Social Behaviour Flashcards
1
Q
Attitudes
A
- Positive or negative feelings regarding a situation, object or event
- Three major components: cognitive (beliefs), affective (feelings) and behavioural
- Attitudes can contain 1 to 3 of these components
ie. Mary believes safe abortion should be accessible to women who need it (cognitive). She feels sad knowing that women go through unsafe abortions or no abortions at all (affective). Since Mary feels passionately about this issue, she is an avid advocate for safe abortions and is more than comfortable debating the issue (behavioural). - Attitudes vary in strength, accessibility and ambivalence
- Strength: how durable an attitude is
- Accessibility: how often it comes to mind
- Ambivalence: negative and positive feelings towards the attitude
2
Q
Attributions
A
- Reasons given to explain behaviour
- Observers are more likely to ignore situational factors and make internal attributions
ie. They lashed out because they are volatile and angry - Models are more likely to make external attributions for their behaviour
ie. I lashed out because I was late for work, forgot my lunch and fell down the stairs
3
Q
Bystander Effect
A
- The larger the group, the less likely it is for someone to offer help
- Less likely to show when people are in physical danger or in groups of friends
- Most likely in ambiguous situations when people tend to look around to see if others think there is an emergency
- Hesitation leads to lack of action
- “Someone else will help”
4
Q
Channel
A
- One of the four components of messaging
- Medium used to convey a message
ie. TV, internet, handwritten letter sent by a mysterious lover from Venice etc.
5
Q
Cognitive Dissonance
A
- Leon Festinger’s Dissonance Theory
- Occurs when two or more related ideas contradict each other
- Dissonance creates uneasy, negative feelings which leads people to reduce dissonance by changing their ideas
ie. You watch a boring movie and were paid $1 to lie to your friend about how good it was. This overt lie creates dissonance, and since $1 is not a good reason for lying, you may convince yourself the movie wasn’t really that bad - Effort justification also reduces dissonance
ie. You spent half your paycheque on an online shopping spree. Once you got the order, you regretted the purchases. You may reduce the dissonance by thinking “these are actually kind of cute” instead of “I spent so much money on these, and they’re not worth it”
6
Q
Collectivism
A
- Group goals and ambitions are prioritized over personal ones
- Identities are formed around what groups one is a part of
- Less prone to the fundamental attribution error and exhibit a self-efficacy bias as opposed to a self-serving one
- Collectivist cultures show higher rates of conformity
7
Q
Commitment
A
- One factor of companionate love
- Intention to keep a relationship going, despite costs or difficulties
- Increases with time
8
Q
Compantionate Love
A
- Warm, intimate affection for someone whose life is deeply related to yours
- Can coexist with passionate love
- Companionate love can be broken into commitment and intimacy
- Strongly related to relationship satisfaction
9
Q
Defensive Attribution
A
- Observers blame victims actions for unfortunate or traumatic events, as opposed to external factors
- This leads to victims being paired with unfavourable traits, leading to stereotypes surrounding victims
- Protects observers from facing the truth that misfortune can befall them as well
ie. Upon learning that her college was raped, Moreen proceeds to say “She must have led him on. I’m sure she drank too much and wasn’t dressed appropriately”
10
Q
Discrimination
A
- Behaving differently around members of a group
- Closely related to prejudice
11
Q
Elaboration Likelihood Model
A
- Created by Richard Petty and John Cacioppo
- Two basic routes of persuasion:
- Central route: persuasion is based on the content of and reasoning behind the message
- Peripheral route: persuasion based on factors such as attractiveness or emotion
- The central route is more effective and leads to more durable changes in attitude
12
Q
Ethnocentrism
A
Tendency to view groups one belongs to as better than others
13
Q
Explicit Attitudes
A
Attitudes we consciously hold and can talk about
ie. One may have an explicit attitude believing prejudice is wrong
14
Q
External Attributions
A
- Reasons made for behaviour based on external influences
- More common for models to make external attributions than observers
ie. I lashed out because I was late for work, forgot my lunch and fell down the stairs
15
Q
Foot-in-the-Door Technique
A
- Manipulation tactic
- Small requests are made to increase the probability of bigger requests being accepted in the future
ie. A charity group may knock on your door one day and ask for a signature for a petition. If you oblige, they may come back another day and ask for a donation. - Works because people want to behave in consistent ways and they don’t want to turn back on their sense of commitment
16
Q
Fundamental Attribution Error
A
Observers tendency to make internal attributions for models behaviour while ignoring possible external factors
17
Q
Group
A
Two or more people who interact and are dependent on one another
18
Q
Group Cohesiveness
A
- How much members of the group like each other and the group itself
- High group cohesiveness can lead to groupthink
- Highly cohesive groups tend to be more loyal, committed and close-knit
19
Q
Group Polarization
A
- Occurs when group discussion strengthens a group’s point of view and leads them to make more extreme decisions
- Can lead to riskier or more cautious decisions
20
Q
Groupthink
A
- Studied by Irving Janis
- Members of a group begin to think in the same ways, decreasing the inability for a group to think critically
- Inhibits smart decision making
- Pressure to conform increases and the group may being harbouring judgements towards outgroup members
- Confirmation bias increases as members begin to only search for information that supports their views and beliefs
21
Q
Illusory Correlation
A
Occurs when people overestimate the amount of confirmations of an idea they have seen
22
Q
Implicit Attitude
A
- Attitudes that people don’t seem to overtly control, but still have influence over their behaviour
- Implicit attitudes provoke subtle, unconscious behaviour
ie. sitting further away from a member of an outgroup, making less eye contact or even communicating less in general
23
Q
Individualism
A
- Personal goals and ambitions are prioritized over group ones
- Identity is formed based on one’s achievements
- Individualistic cultures have lower rates of conformity
- Prone to self-serving biases and the fundamental attribution error
24
Q
Informational Influence
A
- Occurs when people look to others when they are unsure how to behave in unfamiliar situations
- Occurs due to concern to act in a correct way
- Reason for conformity
25
Q
Ingroup
A
A group one is apart of
