Social Psychology Exam 2 Cards Flashcards
Attitude
Evaluative beliefs about objects, ideas, events, groups of people, individuals.
Strong positive attitude
Lasting over time; resistant of change; predictive behavior → Not easily persuaded; if try to change it, attitude becomes even stronger. [Polarized]. People start counter arguing.
Non-attitude
Don’t care about particular object/subject; can be changed easily; not defending anything. Easy to create an attitude from someone else.
Three Components of Attitudes
ABCs:
- Affect (move emotionally)
- Cognitive
- Beliefs
Dual attitude
Loving and hating something at the same time. [You want it BUT, you don’t] Very common.
Balance Theory [Heider]
We strive to maintain cognitive balance, where our attitudes, behavior, feelings in line with each other. [Cognitive consistency is what we want]
Dissonance Theory:
Attitudes can be inconsistent with behaviors and vice versa [behaviors can be inconsistent with attitudes]
How can you eliminate dissonance?
- Change attitude
2. Change behavior
Dissonance will only occur what certain circumstances?
- Minimal compliance pressure
2. Commitment
Insufficient Justification
When you engage in counterattitude behavior for very little justification.
Postdecision Regret
When you have to choose between two equally wanted items, and you select one, you may experience dissonance.
Displacement Effect
Change of ratings after choice is made.
Impression Management Theory (Tedeschi)
There is no Dissonance; People only to manage their impression.
Self-Affirmation Theory (Claude Steele)
Argues that activities that produce dissonance are activities that threaten integrity of self-concept.
Self-Perception Theory (Bem)
There’s no motivating force, no uncomfortable mental tension.
Misattribution Paradigm
Identifying a different/false cause.
Reconciliation
When Self-Perception and when Dissonance are important
Ways to reduce dissonance
- Change Attitudes
- Add cognitions; add other info.
- Alter the importance of the discrepancy
- Reduce perceived choice
- Make self-affirmations
- Change Behavior
LaPier (1934): Road Trip
Found out that attitudes do not predict behavior. Attitudes are irrelevant to understanding behavior.
Intention (Fishbein & Arjen)
Three things that contribute to intention of behavior:
- Attitude: Like/dislike; Support/do not support, agree/disagree
- Perceived behavioral control: How capable are you about going after what you want?
- Estimates of likelihood of success, and expectations of important others (subjective norms)
Rumination
If you have a failure, a loss, mistake, fight, and you sit there and think about it, you get more and more angry, upset.
Vested Interest
The extent to which a person perceives an issue to be associated with her/his wellbeing (some kind of “stake” in the issue)
• Attitude/behavior is predicative for people with high vested interest.
Self Monitoring – Snyder
The extent to which people use their surroundings to guide their actions.
Persuasion
= changing attitude
Central Root Processing
elaborating, deep, effortful, deliberate, careful, logical processing. Focused on message.
Peripheral processing
= e.g. paying attention to music, pizza, hairstyles.
Stereotypes
Cognitive structure) Generalized beliefs about the characteristics and behaviors of a group as a whole.
Prejudice
(Emotional component) Negative affect directed toward all members of a specific social category
Discrimination
(Behavioral component) Any act, attitude, or institutional structure that subordinates a person because of their social category membership (their race/ethnicity, their sex, etc.)
Illusory Correlation
Forming an association between a social group and particularly distinctive members when there is actually no relationship between the distinctive characteristics and group memberships.
Ingroup Bias:
The tendency to favor ingroups over outgroups. Ignore people not in our group.
Social Identity Theory
Our individual sense of self esteem stems in large part from the social groups to which we belong.
Emotional Effects of Ingroup Bias:
- Ethnocentrism
- Cognitive Effects of Ingroup Bias
- Ultimate Attribution Error
Ethnocentrism
An increasing pattern of loyalty toward ingroup accompanied by increased in hostility toward outgroup.
Cognitive Effects of Ingroup Bias
We remember positive things about things from people in our group and forget negative things of people in our group and show the opposite for people in the outgroup.
Ultimate Attribution Error
When talking about groups we discount positive acts/qualities by the outgroup. We ignore or explain and thus conflict never ends.
Outgroup Homogeneity
Outgroup members are seen as more similar to each other than are ingroup members (“They are all the same”)
Social Distance (Bogardus)
Ones willingness to participate in social contact of varying degrees of closeness with members of diverse social groups.
Old Fashioned Racism
Blatantly negative stereotypes based on beliefs in racial superiority of one’s group, with open opposition to racial equality.
Aversive Racism
Egalitarian social values (meaning everyone should be treated equally regardless of group membership) but negative emotions/anxiety; lead to avoidance of interaction.
Social Influence
When one or more people change their behavior as a consequence of the words or actions of others.
Informational Social Influence
(Lasting) A process by which people use information provided by others to facilitate their understanding of ambiguous stimuli; to assist them when forming judgments. [Only works when you are unsure]
Normative Social Influence
(Temporary) Changing one’s behavior in response to another based on a desire to gain rewards and/or avoid punishments. → E.g. Slowing down [changing behavior] while driving when you see a cop to avoid a ticket [punishment]
