Social Psychology (ch 12) Flashcards
What is the social brain hypothesis?
The size of a primate species’ standard social group is related to the volume of that species’ neocortex – primates have larger brains and larger prefrontal cortexes
Ingroups vs Outgroups
People favor their own ingroups
People organize themselves into groups when two conditions are met:
- reciprocity: people treat others as others treat them
- transitivity: people generally share their friends’ opinions of other people
Outgroup homogeneity effect:
People tend to view outgroup members as less varied than ingroup members and show a positivity bias for ingroup members
Social Identity Theory
people not only identify with certain groups but also value those groups and in doing so experience pride through their group membership
Ingroup favoritism
people give preferential treatment to ingroup members
which part of the brain is associated with thinking about other people and categorizing them into groups?
The medial prefrontal cortex
What is the risky-shift effect in group decision making?
groups often make riskier decisions than individuals do, but can also become more cautious depending on group polarization or groupthink
Group polarization
the initial attitudes of a group become more extreme over time
Group think
occurs when a group is under intense pressure and is biased in particular direction to begin with, does not process of information
Social facilitation
presence of others generally enhances performance
What is Zajonc’s proposed model of social facilitation?
presence of other > arousal > enhancement of the dominant response> can either enhance or impair performance
Social loafing
when people do not work as hard when in a group as when working alone, people’s efforts are pooled so that individuals do not feel personally responsible for the group’s output
deindividuation
when people lose individuality as they become part of a group, responsibility is diffused, tend to act according to the expectations of situation or people around
conformity
alteration of one’s beliefs and behaviors in order to meet other people’s expectations or match those of other people
normative influence
when people go along with the crowd to fit in and to avoid looking foolish
informational influence
when there is uncertainty or ambiguity about what is correct, appropriate, or expected so people look to other people for cues about how to respond
factors affecting conformity
group size, lack of consensus, social and cultural context, activity in the medial prefrontal cortex
Situational factors that affect aggression
observational learning, exposure to media violence, when people feel socially rejected, heat
Biological factors that influence aggression
testosterone (reduces the activity of brain circuits that control impulses), serotonin (important in the regulation of aggressive behavior, interferes with the prefrontal cortex’s control)
What did Sherif’s study find?
cooperation created friends, shared superordinate goals reduced hostility between groups
What did Batson vs Cialdini argue about prosocial behavior?
Batson said that prosocial behavior was motivated by empathy, Cialdini argued that it has selfish motives (to manage one’s public image)
Inclusive fitness
adaptive benefits of transmitting genes rather than focusing on individual survival
Idea of reciprocity
one animal helps another because the other may return the favor in the future
