Social Psychology Flashcards
Kenneth Clark and Mamie Clark
Performed study on doll preferences in African-American children. Results were used in the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court Case
Daryl Bem
Developed self-perception theory as an alternative to cognitive dissonance theory
William McGuire
Studied how psychological inoculation could help people resist temptation - resistance to persuasion
Leon Festinger
- Developed cognitive dissonance theory.
2. Developed social comparison theory.
Fritz Heider
- Developed balance theory
2. Developed attribution theory and divided attributions into two categories (1) dispositional, (2) situational
Carl Hovland
Studied attitude change
Richard Petty and John Cacioppo
Developed elaboration likelihood model of persuasion (central and peripheral routes to persuasion)
Elliot Aronson and Darwyn Linder
Proposed gain-loss perspective (an evaluation that changes will have more effect than an evaluation that remains constant)
Solomon Asch
Studied conformity by asking subjects to compare the lengths of lines
John Darley and Bibb Latané
Proposed that there were two factors that could lead to non-helping
- Social influence
- Diffusion of responsibility
Alice Eagly
Suggested that gender differences in conformity were not due to sex, but to differing social roles
Edward Hall
Studied norms for interpersonal distance in interpersonal interactions
Irving Janis
Developed the concept of groupthink to explain how group decision-making can sometimes go awry
Melvin J. Lerner
Proposed concept of belief in a just world
Kurt Lewin
Divided leadership into three categories:
- autocratic
- democratic
- laissez-faire
Stanley Milgram
- Studied obedience by asking subjects to administer electroshocks
- Proposed stimulus-overload theory to explain differences between city and country dwellers
Theodore Newcomb
Studied college students’ political affiliations and found that students at college became more liberal to align with group norms
Stanley Schachter
Studied relationship between anxiety and the need for affiliation
Muzafer Sherif
- Used autokinetic effect to study conformity
2. Performed Robber’s Cave experiment and found that having superordinate goals increased group cooperation
Robert Zajonc
- Studied the mere exposure effect
- Resolved problems with the social facilitation effect by suggesting that the presence of others enhances the emission of dominant responses and impairs the emission of non-dominant responses
Phillip Zimbardo
Performed prison simulation and used concept of deindividuation to explain results
Norman Triplett
First study of social psychology (18th c.) - studied the effect of competition on performance
First textbooks in social psychology
William McDougall and E. H. Ross in 1908
Bindle, 1979
Role Theory: People are aware of the social roles they are supposed to fill and try to fulfill those roles
Consistency Theories
Theories about how attitudes change involving the idea that people prefer consistency between their attitudes, preferences, and behaviors. People will try to resolve these inconsistencies. Theories include:
- Fritz Heider’s Balance Theory
- Leon Festinger’s Cognitive Dissonance Theory
- Daryl Bem’s Self-Perception Theory
- Carl Hovland’s model
- Petty & Cacioppo’s Elaboration Likelihood Model
- Resistance to Persuasion
Balance Theory
Fritz Heider
Includes three elements:
- Person whom we are talking about
- Some other person
- Another thing/idea/person
The goal is to have balance among the three above elements. Imbalance occurs when you agree with someone you don’t like, or disagree with someone you do like
Cognitive Dissonance Theory
Leon Festinger
When attitudes are not congruent with behaviors, it causes psychological distress. Dissonance is reduced by:
- Chancing dissonant elements
- Adding consonant elements
Types of dissonant situations
- Free Choice (choosing between several desirable options. Creates post-decisional dissonance)
- Forced-Compliance Dissonance (made to behave in a way that is not consistent with attitudes - i.e. chores/punishment)
Post-Decisional Dissonance
Happens after free-choice dissonant situations. It is a form of regret or worry that we did not make the right choice. Related to:
- Desirability of chosen and unchosen options
- The importance of the decision
We will try to relieve this dissonance by highlighting flaws of unchosen decision and benefits of chosen option (spreading of alternatives)
Spreading of Alternatives
Following a decision, people evaluate the chosen alternative more positively and the rejected option more negatively than they did before the decision
Festinger and Carlsmith, 1859
Peg task study. External justification reduces cognitive dissonance (i.e. money in the study)
Minimal Justification Effect
AKA Insufficient Justification Effect
When an individual uses internal internal justification to justify a behavior when there is little external justification (i.e. change in attitude regarding task when paid $1 as opposed to $20)
Self-Perception Theory
Daryl Bem
Used to explain Forced-Compliance Dissonance - when attitudes are weak/ambiguous, you will infer your attitudes based on your behavior (i.e. I am watching this movie, therefore I must like it)
Cognitive Dissonance Theory vs. Self-Perception Theory
Cognitive dissonance involves a state of discomfort resulting for incongruent behavior and attitudes, whereas self-perception theory does not. Rather, it says that the initial attitude is irrelevant.
Over-Justification Effect
When you reward someone too much for doing something they like, they might stop liking it. Phenomenon is related to external justification reducing required internal justification.
Carl Hovland’s Model
Attitudes change as a process of communicating a message with the intent to persuade someone. It involves:
- The communicator
- The communication (the argument)
- The situation (surroundings)
Hovland and Weiss, 1952
Newspaper study found that high credibility sources are more persuasive than low credibility sources
Sleeper Effect
Persuasive effect of high credibility source decreases over time while the effect of low credibility source increased over time
Two Sided Arguments
Arguments that present information for and against a position are more effective and more often used in persuasion because they are more balanced
Elaboration Likelihood Model of Persuasion
Petty and Cacioppo
Two routes to persuasion:
- Central route - when you care about the issue and the strength of the argument matters.
- Peripheral route - when you care less about the issue and how, by whom, and the surroundings of the argument matters more than argument strength. Often, the communicator will try to pair positivity with the argument (i.e. using a celebrity spokesperson)
Analogy of Inoculation
People can be “inoculated against” attacks to cultural truisms by first presenting a weaker attach and then refuting it. Makes the person practice defending them. Cultural truisms are especially vulnerable to arguments because they are often just accepted as true without having to think about them.
Refuted Counter Arguments
First presenting arguments against cultural truisms and the refuting those arguments motivates people to defend their beliefs.
Belief Perseverance
Holding beliefs despite evidence that they are untrue
Reactance
People will behave to reassert their freedom when social pressures to behave a certain way becomes too strong
Proxemics
Edward Hall
Cultural norms that govern how far away we stand from people we are interacting with
Zajonc’s Theory
The presence of others increases arousal which therefore enhances emission of our dominant responses
Social Loafing
Tendency to put forth less effort when a part of a group as opposed to when working individually
Anonymity
Zimbardo’s prison study
People are more likely to commit antisocial acts when they feel anonymous
Deindividuation
Zimbardo’s prison study
Loss of self-awareness and personal identity
Groupthink
Irving Janis
Tendency for decision-making groups to strive for consensus by not considering discordant information
Risky Shift
Groups decisions are riskier than average decision-making (sometimes)
Value Hypothesis
Risky shift occurs when riskiness is socially valued
Group Polarization
James Stoner (risky pregnancy study found that results contrary to risky shift hypothesis)
Group decisions are more extreme than individual decisions - sometimes riskier and sometimes more cautious depending on the initial tendencies of the group
Leadership
Leaders engage in more communication than non-leaders.
Can manipulate perception of leadership by making someone speak more.
Kurt Lewin’s Study
Three styles of leadership:
- Autocratic (more hostile, more aggressive, more dependent on leader, most work done)
- Democratic (most satisfying, more cohesive, most work motivation and interest)
- Laissez-faire (less organized, less efficient, less satisfying)
Cooperation
People working together for mutual benefit to achieve a goal
Competition
Person acting for his/her own benefit to obtain a goal with limited availability
Prisoner’s Dilemma
Two prisoners can either cooperate or compete to receive varying sentences based on decision
Robber’s Cave Experiment
Muzafer Sherif
Study with two groups of boys at camp. Found that superordinate goals are best obtained through intergroup cooperation
Social Comparison Theory
Leon Festinger
We affiliate because we evaluate ourselves in relation to others. Includes three principles:
- We prefer to evaluate ourselves by objective or nonsocial means, but when this is not possible, we will evaluate our opinions/beliefs by comparison to others
- The less the similarity of opinions and abilities between two people, the less the tendency to make comparisons
- When there’s a discrepancy, we tend to change opinions to move them in line with the group
Reciprocity Hypothesis
We tend to like people who indicate that they like us, and vise vera
Gain-Loss Principle
Aronson and Linder developed a twist to the reciprocity hypothesis - that an evaluation that changes will have more of an impact than an evaluation that remains constant (i.e. we might like someone more if they recently started liking us as compared to someone who has always liked us)
Social Exchange Theory/Equity Theory
Assumes that a person weighs the rewards and costs of interacting. A person also considers the costs and rewards for the other person. We want their ratio to be equal/similar to ours
Need Complimentary
The idea that opposites attract. This is sometimes true, but sometimes similarity is a better predictor of affiliation.
Attractiveness Stereotype
Likelihood to attribute positive qualities to attractive people. Physical attraction predicts affiliation.
Spatial Proximity
Being closer in space to someone predicts affiliation (i.e. living in the same apartment building)
Mere Exposure Effect
Robert Zajonc
Familiarity predicts affiliation
Altrusim
Helping others even if the cost to one’s self outweighs the benefits. This is a type of helping behavior
Bystander Intervention
Latané and Darley, inspired by Kitty Genovese incident
Two factors influence whether bystanders will help:
- Social influence (smoke in the room study)
- Diffusion of responsibility (seizure study)
Pluralistic Ignorance
Has to do with the social influence component of bystander intervention - behavior of others can lead people to a definition of an event as nonemergency
Empathy
The ability to vicariously experience the emotions of another. Influences helping behavior
Batson’s Empathy-Altrusim Model
People can feel distress or empathy when faced with a helping situation (experiment involving taking the place of someone else when being shocked)
Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis
When people are frustrated, they act aggressively
Bandura’s Social Learning Theory
Bobo Doll Experiment
People learn aggression through:
- Modeling (direct observation)
- Reinforcement
Also believed that aggressive is selectively reinforced (i.e. through material benefit, social approval, and attention)
Muzafer Sherif’s Conformity Study
Used the autokinetic effect to study conformity: people changed their estimations of light movement to conform with the group
Solomon Asch’s Conformity Study
Used the line length estimation study: found that people yield to group pressures even when there is no direct demand to do so
Stanley Milgram’s Obedience Experiment
Participants obeyed the experimented in shocking the “learner” when told to do so.
Participants showed signs of distress.
Foot-in-the-Door Effect
Compliance with a small request increases the likelihood of compliance with a later larger request
Door-in-the-Face Effect
People who refuse large requests are more likely to agree to a later smaller request
Self-Perception
How social lives influence our perceptions of ourselves include:
- Other people’s views
- Our social roles
- Group membership
Doll Preference Study
Clark and Clark
Asked Black and White children questions about Black and White dolls. At the time, all children showed preference for white dolls.
Dimensions of Personal Identity
Features of identity are organized in a hierarchy of salience, which can vary depending on the situation. The more salient the feature of identity, the more we conform the role expectations of that identity
Primacy Effect
When first impressions are more important than consequent interactions in forming opinions
Recency Effect
When the most recent information is more important than prior information in forming an opinion
Attribution Theory
Fritz Heider
We attribute the causes of behavior two one of two main categories:
- Dispositional (internal)
- Situational (external)
Fundamental Attribution Error
We have a bias towards attributing dispositional causes to the behaviors of others
Halo Effect
The tendency to allow a general impression of someone to influence more specific evaluations of them (i.e. I like Joe, Joe is a good writer)
Belief in a Just World
Melvin Lerner
Good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people - we receive the outcomes we deserve. Helps people believe in a predictable world, but increases the likelihood of victim blaming
Self-Serving Bias
We tend to use make internal attributions for our successes and external attributions for our failures
Script
A person’s knowledge about the sequence of events in a specific setting
Social Norm
Group expectations regarding what is acceptable or appropriate for thoughts and behaviors of its members
Social Role
Socially defined pattern of behavior that is expected of a person in a given setting or group
Asch Effect
Group majority influences judgment, even when that judgment is inaccurate (i.e. line length study)
Stereotype
Negative thoughts about a person based on his/her group membership. Often thoughts are overgeneralized to include all members of a group, and does not take individual differences into account
Prejudice
Negative attitudes or feelings about a person based on his/her group membership
Discrimination
Negative actions against a person based on his/her group membership
In-Group Bias
The preference for our own group over other groups (out-groups - which we view as fundamentally different)
Matching Hypothesis
People tend to pick someone they view as their equal in physical attractiveness and social desirability
Robert Sternberg
Triangular Love Theory
Triangular Love Theory
Robert Sternberg
Three components of love:
- Intimacy
- Passion
- Commitment
Consummate love involves all three
