Social Psychology Flashcards
Social facilitation
Ability to perform simple tasks better while in the presence of others
Inversely, complex or new task in presence of others can hinder performance
Yerkes-Dodson law
Accounts for social facilitation - high arousal during difficult task leads to impairment of divided attention, working memory, decision-making, multi-tasking
High during simple leads to focused attention, flashbulb memory, fear conditioning
Deindividuation
Tendency of losing self awareness in high group settings
Provides high degree of arousal, low sense of responsibility
3 factors:
Anonymity
Diffused responsibility
Group size
Bystander effect
People do not offer help to a victim if there are other people present
Increases the bigger the group, decreases depending on if the group knows each other or how dangerous situation is
Social loafing
Tendency to put in less effort in a group setting, particularly if you are being evaluated on the whole and not as an individual
Group polarization
Tendency for groups to make decisions that are more extremes than the initial, individual opinions of its members
Reasons for affect of group polarization
Informational influence and normative influence
Informational influence
Most common ideas to emerge out of group and in line with most dominant view point
Since they are most common, moderate members take on stronger stance since they are apart of the group
Normative influence
Pull we feel of being socially desired, accepted, admired, liked.
If you want to be recognized as these things in the group, you take on the stronger stance
Groupthink
Group of people has strong desire for harmony and individual conformity that group makes irrational decision
Janis’ eight factors of groupthink
Collective rationalization Excessive stereotyping Illusion of invulnerability Illusion of morality Illusion of unanimity Mindguards Pressure on dissenters Self-censorship
Collective rationalization
Group members ignore warnings and do not reconsider their actions, assumptions, or beliefs
Excessive stereotyping
Negative views of outside or dissenting opinions render effective responses to conflict unnecessary
Illusion of invulnerability
Unjustified and excessive sense of optimism encourages risk-taking
Illusion or morality
Member of group believe in moral rightness of their cause and ignore the consequences of their actions
Illusion of unanimity
Majority views are assumed to be unanimous
Mindguards
Members of group protest groups cohesiveness by filtering out information that would be problematic
Pressure on dissenters
Members are constantly under pressure to not express views or beliefs that are against those of the group
Self-censorship
Members who do hold dissenting opinions do not share them
Social norms
Rules they group or society has for behavior, beliefs, attitudes and values
Sanctions
Enforce norms either through punishments or rewards for behaving in way that is, respectively, against or in line with norms
Formal norms
Written down, specific, explicit. Typically associated with penalties for violating. Example: law
Informal norm
Generally understood but not written or specifically defined. Not explicitly stated. Don’t have penalties associated with violating
Mores
Informal norms that carry major importance for society — if broken can result in severe social sanctions:
Folkways
Informal norms with less significance, but shape everyday behavior.
Less severe consequences they breaking a more.
Deviance
Violation of societal norm - can have positive or negative results
Differential association theory
Deviance and patterns of deviance can be learned through our interactions with others
Differential association theory
Deviance and patterns of deviance can be learned through interactions with others
Stigma
Extreme disapproval of certain person or group based on perceived deviations from the social norm
Conformity
Matching one’s attitudes, behaviors and beliefs of social norms
Internalization
Changing attitudes and behavior to fit in with the group
Identification
Acceptance of other peoples ideas without thinking critically about them
Compliance
Change in behavior in response to a direct request
Typically from person or group that does not actually have authority to enforce change
Obedience
Change in behavior in response to a direct request but from a figure that actually has authority to enforce it
Labeling theory
Labels that people are given socially affect how others see them but also how they see themselves
Socialization
People inherit, develop and disseminate social norms customs and belief systems
