Social Psychology Part 2 Flashcards
1
Q
What is a social group?
A
a collection of individuals who interact with each other in cohesive structures involving norms and common goals.
2
Q
What are the 3 things that make up a social group?
A
Group cohesion, group norms/social contract, common goals
3
Q
What is group cohesion?
A
a sense of unity, belonginess, and group efficacy (the ability to carry out goals as a group).
4
Q
What are group norms/ social contract?
A
rules that govern the privileges and the costs of group membership; often implicit.
Useful to think about them through the lens of privilidges (things you get from the group) and costs (Things you give for the group). Things you get to do because you are a member of that group
5
Q
Are group norms often implicit or explicit?
A
implicit
6
Q
What are common goals?
A
the set of objectives that the group would ideally like to collectively work towards.
Could be a political party or just a couple of friends in a group having a common goal of having fun together and supporting each other emotionally
7
Q
Explain how “UBC Students” is a social group
A
You have some sense of cohesion, feeling a sense of identity and (hopefully) positive emotions for being a member of this group.
You have some privileges (you can be on-campus, you can take classes, you can go to office hours, etc.), but also some costs (you must pay tuition, you must pass most of your classes, etc.)
The student body has some common goals (e.g., to get best education for everyone, to organize extracurricular activities, to increase student health funding, etc.)
8
Q
Explain why “people walking around in a mall” is usually not a social group
A
Although you may be together in the same space, you are unlikely to have a sense of belonging or positive emotions with people around you.
Although there are some general social rules for how you should behave, they are usually more general cultural rules and not specific to the mall.
Although many people are there with the same goal, you are not coordinating to meet those goals together.
9
Q
Where do most groups begin from/ what is usually the most reliable way to start a group?
A
Most groups begin from a recognition of common goals, and build norms
and sense of belonging afterwards.the emphasis of a common goal is usually the most reliable way to start a group
10
Q
What is the robbers cave experiment?
A
Twelve-year old boys participated in two-week study where they attended a summer camp in which certain resources (e.g. baseballs) were made purposefully scarce.
One group was randomly assigned to the “Eagles” and the other to the “Rattlers”. After two days, the boys coordinated to acquire resources for their group and deny it to the other, and became very hostile towards the other group, believing them to be inferior.
11
Q
What are 3 important things to note about the robbers cave experiment?
A
- the mere labelling already started to exert a sense of belonging and develop a shared goal of getting resources for their group.
- This led to a strong sense of belonging and cohesion as well
- they believed that the reason they were put together was because they all had a secret superior trait
12
Q
What is boundary formation?
A
members determine the criteria for who can become a member, and what types of behaviors are permissible within the group.
13
Q
Is boundary formation mostly invisible? What does it lead to?
A
This process is mostly invisible, and leads to rapid classification of people as in-group or out-group
14
Q
What is ingroup?
A
members of the same group who have common goals and a set of common traits that allowed them into the group.
15
Q
What is outgroup? Example?
A
people not in the group because they lack common goals and/or traits that would allow them into the group.
Ex: the robbers cave experiment, the eagles formed an ingroup, the other group was determined as being incapable of being in their geroup because they were lacking something that makes them as good as us
16
Q
What is ingroup positivity?
A
attributing positive traits to members of the
ingroup. This means you think you share the same positive traits as others in the group
17
Q
What is outgroup negativity? What are the three main forms of negativity?
A
a attributing negative traits to members of outgroups.
- Possessing more negative traits (e.g., they are dumber, lazier, etc.).
- More homogenous than the ingroup (“all of them are the same!”). (we think the ingroup is wonderfully diverse, but the outgroup are all the same and possess those negative traits)
- Acting badly for dispositional reasons, while ingroup for situational.
18
Q
What is social facilitation?
A
situations in which groups of people perform better together than any single individual within the group would perform on their own.
19
Q
What are 3 examples of social facilitation?
A
Groups can combine effort to do more than any single person can. Groups can divide labour so that each person can become specialized. Groups can pass knowledge to each other over time.
20
Q
When is social faciliation maximized (3 ways)?
A
Group cohesion is high: group members know what to expect of each other and trust each other.
The common goal is well-defined and not too difficult: with poor goal definition, too much time is spent on deciding how to do something collectively.
Credit and blame can be easily given: otherwise some individuals may try to cheat and not work as hard (groups in which an individual can do something and not be recognized, or individuals can make mistakes and not be caught, this doesn’t work well, (Ex: group project)
When the group isn’t too large: as the size of the group grows, so does the tendency to disagree and not work as hard. (The size of the group tends to predict how much individuals contribute to it. )
21
Q
What are the 4 common situations in which groups paradoxically do worse than individuals?
A
worse than individuals:
1. Diffusion of Responsibility.
2. Group-Think.
3. Conformityand Deindividuation.
4.Reduced Cooperation with Other Groups
21
Q
What is diffusion of responsibility?
A
a diminished sense of responsibility experienced by individuals in groups; the larger the group, the more diffusion occurs.
22
Q
What are 2 types of diffusion of responsibility?
A
social-loafing
bystander effect
23
Q
What is social loafing?
A
the tendency to expend less effort in a group than alone; this is especially likely when there is no way to catch the amount of effort.
24
What study was focused on social loafing?
Rope-tugging experiment:
people in a rope-tugging competition exert significantly less effort in a group than individually; the size of the group correlates with less effort.
25
What does the bystander effect tell us we should not assume?
If you see somebody needing help and nobody else is helping, don’t assume that the person doesn’t require help! You may be suffering from the bystander effect and the person could be seriously hurt and in immediate need of assistance!
26
What is groupthink?
a situation in which the group maximizes cohesion/unity ahead of making an effective decision; especially likely when the group’s identity is threatened. (means the group makes a poor decision because they over value cohesion over making a good decision, the gorup will make a decision that no individual would on their own)
27
In what 4 ways does group think usually occur through?
Illusion of agreement: falsely believing all members have same belief.
Self-Censorship: not voicing your outlier view to maintain unity.
Extreme outgroup negativity: belief that the outgroup is attempting to dissolve
the group. (we often beleive that the outgroup is out to get us and we need to maintain cohesion to not be affected)
Illusion of invulnerability: belief that the group couldn’t make a bad decision.
28
What is group polarization?
groups tend to make decisions that are more extreme or
polarizing than any single member would have on their own.
29
What were the results of the racial prejudice experiment?
in the 1970s, a group of psychologists recruited participants that were openly racist and those with moderate prejudice.
They were then asked to debate on a number of issues surrounding racial equality.
By the end of the experiment, both the high and moderate prejudiced participants self-reported as being even more prejudiced than before.
In other words, if you hang around people with extreme opinions, you are more likely to become more extreme yourself.
30
What is conformity?
the change of one’s own values, opinions, and actions to be more consistent with the norms of the group; most often done to demonstrate membership and increase belonging.
31
What are 2 things tat conformity can resmble? In what circumstances?
Sometimes the conformity is temporary but public (compliance), and resembles indirect intimidation.
Other times, conformity leads to more enduring changes in beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours (conversion) either publicly or privately.
32
What is the Asch conformity Experiment?
participant are brought in and asked to a identify which of three presented lines is the same length (easy task).
33
What were the results of the Asch conformity experiement?
Only one person is a real participant; the others are actors who purposefully choose the wrong lines to see if the participant conforms.
70% of participants identify the obviously incorrect line as the correct answer, conforming to the group.
The effect grows with the size of the group.
34
Do groups come with important benefits? What are they?
Groups come with important benefits, including increasing our chance of survival,
allowing us to specialize, etc.
35
What are three costs of groups that ae high and unavoidable?
But the costs of groups are also high and unavoidable:
Groups diffuse responsibility, making them sometimes less efficient at dealing with problems compared to individuals.
Groups make decisions to maintain harmony, making them sometimes less optimal in decision making compared to individuals.
Groups suppress individual differences, resulting in conformity.
36
Do groups tend to discriminate against other groups?
yes
37
What combine to shape your behaviour?
challenges posed by different contexts, other people's expectations, and your own past experiences combine to shape your behaviour.
38
How can social psych be contrasted with personality psych?
Social psychology’s focus on how the immediate environment changes our behavior can be contrasted against personality psychology’s focus on an individual’s stable characteristics and their effects on behavior.
39
What do social psychologists want to understand? how does this contrast with personality psychologists?
social psychologists: why people act differently in different situations
Personality psych: why people act consistently across those situations
40
What do contemporary researchers recognize about behaviour and personality today?
both individual disposition and situational context often combine to explain the variability in how people behave
41
What stops people from changing their actions inconsistently from situation to situation?
people carry a host of core motivations that underlie their actions ( a fundamental need to bond and form trusting relationships with others, to percieve ourselves and our group positively, understand the world and feel a sense of control over our actions, and outcomes)
42
what is the result of us making accurate impressions of people?
interactions go more smoothly because we can better predict what they might do, feel, or say
43
When we meet a person, what is one of the first things we notice? Which brain region is responsible for this?
their face. the fusiform face area. The FFA
44
How do we form impressions?
using schemas : our mental representations that organize the associated pieces of information we know about a person
45
What can schemas be compared to?
a mental file folder
46
What two key dimensions when we make impressions capture our attention most? How do these affect our categorizations of people
how warm or trustworthy the person is (helps us determine friend or foe), and how competent the person is (allows us to gauge status or competence in social pecking order)
47
What are the judgments we make about people who fall on different areas of the 2 key dimensions when we make impressions that capture our attneiton most?
We look up to, depend on, and aspire to be like those who are both warm and competent; we fear those who are competent but lack warmth; and we pity or feel protective toward those who are warm but incompetent. Our deepest disdain is reserved for people who we see as lacking both of these characteristics, such as the homeless or drug addicts
48
What tendency do people have when making impressions of homesless people?
we have a tendency to deny their humanity, showing less activation of the neural networks that process information about people
49
How quickly do we form our impressions of people? Are we usually accurate?
quickly (within a fraction of a second of exposure) and automatically. We are often surprisingly accurate
50
why are our first impressions often accurate?
this accuracy stems from a reliance on knowledge about what people are like on average plus some adjustments to account for a person's distinct characteristics.
51
when are we more likely to make accurate impressions of people?
when we are motivated to pay attention to their individual attributes
52
when we don't form impressions effortfully, what od we often resort to? What specific types do we use?
heuristics (mental shortcuts)
- applying the schemas or mental representations we have of similar people we already know
53
what is transference (heuristic)?
a tendency to assume that a new and unfamiliar person has the same traits as another, known person who he or she resembles in some way.
54
What is false consensus (heuristic)?
the tendency to overestimate the extent to which other people's beliefs and attitudes are similar to our own (we use ourselves as an anchor)
55
What is impression management (heursistics)
a series of strategies that people use to influence the impressions that others form of them
56
What does impression managment imply?
lots of people use a persona to mask those characteristics we don't want others to see and we advertise the traits and skills we wish to be known for
57
are we less likely to use impression managment around people we are comfortable with?
yes
58
What are the 5 tools we use for impression management? What are their definitions? examples?
1. self promotion: to be seen as competent
- ex: mentioning a recent reward you recieved while on a job interview
2. ingratiation: to be seen as likable
- ex: congratulating your friend on a recent success
3. exemplification: to be seen as dedicated
- ex: volunteering to work an extra shift at your job
4. intimidation: to be seen as dominant
- ex: sneering at an opponent during a sports competition
5. supplication: to be seen as needy
- tearing up and holding your knee after falling and getting hurt
59
Why are we motivated to explain and understand why people do what they do?
becuase people can be unpredictable
60
What is attribution?
assignment of a causal explanation for an action, event, or outcome
61
when can people override the fundamental attribution error? What is the trouble with this?
when they stop to consider things external to the person that might be affecting their behaviour. The problem is, people must be motivated and have the cognitive resources to spend time and effort doing this mental work
62
when are we more likely to engage in effortful attributions?
when a person's actions are more surprising or negative
63
Why do we often lack key insights into our own motivations and experiences?
our motivation to think positively about ourselves can bias what we can see and what we believe about who we are and what we do. Another issue is that we don't have direct access to all the mental processes that underlie our thought and action. As a result, we can fail to appreciate not jut what has guided our choices in the past but how we will react in the future
64
Why has our motivation to preserve a positive view of the self often mean that we don't have any insight into the causes of our behaviour?
we rely on self serving attributions
65
what are self-serving attributions?
the attributions people make for their own behaviours or outcomes: we tend to make dispositional attributions for positive events but situational attributions for negative events
66
What do we often do when we want to explain the good things we have done or our successes?
we tend to favor internal and often stable explanations (I am so smart. I have real talent).
67
what are affective forecasting errors? Why does this happen?
People's inability to emotionally predict how they will feel about something in the future
- happens because people overestimate the influence of some factors and underestimate the influence of others
68
what is an attitude?
an oreintation towards some target stimulus that is composed of an affective feeling, a cognitive belief, and a behavioural motivation toward the target
69
what do studies show about the link between our attitudes and behaviours? Why?
there is actually a weak link
- sometimes our attitudes are about abstract topics, whereas behaviours are much more specific. This difference is important because our attitudes towards specific issues can be best predicted by specific behaviour
70
when do we feel stronger about the link between our attitudes and our behaviour?
when we are certain of our attitudes and they apply to situations we have directly experienced
71
what are implicit attitudes? How are they learned?
an automatically activated evaluation of a stimulus ranging from positive to negative. often learned through repeated exposure to a person, place, thing, or issue
72
what are explicit attitudes? What can these be shaped by? how are they updated?
the consciously reported evaluation a person has in response to a target stimuli. these can be shaped by our values, social norms, and other beliefs about the target stimulus. Updated by being provided new information
73
are implicit or explicit attitudes harder to change? When can they be changed?
implicit. Can be changed from repeat exposure ot new associations
74
What type of theory is the elaboration likely-hood theory of persuasion?
a dual processing theory
75
do attitudes last longer when from the central or peripheral route?
central
76
who are dispositionally more likely to favour central route processing over peripheral?
naturally deep thinkers
77
what is social proof
a compliance strategy that lists all the other people in the community who contributed
78
what is the scarcity principle?
a compliance strategy that uses the idea that people evaluate things higher if they are in short supply
79
when can dissonance actually change our attitudes?
when we cannot avoid situations that cause dissonance or otherwise justify our actions. this kind of attitude change happens only when people feel that they have behaved in a way that they cannot attribute to the situation alone
80
what is post-decision dissonance?
focusing on the negative aspects of a forgone option that we did feel positviely toward in order to resolve dissonance
81
what is effort justification?
justifying past behaviour etc simply by evaluating the reason as being more positive
82
How is dissonance realized in eastern countries?
more emphasis is placed on mathcing behaviour with other people's beliefs and attitudes. Thereofre, people in these cultures experience dissonance more when their behaviours are out of sync wiht others beliefs and atitides
83
what is conformity?
the process by whch people implicitly mimic, adopt, or internalize the behaviours and preferences of those around them
84
What is informational social influence?
pressure ot conform to others beliefs or actions based on a desire to behave correctly or gain an accurate understanding of the world.
85
what is normative social influence?
pressure ot confrom to others actions or beliefs in order to gain approval from others or avoid social sanctions
86
on a basic level, what can boost motivation?
simply being around others or feeling a sense of social connection
87
What happens to our motivation when our need for belonging is met?
our engagement with the world around us is heightened and performance becomes more fluid
88
What is social facilitation?
an enhancement of the dominant behavioural response when performing a task in the mere presence of others; easy or well-learned tasks are better performed, but difficult or novel tasks are performed worse.
89
What is the dominant response?
the most likely behavioural reaction to a task
90
what is likely to be the dominant response for tasks that are easy or have been well practiced?
more likely to be a fluid, fast, or successful performance
91
What is the dominant response when a task is difficult or something we have little experience doing? Example?
increases the number of mistakes that are made. Ex: When individuals in one experiment had to perform a complicated cognitive task while being watched by others, not only did they exhibit a cardiovascular pattern suggesting that they felt threatened, but their performance also suffered
92
what often happens when we are scrutinized by others when doing a difficult task? What might this explain?
can increase stress and impair the ability to concentrate and this combination puts us at a marked disadvantage for living up to our potential.
This may explain why even a successful athlete sometimes chokes when the game is on and everyone is watching, but the athlete is not completely certain about his or her abilities
93
Karen is asked to complete a math problem in class. In what conditions is she most likely to display social facilitation?
When the task is easy and she is doing it in front of her class
94
When assigned the same problem, in what conditions is Karen most likely to display social loafing?
when the problem is easy and she is doing it in a group
95
how can managers reduce social loafing?
by holding both groups and individuals accountable for meeting certain goals
96
When are people least likely to display social loafing?
when people are working together on a challenging, interesting, or personally important task
97
What might lead people to form fairly homogenous?
the strong tendency people have to associate with others like themselves and conform to the actions of others
98
What is group polarization? What are 2 reasons for this?
a tendency for people's attitudes to become more and more extreme after they discuss an issue with like-minded others
-as the conversation unfolds, individuals hear new arguments that support their initial attitudes, leading them to become more confident that their attitude is justified
- a tendency for one-upmanship can lead individuals to hold and express increasingly extreme attitudes as the group defines its norm on one side of the debate
99
what is a risk of group homogeneity? How?
the desire to establish and maintain consensus in the group can lead to people discussing only information that all of hte participants already possess, a bias that can lead to poorer decisions
100
what harm does the bias of social sharing have in the context of doctors?
can prevent someone who has unique knowledge about symptoms form piping up which can have potentially devastating outcomes for patients.
101
how can the harms of the bias of social sharing be reduced?
encouraging people to discuss unshared information and being critical of the information presented
102
What is group think?
a form of biased group decision making whereby pressures to achieve consensus leads members of the group to avoid voicing unpopular suggestions
103
When does group think occur? What is it exacerbated by?
occurs during group decisions when people feel pressure to maintain allegiance to a group leader or to render a difficult decision under time pressure.
- exacerbated by having a dominant or authoritarian leader who voices strong opinions for what the group's decision should be.
104
which pressures win out during group think?
pressures for normative social influence win out over any pressure for informational social influence
105
how do some people rise to power (besides gaining respect? how are these leaders usually percieved?
by showing their dominance and intimidating others to follow their lead. Often feared more than liked. People often obey these leaders even against their better judgment
106
how do researchers define aggression? What does this imply?
“any behavior directed toward the goal of harming another living being” - this implies that the intention to do harm matters
107
What is the general aggression model? What does it assert?
an integrative framework of the various factors and psychological processes that contribute to an act of aggression
- asserts that a host of negative situational factors (such as a frustrating event, personal insult, or some other aversive cue) can prompt an act of aggression
108
what are the most potent triggers for angry outbursts?
the personal slights and insults that threaten our fundamental need for belonging and acceptance
109
What does the general aggression model suggest?
both personality and the situation can combine to alter one's affective, physiological, and cognitive responses to a situation in ways that can increase aggressive behavior unless one actively controls that impulse.
110
do people act aggressively when their progress towards a goal is frustrated?
yes. THe closer a person is to a goal the more frsutrating it is to have that goal blocked
111
how does aggression relate to the interpratation of an event?
the experience of one aversive stimuli (a muggy summer day) makes it much more likely that we interpret a triggering event (a stopped car or personal insult) in a more negative light.
112
are some individuals more likely to act in aggression? Why? what else might these factors effect?
yes. Possibly because of personality traits or the environment they grew up in.
- these factors might shape the way that a person shows aggression
113
are there specific types of aggression that are more common to men? women? why?
direct aggression (hitting etc) is more common to men
Indirect aggression (spreading rumours etc) is more common to women
- this is likely because of culture
114
what is the weapons effect?
a phenomen whereby simple exposure to a gun or weapon can increase aggressive responses by bringing violent thoughts to mind
115
what isi the affect of violent video games on aggression?
increased arousal, increased violent thoughts, actions and interpretations of events. Generally desensitizes people to others suffering and violence. Very weak connection to criminality and acts of violence. Worry that studies that don't find a correlation aren't being published
116
do childrne show a bias towards kind vs aggressive people?
yes. early in infancy, babies show a preference for people who are helpful and are biased against those who harm others
117
what is kin selection?
an evolved or adaptive strategy of assisting those who share one's genes, even at personal cost, as a means of increasing the odds of genetic survival
118
what is a norm of reciprocity?
an automatic tendency to help others who have helped in the past or are expected to help in the future
119
what is believed to be the key to altruism? how? what might this explain?
empathy. When we feel similar to someone else, we are more able to feel what they feel and are thus more motivated to take action aimed at reducing their suffering. Might explain why people are more willing to help people form their own social groups
120
what is the empathy gap?
the inability to accurately simulate the mental suffering of another person
121
do we have a tendency to focus on one or multiple people's suffering?
one.
122
is prosocial behaviour sometimes motivated by personal benefits? Example?
yes. Ex: a petty criminal who is willing to be an eye witness for a robbery to get off for his own crimes
123
are there psychological motivations for prosocial behaviour?
yes. people often feel happier when having spent money on someone else than on themselves
124
what are the 5 steps in the decision making process that need to occur in order for someone to intervene in an emergency?
1. people need to notice that someone is in need
2. people need to interpret the event as an emergency
3. take personal responsibility for helping
4. know what needs to be done
5. follow through with some plan
125
what is pluralistic ignorance?
a situation that can occur when people are collectively unaware of each others true attitudes or beliefs
126
What is diffusion of responsibility?
the tendency for people in a group to assume that someone else is in a better position to help or has already done so
127
what are stereotypes?
mental representations or schemas that summarize the beleifs and/or associations we have for a group of people
128
does misrepresentation in the news cause people to develop stronger steretypes about minorities?
yes
129
are steretypes energy saving devices?
yes
130
When can people correct stereotypes?
when they are more mentally alert and when they are motivated to do so
131
What are sterotypes of high status people?
more competent and assertive
132
What are some positive stareotypes of low SES people?
happier, warmer toward others, and more moral
133
what are complementary stereotypes? what do they do? How?
stereotypes that are positive, and steretypes that are negative towards the same social group. Help justify the current social system
example, it might be easier for middle- and working-class people to accept ever-rising levels of income inequality if they hold stereotypes of the rich as being immoral or unhappy, while assuming that those who are less economically advantaged represent the moral fabric of the society, the “salt of the earth”
134
do stereotypes have to be negative?
they can be positive, negative, or neutral
135
what is realistic group conflict theory?
a theory assertign that negative intergroup attitudes develop whenever groups compete against one another for access to the same scarce resource
136
What is social identity theory?
a theory that explains why people develop a more positive attitude towards their own in group than towards outgroups
137
which pronouns cue more positive feelings, "we, us", "they, them"
we, us
138
What may prejudice and discrimination result more from?
from a tendency to favor ingroups than from a tendency to actively dislike and discriminate against outgroups
139
what needs do the formation of social identites fulfill?
the need to belong, self-enhance, and understand the chaotic world
140
what do people tend to do when they are reminded of their own mortality?
they depend more on their cultural beliefs to make them feel safe and so will think negatively of those who criticize their nation, hold different religious beliefs, or challenge their most cherished attitudes
141
what is symbolic racism?
the tendency to redirect one's prejudice towards a racial or ethnic group to the policies that might benefit the group
142
when does implicit bias occur?
when people have negative attitudes or formulate stereotypes (about members of a different race) that are easily and automatically associated with thoughts about that racial group
143
what is aversive racism?
a tendency, even among egalitarian minded people to have unconscious negative reactions to people of racial or ethnic groups
144
what happens when a white person sees a black person's face flash on a screen? What happens within half a second?
they have an automatic neural fear response (activation in the amygdala)
- after half a second their prefrontal cortex kicks in and their desire to not be prejudice gets rid of the fear resposne
145
what is the contact hypothesis?
the proposal that prejudics can be reduced through sanctioned cooperative interactions between members of different groups working together as equals towards a common goal
146
what are allorts important elements of positive contact?
(1) working together,
(2) as equals,
(3) toward a common goal, and
(4) in an environment where those in the position of authority support social change.
147
What is the jigsaw classroom?
a technique to reduce intergorup prejudice by dividing an assignment among a diverse group of students and having them learn the information cooperatively
148
What are stereotypes?
beliefs – true and false - about typical behaviours and characteristics of a certain group or category of people or things.
149
What are prejudices?
attitudes – positive and negative– about people or things that belong to a certain group or category. They can be positive or negative. They usually come from stereotypes.
150
What is discrimination?
behaviours – positive and negative – that are influenced by prejudice towards a certain group or category.
151
what order do people often go through stereotpye, prejudice, discrimination?
often people first form prejudice, (maybe becuase they are outgroup), and will then formulate beliefs to justify that prejudice, or someone may discriminate against a group without showing any clear stereotypes or prejudice.
152
What is generalization?
an inference that a particular phenomenon will share properties or traits with the broader category to which it belongs.
153
What are 3 examples of generalization?
E.g., “All ravens are black” is a generalization.
E.g., “Everybody has a mother and a father” is a generalization.
E.g., “The sun will rise in the morning” is a generalization.
154
How do stereotypes relate to generalizations?
Stereotypes are generalizations about members of social groups (e.g., social roles, assumptions about capability and age, etc.).
155
why are stereotypes useful in principle (3 reasons)
Save up time, memory, and attention.
Save us having to learn everything over and over again.
Help us instantly identify which things to approach and which to avoid. (this may be from an evolutionary perspective. We know not to approach a bear even though that particular bear my be firendly)
156
Why are sterotypes bad?
But, stereotypes are also often inaccurate, self-perpetuating, and easy to
develop
157
What are the 3 main problems that stereotypes often stem from?
Biased sampling: evidence we use to generalize is more likely to be noticed and remembered if it was positive or negative, even if it is normally rare. (our attnetion to various social groups is not neutral. we are more likely to attend to moments where something negative or positive happens regarding a member of a social group we are not a part of )
Small samples: we make generalizations even after just a few experiences
Outgroup biases: when stereotypes are formed against outgroups, we rarely
challenge them (e.g., outgroup homogeneity).
158
What is confirmation bias?
the tendency to seek out and notice evidence that agrees with their beliefs, desires, and stereotypes; leads to overconfidence in our own beliefs, including stereotypes.
159
what are the 2 ways that confirmation bias typically manifests?
Positive hypothesis testing: seeking out evidence for what you already believe, as opposed to evidence that might falsify it.
Distrust of alternatives: coming up with various reasons to not believe evidence against your current views.
160
How do implicit stereotypes lead to harm (2 ways)?
Implicit Prejudice: prejudice can be held without awareness and can affect behavior.
Stereotype Threat: stereotypes affect your own behaviour (leading to a kind of self-discrimination), even without your awareness.
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What is the IAT?
a psychological test that measures the
degree of unconscious and automatic stereotyping.
Participants are shown pictures of faces and of random objects, and are simply asked to classify them into one of two categories (e.g., faces as either Caucasian or African-American, and objects as either weapons or non-weapons).
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What are the 2 conditions of the IAT?
Stereotype Match Condition: Whenever you see a Caucasian face or a non- weapon, you press one button. And whenever you see an African-American face or a weapon, you press the other button.
Stereotype Mismatch Condition: The responses are flipped - whenever you see a
Caucasian face or a weapon, you press one button. And whenever you see an
African-American face or a non-weapon, press the other button.
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How do people make the IAT tasks easier for themselves?
If you have a stereotype (e.g., “Black people are violent”) then you can make the task easier: rather than having to memorize two rules (e.g., “Black” or “weapon”) you can remember one (e.g., one button is “safe”, the other button is “dangerous”).
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What IAT condition are people wiht implicit biases much faster on?
Hence, people with strong implicit stereotypes are much faster on the “Stereotype Match” (Black/Weapon) condition compared to “Stereotype Mismatch” (Black/Non-Weapon).
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What are the 4 things that the IAT show?
1.Explicit Discrimination: People who display more overt racist attitudes also show higher scores on the IAT. Thus, the IAT is a valid measure.
2. Implicit Discrimination: But, those who do not show overt racist attitudes also show moderate scores on the IAT, suggesting that we all carry implicit stereotypes.
3. Primary Target Groups: Implicit stereotypes are especially strong for ethnic minorities (especially African-Americans and First-Nations), for women, and for older adults (all generally negative).
4. Self-Stereotyping: Members of these groups also get moderate scores on the
IAT, even for their own group, suggesting that everyone carries similar implicit
stereotypes.
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What is the resume/CV study?
university professors were sent Resume/CV from prospective candidates and were asked to evaluate their competency and propose a starting salary.
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What are the results of the resume/CV study?
Half the professors received a typically Caucasian name (e.g., Thomas, Hunter) and the other half with a typically African-American name (e.g., Jamal, Lakisha).
Even with identical resumes, candidates with typically Black names were judged as less competent and deserving lower wage.
This study was recently replicated with male vs. female candidates.
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What si the ratemyprof study?
course evaluations for male vs. female professors show substantial differences in typical words used, with male
professors are more than twice as likely to be described as a “genius” and “funny” and female professors as “bossy” and “disorganized”.
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WHat is the online course experiment?
in an online course, the professor was identified as either male or female for different students. When students were told
that the professor was female, they gave significantly lower scores, even for identical content.
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What is stereotype threat?
reminding people of their group membership and
relevant stereotype can change their performance on a subsequent task.
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What is an exampel of stereotype threat?
For example, if you bring men and women into the lab and give them a math test, telling half of the participants that “men do better on this test” leads to women performing significantly more poorly on the test.
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can sterotype threat boost or impair perofrmance for the sam person?
yes
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what is an example of how stereotype threat can boost of impair performance for the same person?
When Asian-American women are given a math test and reminded that they are a woman, they do worse; when reminded that they are Asian, they do better.
When older adults are told that a test requires the use of memory, they do worse; when told that it measures wisdom, they do much better.
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do implicit attitudes effect how we behave?
yes
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do implicit attitudes effect how we behave?
yes
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What is implicit bias trianing? does it actually change behaviours?
training aimed at helping overtly counteract implicit
prejudice through policy changes and self-monitoring. (also helps identify)
This form of training reduces scores on the IAT test.
But there is very little evidence that it actually changes behaviours.
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What is implicit bias trianing? does it actually change behaviours?
training aimed at helping overtly counteract implicit
prejudice through policy changes and self-monitoring. (also helps identify)
This form of training reduces scores on the IAT test.
But there is very little evidence that it actually changes behaviours.
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WHat is the contact hypothesis?
prejudice is reduced when we interact and cooperate
with people from groups different than our own.
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What are the four ways that contact changes how we think about out-groups?
Empathy: when we get to know other people, we build empathy towards them.
Education: we can learn about the actual causes of behaviour.
Reduce outgroup homogeneity: spending time with others teaches us that their groups is just as diverse as ours.
Crossed categorization: by spending time with others, we recognize that we belong to many overlapping groups together.
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are Stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination separable concepts?
yes
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What do most psyhcologists believe about stereotypes?
they are an unavoidable and unpreventable part of how our minds work through generalizations.
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What do most psyhcologists believe about stereotypes?
they are an unavoidable and unpreventable part of how our minds work through generalizations.
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What 3 things are true about stereotypes?
They are still often incorrect, self-perpetuating, and easy to develop.
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even when we conbat explicit prejudice, does implicit prejudice still have an impact on discriminatory behaviour?
yes.
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What is the definition of aggression?
behaviour done with the intention of physically, mentally, or socially hurting or killing another living thing who does not wish to be harmed.
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What is the definition of aggression?
behaviour done with the intention of physically, mentally, or socially hurting or killing another living thing who does not wish to be harmed.
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What are the 2 types of targets for aggression?
Aggression has two types of targets:
Allospecific aggression: aggression directed towards members of other species (e.g., hunting).
Conspecific aggression: aggression directed towards members of one’s own species (e.g., war).
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What are the three types of conspecific aggression?
Hostile, instrumental, relational
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What is hostile aggression?
aggressive behaviour indented to physically harm another person (e.g., punching, hitting, shooting, pushing, etc.); often is spontaneous and unplanned. (the sole goal is that they want to hurt a person, there is no alterior motive.)
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What is instrumental aggression?
goal-directed aggressive behavior intended to primarily acquire an object, person, or social status (e.g., robbing a bank, terrorism); is always premeditated. (This is always premeditated, this is always with the goal of acquiring something, they may physically harm people to do this)
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What is relational aggression?
aggressive behaviour intended to hurt another person’s social status or relationships (e.g., gossiping, exclusion); is not physical and can be spontaneous or planned.
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Why might aggression be an evolutionary adaptive behaviour?
Aggression might be an evolutionarily adaptive behaviour: it protects and/or
acquires you resources.
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What should we expect if aggression might be an evolutionarily adaptive behaviour?
Other Animals: conspecific aggression should be common amongst other social creatures.
Biological Predictors: there should be strong biological predictors of aggression.
Minimal Environmental Impact: aggression should not vary much with
environmental exposure.
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What are 3 examples of how agression towards conspecifics is very common amongst other social animals?
Dominance: males will frequently fight each other, sometimes to the death, for increasing their social status and getting access to females they can mate with. Females typically do this relationally.
Eliminating Competition: when a new male becomes dominant, he will frequently kill the young children of the previously dominant male.
Protecting Resources: groups of animals will fight other groups to protect their territory and resources; primates have an incredible ability to judge which fights they can win and which they should avoid (e.g., an enemy chimp is usually
attacked by at least 3 others).
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What is hostile and instrumental aggression strongly related to the presence of? (biological)
Testosterone (T)
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What 2 studies examined the effects of testosterone and aggression? What were they?
Fraternity Study: fraternity members with higher levels of T in their saliva had
more campus reports of violence and misconduct.
Experimental Injection: When most male animals are castrated so that the production of T is reduced, their levels of aggression substantially drop, and when re-injected with T they become aggressive again.
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Does the presence of testosterone directly cause aggression? What does it do?
The presence of testosterone doesn’t directly cause aggression, but instead likely increases irritability and impulsivity. It reduces the threshold for frustration, increase in impulsivity related to spontaneous aggression.
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Does the presence of testosterone directly cause aggression? What does it do?
The presence of testosterone doesn’t directly cause aggression, but instead likely increases irritability and impulsivity. It reduces the threshold for frustration, increase in impulsivity related to spontaneous aggression.
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What does evidence show about the relationship between testosterone and aggression in women and men?
Hostile: men cross-culturally show show higher levels of hostile aggression, but women’s hostile aggression is much more affected by fluctuations in T (e.g., through injections).
Instrumental: men and women show near-identical rates of instrumental aggression.
Relational: women tend to show higher levels of relational aggression, though there is cultural variability in this finding. (in cultures that are patriarichal this effect is very strong but not as much in egalitarian ones)
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Are there substantial effects of culture on aggression? What does this suggest?
While evidence so far is consistent with the evolutionary account, there are also substantial effects of culture on aggression, suggesting that the relationship between biology and aggression is not clear-cut.
200
Are there substantial effects of culture on aggression? What does this suggest?
While evidence so far is consistent with the evolutionary account, there are also substantial effects of culture on aggression, suggesting that the relationship between biology and aggression is not clear-cut.
201
What is the Bobo Doll experiment?
children observed an adult either hitting or playing with an inflatable “Bobo” clown doll.
202
What were the results and observations from the Bobo Experiment?
Children who observed the adult hit Bobo subsequently showed significantly higher levels of aggression towards Bobo.
These children also invented new ways to hurt Bobo, including yelling at him, using a toy gun that was not used by the adult, etc.
But - children who did not observe hitting subsequently played with Bobo or ignored him and played with other toys.
203
What is the Culture of Honour?
many cultures emphasize the importance of social status; these cultures have a social norm whereby any insult to one’s honour must be responded to with aggression.
204
What study shows the culture of honour?
For example, when American students from the South were intentionally bumped in a hallway of an experiment, they responded with significantly more aggression than students from the North.
205
what is cooperation?
the behaviour of two or more individuals who work together
for mutual benefit.
206
What are the two timescales that cooperative behaviour occurs on?
Immediate/short-term: two or more agents work together on the same problem at the same time in order to increase the chance of success for everyone (e.g., collective hunting).
Delayed/long-term: one agent cooperates without immediate benefit to themselves in order to increase the survival of the group or to get a benefit at a later time (social exchange).
207
What are 2 examples in nature of cooperation?
Cleaner Fish: many small fish will attach themselves to a big fish and cleans up the parasites from the big fish; the big fish offers them immediate protection and food for this behaviour.
Cooperative hunts: many species primates will hunt together for larger prey and then split the food (e.g., many species of primates).
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Is true social exchange rare? Who is it usually reserved for?
But true social exchange is rare, and usually is reserved only for conspecifics:
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What are 2 examples of true social exchange?
Vampire bats: sometimes, a bat will regurgitate the blood it previously ate and feed another bat who they are not genetically related to.
Ibises: when migrating, many birds (including ibises) will trade off who is flying in the front of the V formation, as the front gives aerodynamic advantages to the birds in the back.
210
What is a fundamental problem for long-term cooperative behaviour?
somebody might get the benefits now, but not return them in the future.
211
What mechanism do we need o have in place for longterm cooperation to be viable?
For long-term cooperation to be viable, we need to have mechanisms that:
Encourage people to be cooperative at first.
Have ways of identifying those who are exploiting the system.
Have clear means of punishing and excluding them from the long-term cooperative behaviours.
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What is norm of reciprocity?
the norm stating that if somebody does something good for us, we have a responsibility to return the favour.
213
What are 2 things used for the identification and punishment of cheaters in our societies?
Gossip: many evolutionary psychologist believe that gossiping is an adaptive behaviour that allows us to communicate about the cheaters in our community.
Reputation: our minds track the reputation of people over very long times, possibly as evidence against the possibility of cheating in future.
214
What is the Tit-for-Tat strategy?
the most common social exchange strategy in which people initially cooperate, but when one person in the group cheats against them, they retaliate and cheat against them until they correct their behaviour.
215
What is the Tit-for-Tat strategy?
the most common social exchange strategy in which people initially cooperate, but when one person in the group cheats against them, they retaliate and cheat against them until they correct their behaviour.
216
What is the prisoner's Dilemma? How is it set up?
a “cooperative” game/model that helps us study
principles of trust, reputation, and cheating detection.
Imagine that you and your friend were both caught doing a crime, like robbing a bank. You are separately put into interview rooms and the cops give you each the following choice: confess and betray your friend, or stay silent.
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What are the potential outcomes of the prisoner's dilemma? What is this consistent with?
If you risk it and stay silent, the outcome will be best for both of you (cooperation), but you
are risking your friend betraying you. Under which conditions do you trust them?
If one of you stays silent while the other betrays, then the betrayer gets all the benefits and
none of the costs (non-cooperative “cheater”).
So, you have to trust the other person to stay silent while you do the same.
218
What determines the strategy people adopt in the prisoner's dilemma?
Consistent with the tit-for-tat strategy, the strategy people adopt in the prisoner's dilemma is highly responsive to their partner’s previous actions (i.e., reputation):
The first time, most people are cooperative for in-group members, consistent with the norm of reciprocity.
If partner betrays first – you keep betraying until partner corrects behaviour through some kind of momentary sacrifice.
If partner is cooperative first – you keep cooperative until you are willing to risk reputation for some reason.
219
What are the 2 main things that determine aggression?
In humans, aggression has both a biological basis (testosterone) but also strong cultural effects.
220
Is cooperation behaviour in the short term universal?
yes, even for allospecifics
221
When is cooperative behaviour in the long-term done?
Cooperative behaviour in long-term is only done in systems that have norms of reciprocity, reputation tracking, and methods of excluding and punishing those who cheat the system.
