Social and Multicultural Psychology Flashcards
Heider
originator of attribution theory; proposed people either make dispositional or situational attributions
Kelley
proposed that when people make attributions, they consider three types of information : consistency (over time), distinctiveness (across situations), and consensus (whether other people in same situation respond similarly)
Weiner
added stability to study of attributions (whether attributions are made to stable or unstable factors)
Actor-observer bias
attribute own actions to situational factors and minimize dispositional elements, but attribute others’ behavior to dispositional factors
Self-serving (Hedonic) bias
when we explain our own behavior, we tend to attribute our own successes to internal or personal factors, and our failures to external or situational factors; Bradley
Representative heuristic
make judgments about other people or events based on what they believe is a typical example of a particular category (e.g., assume rape survivor is female)
Simulation heuristic
people develop mental images of situations, and then use these mental images to make judgments about facts in their lives (e.g., physicians who imagined themselves contracting AIDS from patients believed themselves at greater risk)
George Kelly
described ordinary people as scientists, who are constantly forming, testing, and revising hypotheses about the world around them; Personal Construct Theory
Personal Construct Theory
George Kelly; we perceive the world according to what we expect to see
Repertory Grid Technique
developed by George Kelly to map a client’s conceptual model of the world (i.e., constructs) without contamination by the interviewer’s constructs based on Personal Construct Theory
Situational constraint
idea proposed to explain discrepancy between attitude-based thoughts or feelings and behavior
Consistency theories
propose that attitude formation and change are organized by a need to impose structure and order on one’s understanding of the environment
Balance theory
Heider; explains attitude change when two people have attitudes toward the same object or activity; elements are attitude toward object and relationship; balanced when all positive or one positive and two negative (e.g., friends and both dislike); unbalanced when all negative or two positive and one negative (e.g., friends and one likes but one dislikes); imbalance prompts change
Symmetry theory
Newcomb; extends balance theory by considering intensity of relationship; stronger the bond between the two people, the more intense any imbalance (lack of symmetry) will be felt and the stronger the motivation will be to change attitudes
Congruity theory
Osgood; extends balance theory by predicting which attitudes will change; posits that a person will favor the object toward which he or she already feels the most affinity
Cognitive dissonance
Festinger; consistency theory that proposes that people change their attitudes to reduce the aversive arousal they experience when they become aware of inconsistency in their cognitions; people change attitudes to match actions
Postdecisional dissonance
circumstance for cognitive dissonance when person becomes upset with not choosing alternative options and then emphasizes positive features of chosen option
Effort justification
cognitive dissonance when person is upset at having spent significant effort on a goal that turns out not to be worthwhile and then emphasizes positive qualities of goal
Insufficient justification
cognitive dissonance when person performs undesirable behavior for small inducement
Insufficient deterence
cognitive dissonance when person does not perform desirable action because of small deterrent
Deryl Bem
self-perception theory
Self-perception theory
Bem; competing theory to consistency theories; people infer their attitudes as well as their emotions by observing their own behavior; appears most applicable when current behavior is in same direction as past behavior (cognitive dissonance when discrepancy)
Overjustification hypothesis
related to self-perception theory; posits that people lose interest in previously desirable activities after performing them for too much justification
Self-verification theory
Swann; people motivated to confirm self-concept, even if negative
Behavioral confirmation
people are motivated to confirm the expectations that others have of them
Self-enhancement theory
people are motivated to think favorably of themselves and behave in ways that cause others to see them favorably as well
Factors that influence effectiveness of persuasion
source of communication (likeability, similarity, and attractiveness for unimportant matters; credibility on important matters), message (some evidence for logic, some for emotion especially fear; primacy and recency effect), audience (moderate self-esteem, moderate discrepancy in attitude, higher vulnerability, higher level of involvement with idea/product)
Sleeper effect
people forget about source of communication over time (which would impact influentialness in moment) but remember message
Primacy effect
when long gap between message and desired action, message received first will have most impact
Recency effect
when smaller gap between message and desired action, most recent message will have most impact
Hovland persuasion studies
most effective to present both sides of the argument when the listener is initially opposed, well informed, and intelligent; presenting one side works better when the listener initially favors the argument, is poorly informed, and not intelligent
Resistance theory
people will not comply with requests or attempts to be persuaded if feel freedom is threatened
Elaboration likelihood model of persuasion
proposes that there are two ways in which people are persuaded, through either the peripheral route (focus on aspects not central to message such as speaker’s attractiveness, expertise) or through the central route (elaborating on message’s arguments); central attitude change is relatively enduring, resists further change, and predicts behavior
Inoculation
technique to increase resistance to persuasion; person given mild argument against belief then practices refuting this argument
Approach-avoidance conflict
person must choose whether to do one thing that will have both desirable and undesirable results; typically approach tendency strongest initially, then avoidance becomes stronger as one approaches goal
Avoidance-avoidance conflict
choose between two unpleasant alternatives that will lead to negative results no matter which choice is made; most difficult conflict to resolve and generates most stress
Personality trait associated with prejudice
authoritarianism
Displaced aggression and prejudice
idea that when the source of frustration is either bigger or capable of retaliating, or when the cause of frustration is ambiguous, people displace aggression, or scapegoat, innocent victims
Best way to combat prejudice
encourage cooperation rather than competition; importance of superordinate goals; increasing contact can sometimes decrease prejudice as well, especially when negative stereotypes disconfirmed
Sherif
Robber’s Cave study
Superordinate goals
higher than individual goals, and are goals that can only be achieved with both groups working together, and are of benefit to both parties
James-Lang theory
emotions result from perceiving bodily reactions or responses; not supported by research
Cannon-Bard theory
proposes emotions and bodily reactions occur at same time; Some support for this theory comes from research that has demonstrated that animals that have been surgically prevented from experiencing physiological arousal nevertheless display emotional behavior
Schachter’s two-factory theory
posits that emotion results from information from two systems: internal (e.g., hypothalamus and limbic system) and external (e.g., context); emotion is a function of both physiological arousal and cognitive labeling; supported bi Schacther and Singer’s epinephrine studies
Rosenhan’s study
normal people called for appointments at hospitals and reported hearing voices, otherwise were truthful and acted normally; all admitted, all but one diagnosed with schizophrenia, continued to be treated as patients
Upward social comparisons
comparing oneself to persons who are slightly superior; can raise self-esteem by suggesting improvement is possible but can lower by suggesting person is not performing adequately
Downward social comparisons
comparing oneself to persons who are slightly worse; can raise self-esteem by suggesting the person is doing well, or can lower self-esteem by reminding the person that his or her own performance could easily deteriorate
Matching hypothesis
proposes that people of approximately equal physical attractiveness are likely to select each other
Social exchange theory
looks at how attraction is affected by the costs and benefits of being in a relationship
Schacter
experiment in which people were led to believe that they were about to receive either painful or non-painful shock; Those who believed that they would receive painful shock became anxious, and they chose to affiliate with one another
People most likely to stop and help someone
those who have useful skills (e.g., doctor) and those who have been in similar situation
Instinctual theories of aggression
Freud proposed inborn, ethologists proposed contributes to survival of fittest; social psychologists reject
Aggression centers in the brain
hypothalamus, amygdala, other parts of limbic system
Frustration-aggression hypothesis
Dollard; aggression is always due to frustration, and frustration always leads to some form of aggression; conflicting evidence
Group membership and aggression
deindividuation increases aggression; group roles can increase aggression
Autokinetic effect
tendency for people to experience a stationary point of light to be moving in a darkened room; Sherif found that the individual’s judgment depended on the group’s judgment
Sherif studies
autokinetic effect and conformity
Asch studies
one-third conform to incorrect answer about line length when all other participants provide incorrect answer; group size and unanimity were contributing factors; peaked at group size of 7
Three factors that affect conformity
normative social influence (pressure to conform based on a need for approval and acceptance by the group), informational social influence (pressure to conform based on the assumption that the other person has more information than you), and reference groups (people we admire, like and want to resemble)
Factors that influence likelihood of minority opinion influencing group
persists in expressing his or her position, is firm yet flexible, and is logically consistent and coherent
Idiosyncrasy credits
earned by initially conforming to the group’s norms; group more tolerant when individual later deviates from group norms
Milgram
studies on obedience using shock; 65% of the subjects obeyed the commands of the experimenter and administered the most severe levels of shock
Key factors in obedience
power of persons in positions of authority, placement of responsibility, and gradualism; factor influencing disobedience is witnessing a disobedient model
