Social Psychology

Question 1

Conformity

Answer 1

Tendency for people to align their behavior with that of the group

Question 2

Informative influence

Answer 2

Conforming to a group belief because you do not know the correct answer, and you assume the group is right

Question 3

Normative influence

Answer 3

Conforming to the group answer in order to avoid social rejection

Question 4

Private conformity

Answer 4

Changing your beliefs to align with the group

Question 5

Public conformity

Answer 5

Maintaining your beliefs, but changing your outward behavior to align with the group

Question 6

Group polarization

Answer 6

Phenomenon where group decision making amplifies the original opinion of group members

Question 7

Groupthink

Answer 7

Phenomenon in which maintaining group harmony leads to irrational decision making

Question 8

Social anomie

Answer 8

Breakdown of social bonds within a community resulting from weak set of shared norms. Often occurs during periods of rapid change

Question 9

Compliance

Answer 9

Changing a behavior because it is requested

Question 10

Identification

Answer 10

Acting/dressing a certain way to mimic someone you respect

Question 11

Internalization

Answer 11

Strongest form of conformity, integrating a belief into our own values

Question 12

Asch conformity studies

Answer 12

People conform to the group even when there is no reward/punishment for doing so

Question 13

Milligram experiment on obedience

Answer 13

Had subject (the teacher) shock confederate (the learner) if they gave the wrong answer. Most people followed the orders of the experimenter, despite protests from the learner

Question 14

Just world phenomenon

Answer 14

Belief that good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people

Question 15

Fundamental Attribution error

Answer 15

tendency to overemphasize personality characteristics and underemphasize situational circumstances when explaining a behavior

Question 16

Demand characteristics

Answer 16

When behavior is influenced by what the subject perceives the observer to want

Question 17

Factors affecting conformity

Answer 17

Group size
Unanimity
Group status
Group cohesion (connectedness with group)
Whether behavior is observed 
Public response

Question 18

Factors affecting obedience

Answer 18

Closeness to authority
Physical proximity to authority
Legitimacy of authority
Institutional authority 
Victim distance depersonalization 
Role models for defiance

Question 19

Bystander effect

Answer 19

Failure to intervene in a situation because it is assumed that others will do so
Effect increases in larger groups
Explained by the diffusion of responsibility theory

Question 20

Deindividuation

Answer 20

When people in a group act inappropriately because they believe the crowd will conceal their identity

Question 21

Social Facilitation

Answer 21

States that the presence of others will increase the most dominant response
For example, if you are giving a presentation you know well, presence of others will increase performance. If you do not know it well, the opposite will occur

Question 22

Yerkes-Dodson Law

Answer 22

Presence of others improves performance on simple tasks and hinders it on difficult tasks

Question 23

Social loafing

Answer 23

Tendency to put forth less efforts in a group if individual performance is not being evaluated

Question 24

Norms

Answer 24

Standards for behavior that govern how people behave. Vary across cultures and situations

Question 25

Sanctions

Answer 25

Reinforce norms. They may be positive/negative and formal/informal

Question 26

4 types of norms

Answer 26

1. Folkways: govern day to day life
2. Mores: based on moral value/belief
3. Laws: have formal/consistent consequences
4. Taboos: forbidden under all circumstances

Question 27

Theory of differential association

Answer 27

Deviance is a learned behavior that results from observing others

Question 28

Labeling Theory

Answer 28

A behavior is deviant if society has judged and labeled it as such
In primary deviance, an individual receives no real punishment and in secondary deviance they are punished.. Both may perpetuate the deviant behavior

Question 29

Strain Theory

Answer 29

If a person is unable to obtain a culturally acceptable goal due to lack of resources, etc, they may turn to deviance to attain the goal

Question 30

How is collective behavior different from group behavior?

Answer 30

Collective behavior is time limited and involves short social interactions
Collectives can be open while groups are exclusive
Collectives have loose norms while groups have strongly held, well-defined norms

Question 31

3 types of collective behavior

Answer 31

1. Fads: fleeting behavior that quickly gains and loses popularity
2. Hysteria: occurs when groups act irrationally to perceived threats
3. Riots: characterized by a large number of people who engage in dangerous behavior due to feelings of injustice

Question 32

Looking Glass Self

Answer 32

People revise they way they think about themselves based on their perceptions of how others think about them