social psychology Flashcards
ways to measure attitudes
likert scales (rating on options, depends on honesty)
bogus pipeline (lie detector test) - only works if people believe it works
electromyography - looking at how facial moved then determining attitude
LaPiere (1934) - attitudes of people due to culture
what - went around us to restraints with asian couple, where served. Emailed after and they said asian people wouldn’t be served
Theory of planned behaviour
To demonstrate the relationship between attitudes and behaviour we must consider
1.when we have a positive attitude towards the behaviour
2. when norms have a positive attitude towards the behaviour
3. when the behaviour is under control
Cognitive dissonance
inconsistency between attitudes and behaviours e.g participants do a boring task. offer $1 to lie. Then change attitude because $1 isn’t enough to lie
Himmelweit 1990 (attitude of capital punishment)
found - attitude of this topic didn’t change over 15 years
Knox and inkster - winning bets
what - asked People;e to estimate the chances of winning a bet
found - those who placed bets where more confident they would win
evidence of - cognitive dissonance
attitudes can be changed…
source - credible, trustworthy, attractive, likeable
message - is presented quickly, without hesitation
approached - time of approach counts. more likely tp change if weathers nice or happy
emotional appeals
consensus - fear can work in circumstances where
1. message evokes moderate to strong fear
2. message provides a low cost way to reduce threat
dillard and Anderson 2004 (speed ads)
found - ads on tv didn’t work, sometimes made boys drive faster
Attitude resilience
one way to avoid attitude change is via the rehearsal of counter arguments
McAlister 1982- stop teens smoking
what - used phases and taught arguments such as ‘ID be a real chick if I smoked just to impress you”
found - teens trained this way were less likely to smoke
Attributions
Judgements about our own behaviour and other peoples behaviour and outcomes
internal and external attributions
internal - looking inside people e.g she got a scholarship because she’s smart
external - looking at external factors e.g the weather made them win
frey and rogner 1987 9car accidents and attributions
people in car accidents who blamed themselves were in the hospital for 30 days and people who didn’t blame themselves where in hospital for only 20 days
Kelley 1967 - three statements and what they mean
consistency - always hostile towards me
consensus - tends to be hostile
distinctiveness - hostile to others
attribution styles
pessimistic - blame on self
optimistic - be positive
motivation bias on attributions
self esteem - can link to self esteem in two ways
1.positive = internal attributions
2.neagitve = external attributions
control - attributions enhance control. success - internal increases control
victim blaming
internal attributes made for rape, aids and cancer victims
correspondence interference
a judgment that matches or corresponds with someone’s behaviour
miller 1984 (culture and difference in attributions)
western culture prefer - dispotional explanations
non western cultures - favour external explanations
The Actor-Observer Effect
people tend to attribute the cause of their own actions to EXTERNAL factors
they tend to attribute cause of others action to internal causes
The Self-Serving Bias
people take credit for their successes but not for failures
The fundamental attribution error
When we underestimate the impact of the situation and overestimate the role of personal factors when explaining other peoples behaviour
Primacy effect
Our tendency to attach more importance to the initial information we learn about a person
Recency effects
Giving greater weight/importance to the most recent information
Self fulfilling prophecy
When peoples expectations lead them to act towards others in a way that brings about the expected behaviours thereby confirming their original impression
McKnight (1994) - where meet partner
in an Australian sample found that 83% of people met their ‘special partner’ in a familiar social setting, 6% in a casual social setting
The mere exposure effect Zajonc
Repeated exposure to any stimulus makes it more appealing. The more people are exposed to faces, photos, languages and tunes the more they like them
Mita et al. (1977) - how we vs our friends Peter to see ourselves
claimed - claimed that if it was merely repeated exposure to a stimulus that enhanced our liking then we should prefer photos of our facial images as we see them in a mirror (ie. a reversed photo image).
Our friends, however, should prefer a normal
photo of our faces (since this, image is the one that they normally see).
findings - support this view, 70% of people prefer a photo of their own reversed mirror image, 70%of people, however, prefer the normal photo image of their friends
Reis (1997) - proximity
what - proximity doesn’t always work. Personality differences, conflict of interests, value differences, status differentials can all leadto antagonism.
findings - If the initial interaction is negative and this experience is reinforced then dislike will occur
emotional arousal
Research indicates that people who are emotionally aroused rate others as more attractive.
White et al (1981) - running and attractiveness
found that men who ran on the spot rated women as being more attractive
Dutton & Aaron (1974) - electric shocks and attractivness
people expecting electric shocks rated membersof the opposite sex as being more attractive
importance of Physical attractiveness
Attractiveness is important when it comes to relationships. However people generally refuse to admit it openly.
Wakil et al. (1973) - ranking traits
found that out of 32 desirable traits for a partner men ranked physical appearance 12th , women ranked it 22nd
Green, Buchanan & Heuer (1984) (online dating and why you choose someone)
analysed computer dating services, which used photo matching.
- for both sexes physical attractiveness was the major determining factor of date choice
Walster et al. daning and attractivness
what - used a dance to assess student’s reactions to their partners on a blind date. Tests measuring scholastic ability, personality and attitudes were presented to all. People rated for attractiveness by independent observers (on arrival).
findings - The results showed that the more attractive you wererated by the observers the more you were liked by your date.
sex differences
Men - both heterosexual and gay focused on thephysical attractiveness of potential partners.
Women - both heterosexual and lesbian tended to focus on the psychological characteristics
Whipple 2018 - women and men when approached
90% of men when approached by an attractive
woman would agree to sex, only 10% of women when approached by an attractive man would agree to sex
Benefits to attractiveness
Adults less aggressive to attractive children
Attractive people are more likely to be hired for jobs.
Attractive students are more likely to be given better grade
similarity in studies
Many studies shown that people tend to be attracted to others who are similar to themselves. The most important determinants are similarity of attitudes, values and activities
Kandel (1978) friends in school
Found that best friends at high school resemble each other in terms of age, race and academic grades.
Craddock (1990) - marriage and religious beliefs
married couples who shared the same egalitarian or religious beliefs were a lot happier
divorce
divorce rate 1 in 3 Women often initiate the end of relationships Women may feel more distressed in conflicted relationships Women better through: Divorce, Separation and Widowhood
Loneliness
Lonely people can sometimes feel distressed, bored and even depressed. One effective way of coping is to make something valuable out of the solitude e.g. A hobby, work, studying. Rejection causes pain -low self-esteem - aggression
Factors that effect conformity
group size ‘presence of dissenter
social facilitation
how the physical presence of other influences behaviour
Schmitt (1986)
respondents completed simple and complex tasks.
When others present - Simple task ability improved. Complex task ability decreased
Zajonc (1980) Drive Theory of Facilitation
the presence of others leads to increased
arousal. Arousal strengthens the display of our dominant response
Michaels et al. (1982) pool players accuracyy in front of others
the accuracy of good players increased from 71% to 80%. the accuracy of poor players decreased from 35% to25%
Diffusion of Responsibility
the idea that as group size increases individual responsibility decreases.
Diffusion of Responsibility
the idea that as group size increases individual responsibility decreases.
Latane and Darley - peoples social reactions to events
participants come along and sit in a waiting room on the pretext of taking part in a laboratoryexperiment. Smoke came out of a vent, 75% of those waiting alone reacted immediately, less than 1% of those waiting with others reacted
deindividuation
- presence of others can have bizarre or negative effects
- loss of individuality that leads to a disinhibited behaviour
- anonymity to outsiders is key
Mann 1981 -insidences where suicide victims are abused
when people are surrounded by others they loose self awareness and begin to feel anonymous. when aroused the loss in self awarded worjks to disinhibit those impulses which are normally kept under check, the impulses that are realeased depend on the situation
Zimbardo 1970
anonymity leads to aggression
Beaman 1979 halloween study
34% took extra sweets and only 12% of those presented with a mirror took extra sweets
Solomon Asch
line experiment
conformed when told wrong answer
factors that effect obedience
Remoteness of victim
Closeness and legitimacy of the authority figure Diffusion of responsibility
Personal characteristics
authoritarian personality
personality type - deferential to those in authority, don’t like those not hostile
Adorno et al. - authoritarian personality and childhood
Harsh, demanding, parents stifled child’s basic instincts Child’s aggression then displaced onto others such as ethnic minorities.
Realistic Conflict Theory (RCT)
Attitudes reflect the objective interests of the ingroup. Two implicit assumptions
If the interests of two groups coincide, then relations between groups will be harmonious.
If there is a conflict of interests between two groups then relations between groups will be hostile.
Competition for limited resources fosters prejudice
MINIMAL GROUP PARADIGM (MGP) Tajfel, et al., (1971)
the MGP - a scientific attempt to create an ‘empty environment’ where researchers could then systematically add variables that would elicit discrimination
social loafing
The tendancy for an individual to expend less effort individually when working in a group than when working alone
social loafing
The tendancy for an individual to expend less effort individually when working in a group than when working alone
Group polarisation
When a group of like minded people discuss an issue the average opinion of group members tends to become more extreme
Social identity theory
Prejudice stems from a need to enhance our selfesteem
Rousseau and Hobbes
Rousseau - “man is by nature good and only institutions make him bad.”
Hobbes - “man is by nature solitary, poore, nasty and brutish.”
what are the three subsystems of conflict
ID - demands satisfaction now not later, regardless of consequences. contains most basic urges
EGO - works on the reality principals, toys to satisfy id in accordance to social norms
SUPEREGO - If rules are broken the superego metes out punishment. This leads to intense anxiety, guilt and self-reproach
four defence mechanisms
Displacement:
impulses redirected into a safer course.
Reaction formation:
original wish is supplanted with the opposite.
Projection: urges are projected onto others.
Isolation: awareness of memories but not emotions
Origins of unconscious conflicts
*Unconscious conflicts are a result of childhood experiences. Child starts life as a bundle of pleasure seeking tendencies.
*As the child grows pleasure is achieved through the stimulation of certain body zones
unconscious conflicts timeline
Phallic stage (4-6)
*Boys develop an Oedipus complex.
*Boy wants to sexually possess the mother - hates father
*This leads to CASTRATION ANXIETY
Electra complex
*Girl realizes that she does not have a penis – which she regards as a catastrophe.
*Feels that she has been castrated already, develops ‘Penis Envy’.
- hates mother
