Social Psychology Flashcards
1
Q
What is social psychology
A
- study of how people influence thoughts, feelings, behavior, beliefs, attitudes
- individuals r predisposed to forming intimate interpersonal networks
- try’s to understand behavior and mental processes within social context
2
Q
Person- Environment
A
- focus’s on individuals needs
- Kurt Lewin (1936) was first to theorize about P-E
- he felt behavior was product of person and environment
3
Q
Social Context
A
- the real, imagined, or symbolic presence of other people
- the settings in which behavior occurs
- expectations and social norms governing behavior in a given setting
4
Q
Need to belong theory
A
- biologically-based need for interpersonal connections
- isolation has been associated with increased risk for anxiety, abnormal eating, reduced intelligence, etc
5
Q
Social comparison theory
A
- individuals seek to evaluate their abilities and beliefs by comparing others
- determined by 1 of 3 goals: get an accurate assessment of abilities, know what to strive for, feel better about ourselves
6
Q
Conformity
A
- tendency for people to change or adapt their behaviors, attitudes and opinions to be consistent with norms, expectations of others
- influence results from persons desire to gain approval / avoid disapproval
7
Q
Social Influence Asch’s experience
A
Experiment- line test
Effect- form of conformity in which a group majority influences individual judgments
8
Q
Conformity increases when…
A
- u feel incompetent or insecure
- u r in a group of 3 or more
- u r impressed by status of group
- u have no prior commitment to response
- u r observers by others in group
9
Q
Attribution
A
- assign causes to explain behavior
- situational or external
10
Q
Dispositional or Internal Attributions
A
- attribute behavior to internal cause
- qualities or actions of the individual
11
Q
Internal and external attributions
A
- internal (intelligence, gender, ethnicity, personality)
- external (time of day, surrounding environment, experiences with others)
12
Q
What makes a group
A
- roles
- norms
- cohesiveness
13
Q
Robert Zajonc explained what
A
- the presence of others heightens our arousal
- heightened arousal leads to better performance on tasks we r good at and worse performance on tasks that r difficult for us
14
Q
Group Polarization
A
- group discussion causes shift to more extreme positions
15
Q
Social loafing
A
- tendency to exert less effort working with others than working alone
- disappears when individual output monitored
- studying in group can lead to to social loafing through diffusion of responsibility effect
