SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY Flashcards
cognitive perspective
- emphasis on how perception affects behaviour.
- if you interpret noxious behaviour as accidental then it is unlikely that you will respond aggressively.
- if you interpret the same behaviour as deliberate then you may respond aggressively.
learning perspective (observational)
- emphasis on principles of reinforcement and imitation
- tendency to focus on observable behaviour and ignore cognition.
- responses based on prior learning
motivational perspective (pyramid of need)
- emphasis on basic human needs
- as we have biological needs - we have psychological needs
biological perspective (evolutionary)
emphasis on evolutionary past and genetic disposition
cultural perspective
emphasis on how culture affects social behaviour
4 levels of explanation/ analysis in social psychology
- intra-personal level
- inter-personal level
- inter-group level
- societal level
intra-personal level
based on what goes on inside the person
inter-personal level
interactions between two people
inter-group level
based on group level behaviour
societal level
cultural effects on behaviour
rousseau: the nature of mankind
“man is by nature good and only institutions make him bad”
hobbes: the nature of mankind
“man is by nature solitary, poore, nasty and brutish”
“if not for the civilising constraints of society, there would be “a war of all against all””
unconscious: ID
- primitive urges
- all about pleasure
unconscious: ego
- “controlled” by reality
- tries to satisfy the ID within bounds of societal norms
unconscious: superego
- internal moral policeman
- represent internalised rules
- rules breaking (acting on impulse in wrong situations) leads to punishment, which can increase anxiety
- impulses will therefore be repressed but not disappear
what are the 4 defence mechanisms
- displacement
- reaction formation
- projection
- isolation
what are the 5 origins of unconscious conflict
- oral stage (0-2)
- anal stage (2-4)
- phallic stage (4-6)
- latency stage (6-12)
- genital stage (12+)
difficulties at any stage are said to lead to problems in adulthood
issues in freud’s origins of unconscious conflict
- never studied children
- ideas not falsifiable
- little experimental evidence to support:
a. flaws in “supporting” evidence
b. data better explained in other ways
3 components of attitudes
- cognitive
- affective
- behavioural
attitudes are relatively stable, however they can change:
cognitive dissonance- inconsistency between attitudes and behaviour (evidence: betting study)
what is the likert scale?
“i like to look at myself in the mirror”
(agree 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 disagree)
- depends on honesty
what is electromyography (EMG)
measures activity of facial muscles to measures attitudes and emotions
what is the theory of planned behaviour
to demonstrate the relationship between attitudes and behaviour we must consider:
1. positive behaviour
2. when norms support our attitudes
3. behaviour is under our control
attribution
the process of inferring the causes of events or behaviours
pessimist vs optimist
blame on internal qualities vs blame on external qualities
motivational basis of attributions
self esteem and control
how is attributions linked to self esteem (2 ways)
1.If we behave positively or successfully and then attribute this to our own internal qualities we can achieve and maintain self-esteem.
- If we behave negatively or fail in some way and then we attribute this to the same internal qualities, then we can suffer a decrease in self-esteem
how is attributions linked to control
- attributions can enhance control
- if we attribute our successes to our internal characteristics we may believe that we are in control
the actor- observer effect
- people tend to attribute the cause of their own actions to EXTERNAL factors
- they tend to attribute the causes of others actions to INTERNAL causes
the self-serving bias
people take credit for their successes but not for their failures
mere exposure effect zajonc:
repeated exposures to any stimulus makes it more appealing
social facilitation
how the physical presence of others influences our behaviour
- ie. we are more likely to laugh if others laugh
drive theory of facilitation (zajonc, 1980)
the presence of others leads to increases arousal, which strengthens the display of our dominant response
diffusion of responsibility
the idea that as group size increases, individual responsibility decreases
deindividuation
presence of others can have bizarre or negative effects
factors that influence obedience 0-100% (4)
- remoteness of the victim (learner is out of sight)
- closeness and legitimacy of the authority figure
- diffusion of responsibility
- characteristics of the teacher?
authoritarian perosnality
a personality types - overly deferential to those in authority whilst hostile towards those perceived as inferior
fear can work when (3):
- the message evokes fear (depends on strength)
- the message provides a low-cost way to reduce fear tat stems from threat/ harm
- e.g. driving ads
mcalister study on “no to smoking”
attitude a resistant to change when we rehearse counter arguments
