Social Psychology Flashcards
Kurt Lewin
Father of social psychology; behavior=one’s character+environment
Social psychology
Studies group behavior and how we interact in social situations (group dynamics, obedience to authority…); combines sociology (the study of social organizations) with psychology (the study of mental processes).
Stereotypes
Allow us to process new information, to compare this information in terms of our past experiences, and to make decisions on appropriate behavior.
Stereotypes helps us quickly determine whether to initiate a flight, fight, or social response to any situation. The ability to stereotype gives humans an evolutionary advantage for survival. Prejudices may result from stereotyping.
Prejudices
Can be used to legitimize social, economic, and political discrimination; 3 ways by which they are formed:
Social learning: influence of our peers’ and family’s beliefs)
Motivational theory: the drive for success motivates us to form prejudices against our competitors (e.g.: the ‘us VS them’ mentality)
Personality theory: based on personal experiences that occur during development
Social identity
Membership in particular groups; largely determines our everyday interactions.
The ‘us VS them’ mentality
We perceive our ingroup (us) as composed of different types of people, whereas the outgroup (them) is seen as homogenous. Within the ingroup, the viewer focuses on social distinctions, but, within the outgroup, similarities are enhanced and often used to gloss over the diversity.
Negative stereotypes of outgroups can become fixed so that exceptions are overlooked, leading to distorted caricatures of groups. These over-generalizations can eventually lead to prejudice and discrimination.
Cognitive schemas
Categories in which we classify our mental prototypes based on preconceived expectations (gender, age, ethnicity, religion…)
Attitudes
Long-held beliefs that guide our social interactions; 3 components: cognitive (actual belief, can be expressed verbally), behavioral (acting on our beliefs), emotional (how our beliefs make us feel in social situations).
Reactance theory
Proposes that we rebel against restrictions that limit our behavioral freedom.
Likert’s scale
Quantities one’s conscious beliefs (from 1 to 5)
Cognitive Dissonance Theory (Leon Festinger)
The process that occurs when beliefs conflict; tension and discomfort arise, leading to either a shift in belief or rationalization.
Robert Sternberg’s triangular model of love
Passion, intimacy, commitment; various combination of these aspects can lead to different types of love.
Attraction
Sharing similar traits; reciprocity
Attribution Theory (Fritz Heider)
The process by which we attribute outcomes based on internal behavior or external events.
Bernard Weiner: stable VS unstable causes of behavior
Internal-stable factor (natural athletic ability); internal-unstable factor (amount of workout per day); external-stable factor (a difficult task: hitting a home-run); external-unstable factor (the wind blowing in the right direction).
Errors in assigning causes
Self-serving bias: the tendency to celebrate our own success as an indication of our abilities and failure as a result of external factors.
Fundamental attribution error: the common trend of blaming internal behaviors, of faulting people rather than situations.
Just world hypothesis: to assume that judgments on performance are fair and that people get the outcome that they deserve.
Strategies of persuasion
Reciprocity norm: when someone gives us something or does us a favor, social rules dictate that we should return the courtesy.
The lowball technique: when a dealer asks you if you want to add on features, after you’ve already agreed to the initial; you’re more likely to pay the higher price, once you’ve already agreed to the base rate.
The scarcity principle: relies on the idea that limited edition items seem more attractive because they’re in short supplies.
Coercive persuasion: a tactic that uses fear to manipulate people; by placing them in a stressful and vulnerable situation where outside information is restricted, cult leaders persuade members to rely on the group for relief.
Conformity
Conformity increases with authority, group size, personal commitment to a group, cultural influences, messages coming from high social status individuals, majority acting in unison. Unanimous beliefs are the most influential, but a minority influence can impact a larger group if persuasive; conformity can also be eliminated when one person diverges from the group.
Normative conformity: acting within social norms so people will like us.
Informational conformity: the tendency to rely on group wisdom to dictate appropriate actions.
Group behavior
Social facilitation: the mere presence of competitors spurs you to perform better than you would do on your own.
Social loafing: when responsibility for failure and success is distributed to the group, some members will decrease productivity and not work as hard on group projects as they would on their own.
Robert Zajonc’s Drive Theory
If a task is easy and you already perform it well, the presence of others will tend to boost your performance; however, if a task is difficult and challenges your abilities, it’s more likely that the presence of group competition will lead to social loafing.
Group decisions
Group polarization: happens when a dominant view crystallizes as a result of a group decision; group consensus and group support make your attitudes stronger.
Groupthink: the tendency for a cohesive group to move toward consensus and conformity, rather than what may be the best plan of actions.
Irving Janis (about perceived threats to solidarity)
Yale psychologist Irving Janis recognized that when close-knit groups try to overcome perceived threats to solidarity, they suffer from certain symptoms, such as a superior sense of morality, the tendency to stereotype outsiders, pressure to toe the line and discourage creative thinking. These symptoms may arise in corporations and government institutions where a false sense of group invulnerability causes a group’s leader to ignore outside opinions and make poor decisions.
Aggression
Violence against someone or something with the intent to harm; different from assertiveness (bossiness).
Biological explanations: genetic predisposition or high testosterone levels; frontal lobe damage.
External factors: frustration-aggression hypothesis (John Dollard); social learning (TV, other people); self-esteem (bully/outcast); cultural or societal views; ostracism: exclusion from a society or group.
Altruism
Biological instincts to help others.
The social responsibility norm: we expect law enforcement officials, firefighters, teachers, parents, and other responsible leaders to help others, even if it comes at a cost. Social learning happens when we see them help others.
Altruism inhibitors
Social exchange theory: we work toward balancing the amount of effort that parties are putting into a social relationship.
Bystander effect: the phenomenon whereby violent crimes or accidents occur in crowded urban areas and no one comes to the rescue of the victim. The size of the crowd diminishes the feeling of individual responsibility.
Diffusion of responsibility: occurs when we assume that other people will call for help to a situation.
