Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

Psychology 2 > Social Psychology > Flashcards

Social Psychology Flashcards

1
Q

what is social psychology

A

study of how people think, feel, and behave in social situations

  • > i.e. how we explain others behaviour and how others behaviour affects us
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

2 main areas of study in social psychology

A

Social Cognition

  • > making sense of the social world

Social influence

  • > how behaviour is affected by the situation and by other
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

main areas of discussion

A
  • > person perception
  • > attribution
  • > attraction and liking
  • > attitudes
  • > stereotypes
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

Person perception

A

process of informing impressions of other

  • > either forming an impression or making an impression
  • > we often make snap decisions based on expectations/social norms
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

social schemas

A

organized clusters of ideas about categories of people

  • > sort ppl into “types”
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

Biases in person perception

A
  • > implicit personality theory

*physical appearance/beautiful is good

  • > primacy effects
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

implicit personality theory

A

personal beliefs about which traits or physical characteristics belong together

  • > when you think hacker you probably think loser in their parents basement
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

relate physical appearance to person perception

A
  • > a huge message in our culture is “beautiful is good” and attractive people are perceived to be more intelligent, sociable and happier
  • > but there is really no difference
  • > the beautiful is good stereotype (disney princesses can do no wrong and are good to their core)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

Primacy effects

A
  • > we are influenced more by info received earlier than info received later

the tendency to remember the first piece of information we encounter better than information presented later on (FIRST IMPRESSIONS)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

ingroup-outgroup biase

A

Ingroup “us”

  • > the group to which we belong
  • > be biased towards groups that share similar attributes

Outgroup “them”

  • > everyone else (the group which you don’t belong)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

Outgroup homogeneily effect

A

we assume that everyone in the outgroup are “all alike”/very similar to eachother

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

Sherifs Robbers Cave Study

A
  • > 11-12 boys at camp were divided into 2 groups
  • > in created prejudice and hostile interactions between groups (outgroup homogeneity therory)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

stereotype

A

cluster of characteristics associated with all members of a group

  • > belief held by members of one group about members of another group
  • > overgeneralization (ignore diversity of character in the population)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

why do we stereotype

A
  • > limited knowledge about outgroup members
  • > humans are lazy (cognitive misers)
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

confirmation bias

A

interpret ambiguous info as confirming stereotype

  • > dismiss disconfirming evidence
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

self-fulfilling prophecy

A

we create the response we expect

  • > if I think I’m stupid then I will act stupid, reinforcing that view
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

prejudice

A

a negative attitude towards a group

  • > usually built on stereotypes
  • > blatant prejudice is not acceptable; implicit forms still exist (prejudice
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

prejudice vs discrimination

A

prejudice is the attitude, discrimination is the behaviour

  • > when it becomes an action it is discrimination
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

discrimination

A

negative behaviour towards a group

  • > start seeing these “out groups” as threatening
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

attribution

A

process of explaining behaviour

  • > explanations you make about the causes of others (or own) behaviour
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

types of attributions

A

Internal attributions

  • > traits, abilities, feelings, ect.

External attributions

  • > situation, luck, ect.
22
Q

Fundamental attribution error

A
  • > behaviuour explained by internal causes (i.e. traits)
  • > overestimate importance of personality
  • > blind to the situation (left dishes because I was late to work and got home late)

*we do things a certain way because of the situation but others do it because they’re bad, lazy ect.

23
Q

actor-observer discrepancy

A

more likely to use external attributions if we are the actor

  • > i got the award because I earned but but they got the same one because they cheated/luck/ect.
24
Q

belief in a just world bias

A
  • > tendency to believe that life is fair (bad things happen to bad ppl)
  • > leads to blaming the victim (defensive attribution); their misfortunes are their fault
25
Q

self deserving bias

A
  • > my success (i’m so smart); my failures (exam had trick questions)
26
Q

attraction

A

liking, loving, sexual appeal (all have same basis)

  • > to whom are we drawn to
27
Q

key factors of attraction

A
  • > physical attraction
  • > similarity
  • > reciprocity
  • > mere exposure
28
Q

physical attractiveness

A

key determinant of romantic attraction from men and women

  • > especially in start of relationship
29
Q

matching hypothesis

A

those of approximately equal physical attractiveness tend to select each other

  • > especially for serious relationship, hookups might have more discrepancy of pairs
30
Q

similarity

A
  • > we are attracted to (and like) those who we are similar to us (and kind of look like us)
  • > remind us of each other
  • > we also become more similar over time

- > ***attitudes and core values are where we match the most

- > opposites don’t attract

31
Q

reciprocity

A
  • > we like those who like us (self-enhancement, self verification)
  • > like those who like us (balance) and dislike those who dislike you
32
Q

mere exposure effect

A

repeated exposure to a person/thing leads to increased liking

  • > proximity (you might start to like your neighbour more and more because you see them all the time)
33
Q

passionate love

A
  • > intense absorption of 2 ppl in each other (sexual craving, euphoria, withdrawal when apart)
34
Q

companionate love

A

affection between 2 ppl whose live are deeply intertwined (not as many highs and lows of passionate love, but still passionate)

  • > powerful motivation force (people will die for love)
35
Q

sternbergs triangular theory of love

A

love is composed of 3 components

  • > intimacy (warmth)
  • > passion
  • > commitment

consummate love: presence of all three (ideal)

36
Q

attitudes

A
  • > a learned tendency to evaluate an object, person, or issue, in a particular way
  • > set of positive or negative beliefs and feelings
37
Q

attitude routes

A

Central Route

  • > focus on arguments, high relevance (logic and information based arguments/opinion)

Peripheral route

  • > focus on superficial cues (more emotion based argument)
38
Q

cognitive dissonance theory

A

when people’s attitudes and behaviours are inconsistent

  • > this is unpleasant, so we change our attitudes typically (tweak our behaviour to make ourselves feel better)
39
Q

theories of attitude change

A
40
Q

social influences on attitude

A
  • > conformity
  • > obedience
  • > bystander effect
  • > social loafing
  • > group polarization
  • > groupthink
41
Q

conformity

A
  • > change in behaviour (or attitudes) as a result of real (or imagined) pressure from others
  • > Asch conformity experiment (everyone said wrong answer to see if participant conforms)
42
Q

informational and normative social influence on conformity

A

Informational social influence

  • > ambiguous or confusing situation
  • > group must be right
  • > other people seen as providing needed information

Normative social influences

  • > to avoid rejection or discomfort; gain approval
  • > desire to be accepted by group gives the group the ability to influence
43
Q

obedience

A
  • > complying to commands of an authority
  • > Milgram’s classic studies

*has since been deemed immoral, developed a machine that delivers electric shocks; teacher and learner, teacher asks questions and deliver increasing levels of shock after each answer (no one ever stopped/ walked out even though they are volunteers)

44
Q

when do we obey (obedience)

A
  • > victim is distant (depersonalization)
  • > authority is close
  • > commands from legitimate authority
  • > context
45
Q

bystander effect

A

less likely to provide help in presence of others

46
Q

diffusion of responsibility

A
  • > as the number of others increase, less likely to help
  • > assume others will help, so we don’t
  • > murder of Kitty Genovese
47
Q

components of persuasion and whether it works (changing attitudes)

A

Who (source factors)

What (message factors)

By what means (channel factors)

To whom (receiver factors)l

48
Q

social facilitation

A
  • > presence of others enhances performance on simple tasks; when you’re good at the task (worsens it on complex new tasks)
  • > strengthens dominant response
49
Q

social loafing

A
  • > reduces effort when work in group (combining efforts)
  • > feel as if you can’t be held accountable
  • > deindividuation (loss of self)
  • > if you’re in a group then you’ll slack off (if you’re alone your be more out there
50
Q

group polarization

A
  • > if we are in a group, group decisions are more extreme than where they started
  • > groups make more extreme decisions than the individual
  • > feel protected in the group brain
51
Q

groupthink

A

groups make bad decisions in process of trying to ensure harmony/agreement

  • > worsen in highly cohesive groups
  • > anyone in the group that disagrees are suppressed

Psychology 2 (8 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2025 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions