Social Processes, Attitudes, and Behaviors Flashcards
cognitive dissonance
when opposing thoughts cause physical pain you will want to:
- deny
- modify our cognitions
- trivialize
- add
ex: a person who knows smoking is bad but decides to smoke anyways will deny that it is bad, modify their congitions and say that this brand isn’t that bad for your, say that it is garbage knowledge or use conformation bias, or add that they work out and eat healthy so it offsets the smoking or that the behavior helps them socialize
subcultures
a subgroup of the culture with different opinions but not against the norm
countercultures
opposes normal cultural values
cultural diffusion
spreading of norms, customs, and beliefs throughout the culture
aggregate
when people come together in a common place but not for the same values
utilitarian organizations
compensated for involvement
primary socialization
initially learn acceptable behaviors through observation
secondary socialization
learning appropriate behaviors within smaller sections of larger society; learning through a specific society (ex: school)
anticipatory socialization
preparing for future changes
resocialization
discards old behavior to establish new learned behavior
ex: armed forces trained to obey every command
norms
social rules that define acceptable behavior
mores
widely observed social norms - determine what is considered morally acceptable or unacceptable within a given culture
ex: shows what is right vs wrong -> you don’t shake hands with the queen, you don’t walk around naked
punishment is more than just a slap on the wrist but not enough to be shunned or have formal actions taken on you
sanctions
penalties for misconduct or rewards for good deeds
can be formal (enforced by social institutions) or informal (enforced by social behavior)
taboo
socially unacceptable behavior/actions
ex: murdering someone, marrying your brother or mother
folkways
behavior that is considered polite
ex: shaking hands with your right hand
going against these norms isn’t horrible - but someone might judge you if you eat your dinner with your hands at a nice restaurant
deviance
violation of norms, rules, or expectations of society
stigma
extreme dislike or disapproval of a group based on beliefs, abilities, behaviors,
labeling theory
labels given to people affect how they view themselves and how others view them
when labeled as nerd –> will start acting in that way
ex: when labeled a “hoe” someone will either change that or embrace it
differential association theory
deviations can be learned through social behavior/interactions
ex: I learned how to lie by hanging out with Hayley
strain theory
deviance occurs due to the strain between social goals and social construct
ex: we steal because we are told the American dream is wealth for all parties, except our social structures make it difficult for that to be implemented
conformity
changing yourself to fit better into societal norms
normative conformity
changing in fear of rejection
internalization
when you change but also internalize those values
identification
when you change to fit societal norms but do not internalize those values; only do it for the identification aspect
compliance
changing behavior based on direct request from someone who has no authority over you
foot-in-the-door theory
asking small favors before asking larger favors
door-in-the-face theory
asking for a large favor and getting rejected before asking for the smaller favor you actually want
lowball technique
accepting an initial request but later realizing there is more to the job
ex: becoming manager to manage the band but then it comes with a babysitting job of two idiots who don’t know how to pull their heads out of their butts
that’s-not-all technique
based on infomercials
“And if you buy right now, we will throw in….”
obedience
following to orders of someone who has authority over you
frustration-aggression theory
individuals exhibit violence due to a goal being blocked which causes us to become frustrated and act out
normative organizations
membership based on shared goals and/or values
coercive organizations
membership not freely chosen and/or maintained
ex: inpatient hospital where it has involuntary participation
hawthorne effect
research subjects acting differently knowing they are being observed
in-group
group in which individual identifies with/belongs to
out-group
group that individual doesn’t belong to
isn’t looked favorably upon
reference group
a group that can be used as a comparison
primary group
group that the individual is emotionally close with
high degree of contact
ex: family
secondary group
group that comes together to accomplish something
ex: coworkers
impression management
trying to influence how you are perceived by others by employing certain behaviors
ex: covering up tattoos for an interview
social facilitation
people perform familiar tasks better in the presence of others
ex: when you study better with other people around
this does not apply to complex tasks like public speaking where you might get nervous and mess up with people there
social impairment
occurs when the presence of others hinders performance usually when faced with an unfamiliar task
deindividualism
mob mentality - end up doing things you wouldn’t if you were alone because within a mob you aren’t an individual
loss of individual self awareness when one is part of a large group engaged in an emotionally arousing activity
reduced personal responsibility and increased sense of anonymity
can lead to uncharacteristic behaviors
drive reduction
motivational theory
drive is the state of tension or arousal caused by biological or physiological need
the strength of the drive indicates how likely a person will move to quell that drive
ex: I am thirsty so I drink water. If I am super parched vs a little thirsty will change my drive to get water
cognitive theorist
explain human behavior by understanding thought process
Yerkes-Dodson law
performance of behavior tends to be negatively impacted at high and low stakes
There are optimal levels of psychological and mental arousal
distress
negative stress
perceive situation to be threatening
eustress
positive stress
situation is challenging but motivating
neustress
neutral stress
something stressful that doesn’t directly impact you
ex: a natural disaster on the opposite side of the world
Pathway activation of stress
adrenal medulla released epinephrine and norepinephrine which increase heart rate and breathing rate. This causes the hypothalamus to release CRH which causes the anterior pituitary to release ACTH which will cause the adrenal cortex to release cortisol which increases glucose in the blood to feed the brain.
Elkman’s 6 universal emotions
happiness, sadness, fear, anger, disgust, surprise
Happy Sad FADS
opponent-process theory
color: have 3 opposing systems red vs green blue vs yellow black vs white one color suppresses the other color
emotions: fear vs relief pleasure vs pain sleepiness vs arousal depression vs contentment when you trigger one emotion, you suppress the other; but the other emotion shortly follows
drug addiction is the result of emotional pairing of pleasure and withdrawal symptoms to avoid withdrawal symptoms
expectancy-value theory
amount of motivation a person needs depends on their expectancy to reach their goal and how much that person values reaching that goal
approach-approach
both options are appealing
avoidant-avoidant
neither option is appealing
approach-avoidant
one option has both positive and negative aspects
double approach-avoidant
2 options
both of which have positive and negative aspects
Asch’s conformity experiment
Solomon Asch in 1950 performed an experiment where there were different lengths of lines with a reference line. He wanted to test the power of conformity by seeing what would happen if 7 confederates said the wrong answer. Most of the time, the random person would conform to the majority vote
Thomas theorum
predicts that an individual’s response to a situation is dependent on their interpretation of the situation
actions based on perception of reality
Psychoanalytic theory
behavior is a result of unconscious conflicts between impulses and social restraints
trait theory
behavior is a result of consistent and enduring personality dispositions
attempt to explain personality in terms of descriptions or how traits influence behavior
do not look at specific behaviors or explain the how and why of a traits development
Allport
trait theorist
believes in:
cardinal traits
central traits
secondary traits
cardinal traits
one that dominates your entire personality
this is not very common
ex: Mother Teresa was so associated with goodness and charity that her name is virtually synonymous with those traits
central traits
characteristics that form the foundation of an individual’s personality
secondary traits
personality traits that tend to present themselves in certain situations
ex: you might be a normally easy going person except you become short tempered when under a lot of pressure
Cattel
trait theorist
16 personality factors
Eysenck
trait theorist
PEN Theory:
Psychosis
Extroversion
Neuroticism
Costa & McCrae
trait theorist
believes in: Big Five (OCEAN) Neuroticism Extroversion Conscientiousness Openness Agreeableness
Neuroticism
emotional instability
tendency to experience or express negative emotions
attitude
a person’s evaluation or disposition towards something
affective attitude
feelings about the object
ex: how you feel about someone - I don’t like being around Kenzie so whenever she is near I get upset
cognitive attitude
beliefs about the object - what someone knows to be true can affect their attitude toward a certain issue
ex: you think the person is kind so you think they would make a good boyfriend
behavioral attitude
behaviors related to the object
ex: asking someone out because you like them - or if we like someone, we are a whole lot nicer to them than other people
expectancy theory of motivation
individuals are motivated based on expected outcomes of their behavior
expectancy + instrumentality + valence
want to minimize pain and maximize pleasure
expectancy
belief you will achieve the desired outcomes
instrumentality
belief you have control over the desired outcome
valence
value placed on the desired outcome
arousal theory of motivation
individuals are motivated to maintain an optimal level of arousal
incentive theory of motivation
individuals are motivated according to external rewards
ex: I am working really hard studying so I can get a good score on this stupid MCAT
humanistic theory of motivation
once basic needs are met, individuals are motivated to seek self-actualization
evolutionary game theory
act in ways to make sure that our genes are passed down to the next generation
ex: animals present themselves to females to get them to mate. Females will look for the best male to create a strong offspring
however: may act altruistically to make sure that the species as a whole survives an attack by sacrificing itself
role-playing effects
behaving according to a role causes attitudes to align with behaviors
ex: defending an assigned debate topic stance causes a person to agree with it
Stanford prison experiment
behaviorism
theory that focuses on role environment plays in shaping human behaviors
championed by BF Skinner
specifically refers to reinforcement and punishment: operant conditioning
You behave a certain way because of the way people treat you when you behave that way.
ex: girls get complemented when wearing makeup, so wear more makeup. Boys get dissed for acting feminine so they don’t show that side
biological approach
attempts to explain behavior as a direct product of our genetics and physiology
ex: you act a certain way because of a biochemical imbalance
social learning theory
we learn through imitating our close friends and family members
behavior is shaped through social interaction, imitation, and modeling
obsessions
persistent, intrusive, and repetitive thoughts and urges
ex: becca was obsessed with this idea that she needed to become smaller
compulsions
excessive, repetitive behaviors that reduce anxiety
ex: I have a compulsion to clean off my desk to reduce the anxiety I feel when there is too much happening
Big 5 traits of personality
Openness Conscientiousness Extraversion Agreeableness Neuroticism
OCEAN
Eysenck’s PEN Model
Psychoticism - measure of nonconformity or social deviance
Extraversion - measure of tolerance for social interaction and stimulation
Neuroticism - measure of emotional arousals in stressful situations
later became OCEAN
functional autonomy
behavior continues despite satisfaction of the drive that originally created the behavior
hunter continues to hunt despite collecting enough food because enjoying the sport
N-Ach
Need for achievement
created by David McClelland
individuals tend to be concerned with achievement and have pride in their accomplishments
they avoid high risks to avoid failing and low risks because they won’t achieve a sense of achievement
reciprocal determinism
idea that our thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and environment all interact with each other to determine our actions in a given situation
I choose not to go to a party because that fits better with my personality and that affects how I feel in large group settings and how I become stressed when there are too many people.
dispositional approach
behavior determined by individual’s personality
situational approach
behavior is determined by environment and context
james-lange theory of emotion
physiologically based
experience of emotions based on perception of physiological response
ex: holding a cat, increased HR, then happiness
ex: you are sad BECAUSE you cry
physiological –> emotion
cannon bard theory
physiological response and emotion occurred simultaneously
ex: seeing snake elicits both a response of fear and an increased HR
Schachter-Singer Theory of emotions
physiological and cognitive responses simultaneously form emotion
we don’t feel emotion until we can identity reason for situation
physiological + cognitive –> emotion
ex: seeing a snake would elicit an increased HR which we would cognitively label as us being in a negative situation and thus experience fear
Lazarus Theory of emotions
experience of emotion depends on how the situation is labelled
and how we label is based on cultural/individual differences
cognitive –> emotion + physiological
ex: sound of gunshot is thought of as dangerous, so then our heart starts pounding and we become scared
ambient stress
chronic environmental stressors
ex: downturn of economy or climate change
microstressors
small daily hassles like traffic
crisis
sudden rare occurrence like a natural disaster or a war
relative deprivation
the discontent people experience when they believe they are entitled to something yet are being deprived
ex: a spoiled child who thinks they deserve to watch tv
ex: women who weren’t allowed to vote felt they weren’t a citizen –> led to movements
push and pull factors
explain human migration patterns
push factors (unemployment, war) - why people move away from their native country
pull factors (education, feminism) - describe why people want to move into a new country
Agents of socialization
socialization = lifelong process of learning the norms, values, and behaviors of one’s own society - learn through social interactions
family, friends/peers, school/workplace, mass media
all things that help shape who we are because we have close interactions, high degrees of contact, standardized behaviors, or spreading of information
role of cognition in emotion
how you choose to interpret the emotion
ex: when I am high up I interpret my heart racing and palms sweating as fear because I know being high up is very dangerous
physiological aspect of emotion
how you body physically reacts to a given emotion
ex: when I am high up, I start to sweat and my heart beats very fast and my stomach drops
behavioral aspect of emotion
how you express your emotion
ex: when I get anxious I will shake my leg or need to go run or even shake
Difference between joy and happiness?
Joy is experienced through things such as spiritual connections, witnessing/completing selfless acts
Happiness is more temporary and is based on external circumstances
Role of limbic system with emotions
amygdala is responsible for the emotions we feel and connects directly to the hypothalamus which controls physiological features of emotion (sends info to posterior pituitary that will activate adrenal medulla which can cause SNS to release adrenaline)
hypothalamus also connects to the prefrontal cortex which decides how someone will behave because of an emotion they are experiencing
appraisal
the way someone interprets any given event which will determine how they decide to feel and later act
ex: Kenzie interpreted us whispering as talking bad about her which led to her moving in with her boyfriend
cataclysmic events
stressors caused by catastrophes
difficult to predict and occur on a wide scale
ex: wars and natural disasters
personal events
stressors that involve significant life changes and are especially experienced in young adulthood
ex: starting/ending relationship, moving, losing/getting job. etc
daily stressors
stressors that are experienced on a regular basis throughout one’s day
ex: paying bills, mowing the lawn, studying, getting stuck in traffic
How does stress impact people?
mild levels of stress can help increase one’s psychological functions and serve to increase levels of motivation (ex: prepping for a job interview)
high levels of stress can impair their functioning and cause side-effects (ex: fatigue, anxiety, and inability to concentrate)
cortisol
hormone released when someone is stressed
causes the body to use fat as a source of energy instead of glucose
excess cortisol for long amounts of time can be detrimental to the immune system - prevents activity of white blood cells
left prefrontal cortex
responsible for positive emotions
right prefrontal cortex
responsible for negative emotions
dorsal prefrontal cortex
attention, cognition
ventral prefrontal cortex
experience emotion
ventromedial prefrontal cortex
decision making, control emotional responses from amygdala
Types of stress
microstressor (traffic) major life event (marriage) ambient stressor (economy) - chronic environmental stressor we can't control crises (war, natural disaster)
cognitive part of emotion
mental processes accompanying an emotion
thoughts, beliefs, expectations, rationalizations, and evaluations of the context/situation
ex: watching people in a cafe and rating their emotions
behavioral aspect of emotion
immediate outward reaction to emotion
is involuntary and automatic
ex: when I’m surprised by something someone says my eyes go wide and I exclaim “what”
physiological aspect of emotion
bodily processes that accompany emotion
ex: my heart races when I interact with someone I find attractive
instinct theory of motivation
unlearned, innate behavior that is present throughout an entire species
drive
sense of urgency, stemming from physiological feelings of discomfort, including thirst hunger and tiredness
needs
includes drives as well as higher level needs like self-actualization
Motivation for Food
hypothalamus sends positive signal to the stomach - ghrelin is released when we are hungry, leptin is released when we are full. Also can send insulin
sexual response cycle
excitement phase - increased heart rate, BP
plateau
orgasm
resolution
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Please Stop Liking Stupid Stuff
- physiological - want to maintain homeostasis - food, water, body temperature, oxygen, ability to reproduce
- safety - feeling safe and protected
- love - social needs of feeling loved and appreciated
- self-esteem - need to achieve independence, self-esteem, and receive respect from peers
- self-actualization - realizing one’s full potential
sociocultural motivators
includes social constructs as motivators
ex: wanting to fit the mold of ideal beauty so you exercise and eat right
justification of effort
people change their attitudes to match how they behave
ex: you are applying for medical school but get a really good paying job - you will justify all the effort you spent prepping for medical school by turning down the good paying job
public declarations
publicly declaring a belief or idea that may or may not be influence by outside social pressures
ex: saying something is stupid out loud and getting a response from people, you are more inclined to say something is stupid again and will increase the chance of truly believing the thing is stupid
Theory of planned behavior
Icek Ajzen
one’s behavioral beliefs influences one’s attitude towards the behavior, which then affects how someone decides to behave
ex: thinking that you should be quiet in a library, you will be happy to comply with this behavior and when you are in a library, are thus quiet
bystander effect
the more bystanders there are, the less likely someone will help you out than if there was just one person - they feel more morally obligated vs when lots of people, everyone assumes someone else will help
anomie
lacking social norms
ex: isolation
fad
a short-lived trend
ex: planking
mass hysteria
rumors and fears affecting a group of people
ex: witch hunt
riot
group of people vandalize the streets because they are not happy at society
ex: all the IDIOTS who rioted about COVID lockdowns - I hope they caught COVID and died
