the stereotyped group (e.g., a masculine woman who is very blunt, assertive, and good at math).

a. This is more likely if they disconfirm stereotypes on many levels, we have other info that helps to dismiss the person as atypical, or they deviate extremely from the stereotype.

64
Q

What do stereotypes do to the targets of stereotypes?

A

They create negative feelings, such as stress, anxiety, frustration, depression, grief, shame, and etc.

65
Q

Who can be the target of stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination?

A

Anyone who does not belong to some specific majority group.

66
Q

What causes prejudice?

A

Our affect, or our feelings, about members of a group and they group itself.

67
Q

How can prejudice and discrimination be reduced?

A
  1. Intergroup approaches – contact hypothesis; contact b/w majority and minority group members will decrease prejudice; inaccurate stereotypes will be disproven. Decreases negative feelings through contact.
  2. Individual approaches
68
Q

Why is prejudice so difficult to address?

A

There are many facets to why prejudice exists. These are:

  1. Prejudice is affectively-based and reflects an attitude; logic does not lessen or necessarily impact prejudiced views.
  2. Schema-consistent processing, where we are driven to integrate new knowledge with our existing schemas and so we do not change stereotypes easily.
  3. Illusory correlations, where we assume that if two distinct events co-occur with one another, we believe they are related to one another (or cause one another).
  4. Subtyping, where we justify and protect our stereotypes by claiming exceptions are not reflective of the group as a whole, and are just very extreme examples.
69
Q

What is displaced aggression?

A

This is assumed from Freud’s frustration-aggression hypothesis. It postulates that:

  1. Intergroup violence increases in bad economic times
  2. Prejudice is a state that can change or be influenced by the situation
  3. Prejudice bolsters self-esteem
  4. Displace aggression -> focusing aggression on a target unrelated to the situation b/c the situation has actually caused the aggression (e.g., scapegoating)
70
Q

What is the authoritarian personality?

A

Assumes prejudice is a personality trait; people who are authoritarian hate people who are different; is linked to a harsh, unloving upbringing by parents.

71
Q

What cognitive errors engender stereotypes and prejudice?

A
  1. Categorization plus exaggeration
  2. Illusory correlation – a false impression that two variables are related; the co-occurrence of two distinctive events is particularly noticeable; we overestimate these events, and this results in stereotyping.
72
Q

What is the Contact Hypothesis?

A
  • Contact b/w majority and minority group members will decrease prejudice
  • Inaccurate stereotypes will be disproven
  • Decreases negative feelings through contact
73
Q

What conditions must be met for contact to improve relations between two groups of people?

A
  1. Equal status
  2. Personal, informal contact
  3. Common goals
  4. Mutual interdependence
  5. Existing norms must favor group equality
  6. Contact w/ multiple group members to breakdown stereotypes
74
Q

What is the jigsaw technique?

A
  1. Groups are diverse in gender, ethnicity, and ability
  2. The day’s lesson is divided into 5 or 6 segments
  3. Each student learns one segment
  4. Each student teaches his or her segment to the group (e.g., expert role = equal status)
  5. The class instructor floats from group to group and observes the process
75
Q

What requirements must be met for the jigsaw technique to improve relations between two groups of people?

A
  1. Equal status
  2. Personal, informal contact
  3. Common goals
  4. Mutual interdependence
  5. Existing norms must favor group equality
  6. Contact w/ multiple group members to breakdown stereotypes
76
Q

What happened in Robber’s Cave, Oklahoma that summer in 1954?

A

When researchers only tried to increase contact, it actually increased hostility and was a huge failure b/c it caused more aggression b/w groups. In response, they created emergencies that forced groups to work together. After competing, ratings of the other group of boys was very unfavorable, but hostility b/w groups turned into friendship (eventually) after cooperating.

77
Q

Why did students in Jane Elliot’s classroom think that brown-eyed people were inferior to blue-eyed people?

A

Ingroup-Outgroup formation: the students were divided into groups based on eye color, which encouraged group identification. Bias and prejudice emerged as a result of this arbitrary division.

78
Q

Are stereotypes always wrong? If not, why?

A

No, most stereotypes are true. However, they are only reflective of differences in averages, and thus do not map onto individuals. They are only accurate at group level.

79
Q

How does the economy relate to prejudice and stereotyping?

A

Prejudice and its effects are heightened during times of economic hardship; joblessness, poor economic conditions, and etc. correlate to increased prejudice and conflict.

80
Q

Just because people claim they support equal rights for group X, does that mean that they do not harbor prejudice and will not discriminate against them?

A

No, it does not.

81
Q

How does this relationship between support of a claim and actual prejudiced attitudes relate to the attitude-behavior link we studied earlier in the semester?

A

Attitudes involve 3 components:

  1. Affect – feelings = stereotypes
  2. Cognitive – thoughts = prejudice
  3. Behavior – actions = discrimination

These different areas manifest in unique ways irrespective of claimed attitudes, and agreement with a statement about equality is not necessarily the same as believing in (or practicing) equality. Ideally, a person could exercise different levels of restraint across all three levels, and they might either hide their actual prejudiced ideas or have implicit or unintended behaviors/prejudices.

Social Psychology (4 decks)

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