Social Psychology #1 Flashcards
Psychology ABC
Affect, Behavior, Cognition
Emotion, action, thoughts
Social psychology as opposed to psychology
Individuals ABC in social context
Social context
Other people, teacher, classroom, America, even alone
Basic Questions in social psychology
Social perception: how we perceive ourselves and others
Social influence: influencing each other
Social interaction: how we like, love, help, hurt each other
Culture of Honor
A Culture of Honor: Emphasize honor and social status, particularly for males, and the
role of aggression in protecting honor.
North settled primarily by agro-farmers from England
South and West settled primarily by “cavaliers” and herders from
North of England, Scotland & Ireland
Construct Validity
How much it actually measure what it wants to measure.
Depends on operationalization.
Archival Studies
Examine records of past events/behavior
Pros – Researcher not worried about influencing
people’s responses
Cons – Data is often very limited and incomplete
Nisbett and colleagues (1996): Examined archives of physical assault in northern and southern regions of U.S. of comparable population density.
Differences in rates of assault (between North & South US) were limited to situations where there has been an insult or threat (Nisbett, 1996)
Naturalistic Observations
Observing behavior in its natural setting
Pros - Real behavior, Real situations
Cons - Researcher can interfere, some behaviors are rare
Surveys
Asking people about their beliefs, behaviors, etc. Pros – 1) Convenient 2) Can study behaviors & thoughts that are difficult to observe
Cons –
1) People can be untruthful
(e. g., Social Desirability)
2) People may not have direct access totheir feelings or attitudes
3) Subtle changes in wording can affect responses (E.g., Framing effects)
Would you approve if a man punched an adult male stranger if
that stranger was a drunkard who bumped into the man and his
wife?
What would you expect your 10 year old son to do if he was
repeatedly bullied by another boy who stole his lunch money?
Approve or Disapprove
(Cohen & Nisbett, 1996)
Percent Approving of Punching the Drunk: 8(Non-Southern), 15(Southern)
Percent who say the boy should fight back: 27(Non-Southern), 40(Southern)
Framing Effect
• Should there be a constitutional amendment banning
abortion?
• Support amendment “prohibiting abortion”
• 29%
• Support one “protecting the life of the unborn child”
• 50%
- Welfare reform?
- Support spending more on “assistance to the poor”
- 61%
- Support spending more on “welfare”
- 22%
Correlational Research
A correlation is a statistical technique whereby two or more variables are
systematically measured and the relationship between them assessed.
Extent to which variables naturally co-vary.
Correlations can be Positive/Negative, Strong/Weak (-1 to +1)
If two variables are highly correlated (e.g. ice cream sales are up on
days when drowning incidents are highest), can we determine the
causal relationship between them?
Direction/third variable
Experimental Methods
Field Studies
Laboratory Studies
Field Studies
Higher External Validity
Behavior measured in the real world, but
includes a manipulation.
Pros - Real behavior, Real situations
Cons - Less control over extraneous factors; Measures often
limited to observable behaviors; ethical considerations
Honor Letter and Control letter condition, something about excusing violence with the fact that someone was cheating with wife
Replies to the application: N/S
Control: 50/49
Honor: 46/59
Laboratory Studies
Higher Internal Validity
Pros – Allows from more rigorous control of potential
extraneous variables. Allows for more invasive
measurement.
Cons - Might not generalize to real life; Suspicion
Hallway Chicken Study (Testing culture of honor hypothesis)
Higher Internal Validity
Pros – Allows from more rigorous control of potential
extraneous variables. Allows for more invasive
measurement.
Cons - Might not generalize to real life; Suspicion
True Experiments vs. Quasi-Experiments
- Is the study we just discussed a “true experiment”? Why or why not?
- Culture of Honor studies are only quasi-experimental because they use preexisting groups (e.g., northerners vs. southerners)
- True experiments manipulate IV & randomly assign participants to condition
- Allows us to rule out reverse causality and potential third-variables
- Allows us to draw causal conclusions
Self-concept
Our collection of conscious beliefs about ourselves
Social Roles (Relational Self)
Group Identities (Social Self)
Individual traits
Mental representation of the self which is:
Complex: contradictory and complementary
Flexible: fluid
Are you a different person when you are with different people?
Context Dependent Self
Self is dependent, in part, on situational variability
Social contexts laden w/ cues → different working self-concept
Working self-concept → influences thoughts, goals & behavior
E.g., Phone Home Study
Activation of relational self
Working self-concept (son/daughter) → behavioral changes
Nylon Study
Women chose favorite pair of nylons Asked to explain their selection Results: Women mentioned things like texture, feel, and color In reality all nylons were identical! Illustrates the perils of introspection
Choice Blindness Study (Johanssen et al. 2006)
Shown pairs of faces given 4 s to select more attractive
Shown selected face, asked to verbally explain why they chose it
IV:
Non-manipulated trials: Gave Ps face they chose
Manipulated trials: Gave Ps face they did not choose
Results:
Explained “choices” on M and N-M trials with equal levels of specificity, emotionality and certainty
2 Problems of Introspection
PROBLEM1: We often don’t have access to our internal processes
Book: Strangers to Ourselves
Introspection Illusion
Can these confabulations lead us to make bad choices?
Self-Other Knowledge Asymmetry (SOKA) Model PROBLEM2: Self-evaluative goals can get in the way Motivated “blind spots”: we would like to see ourselves in a certain way Internal non-evaluative: self better
Observable non-evaluative: others better
Internal evaluative: others better
Poster Study (Wilson et al. 1993)
Poster Study (Wilson et al. 1993)
IV:
Non-thinkers: rated liking of each poster (1= strongly dislike, 9 = strongly like)
Analyzers: Asked to explain why they liked or disliked each poster
Took home their favorite poster
Rated satisfaction w/ poster few weeks later
Results
Non-thinkers more satisfied
95% of Non-thinkers chose art posters; 50% of Analyzers chose cat posters
Self-observation
Am I an Environmentalist? Study (Chaiken & Baldwin, 1981)
Self-Perception Theory: When internal cues are difficult to
interpret, people gain insight by observing their own behavior
Am I an Environmentalist? Study (Chaiken & Baldwin, 1981)
Reported strength of environmental attitudes
Later reminded of either:
Their environmentally unfriendly behaviors, or
Their environmentally friendly behaviors
DV: Self-Identification as environmentalists / conservationists
Results?
Salient behaviors affected self-concept; (only when initial attitudes were weak)
Self-perception & Motivation
Marker Study
Intrinsic Motivation: Originates from within a person
Mastery
Extrinsic Motivation: Originates from outside the person
Money
Marker Study
• IV: No reward/Expected reward/Unexpected reward
• DV: time playing with markers a week later
No reward same play time as unexpected reward, both more than expected reward
Overjustification effect: we think external reward rather than internal is why we do things
Overlays extrinsic motivation onto the intrinsic
Impedes natural prospecsity to learn
