Social Psych Flashcards
What are the 4 factors that characterise the strategies that people employ when relationships breakdown?
- Withdrawal/ avoidance
- Manipulation – e.g., create lots of arguments so the other person ends the relationship
- Positive-tone strategies – positive spin on ending relationship “it’s me not you”
- Open confrontation – come clean and be honest
Are quality of alternative and investment reliable predictors of relationship stability?
yes
Lower quality of alternative and greater investment size predicted:
- More commitment
- Less frequent leaving behaviour
Is satisfaction a reliable predictor of relationship stability? Give an example
Satisfaction is not a reliable predictor:
- Abused women stay when
o They have limited/ poor-quality alternatives
o They have invested more in their relationships
What is investments in the economic maintenance theory of relationships?
- Investments – level of resources put into a relationship which increase the costs of withdrawing from the relationships o Financial (e.g., money, house), temporal (e.g., been with them 10 years), emotional (e.g., welfare of kids, self-disclosure)
What is quality of alternatives in the economic maintenance theory of relationships?
- Quality of alternatives – 2 factors
o Comparison level – comparing current levels of satisfaction with previous relationships
o Comparison level for alternatives – comparing current relationship to other possible relationships on offer
What is satisfaction in the economic maintenance theory of relationships?
- Satisfaction – based on costs and rewards and these tend to be subjective
o All relationships have an outcome (subtracting costs from rewards – profit or loss). Satisfaction is when rewards outweigh costs
What is the economic maintenance theory of relationships? What are the three factors it considers?
- Economic maintenance of relationships – look at what we put into and get out of a relationship – will leave if there’s a better deal elsewhere
o Satisfaction
o Quality of alternatives
o Investments
o All feed into commitment which leads to relationship stability
What happened in the bridge study? (arousal and romance)
o Shakey bridge condition: high level of arousal from crossing bridge, shown image from thematic apperception test, ask to make up a story based on image, given phone number of an attractive experimenter, described picture in more sexualised way, more likely to call experimenter
o Safe and wide bridge: low level of arousal, same procedure, non-sexual story, less likely to call experimenter
What are the 3 things we need in the three-factor theory of love?
o A state of physiological arousal
o An appropriate label for the arousal
o An appropriate love object
What is self disclosure? How does it operate? How does it increase likeability?
- Revealing information about oneself to another person is important in interpersonal relationships
- We disclose more to people we like; we like people more after having disclosed to them, we like people who disclose more
- Self-disclosure usually operates according to a “norm of reciprocity”
- Sharing intimate information maintains relationships
What is the matching hypothesis? What have studies shown about it? Is it also true for gay and lesbian couples?
Matching hypothesis – the more socially desirable an individual is, the more socially desirable they would expect their partner to be
- People learn their position in the “attractiveness hierarchy via a feedback loop
- Study found that real couples were rated with similar levels of attractiveness than pseudo couples
- Doesn’t seem to hold true for gay and lesbian people e.g., age, attractiveness, racial background – possibly due to having a smaller pool of choice of people
What findings demonstrate that deception is an issue with dating apps?
o Compared users’ profiles to national average
o Men and women claimed to be taller than national average
o Women claimed to weigh less than the national average
What findings demonstrate why objectification is an issue with dating apps
o “relationshopping” – leads to objectification of individuals
o Found that people tend to see pictures and profiles as “sales pitches” and that we reduce people to products
o Difficult to measure subtle “experimental” attributes from a profile but easy to reduce/categorise people on attributes
Describe a study that demonstrates why having too much choice when using dating apps is an issue
o Supermarket shopper: encountered tasting booth of 6 or 24 jams
o Shoppers significantly more likely to stop at the booth with the larger array, but 10 times more likely to purchase the jams from the smaller array
What are some problems with apps and speed dating?
- When given too much choice, people experience choice paralysis, in which they avoid making any decision rather than exerting the mental effort required to make a decision
- Objectification – presented with thousands of profiles. Online websites allow users to narrow their search categories in much the same way that users on a shopping website can refine their searches
- Deception – people engage in deliberate self-presentation when constructing their profiles
Why does a cognitive bias for attractive people exist?
- Attractive people are more extraverted, have higher self-confidence, possess better social skills
-They become more sociable because:
o Mothers treat attractive children better
o Attractive pupils are treated better by peers and teachers
o Attractive people receive more help and cooperation - Attractive people confirm the what-is-beautiful-is-good-stereotype by reciprocating favourable responses from other – self-fulfilling prophecy
What are some examples that suggest a cognitive bias for attractive people?
- Students are judges as more intelligent and get higher grades
- Raise more money for charity
- Higher income
- Lower sentences in court
- Attractive babies: mothers play more and display more affectionate behaviour
What are the objectively attractive features of the face and body for men and women?
- Symmetrical faces are judged as more attractive than asymmetrical faces
- Female faces with high cheekbones and smooth skin – most sensitive indicator of high level of oestrogen
- Male faces with large jaw, prominent brow ridges and cheekbones – signal high levels of testosterone
- Symmetrical bodies:
o Man: narrow waist and broad chest and shoulders
o Women: hourglass shaped waist-to-hip ratio of 0.70 (associated with fertility)
Is attractiveness linked to fertility in women?
Possibly and would explain why men seek out more attractive female partners
Why are there sex differences in what people find attractive?
Parental investment theory – idea that sex differences can be understood in terms of the amount of time, energy and risk to their own survival that males and females put into parenting versus mating
What attracts us to people?
- In romantic relationships, men focus on physical attraction whereas women focus on status, followed by physical attractiveness
What is majority influence? What is it based on?
– individual will conform to larger group and their norms
- based on conformity
What is minority influence? What is the basis of it?
– minority influences majority
- based on innovation, something new that not many people are doing yet
What is low balling?
o Pitch a reasonable offer that I agreed to followed by a more savoury, less beneficial version of the same request
o E.g., for only $200! Then 15 mins later saying that that didn’t include tax
o Target feels obligation to the requester and so still agrees to the less beneficial offer
What is the foot-in-the-door technique?
o start with a very small favour – that will be agreed to – the follow this up with a larger but related favour – the one they originally had in mind
o small step up so more likely to do it
What is the door-in-the-face technique?
o start with an extreme request – knowing this will be refused – then retreat to more moderate request – the original request you had in mind
o start big then become moderate – target more likely to agree
What is the out-group homogeneity effect?
– tendency to see in-group as highly diverse (e.g., different beliefs, personalities, ages, occupations) but the out-group members as “all alike”
- part of socio-cognitive approach
What is the socio-cognitive approach to prejudice?
- Cognitive miser account of prejudice – motivated to preserve mental energy, rely on shortcuts to help us navigate the social world.
- One useful and inevitable short cut is categorisation – can lead to wrong information
- Consequences of cognitive classification – the mere act of ascribing group membership to an individual results in people starting to perceive differences between those groups (even when no differences exist)
What is the motivational approach to prejudice?
- Being prejudice and discriminating against an out-group fulfils a major psychological function: it makes us feel more positive about ourselves and the groups to which we belong
- Raises our levels of self-esteem through being hostile and prejudice and discriminatory
- When group membership is criticised, self-esteem will drop. In order to restore this threatened self-esteem, people will:
o Focus on the positive aspects of the groups to which they do belong
o Focus on the negative aspects of the groups to which they do not belong and treat out-group badly - This out-group hostility creates prejudice
What is discrimination?
Discrimination (behavioural component) – actual violence or action with a negative impact on a minority group
What are stereotypes?
Stereotypes (cognitive component) – a fixed, over generalised belief about a particular group or class of people - Typically tend to come from the media
What is prejudice?
Prejudice (affective component) – typically negative feelings towards a member of a group because of their group membership
What was the internal racism study done by Clark & Clark?
- Showed white and black children identical dolls – one white, one black
- Asked questions to children e.g., give me the nice doll
- White children chose the white doll for nice questions and black doll for the bad questions
- Black children gave responses similar to the white children
- Preference to white doll is a form of internalised prejudice – happens due to the society that they are being brought up in, children pick up on this from an early age
What are racial microaggressions?
Racial microaggressions – brief daily verbal, behavioural or environment indignities, whether intentional or unintentional – communicate hostile, derogatory or negative racial slights and insults towards people of colour
What is modern prejudice?
Modern prejudice – actively opposing racism/discrimination of minority groups, but treating outgroup members differently, either intentionally or unconsciously – often with devastating consequences
What is traditional prejudice?
Traditional prejudice – consciously acknowledge and openly expressed by the individual and/or supported by the govt e.g., Holocaust
Is low self-esteem bad?
- Lower self-esteem isn’t all bad – realism is good but we do need a positive bias
What does individual self-esteem vary between?
- Individual self-esteem tends to vary between moderate and very high, not between low and high
What happens if you build someone’s self-esteem but it isn’t based on evidence?
If you build someone’s self-esteem up so highly and it isn’t based on evidence, then when they come to realise the truth, this can be really damaging
What is narcissism?
– high self-view but fragile self-esteem
How do we strategically self-present?
o Agree with people’s opinions, but make them believe it (forceful agreement and weak disagreement)
o Be selectively modest
o Don’t look too desperate for approval
What is self-monitoring?
- Self-monitoring – carefully controlling how we present ourselves
What is impression management?
- Impression management – people’s use of various strategies to get others to view them in a positive light
How do people protect the positive aspects of the self?
- Self-serving bias – take credit for success but deny blame for failure
- Forget failure feedback more readily than success or praise
- Criticize criticism but accept praise
- Flaws are human but qualities are rare and distinctive
What is self-enhancement bias?
- We are good at protecting our own self image
- Greater self-reflection on positive than on negative aspects of self
- Self-affirmation theory: we act to affirm positive aspects of oneself
What is high self-esteem associated with?
- Lower self-concept confusion and more self-knowledge
- Self-enhancing orientation and a motivational orientation, whereas lower self-esteem is associated with a protective orientation
- Lower anxiety, lower social rejection and exclusion
- Good index of social acceptance and belonging
What is the issue with research into self-esteem?
Issue with research and self-esteem is that it often measured in the moment – might have just taken a hit and so have poor self-esteem but this is not actually reflective of your overall self-esteem
What are the types of self-esteem?
- Global – overall opinion of oneself at any one time, on a scale between negative and positive
- Domain specific – relates to self-esteem in a particular area e.g., sport. Domain specific form global
- Trait – an individual’s accumulated lifelong perception of social inclusion and exclusion (continuous over time, shaped by lifelong experience, resistant to change)
- State – a perception of changes in one’s level of social inclusion, given a particular setting (reactive to each moment of time or setting)
What is self-esteem?
- confidence in your own worth and abilities
- judgement and attitudes towards yourself
- can predict clinical and non-clinical outcomes e.g., academic achievement, depression etc.
What is social comparison theory?
o People compare themselves to others to have a benchmark to measure how they are doing
o For many attributed there is no objective standard we can only compare
o We seek out similar others to validate ourselves – how groups form
o Upward social comparison – comparison to someone who appears to have things better. Can lower self-esteem but also motivate
o Downward social comparison – comparison to someone who appears to have things worse. Elevates self-esteem but less motivating, defensive strategy (self-protection)
What is the over-justification effect? What theory does it relate to?
o Over-justification effect – if an activity is rewarded then this intrinsic motivation is reduced
- relates to self-perception theory
What is self-determination theory?
o Our behaviour can guide who we think we are, and can make our cognitions fit our behaviour
o Behaviours lead to self-definition
o Intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation – if there aren’t a lot of external reasons why we are behaving a certain way, we assume it is intrinsically (internal) motivated. Extrinsic (outside) motivation happens when there are external reasons for doing something
How does the self-schema develop?
- Baby – no self-schema
- 18 months – awareness of self
- Around 5-6 - “I’m a good girl,” “I like red,” produce self-statements
- Around 13 becomes more complex – beliefs and ideas
- Schematic with some things and aschematic (don’t have a schema) with others
What is self-discrepancy theory?
o Actual self – who we really think we are
o Ideal self – who you want to be, hopes and aspirations (if there is a discrepancy between actual and ideal self this can make you feel anxious, sad, uncomfortable etc.)
o Ought self – who we are expected to be from society, parents, internalised others – negative, obligations (conflict between actual and ought can create agitation, frustration etc.)
What is self-knowledge?
o Self-schema – the beliefs and ideas people hold about themselves
o Have multiple and wide range of these
o Working self-concept – depends on context you are in
What is social self-categorization?
- Situationally accessible? – can you access what you need to be a part of this group e.g., can a student access the lectures
- Structural fit?
- Normative fit? – are your behaviours in line with the group norms
- Does it reduce uncertainty? – does it give you a category you fit into
- Does it satisfy need for self enhancement? – does it make you feel good
What is the minimal group paradigm?
- Groups were assigned based on arbitrary meaningless criteria
- No group interaction or affiliation
- People still assigned resources/points and show bias with a preference for their group
What is social identity salience?
- Different aspects of our social selves become more or less relevant through the process of social categorization and our need to reduce uncertainty
- We look for things, like minimal cues to categorize ourselves and others
- To make ourselves more coherent
True or false, we attribute other people’s behaviour to their character but attribute our own behaviour to the situation?
TRUE
Do we have single or multiple selves?
- Representations of self, become more or less salient depending on situational factors – sometimes different traits are more important to express in different contexts so, there is one self rather than multiple
What is social identity theory?
- Social identity – Defines the self in terms of group memberships
- Personal identities – Defines the self in terms of idiosyncratic traits and close personal relationships
True or False, we see ourselves as others see us?
FALSE
we see ourselves as we think others see us
What is symbolic interactionism?
– we are defined through our interactions with others
What is the self?
– the entire person of an individual, typical character or behaviour, the union of elements that constitute the individuality and identity of a person, personal interest
-Definitions lack emphasis on social element of the self
What factors appear to affect the strength of the relationship between scarcity and purchase intention/behaviour?
- Anticipatory regret
- Need for uniqueness
- Increased arousal
- Impaired cognition – leading to heuristics
What are scarcity appeals?
- Scare items often tend to be valuable and in turn people appear to perceive value in items as scare
- Promotional messages that stress that a given item is in limited supply have been commonly used in ads – scarcity can be signalled via quantitative appeals, limited supply or time constraints
- Have been shown to have a positive effect on consumers desirability for a product and lead to increased purchasing
Is humour effective in ads?
- Humour increases recall of events in ads but not necessarily the brand
- Humour enhances liking both the ad and the ad brand
- Humour lowers resistance to ads and stops critical evaluation
- Depends on demographic and the product
What is the incongruity-resolution theory?
- Most common type of humour used in ads
- Exists when the meaning of the advert is not immediately clear. When the meaning is eventually determined, the result is misattributed as a pleasant sensation and a more favourable attitude towards the advert
- The pleasure derived from incongruity is the divergence from the expectation, and the greater the divergence the funnier the material
Give an example of how the mere exposure effect is used in online gaming?
Through product placement
Players may not consciously notice the product but then still see it and this is enough to create a memory trace and leave more positive feelings about the brand
How does the mere exposure effect relate to advertising?
- People develop an increase in positive effect from repeated presentation of an unfamiliar stimuli
- Suggests that consumers do not need to pay conscious attention to advertisements and it may explain why some companies use “minimal” advertising strategies
- Research shows that the simple repetition of images and brands is enough to generate a “memory trace” in the consumers mind and unconsciously affect their preferences for a specific product
- Positive preferences can be generated independently of conscious processing
What is the bandwagon effect?
- People have an innate drive to copy others’ decisions and behaviours
- Being part of a group helps reduce risk and is beneficial for our survival
- e.g., the toilet roll or petrol shortages recently
What is the peripheral route in the elaboration likelihood model?
– not thinking carefully about the message (cognitively lazy, tired, product is trivial, low motivation, low ability)
o May not even attend to the message consciously
o Persuasion then can also result from peripheral cues in the target message
What is the central route in the elaboration likelihood model?
- involves thinking about an argument/message and systematically scrutinising the info contained in the advert
o This process of thinking about the message is called “Elaboration” and is most frequent when: - The consumer is highly motivated
- High in ability
- E.g., wanting to buy a laptop and so actively looking for one – pay attention to the advert
In the Elaboration likelihood model, what determines which route is taken?
the processing strategy used (motivated or not)
