Social Psychology Flashcards
(93 cards)
1
Q
what are the 3 types of ‘self’ according to brewer and gardner 1996?
A
1) Individual – personal traits that distinguish you from others (friendly)
2) Relational – dyadic relationships that assimilate you to others (mum)
3) Collective – group membership (academic)
2
Q
what is ‘self awareness’?
A
- Psychological state - traits, feelings and behaviour
- Reflexive thought
- Realisation of being individual (mirror study - Gallup 1970)
3
Q
what is the difference between public and private ‘self’ according to carver and scheier 1981?
A
- Private self - thoughts, feelings, attitudes
- Public self - social image, can be seen/evaluated by others, enjoy success, adhere to social standards of behaviour
4
Q
what is chronic self awareness?
A
Chronic self-awareness refers to a persistent and heightened state of attention directed towards oneself
- Very stressful - always aware of shortcomings
- Avoidance behaviour - drinking, drugs
5
Q
what is reduced self awareness?
A
is a state in which an individual’s attention is directed away from themselves and their internal states
- Deindividuation
- No monitoring of own behaviour - impulsive, reckless
6
Q
what is the difference between heighetend private and public in people who are chronically aware?
A
- HEIGHTENED PRIVATE - more intense emotion, accurate self-perception, adhere to personal beliefs, less stress related illness, depression and neuroticism
HEIGHTENED PUBLIC - focus on perception by others, nervousness, loss of self-esteem, concern w/ physical appearance (self/others)
7
Q
what are self schemas?
A
Self-schemas are organized, interconnected knowledge structures (cognitive frameworks) that we have about ourselves
8
Q
what does self-schematic mean?
A
describes someone who has a well-developed and important self-schema for a particular attribute, dimension, or domain
= Meaning you possess a strong and relevant self-schema for that particular thing.
9
Q
what does Aschematic mean?
A
describes someone who does not have a well-developed and important self-schema for a particular attribute, dimension, or domain. It’s the opposite of being “self-schematic.”
10
Q
what is the control theory of self regulation?
A
carver and scheier 1981 theory on self development (schemas):
says we manage ourselves - assess whether goals are met
= we test and operate to change
= to a private/public standard
11
Q
what is the self-discrepancy theory?
A
higgins 1987 theory of self development (schemas):
says we have - actual(present), ideal(like to be) and ought(should be)
motivate to change and if fail:
actual-ideal = dejection (sadness/disappointment)
actual- ought = agitation (anxiety/guilt)
12
Q
what is the social comparison theory?
A
festinger 1954 theory on self development (schemas):
- figure out how good we are by looking at other people who are similar to us.
- Looking at people better than us can make us feel worse but might motivate us.
- Looking at people worse than us can make us feel better.
13
Q
what is the self evaluation maintenance?
A
tesser 1988 theory of self development (schema):
- upward social comparison:
exagerate targets ability, change target, distance self from target
14
Q
what is the social identity theory?
A
taijfel and turner 1979 theory of self development (schema):
- personal identity: unique personal attributes, relationships and traits
- social identity: defines self by group membership -> associated w/ inter-group behaviour/group norms
15
Q
what is the self-categorization theory?
A
turner et al 1987 theory of self development (schema):
- self categorisation to groups = internalise group attributes = collective self = social identity
- meta-contrast principle (differences, similarities)
* If group categorisation too salient, perception of self and others becomes depersonalised
16
Q
what are the 3 types of self motivation?
A
SELF-ASESSEMENT:
- Desires for accurate and valid info
- Seek out the truth about self
SELF-VERIFICATION:
- Desire to confirm what they know
- Seek out consistency about self
SELF ENHANCEMENT:
- Desire to maintain good image
Seek favourable info about self
17
Q
what is the difference between social psychology and social cognition?
A
Social psychology: perceptions and behaviour and how influenced by others
Social cognition: how we process and store social info, how this affects our perceptions/behaviour
18
Q
what is attribution?
A
ATTRIBUTION: process of assigning a cause to our own and others behaviour
19
Q
what are (social) schemas?
A
knowledge about concepts, make sense w/ limited info, facilitate top-down-theory driven processing
20
Q
what is a ‘category’ in context of social cognition and biases?
A
CATEGORY: organised hierarchically (associative network), fuzzy sets of features organised around a prototype
21
Q
what are ‘prototypes’ in context of social cognition and biases?
A
PROTOTYPES: cognitive representation of typical defining features of a category (average category member)
22
Q
what is ‘causal attribution’ in context of social cognition and biases?
A
CAUSAL ATTRIBUTION:
An inference process through which perceivers attribute an effect to one of more causes
E.g. trying to answer ‘why’ one has failed an exam despite studying
23
Q
what is ‘motivation tactation’ in context of social cognition and biases?
A
- Thinking carefully and scientifically about certain things - when personally important or necessary
- Thinking quickly and use heuristics for others - when less important so that can do things quickly and get more done
24
Q
what is the naïve scientist theory of attribution?
A
fritz heider 1958: - Homo rationalis
all like amateur detectives trying to figure out why people do what they do (hypothesis testing):
1) to form coherent view of world (search for motives in others)
2) to gain control over environment (look for props to cause acts)
3) to identify internal vs external factors
25
what is the attributional theory of attribution?
weiner 1979 Attributional Theory of Achievement Motivation:
how ppl explain causes of success/failure = how these attributions influence their emotions/expectations, and motivation in achievement-related contexts
is cause of outcome...
locus (I/E), stable, controllable
26
what is the correspondent interference theory of attribution?
jones and davis 1965:
how we make inferences about a person's disposition based on their behavior
must consider several factors (e.g. freely chosen etc) to determine the likelihood of a "correspondent inference." (act reflects true characteristic)
27
what is the co-variation model as a theory of attribution?
kelley 1967:
we make causal inferences by seeing patterns of covariation = how different factors systematically vary together with the behavior we're trying to explain
= assign causal role to the factors
based on consistency - high and low
28
what are attribution biases?
systematic errors or tendencies in the way we explain the causes of our own and others' behavior
29
what does false consensus mean?
a cognitive bias where individuals overestimate the extent to which others share their beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors
30
what is the fundamental attribution error?
tendency to overemphasize dispositional (internal) explanations and underestimate situational (external, environmental) explanations when judging the behavior of other people.
also known as correspondance bias
31
what is actor-observor bias as a type of attribution bias?
jonas and nisbett 1972:
where we have a systematic difference in how we explain our own behavior versus the behavior of other people:
- Attribute our own actions to situational factors
- Attribute other people's actions to dispositional factors
* WHY?
- Perceptual focus
- Informational difference
- Moderators
32
what is self-serving bias as a type of attribution bias?
olsen and ross 1988:
- Success = internal E.g. I am smart
- Failure = external E.g. the exam was hard
WHY?
Expectations and self esteem
- Motivational: maintenance of self-esteem
- Split into enhancing and self protecting bias
- Cognitive: intend/expect to succeed = attribute internal causes to expected events
- Operates at a group level too (e.g. football wins/losses)
33
what are attribution heuristics?
mental shortcuts or "rules of thumb" that people use to make quick and efficient judgments about the causes of behavior and events.
= quick ad easy
34
what are availability heuristics in context of attribution?
AVAILIBILITY HEURISTIC: judge frequency or probability of events by how easy it is to think of examples - memory accessibility
35
what are representative heuristics in context of attribution?
REPRESENTATIVE HEURISTIC: categorise based on similarity between instance and prototypical category members
Allocate a set of attributes
36
what are anchoring and adjustment heuristics in context of attribution?
ANCHORING AND ADJUSTMENT HEURISTIC: starting point or initial standard influences subsequent judgments
37
what are heuristics?
mental shortcuts or "rules of thumb" that people use to make quick judgments and decisions, especially when faced with uncertain or complex situations
38
what is the three-component model of attitudes?
rosenberg and hovland 1960:
- AFFECTIVE - expressions of feelings towards object
- COGNITIVE - expressions of beliefs about object
- BEHAVIOURAL
39
what are the simple and complex dimensions of attitudes?
simple: refers to whether an attitude is positive, negative, or neutral
complex: Attitudes become stronger - more extreme p/n - if complex + evaluated consistently
If inconsistent - become weaker/moderate as they come more complex
40
what is the knowledge function of attitudes according to katz 1960?
Knowledge Function: Organise and predict social world; provides a sense of meaning and coherence.
41
what is the utilitarian function of attitudes according to katz 1960?
Utilitarian Function: Help people achieve positive outcomes and avoid negative outcomes (e.g., right attitude = no punishment).
42
what is the ego-defensive function of attitudes according to katz 1960?
Ego-defensive: Protecting one’s self-esteem from harmful world (e.g., many other people smoke, justifying the bad habit).
43
what is the value expressive function of attitudes according to katz 1960?
Value Expressive: Facilitate expression of one's core values and self-concept.
44
what is the mere exposure effect?
robert zajonc 1968:
theory of where attitudes come from:
epeated exposure of a stimulus = enhancement of preference for that stimulus
= e.g. ppts more likely to say that familiar novel words meant something positive - harrison and zajonc 1970
45
what is the social learning theory for where attitudes come from?
classical conditioning - Repeated association
= e.g. celebrity endorsement - transfer the positive image of the celebrity to the product e.g. jun et al 2023
Instrumental conditioning
- Behaviour followed by positive consequences = more likely to be repeated
e.g. insko 1965 - showed that ppts reported more favourable attitude to topic if they'd received positive feedback vs negative on the same attitude a week later
46
what is the self perception theory for where attitudes come from?
Bem 1972:
- Gain knowledge of ourselves by making self-attributions:
- Infer attitudes from our behaviour:
E.g. I read a novel a week = I must like novels
47
what were LaPieres 1934 findings on the different effects of attitudes on behaviour?
study on racial prejudice:
Chinese couple visited 250+ restaurants/coffee shops etc, service 95% of the times
BUT - in response to a letter of inquiry afterwards, 92% of establishments replied they wouldnt accept members of the Chinese race
48
what was the correlation between attitudes and behaviour in wicker 1969 meta analysis w/ 42 studies?
attitudes weakly correlated w/ behaviour - average correlation = 0.15 in meta-analysis w/ 42 studies
49
what was the correlation between attitudes and behaviour in gregson and stacy 1981 study?
small positive correlation between attitudes and alcohol consumption
50
what are the factors that impact behaviour prediction from attitudes ?
1) How strong the attitude is
2) Whether its formed through direct experience
3) How its measured
51
what is the theory of planned behaviour?
Ajzen 1991; multiple components;
Proposes ppl make decisions as a result of rational thought processes - attitude to behaviour
- subjective norm
- percieved behavioural control
= intention - behaviour
52
what study has been done to test if the theory of planned behaviour can be applied across cultures?
Cho and Lee 2015:
polled Korean + US ppts = found evidence for the theoretical constructs, also boundary conditions
findings support:
- Individualistic culture = behaviour determined by self-perceptions or internal beliefs
- Collectivist cultures = behaviours determined by social group pressures
53
what is cognitive dissonance?
refers to the state of mental discomfort (tension or unease) that arises when a person holds two or more conflicting beliefs, ideas, or values; or when a person's behavior contradicts their beliefs or values
54
what is the elaboration likelihood model?
petty and cacioppo 1986:
a dual-process theory describing how attitudes are formed and changed.
Central route = when message is followed closely, lots of effort is put into it
Peripheral route = when arguments not well attended to; peripheral cues e.g. attraction
55
what is the heuristic-systematic model?
chaiken 1980 a dual-process theory describing how attitudes are formed and changed. explains how people process persuasive messages and form attitudes
Systematic processing - when a message is attended to carefully; scan and consider available arguments
Heuristic processing - use cognitive heuristics - e.g. statistics don’t lie
56
what is the difference between the elaboration likelihood model and the heuristic-systematic model of attitudes?
A key difference is that the HSM allows for the possibility of both systematic and heuristic processing to occur simultaneously and interact
57
what are transitory groups?
e.g. ppl waiting at the bus stop; ppl in the queue at the bank
58
what is social facilitation?
psychological phenomenon where the presence of others enhances performance on simple or well-learned tasks but impairs performance on complex or novel tasks.
59
what is Triplett 1989 study on social facilitation?
Observed track cyclists and found performances were faster when:
- Timed alone.
- Timed and racing alongside other cyclists.
= Hypothesised the presence of audience, particularly in a competition, ‘energised’ performance on motor tasks.
Triplett tested his hypothesis using a ‘fishing line’ apparatus and found that children performed better when racing against each other than when alone.
60
what is 'mere presence'?
Allport 1920 on 'social facilitation:
Mere presence = an “entirely passive and unresponsive audience that is only physically present” (Hogg & Vaughan, 2014, p.275)
Improvement in performance due to the mere presence of others as co-actors or passive audience.
Not just humans: Kangaroos, monkeys and horses eat more and run faster when other members of their species are doing the same thing (e.g., Dindo, et al., 2009; Pays, et al., 2009).
61
what is social inhibition?
Social inhibition is the opposite of social facilitation. It refers to the impairment of performance on tasks, especially complex or unfamiliar ones, in the presence of others
62
what is zajonc's (1965) drive theory of social facilitation?
Argued mere presence of others creates an increase in arousal and energises ‘dominant response’:
‘dominant response’ = what's typically done in that situation i.e., a well-learnt/habitual response
When ppl are anxious = tend to do better on easy tasks (already good at) and worse on difficult ones (that they normally struggle at).
If dominant response is correct (easy), then performance will be facilitated.
If the dominant response is incorrect (difficult), then performance will be inhibited.
63
what is the evaluation apprehension theory of social facilitation?
cottrell 1972: effects of the presence of others on individual performance
presence of others causes arousal (and thus influences performance) when those others are perceived as potential evaluators.
It's not just the mere presence of people that matters, but the fear or anxiety of being judged by them
64
what is cottrell et al 1968 experiment to support the evaluation apprehension theory of social facilitation?
experiment to support hypothesis w/ 3 audience conditions:
1) Blindfolded
2) Merely present
3) Attentive audience.
Tasks were well learned (i.e., easy).
= Social facilitation was found when the audience was perceived to be evaluative (attentive); wanting to perform well for their audience worked in their favour.
65
what ia markus 1978 research that does not support the evaluation apprehension theory of social facilitation?
time taken to dress in familiar clothes / unfamiliar clothes (difficult task, lab coat and unfamiliar shoes) as a function of social presence:
3 conditions:
(1) alone.
(2) in presence of an inattentive audience.
(3) in presence of an attentive
audience.
= Inattentive and attentive not much difference in difficult task.
= It seems that evaluation apprehension is sometimes helpful but sometimes unnecessary for social facilitation.
66
what is schmitt et al 1986 research that does not support the evaluation apprehension theory of social facilitation?
asked ppts to type their name or a code backwards on a computer.
= Mere presence of others = ppl perform simple task quicker and difficult task slower.
However, adding in an evaluation apprehension condition made little difference to the typing speed.
= It seems that evaluation apprehension is sometimes helpful but sometimes unnecessary for social facilitation.
67
what is the distraction-conflict theory?
can explain the effect that evaluation apprehension is sometimes unnecessary for social facilitation (worsen performance)
= ppl distracted by what others are doing = perform worse
68
what is siemon 2013 experiment on evaluation apprehension on social facilitation?
examined whether using AI-based idea evaluation led to evaluation apprehension.
Finnish participant presented an idea to either Alan (AI) or Phillip.
ppts express less evaluation apprehension when presenting their idea to Alan (AI) than Phillip.
= The results show that when humans are involved in evaluating an idea, people tend to feel concerned
69
what is the Ringelmann effect?
describes the tendency for individual productivity to decrease as the size of the group performing a task increases
(1913, 1927) found that men pulling on a rope attached to a dynamometer exerted less force than the number of people in the group
70
what are the 2 reasons for the ringelmann effect?
ringelmann 1913, 1927 - tendency for individual productivity to decrease as the size of the group performing a task increases
Coordination loss: as group size inhibits movement, distraction, and jostling.
Motivation loss: participants did not try as hard; less motivated.
71
What is Social Loafing?
Individuals exert less effort when working in a group toward a common goal
= Occurs when people believe their individual contributions are not being monitored or evaluated
72
what is Ingham et al 1974 study on social loafing?
investiagted loss of motivation with 'real groups' and 'pseudo groups' on rope pulling
= found both groups lost motivation, more loss of coordination in real groups
73
what is latané et al 1979 study on social loafing?
supported term (loss of motivation in group) through clapping/shouting/cheering tasks:
Recorded amount of cheering/clapping noise made per person [blind folded] reduced by:
29% in 2-person groups.
49% in 4-person groups.
60% in 6-person groups.
74
what is the output equity explanation for why people loaf (social loafing)?
Output equity:
When people learn others are not pulling their weight, they too can lose motivation and put less effort in.
75
what is the EVALUATION APPREHENSION explanation for why people loaf (social loafing)?
Evaluation apprehension:
Individuals only believe their efforts are being judged when they perform alone; in groups, people are not accountable!
76
what is identifiability as a method of reducing social loafing?
Identifiability:- i.e. when people’s individual contributions to a task can be identified.
e.g. people shout louder in a group shouting task when they think every individual’s volume can be recorded (Williams et al., 1981).
77
what is individual responsibility as a method of reducing social loafing?
Individual responsibility:- i.e. when ppl know they can make a unique contribution to a task
e.g. in a group task, watching for dots on a screen:
- ppl worked harder if they thought they were solely responsible for watching a particular segment vs
If they thought others were watching too, even when no one would know how many dots they personally had spotted (Harkins & Petty, 1982).
78
is social loafing occuring in all groups?
it appears robust across gender, culture and task although effect is smaller from eastern cultures
= perhaps eastern may attach less importance to outcomes such as group harmony etc
79
what is the collective effort model?
explains the conditions under which individuals will exert effort on a collective task:
- they believe their input will have an impact
- completing task = bring them smth they value
80
what did Moscovici and Zavalloni 1969 find out about the effect of group discussions?
= found that group discussions enhanced French students (already) positive towards their president and enhanced their (already) negative attitudes towards Americans.
81
what is group polarisation?
is a phenomenon in social psychology where the initial attitudes of a group of individuals become more extreme after group discussion
82
what is the concept 'groupthink'?
proposed by Janis 1982 after disaster decision by us president JFK + small group of advisors = invasion of cuba
group think = where objections to poor group decisions are suppressed to maintain group harmony
Groupthink is a very specific phenomenon, thought to occur under particular conditions:-
- Stressful situation without a clear, correct solution.
- Cohesive group of like-minded people, cut off from external (moderating) influences.
- Strong, vocal leader.
83
what are the concequences of 'grpup think'?
where objections to poor group decisions are suppressed to maintain group harmony
= The group does not carry out adequate research.
= Alternative options are not considered; group members cascade around the same opinion (Glebovskiy, 2018).
= Risks are not adequately assessed.
84
what is necessary for friendships to form?
-evolution and attraction
-ideals (fletcher et al 2004)
-similarity
-proximity
-familiarity
85
what are the evolutionary factors of attraction (for friendships to form)?
- Reproductive fitness - cues (physical health, youthful appearance, body and facial symmetry)
86
what are the ideals that are searched for to form friendships?
fletcher et al 2004:
- Warmth-trustworthiness
- Vitality-attractiveness
- Status-resources
87
what were Festinger, schachter and back (1950) idea about proximity?
more likely to choose as friends living in same building/floor
88
what is the social penetration theory?
altman and taylor 1973:
idea of self disclosure - sharing intimate info + feelings
= central processes in developing and maintaining relationships
89
what are the two categories of love?
passionate/romantic = intense emotional state, feeling more positive, increase in self-esteem
companionate love = less intense, feelings of friendly affection + deep attachment
90
what is the three factor theory of love?
Hatfield and Walster 1981
- Cultural concept of love
- Appropriate person to love
- Emotional arousal, self-labelled 'love', felt when interacting/thinking about appropriate person
91
what was dutton and aron 1974 study?
- Male ppts crossed either wobbly suspension bridge high over canyon (fear arousing) Or a lower solid bridge above small rivulet (non-fear arousing)
- Attractive female researcher approached, administered questionnaire and gave name + number
Ppts on fear arousing suspension bridge -greater tendency to contact researcher
= physiological arousal can be misattributed to romantic or sexual attraction
92
what is the triangular theory of love?
sternberg 1986:
INTIMACY - feelings of warmth, closeness, connection and sharing
PASSION - drive that leads to romance, physical attraction
COMMITMENT - to maintain relationship
= 'amount' of love experienced depends on absolute strength of the components
= 'type' of love experienced depends on their strengths relative to each other
93
what is the social exchange theory of love?
views social interactions as a series of exchanges
- people are motivated to maximize the benefits and minimize the costs in their relationships.
= it's a cost-benefit analysis of relationships.
