social Flashcards
What is the main idea behind the macro-social level of societal influences?
The macro-social level suggests that while humans are fundamentally the same psychologically, culture significantly impacts individuals through values, beliefs, and language.
It also affects how we morally view the world.
How does culture influence individuals according to the macro-social level?
Culture influences individuals by shaping their values, beliefs, and the language they speak.
What is collectivism, and how does it relate to societal influence?
Collectivism is the idea that emphasizes group goals over individual goals. For example, the USA is considered more individualistic, while other cultures might prioritize collectivism.
How does where we grow up affect our moral views?
The environment in which we grow up influences our moral outlooks, shaping our views on right and wrong.
What is an example of an institutional influence at the macro-social level?
The school you attend is an example of an institutional influence.
What question does the micro-social level try to answer?
It explores how your behavior changes in the presence of another person, such as adapting to norms and values to avoid offending others.
What did Triplett’s (1897) study reveal about social influence?
Triplett found that cyclists ride faster in company, and children reel winders more quickly when with others, showing increased arousal when around others.
What does Allport’s social facilitation theory suggest?
the presence of others accentuates dominant responses—helping performance on easy tasks but hindering performance on difficult tasks.
What is the focus of the meso-social level of societal influence?
It examines how group membership, such as being part of a sports group or religious group, influences individual behaviour and norms.
What is Sherif’s autokinetic effect, and what does it demonstrate?
Sherif’s autokinetic effect shows that people form groups and create norms that shape individual behavior. This experiment demonstrates how group influence can guide perception and behavior.
What happens to individual identity within an intra-group context?
n an intra-group context, people become part of an extended self, sharing identity with the group, and tend to act collectively rather than individually.
What is the difference between intra-group and inter-group dynamics?
: Intra-group dynamics refer to individuals sharing a common identity within a group, while inter-group dynamics involve how different groups interact with each other.
How does behaviour change across different social contexts?
Behaviour adapts based on context, with people attributing others’ actions to their identity, such as assuming a nice act means the person is inherently nice.
What is the concluding idea about how the social world shapes human behavior?
The social world shapes behaviour on macro-social, micro-social, and meso-social levels, with behaviour being variable as people move between different social contexts.
What key question drives the study of social psychology according to the conclusion?
The key question is what processes allow us to become cultural and social beings.
How does Kurt Lewin describe the focus of social psychology?
Kurt Lewin suggests that social psychology investigates how psychological fields are structured socially.
/ What societal change did industrialisation lead to?
Industrialisation led to the formation of urban masses and a separation between working classes and ruling classes both ideologically and physically.
What was the key concern of the elite during the rise of mass society?
the elite were concerned with mass challenges to the social order, particularly crowd uprisings.
How did mass society theory in France during the Third Republic accentuate fears about crowds?
The insecurity of the Third Republic (due to the 1870-1871 war) transformed social challenges into threats to the social order, making crowd psychology a major issue.
What did Clemenceau say about the nature of crowds in France?
He described a mob as being in a “frenzy” like “wild beasts,” acting without realising what they were doing, and as if “a breath of madness” had passed over them.
Why did crowds become a symbol of fear during the rise of mass society?
Crowds represented the moment when the potential for anarchy became a reality,
symbolising fears of independent women, the collapse of patriarchy, alcoholism, and the breakdown of discipline.
What was the principal concern of early social psychology regarding crowds?
The main concern was understanding crowds to know how to repress them effectively and maintain social order.
Who is one of the best-known early crowd theorists, and what was his main idea?
Gustave Le Bon,
who explained how crowds could be used to maintain the social order rather than threaten it.
What are the three main components of Le Bon’s crowd theory?
1) Submergence: Loss of self and gain of power.
2) Contagion: Tendency to copy any passing behaviour.
3) Suggestion: Ideas emerging from the ‘racial unconscious.’
What did Le Bon claim were the characteristics of crowds?
He described crowds as impulsive, irritable, lacking the capacity to reason, emotional, and similar to “savages and children.”
What are the main criticisms of Le Bon’s theory?
1)Decontextualisation: Behaviour is detached from the social setting.
2)Naturalisation: Crowd conflict is seen as a universal trait.
3) Pathologisation: Crowd actors are depicted as mindless and dysfunctional.
What is the concept of deindividuation, and how does it relate to Le Bon’s theory?
Deindividuation refers to the loss of self and control due to anonymity in crowds, where people act in ways they normally wouldn’t.
What is Floyd Allport’s critique of Le Bon’s concept of group mind?
Allport dismissed the group mind as a “metaphysical abstraction,” asserting that individuals in a crowd act as they would alone, only more so.
How did Allport’s work contribute to individualistic explanations in social psychology?
Allport’s work emphasized explaining behavior through individual characteristics, leading to the view that violent groups consist of individuals already disposed to violence.
According to critics, how do groups negatively affect individuals?
- Groups distort agency,
- subvert morality
- remove personal autonomy,
making individuals act in ways they wouldn’t normally.
What are the main negative views of crowds as discussed in the lecture?
Crowds are mad.
Crowds are bad.
Crowds are led by the mad.
Crowd behaviour is pathological.
What is the conclusion about the relationship between the fear of masses and psychology?
the ideological fear of the masses has been transformed into a psychological anti-collectivism, where collective action is pathologized:
either through a loss of individual identity (Le Bon)
or the **accentuation ** of individual identity (Allport).
/ What shift in perspective occurred after the Holocaust regarding prejudice?
Before the Holocaust, prejudice was often viewed as a problem with minorities.
Afterward, the focus shifted to understanding what makes the majority prejudiced against minorities.
How does Zygmunt Bauman’s “Modernity and the Holocaust” challenge the idea of savagery?
Bauman argues that the Holocaust was not the product of a ‘savage’ society, culture, or individuals
but was orchestrated by well-educated members of Western society.
What assumption is often made about individuals who commit monstrous acts?
It is often assumed that those who commit monstrous acts must be fundamentally different or monstrous in nature compared to ordinary people.
What two forms of individualism are explored in explaining the behaviour of Holocaust perpetrators?
1) Chronic individualism (distinctive personality)
2) Acute individualism (distinctive experience)
What is authoritarian personality theory?
It is a theory that suggests individuals who grow up in authoritarian families develop a - – personality intolerant of ambiguity,
- fearful of sexuality,
-subservient to authority,
- and hostile to minorities.
What are the three major problems with authoritarian personality theory?
1)Methodological problems: It confounds with conformity.
2) Explanatory problems: Difficulty explaining shifts in authoritarianism.
3) Conceptual problems: The theory’s reliance on post-war American research to explain wartime German society.
How does categorisation contribute to bias, according to cognitive bias theory?
Categorisation simplifies reality, leading to stereotyping and bias.
Some people categorise more than others, and some situations promote more categorisation.
What is frustration-aggression theory?
A Freudian-based theory suggesting that frustration leads to a buildup of aggression
which is released as violence, especially under certain social conditions.
How was frustration-aggression theory revised over time?
the theory was modified to suggest that frustration leads to an instigation to aggress rather than aggression itself,
and the link between frustration and aggression was further weakened as not all frustration leads to aggression.
What is the problem of individualism in explaining behaviour?
the issue lies in whether individual behavior can be entirely explained by factors within the individual or if larger, institutional factors must also be considered.
What disturbing question is raised about explaining monstrous behaviour?
Is explaining monstrous behavior all about focusing on those who seem different from us, or is there more to understanding such actions?
// What was the aim of Sherif’s Boys Camp Studies?
The studies aimed to explore how manipulating intergroup relations affects the perceptions, feelings, and actions of individual group members.
Who were the participants in the 1949 Boys Camp Study?
11-12-year-old white,
Protestant, middle-class boys,
considered the ‘cream of the crop,’
with no expected individual problems that might lead to anti-social behaviour.
What were the four stages of the 1949 Boys Camp Study?
1) Spontaneous friendship
2) Group formation
3) Group competition
4) Group cooperation
What changes occurred during the Group Formation stage in the 1949 study?
Groups did activities separately that required interdependence.
In-group culture emerged, sociometric choices became overwhelmingly in-group (95%), and the out-group was derogated.
What happened during the Spontaneous Friendship stage in the 1949 study?
Boys were put together in a single bunkhouse and did all activities together.
After a few days, their sociometric choices were measured, and they were divided into two groups,
with two-thirds of each group made up of boys who disliked each other.
How did the boys behave during the Group Competition stage of the 1949 study?
Competition between the two groups escalated conflict, and even close friends turned against each other.
Out-group derogation increased,
culminating in a banquet conflict where hostility spiraled.
What did Sherif’s 1949 study conclude about group conflict and cooperation?
Conflict is easy to evoke,
but harmony is much harder to achieve.
Even when harmony is reached, it may come at the cost of creating wider conflicts.
What modification was made in the 1954 Robber’s Cave Study?
the stage of spontaneous friendship was omitted,
and the final stage of group cooperation was modified.
What did the boys in the 1954 study desire when they learned of the other group’s existence?
Their first instinct was to enter into competition with the other group.
What events escalated conflict during the Group Competition stage of the 1954 study?
Conflict escalated as the Eagles burned the Rattlers’ flag,
leading both groups to refuse to eat together.
What were superordinate goals in the 1954 study, and what was their impact?
Superordinate goals, like unblocking the water supply and getting the picnic truck unstuck, required both groups to cooperate.
This reduced stereotyping and sociometric imbalance but did not eliminate them.
What is Realistic Conflict Theory (RCT)?
RCT states that psychological relations between group members reflect functional interdependence:
positive interdependence leads to harmony, while negative interdependence leads to conflict.
What evidence supports Realistic Conflict Theory?
RCT has been replicated with girls, adults, and in various countries, such as Lebanon and the Soviet Union, showing how competition leads to conflict.
What evidence challenges Realistic Conflict Theory?
Hostility without competition has been found in Sherif’s own studies and others, suggesting that competition isn’t always necessary for group conflict.
What question remains about Sherif’s conclusions on group behaviour?
While Sherif provides powerful evidence of how groups shape behaviour, there is still debate over whether his explanation is entirely satisfactory.
/ What historical concept gave rise to the idea that people are subject to suggestibility?
The concept of hypnotism in the 19th century introduced the notion that people are generally susceptible to suggestion.
Gabriel Tarde described it as “social man is a somnambulist.”
What early 20th-century finding suggested conformity occurs when faced with differing opinions?
Studies showed that people shift their opinions to align with experts or majorities when confronted with opposing views.
What was Solomon Asch’s primary question regarding conformity experiments?
Asch questioned whether subjects *actually * changed their opinions or if the experimental results were merely superficial or “on paper.”
What method did Asch use to study conformity in a controlled, scientific way?
He created a paradigm where real participants were placed with confederates who gave unanimously incorrect answers on specific trials to see if the participant would conform.
What behaviour did participants in Asch’s experiment display when faced with unanimous incorrect answers?
participants often became fidgety, changed seating positions, whispered, or stood up to look at the lines more closely.
Sometimes, they became quiet and immobile.
In Asch’s results, what percentage of participants conformed at least once?
76% of participants conformed at least once.
What percentage of trials showed participants conforming overall?
Participants conformed on 38.6% of the trials.
