Social Psych Flashcards
Social Psychology
Study of causes & consequences of social tendencies in species
Social Behavior
How people interact with one another
Social Influence
How people change each other
Social Cognition
How people think about each other
Agression
Any behavior whose purpose is to harm another
Coopreration
-Behavior by two or more individuals that leads to mutual benefit
-Benefits everyone but only if everyone cooperates
Altruism
Behavior that benefits another without benefiting oneself
Interpreting the behavior of others
Relying on external cues to provide information that helps understand the thoughts and actions of others
Attribution theory
Framework for understanding the reasons behind the actions of others
Fundamental attribution error
Tendency to attribute behaviors of others to internal causes, but to attribute own behavior to external causes
Attributions
-The process of how we infer the cause of our own behavior or another person’s behavior
-Strongly influences the opinions of others
-Susceptible to many biases
Impression formation
Process where individuals form either a positive or negative perception about people or groups
Confirmation bias
-Tendency to interpret, seek, & create info in ways that verify existing beliefs
-Info inconsistent with prior beliefs will be processed more slowly & attended to less
-Fast processing of & increased attention to events that are consistent with our initial impression/beliefs
Self-fulfilling prophecy
Process by which expectations about a person eventually lead to that person behaving in ways that confirm those expectations
Behaving in the presence of others
Individuals alter their authentic behaviors when around other people
Social Norms
-General rules of conduct established by society reflecting standards of approval & disapproval
-Exert power over the behaviors of others whether norm is true or false
Individualistic (Western)
Focus on individual gains instead of the whole group
Collectivistic (Eastern)
Focus on benefit of the group instead of the individual
Conformity
-Tendency to change our perceptions, opinions, or behaviors in ways that are consistent with group norms
-Extent to which people modify behaviors to be consistent with behaviors of others
-Presence of others directly impacts conformity
-Difficult to think of behaviors that are not in some way affected by exposure to the actions of others
-Violating social norms is difficult for the individual
Solomon Asch
-Conducted a study to test how the presence of others impacts conformity
-Tested how peoples’ beliefs affect the beliefs of others
-People completed a visual judgment task among confederates (researchers pretending to be participants)
-Objective: report which line most similar to the standard line
-Participant considers the desire to be correct or the desire to follow the group’s behavior
Groupthink
-Group decision-making style characterized by excessive tendency among group members to reach same consensus
-Desire for harmony overrides realistic evaluations of decisions & alternatives
-Emerges when need for agreement takes priority over motivation to obtain accurate info & make appropriate decisions
Characteristics that contribute to groupthink
- Highly cohesive groups more likely to reject deviant opinions
- Group structure: people with similar backgrounds, strong leader, lack systematic procedures for making decisions
- Stressful situations provoke groupthink reassurance from others is highly desirable
- Low knowledge: individuals lack knowledge or feel other members are more qualified
METHODS TO AVOID GROUPTHINK
- Leader emphasizes importance of diverse opinions
- Leader should wait to voice opinions until others come up with ideas first
- Assign group member role of ‘devil’s advocate’
- Discuss group ideas/opinions with someone outside of group
- Reward creativity & give plenty of opportunity to voice opinions
- Diversity among group members
Stanley Milgram
-Conducted a series of experiments assessing obedience to authority
-65% of participants continued to highest level of 450volts
-Participants felt anxious and uncomfortable the more the shock level increased
-When authority IS deemed important or prestigious 🡪 more obedience
Philip Zimbardo
-Examined the power the situation has to determine behaviors
-Examined the extent that social roles influence behavior
-Stanford Prison Experiment ~ assigned role as prisoner or guard → chaos ensued as we saw in Unit 1
Bystander Effect
-As the number of bystanders increases, a person in need is less likely to receive help
-Emergency occurs observers most likely to take action if no one else is around
-Some things increase helping, other things decrease helping
Attitudes & behavior
Do attitudes shape behaviors, or do behaviors shape attitudes?
Attitudes
-Learned tendency to evaluate object, person, or issue in a particular way
-Have affective, behavioral, & cognitive (ABC) components
Affective
Emotional evaluations & feelings
Behavioral
Predispositions to act in a given way; attitudes reflected by action
Cognitive
Thoughts & conclusions about topics/objects/people
Cognitive Dissonance
-Unpleasant state of psychological tension (or dissonance) when you realize inconsistency of own actions, attitudes, &/or beliefs
-Goal: reduce it via changing attitude or behavior in order to reach consistency
-If you can easily rationalize behavior to make it consistent with attitude dissonance is resolved quickly & easily consistency
-But if behavior cannot be easily justified must change attitude consistency
Stereotype
-Characteristics attributed to members of specific social group
-Assumes that people have certain characteristics because of membership to a social group
Stereotype Threat
-Worry that may confirm stereotype (& negative beliefs) that others hold about you through your behavior
-Results in decreased performance associated with a certain stereotype
Prejudice
-Negative attitudes toward people who belong to specific social group
-Learned via parents, peers, culture, & environment
-Based on exaggerated notion that members of other social group (outgroups) are very different from our own social group
Discrimination
Negative actions taken toward others based on common characteristics
Aggression & altruism
Prejudice & discrimination vs. benevolence & helping
Aggression
Any verbal or physical behaviors intended to cause harm
Instrumental
-Violent behavior is purposeful & helps to achieve some goal; often carefully planned
-No intent to harm someone, but might require physical force
Hostile
-Violent behavior for sole purpose of inflicting harm one someone else
-Intent to do harm
Biological Factors
-Evolutionary basis in behaviors across people
-Neurological differences – amygdala, limbic system, pre-frontal cortex (PFC)
-Hormone differences – testosterone
-Males: physical aggression; Females: verbal aggression, social rejection
Environmental Factors
-Variables across situations influence aggression
-Behavior modeling & social learning – think Bandura’s Bobo Doll experiment
Psychological Factors
People who are violent are often just mimicking behaviors of others
Altruism
Helping another person with no expectation of personal benefit or gain
Prosocial Behavior
Any behavior that helps another person, whatever the underlying benefit
Reciprocal Altruism
Expectation of returned gesture over long-term
Reciprocity Norm
If others help us, we feel motivated to provide something in return
