SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY Flashcards
social psychology definition
is a discipline which people attempt to see thoughts of others and how this influences what one does.
5 approaches to social psychology
- cognitive
- learning
- motivational
- biological
- cultural
social psychology - cognitive perspective
how perception effects behaviour
or how one reacts and its consequences
social psychology - learning perspective
principles like reinforcement and imitation
responses based on prior learning, observations
social psychology - motivational perspective
basic human needs
social psychology - biological perspective
our biology drives us
social psychology - cultural perspective
how our society impacts on us
4 levels of explanation in social psychology
- intra-personal level
- inter-personal level
- inter-group level
- societal level
4 levels of explanation in social psychology - Intra-Personal Level
based on what goes on inside the person
- it is sometimes not always their fault is can be genes, tumors etc
4 levels of explanation in social psychology - Inter-Personal Level
interactions between two people
% of murder cases that rejection caused the violence
85%
4 levels of explanation in social psychology - Inter-Group Level
based on group level behaviour (tends to be men that show this behaviour)
4 levels of explanation in social psychology - Societal Level
cultural effects on behaviour
for example some places allow guns
Rousseau quote on nature of human kind
“man is by nature good and only institutions make him bad”
Hobbes quote on nature of human kind
“man is by nature solitary, poore, nasty and brutish”
what did Freud first draw the world too (3)
- the study of unconscious
- the developmental aspects of personality (what impacted us growing up also impacts us later on in life)
- talking cures (the idea of therapy)
what are the 3 subsystems involved in this conflict
ID
EGO
SUPEREGO
subsystem - ID
contains most basic urges (driven by what we want and desire)
they need to gain sexual pleasure, it’s principle of the demand for satisfaction now not later no matter the consequences
subsystem - EGO
works on the reality principle
works by trying to satisfy the ID by doing societal norms so that ID will have to wait
subsystem - SUPEREGO
acts as the moral policemen
we have internalised rules from out parents and society, but if we break these rules this leads to anxiety, guilt etc
however if you don’t get anxiety then they have the desire to fulfil/repress ID and then defense mechanisms are brought into play
what are the 4 defense mechanisms
displacement
reaction formation
projection
isolation
defense mechanisms - displacement
impulses redirected into a safer course (re-channel desire into something more acceptable)
e. go to the gym instead
defense mechanisms - reaction formation
original wish is supplanted with the opposite
eg. if you like someone you may be mean to them instead
defense mechanisms - projection
urges are projected into others
eg. if you are jealous of someone, you tell them that are jealous of you
defense mechanisms - isolation
awareness of memories but not emotions (can talk about the trauma without emotions as the trauma is to much)
origins of unconscious
these are a result of childhood experiences
as a child grows pleasure is achieved through the stimulation of certain body zones
child stimulation of certain body zones
oral
anal
phallic
latency
genital
0-2 years old
2-4 years old
4-6 years old
6-12 years old
12+ years old
phallic stage
4-6 years old
boys develop oedipus complex when the boy desires to be with someone their mother and hates there fathers
Castration Anxiety - gives up on this desire and then hope to have a father like his dad has
electra complex
- is when females realise they don’t have a penis
- suggests that women are less than men
- the female will turn the sexual attention to her father as he has the desirable organ and hates her mother and develop anxiety over this
- but this resolves when the girl identifies with her mother
3 problems of freud theory and why
- he never actually studied children
- ideas not falsifiable
- little experimental evidence to support ideas
because the data is more explained through other processes and experiment supporting his claims are often flawed
what is an attitude (2)
is a positive or negative reaction towards a stimulus, such as a person, action, object or concept
people hold attitudes about most things
what 3 components of attitude
cognitive (beliefs)
affective (emotional attachment)
behavioural
what are the likert scales and their flaws
it depends on honesty and measures attitude on a scale of 1-10
- sometimes people are dishonest and give the socially accepted answers
2 likert attitude techniques
the bogus pipeline
electromyography
the bogus pipeline
hooked up on people and they are told that it measures minute changes in their muscles, to read if they are lying or not. if respondents believe this than they option give their true opinion as there is little point in not
electromyography (EMG) and it’s downside
measures activity of facial muscles as they twitch when we are happy or sad which we can’t see with the open eye, that are shown when the video show happiness or sadness
one the downside its very expensive and you can normally only test one person
study of controversy around attitude - LaPiere
studied the relation between racist attitudes and behaviour. they found that restaurants that said they wouldn’t serve Chinese couple, often if they showed up at the the place they would serve them this shows that
someone may portray an attitude but when it comes to showing that behaviour they won’t actually physically show it
what are the 3 things we have to consider when we think about the theory of planned behaviour
- when we have a positive attitude towards behaviour
- when norms support out attitudes
- when the behaviour is under our control
attitudes can change - himmelweit and then knox and inkster
change attitude then change your behaviour but this will then also change your attitude
people change their attitudes for certain things such as someone you fancy or how popular you are etc.
emotional appeals
fear can work in circumstances where
- the message evokes a strong fear
- feasible way to make a threat
what is attribution
there is no set theory, but most of them are based around ‘peoples perception of the causes of an event affects what they do and how they feel’
(how we perceive, interpret, what we dot etc)
what are the two measurement of attribution
internal - what is inside the person
external - factors on that person
what do men and women say about success and how they blame
men: say they have internal attribution for their success
boy blame external attributions
women: say its an external attribution for these results
women blame themselves
consequences of attributions - what did one study find then another study by frey and rogner find out
couple who experience marital issue are more likely to put their partners negative behaviour to internal attributions
after an accident, found that if they thought they were to blame, then they would stay in hospital for 30days and if they didn’t think they were to be blamed they would only stay 20days
optimistic attributional styles (4)
i have no control on what happens
don’t blame themselves
live longer
blame external factors for negative things in their life
pessimistic attribution styles
blame themselves
good and bad happens to them
say their bad things are because of them/internal
if you think good before you sleep ….
have good dreams and wake up happier
2 motivational basis of attributions
self esteem
control
control
attributions can enhance control, but can also have negative effects
if we put good in our internal then we may believe we are in control
people blame themselves
self esteem
- if we are positive then we attribute tho internal which gives us qualities we can achieve/maintain.
- if we are negative then we can internalise this still with the same qualities but this can decrease our self esteem
what are the 4 levels of analysis
intra personal level
inter personal level
intergroup level
societal level
intra-personal level - (level one)
this is when individuals think logically as this is when people think before they make an attribution
interpersonal level - actor observer effect
people tend to attribute there own actions to external factors
and actions of others to internal causes
interpersonal level - (level two)
deals with face to face attributions, and when people to be bias/not rational
two major types
- actor observers effect
- self serving bias
interpersonal level - the self serving bias
people take credit for their success but not for the failures
inter-group level (level 3)
when people are in groups they show bias
societal level (level four)
people from the west - make internal attributions
people from other cultures - make external attributions
% of people that meet their ‘special partner in a familiar social setting and % finds it in a casual social setting
83%
6%
2 things about people finding their special person
we like people we see more often
we tend to find friends that are close in alphabeticall to us
why is proximity important
repeated exposure to any stimulus makes it more appealing
but differences in people can lead to negativity
% of people prefer a mirror (revered) photo of themself, however % of people prefer the a normal photo of their friend
70%
70%
emotional arousal
research indicates that people who are emotionally aroused rate others as more attractive
dutton & aaron study on emotional
they had men either walk across a sturdy or unsturdy bridge across a river, where they will come across an attractive interviewer at the other side who ask them questions. if they had walked on the unstable side they found that they were more likely to flirt. this is because they are more anxious/aroused/shocked
what is the most important things when it comes to relationships
physical attractiveness, but people generally refuse to admit it openly
where on the list that are physical attractiveness most important for a relationship for males and then females
men: 12th
females: 22nd
whipple showed that % of men and women would agree to sex when approached by a an attractive person
men: 90% of a time
women: 10% of a time
3 benefits to attractiveness
- adults are less aggressive to attractive people
- attractive people are more likely to be hired for jobs
- attractive students are more likely to be given better grades
- cared for more quickly at hospitals
facial features that people prefer
men prefer: childlike face, small nose and chin
female prefer: expression of dominance, small eyes, square jaw, thrusting chin
torso features that people prefer
men prefer: medium bust, hips, waist and bottom
female prefer:V shaped man, broad shoulders which tapers into small bottom
age and height features that people prefer
men prefer: younger, smaller women
female prefer: older, taller men
attractiveness when it comes to similarity
- you are more attracted to people are similar to you but values and attitudes ect are more important
divorce rate and women role in divorce and how they react
1 in 3
women may feel worse during the relationship but they do better single
what is social facilitation
how the physical presence of others influences our behaviour
schmitts study on when people are watching you
he had people type these name in front of many people. when he gave them a more challenging task of typing it backwards it would make them alot slower
showing that
- simple tasks ability would increase but
- complex task ability would decrease
zajonc’s Drive Theory of Facilitation
the presence of others leads to increased arousal which then leads to enhancing our dominant response if it is appropriate or if it is inappropriate then our performance will decrease
Michael study of pool accuracy when other was watching results
good player accuracy increased by 9%
bad players accuracy decreased by 10%
diffusion of responsibility
the idea that as a group size increases, individual responsibility decreases. eg if you are in a big group you are less likely to stand up than if we are alone
- people tend to lose self awareness and feel anonymous
- can leaded to impulses coming out
deindividuation
this is when we forget who we are and do thing that we wouldn’t normally do, like being bizarre or have negative effects.
or in crowds we can become aggressive, which can be caused when we have anonymity, as no one can tell who we are
beaman et al. halloween study on dedindividualised
they had lollies’ with sign saying that only take one. but next to it it had a mirror so could see themselves and what they were doing
34% took extra sweets and 12% of those with the mirror took extra sweets
conformity and Solomon Asch
they did a study where there is a room of people that are all in on it and try trick the person by saying the wrong answer to see if the person will go along with it
found that 75% when along with the false answer
roles
people given role in charge can take over who a person is
obedience
when a teacher would shock a student, they level would go up even when the student said stop. then see how long the teacher would go. (even when they would want to stop, someone would tell them to keep going to see if they would)
this indicates that people will hurt them
philip zimbardo stanford prison experiment - aim
aim: was to examine how social roles affected individual behaviour as either a prisoner or guard
philip zimbardo stanford prison experiment - people involved/length
2 weeks long - but only went for 6 days
24 were chosen all were psychologically stable that were randomlly assigned to either prisoner or a guard
philip zimbardo stanford prison experiment - size of cells and how many they slept
6x9 ft and held 3 people
philip zimbardo stanford prison experiment - 3 phases
- settling in phase
- second phase
- third phase
philip zimbardo stanford prison experiment - settling in phase
the people weren’t fully in their roles
guards were awkward and uncomfortable in their roles and the prisoners didn’t take the guards seriously
philip zimbardo stanford prison experiment - second phase
the prisoners became angry
philip zimbardo stanford prison experiment - third phase
guards called for reinforcements
prisoners divided and rule
so then the guards became torturous
one prisoner suffered a mental breakdown
philip zimbardo stanford prison experiment - why did they end it
beacuse the guards started treating the prisoners like animals
what is the 1st and 2nd most famous psychology experiments
- Stanley Milgram’s obedience experiment
- Philip Zimbardo prisnors and guards experiment
how did stanley milgram’s experiment work
- one participant was to be a teacher and one was a learner (learner was in on it and the teacher didn’t know this)
- learner was in a different room and would shocked if they got a question wrong (even though both were told that that the shocks weren’t harmful)
- the learners response to the shocks (that were pre recorded) was heard by the teacher
- even if the teacher wanted to stop the leader of the experiment would encourage them to keep going
- the aim was to see if they would continue on hurting someone or not if they were told too
% of people that went to 450 danger level of shocking
65%
when teacher and learner were in the same room the obedience dropped to
40%
when the teacher had to physically touch the learner to shock the the obedience dropped to
30%
when the experimenter gave orders over the phone the obedience dropped to
20%
finding of stanley milgram’s experiment
- people don’t blindly follow orders
prejudice definition
the holding of derogatory attitudes or beliefs, the expression of negative effect or the display of hostile or discriminatory behaviour towards members of a group on account of their memberships in that group
what fraction of black babies die the the USA
1/3
everyone has prejudices but that doesn’t mean …..
everyone is a bad person we don’t have to buy in on that behaviour
authoritarian personality
a personality type when you are overly deferential to those in authority whilst hostile towards those perceived as inferior
in other words they are people who tend to believe the terrible things that people are telling them to do
these are people that are nice to those who are above them but are mean to those who are below
RCT realistic conflict theory
if the interests of two groups coincide, then relations between groups will be harmonious (fine)
if these is a conflict of interest between two groups then relations between the group will be hostile (unfriendly)
Sherif’s field experiments info
was done in robbers can in USA
they had 2 groups of boys all aged 12 that were mentally stable, high IQ and had married parents.
Sherif’s field experiment -stage one
Harmony between groups
both groups of boys separately had 1 week of normal camp activities. this made the boy bond and become close with one another
Sherif’s field experiment - stage two
Hostility between groups
in stage two the 2 groups were brought into competition with each other, where they would hurt the other team, be mean to them and raids etc.
there was a prize for the winners and nothing for the losers
what did sherif say about the boys
they were ‘wicked, disturbed and vicious’
minimal group paradigm (MGP)
a scientific attempt to create an ‘empty environment’ where researchers could then systematically add variables that would elicit discrimination.
to ensure that none of the other factors which influence prejudice would impinge upon the experiments conditions
group members assigned arbitrarily
group members were decided by numbers
what is the difference if you interpret ones actions as accidental or delibrate
accidental - you are unlikely to respond aggressively
deliberate - you may respond aggressively
to freud the basic human condition was
seething cauldron (intense emotions) of pleasure seeking instincts and the restraints to this were internalised during childhood
there will always be a conflict of between instincts and
demands of society
forbidden impulses can never been ruled out, they can be denied but they will always return and reassert themselves
freud claimed that children whose parent treat them harshly would redirect their aggressive instinct to those who have less power when evidence actually suggests
that authoritarian aggression is not caused by redirected aggression but by repressed impulses from observational learning
freud claimed that threatening stimuli is repressed but evidence shows that
threatening words take longer to report bu support the ideas of repression, but people may feel embarrassed or want to recheck their eyes
cognitive dissonance
inconsistency between attitudes and behaviour
behaviour won’t change so our attitude will
cognitive dissonance - study by Knox & Inkster
found that those who had placed a lot of bets were much more confident in winning
change our attitudes if we like of fancy someone
attitudes can be changed by a ____ of ______ if the source is______________________ and if the message is presented _____________________ and if we are approached on
host of factors
creditable, trustworthy, attractive and likeable
quickly, long and without hesitation
on sunny days or when we are happy
attitude resilience
we are not at the mercy of those who seek to influence us, can avoid this by rehearsal of a counter argument
- this was proven by McAlister, where children have been trained to be less likely to smoke
men that attribute negative events to internal tend to have
poorer health from 45-60
showing how we interpret things in life can effect us later
so be an
optimist but this takes time
people blame themselves as this gives them an
illusion of control
repeated exposure to any stimulus ….
makes it more appealing
reis - proximity doesn’t always work
if the initial interaction is negative and this experienced is reinforced then the dislike will occur
walster et al - study on first impressions and dates
results showed that you were rated as more attractive by observers and then also rated higher by your date
men and physical attractiveness
gay or not physical attractiveness is important
women and physical attractiveness
lesbian or not tend to focus on psychological
fat and diseased babies in western cultures =
beautiful
loneliness
- lonely people can sometimes feel distressed, bored and more depressed
- an effective way to cope it by doing something valuable
rejection causes….
pain
we are more likely to laugh if
others laugh
the larger the crowd the more we
eat
cockroaches run faster when
the presence of more cockroaches are present
diffusion of responsibility - kitty genovese
fought with her killer for 30 minutes and 38 of her neighbours watched but none called the caps of the helped
diffusion of responsibility - latane and darley
when smoke came our of a vent if an individual was alone they would react immediately and 1% would if with a group
decrease in self awareness =
increase in anti-social behaviour
