Social Psychology Flashcards
Social psychology
the scientific study of how a person’s behaviour, thoughts, personality and feelings influence and are influenced by social groups
conformity
changing one’s own behaviour to match the actions of others more closely
conformity study
Muzafer Sherif - light experiment
Solomon Asch - line experiment
Groupthink
occurs when people within a group feel that it is more important to maintain the group’s cohesiveness, rather than consider the facts realistically
characteristics of groupthink
invulnerability rationalisation lack of introspection stereotyping pressure lack of disagreement self-deception insularity
invulnerability
members feel that they cannot fail
rationalisation
members explain away warning signs
help each other rationalise their decision
lack of introspection
members do not examine the ethical implications
they believe they cannot make immoral choices
stereotyping
members stereotype their enemies as weak, stupid or unreasonable
pressure
members pressure each other to not question the prevailing opinion
lack of disagreement
members do not express opinions that differ from the group consensus
self-deception
members share in the illusion that the all agree with the decision
insularity
members prevent the group from hearing disruptive but potentially useful information from people who are outside the group
Compliance
occurs when people change their behaviour as a result of another person or group asking or directing them to change
Obedience
when a person asking for another person to change has a level of authority and the person does change their behaviour
compliance techniques
foot-in-the-door technique
door-in-the-face thechnique
lowball technique
foot-in-the-door technique
getting a person to agree to a large request by first asking them to agree to a small request
people want to behave consistently
door-in-the-face techique
asking a person to agree to a large unreasonable task which is then refused
then asking them to complete a more reasonable task
lowball technique
getting a person to commit to something and only after they have committed, you increase the cost of that commitment
obedience
Changing one’s behaviour at the direct order of sn authority figure
shock experiment
Stanley Milgram
Social cognition
focuses on the ways in which people think about other peopled how those cognitions influence behaviour towards those other people
attitudes
an attitude can be defined as a tendency to respond positively or negatively to a certain idea, person, object or situation
can include options beliefs and biases
attitudes influence the way people view these things before they have even been exposed to them
ABC model of attitudes
affective component
behaviour component
cognitive component
affective component
the way a person feels towards the object, person or situation
affect = emotion/feeling
behaviour component
the action that a person take-in regard to the person, situation or object
cognitive component
the way the person thinks about the person, situation or object
includes beliefs and ideas about the focus of the attitude
predictions from attitudes
attitudes = poor predictors for behaviour
cognitive dissonances exist
attitude formation
direct contact
direct instruction
interaction with others
vicarious conditioning
direct contact
direct contact with the person, idea or object that is the focus of the attitude
direct instruction
attitudes can be formed by direct instruction from parents or other individuals
interaction with others
sometimes attitudes are formed because a person is surrounded by other people that hold a certain attitude
vicarious conditioning
many attitudes are learned through observation
attitudes are influenced by the education system, mass media, television and marketing
Persuasion
the process by which one person tries to change the belief, opinion, position or course of action of another person through argument, pleading or explanation
factors in predicting successful persuasion
source
message
target audience
medium
Source
people give more weight to people who are perceived as experts, as well as those who seem trustworthy, attractive and similar to the receiver of the message
message
is the message clear and well organised?
its more effective to present both sides of the argument
target audience
the characteristics of the people who are the intended target of the message of persuasion are also important in determining the effectiveness of the message
you adults and late teens are more susceptible to persuasion than older people
medium
the form in which the person receives the message is also important
television vs newspaper
Elaboratio liklihood model
model of persuasion
2 types of processing are hypothesised in this model
central-route processing = assumes that people elaborate (add details and information) based of what they hear (the facts of the message) or
peripheral-route processing = they do to elaborate at all, preferring to pay attention to the surface characteristics of the message (length of message, who delivers it, how attractive they are)
Cognitive dissonance
when people find themselves doing or saying things that do not align with their thoughts or opinions of themselves
how to reduce cognitive dissonance
- change conflicting behaviour to match attitude
- change conflicting cognition to justify behaviour
- form new conditions to justify behaviour
Social categorisation
unconscious process of assigning newly met people to a certain group or category based on their characteristics
can result in stereotyping
impression formation
the forming of the first knowledge the person has about another person
part of social categorisation process
includes assigning a person to a number of categories and drawing conclusions about what that person is likely to do
Implicit personality theories
sets of assumptions that people have about how many types of people, personality traits ad actions are all related, and form in childhood
can become stereotypes
Attribution
the process of explaining both one’s own behaviour and the behaviour of other people
Attribution theory
developed by Heider a way of explaining why things happen as well as why people choose the particular explanations of behaviour that they do 2 kinds of explanations situational cause dispositional cause
situational cause
when the cause of behaviour is assumed to be from external sources
the observed behaviour is assumed to be caused by whatever situation exists for that person at that time
dispositional cause
when the cause of the behaviour is assumed to come from within the individual
it is the person’s internal personality traits that are seen as the cause of the observed behaviour
these kids of attributions have an emotional component
fundamental attribution error
tendency for people observing someone else’s actions to overestimate the influence of that person’s internal characteristics on behaviour and underestimate the situation
Prejudice
when a person holds an unsupported and often negative stereotyped attitude about members of a social group
discrimination
when prejudicial attitudes cause members of a specific group to be treated differently from others in situations that call for unequal treatment
realistic conflict theory
states that increasing prejudice and discrimination are closely tied to an increasing degree of conflict between the in-group and the out-group
Social identity theory
3 processes are responsible for a person’s identity within a particular social group and the attitudes, concept, and behaviour that go along with that group
- social categorisation
- social identity
- social comparison
social identity formation
the view of oneself as a member of a particular social group within the social category
social comparison
when people compare themselves favourably to others to improve their own self esteem
Stereotype vulnerability
the effect that a person’s knowledge of another’s stereotyped opinions can have on that person’s behaviour
people often feel anxious about behaving I ways that can support their stereotype
stereotype threat
members of a stereotyped group are made anxious and wary of any situation in which their behaviour might confirm their stereotype
equal status contact
a situation where either group holds power over the other
has shown to reduce prejudice and discrimination
encourages going positive cooperation
social factors in stress
poverty
job stress
culture
culture stress
acculturation:
a process of adapting to a new, or different culture
acculterative stress
- integration
- assimilation
- separation
- marginalisation
integration
practicing original culture at home while still maintaining a positive relationship with the dominant culture outside of the home
acculturative stress = low
assimilation
the minority person gives up the old cultural identity and completely adopts the ways of the majority culture
moderate levels of acculturative stress
separation
person rejects the majority culture’s ways
maintains original cultural identity
high degree of acculturative stress
marginalisation
people who don’t maintain their original culture and also doesn’t join the majority culture
highest level of acculturative stress
social support system
network of friends, family, co-workers, neighbours and others who can offer help to a friend in need help = advice physical/financial support emotional support love and affection companionship
good support system
live longer
less likely to die form injury or illness
positive effect on immune system
improves mental health
makes stressors seem less threatening as a result of having more help
how culture and religion affects stress
a belief in a higher power can be a great source of comfort inn times of stress
religion makes people feel better about their weaknesses, failures or feelings of inadequacy
religion can give meaning to things that seem purposeless
death = pathway to paradise
encourages healthy behaviour
interpersonal attraction
several factors involved in attraction to a person
proximity
physical characteristics
elements of personality
proximity
how close your are to other people
availability depends heavily on proximity
people want to be with people who are available
exposure effect
exposure effect
the more people experience something, the more they like it
when people are repeatedly exposed to one another, they may increase their attraction to one another
similarity
people tend to like being around others who are similar to them
the more people have in common, the more they ted to like each other
when other person has similar ideas or beliefs to you, it validates those ideas for yourself
reciprocity of liking
people have a strong tendency to like people who like them
love triangle
Robert Sternberg
there are 3 components of love and three combinations that these components can produce
- intimacy
- passion
- commitment
intimacy
feelings of closeness
emotional ties to one another
not physical but psychological
enjoying the presence of one another
passion
physical aspect of love
emotional and sexual arousal that a person feels towards other person
all physical aspects of a relationship
commitment
decisions one makes about the relationship
Aggression
when a person deliberately tries to hurt or destroy another person
cause of aggression
often a reaction to frustration also a basic human instinct (freud) biology alcohol social roles media
frustration-aggression hypothesis
negative sensations are often intense and uncontrollable
this leads to frustration and often aggressive acts against the nearest available target
Aggression and biology
it may be that some gene, or complex of genes, makes certain people more susceptible to aggressive response under the right environmental conditions
aggression = controlled by amygdala, frontal lobe and other parts of limbic system
testosterone can also lead to aggression
alcohol and aggression
alcohol acts to release inhibitions, making people less likely to control their behaviour
social roles and aggression
social role = pattern of behaviour a person is expected to take based on their particular social position
people who watch aggressive behaviour may model their behaviour around this aggression
Prosocial behaviour
socially desirable behaviour that benefits others rather than bringing them harm
altruism
helping someone in trouble with no expectation reward and often without fear of one’s own safety
bystander effect
the likelihood of helping someone inn need decreases as the number of bystanders increases
this is because of the diffusion of responsibility
diffusion of responsibility
the phenomenon in which a person refuses to take responsibility for either action or inaction because of the presence of other people who are seen to share the responsibility
form of attribution in which people explain their behaviour as a result of the presence of other people
5 decision points I helping behaviour
noticing the situation defining it as an emergency taking responsibility for acting planning a course of action taking action
