Social Psych Flashcards
person perception
the process of forming impressions of others
positive effects of physical appearance
People ascribe desirable personality traits to those who are good looking. More likely to believe that they’re competent and friendly etc.
cognitive schemas
mental structures or frameworks that an individual uses to organize knowledge and guide cognitive processes and behavior. Developed schemas through experience.
social schema
mental structure or framework and scripts or expectations an individual forms about how things operate within their environment. ex: knowing you need to dress up for prom
stereotypes
widely held beliefs that people have certain characteristics because of their membership in a particular group. Product of schema.
illusory correlation
To see a correlation that doesn’t exist in reality.
when people estimate that they have encountered more confirmations of an association between social traits than they have actually seen.
spotlight effect
phenomenon in which people tend to believe they are being noticed more than they actually are
Evolutionary perspective of person perception
argue that person perception is swayed by physical attractiveness because attractiveness was associated with reproductive potential in women and with health
ingroup vs. outgroup
ingroup - a group that one belongs to and identifies with
outgroup - a group that one does not belong or identify with
implicit bias
Unconscious bias that causes people to unintentionally have negative associations for people and unintentional stereotypes and may lead to discrimination
Implicit Associations Test
Harvard researchers developed The Implicit Association Test (IAT) and it measures the strength of associations between concepts and evaluations or stereotypes to reveal an individual’s hidden or subconscious biases.
attributions
inferences that people make out about the causes of events and behavior. people make attributions in order to understand their experiences
internal (dispositional) attributions
people infer that an event or a person’s behavior is due to personal factors such as personality traits, character etc.
external (situational) attributions
people believe that a person’s behavior is due to situational factors
fundamental attribution error
observers have bias in favor of internal attributions in explaining the behavior of other people as opposed to external factors
actor-observer bias
Explains the Fundamental Attribution error. the tendency to attribute the behavior of others to internal causes, while attributing our own behavior to external causes
defensive attribution
tendency to blame victims for their misfortune, so that one feels less likely to be victimized in a similar way
self-serving bias
people’s tendency to attribute positive events to their own character but attribute negative events to external factors
individualistic vs. collectivist
Individualism stresses individual goals and the rights of the individual person.
Collectivism focuses on group goals, what is best for the collective group, and personal relationships.
matching hypothesis
proposes that males and females of approximately equal physical attractiveness are likely to select each other as partners
evolutionary perspective on love
proposes that love functions to attract and retain a mate for the purpose of reproducing and then caring for the resulting offspring
components of attitude
Cognitive- our conscious thought process in attitude development.
Emotional - attitude is impacted by how you feel
Behavioral- attitude is reflected by our actual behaviors.
What do studies indicate about relationship between attitudes and behavior?
The cognitive and emotional aspects of attitude don’t always match up with behavior.
persuasion
the process of changing our attitudes toward something based on some kind of communication. Much of the persuasion we experience comes from outside forces
source factors
expertise, trustworthiness, and attractiveness of the source
message factors
characteristics of the message itself in terms of structure and wording which can affect the effectiveness of the message:
repetition
fear
two sided arguments
receiver factors
age, sex, level of education, self-esteem, resistance to persuasion, level of involvement, incentives for participation
Learning/ Behaviorist view of attitude formation
only focuses on objectively observable behaviors and discounts any independent activities of the mind. believe people learn attitudes through classical, observational, and operant conditioning. (reinforcement histories, punishment)
cognitive dissonance
A person experiences tension when they possess inconsistent thoughts, beliefs, emotions, and attitudes. The unpleasant experience of this tension can motivate person to change attitude
Festinger’s experiment- cognitive dissonance
Subjects are required to perform an extremely boring task and then are asked to lie to a group of people and state that it was a worthwhile, interesting task
bem’s self perception theory
describes the process in which people, lacking initial attitudes or emotional responses, develop them by observing their own behavior and coming to conclusions as to what attitudes must have driven that behavior
central route (elaboration likelihood model)
The “substance argument”. uses facts and information to logically persuade and change attitudes
peripheral route (elaboration likelihood model)
The “style argument”. The route by which persuasion uses a more shallow, less logical form of argument. Based on emotion, attractiveness of source etc.
conformity
Yielding to real or imagined social pressure
normative conformity
Person yields to social pressure to fit in with social norms.
informational conformity
Person conforms because they want to be correct about situations and conform to other people for guidance in ambiguous situations.
asch test
Subjects were in a group with 5 other confederates.
They were supposed to state which line was the largest of 3 lines. The experimenters gave a false answer to what was biggest line. Then they recorded whether the subject agreed with confederates on wrong answers.
findings from Asch test
1/3rd of subjects agreed with the experimenters and stated the wrong lines thus showing the power of conformity (either informational or normative).
milgram’s studies
the (fake) electric shock chair experiment that found that over 60% of subjects were willing to shock the students to the maximum level, even with subjects begging and screaming to stop. People often obey commands from an authority figure to take immoral actions
Historical applications of Milgram’s studies
Explanation for war crimes and the holocaust as the Nazis argued that they were just following orders.
ethics controversy in Milgram’s study
Deception – the participants actually believed they were shocking a real person and were unaware the learner was a confederate of Milgram’s.
However, Milgram Argued that “illusion is used when necessary in order to set the stage for the revelation of certain difficult to get at truths.” Some argue that there was psychological harm; but others disagree.
Zimbardo’s Prison Simulation
Stanford students were randomly assigned to be either a prisoner or a guard. The prisoners were arrested and booked and placed in a mock prison. The guards were informed only that they could not physically put hands on prisoners.
Conclusions drawn from Zimbardo’s prison experiment
prison guards were extremely abusive with forced exercise, sleep deprivation, humiliation, etc.
The prisoners played the victim and very few rebelled. Could have just left the experiment and none of the subjects opted out. situational roles determined the behavior of prisoners and the guards.
bystander effect
The bystander effect occurs when the presence of others discourages an individual from intervening in an emergency situation. More likely to help when alone than in a group.
Kitty Genovese case
Murder of Kitty G. inspired research in bystander effect. She was murdered in NYC while 38 people were witnesses and nobody called the police
ambiguous situations
Someone isn’t confident on their perception about what is happening so they don’t do anything (causes of bystander effect)
diffusion of responsibility
don’t act because you believe that other people are going to take action.
social loafing
refers to the concept that people are prone to exert less effort on a task if they are in a group versus when they work alone. Ex. groupwork in schools
social facilitation
when being in a group increases production. Ex.- exercise harder in a group workout
group polarization
when group discussion strengthens a groups dominant point of view and produces a risky shift toward a more extreme decision in that direction
groupthink
occurs when members of a cohesive group emphasize concurrence/agreement at the expense of critical thinking in arriving at a decision
causes of groupthink
Dominant Directive leadership
External threats
Insular (isolated) group
Homogenous group- ( people the same, no diversity)
(Bay of Pigs, Iraq War)
group cohesiveness
refers to the strengths of the relationships linking group members to each other and to the group itself
Deindividuation
loss of identity or self-awareness, when in a group setting. Creates a loss of control over actions. One explanation for mob behavior.
foot in door technique
getting people to agree to a small request to increase the chances that they will agree to a large request later.
Reciprocity norms or reciprocity effect
the rule that we should pay back in kind what we receive from others
low ball technique
getting someone to commit to an attractive proposition before its hidden costs are revealed.
bait and switch
action of luring someone into that an apparent good deal, with the intention of substituting inferior or more costly.
door in face
The persuader requests something very large or significant that is rejected. Then follows that up with a small request that is accepted.
