Social Cognition

Question 1

Social psychology

Answer 1

The study of how people influence, and are influenced by other people

Question 2

Social cognition 

Answer 2

Mental processes, through which people, perceive and react to individuals and groups 

Question 3

Downward social comparison 

Answer 3

Comparing to those who are worse off to protect self-esteem 

Question 4

Relative deprivation 

Answer 4

The belief that a person will feel deprived, or entitled to something based off of others


Question 5

Social identity theory 

Answer 5

Beliefs about which social group we belong to 

Question 6

Social comparison 

Answer 6

People evaluate themselves in relation to other people 

Question 7

Schemas 

Answer 7

Background knowledge based on past experiences that help us understand and process new info 

Question 8

Attribution theory

Answer 8

Processes we go through to explain the causes of behavior, including our own


Question 9

Dispositional/internal attributions 

Answer 9

Something about the person is the cause of their behaviour 

Question 10

Situational/external attributions 

Answer 10

Something about the environment is the cause of someone’s behaviour 

Question 11

Actor-observer bias

Answer 11

Attributing other peoples behaviour as internal while your own as external 

Question 12

Attitudes 

Answer 12

The tendency to think, feel or act positively/negatively towards someone or something 

Question 13

Dissonance


Answer 13

Anxiety or discomfort that is felt when behaviour is inconsistent with beliefs 

Question 14

Cognitive dissonance theory 

Answer 14

We will change our beliefs to be consistent/align with our behaviour 

Question 15

Stereotypes


Answer 15

The perceptions beliefs and expectations Individual have about groups. 

Question 16

Prejudice


Answer 16

A positive/negative attitude towards an individual based on their membership in social groups 

Question 17

Discrimination 

Answer 17

Different treatment of individuals who belong to different “groups”

Question 18

Scapegoat theory of prejudice 

Answer 18

A person sense of social identity based on their group. A person in the “in group” sees the “out group” as worse and treats them badly 

Question 19

Cognitive theory of prejudice 

Answer 19

People naturally use schemes to interpret information, if schema is negative —> prejudice 

Question 20

Learning theory of prejudice

Answer 20

People learn stereotypes from media, and observations that can lead to prejudice of people who don’t fit in with that 

Question 21

Mere-exposure effect

Answer 21

Repeated exposure to something increases the liking of it 

Question 22

(attraction) proximity

Answer 22

The geographical nearness to someone increases the liking of them 

Question 23

(Attraction) similarity

Answer 23

The matching hypothesis —> people will seek out others who are similar to them 

Question 24

(Attraction) reciprocity

Answer 24

Tendency to like those who like us back 

Question 25

Love according to Dr. Elaine Hatfield 

Answer 25

There are two types of love: passionate, that often fades away and compassionate, built on feelings of trust 

Question 26

Sternberg triangular theory of love 

Answer 26

Passion, intimacy, and commitment = consummate love

Question 27

Attitudes are made of

Answer 27

Cognitive, affective, behavioural 

Question 28

How attitudes develop 

Answer 28

Conditioning, observational learning, cognitive evaluation, cognitive anchors 

Question 29

Self-serving bias

Answer 29

We take credit for our accomplishments, but create excuses for our failures or disappointments 

Question 30

First impressions

Answer 30

Partly shaped by schema and are often based on how a person looks, we will interpret future behaviour based on first impressions