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