Social Flashcards
social psychology
the “scientific study of how individuals’ thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by other people”
social perception
ways in which people try to make sense of themselves and others
self-perception theory (Bem, 1972)
when internal cues are weak or difficult to interpret, people make inferences about their own attitudes and feelings in the same way they make inferences about the attitudes and feelings of others;
people infer what they think or feel by observing their own behavior and the situation in which the behavior takes place
epinephrine studies (Schachter and Singer, 1962)
subjects were injected with epinephrine (adrenaline) and assigned to 1 of 3 groups:
1) informed group: told about the effects of the drug in advance;
2) misinformed group: given wrong information about the drug’s effects;
3) ignorant group: given no information about the drug’s effects;
subjects waited in room with confederate who acted either euphoric or angry;
misinformed and ignorant subjects adopted the affect of the confederate;
conclusion: subjects looked to the external environment to explain their own internal state when the situation was ambiguous
overjustification hypothesis
providing an external reward to people for performing an intrinsically rewarding activity reduces their intrinsic interest in that activity
Lepper, Greene, and Nisbett (1973)
3 groups of children who liked to draw with markers were told to use them:
1) receive reward for drawing with markers and subsequently given the reward
2) not told they would receive a reward but were given a reward
3) not told about or given the reward
during free play, children in group 1 showed less interest in markers than children in group 2 and 3
conclusion: children in the expected reward condition concluded that their interest in using the markers was motivated by the external reward rather than intrinsic interest
social comparison theory (Festinger, 1954)
people learn about themselves by comparing themselves to others, especially when objective information is not available;
people compare themselves to others who are similar in relevant ways
self-verification theory (Swann, Pelham, & Krull, 1989)
people seek confirmation of their self-concept regardless of whether their self-concept is positive or negative;
ppl interact with others who confirm their self-concept; pay attention to, recall, and believe information that is consistent with their self-concept
self-verification theory and depression
the tendency to verify negative self-views increases vulnerability to and perpetuation of depression (Joiner, 2000)
impression management
strategies that people use to manage or control the impressions that others have of them
types of impression management
self-promotion, self-monitoring, self-handicapping
self-Promotion
conveying positive information to others through one’s actions or statements (displaying awards or plaques for others to see or by telling people about one’s accomplishments)
self-monitoring (Snyder, 1987)
tendency to monitor and adjust one’s behavior to fit the situation;
ppl high are concerned about what other ppl think of them - good at determining what behaviors and opinions are socially desirable or expected in a situation and at concealing their true feelings and opinions;
ppl low are guided by their own beliefs, values, and feelings and, as a result, act similarly in different situations
self-handicapping
involves purposely sabotaging one’s performance to “save face” (provide an excuse for one’s failures);
student might put off studying for an important test so can attribute poor performance to a lack of preparation rather than a lack of ability
social judgments
judgments that people make about themselves and others
confirmation bias
tendency to seek, interpret, and remember information that verifies (and thereby strengthens) one’s existing beliefs
pseudopatient study (Rosenhan, 1973)
8 confederates admitted themselves to mental hospitals w/ complaint of hearing voices;
once admitted these “pseudopatients” acted normally;
patients knew they were lying but professionals didn’t
self-fulfilling prophecy effect
a person’s expectations about the behavior of others can lead to fulfillment of those expectations
Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968)
told elementary teachers that certain students (randomly selected) were on the verge of an intellectual growth spurt;
8 months later, found that only the “intellectual bloomers” had significant gains in IQ scores, apparently because their teachers had treated them differently
Barnum effect
tendency to accept vague descriptions of oneself (horoscopes and psychic readings) as accurate
false consensus bias
tendency to overestimate the degree to which others are similar to us in terms of their beliefs and behaviors
Ross, Greene, and House (1977)
asked participants if they would be willing to walk around campus wearing an advertising board;
after getting each participant’s answer, they was asked to estimate how many other students would make the same choice, and the majority of both groups (those who said either yes or no) predicted that other ppl would make the same decision they did
illusory correlation
tendency to overestimate the relationship between events or other variables that are unrelated or only slightly related;
attributed to the tendency to remember the times when events co-occurred but to forget the times when they did not co-occur
gambler’s fallacy
false belief that the likelihood of a random event is affected by or can be predicted from previous independent events
heuristics
mental shortcuts that people use to quickly form judgments or make decisions
representativeness heuristic
judging the likelihood of an event based on its resemblance to the typical case rather than on base rate information;
thinking that because one is wearing a suit and tie that they are a lawyer, b/c they look like the stereotype of a lawyer
availability heuristic
judging the likelihood of an event based on how easy it is to recall information about the event
Tversky and Kahneman (1973)
asked subjects if there are more words that begin with “r” or words that have “r” as the 3rd letter;
majority chose the former even though there are actually more words that have “r” as the third letter;
subjects made an incorrect choice b/c it was easier for them to recall words that begin with the letter “r”
simulation heuristic
judging the likelihood of an event based on how easy it is to mentally simulate (imagine) the event
Medvec, Madey, and Gilovich (1995)
Olympic athletes who had won silver were less happy about their win than athletes who won bronze b/c it was easier for silver medalists to imagine they could have won a gold medal
anchoring and adjustment heuristic
identifying an initial starting point (the anchor) and then making adjustments up and down from that point when estimating a frequency or other quantity;
accuracy or usefulness of this heuristic depends on the validity of the anchor
Epley and Gilovich (2002)
asked subjects to identify temp vodka freezes - most chose 32 degrees F (temp water freezes) as their anchor and adjusted downward because they knew that alcohol freezes at a lower temp than water;
the average temp identified was 1.75 degrees but actual temp is -20 degrees;
the subjects’ anchor was considerably above the actual temp and, as a result, their estimates were too high
causal attributions
specific type of social judgment that involves determining the cause of behavior
Attribution Dimensions
locus (internal or external), stability (stable or unstable), and scope (global or specific)
relationship-enhancing attributions
attribute a partner’s positive actions to internal, stable, and global factors (got me a great birthday gift b/c she’s considerate) but attribute a partner’s negative actions to external, unstable, and specific factors (yelled at me b/c of stress at work lately
relationship-diminishing attributions
attribute a partner’s positive actions to external, stable, and specific factors (got gifts only b/c kids reminded) but attribute a partner’s negative actions to internal, stable, and global factors (yelled at me b/c he’s an ornery person)
fundamental attribution error
underestimate the impact of situational (external) factors and overestimate the role of dispositional (internal) factors
Jones and Harris (1967) fundamental attribution error
read a speech presumably written by another student and either favored or opposed Fidel Castro;
some were told that the writer had freely chosen to take a position for the speech, while others were told the writer was assigned a position by the instructor;
after reading the speech, asked about the writer’s true attitude toward Castro;
majority attributed the content of the speech to the writer’s actual attitude, even when they knew the writer had no choice about which position to take
Actor-Observer Effect
ppl are likely to attribute the behavior of others to dispositional factors but often attribute their own behavior to situational factors
Saulnier and Perlman (1981)
asked prison inmates and their counselors to explain why inmates had committed their crimes;
prisoners cited transient situational factors (lost job and needed the money), counselors cited enduring personal characteristics (dishonest)
self-serving bias
people tend to attribute their failures to situational factors but their successes to dispositional factors;
some evidence that doesn’t apply to ppl who are depressed or have low self-esteem
impression formation
process of integrating information about a person to form an overall impression
central traits (Asch, 1946)
some traits have a greater impact than others on impression formation;
one group read a description of an individual that contained 7 traits including “cold” and another group read the same description except w/ “warm”;
perceived the “warm” person more positively than the “cold” person b/c “warm” and “cold” provide unique information about a person and are associated with many other characteristics
primacy effect (Asch, 1946; Lord, Ross, & Lepper, 1979)
information presented first usually has the greatest impact on impression formation, even when contradictory information is presented later;
one group read a list that described a person as being “intelligent, industrious, impulsive, critical, stubborn, and envious” and another group read the same list but in reverse order;
subjects who read the first list formed a more favorable impression of the person than those who read the second list
trait negativity bias
people often weigh negative information more heavily than positive information
affiliation
the desire to associate with others;
considered to be a fundamental motive or need
an innate tendency that helps people survive and reproduce (providing them with support in times of need)
Schachter (1959) anxiety & affiliation
1) student volunteers told they would receive either painful electric shock as part of the experiment (high-anxiety) or mild shock that would not be painful (low-anxiety);
asked whether they preferred to wait alone to begin or wait with another participant;
high-anxiety subjects were more likely than low-anxiety subjects to say they preferred to wait with another subject.
2) subsequent study: high-anxiety told they could wait with a subject who was participating in the same experiment or with a person who was not participating in a study;
preferred to wait with another subject
Kulik and Mahler (1989) anxiety & affiliation
patients about to undergo coronary by-pass surgery said they’d prefer to share a room with a postoperative patient than a preoperative patient to lower their anxiety by providing them with information about the procedure
personality & affiliation
extroverts more likely than introverts to seek affiliation with others which may be due to different levels of cortical arousal;
extroverts tend to have low arousal level and seek social interaction to increase their arousal to an optimal level, while introverts have a high arousal level and avoid social interactions to maintain a comfortable level of arousal (Johnson et al., 1999)
gender & affiliation
among children and young adults, females prefer to affiliate in dyads (with one other person), but males prefer to affiliate in larger groups;
women more concerned about intimacy in their relations with others, while men are more interested in power (Reis & Sprecher, 2009);
women demonstrate a “tend-and-befriend” response over “fight-or-flight” (Taylor et al., 2000);
women have more emotionally-intimate relationships, friendships between men endure longer than female ones as men have greater tolerance of same-sex peers (Benenson et al., 2009)
interpersonal attraction
tendency to evaluate another person in a positive or negative way
Physical Proximity & attraction
ppl tend to like others who are in close physical proximity;
friendship patterns were strongly influenced by the location of apartments or dorm rooms, with students living closer to one another being more likely to become friends (Newcomb, 1961)
mere exposure effect (Zajonc, 2001)
repeated contact with someone is sufficient to increase attraction, perhaps because the contact leads to a sense of familiarity and safety;
repeated contact can lead to dislike and contempt rather than attraction when initial contacts are unpleasant
attraction & similarity
people generally like others who are similar to themselves in terms of demographic characteristics, attitudes, and other important characteristics (Brehm & Kassin, 1990)
attraction & competence
tend to be attracted to people who are competent;
most attracted to competent people when they occasionally commit a small blunder, apparently because doing so “humanizes” them and makes them seem more approachable (Aronson, Willerman, & Floyd, 1966)
attraction & reciprocity
tend to like others who like us;
effect is moderated by a number of factors - more likely to be attracted to people who are moderately selective rather than nonselective or overly selective in terms of their liking for others
gain-loss theory (Aronson & Linder, 1965)
evaluations that change over time have a stronger impact on liking than do evaluations that are consistently positive or negative;
we’re most attracted to people who start off by disliking us but then gradually change their minds
physical attractiveness & attraction
tend to be attracted to and react more favorably to others who are physically attractive (Berscheid & Walster, 1978);
tendency begins early - attractive children usually more popular with peers
“what-is-beautiful-is-good” stereotype
belief that physically attractive people possess a variety of other desirable characteristics (Dion et al., 1972)
gender effects on attraction to romantic partner
1) men: physical attractiveness is a priority in choosing a mate (health, fertility); pass genes widely dispersing their genetic material
2) women: status, resources > physical appearance (offspring protected and cared for) - women invest in care of their children
social exchange theory (Thibaut & Kelley, 1959)
predicts that a relationship will continue as long as both partners believe that the benefits of the relationship exceed its costs;
dating couples who experience a large increase in rewards as their relationship progresses are more likely to stay in the relationship than are couples who experience a small increase or a decrease in rewards (Berg & McQuinn, 1986)
equity theory (Walster, Walster, & Berscheid, 1978)
person is more likely to be satisfied with a close relationship and to maintain it when the person believes that their input-outcome ratio is similar to the input-outcome ratio of their partner;
focuses on fairness in relationships as determined by the relative contributions and outcomes of the partners
emotion-in-relationships model (Berscheid, 1983; Berscheid & Ammazzalorso, 2001)
a person experiences strong emotions within a relationship when their partner’s actions violate the person’s expectations and affect progress toward achieving an important goal;
when partner’s violation facilitates progress toward a goal, experiences positive emotions, but when the violation hinders progress, experiences negative emotions
risk factors for divorce (Gottman and Levenson, 1992; 2000)
ratio of positive to negative interactions is a good predictor of the stability of a relationship;
during conflict and problem-solving discussions, couples in a stable relationship have about 5 positive interactions for every 1 negative interaction, while couples in an unstable relationship that is likely to end in divorce have about an equal number of positive and negative interactions
“Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse”
1) criticism: statements that attack the partner’s character
2) defensiveness: denial of responsibility for problems
3) contempt: statements that express superiority and communicate disgust and disrespect
4) stonewalling: emotional withdrawal from interactions;
-contempt best predictor of divorce, rarely expressed by partners in a successful relationship
prosocial behaviors
“actions intended to benefit one or more people other than oneself”;
include helping and cooperation
reciprocity norm
requires people to help others who have helped or are likely to help them in the future
social responsibility norm
requires people to help others in need of assistance even when there’s no expectation that those individuals will ever help them
social learning theory of prosocial behaviors
prosocial behaviors (like other behaviors) are learned by observing the behavior of others
evolutionary theory of prosocial behaviors
attributes prosocial behaviors to natural selection and proposes that “social behaviors that contribute to the survival of a species are passed on via the genes from one generation to the next”
bystander intervention & helping
a victim is most likely to receive help when there is only one bystander and that, the greater the number of bystanders, the less likely the victim will be helped
3 factors of bystander apathy
1) Diffusion of Responsibility: bystander may not feel responsible to help because assumes that other bystanders will do so
2) Social Comparison: when the situation is ambiguous, a bystander may look to others for cues indicating the proper behavior - if others are not helping, the bystander may conclude that the situation is not an emergency and that help is not needed
3) Evaluation Apprehension: bystander may fear that taking action will be embarrassing or lead to social disapproval if that action is inappropriate
factors that increase the likelihood that a bystander will help a victim in an emergency situation
1) victim is obviously in distress
2) bystander believes he or she has the competence to provide help
3) another person has already intervened
4) the situation occurs in a rural rather than urban environment
non-zero-sum game
one player’s win does not necessarily result in another player’s loss
prisoner’s dilemma game
requires each player to decide whether or not to cooperate with another player;
when playing, pairs of players (subjects) role-play being suspects in a crime and are interrogated separately then offered to confess or remain silent;
told if both players remain silent, only minor charges will be brought against them but if one player confesses and the other remains silent, the confessor will receive immunity from punishment and the silent player will get a severe sentence; or, if both players confess, they will both get severe sentences
prisoner’s dilemma game has identified several factors that affect the likelihood that players will cooperate
players are more likely to use a cooperative strategy (to remain silent) when they’re able to communicate with each other before the game, when the importance of cooperation is emphasized at the beginning of the game, and when players play the game repeatedly (e.g., Sally, 1995; Yao & Darwen, 1994)
person perception
refers to how individuals process information about others
identifiability
extent to which one person can be differentiated from another
personality
individual characteristics related to how an individual thinks, feels, and behaves
internet communication
nonverbal cues are missing, less requirements may result in shallow interactions and difficulty with developing social supports;
tends to be impersonal, and could potentially have an adverse effect on how individuals perceive their overall life quality
aggression
“physical or verbal behavior intended to cause harm”