psyc102-1 Flashcards
The definition of social pyschology
Social Psychology: The scientific studyof howpeople’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviorsare influenced by the real or imagined presence of other people
40,000 years ago- we were not the only human species that lived on earth-
They became extinct
Why they have become extinct
Homosapiens were more flexible and adaptive at cooperation and communication
Extinction reason
more good at social interaction
Humans are ultra-social animal
So good at communication and cooperation
What is one of the interaction that social psychology studies
How people are constantly influenced by other individuals and at the same time are influencing them and this influence being continuous
What is social influence
EFFECT of words, actions or mere presence of other individuals have on people’s thoughts feelings and behaviors
What do social psych do
Identify universal properties of human nature that makes people susceptible to social influence
Social psyc is interested in
The power of social situation and the power of social interpretation
Social psyc is interested in
The power of social situation and the power of social interpretation
Why people act diff in diff environments
Humans are sensible creatures that observe and interpret things
Why people axt accordingly
To adapt to our environment
What is fundemental attribution error
Tendency of over attributing others behavior to dispositional causes like personality or character and minimize importance of situational causes
Underestimating the power of social condition
Why do we do the fundamental attribution error
it is easier
Gives a feeling of false security- I would never do that
But actually the fundamental attribution error makes us
More susceptible to negative social influence since we are staying unaware of it
Oversimplifing the problem and falsely blaming peple- leading to stereotyping and prejudice
What is construal
How people see, understand and interpret the social world and behaviors of others
Why construal is important
How we construe social stimuli affects our understanding and reactions
A friends not saying hi- not have their contacts- do nothinng
Such a rude person- get mad
What are the main MOTIVES of construal
The need to be accurate- social cognition approach
The self-esteem approach- need of feeling good about ourselves
BUT THEY CAN BE AT CONFLİCT
The social cognition approach
Trying to gain accurate undersanding and prediction of the social world TO MAKE EFFECTIVE JUDGEMENT AND DECISION
Social cognition
How people think about themselves and social world
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Social cognition disadvantages
Do not have all the info we need alwats
Cant always objectively interpret the info
Might act on incompletely and inaccurately interppreted information
The self esteem approach
Most people have a need to maintain high self esteem
Can distort reality to feel good about themselves, misrepresenting the reality
Self-esteem
How people evaluate their own self worth
Social Psychologist differ from politicians who are interested in social influence by
Developing explanations by using scientific methods
