Social behavior Flashcards
Authoritarian parenting
Very strict, primarily through punishment
Authoritative parenting
Strict, but consistent and loving. Instills discipline and will listen to child’s arguments
Permissive or indulgent parenting
Non-directive and lenient, not having clear expectations
Only forming relationships with similar people
Similarity bias
Assuming that others share a similar belief system even if they don’t
Projection bias
Tendency to attribute success to internal factors and failure to external factors, preserving our self-esteem
Self-serving bias
Tendency to overestimate how much others share our belief system (both the number of other people and the text)
False consensus
Child shows preference for parent over strangers. Formed when caregiver has a sensitive response to child’s distress
secure attachment
Child shows no preference for parent over strangers. Formed when caregiver has no response to child’s distress.
Avoidant attachment
Child is distressed when parent leaves and ambivalent when parent returns. Formed when caregiver has inconsistent response to child’s distress
Ambivalent attachment
Child shows no clear pattern of behavior when parent leaves or returns. Formed when caregiver is erratic or abusive
Disordered attachment
A phenomenon where familiarity increases our attraction to something or someone
Supported by an experiment of individuals with anterograde amnesia, where they will rate familiar faces as more attractive even though they don’t consciously remember the faces
Mere-exposire effect
Geographical proximity is considered the most powerful predictor in formation of relationships
Most significant factor
Influential factors in physical attraction
cultural specific and universal (e.g. muscular chest for men)
Facial attraction tends to matter more than body attraction
Attractive traits tend to be average (not too unique or strange)
Can also be influenced by environmental conditions that cause physiological arousal
For example, walking across a narrow bridge causing sympathetic system activation
Similarity attraction
Similarity in appearance, beliefs, norms is a significant predictor of attraction
Any physical or verbal behavior aimed to harm or destroy. Often multi-factorial
aggression
Biological basis of aggression
In the brain, the amygdala controls the fear response and results in aggressive behavior when stimulated
The frontal lobe handles impulse control and can lead to aggressive behavior when inhibited
The hormone testosterone can lead to aggression
Psychological basis of aggression:
principle that describes the idea that frustration leads to anger and aggression
The frustration-aggression principle
Psychological basis of aggression:
describes the idea that parents can create positive reinforcement for aggression by modeling aggressive behavior, for example by fighting in front of kids
Reinforcement modeling
sequences that people play out based on a pre-existing understanding of societal expectation
Socio-cultural basis
People in unfamiliar situations can exhibit aggressive behavior by relying on social scripts
Socio cultural basis of aggression
Example: The socially expected reaction to someone insulting our mother is to react aggressively
Reduction in self-awareness when part of a larger group
Contributing factors = arousing activities, large group size, diffusion of responsibility, anonymity
Deindividuation
Experiments in attachment:
Purpose was to determine whether mother-child attachment is determined by comfort or food
Monkeys were separated from their mothers and then offered either a wire mother that provides food or a cloth mother that provides comfort
Conclusion: Monkeys preferred the cloth mother – attachment is determined by comfort
Harlow’s monkey experiment
Experiments in attachment:
This experiment tried to understand why some babies have stranger anxiety and others do not
Mother and child stayed in a room, then the mother left and returned
Conclusion: Children can form either secure or insecure attachment to the mother depending on parenting style. Sensitive parents form secure attachments
Mary Ainsworth’s strange situation
Listening and empathizing
Example: Support from loved ones
Emotional support
Expression of confidence
Example: Support from coaches or therapists
Esteem support
Advice or useful information
Example: Support from friends or the internet
Informational support
Financial support or goods
Example: Support through a loan
Tangible support
Gives a sense of social belonging
Example: Support through inclusion into a team
Companionship support
Care for the welfare or well-being of others. However, can also be influenced by ulterior motives
Altrusim
Hypothesis that empathy is the underlying reason for altruism. People who are empathetic also tend to be altruistic
Empathy-altruism hypothesis
People act more altruistically toward close kin
Kin selection
People act more altruistically toward those who have or could reciprocate – those who have helped them, or those who they may interact again with in the future
Reciprocal altruism
Idea that acting altruistically establishes value – signals that one is reliable or cooperative
Cost signaling
The sum of direct fitness (one’s own reproduction) and indirect fitness (cooperative behavior that aids kin)
Individual’s overall genetic success is partially derived from the success of genetic relatives, thereby incentivizing altruism
Inclusive fitness
