Social Flashcards
Social Cognition
Making sense of information around us
Social Perception
- Understand and make judgements of other people’s behaviours
Social Interaction
Process by which people interact with each other
Person Perspective
Characteristics that individuals carry into social situations
- E.G. Self esteem, extraversion
Situational Perspective
Environmental and circumstances outside of the person’s control
- E.G. Social norms in Uni vs in a pub
Attribution Theory
Giving a casual explanation for someone’s behavior, crediting either internal dispositions (personality) or external situations
Covariation Model
People ask themselves questions to determine if they will make an internal or external attribution
- Consistency information: Does the actor behave the same toward the stimulus in different situations
- Consensus Information: Do other people behave the same toward the stimulus?
- Distinctiveness Information: Does the actor behave the same toward different stimuli?
Correspondence Bias/Fundamental Attribution Error
Tendency to over-attribute behaviour to personality traits and underestimate situational influence
- E.G. See someone speeding and assume they are reckless driver
Quiz Show Paradigm
Attitudes
Organisation of belief, feelings and behaviour tendencies toward people
Measurements of attitudes
- Explicit attitudes - Conscious
E.G. People fake their response because they don’t want reseracher to think negatively of them - Implict attitudes - Unconscious
Implicit Association Test (HAT)
Findings: If you have pre-existing association between “flowers and good words” it should take you longer to respond to “flower and bad words”
Theory of Reasoned Action
- Behavior change is determined by the intention to perform a behavior
- See docs
Theory of Planned Behaviour
- Easy or difficulty of performing behaviour added to Theory of Reasoned Action
- See docs
Cognitive Dissonances
- State of conflict after they make a particular decision
- Makes us feel unpleasant so we are motivated to CHANGE BEHAVIOUR, CHANGE OPINION, ADD NEW COGNITIONS
Reasons for Attitude Shift
- Motivational - Reduce tension of holding two opposing beliefs
- Purely Cognitive - Observe own behaviour
Elaboration Likelihood Model
- How people can be persuaded
- See docs
Elaboration Likelihood Model: CENTRAL ROUTE
- Thinks carefully about the message
- Pay attention to quality of argument
Elaboration Likelihood Model: PERIPHERAL MODEL
Emotional appeal
Stereotypes
Characteristics and beliefs about a group
Prejudice
Positive or negative attitude towards a group
Discrimination
Harmful behaviour towards a group
Causes of Stereotypes
- Social Identity Theory - Categorise people into “us” and “them” groups
- Stereotypes are transmitted through culture and society
Causes of Prejudice
- Social Identity Theory - Categorise people into “us” and “them” groups
- Competition over scarce resources
Compliance
People try to persuade your opinion attitude
Conformity
Tendency for people to adopt the attitudes of other members of a reference group
Obedience
Compliance with an authority figure
Types of Social Influence
- Informational Influence - individuals desire behaving in the “correct” way
- Normative influence - individuals desire to be accepted
Informational Social Influence - Autokinetic Effect
- Participant asked to judge how far a light moved, when light did not actually move
- Findings: Participants make their estimate in a group setting, and over time, the estimates of the group converged
- PRIVATE ACCEPTANCE
Normative Social Influence - Line Studies
- People seated around a table with only one real participant and other are working with the experiment
- Findings: Overall 33% of trials in which fake participants gave wrong answer, the real participants gave the same wrong answer
- PUBLIC COMPLIANCE
Factors Affecting Conformity
- Ambiguity
- Need to be accurate
- Unanimity
- Admiration of the status of the group
Minority Influence
- Numerical or power minority can change the behaviours of the majority
Moscovici, Lage, & Naffrechoux (1969)
- Findings: When minority was consistent, real participants conformed 9% of the time
- Findings: When minority was inconsistent, real participants conformed 2% of the time
Conversion Effect
- Minority influence brings about private acceptance in the attitudes of a majority
- Many majority groups are not strong believers
Obedience
Compliance with an authority figure
Milgram’s (1963)
- Everytime learner gets something wrong, he gets shocked by teacher and increases by 15V every time but shock machine is fake
- 26 participants out of 40 only stopped at 450V
Why do we obey?
- Informational social influence
- Normative social influence
- Self Justification
- Loss of personal responsibility
Prosocial Behaviour
Behaving in a way that is good for other people or society
Helping Behaviour
Acts that intentionally benefit someone else
Altruism
Help other people even when there is
- No apparent personal gain
- Potential costs to helper
Social Norms
Expectations for a group regarding acceptable and appropriate attitudes and behaviours
Evolutionary Social Psychology
- Kin Selection (natural selection of favourable behaviours)
- Reciprocity
- Mutually cooperative behaviour
Social Exchange Theory
People will help if benefits outweigh costs
Social Roles
Socially defined pattern of behaviour that is expected of a person
Altruistic Helping
Motivated by empathy
- Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis - empathise with someone that gives rise to altruistic motivation to help others
Egoistic Helping
Motivated to get something in return
- Negative-State Relief Hypothesis - help to feel better about yourself
Influences on Prosocial Behaviour
- Individual Differences
- Situational Factors
Influences on Prosocial Behaviour: INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES
- Personality
- Gender
- Mood
Influences on Prosocial Behaviour: SITUATIONAL FACTORS
Bystander Effect - people are less likely to help in the presence of others than when alone
5 Step Model
- Notice the event
- Interpret the event as emergency
- Assume responsibility
- Know appropriate form of assistance
- Implement decision
Proximity/Propinquity
The more we see and interact with person, the more we like them
Mere Exposure Effect
- Repeated exposure to an object results in greater attraction to that object
- Can be positive or negative
Reciprocity
- We like those who like us
- We dislike those who dislike u
Similarity
- Similarity in terms of opinions, attitudes and interest
- Not necessarily personality traits
Similarity Promotes Attraction
- Similar others have qualities we like
- Similar others validate our beliefs
- We make negative inferences about people who disagree with us
Passionate Love
- Ecstatic
- Physically arousing
- Desire for physical contact
- Sadness when things are not going well
Companionate Love
- Intimate
- Soul mates
- Commitment to the relationship
Good and Bad in Relationships
- Positive behaviours: Validating and expressing appreciation
- Negative behaviours: criticism, contempt, defensiveness, stonewalling
Attributions for partner’s behaviour
- Internal for positive and external for negative behaviours (in more satisfying relationships)
- External for positive and internal for negative behaviours (in less satisfying relationships)
