Social Psychology Flashcards
Social Psychology
Study of social behavior: how peoples thoughts, feelings and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined or implied presence of others
Components of Attitude
- Cognition or Beliefs
- Feelings
- Behavioral predisposition
*** is expressed in opinion statements
Consistency Theories
People prefer consistency and will change or resist changing attitudes based upon this preference
Balance Theory
- (Fritz Heider)
Three Elements:
- The person whom we’re talking about
- Another person
- thing, idea or another person
When there is not balance, there will be stress and a tendency to remove this stress by achieving balance
Cognitive Dissonance Theory
- (Leon Festinger)
The conflict that you feel when you attitudes are not in sync with your behaviors
Free Choice Dissonance
Person makes a choice between several desirable alternatives
Post-Decisional Dissonance
Dissonance (conflict felt when attitudes are not in sync with your behavior) emerges after a choice has been made
Spreading of Alternatives
The relative worth of two alternatives is spread apart
- one is more positive than the other (better alternative)
- one is more negative than the other (worse alternative)
Forced Compliance Dissonance
Individual is forced into behavior in a manner that is inconsistent with his or her beliefs / attitudes.
The force may come from either anticipated punishment or reward
Minimal Justification Effect
- Behavior can be justified by means of external inducements (ex: money) - then there is no need to change internal cognitions
- When the external justification is minimal, you will reduce your dissonance by changing internal cognitions
Main Principles of Cognitive Dissonance Theory
- If a person is pressured to do or say something contrary to his privately held attitudes - there will be a tendency for him to change those attitudes
- The greater the pressure to comply, the less this attitude change. Ultimately, attitude change generally occurs when the behavior is induced with minimum pressure
Self Justification Theory
- (Daryl Bem)
If attitudes about something are weak or ambiguous, people will infer their attitudes based upon observing their own behavior
Ex: I like wine because i’m always drinking it
Sleeper Effect
- (Carl Hovland)
When communicating a message with the intent to persuade someone:
- Persuasive impact of his credibility source will decrease
- Persuasive impact of the low-credibility source will increase
Analogy of Inoculation
- (William McGuire)
If you expose someone to a “weakened attack,” they prepare refutations or “protection” for stronger arguments later
This strengthens pre-existing attitudes, beliefs and opinions
Cultural Truism
Beliefs that are seldom questioned
Belief Perseverance
People will hold beliefs even after those beliefs have been proven to be false
Social Comparison Theory
- (Leon Festinger)
People drive to gain accurate self-evaluations
Social Comparison Theory Principles
1A. People prefer to evaluate themselves by objective, nonsocial means
1B. If above is not possible, will compare themselves to other people
2. If someone is very different from you (opinions, & abilities), you are less likely to compare yourself to them
3. When there is a discrepancy in opinions & abilities - there is a tendency to change one’s position so as to move it in line with the group.
Reciprocity Hypothesis
We tend to like people who indicate that they like us
We tend to those who dislike us
Gain - Loss Principle
Evaluation that changes will have more of an impact than an evaluation that remains constant
- Liking someone more if their liking for us has increased (gain)
- Disliking someone more for if their liking for us has decreased (loss)
Social Exchange Theory
A person will weigh the rewards and costs of interaction with another.
Maximize Reward ; Minimize cost
Need Complementarity
Opposites Attract: People choose relationships so that their needs are mutually satisfied
Mere Exposure Hypothesis
Mere repeated exposure to a stimulus leads to enhanced liking for it
Batson’s Empathy Altrusim
When faced with situations in which others may need help, people may feel distress (mental pain, anguish) and / or they might feel empathy
Frustration - Aggression Hypothesis
When people are frustrated, they act aggressively
Bandura’s Social Learning Theory
Aggression is learned through modeling (direct observation) or through reinforcement
Autokinetic Effect
If you stare at a point of light in an otherwise dark room, the light will appear to move (an illusion)
Conformity
Yielding to group Pressure
Soloman Asch’s Conformity Study
Experiment: compare the length of lines
Result: majority of people chose the incorrect line when those before him did the same
Stanley Milgram’s Experiment
Experiment: Shock another person (subjects really thought they were hurting someone) who delivers wrong answer to your questions - Experimenter will push the subject if they do not deliver the shocks
Result: Every subject was willing to hurt someone at the experimenters command. Some were completely obedient despite the fact that the experimenter had no special authority to enforce his commands
Compliance
Change in behavior that occurs as a result of situational or interpersonal pressure
Foot in the Door effect
Demonstrates that compliance with a small request increased the likelihood of compliance with a larger request
Door in the Face Effect
People who refused a large initial request are more likely to agree to a later smaller request
Primary Effect
First impressions are more important than subsequent impressions
Recency Effect
Recent information about an individual is most important in forming our impressions
Attribution Theory
Tendency for individuals to infer the causes of other people’s behavior
Dispositional Causes
Relate to the feature of the person whose behavior is being considered - include beliefs, attitudes and personality
Situation Causes
Causes are external and relate to the features of the surroundings
Fundamental Attribution Error
Tendency toward dispositional causes; personality flaws
Proxemics
Study of how individuals space themselves in relation to others
Social Loafing
Tendency for people to put forth less effort when part of a group than when acting individually
Prison Simulation Experiment
- (Phillip Zimbardo)
Experiment: Mock prison with guards and prisoners randomly assigned
Result: people are more likely to commit antisocial acts when they feel anonymous within a social environment & Deindividuation
Deindividuation
Loss of self-awareness and of personal identity
Groupthink
Tendency of decision making groups to strive for consensus by ignoring information that goes against them
Risky Shift
Group decisions are riskier than the the average of the individual choices
Group Polarization
Tendency for a group discussion to enhance the group’s initial tendencies towards riskiness or caution
Super-ordinate Goals
Goals best obtained through inter-group (2+ groups) cooperation
