Social psychology and humor

Question 1

do people who are higher in their field underestimate or overestimate their performance

Answer 1

underestimate

Question 2

cognitive dissonance

Answer 2

uncomfortable with inconsistencies in our own thoughts and behaviors, we are motivated to relieve this discomfort

Question 3

two principles of social psychology

Answer 3

power of situation and self/other divide

Question 4

power of situations

Answer 4

our thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, behaviors are shaped by immediate social situation; pressure can override personality

Question 5

self/other divide

Answer 5

our perception of other people is different than perception of ourselves

Question 6

goal of milgram obedience experiment

Answer 6

had people increasingly shock other person if they did not remember the pair of words
see if authority of researcher could influence people by telling them they could not stop

Question 7

how many people shocked the highest in the milgram experiment

Answer 7

over 50%

Question 8

what would decrease the % of people administering lethal shock

Answer 8

seeing the person, someone with less authority

Question 9

goal of good samaritan study

Answer 9

predict helping behavior in different time pressing situations

Question 10

result of good samaritan study

Answer 10

increased hurry = less likely to help (10% from 63%)

Question 11

group polarization

Answer 11

tendency for group to make decisions that are more extreme than the inclination inclination of its members

Question 12

attitude polarization

Answer 12

where disagreements between 2 parties becomes more exaggerated after discussion

Question 13

why do we create a vision that ourself is special

Answer 13

motivation (it feels good), informational (we have access to our thoughts and other people do not and they observe)

Question 14

spotlight effect

Answer 14

we think people notice us more than they actually do (egocentric biases)

Question 15

finding of saying no to requests: how many people do you needs to ask to get 3 people to let you use the phone

Answer 15

we think people will say no more often that they do (people help)

Question 16

why do we think people will say no? what do we forget to consider?

Answer 16

we think others are driven by irritation
forget to consider their emotions of embarrassment / awkwardness

Question 17

self-serving biases

Answer 17

we think we are better than average, we overestimate our contribution, predictions of performance/how much we get done and correctness

Question 18

dunning-kruger effect

Answer 18

less you know -> think you know more
people who are higher in the field underestimate their performance

Question 19

how do we keep thinking we are better in the face of reality?

Answer 19

edit definitions to make us look good

Question 20

totalitarian ego

Answer 20

ego is dictator that controls information to benefit itself (i.e. definitions)

Question 21

how do we relieve cognitive dissonance

Answer 21

we avoid information that might conflict with our beliefs

Question 22

2 biases about others behavior / attribution

Answer 22

attribute bad behavior to other people’s internal: ability, efforts
attribute their good behavior to situation/external: luck, accident

Question 23

what do we attribute OUR failures to?

Answer 23

situation

Question 24

what do we attribute OUR successes to?

Answer 24

ourself

Question 25

fundamental attribution error

Answer 25

overemphasize personal characteristics of other people and ignore their situational factors

Question 26

how many times do we laugh a day

Answer 26

17

Question 27

when do we start laughing

Answer 27

4 months

Question 28

laughter in animals

Answer 28

rats chirp when they play and when tickled

Question 29

physiology of laughter

Answer 29

facial muscles, gasping for air, crying

Question 30

benefits of laughter

Answer 30

reward circuit
release endorphins
reduces stress hormones
decrease muscle tension
increase presence of positive immune markers

Question 31

why do we laugh

Answer 31

social and communicative, helps social bonding, contagious (detectors in brain) , social lubricant

Question 32

provine’s naturalistic studies findings

Answer 32

women laugh more than laugh, talker laughs more than listener, most laugher is not from jokes

Question 33

4 theories of humor

Answer 33

incongruity, superiority, tension-release, play/mock aggression

Question 34

incongruity theory of humor

Answer 34

unexpectedness unless it is frightening

Question 35

superiority theory of humor

Answer 35

sudden realization we are better than who we are laughing at (raise our status and puts higher up people down)

example: queen farts

Question 36

tension-release theory of humor

Answer 36

biological origin as relief at passing of danger; laugh after tension builds up

Question 37

play/mock aggression theory of humor

Answer 37

best theory
prepares for skills in the future (play -> hunting)
laughing signals you are not danger of actual aggression

Question 38

conformity

Answer 38

changing one’s attitude or behavior to match a perceived social norm

Question 39

Asch Experiment

Answer 39

1 participant among other decoys had to compare line length; decoy gave wrong answers and participant eventually conformed to give wrong answer

Question 40

most persuasive technique

Answer 40

presenting the norm