PSYC3017 FINAL Flashcards
scientific ideals
confirmation of findings, self-correction, scientific explanations are tentative, scientific explanations are rigorously evaluated, replication
Jacob Cohen
first power analysis of psychological research, results - very low power to detect small effects, modest power to detect medium effects, good power to detect large effects
Stapel - the secret life of emotions
do we have feelings we are unaware of that nevertheless affect us? primed fear/disgust using photos and measured word fragment completion. Stapel said he collected data but he actually made it up himself
Bem
precognition - participants correctly identified the future position of erotic pictures more frequently than the 50% hit rate expected by chance
fall out from Bem
Wagenmakers et al. (exploration vs confirmation findings, bayesian test), focus on faulty processes (peer review, self-correcting science), focus on systematic aspects (status and achievement measures, rewards)
is our research replicable? - Many Labs Study
first investigation of variation in replicability, 36 labs replicated 13 studies (10 effects replicated consistently)
reproducibility project
replicating 100 different studies and effects - 36% of replication had significant results, 47% of original effect size were in the 95% confident interval, 39% of effects were rated to have replicated the original result
questionable research practices (QRPs)
false-positive psychology, type I error rate, outlier strategies (what is considered an outlier?), picking at data (stop data collection before sample size issue), stopping data collection, file drawer (not reporting nonsignificant findings), selective reporting
replication is important but also have to focus on
internal validity, external validity, construct validity, consequentiality, communicativeness
Comment on “Estimating the reproducibility of psychological science” - Gilbert et al.
argued the methodology used was finding a crisis when one was not there, said the population of some replication attempts didn’t make sense for the research question
Response to Comment on “Estimating the reproducibility of psychological science” - Anderson et al.
stated Gilbert et al. treated all studies not falling in the confidence interval range of the original publication as not replicating whereas this is not the appropriate approach
solutions and recommendations for replication crisis
p-values, open science, sample non WEIRD populations, focus on boundary conditions, adversarial collaborations, use overarching theory, badges
solutions and recommendations for replication crisis - p-values
get rid of p-values and null hypothesis testing (approach hasn’t been adopted)
solutions and recommendations for replication crisis - open science
open data, source, access, methodology, peer review, educational resources
open science framework
publish replications to motivate researchers, pre-registration of what they’ll do with data, include all variables (rather than discarding later to get significant findings)
solutions and recommendations for replication crisis - focus on boundary conditions
when is the effect relevant? how would that effect emerge? not just whether an effect exists or not
solutions and recommendations for replication crisis - adversarial collaborations
work parallel with people who don’t necessarily agree on concept/approach to research - one person’s bias nullifies other person’s
solutions and recommendations for replication crisis - use overarching theory
use of a specific, metatheory - not a flimsy theoretical basis for findings
terror definition
the existential fear of our own mortality
terror management theory
two responses to mortality salience - proximal and distal
terror management theory proximal response
occurs immediately - deny vulnerability (deny importance of it) or distract yourself
terror management theory distal response
occurs after reflection - world-view defence (cultural background) or self-esteem
terror management theory - why does world-view/cultural perspective ameliorate concerns?
culture makes man seem important and more vital to the universe, not just me as an individuals but the ideal i’m part of
terror management theory - main elements in our worldviews
ingroup/outgroup perceptions, values, practices, gender-roles, social structure, symbols, reputation
classic tmt experiment
mortality salience vs control, subjects read one-page interview about US political system (positive or critical message) - participants who read the pro US message in the MS condition liked the interviewer more than participants in the control, participants who read the anti US message in MS condition disliked the interviewer more than participants in the control
meaning maintenance model
suggested people have a need for meaning
meaning definition
mental representation of expected. relations that organises their perceptions of the world
5 A’s of meaning maintenance model
assimilation, accommodation, affirmation, assembly, abstraction
5 A’s of meaning maintenance model - assimilation
assimilate exception by finding another element
5 A’s of meaning maintenance model - accommodation
make exceptions to rule
5 A’s of meaning maintenance model - affirmation
reaction to threat is by affirming either same element or an alternative element
5 A’s of meaning maintenance model - assembly
understandings that serve the same function as the old
5 A’s of meaning maintenance model - abstraction
reaffirming alternative framework - affirm another element in life
religion definition
a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs
four elements of religion - counterintuition
all religions include belief in supernatural agents which in many ways violate our intuitive understanding of how the world works
dissonance theory - behaviour
the more costly the behaviour, the more you have to have a reason to do it - so, when you follow a costly ritual, you amplify your own belief in that (through cognitive dissonance)
four elements of religion
counterintuition, commitment, compassion (personal relationship with their gods), communion
“typical” religion
god/supernatural agent is not very powerful (just a special kind of person), not much privileged access to information, not morally concerned (“give me present but i don’t care about you”), locally constrained (eg. god of the river)
“really strange” religion
god tends to be very powerful (omniscient, omnipotent), cares a lot about people, are morally concerned, omnipresent
game theory’s game
participants told to unscramble sentences after being primed for religiosity, received $10 and can give/keep as much as they want, more than half of the people primed with religiosity divided it evenly. and some gave away more than. they kept
kind gods vs mean gods experiment
if people see god as a positive entity they’re more likely to cheat, if people see god as a mean entity, they’re less likely to cheat
3 major principles of darwin’s theory
- heredity 2. variability 3. natural selection
products of evolution
adaptations, by-products, noise, exaptation
products of evolution - noise
random effects produced by genetic drift and chance mutations that do not affect survival and/or reproductive success
products of evolution - exaptation
features that did not originally arise for their current use but rather were co-opted for new purposes
environment of evolutionary adaptedness (EEA)
technical term used to refer to the environment in which we evolved
two views of the mind
standard social science model and evolutionary psychology model
view of the mind - standard social science model
suggests mind is content free upon arrival and through associationism it learns how to better survive and reproduce in a given environment
view of the mind - evolutionary psychology
mind arrives with already specialised cognitive processes
problems faced by ancestral humans
problems of survival, mating, parenting and aiding genetic relatives
behavioural immune system
parasites (selection pressure, evolved defence mechanisms), disgust (facial blemishes), disease avoidance (the world before Germ theory, conformity, context-contingent conformity)
behavioural immune system experiment
recall task (when they felt vulnerable to disease, vulnerable to other physical dangers, non-threatening event), conformity evaluation (liking conformists, valuation of obedience, self-reported conformity), place penny in jar half full or jar which only a few pennies - people in infectious diseases salient condition more likely to conform
parental investment definition
any investment by the parent in an individual offspring that increases the offspring’s chances of surviving (and hence reproducing) at the cost of the parent’s ability to invest in other offspring
female reproductive strategy
look for certain criteria (physical and behavioural features), will compete with other females for the most. desirable males, seek quality not quantity, almost every reproductively capable female will find a mate
male reproductive strategy
seek quantity, less choosy, if presented with sexual opportunity they’ll take it, compete vigorously with other males, small number of males will achieve many matings
hypothesis for choosing partners (mating)
females have evolved mechanisms that enable them to detect men that will transfer resources to their offspring
hypothesis for choosing partners (mating) - Buss (1989)
showed that males prefer young, physically attractive and chaste mates. females place greater emphasis on earning capacity and ambitiousness-industriousness
women’s ovulatory cycles - wet t-shirt study
males wore t-shirt for 48hrs to develop their scent and measured men’s physical features (symmetry), females smelt t-shirts then rated attractiveness
women’s ovulatory cycles - wet t-shirt study results
women not at their peak fertility showed no indication of preferences for more symmetric men, women at their peak fertility showed clear indication of a relationship between symmetry and women’s rating of the attractiveness of that scent
women at higher fertility phase:
more mate searching and socialising, avoid rape and incest, less satisfied with long-term partner if he’s lower fitness, more fantasies, flirtation, dancing and short-term affairs with higher-fitness men, mate-guarded more closely by lower-fitness partners
‘fat’ gene experiment
individuals told either genes, social network or something about food affects people’s obesity and diabetes, see whether exposure to these media articles affects willingness to do a taste test for a future study, participants in gene condition consumed 50% more cookies than participants in the control condition, participants in the control and social network condition consumed about the same amount
genomic revolution
genome first sequenced in 2003 for USD $4 billion, now its only $1000 to sequence entire gene of a human being, media claimed to find gene for everything
genetic essentialism
people see living organisms as having an underlying fundamental nature that makes them what they are (essence) and you can’t change this, description of essence if very similar to how we describe genes (imbue genes with the power of essence, turning it into the essence placeholder)
psychological essentialism
idea that natural entities have this immutable, natural element
genetic essentialist biases
genetic attributions - immutability and determinism, specific etiology, homogeneity and discreteness, naturalness (and naturalistic fallacy)
genetic essentialist biases - genetic attributions immutability and determinism
increased belief that participant has less control over their own characteristics and behaviours
genetic essentialist biases - genetic attributions specific etiology
increased belief that genes are the only cause of their behaviour (disregard other explanations)
genetic essentialist biases - genetic attributions homogeneity and discreteness
increased belief that members of same group look more similar to each other and the difference between groups will be exaggerated
genetic essentialist biases - genetic attributions naturalness (and naturalistic fallacy)
causes people to believe that their beliefs are natural as that was the way they were born
genetic essentialism and social categorisation
genetic essentialism focuses on natural elements (doesn’t make sense for human artefacts), social categories are human artefacts (we created them) but we treat them like living organisms (see them as having an underlying essence). affects things like race and ethnicity, gender, mental illness
genetic essentialism and social categorisation - race and ethnicity
the more you believe in genetics underlying explanation of different phenomena, the more likely you are to believe that differences in groups are real (more prejudice and stereotyping)
genetic essentialism and social categorisation - mental illness
when primed with idea that genes are involved in mental illness, it was seen as more serious, was expected to last longer, less likely to be punished, social distance from siblings was greater
duality of the self
self as an object that cana be observed (self-concept “me”), self as an agent doing the observing (self-awareness “I”)
levels of the self
personal self, relational self, collective self
cultural differences in defining the self
individualist cultures tend to emphasise the individual’s needs over the group, collectivist cultures emphasise the needs of the group over the individuals’
culture definition
the set of cognitions and practices that identify a specific social group and distinguish it from others
individualist cultures features
analytic processing, causality inherent in the object, focus. on attributes (stable), independent herders, value agency, independence, uniqueness
collectivist cultures features
holistic processing, causality lies in the situation, focus on interaction (change), cooperative farmers, value harmony, independence, connectedness
independent (individualist) self-views
autonomy, responsible for one’s own actions, individuals as causes for their behaviour, important to achieve, stable self-concept, express oneself, global self-descriptions, define themselves as quite separate from other people
interdependent (collectivist) self-views
interconnectedness, social ties, social roles, social pressure, duties and obligations as causes for behaviour, important to fit in, flexible self-concept, figure out what others are thinking, contextualised self-descriptions, define themselves in terms of their relationships to others
defining the interdependent self - women
higher in relational interdependence, focus more on their close relationships
defining the interdependent self - men
higher in collective interdependence, focus on their membership in larger groups
introspection definition
looking inward to examine our thoughts and feelings
experiment proving we don’t know the reasons for our decisions
participants asked to choose a pair of stockers and rate which pair is the highest quality, participants showed a right-hand bias and chose the one on the far right more than others by a factor of 4:1. (when asked no one mentioned positioning or denied it)
experiment proving we don’t know the causes of our moods
introspection diary and observers estimate the extent to which factors influence mood, observer group was as accurate as the introspection group
self-perception theory (Bem)
we infer who we are from what we do (ie. from our behaviour)
when is self-perception theory likely to occur
when we are unsure of our attitudes and feelings, when our internal cues are weak, when we have no clear situational influence on our behaviour, when we chose the behaviour freely
we examine our behaviour and the circumstances in which it is occurring - is the situation sufficient to explain my behaviour?
if yes then behaviour is due to external factors, if no then behaviour is due to internal factors
how do we determine whether the situation is sufficient to explain our behaviour? - is the behaviour chosen freely?
if yes then behaviour is due to intrinsic motivation, if no then behaviour is due to extrinsic motivation
overjustification effect definition
what happens when people have an external justification for doing something they already like to do
do rewards always ruin things? - initial level of interest
if initially unmotivated receiving a reward will increase interest, if initially motivated receiving a reward will decrease interest
do rewards always ruin things? - type of reward
if people receive a task-contingent reward intrinsic motivation will be undermined, if people receive a performance-contingent reward intrinsic motivation won’t be undermined
looking-glass self (Cooley)
we see ourselves as a reflection of how others see us and how we think others see us
social comparison theory (Festinger)
we learn about our own abilities and attitudes by comparing ourselves to other people in various domains
3 key questions in social comparison theory
when do we engage in social comparisons? why do we engage in social comparisons? with whom do we compare?
social comparison theory - when do we engage in social comparisons?
when there is no objective means of assessment (no standard to compare yourself to), when you experience uncertainty about yourself in a particular area
social comparison theory - why do we engage in social comparisons?
self-assessment, self-enhancement, self-improvement
social comparison theory - with whom do we compare?
anyone who is around (upward comparison targets and downward comparison targets), prefer to compare yourself to someone at your level, someone a bit worse than you or someone a bit better than you
experiment - are social comparisons automatic?
test of schizophrenia detection ability, participants either cognitive busy or not, confederate either performed well or poorly. participants who were cognitively busy did not take into account confederates performance was scripted and rated themselves as far more competent when confederate’s performance was bad, participants who were not cognitively busy did take the confederate’s context into account
who do we compare ourselves to? (Festinger experiment)
participants preferred UC to feel inspired to improve ourselves, if you want to feel good about yourself compare to DC
self-motive definition
an inclination that is aimed toward establishing or maintaining a particular state of self-awareness, self-representation or self-evaluation
types of self-motives
self-assessment, self-verification, self-enhancement
self-assessment definition (self-motives)
the motivation to have accurate and valid information about ourselves
self-verification definition (self-motives)
the motivation to confirm what we already know about ourselves
self-enhancement definition (self-motives)
the motivation to maintain or increase the positivity of the self
manifestations of self-enhancement
we are better than average, we hold positive illusions about ourselves, temporal comparisons, biased attributions, self-serving categories and traits, self-handicapping, self-evaluation maintenance model
manifestations of self-enhancement - better than average effect
think we are better than average on skills and abilities, positive traits, positive behaviours and attitudes, anything that is self-relevant
manifestations of self-enhancement - positive illusions
unrealistically positive views of the self (think we have more positive than negative traits and that we have more positive traits than the average person), unrealistically optimistic views for our future (see future as being full of positive events but few negative events, think others will experience more negative events than we will), think we have more control over our lives than we do, illusions maintained through SSB
manifestations of self-enhancement - temporal comparisons
past selves provide opportunity for downward comparisons, people evaluate themselves more favourably now than in the past but rated acquaintance at same for both time points
manifestations of self-enhancement - biased attributions
take credit for successes and deny responsibility for failures, positive feedback = internal attribution, negative feedback = external attribution, ambiguous feedback = interpret in positive way, unambiguous and negative feedback = ignore it or discredit source of the feedback
manifestations of self-enhancement - self-serving categories and traits
self-enhancement motives influence how we define concepts, categories and traits - define categories and traits in a self-serving way. if we’re good at a task then the domain is important to us, if we’re bad at a task then the domain is irrelevant
manifestations of self-enhancement - self-handicapping
create obstacles to success in order to protect the self, avoid negative internal attributions (simply don’t try)
manifestations of self-enhancement - self-handicapping experiment
participants completed bogus analogies test (solvable or insolvable), participants received success feedback - participants with solvable analogies made internal attributions for their success whereas those with unsolvable analogies made external attributions, participants offered a drug which would either improve or impair performance, participants with solvable analogies picked performance-enhancing drug whereas those with unsolvable analogies picked performance-impairing drug (built-in excuse for expected failure)
manifestations of self-enhancement - self-evaluation maintenance model
we are motivated to maintain positive self-perceptions and have ways to restorer self-evaluations
self-evaluation maintenance model - ways to restore self-evaluations
distance self from others, reduce relevance, downplay other’s performance, try to improve, sabotage other’s performance, self-affirm in another important domain
self-evaluation maintenance model - Tesser responses to upward social comparison depends on…
closeness of the comparison target and relevance of the comparison domain
self-evaluation maintenance model - Tesser types of responses to UC target
reflection response and comparison response
self-evaluation maintenance model - Tesser reflection response to UC target
being outperformed by a close other in a domain that is low in self-relevance is not threatening to self-evaluations (feels good, basking in reflected glory)
self-evaluation maintenance model - Tesser comparison response to UC target
being outperformed by a close other in a domain that is high in self-relevance is threatening to self-evaluation (feels bad)
self-affirmation theory
people are motivated to protect the integrity of the self (can lead to defensive responses)
defensive responses
diminish the threat and restore the integrity of the self
how has self-affirmation theory been tested?
opportunity for self-affirmation vs not (ranking values), threaten the self (measure defensive responses)
limits to self-affirmation effects
affirmation in domains that are related to the threat are less effective, affirmations in the moral domain can backfire, culture may moderate the effects of self-affirmation (who finds what threatening? who finds what affirming?)
better than average effect in easy vs difficult domains
people rate themselves as above average for easy domains
better than average effect vs below average effect (Kruger)
judgments of comparative ability are egocentric (anchored in the self), we base our assessments on our own level ability (task is easy = think we’re good at it, task is hard = think we’re bad at it), we don’t take into account the skills of the comparison group
cultural differences in self-enhancement - Heine and. Hamamura meta-analysis
Westerners were significantly more likely to self-enhance than East Asians, Western samples showed significant self-enhancement bias (44/48 studies, Cohen’s d = .87), Eastern samples showed significant self-enhancement bias (19/46 studies, Cohen’s d = -.01) and significant self-criticism bias (20/46 studies)
cultural differences in self-enhancement - failures Heine et al.
Canadian participants persisted more after success than failure feedback (basking in success, derive self-worth from traits, attributes, achievements), Japanese participants persisted more after failure than success feedback (striving to improve, achievement due to effort)
cultural differences - biased attributions
reduced self-serving bias in collectivist cultures (Japanese participants and Buddhist children made internal attributions for both their success and failures), striving for self-enhancement is not very important in self-collectivist cultures (want to fit in with group)
cultural differences in self-enhancement - Westerners vs Easterners self-enhance on different traits (Sedikides)
Westerners self-enhance individualist attributes (independent, self-reliant, unique), Easterners self-enhance collectivist attributes (cooperative, good listener, self-sacrificing)
functions of self-enhancement
personal adjustment and interpersonal adjustment
functions of self-enhancement - personal adjustment
in terms of subjective wellbeing and mental health - indexed by life satisfaction and tendency to experience positive affect and less negative affect
functions of self-enhancement - self-enhancement is costly for personal adjustment
leads people to set unrealistically high goals (greater risk of failure) and see no reason to improve the self (greater likelihood of stagnation)
functions of self-enhancement - self-enhancement is beneficial for personal adjustment
positive illusions promote positive mindset, resistance to stress, capacity for creative, productive work, sense of mastery
functions of self-enhancement - interpersonal adjustment
in terms of social valuations - indexed via how much a person is valued by others, informant reports
functions of self-enhancement - self-enhancement is costly for interpersonal adjustment
leads people to be boastful which can alienate others
functions of self-enhancement - self-enhancement is beneficial for interpersonal adjustment
positive illusions promote positive mindset (appeals to others) and forms of self-deception that allows people to deceive others (impress others to acquire more resources)
evolutionary theory of self-deception
we frequently deceive others to acquire resources, we will be more successful at deceiving others if we deceive ourselves
is self-enhancement adaptive?
yes for personal adjustment, depends for interpersonal adjustment
self-verification definition
the motivation to confirm what we already knew about ourselves
why do we want to self-verify?
maintain consistency in self-perceptions - stable self-perceptions can be used to maintain a sense of coherence (self-unity), satisfy need for prediction and control, guide behaviour. we feel more comfortable when we think people see us the way we see ourselves
origin of self-verification motive
self-verification is something we’re programmed to do - self-verifying information is more readily processed which fosters positive affect
self-verification strategies
constructing “opportunity structures” (social environments that help satisfy needs) - seek self-verifying partners, communicate self-views to others (display identity cues), “see” self-verifying evidence (biased attention and recall)
self-verification evidence - seeking self-verifying interaction partners
participants indicate whether they’d prefer to interact with a positive or negative evaluator, participants with positive self-views chose positive evaluator whereas those with negative self-views chose negative evaluators (we prefer to interact with partners who evaluate us in the same way we see ourselves)
self-verification evidence - communicating self-views
male participants interacted with someone they expected would view them similarly or differently to how they viewed themselves and led to believe female partner saw them favourably or unfavourably, male participants behaved in ways that confirmed their existing self-views (especially when expecting interaction with incongruent evaluators to “correct” their view of you)
self-verification evidence - biased attention
participants were told another person had evaluated them and these evaluations were mixed with evaluations of someone else, participants spent longer reading the evaluations if they were consistent with participants’ self-views (we pay more attention to self-verifying information)
alternative explanations to self-verification - why would one choose negative evaluators?
flawed personalities (gives sense of coherence and makes world predictable), perceived similarity (like people who will affirm a view about us), winning converts (get people to see you how you see yourself)
cultural differences in self-verification
participants from India (collectivist) and US (individualist) completed questionnaires on self-views and had people evaluate them, when evaluation was congruent with self-views (eg. positive self-view + positive evaluation) they rated information as accurate, both Indians and Americans showed evidence of self-verification but this effect was stronger among Americans
functions of self-verification
non-self-verifying information can be costly, self-verification can promote survival (people who self-verify are more predictable to other group members), verification is adaptive (coherence, reduces anxiety, improves group functioning, reduces social stereotypes) - only exception to self-verification being adaptive is when you hold very negative self-views
self-enhancement vs self-verification - cognitive response
self-verification effect was stronger (SV = among people with negative self-views, negative feedback perceived to be more accurate, SE = negative feedback perceived to be less accurate than positive)
self-enhancement vs self-verification - affective response
self-enhancement effect was stronger (SE = negative feedback led to more negative mood, SV = people with negative self-views who received negative feedback had more positive mood)
self-enhancement vs self-verification - relationship quality response
depends on level of rejection risk (high (eg. dating) = SE > SV, low (eg. married) = SV > SE) - SE = negative partner evaluation led to lower perceived relationship quality, SV = among people with negative self-views, negative partner evaluation led to higher perceived relationship quality)
strategic self-verification (Bosson et al.)
people want their partner to view them positively on relationship-relevant dimensions (eg. loving, physical attractiveness) but prefer self-verifying evaluations on characteristics that are lower in relationship-relevance (eg. music ability)
self-assessment
we seek accurate information about ourselves even if that information is unfavourable - motivated to accurate assess ourselves via social comparison processes
self-assessment - upward social comparisons
people have positive responses to UCs (inspiration) - but need to consider relevance and attainability of the target’s success
self-assessment motivates pursuit of…
valid information about the self
self-verification motivates pursuit of…
information consistent with our existing self-views
self-enhancement motivates pursuit of…
information that puts us in a positive light
global (trait) self-esteem definition
a person’s overall self-evaluation or sense of self-worth
correlates of global self-esteem
academic achievement, physical health, psychological health (maybe interpersonal behaviour)
self-esteem methodological issues
shared method variance (self-report measures for self-esteem and outcome variable) and correlation does not imply causation
self-esteem longitudinal data
global self-esteem measured at age 11, 15 years later took assessment of mental health, physical health, economic prospects and criminal behaviour - found adolescent global self-esteem predicted better adjustment in early adulthood
self-esteem and antisocial behaviour
antisocial behaviour is associated with a particular form of very high self-esteem - ego-threat model (individuals who have over-inflated, unjustified views of themselves will aggress in response to self-threat)
narcissism
overinflated. sense of positive self-worth, feel superior to others, self-centred and entitled
testing the ego-threat model
participants completed measures of narcissism and global self-esteem and wrote an essay which was evaluated positively or negatively, participants had opportunity to aggress person who offended them with noise blast - global self-esteem did not predict aggression, those high in narcissism were more aggressive
self-esteem and antisocial behaviour discrepancy
types of antisocial behaviours examined in lab and real world might differ in the degree to which they have obvious repercussions in the real world and to which they are antisocial (noise blast may not be antisocial in real world)
implicit self-esteem definition
a global self-evaluation that people are unable or unwilling to report (implicit attitudes towards self which is usually positive)
implicit self-esteem measures
implicit egoism measures (name-letter preference, preference for partner’s initials and important dates), self-esteem Implicit Association Test, signature size
what does implicit self-esteem predict?
predicted nonverbal discomfort in an interview situation - in self-relevant interview, people with low implicit self-esteem were rated as more anxious than those with high, in self-irrelevant interview, implicit self-esteem didn’t predict rating of anxiety
increasing implicit self-esteem
pair “i” with positive traits (classical conditioning paradigm), computer game in which self-relevant information is paired with positive feedback (photos of people smiling)
self-esteem contingencies definition
the extent to which self-esteem is contingent upon particular conditions being met (domains or categories which a person bases their self-worth on more than other domains/categories)
domains of self-esteem contingencies
family, competition, appearance, academic, approval from others, virtue
self-esteem stability definition
the degree to which self-reported self-esteem varies
self-esteem stability is related to…
self-esteem contingency - eg. for students high in academic self-worth, state self-esteem was higher on college acceptance days than rejection days
self-esteem stability interaction with global self-esteem
people with high, unstable self-esteem (“fragile”) report they are more prone to anger and hostility and are more defensive
implicit and explicit self-esteem - high implicit and high explicit
secure self-esteem (stable, not defensive)
implicit and explicit self-esteem - high implicit and low explicit
glimmer of hope
implicit and explicit self-esteem - low implicit and high explicit
fragile self-esteem (unstable, defensive)
implicit and explicit self-esteem - low implicit and low explicit
nagging doubts about the self
self-enhancement and self-esteem
after failures, individuals with high self-esteem will self-affirm but individuals with low self-esteem will not - individuals with high self-esteem will enhance their personal self (self-esteem) but individuals with low self-esteem will enhance their collective self (collective self-esteem)
cross-cultural differences in self-esteem
self-esteem is a popular concept in North America, no direct translation of “self-esteem” in Japanese, self-esteem rated 2/20 in North American participants but 18/20 in Japanese participants
cross cultural differences in implicit self-esteem
no significant cultural differences, name-letter effect found in collectivist cultures
basic emotions
happiness, sadness, fear, anger, surprise, disgust
self-conscious emotions
embarrassment, guilt, shame, pride
features of self-conscious emotions
requires self-awareness and self-representations (self-concept), are cognitively complex, emerge later in life than basic emotions, do not have universally recognised facial expressions, motivate and regulate thoughts, feelings, behaviours, facilitate attainment of social goals
pride definition
experienced when people believe they are responsible for a socially valued outcome or that they are a socially valued person
recognising pride
need to see both face and body to accurately recognitive pride
cross-cultural similarities in pride
athletes from 2004 Olympic and Paralympic Games all displayed the pride expression in response to victory (evidence of innate pride expression)
functions of pride
expressing pride communicates success and social status to others, experiencing pride feels good and reinforces behaviour (motivates efforts to acquire skills that increase status and value to group)
types of experienced pride
authentic pride and hubristic pride
authentic pride
achievement-oriented, attributions are internal, unstable, controllable causes (“I am proud of what I did”)
hubristic pride
self-aggrandising, attributions are internal, stable, uncontrollable causes (“I am proud of who I am”)
investigating pride, self-esteem and narcissism
authentic pride associated with global self-esteem (increased authenticity, interpersonal functioning and mental health and increased antisocial behaviour), hubristic pride associated with narcissism (decreased authenticity, interpersonal functioning and mental health and increased antisocial behaviour)
are the types of pride distinct?
need differences in expression, neurobiological signs and functions for the types of pride to be distinct - current findings suggest we need context to tell them apart
guilt
attribute failure to controllable/changeable behaviours, makes you think about what you could do differently, associated with growth-oriented mindset
shame
attribute failure to core/unchangeable part of the self, makes you think about what would be different if you were a different person, associated with performance-oriented mindset
cross-cultural differences in shame
shame expression weaker in athletes from individualist cultures, Western athletes may be suppressing shame, congenitally blind athletes consistently showed shame after failure
functions of expressing guilt and shame
expressing guilt and shame serve a social function (boosts likeability) - increases change of group inclusion and forgiveness because increases perception of being a high moral character
experiencing guilt
experiencing guilt makes the person attempt to make amends or repair damage
experiencing shame
experiencing shame makes the person avoid others - want to be invisible and hide
examining shame and guilt in toddlers
toddler plays with toy and it breaks, measure guilt behaviour (confessing, trying to fix the toy) and shame behaviour (avoiding experimenter), measured prosocial behaviour in follow-up task (instrumental, empathic, altruistic) - sig. difference between guilt and shame prone children in empathic helping condition, guilt-prone children helped examiner significantly faster and more frequently than shame-prone children
self-conscious emotions over time
shame - highest in adolescence and towards end of life, guilt - increases and plateaus around 70, authentic pride - steadily increases over lifespan, hubristic pride - decreases from adolescence and picks up at 65+
aggression definition
behaviour directed towards the goal of harming another living being who is motivated to avoid such treatment
violence definition
when aggression becomes more physical in nature
sub-types of aggression
direct physical aggression, direct verbal aggression, indirect or relational aggression, reactive aggression, proactive regression
reactive aggression definition
a defensive response to provocation that is accompanied by anger
proactive aggression definition
a goal-directed, intentional and cold-blooded action which is unprovoked
theories of aggression
social cognitive theory, social information processing model and script model, general aggression model
theories of aggression - social cognitive theory
aggressive behaviours are modelled from others’ behaviours via vicarious or observational learning
theories of aggression - social information processing model and script model
children acquire aggressive cognitions through early experiences and socialisation
theories of aggression - general aggression model
views aggression propensity as resulting from a combination of inherent dispositions, the development and maintenance of aggression related knowledge structures (cognitive structures) and the person’s exposure to environmental factors that trigger these propensities thereby increasing the likelihood of aggressive action
general aggression model process
- person + situation affects emotional state which affects cognition and arousal 2. internal state of whether you’re the target or perpetrator makes you think about decision processes resulting in thoughtful or impulsive action 3. action results to some social encounter which then feeds back
genes and aggression
males with a variant in the monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) gene have an 8% reduction in the volume of the amygdala, anterior cingulate and prefrontal cortex which are the structures involved in emotion and impulsivity and are compromised in antisocial individuals
personality and aggression
individuals high in trait aggressiveness and trait irritability behaved more aggressively than those who were low in trait aggressiveness under both neutral and provoking conditions - people who are aggressive when situations are relatively neutral suggests they have the capacity to engage in a cold-blooded style of aggressive behaviour
environment and aggression - violent video games
exposure to violent video games increased aggressive behaviour, aggressive cognition and aggressive affect and decreased empathy and prosocial behaviour
why does playing violent videos games increase aggression?
violent video games requires the activation of aggressive scripts/schemas, repeated activation aggression related scripts/schemas makes it more automatic leading to relatively permanent changes in a person
strategies for aggression reduction
experimental research, school, family, government, community
strategies for aggression reduction - school
school enrichment programs should be focusing as early as possible, programs should be delivered by teachers, programs should involve the whole school environment not just the classroom, social-cognitive programming is best practice for school-based programs
strategies for aggression reduction - family
providing parents with some training and skills, exposure to pro-social video games, improved parental regulation of exposure to media violence
strategies for aggression reduction - community and government
self-control/self-regulation training strategies, availability of quality childcare facilities, community can advocate and encourage schools to participant in programs, community can get involved in improving school settings, teacher practices and school practices, government policy
strategies for aggression reduction - experimental research
don’t know how to directly reverse genetic predispositions to antisocial behaviour, antisocial and aggressive individuals have been found to have low serotonin levels so may think there may be medications that increase the availability of serotonin (eg. Prozac) that could be used to lower antisocial behaviours - ethically and with regard to public health this is not a common treatment
strategies for aggression reduction - community and government self-control training (SCT)
SCT (using non-dominant hand everyday for 2 weeks) over a 2-week period can decrease anger and aggression in response to provocation - SCT program is inexpensive and easy to deliver
strategies for aggression reduction - family exposure to pro-social video games
basic social cognitive processes of rehearsal should yield prosocial effects when video game content is primarily prosocial, prosocial gamers behaved less aggressively than neutral gamers - prosocial content seems to have suppressed the aggressive responses
benefits of playing video games
cognitive (shooter games improve spatial skills and more accurate attention allocation), motivational (persistence in face of failure), social (promote social skills such as cooperation, support and helping behaviours)
strategies for aggression reduction - family improved parental regulation of exposure to media violence
parents should watch a few children’s shows (or social media) themselves, plan viewing in advance and emphasise non-violent shows, monitor child’s actual viewing, watch some shows with child, provide interest alternative activities, explain false or exaggerated commercial claims, encourage legislation, TV organisations and advertisers to increase non-violent programming
negative effects of media violence
aggression effect (increased copy-cat and/or. self-directed violence), victim effect (increased fearfulness, mistrust and self-protectiveness), bystander effect (increased desensitisation and callousness)
strategies for aggression reduction - school social cognitive programming
- cue attention and interpretation - recognise and better understand triggers to become more empathic 2. script search and retrieval - exposure students to and train them to use prosocial behaviours 3. script evaluation - children evaluate which scripts are acceptable for particular situations and practice them 4. evaluation of environmental response - response from teachers/peers/parents about their prosocial script
pathways to aggression
aggression follows a reliable pathway from initial onset of minor aggression and finally to violence
sex discrimination definition
refers to any negative behaviour (including harassment) directed toward an individual because of their sex
gender pay gap in Australia
ACT has lowest pay gap, WA has highest pay gap, public. sector has lowest pay gap, health care and social services sector has higher pay gap, on average men earn 13.4% more than women
women in academia
2013 - 19.1% 2018 - 33.9%
women in law firms
percentage of female law graduates is around 50-60% but they only account for 24% of partners in law firms, system of billable hours could amount to sexual discrimination which acts as an impediment to women seeking partnership
workplace inequity - glass ceiling definition
a solid but invisible barrier which blocks women’s’ progress to higher managerial levels and creates a wage-gap between the two sexes
causes of glass ceiling effect (workplace inequity)
intragroup similarity and prototypicality, sex-role stereotypes, organisational structures
causes of glass ceiling effect (workplace inequity) - intragroup similarity
social identity approach suggests inequality may be because women are seen by those who appoint them (mainly men) to be less prototypical of the groups that are expected to lead than are men (ie. men appoint other men), women are less likely to be seen to define the leader prototype
causes of glass ceiling effect (workplace inequity) - sex role stereotypes
men fit cultural stereotypes of leadership and have better access to leader roles and face fewer challenges, women are socialised to be caring rather than assertive so go for low status positions which creates lack of motivation, confidence and aspirations which leads to restricted performance creating a vicious cycle
causes of glass ceiling effect (workplace inequity) - organisation structures
sexist wording on performance appraisals, differences in tasks assigned, training opportunities and mentoring relationships
the glass cliff - workplace inequity
female leaders are more likely to be appointed in a time of poor performance or when there is an increased risk of failure - lots of pressure attached to promotion (have to make hard decisions, time of risk)
benefits of gender diversity in the workplace
managerial gender diversity benefits sociocultural beliefs and financial returns, when cooperation and collaboration is actively encouraged, gender diversity resulted in superior performance for the organisation (and conversely too), relationship and task conflict were significantly lower in gender-diverse groups with a high climate for inclusion
government policies/schemes to address sex discrimination in the workplace
schemes to assistant families who are having children to establish some income so they can re-enter the workforce, child care subsidy making childcare more affordable for families, paid parental leave for the primary carer for 18 weeks and 2 weeks leave for partners
affirmative action definition - redressing past inequality and discrimination
policies and procedures which attempt to increase the representation of an underrepresented group in education or employment through the consideration in decision making of applicant race, sex or other protected group status
affirmative action - redressing past inequality and discrimination
positive discrimination policy, persistence of prejudice and discrimination is one of the reasons why AA policy is still needed, not highly supported policy because it is redressing and targeted certain groups
types of affirmation action plans/programs - type one plan
improving recruitment and hiring of minorities and females - increase female applicant pool but also identity top recruits early
types of affirmation action plans/programs - type two plan
hiring and promoting minorities and female applicants amongst a pool of equally qualified applicants - eg. two candidates with equal qualifications then appointment will go to minority or female
types of affirmation action plans/programs - type three plan
hiring and promoting minorities and female applicants based on minimum qualifications - minority or female meets minimum qualifications then they will get the position even if majority candidate has higher qualifications
types of affirmation action plans/programs - type four plan
searching for applicants until a suitable female or minority applicant is found who meets the qualifications for the position
making affirmative action plans more successful
receive endorsement from executive level, provide clear and persuasive communication about goals and justification for policy, emphasise self-interest aspects for beneficiaries of the program, identify factors that promote attitudinal and behaviour support
integrative model to make affirmative action plans more successful (TRA and ELM)
individuals with higher likelihood of engaging in affirmative action behaviour were more likely to support such policies, positive message processed centrally resulted in significantly more positive evaluative beliefs about affirmative action
supportive affirmative action attitudes
strong belief in prevalence of discrimination, support diversity, a woman, have lived experience of discrimination
not supportive of affirmative action attitudes
belief in merit, political conservatives, people who don’t believe in preferential treatment
workplace changes to address sex discrimination
changing promotion criteria from gender related terms to job related or performance related terms, ensuring workplace cultures are as gender neutral as possible, mentoring women on negotiating salaries, financial security and superannuation, educating employers on family friendly and effective flexible work practices, increasing availability of quality part-time work, equity fellowships
Strategic Promotions Advice and Mentoring (SPAM) Program
supporting level D (associate professor) women to apply for promotion to level E (professor) - led to 7-fold increase in number of women promoted to level E
having female leaders addresses the problem of prototypicality
having female managers reduces gender inequality among subordinates by reducing ingroup preference and stereotypes and increasing women’s access to career-enhancing social networks and mentoring opportunities
addressing gender stereotypes in academic research
interactive workshop, module 1 = origins of bias as a habit, module 2 = bias literacy (expectancy bias, gender norms, role congruity, redefining credential, stereotype priming, stereotype threat), module 3 = bias reduction (stereotype replacement, counter-stereotype imaging, perspective-taking, individuation, increasing opportunities for contact)
sexual minority prejudice definition
any negative attitude or emotion directed towards an individual because of his or her sexual minority status, including identifying as LGBT
sexual minority discrimination definition
any negative behaviour directed toward an individual because of his or her sexual minority status, including identifying as LGBT
homophobic bullying definition
verbal or physical violence related to the actual or perceived sexual orientation of the victims
minority stress hypothesis
sexual stigma, prejudice and discrimination create a hostile and stressful social environment that causes mental health problems
factors affecting poor mental health outcomes of LGBT individuals
general stressors, distal minority stressors (prejudiced events), proximal minority stressors (expectations of rejection, identity concealment, internalised homophobia)
influence of prejudiced media messages on poor mental health outcomes of LGBT individuals
exposure to prejudiced media messages related to same-sex marriage had less adverse effect on mental health of sexual minorities who perceived that their close social network voted in favour of marriage equality, exposure to supportive media messages was not related to poor mental health outcomes, exposure to support media messages had protective effect on mental health of those who perceived their close social network voted against marriage equality
measuring sexual minority prejudice
attitudes towards lesbians and gay men scale, attitudes towards homosexuality
prejudice toward same-sex parenting
negative attitudes towards gay men and lesbian women’s moral and legal rights to raise children, harsher criticism of their parenting skills, disapproval of their equitable access to adoption and family formation, negative beliefs about the social wellbeing of children raised by same-sex parents
transgeender discrimination
transgender hate crimes recorded by the FBI increased by 41% in the US and by 81% in England, Scotland and Wales, hostile social environment contributes to the 57.2% lifetime prevalence rate of depression and 39.9% lifetime prevalence of anxiety
measuring transgender prejudice
Barbir, Vandevender and Cohn’s 11-item scale measures negative and positive intentions towards transgender people
predictors of sexual minority discrimination
gender, social contagion concerns, religiosity
predictors of sexual minority discrimination - gender
heterosexual men report more negative attitudes towards sexual minorities than heterosexual women, sexual prejudice functions to establish one’s masculinity and to punish others who fail to adhere to traditional masculine norms and roles (masculinity and heterosexist norms much more important to men’s identity than femininity is to women’s)
predictors of sexual minority discrimination - social contagion concerns
being misidentified as gay or lesbian decreases one’s willingness to intervene on behalf of victims of homophobic bullying
predictors of sexual minority discrimination - religiosity
religiously affiliated individuals tend to report more prejudice against gay men and lesbian women and are less supportive of gay rights and marriage equality - driven by perceptions that the attitude-target is violating their religion’s value system
school-based anti-prejudice interventions
Gay-Straight Alliances (GSA), have volunteers from LGB community visit schools to share their coming out and personal life experiences, United Nations has a published practical guide for the development and implementation of anti-homophobic bullying interventions
school-based anti-prejudice interventions - Gay-Straight Alliances
involved extracurricular school clubs which encourage LGB and other students to meet and organise activities often assisted by teachers, creating a safe and non-judgmental school environment
intergroup contact to reduce sexual minority discrimination
when groups have equal status, cooperate, have common goals and authorities support intergroup contact, a person with a negative attitude towards a group develops more positive attitudes after interacting with an individual form that group which generalised toward the entire outgroup, reducing sexual prejudice
positive outcomes of intergroup contact - reducing sexual minority discrimination
fosters greater empathy and trust, less perceived threat from the outgroup and less anxiety toward the outgroup, provides an opportunity for member from the disadvantaged group to share their experiences of discrimination, reduces stereotypes and negative beliefs, helps one identify more strongly with the outgroup
e-contact and reducing sexual minority prejudice
equal status is achieved by matching participants and outgroup members on demographic variables, participants view themselves as a virtual team cooperating towards a common goal that is supported by an authority sanctioning the online interaction
will heterosexual men or heterosexual women benefit more from e-contact with an outgroup member who identified as homosexual?
more effective for heterosexual men than heterosexual women but only when the outgroup member was lesbian women
will heterosexual men or heterosexual women benefit more from e-contact with an outgroup member who identified as transgender?
effecttive for cisgender men only - women didn’t have prejudice towards trans women to reduce (at floor level)
social influence theory
the influence of group norms, attitudes and behaviours that are held in common by members of a group and characterise the group as distinct from another social group
reducing prejudice towards gay parents - social influence theory
highly supportive group attitude about gay parents improves attitudes’ towards the social context of gay parents
racial discrimination and health in Australia
for non-indigenous and ATSI individuals, 8.6 year gap for men and 7.8 year gap for women in life expectancy
measuring racial discrimination - subjective measures
perceived racism scale (PRS), racial and life experiences scale (RALES) and daily life experiences (DLE) subscale, everyday discrimination scale (EDS), cultural issues scale (rate seriousness of blatant/subtle discrimination events)
measuring racial discrimination - objective measures
discrimination in tipping - found both White and Black consumers discriminated against Black service providers by tipping them less than White service providers
measuring racial discrimination - correspondence testing study
sent carefully matched pairs of written job applications only difference was ethnicity of applicant (White Anglo Australia, Greek Australians, Vietnamese Australians) - Vietnamese applicants denied interview on 1/3 of the occasions, Greek male applicants denied an interview on 1/5 of the occasions and. Greek female applicants denied 1/10 of the occasions
measuring racial discrimination - audit discrimination study
sent fake CVs to employers to obtain experimental measure of relationship between job call-backs and racial soundingness of applicant’s name - Chinese and Middle Easterners had to submit at least 50% more applications to receive same number of call-backs as Anglo candidates
not all majorities racially discriminate
if you have the mindset of individualism and integration as a majority member, you will be welcoming of racial minorities. if you’re at the high racism end of the scale you’re more likely to have negative attitudes towards racial minorities and tend to be more of a supporter of assimilation and separation attitudes
top-down approach to reducing racism
government strategies and policies
bottom-up approach to reducing racism
inclusions in school and university curricula
government strategies to reducing racism
national anti-racism strategy, ‘racism stops with me’, workplace cultural diversity toolkit
government strategies to reducing racism - national anti-racism strategy
to promote a clear understanding in the Australian community of what racism is and how it can be prevented and reduced
government strategies to reducing racism - ‘racism stops. with me’
asked organisations to pledge their commitment to tolerance and anti-racism by becoming formal campaign supporters
government strategies to reducing racism - workplace. cultural diversity toolkit
tool intended to help organisations employ the best person for the job, maximise the benefits of a culturally diverse workforce and minimise the risk of complains of discrimination
improving intergroup relationship between Muslims and Christian
integrate Dual Identity and Electronic-Contact (DIEC) tenets into a 9 week classroom intervention - students had to think of ways their religious identities can actively contribute to an environmentally sustainable Australia, reduction in intergroup bias was found and maintained
reducing racism towards Aboriginal Australians research
Australian university-based prejudice reduction strategy, students given series of lectures about collectivist nature of Aboriginal cultures, prejudice and its effect on Aboriginal children, false beliefs surrounding Aboriginals, culture biases of white IQ tests, societal causes of their poor academic performance - saw promising results but follow-up occurred immediately after intervention (need more of a long-term follow-up)
