SOC Chp. 8 Social process, Attitudes & Behaviors

Question 1

What is Max Weber’s description of social action?

Answer 1

actions and behaviors that individuals are conscious of and performing because others are around

Question 2

What is sofical facilicaiton?

Answer 2

the phenomenon that people perform better when they know they are being watched

Question 3

What is Dodson’s law of Social facilitation?

Answer 3

In the presence of others, you perform better at a task you are already good at, and worse at a task you aren’t.

Question 4

What is deindividuation?

Answer 4

being in the presence of a group causes one to lose their individuality and become an anonymous part of the group

Question 5

What can deindividuation lead to?

Answer 5

antinormative behavior - anonymity makes one act in a manner inconsistent with his normal self as seen in riots.

Question 6

What is social loafing?

Answer 6

an individual is less likely to put in effort when in a group setting

Question 7

What is the standard for peer pressure?

Answer 7

people are equal within the social group - there is no imbalance of power

Question 8

What can peer pressure lead to?

Answer 8

Identity shift and Cognitive dissonance

Question 9

What is Cognitive dissonance?

Answer 9

A simultaneous discomfort of 2 opposing thoughts or opinions that leads to an internal state of discomfort which can lead to anxiety, fear, confusion, or anger

Question 10

Describe Solomon Asch’s conformity experiment.

Answer 10

a group of male college students were shown a card with 3 lines and asked to match the length of the lines to another card with lines A, B, and C

Question 11

What did Solomon Asch’s conformity experiment illustrate?

Answer 11

His experiment showed that individuals will often conform to the opinion held by a group even if they know it is untrue. the urge toward conformity outweighs the desire to provide the correct answer

Question 12

What is group polarization?

Answer 12

the tendency of a group to make decisions that are more extreme than the ideas of the individual members

Question 13

What 2 decisions could come from group polarization?

Answer 13

Risky shift - a shift toward more riskier decisions and behaviors
Choice shift - a shift towards more cautious decisions of behaviors

Question 14

What is Irving Janis Groupthink?

Answer 14

the desire for harmony or conformity in a group leads to them making an incorrect or poor decision

Question 15

What are Irving Janis’s 8 factors of Groupthink?

Answer 15

I1. illusion of invulnerability - the creation of optimism and encouragement of risk-taking
2. Collective rationalization - ignoring warnings against the ideas of the group
3. The illusion of morality - the belief that the group’s decision is moral
4. Excessive stereotyping - construction of stereotypes against outside opinions
5. Pressure for conformity - pressure to put on anyone who expresses opinions against the group, viewing the opposition as disloyal.
6. Self-censorship - the withholding of opposing views
7. Illusion of unanimity - a false sense of agreement within the group
8. Mindguards - the appointment of members to the role of protecting against opposing views

Question 16

What is the difference between informative and normative influence?

Answer 16

informative influence - look to the group for guidance when you don’t know what to do, and ask what to do.
Normative influence - even if you know what’s right, do what the group does to avoid social rejection

Question 17

What is the diff b/w cultural assimilation and multiculturalism?

Answer 17

assimilation is usually an uneven merging of cultures; a melting point. multiculturalism is a celebration of coexisting cultures; a mosaic

Question 18

What is subculture?

Answer 18

groups of people within a culture that distinguish themselves from the primary culture to which they belong

Question 19

What is Cultural learning/transmission?

Answer 19

how society socializes its members

Question 20

What is Cultural diffusion?

Answer 20

the spread of norms, customs, and beliefs throughout the culture

Question 21

What is the diff b/w primary and secondary socialization?

Answer 21

Primary socialization occurs during childhood when we learn acceptable actions and attitudes in our society by watching our parents and other adults around us. Secondary socialization occurs outside of the home and is based on learning the rules of specific social environments

Question 22

What is the diff b/w anticpiatry socialization and resocialization?

Answer 22

Anticipatory socialization - the process by which a person prepares for future changes in occupation, living situation, or relationship
Resocialization - when one discards old behaviors in favor of a new one to make a life change. Can be a positive or negative change

Question 23

What is a folkway?

Answer 23

normas that refer to behaviors that are considered polite in particular social interactions

Question 24

What are the diff b/w differential association and strain theory of deviance

Answer 24

Differential association theory - Deviance can be learned through interactions with others
Strain theory - deviance is a natural reaction to the disconnect between social goals and social structure.

Question 25

What is the diff b/w internalization and identification?

Answer 25

internalization is accepting others’ ideas and changing internal thoughts to agree with the ideas, and identification is acceptance of the idea on the surface level without personally taking on these ideas

Question 26

What did Asch’s Experiment On Normative Conformity demonstrate?

Answer 26

the desire to fit into a group because of fear of rejection

Question 27

What is the diff b/w compliance and obedience?

Answer 27

Compliance - behavior change based on the direct request from a person with no power or authority
Obedience - changing behavior at the direct request of an authoritative figure

Question 28

What did the Stanley Milgram Electric Shock Experiment demonstrate?

Answer 28

1. “just world phenomenon” – the belief good things happen to good people, and vice versa. Some people use this to justify their actions.
2. self-serving bias – that we could never commit acts like this
3. Fundamental attribution error – the tendency to believe that others in out-groups behave a certain way based on inherent personalities/flaws.

Question 29

What did Philip Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment on Internalization Experiment demonstrate?

Answer 29

1. Showed us how the influence situations can affect our behavior, and how internalizing our role can influence our behavior
2. Showed us that it becomes much easier to behave badly towards individuals who suffer from deindividualization (loss of self)
3. Showed that bad behavior can result from cognitive dissonance

Question 30

What is Social Cognition?

Answer 30

how people think about others and how these ideas impact behavior

Question 31

What influences our attitude?

Answer 31

the expression of feelings towards a person usually from the experience of the effect of others’ opinions and behaviors
The effective - emotional component
Behavioral - a way a person acts concerning something
Cognitive - the way an individual thinks about something

Question 32

What are the 4 functions attitude serves according to the functional attitude theory?

Answer 32

1. Knowledge - knowing the attitudes of others helps predict their behavior
2. Ego-expression - allows us to communicate and solidify our self-identity
3. Adaptive - the idea that one will be accepted if socially acceptable attitudes are expressed
4. Ego-defense - helps protect our self-esteem or justify the actions that we know are wrong

Question 33

What does the Social cognitive theory on atttidue state?

Answer 33

people learn how to behave and shape attitudes by directly observing the behavior of others

Question 34

What does the Learning theory on attitude state?

Answer 34

attitudes are developed through forms of learning such as direct contact instruction and conditioning

Question 35

What does the Elaboration likelihood model on attitude state?

Answer 35

attitudes are formed and changed through different routes of information processing based on the degree of elaboration.

Question 36

What is the diff b/w central route processing?

Answer 36

Central (deep thinking) - scrutinizing and analyzing the content of persuasive information
peripheral (low elaboration) - focusing on superficial details of persuasive information such as appearance, catchphrases, credibility, and slogans

Question 37

What are the 3 interactive factors of Bandura’s Triadic reciprocal causation?

Answer 37

behavioral, personal, and environmental

Question 38

What does Bandura’s Triadic reciprocal causation state?

Answer 38

behavior is developed through direct observation and replication of the actions of others, and in tandem with the influence of personal factors, and the environment in which we observe the behavior