Social psychology Flashcards
Need to belong theory
Baumeister and Leary (1995)
- As important as food and shelter (social isolation produces a similar brain response as hunger)
- Differs from attachment theory
- Focused on significant relationships (caregiver and other relationships )
- Criteria for such relationships:
1) Should be stable and long-lasting
2) Should be positive and pleasant
Establishing new relationships and maintaining older relationships satisfies the need to belong theory.
Core concepts of the need to belong theory
1) Satiation
2) Substitution
Individual difference in the need to belong?
Some people have a high need to belong whilst some people have a low need to belong (who desire few close relationships; but minimum number required)
Social Identity Theory
The groups we belong to affect how we feel about ourselves.
Making sense of who we are by being part of a group.
One person can have many different identities.
Components of Social Identity Theory
Categorisation -Grouping others based on observable factors
Identification - Grouping that we think we belong to ( identifying ourselves as being part of a group)
Comparison- comparing between us and them.
What are in-groups and out-groups? What does social identity theory say about this?
In-groups are when we are a member of a group that we
identify with; it commands our esteem and loyalty.
Out-groups are social groups with which individuals do not
identify.
- Social Identity Theory states that the in-group will discriminate against the out-group to enhance their self-image.
Group prototypes in Social Identity Theory
Collection of attributes used to define members of a particular group.
That means we behave according to our group prototypes and discriminate against other groups based on it.
What is ‘dietarian identity’?
Social identity based on how people think and behave around their diets.
Identity important for vegetarians and vegans
People who limit meat intake (e.g flexitarians) may identify as any.
Identity does not always match with the behaviour. It may depend on thier belief system (for instance in the case of vegetarians, 1) one’s feeling about eating animals or 2) how significant this kind of diet is to their identity.
Mortality and social relationships
Holt-Lunstad. et al. (2010)
Meta-analysis
50% chance of higher mortality
Multiple groups or single groups
Multiple groups (Sani et al. 2015)
The importance of one’s group identities and harmony between these identities is essential.
Do international students have higher self- esteem when belonging to an international student group even if it may be stigmatized?
Schmitt et al., 2003
Results showed:
* higher perceived discrimination was associated with lower self-esteem
* stronger group identification with ‘international students’ group was
associated with higher self-esteem
* Two-fold: Being a part of a group that is stigmatised or rejected
in society can be associated with lower wellbeing but when
belonging is stronger, receive benefits from membership
Social cure to improve health
Wakefield et al. (2022) found a positive correlation between social prescribing and well-being.
Group membership increased after social prescribing.
Personal identities
Our traits, characteristics & the roles we
play in relationships (that differentiates us from others in the group).
Social identities
Characteristics of the social groups that we
belong to (the shared characteristics within the group).
What is non- verbal communication?
Non-verbal communication is a type of communication which conveys thoughts and feeling without using words.
Types of non- verbal communication
- Gesture
- Facial expressions
- Tone of voice?
- Body positions and +movement
-Touch - Eye gaze
Functions of non- verbal behaviour and communication
- Emotional expression (anger, frustration)
- Facilitating verbal communication
- Conveying our attitude towards someone or something
- Conveying personality traits
How long do emotions last?
What causes someone to become emotional?
- Emotions so not last long (seconds or minutes)
- People become emotional in response to a specific event; they are accompanied by feelings and are private.
How long does mood (change in mood) last?
What causes change in mood?
- May last for a day or longer
- Cause is unclear (sometimes it changes in the presence of a triggering factor sometimes not)
e.g. waking up on the wrong side of the bed
How long do emotional conditions last?
What are the causes?
- May last for weeks, months or years.
- They do not change in response to particular triggering events but they do have some specific cause.
Why are emotions important?
Because they:
- Inform us of who we are
- Inform us about our relationships with others
- Helps us inform how to behave in social situations
- Helps us to coordinate interpersonal relationships
- Give meaning to events
- Motivate our behaviour so we can achieve goals
- Keep human societies together
Emotions: Encode
Express non- verbal behaviour
Emotions: Decode
Interpret the meaning of the non- verbal behaviour
According to Paul Ekman how many universal facial expressions are there?
7
Are expressions of emotion universal (Ekman and Friesen, 1971)?
Evidence for universal expression
Participants: Fore people (from S.E highlands of new Guinea) and Western participants.
6 basic emotions shown
Fore people recognised Western emotions (except fear and surprise could not be distinguished).
Westerns participants also accurately got the Fore expressions right.
Masumoto and Willingham (2009)
Evidence for universal expression.
They studied the facial expressions of athletes at the 2004 Olympic and Paralympic Games
- Looked at expressions of blind and sighted athletes
- Results showed that the blind and sighted had similar expressions and those who won had different expressions than those who lost.
Conclusion :
Expressions were spontaneous
No difference between cultures
Therefore universal
Jack et al. (2012)
Against the theory of Universal expression
He studied whether Western and Eastern cultures categorize emotions differently
- Reconstruct emotions in the ‘mind’s eye’
-Different emotions with different varying intensity ( 4800)
Found difference
What are the two types of emotions?
Discrete (basic emotions- the universal expression theory relies on this emotion )
Dimensional
Emotions and expressions: What are the types of paradigms used?
Forced choice Vs. free choice
Things to consider when reading ‘emotions and expressions’ related papers
- Categories Vs. Dimensions
-Types of paradigms used - Real and fake expressions (does fake expressions help study real expressions)
- Emotions as events ( how researchers break down expressions to study)
Example of practical application of the universal expression theory in workplace
- Emotional expression AI at job interviews
- Court (defendant’s expression may have an impact on sentence)
What may hinder decoding someone’s expression?
- When the expression is a disguise
- Cultural difference
Emotion suppressing and its effect
Hiding and disguising emotions in certain situations
Richard and Gross (1999)–> some hid emotions after seeing an injured person’s image–> Results : Those who suppressed their emotions had higher levels of blood pressure and performed worse in memory task
What are cultural display rules?
- Rules that dictate what emotions are allowed to be shown
- Governs the norm in the society
Ekman and Friesen (1969)
-> Viewing stressful film with researcher vs alone
-> Americans behaviour did not change very much (negative emotions displayed); but Japanese participants were calm when with the researcher
