Social Cognition Flashcards
affective component
refers to the emotional reactions or feelings an individual has towards an object, person, event or issue
ambivalence
refers to the idea that one can have both positive and negative responses towards the same thing
attitude
an evaluation a person makes about an object, person, group, event or issue
behavioural component
refers to the actions that we do in response to an object ect.
central route of persuasion
route of persuasion which uses the content of the message to make the audience think carefully about the message and evaluate it (high elaboration).
cognitive component
refers to the beliefs we have about an object ect.
cognitive dissonance theory
suggests that if a person persists in behaving in a way that causes cognitive discomfort, the person tends to change their beliefs or attitudes to the behaviour
ego-defensive function
a function of attitudes which helps people to protect themselves from admitting negative things or the harsh realities of the world
impression formation
process by which people form an overall impression of someone’s character and abilities based on available information about their traits and behaviours
impression management
process by which people attempt to manage the impression of themselves that they present to others
knowledge function
a function of attitudes that operates because people need to have knowledge to give structure and order to the world in which they live
likert scale
a type of questionnaire that allows a subject to nominate a category of choice in their response. this might be a number (e.g. 1-6) when those numbers represent intensities of agreement or disagreement (e.g strongly agree - strongly disagree)
non-verbal communication
the ways that we present information without using verbal language
peripheral route of persuasion
involves persuading the audience of the message by using peripheral cues. it requires little deliberation and elaboration by the audience.
persuasion
process in which communicators try to convince other people to change their attitudes or behaviors regarding an issue through the transmission of a message
prejudice
prejudice is an unjustified negative attitude towards an individual based solely on the individual’s membership of a social group
social cognition
a branch of social psychology that examines our ability to gather information about and understand the processes, rules and concepts that govern our social interactions
social comparison
people’s tendency to make assessments of themselves by comparing themselves to others
downward social comparison
when we compare ourselves to someone who is slightly worse off than ourselves
similar social comparison
when we seek out similar people with whom to compare our perceptions and attitudes
upward social comparison
when we compare ourselves with someone who is more fortunate, happier or better at a task than ourselves
stigma
social stigma is a sign of moral blemish, a censuring characterisation or a target of negative discrimination
verbal communication
the content of what someone says
adapative function
means that the attitude is useful in some way, as it helps to maximise rewards/advantages or minimise punishments/disadvantages.
self-expressive function
means that the attitude helps us to express information about ourselves to other people, including our beliefs, values and self-image. It helps establish identity.
stereotype
a fixed over-generalised belief about a particular group or class of people.
semantic differential scale
a rating scale used for measuring the meaning of things and concepts.
visual analogue scale
a measurement instrument that tries to measure a characteristic or attitude that is believed to range across a continuum of values and cannot easily be directly measured.
