Social Psychology Flashcards
What are dispositional qualities? What are situational qualities?
Dispositional qualities are who you are deep down. Situational qualities are who you are in certain situations.
Describe the different types of attribution bias.
- Fundamental attribution error (others): attribute dispositional qualities to people when they are situational qualities
- Actor-observer bias (others and self): when someone else does something wrong we attribute it to dispositional but when we do something wrong we attribute it to the situation
- Self-serving bias (self): when you do something bad, you attribute it to the situation, but when you do something good, you attribute it to the disposition
What are the characteristics of stereotyping?
- Automatic
- Accuracy/inaccuracy
- Self-perpetuating
- Self-fulfilling prophecy
What is cognitive dissonance?
You are in a situation where you beliefs conflict with your behavior.
What is a social role?
A set of behaviors you engage in in certain situations
What are social scripts?
What actions you take in certain roles
What did the Stanford Prison Experiment teach us about these concepts?
It taught us that situational attributes influence behaviors. The “prisoners” and “officers” take on the role they assume they should take even if they have never been in that role before.
When are we most likely to use a social script?
When navigating new or unfamiliar situations.
What are the theories of attraction?
- Reward theory (effort): we want the maximum reward with minimal effort
- Matching hypothesis (similarity): we are attracted to people similar to us
- Expectancy-value theory (expectations): we are more attracted to those who we expect to be interested in us
Describe Taylor and Altman’s Process Theory of Intimacy.
Self-disclosure: you share things with your partner
1. when you first meet someone, you start with superficial talk
2. Then you go on dates
3. You start to trust them and “test” them to see how they will react when you tell them deeper stuff
What are the causes of combatting prejudice?
- Dissimilarity and social distance
- Economic competition
- Scapegoating
- Conformity to social norms
- Media stereotypes
What are ways to combat prejudice?
- Legislation (laws)
- Role models
- Equal status contact
What was Milgram’s obedience study?
The study had people be “teachers” and ask questions to the “learner”, if the learner was wrong, the teacher would shock them. With every wrong question, the shocks went up in intensity. The “learner” would start to yell out, and if the teacher tried to stop, the researchers would tell them they needed to go on and finish the study.
What conclusions did Milgram reach in his obedience studies?
The study concluded that 2/3 of the subjects delivered all the shocks despite being uncomfortable. This showed that people will follow authority figures, even if it means hurting someone else.
What was Asch’s conformity study?
A room full of people with one participant would answer questions, the people would answer the question wrong, and typically, people who were alone would go along with the majority. People with a partner were less likely to conform to the majority.
