Social and Multicultural Psychology Flashcards
Attribution Theories
Heider
1) dispositional attributions
2) situational attributions
Kelley
-consistency, distinctiveness, consensus are what we consider when making attributions
-internal attributions made when people are high in consistency low in distinctiveness and consensus
-external attributions made when all are high
Weiner
-stability
-internal stable, internal unstable, external stable, external unstable
-learned helplessness: when a person attributes negative events to internal, stable, and global causes, more likely to experience depression, helplessness, and hopelessness
Attributional Biases
-fundamental attribution bias- blaming the victim
-actor-observer bias
-self-serving (hedonic) bias
Heuristic
-availability heuristic
-representative heuristic
-simulation heuristic
Kelly’s Personal Construct Theory
-we perceive things according to what we expect to see- based on our past
-as our experiences change we revise our expectations
-Repertory Grid Technique - widely used by organizational consultants - maps a client’s conceptual model of the world without contamination by the interviewer’s constructs
Attitudes
-formed through direct experience or indirect observation
-3 components: cognitive, affective, behavioural
-disconnect between thoughts and feelings and subsequent behaviours - situational constraint
Attitudes: Consistency Theories
-propose that attitude formation and change are organized by a need for consistency
-four models
1) Balance Theory
-explains attitude change when two people have attitudes toward the same object or activity
-balanced state exists when all the elements are positively related, or when one is positive and two are negative
-unbalanced state exists when all elements are negative or when one element is negative and two are positive
2) Symmetry Theory
-extends balance theory by considering intensity of relationship
-stronger the bond, more intense imbalance is felt
3) Congruity Theory
-further extension, focuses on what will change
-a person will favour the thing they feel more strongly about e.g., the friend or the candidate
4) Cognitive Dissonance
-Festinger and Carlsmith
-people change their attitudes to reduce the aversive arousal they experience when they become aware of inconsistency in their cognitions
-4 circumstances in which attitude change results from cognitive dissonance
a) postdecisional dissonance
b) effort justification
c) insufficient justification
d) insufficient deterrance
Attitudes: Self-Perception Theory
-Bem
-people infer their attitudes as well as their emotions by observing their own behaviour
-self-perception theory is most applicable when current behaviour is in the same direction as past behaviours and cognitive dissonance theory is most applicable when there is a discrepancy between current and past behaviour
-overjustification hypothesis - people lose interest in previously desirable activities after performing them for too much justification
Attitudes: Self-Concept
Self-Verification Theory
-people are motivated to confirm their self-concept, even if they are negative
-most robust, especially when self-concept is well-established
Behavioural Confirmation
-people are motivated to confirm the expectations that others have of them
Self-Enhancement Theory
-people are motivated to think favourably of themselves and behave in ways that cause others to see them favourably as well
Attitudes: Attitude Change
Persuasion
-3 contributing factors: source of communication, message itself, audience
a) source
-weight of various characteristics of the source depends on whether the communicator is attempting to change attitudes on important or unimportant matters
-unimportant matters source = likeable, similar, attractive
-importance matters source = credible (trustworthy + expert)
-sleeper effect = forgetting the source over time but remembering the message
-double standard for persuasion styles for men and women
b) message
-some say appeals to logic and reason are most persuasive, others say appeals to emotion
-a common emotional appeal is to fear - must engender a lot of fear, must be believable, and include instructions to avoid danger
-another factor = order in which message is presented - if long gap, first speaker is remembered best - primacy effect and recency effect
c) audience
-easiest to influence = moderate self-esteem, moderate discrepancy in attitude, higher vulnerability, higher level of involvement with idea or product
Reactance Theory
-people will not comply with requests or attempts to be persuaded if they feel their freedom is threatened
-coercion triggers a reactance motivational state
Elaboration Likelihood Model of Persuasion
-two ways in which people are persuaded
1) peripheral route
-focus on aspects peripheral to the message
-e.g., attractiveness of speaker, speaker’s expertise etc
2) central route
-requires both the ability to process the message and the motivation or willingness to think deeply about idea
Inoculation
-increase resistance to persuasion
-person given mild argument against a belief, and then practices refuting the argument
-like vaccine - give small dose of the thing so they build up resistance
Attitudes: Conflict
1) Approach-Approach Conflict
-must choose between two favourable alternatives
-as soon as the person moves toward one alternative, the other becomes less appealing
2) Approach-Avoid Conflict
-must choose whether to do one thing that will have both desirable and undesirable results
-approach tendency is greatest initially, then as one approaches the goal avoidance tendencies become stronger
3) Avoidance-Avoidance Conflict
-choosing between two unpleasant alternatives
-typically significant vacillation and choose the lesser of two evils, not choose at all, or escape and avoid
Attitudes: Prejudice and Discrimination
-three elements: cognitive, affective, behavioural
Sources of Prejudice:
-learned prejudice
-cognitive processes
-personality traits
-competition for limited resources
-displaced aggression
Reducing Prejudice and Discrimination
-encourage cooperation as opposed to competition
-Sherif’s Robber’s Cave study
-superordinate goals - higher than individual goals that can only be achieved with both groups working together
-increasing contact between two groups - disconfirm negative stereotypes
-best outcome measure of successful intergroup relations is actual measures of behavioural interaction
Theories of Emotion
James-Lange Theory
-emotions result from perceiving bodily reactions
-I’m running and my heart is pounding so I must be afraid
Cannon-Bard Theory
-emotions and bodily reactions occur at the same time
-messages sent simultaneously to hypothalamus and limbic system
Schacter’s Two-Factor Theory
-emotions result from two systems: internal (e.g., hypothal and amygdala) and external (e.g., context)
-person experiences physical arousal and looks to the environment for help labelling the emotion
Interpersonal Behaviour: Person Perception and Impression Formation
-first impression is held onto
-distorted by perceptual biases e.g., halo effect, primacy effect
-create social schemas - are heavily influenced by social context
-Rosenhan’s pseudo-patient study
Interpersonal Behaviour: Social Comparison
-when no subjective standards exist, people tend to compare themselves to others in order to evaluate their own behaviour, attributes and abilities
-upward comparisons = raise self-esteem by suggesting improvement is possible AND can lower self-esteem by suggesting they aren’t performing adequately
-downward comparisons = can raise or lower self-esteem
Interpersonal Behaviour: Attraction
-physical attractiveness - matching hypothesis
-proximity
-similarity - backgrounds and values - opposites attract - need complementarity
-reciprocity hypothesis - social exchange theory (costs and benefits) - arousal heightens attraction and misery loves miserable company
