Social Psychology Flashcards
Social Psychology
This is the scientific stud of how a person’s behavior, thoughts, and feelings influence and are influenced by social groups.
Social Influence
This is the process through which the real or implied presence of others can directly or indirectly influence the thoughts, feelings, and behavior of an individual.
Conformity
This involves hang in one’s behavior in response to group pressure (try to match the behavior of other people)
Normative Social Influence
This is a type of conformity that involves one’s need to act in was that they feel will let them be liked and accepted by others.
Informational Social Influence
This is a type of conformity that involves taking cues for how to behave from other people, especially when one is in a situation that is not clear or is ambiguous.
Group think
This occurs when people place more importance on maintaining group cohesiveness than assessing the facts of the problem with which the group is concerned.
Characteristics of Group think
- Invulnerability
- Rationalization
- Lack of introspection
- Stereotyping
- Pressure
- Lack of disagreement
- Self deception
- Insularity
Consequences of Groupthink
- Bad decisions due to lack f opposition
- Lack of creativity
- Optimal solutions are overlooked
Minimizing Groupthink
- Leaders should remain impartial
- Seek opinions outside the group
- Vote by secret ballots (recording using a pice of paper)
Group Polarization
This is the tendency for memebers involved in a group discussion take more extreme position and suggest riskier actions when compared to individuals who have not participated in a group discussion.
Social loafing
People who are lazy tend not to do as well when others are also working on the same talk. But when working on their own, they perform well.
Deindividuation
This is the lessening of one’s sense of personal identity an personal responsibility.
- *lack of self-control
- *groups/crowds can offer a sense of anonymity
Deindividuation and the internet
- increased cheating and inflammatory comments
- trolling
- distribution and cyber bullying
Consumer Psychology
A branch of psychology that studies the habits of consumers in the marketplace.
Compliance
Changing one’s behavior as a result of other people directing or asking for change.
- *foot-in-the-door technique
- *door-in-the-face technique
- *lowball technique
Obedience
It involves one changing their behavior at the command of an authority figure
Social Cognition
The mental processes that people use to make sense of the social world around them.
- our perceptions of other people
- first impressions
- other people’s perception of us
Attitudes
A tendency to respond positively or negatively toward a certain person, object, idea, or situation.
What are the 3 components of attitude?
- Affective (emotional) component
- Behavioral component
- Cognitive component
Persuasion
This is the process by which one person tries to change the belief, opinion, position, or course of action of another person through argument, pleading or explanation.
What are the key elements of persuasion?
- source of message
- content of message
- target audience
Impression formation and primary effect
The very first impression one has about a person, is often based on physical appearance alone. This tends to persist even in the face of evidence to the contrary.
Social Categorization
The assignment of characteristics onto a new person in relation to someone they knew in the past.
**stereotyping
