Social Psychology Flashcards
Define social psychology.
The scientific study of how peoples’ thoughts, feelings and behaviour are influenced by the presence of others.
Describe social influence.
The change in behaviour (intentional or unintentional) that occurs as a result of a person’s social environment
What is a group/the characteristics of a group?
Two or more people who interact regularly, identify as a collective, have interdependence on members and share a common purpose.
Define and describe Social Facilitation.
The tendency for individuals to perform better in the mere prescence of others in comparison to performing the task on their own.
- may occur when people are observed without observers participating in the task e.g. a sporting event, where the presence of spectators makes the athlete run faster (Audience Effect)
- may also occur when a person is performing a task in front of co-actors performing the same task e.g. getting more study done in a library where one sees others studying, than at home (Co-Action Effect)
How did Triplett study social facilitation?
Triplett (1898) observed that cyclists rode faster when racing against each other, than when they rode alone against the clock. He tested the idea that this was due to the presence of others in a lab experiment where children were asked to reel a fishng rod as fast as they could, individually or among co-actors. Triplett found that participants who performed the task with co-actors reeled the line faster then those who reeled the line alone, allowing him to conclude that the co-actors caused this boost in performance.
Define Social Inhibition.
The tendency for the presence of others to hinder an individual’s performance of a task.
What is the Yerkes-Dodson Law?
An empirical relationship between arousal and performance which states that performance increases with mental/physiological arousal up until a certain point, meaning there is an optimum level of arousal for performance and an over or under-arousal leads to a decrease in performance.
Using Zajonc’s Drive Theory of Social Faciliation, explain why social facilitation and inhibition occur.
Zajonc (1965) used the Yerkes-Dodson Law to theorise that since arousal from others can improve or worsen performance, the presence of others brings about a person’s dominant/best-learned response. This means social facilitation occurs in simple tasks, where the dominant response is likely to be correct, and social inhibition occurs in complex tasks (where the dominant response is probably incorrect) as the arousal from other people and the difficulty of the task bring arousal past its optimal level.
Define evaluation apprehension and describe how it was studied.
The fear of being judged by others (either formally or informally). Cottrell (1968) tested whether this phenomenon exists by blindfolding participants and asked them to perform a perception experiment, and found there was no change in their performance, which he concluded was because the participants were blindfolded and evaluation apprehension did not occur.
Define and explain the Bystander Effect.
The tendency for an individual to be less likely to take action/help someone in a situation than if they were alone, which occurs due to a diffusion of responsiblilty (since other people are present, individuals assume that ohters will help). It may also occur due to audience inhibition (the individual feels self-conscious/afraid of breaking social norms when helping).
What is Group Polarisation and what is its basic assumption?
Tendency for the opinions of individuals to become more extreme when they are in a group with people who hold similar attitudes. The principle of group polarisation is that whatever the inital preference of the group prior to its discussion, this preference is strengthened during the discussion.
Define the Risky Shift Phenomenon.
Form of group polarisation referring to a change in the group’s attitude that raises the chance for negative consequences (group decisions tend to be more risky than individual ones, but may sometiomes be more careful if that is the group’s initial leaning).
Name and describe three causes of group polarisation.
1) Persuasion via. the central route - members of a group bring their own set of arguments/perspectives to a discussion, some of which other group members may not have considered. Being presented more arguments in support of the group shifts peoples’ views more towards the group’s position.
2) Social comparison - during group discussions, people evaluate the feelings and views of the group. As a result of humans’ desire to gain acceptance, people compare their own ideas to those held by the group, and take a similar position.
3) Confirmation Bias - people will pay more attention to and readily accept information that confirms their views, strengthening the group’s position as counter-arguments are seen as weak and unclear.
How did Myers and Bishop test Group Polarisation?
Myers and Bishop (1970) tested group polarisation by surveying students and classifying them based on their racial prejudice, and then putting students with similar amounts of prejudice in group discussions about racial issues. They found that students who were prejudiced to begin with were even more biased after the discussion and students who were initaally less prejudiced were even more accepting after the discussion. This allowed Bishop and Myers to conclude that the group of people with similar attitudes strenghtened individuals’ attitudes.
Define conformity and explain how it is different to obedience.
A change in attitudes, beliefs or behaviour as a result of real or imagined group pressure. Unlike obedience, conformity lacks the presence of an authority figure or a direct command.
