Social Psychology Flashcards
Define ‘Social Psychology’.
The scientific field that seeks to understand the nature and causes of individual behavior in social situations.
What is obedience?
A type of social influence where a person follows an order from another person who is usually an authority figure.
What is agency theory?
A theory that suggests people have 2 states of behavior in social situations.
Define the ‘autonomous state’.
When people direct their own actions and take responsibility for the results of those actions.
Define the ‘agentic state’.
When people allow others to direct their actions, and then pass of the responsibility for the consequences to the person giving the orders.
What is moral strain?
Experiencing anxiety, usually because you are asked to do something that goes against your moral judgement
Which study supports Agency Theory?
Milgram’s study of obedience in 1963
What were the 2 aims of Milgram’s study?
- Investigate levels of obedience in the face of legitimate authority even when the command requires destructive behaviour
- Understand the German holocaust
What was the procedure of Milgram’s study?
- 40 men aged 20-50 years old from New Haven
- Drop out at any point
- Learner strapped to chair and electrodes attached to wrist (supposedly)
- Test shock 45V
- Given 4 prods then told they can leave
What were the findings of Milgram’s study?
-65% gave full 450V shock -100% went to 300V -35% = nervous laughter -3 ppts had full seizures
What was the conclusion of Milgram’s study?
Obediant to legitimate authority
What were some strengths of Milgram’s study?
-Standardized (same experience for everyone) -Confederates always the same -Learner’s ‘mistakes’ same for all -Tightly scripted responses -Repeatable
What were some weaknesses of Milgram’s study?
-Gina Perry argued that they deviated from the script -Orne+Holland argued that the experimenter wasn’t concerned so ppts may not believe it -Questions the validity of the results
What was variation experiment 7 and what results did it give?
Telephonic Instructions, levels fell to 23%
What was variation experiment 10 and what results did it give?
Rundown office block, levels fell slightly to 48%
What was variation experiment 13 and what results did it give?
ordinary man giving orders, levels fell to 20%
What is Social Impact Theory?
Latene developed the theory in 1981 to describe the effect that certain social situations can have on our behavior.
What is the ‘source’ in social impact theory?
person doing influencing
what is the ‘target’ in social impact theory?
people who are influenced
what is the equation for impact on the target? (SIT)
f(SIN)
what does the S stand for? (SIT)
strength
what does the I stand for? (SIT)
Immediacy
What does the N stand for? (SIT)
number of sources
What is the light bulb analogy of Social Impact Theory?
brightness is affected by strength of the bulb, distance from the light source and number of bulbs
what is the divisional effect in Social Impact Theory?
social impact is reduced if there are more targets than sources
what is the impact on target equation Social Impact Theory?
impact on target = f(1/SIN)
what is the law of diminishing returns in Social Impact Theory?
once source group > , each added person has less of an influencing effect
What is supporting evidence for Social Impact Theory?
OBEDIENCE AT THE ZOO -Sedikides + Jackson (1990) -visitors asked not to lean on railing -confederate either as zoo keeper (58% obedience) or regular person (35% obedience) -61% when in same room, 7% when in adjacent room -obedience greater in groups of 1/2 that 5/6
What is a competing argument for Social Impact Theory?
may not be group size alone that determined deviance -bigger groups = more deviant personality -unable to control group size
What is a differing theory for Social Impact Theory?
-Immediacy less important than strength -Hofling (1966) - unknown doctor called 22 nurses to administer overdose -95% obeyed despite not present -no comparison with source being present
What is an application for Social Impact Theory?
political influence: -adopting strong + persuasive style of communication -reach voters face-to-face -address smaller groups rather than crowds
Define ‘dissent’ in obedience.
Having opinions that differ from those held by others. (disobedience)
Define resistance in obedience.
Ability to withstand social pressure to obey authority , influenced by both situational and dispositional (personality) factors.
What is the ‘authoritarian personality’?
hostile to inferior and obedient to superior -strict parents -F scale
What is Locus of control (LOC)?
persons perception of personal control over their behavior -internal = self responsibility -external = governed by others and chance factors -internal = more likely to disobey authority
Evaluate personality factors in influencing obedience.
research support (Milgram tested his ppts, obedient ppts scored higher on F scale) -may just be correlational (other factors may impact) -Schurz: ultrasound on female students, fully obedient and resistive ppts had similar LOC on questionnaire -APPLICATION: field of human resources: some jobs require higher obedience levels, using LOC scale to recruit
What impact does gender have on obedience?
-Women are more obedient than men (Sheridon + King = electric shock puppies, 100% females 54% males obeyed, women more distressed) -Men more obedient than women (Kilham + Mann, replicated Milgram’s study = 40% males, 16% females fully obedient) -Moral Rea
Evaluate gender influences on obedience.
support from qualitative research, men favored justice, Women favored care (interviewed), may affect decision making in destructive situations -many studies found no significant gender differences
How does culture impact obedience?
Individualism vs collectivism -individualists = self resilience + personal autonomy -collectivists = loyalty to groups + interdependence -Power Distance Index (PDI) = how accepting people are of order and inequality in society -low PDI = more resistant
Evaluate culture as an influence of obedience.
+close relationships between obedience and PDI (Kilham + Mann), both low in Australia + high in Poland -very similar levels of obedience between US & rest of world, universal social behavior
How do situational factors influence obedience?
-Legitimacy: perceived status (Milgrams variation) -Proximity: (Latene) Social Impact Theory -Behavior of others: role models who disobey, Milgram variation 17 (2 peers rebel, obedience = 10%)
Evaluate situational factors in influencing obedience.
supporting evidence (Social impact Theory, obedience at the zoo) -personality of each individual also impacts -APPLICATION: rule breaking, increased obedience by Immediacy and Legitimacy
Who developed Social Identity Theory?
Tajfel + Turner (1979,1986)
What are the 3 stages of Social Identity Theory?
- Social categorization - see yourself as part of a group 2. Social identification - identifying with the group and taking on their norms and attitudes 3. Social comparison - see in-group as better than out-group to boost self esteem
Evaluate strengths of Social Identity theory.
-minimal group experiment -64 15-16yr old boys from same school -divided into groups by behavior, allocate points to ingroup
Evaluate an opposing weakness of Social Identity Theory
not realistic -just a game, no consequences
Evaluate a differing theory of Social Identity theory.
-may only explain western societies -repeated with 8yr
Application for Social identity theory
attempting to reduce prejudice by increasing self-esteem -policies that target lower self esteemed people
What is Realistic Conflict Theory?
Prejudice arises due to groups competing for resources. There has to be competition present.
Who proposed and experimented Realistic Conflict Theory?
Sherif et al (Robbers Cave)
realistic conflict theory?
supporting study (Sherif et al) -created intergroup sporting competition with winner (negative interdependence) = violence, hostility and prejudice
What is an opposing argument for Realistic Conflict Theory?
-boys needed serious provocation to trigger discrimination -had to secretly raid one group’s cabin
What is a differing theory for Realistic Conflict Theory?
-competition may not be necessary for prejudice -Tajfel’s minimal group experiment = discrimination from perceiving someone as “less” than you -more about self worth and social grouping
What is an application of Realistic Conflict theory?
-reducing prejudice and discrimination in society -intergroup relations enhanced by super-ordinate goals -2 of most important issues faced in modern world
Who proposed the Right Wing Authoritarian personality type?
Altemeyer
What leads to a Right Wing Authoritarian personality?
Social learning -learned set of beliefs about the world -reaction to fear and uncertainty
Who proposed a Social Dominance Orientation personality?
Pratto et al
What leads to a Social Dominance Orientation personality?
socialization -role models -seeing the world as a competitive jungle, fight for resources
What factors impact prejudice?
personality -culture -situation
What is a strength of Factors affecting Prejudice?
Cohrs et al = RWA and SDO both correlated positively with prejudice behavior and negatively with openness to experience -levels of prejudice can be accurately predicted by personality types
What is an opposing argument of factors affecting prejudice?
-can’t expect SDO and RWA to generalize -influenced by social factors so harder to predict in real world
What is a differing theory for Factors affecting prejudice?
problem with approach, ignores Social norms and situational factors
What is an application for Factors affecting Prejudice?
reducing prejudice -learned through specific world views -greater regulations of media sources
What are the 2 subtopics within social psychology?
Prejudice and Obedience
What were the aims of Burger’s 2009 study?
-see if Milgram’s findings were era-bound -see if obedience is impacted by gender or personality traits (empathetic concern and desire for control)
What was the procedure of Burger’s 2009 study?
-29 men + 41 women aged 20-81 -flyers, ads, newspapers + online -6 ethical safeguards
What were Burger’s findings?
-70% obedient compared to 82.5 in Milgram’s study -no significant gender differences -no differences linked to empathetic concern -higher desire for control = more defiant
What is a conclusion to Burger’s study?
-Milgram’s findings not era-bound -desire for control has impact on obedience
Evaluate Burger’s study.
-GENERALISABILITY: poor, 38% deselected after screening, may have lead to lower obedience levels -RELIABILITY + VALIDITY: none knew Milgrams research, excluded if took 2+ psychology classes, enhanced internal validity of study -APPLICATION: limited to rea
What was the aim of our practical?
To investigate perceptions of gender differences in obedience.
What results did our practical give?
-significant number of people believe that although it shouldn’t impact, females tend to be more obedient, and males tend to have more authority
