Social Psychology Flashcards
Self-Concept/Self-Identity
The sum of an individuals knowledge and understanding of his/herself
Self-Consciousness
Awareness of one’s self, self-concept includes physical, psychological, and social attributes which can be influenced by the individuals attitudes, habits, beliefs, and ideas.
Self-Schemas
Beliefs a person has about his/herself (e.g, female, smart, funny, future doctor)
Personal Identity
Consists of ones own sense of personal attributes (smart, funny)
Social Identity
Social definitions of who you are (race, religion, gender)
Self-Verification
Theory that states individuals want to be understood in terms of their deeply held core beliefs.
What are the aspects of ones identity? (ADRESSING)
Age Disability Status Religion Ethnicity/Race Sexual Orientation Socioeconomic Class Indigenous Background Natural Origin Gender
Self-Reference Effect
The tendency to better remember information relevant to ourselves
Who is Carl Rogers?
Founder of humanistic psychology.
According to Rogers, personality is composed of the ideal self and the real self.
Ideal Self: constructed out of your life experiences, societal expectations, and the things you admire about role models (who you want to be)
Real Self: (who you actually are)
What are the three influences on an individuals development of self-concept? Define each.
- Self-Efficacy: how capable we think we are of doing things. It is a belief of ones own competence and effectiveness. It varies from task to task.
- Locus of Control: can be internal or external
Internal Locus of Control: this is when people believe they are able to influence outcomes through their own efforts and actions.
External Locus of Control: this is when people perceive outcomes as controlled by outside forces. - Self-Esteem: ones overall evaluation of ones self worth. (Self-esteem is related to self-efficacy)
Learned Helplessness
When people are exposed to situations in which they have no control, they learn not to act because they believe it will not affect the outcome anyway, even when a situation passes and they can exert some control.
Identity Formation/Individuation
Is the development of a distinct individual personality. Identity changes throughout life stages, but includes the characteristics an individual considers his/her own.
The Looking-Glass Self
An idea developed by Charles Cooley that states a persons sense of self develops from interpersonal interactions with others in society and the perception of others.
People shape their self-concepts based on their understanding of how others perceive them.
Social Behaviorism
An idea developed by George Herbert-Mead that states the mind and self emerge through the process of communicating with others.
This idea led to the development of symbolic interactionism, where Mead believed that there is a specific path to the development of the self.
What are the four stages of symbolic interactionism according to Mead?
Stage 1: the preparatory stage; children merely imitate others
Stage 2: the play stage; children take on roles through playing
Stage 3: the game stage; children learn to consider multiple roles simultaneously and understand the responsibility of multiple roles
Stage 4: child develops an understanding of the generalized other which is the common behavioral expectations of general society/
Socialization
Process through which people learn to be proficient and functional members of society; it is a lifelong sociological process where people learn the attitudes, values, and beliefs that are reinforced by a particular culture.
Feral Children
The result of extreme deprivation of socialization where individuals are not raised with human contact or care.
Norms
Spoken or unspoken rules and expectations for the behavior of its members
Normative Behavior
Social behaviors that follow these expectations and meet the ideal social standard.
Sanctions
How norms are reinforced; rewards and punishments for behavior that are in accord with or against norms.
How are norms classified?
They are classified by formality and importance.
Formal Norms: generally written down (e.g, laws), precisely defined, publicly presented, and accompanied by strict for those who violate them.
Informal Norms: generally understood, less precise, and carry no specific punishments.
Mores: norms that are highly important for the benefit of society and so are often strictly enforced (e.g, animal abuse or treason)
Folkways: norms there are less important, but shape everyday behavior (e.g, style of dress)
Taboo
Behaviors that customs forbid (e.g, Muslims eating pork)
Anomie
A concept that described the social condition in which individuals are not provided with firm guidelines in relation to norms and values and there is minimal moral guidance or social ethic.
This concept was developed by Emile Durkheim and is though of as normlessness.
Deviance
Actions that violate dominant social norms, whether formal or informal.
Deviance is situational and contextual, which can be problematic (e.g murder is considered an illogical deviant behavior, however it non-normative because it is considered acceptable in certain contexts such as warfare and self-defense)
Non-Normative Behavior
Viewed as incorrect because it challenges shared values and institutions, thus threatening social structure and cohesion
What three perspectives/theories provide descriptions of deviant behavior?
Functionalism, Conflict Theory, and Interactionism provide descriptions for deviant behavior.
Following the functionalism approach, Edwin Sutherlands differential association perspective argues that deviance is a learned behavior resulting from interactions between individuals and their communities. (The communication of ideas)
Following the conflict theory perspective, Howard Beckers labelling theory suggests that deviance is a result of societies response to a person rather than something inherent in the persons actions; behaviors becomes deviant through social processes (assumes the act itself is not deviant for intrinsic moral reasons). The use of labels can lead to self-fulfilling prophecies.
Following the symbolic interactionism, Robert Merton’s structural strain theory claims that deviance is the result of experienced strain, either individual or structural (e.g, lower class individuals are more expected to use deviant methods of reaching economic success such as stealing or selling drugs)
Collective Behavior
Social norms for the situation are absent or unclear
Herbert Blumer identified what four main forms of collective behavior?
Crowds, publics, masses, and social movements
Crowds
A group that shares a purpose (e.g, theaters or orchestras). Crowds are thought to be emotional; often in the context of the crowds, there is a non permanent loss of rational thought and the crowd influences individual behaviors which is referred to as herd behavior.
Mobs: a specific example of a crowd in which emotion is heightened and behavior is director toward a specific and violent cause (e.g, lynching)
Publics
A public is defines as a group of individuals discussing a single issue, which conflicts with the actual usage of the term. People in publics share ideas.
Masses
A mass is defined as a group whose formation is prompted through the efforts of mass media; masses consist of relatively large numbers of people who not be close
Social Movements and the different types
A social movement is defined as a collective behavior with the intention of promoting change.
Two main categories;
Active Movements: which attempt to foster social change (e.g, revolutions)
Expressive Movements: which attempt to foster individual change (e.g, support groups)
What are some additional aspects of collective behavior?
Fad/Craze: an example of collective behavior in which something;
1. Experiences a rapid and dramatic incline in reputation
2. Remains popular among a large population for a brief period
3. Experiences a rapid and dramatic decline in reputation
(E.g, of a fad could be clothing or food)
Trends: different from fads because they are longer-lived and often lead to permanent social change (e.g, hippie movement and the peace sign)
Mass Hysteria: a diagnostic label that refers to the collective delusion of some threat that spreads through emotions and escalates until it spirals out of control
Riots: form of crowd behavior; however, there is no specific end. Most riots occur as the result of general dissatisfaction in social conditions. They are chaotic and disorganized
What are the six main forces that influence our lives?
- Family
- School
- Peer Groups
- Work Place
- Religion/Government
- Mass Media/ Technology
Cultural Assimilation
Process by which an individual forsakes of his/her own cultural tradition to adopt those of a different culture. Generally, this individual is a member of a minority group who is attempting to conform to the culture of a dominant group
Amalgamation
Occurs when majority and minority groups combine to form a distinct new group, different from any of the initial groups
Multiculturalism/Pluralism
Perspective that endorses equal standing for all cultural traditions. Each culture is able to maintain its practices.
Is a debatable topic as a practice
Subcultures
Segment of society that shares a distinct pattern of traditions and values that differs from that of a larger society.
Attribution Theory
Attempts to explain how individuals view behavior, both our own behavior and the behavior of others.
Given a set of circumstances, individuals attribution behavior to internal causes (dispositional attributions) or external causes (situational attribution)
What determines whether we attribute behavior to internal or external causes?
- Distinctiveness (more likely external)
- Consensus (more likely external)
- Consistency (more likely internal)
What is a criticism of Edwin Sutherland’s differential association perspective?
A criticism of differential association is the idea that individuals are reduced to their environments; instead of considering people as independent, rational actors with personal motivations.
It suggests that deviant behavior is learned from ones environment without choice.
What is a criticism of Howard Becker’s labeling theory?
A criticism of the labeling theory is the idea that deviance is assumed to be an automatic process: individuals are seen to be influenced through the use of labels, which ignores their abilities to resist social expectation.
What is a criticism of Robert Merton’s structural strain theory?
A criticism of the structural strain theory is the fact that some deviant behaviors, and in particular criminal behaviors, persist in excess that are non utilitarian.
This perspective is more applicable to material, rather than social, goals.
Fundamental Attribution Error
When we tend to underestimate the impact of the situation and overestimate the impact of a persons character or personality.
Example: “someone cut us off, he is a real jerk”
