Social psychology Flashcards
Norman Triplett
first social psych study: effect of competition on performance (better with other people on easy tasks)
Role theory
people are aware of roles they are expected to fill, and try to adopt them
Consistency theory
people prefer consistency and will change / resist changing attitudes based upon this preference
Fritz Heider’s balance theory
how 3 elements are related. Balance exists when all 3 fit harmoniously, otherwise there will be stress & tendency to remove the stress.
Leon Festinger’s cognitive dissonance theory
conflict felt when attitudes don’t fit with behaviors. Attitude may change to fit your behavior
Free-choice dissonance
making a choice between several desirable alternatives
Forced-choice dissonance
forced into behavior inconsistent with attitudes
Daryl Bem’s self perception theory
when your attitudes are weak, you observe your behavior and attribute an attitude
Overjustification effect
occurs when you are rewarded for something you like
Carl Hovland & communication/persuasion:
Sleeper effect: persuasion of high credible source decreases while low credible source persuasion increases….
Arguing against self interest increases credibility
Two-sided messages - arguments for both sides are more balanced
Petty & Cacioppo model of persuasion
Central route: care about the issue being discussed, pay attention
Peripheral route: don’t care/ distracted; strength of argument doesn’t matter. What matters is who and where the argument is presented
Leon Festinger’s social comparison theory
evaluate ourselves in relation to others
Reciprocity hypothesis
we like those who like us; dislike who dislike us…
Gain-loss principle - Aronson & Linder
evaluation that changes is more impactful than a constant evaluation. When liking has increased, we will like that person more.
Social exchange theory
person weighs the rewards and costs of interaction with another
Equity theory
we also consider the other person’s costs and rewards. Their costs and rewards should be equal to ours
attractiveness stereotype
tendency to attribute positive qualities and characteristics to attractive people
Factors of attraction
- spatial proximity
- mere exposure (Robert Zajonc)
Bystander effect
Darley & Bibb Latance- diffusion of responsibility with more bystanders
Pluralistic ignorance
situation in which a majority of group members privately reject a norm, but go along with it because they assume, incorrectly, that most others accept it.
Batson’s empathy-altruism model
People feel distress or empathy when others need help, so they help them
Frustration-aggression hypothesis
When people are frustrated, they act aggressively
Bandura’s social learning theory
aggression is learned through MODELING or REINFORCEMENT.
Sherif’s conformity study
auto kinetic effect- light will appear to move in a dark room.
individuals conformed to match group’s answers.
Asch’s conformity study
Point at the same length lines.
37% of answers were wrong & 75% gave a wrong answer at least once, even when there was no pressure to conform.
-subjects yield to group pressure and choose incorrect line
Milgram’s obediance study
- All participants gave at least a 300 v shock
- 26/40 continued to the next dangerous shock level
- When someone else delivered the shock, 37/40 participated until the very end.
Foot-in-the-door effect
compliance with small request increases likelihood of compliance with a bigger request
Door-in-the-face effect
When large request is refused, a smaller request is more likely to be accepted.
Clark & Clark (Doll preference task)
White doll preferred for all kids
Albert Bandura
Self efficacy- one’s belief in ability to organize & execute a particular pattern of behavior.
Based on accomplishments, experiences, social persuasion, and physical/emotional states
Primacy/ recency effects
primacy - first impression is more important
recency- most recent info is more important
Attribution theory
focuses on tendency for us to infer other’s behavior.
- dispositional- caused by the person’s personality
- situational- due to situation
Fundamental attribution error
assume that others act due to disposition, while we sometimes act due to situation
Halo effect
tendency to allow a general impression of someone to influence other, specific evaluations (I like Jill. Jill is a good writer. She can do no wrong..)
MJ Lerner- a just world
people believe the world is just, good things come to good people and vice versa
Theodore Newcomb’s study on influence of group norms
females in college increasingly accepted the community norms, becoming more liberal
Edward Hall & Proxemics
Cultural norms regarding how close to stand to people.
-US: if close, then one foot. If strangers then several feet apart.
Zajonc & presence of others
- easy tasks facilitated by audience
- hard tasks are harder with others
Social loafing
people put forth less effort when in a group
Anonymity & Philip Zimbardo
People are more likely to commit antisocial acts when they are anonymous.
Zimbardo’s prison experiment
Deindividuation- loss of self awareness and personal identity due to roles they were playing
Irvin Janis & Group think
Group think- tendency of decision making groups to strive for consensus by disregarding discordant info
Groups- risky shift
group decisions are riskier than individual decisions
-one explanation for this is the VALUE HYPOTHESIS- risky shift occurs in cultures where riskiness is culturally valued
Group polarization
tendency for group discussion to enhance group’s initial tendency toward riskiness or caution
Qualities of leaders
- engage in more communication
- perceived leadership increased with talking
Kurt Lewin & Leadership styles
- Autocratic: groups more hostile, aggressive, and dependent on leader; greater work quantity
- Democratic: more satisfying & cohesive; greater motivation & interest
- Laissez-fair- less efficient, less organized, and less satisfying
Sherif & superordinate goals
joint effort on these goals improves intergroup relations
“Blaming the victim” is associated with :
belief in a just world
The groupthink process contains all but
- inhumane solution
- critical thinking
- group cohesiveness
- riskiness
critical thinking
Milgram’s study is mostly associated with
conformity
“she stole bc she is a thief” is an example of:
fundamental attribution error
What concept is closely associated with Allport?
functional autonomy
Resolution of an avoidance-avoidance conflict is most like
choosing the lesser of two evils.
Confabulation is often a symptom of
Korsakoff’s syndrome
Which psychologist would argue that researchers should investigate the effects various social behaviors have on fitness?
E.O. wilson
autoshaping is important bc it shows
behaviors thought to be solely due to operant conditioning may have a classical conditioning component.
Which method is used to assess cooperation and competition?
the prisoner’s dilemma
the theory of kin selection was proposed to explain
altruism
