Social Psych

Question 1

Social Psychology

Answer 1

-study of how peoples thoughts, feelings, and behaviors influences and are influenced by others

Question 2

Social Cognition

Answer 2

-mental process that give rise to peoples interpretations of and reactions to other people

Question 3

Self-Concept

Answer 3

-beliefs one holds about oneself

Question 4

Self-Esteem

Answer 4

-self-evaluation of ones worth as a person

Question 5

Social Comparison

Answer 5

• evaluate many properties of oneself

- intelligence, honestly, athleticism, attractiveness

Question 6

Temporal Comparison

Answer 6

-compare to previous self

Question 7

Social Comparison

Answer 7

• compare to others
• reference group: collection of people
• protect self-esteem
• cant be expected to do as well as them
• may not be the best but I’m much better than them
• exaggerate the difference between self and reference group

Question 8

Upward Social Comparison

Answer 8

-compare to more skilled, better looking people

Question 9

Downward Social Comparison

Answer 9

-compare to less skilled, less able people

Question 10

Terror Management Theory

Answer 10

-humans have the ability to reflect on inescapable death
-may create overwhelming anxiety “terror”
self-esteem reduces anxiety
-constant drive toward self-esteem to counteract existential anxiety
-self-esteem is grounded in cultural values
-increase self-esteem buffers effects of exposure to disturbing images/ideas

Question 11

Social Identity

Answer 11

• self is also tied to a group
• par of self-concept
• allow us to feel part of larger collective
• cant be powerful motivation
• can also lead to discrimination, prejudice, conflict

Question 12

Self-Schemas

Answer 12

• help people organize and process information about themselves
• overlap with self-concept
• schemas used to interpret incoming information
• often have direct consequences on behavior
• major attributes: healthy, smart, socially graceful
• work to meet expectations
• have hard time remembering events that are not consistent with schema
• can affect memory, perception, problem solving
• Doctors: grounded in base rate probabilities or perception of probabilities

Question 13

First Impressions

Answer 13

• made very quickly, based on schemas, change very slowly
• tend to assumes that others are like us
• tend to affect subsequent behavior

Question 14

Willis and Tordorov

Answer 14

• manipulated time of exposure of someones face (1/10 to 1 second, constrained)
• rate competence and trustworthiness
• found exposure time didn’t affect peoples ratings