sac 2 (attitude) Flashcards
cognition
the mental process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience and senses.
social cognition
how we interpret, analyse, remember and draw conclusions about personal characteristics of others.
attribution (2 types)
personal/ dispositional attribution
explanation for the characteristics of the person involved (eg, personality, attitudes, mood)
situational attribution
explanation for the factors external to the person involved(eg. another person, the environment, the task)
bias
inclination or prejudice for or against one person or group, especially in a way the is considered unfair
fundamental attribution error
tendency to overestimate the influence of personal factors and underestimate the input of situational factors.
actor-observer bias
tendency to attribute our own behaviour to external/ situational causes, yet attribute other peoples behaviour to internal factors.
self serving bias
when judging ourselves we tend to take the credit for success and attribute failures to situational factors
cultural attributions
individualist culture
independence is valued and encouraged. personal goals are more important than group goals
collectivist culture
achieving a group goal is more important
attitude
evaluation a person makes about an object, person, group, event or issue. an attitude is consistent and long lasting and can either be positive, negative of neutral
tri-component model
A - affective component - emotions, feelings
B - behavioural component - your actions
C - cognitive component - what you think
all must be present for an attitude to exist
inconsistency with tri component model
sometimes our behaviour is not consistent with how we think or feel about something
cognitive dissonance
feeling of guilt or anxiety when there is inconsistency with our feelings thoughts and behaviour
classical conditioning
a form of learning that occurs through repeated association or pairing of two things
operant conditioning
learning that involves repeating behaviour in response to rewards(positive reinforcement) and decreasing behaviour in response to punishment (negative reinforcement)
social learning
the way we develop or change our attitudes after observing other people, especially people we are close to
repeated exposure
an attitude being formed simply from being constantly around an object, event or person
stereotypes
a collection of beliefs that we have about the people who belong to a certain group, regardless of individual differences among the members.
when we evaluate people we tend to group people into a category based on pre existing knowledge. they help us make sense of social situations quickly
disadvantages of stereotypes
ignores individual differences, can be based on inaccurate or inadequate information, judges people unfairly and can easily lead to prejudice
prejudice
holding a negative attitude towards members of a group based solely on their membership of that group
prejudice types
old fashioned prejudice (explicit)
openly thinks negatively of others
modern prejudice (implicit)
subtle expression of prejudice, more socially acceptable ways
ingroup
group you are a part of, or majority
outgroup
group you are not in, or minority
discrimination
behaviour that is directed towards a social group and its members based on prejudice
discrimination types
direct discrimination
a person treats negatively on purpose
indirect discrimination
when treating everyone the same disadvantages some people
methods to reduce prejudice (4)
intergroup contact
cognitive interventions
education
direct experience
intergroup contact
sustained contact
mutual interdependence
superordinate goals
equality of status
the contact hypothesis
certain types of direct contact between members of different groups can reduce prejudice. getting to people in the other groups can break down stereotypes
direct experience
directly experiencing another culture or lifestyle. can result in better knowledge and understanding and can reduce ignorance
education
formation of prejudice can be impeded through education programs in schools where children are taught about tolerance and consequences of prejudice and discrimination
cognitive interventions
changing the way we think in which someone thinks about prejudice, can be done by understanding individual characteristics
personal space
level of personal space given by another when first meeting is considered when making a judgement about someone
halo effect
bias in which the impression we form about a quality of a persons physical appearance influences our expectation about the persons other qualities.
non-verbal impressions
eye contact, facial expression, body language
effects of discrimination
low self esteem
