Psych Ch. 13 Flashcards
Define social psychology
Is the scientific study of how we think about,
influence, and relate to others (or the imagined presence of others)
What do social psychologists do?
Use scientific methods to study social behavior (empirical approach)
What are the thee main themes in social psychology?
*Social thinking
*Social influence
*Social relations
What are attributions?
The reasons we provide for why others do what they do
What is attribution theory?
People are motivated to explain their own
and other people’s behavior by attributing causes of that behavior to a situation or a
disposition
What are the two types of attribution?
-External/Situational attribution
-Internal/Dispositional attribution
What is external/situational attribution?
something in the situation or
environment caused the behavior
What is internal/dispositional attribution?
something in the person (e.g., traits
or motive) caused the behavior
What is the fundamental attribution error?
The tendency, when analyzing others’ behavior, to over-estimate the influence of
personal traits and underestimate the effect of the situation
What is the exception of the FAE
*We’re NOT prone to the fundamental
attribution error when explaining our
OWN behavior
*We have something called “self-
serving biases” –habits of thinking
that make us feel good about
ourselves
What is the central route of persuasion?
offers evidence and arguments to trigger
thoughtful responses
What is the peripheral route of persuasion
uses incidental cues to try to produce fast
but relatively thoughtless changes in
attitudes
What are the two factors of central route persuasion
motivation and oppurtunity
Define motivation in using central route of persuasion
People will be more likely to process information through the central route when
they are highly motivated, and when they have the knowledge or expertise to understand the information
Define opputunity in using central route persuasion
Central route is effective when people have sufficient time and freedom from distraction, and when the information is not overwhelmingly complex relative to their knowledge
When we don’t have time to analyze all the issues, we often use the _________________ by using simple rule-of-thumb heuristics
Peripheral route persuasion
What did Leon Festinger come up with?
Cognitive dissonance Theory
What is cognitive dissonance?
The tension (discomfort) that arises when our
attitudes are inconsistent with our behavior or when we are simultaneously aware of two conflicting attitudes
When does cognitive dissonance impact people
When people can’t change their behavior, they’ll often change their attitudes instead to reduce arousal
What is social norms:
Written/unwritten guidelines for how to behave in social contexts
Social Roles
Specific set of behaviors that are associated with a position in a group
What is comformity?
A change in behavior due to the real or
imagined influence of others
What is the chameleon effect?
The nonconscious mimicry of the postures, mannerisms, and facial expressions of one’s
interaction partner
Mimicked versus non mimicked tips
*Mimicked tipped 81% of time (average = $2.11)
*Non-mimicked tipped 61% of time (average = $1.25)
_____ of the participants
conformed at least once, giving an
answer they knew to be wrong.
75%
What is obedience?
Social influence in which a person complies
with a direct request
What is obedience to authority
to leaders, bosses, parents, police, doctors, experts, teachers…
What was main factor that increased obedience in the Staneey Milgrim experiments.
Having an admin shock
What was the main factor that decreased obedience on the stanley milgrim experiment?
disobedient leader
What is normative social influence
People sometimes conform because they want to be liked or they fear rejection
Informational social influence?
But sometimes they also conform to be right: because they believe others know what to do better than they do
What are social norms
are rules or expectations, written or unwritten, on how people should behave
What are social roles
are shared expectations by group members how particular people in the group are supposed to behave
Internalized of uniform
*Power
*Attitudes
*Social perception
What is the bystander effect?
The greater the number of bystanders who witness an emergency, the less likely any one of them will help
Why does the bystander effect happen?
-diffusion of responsibility
What is pluralistic ignorance.
A false impression of how others are thinking, feeling, or responding
People were more or less likely to report smoke pouring into a room when they were in a group
less
What is social facilitaiton
The presence of others arouses people, improving performance on easy or well-learned tasks but decreasing performance on
difficult tasks
What is social loafing?
Tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable
What are the causes of social loafing?
*Acting as part of group and feeling less accountable (their individual performance can’t be evaluated)
*Feeling individual contribution does not matter
*Taking advantage when there is lack of identification with the group
What is Groupthink?
a tendency for all members of a group to
think alike for the sake of harmony and to suppress disagreement
Through _____________ people
associate themselves with others and
form groups
social identities
Define ingroup
Social definition of who we are—and are not (outgroup)
Define outgroup
are people not in our group, who are perceived as different
What is ingroup bias?
Favoring of our own group
What is explicit prejudice?
conscious, controlled, effortful
What is implicit prejudice?
unconscious, automatic, rapid
When do we rely on implicit systems?
When we lack oppertunity and motivation
What is reflexive body language?
Unconscious body language
What is unconcious patronization?
Lower expectations, inflated praise and insufficient criticism for minority student
achievement
Define attitude
feelings, often influenced by our beliefs, that predispose us to respond in a particular way to objects, people, and events
What is the foot in the door phenomenon?
The tendency for people who have agreed to a small request to comply late to a larger request.
How does role-playing impact attitides
Training people to role play things like torture makes them able to torture with less guilt and remorse
What is conformity?
Adjusting our behavior or thinking to coincide with a group or standard
When are people most likely to conform?
-they are made to feel incompetent
-at least three people
-in a group where everyone agrees
-admire the groups status
-not made a prior commitment to a response
-know that others are observing them
What is deindividuation?
the loss of self awareness and restraint occurring in a group or situation that foster arousal and anonumity (SP)
What is group polarization?
The enhancement of a groups prevailing inclinations through discussion within a group
Define stereotype
a generalized (sometimes accurate) belief about a group of people
Define discrimination
unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group or its members
What is the just-world phenomenon
tendency for people to believe the world is just and people therefore get what they deserve and deserve what they get
What is scapegoat theory?
The theory that prejudice offers an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame
What is the other-race effect?
The tendency to recall faces of ones own race more accurately than faces of other races.
Define aggression
any physical or verbal behavior intended to harm someone physically or emotionally
What is the frustration-aggression principle?
principle that frustration- the blocking of an attempt to achieve some goal- creates anger. which generates aggression
Define social script
A culturally modeled guide for how to act in various situations
What is the mere exposure effect?
The tendency for repeated exposure to novel stimuli to increase our liking of them
define equity
a condition where people receive from a relationship in porportion to what they give to it
what is self disclosure?
act of revealing intimate aspects of ourselves to otehrs
What are the three steps of the bystander effect?
-notice
-interpret
-assume responsability
What is social exchange theory?
Theory that our social behavior is an exchange process, the aim of which is maximize benefit and minimize cost
What is the reciprocity norm
the expectation that people will help those needing their help
What is the social responsibility norm
the expectation that people will help those needed their help
What is conflict?
percieved incompatibility of actions goals or ideas
Mirror image perceptions
mutual views often held by conflicting parties, as when each side sees itself as ethical and peaceful and the other as having destructive behavior
What is self fufilling prophecy?
a belief that leads to its own fufillment
What are superordinate goals?
Shared goals that override differences among people and require their cooperation
