Sociocultural Terms Flashcards
Social Identity Theory (SIT)
- people have several social identities that correspond to group memberships
- social categorization: ingroups and outgroups
- outgroup homogeneity and ingroup favoritism
Social Identity Theory (SIT) Evaluation
T: testable, but nearly impossible to test in natural environment
E: Tajfel - biological support
A: can be used to explain and change behavior
C: hard to measure salience and identity
U: earlier research had WEIRD bias, newer is cross-cultural
P: more explanatory than predictive, but stereotype threat can predict behaviors
- tend to lack ecological validity
- difficult to distinguish between culture and SIT
Social Cognitive Theory
- people can learn behaviors through observation, but learning is selective and may or may not lead to behavior
- 4 necessary elements to learning a behavior: attention, retention, reproduction, and motivation
- imitation likelihood increases from repeated behavior of model or the learner identifies with model
Social Cognitive Theory Evaluation
T: not easy to test outside of lab, limits ecological validity (bidirectional ambiguity from naturalistic studies)
E: bandura, etc. however ethical concerns and difficult to determine causation
A: used to explain aggression, eating disorders, etc.
C: motivation is difficult to measure, and vicarious reinforcement is an assumption as to what is happening
U: theory has been shown to be relevant cross-culturally
P: factors that affect learning can be predictive of behaviors
- hard to establish clear cause-and-effect relationship between observation and behavior
Outgroup Homogeneity
- sees the ingroup as diverse, while outgroup is homogeneous (the same)
Ingroup Bias (Favoritism)
- due to identification with members of ingroup, will treat them more favorably
Salience
- how present something is in your mind
Illusory Correlation
- one way stereotypes form
- relationship between two variables is overestimated or made up
- false correlations sway judgement and people will look for information to confirm their cognitive biases
Formation of Stereotypes (SIT)
- stereotypes are cognitive biases where one generalizes a characteristic of one or more persons to all members of their group (schema of a group)
- ingroup and outgroup generalizations
- since people will often interact less with outgroup, biases are unchallenged
Formation of Stereotypes Evaluation
- difficult to observe stereotype formation in real-time
- studies often lack ecological validity
- ethical considerations
Stereotype Threat (Effects of Stereotypes)
- stereotypes are a form of schema processing, thus impacting behavior
- threat of being judged or confirming a stereotype causes anxiety and pressure
- may also improve a person’s performance/behavior if stereotype is considered positive
Memory Distortion (Effects of Stereotypes)
- schema theory predicts that what is already known will impact outcome of information processing
- retrieval of memories is distorted by schema
- fills in blanks of memories with information that aligns with schema
Effects of Stereotypes Evaluation
- ethical considerations
- long-term effects
- ecological validity
- cannot observe cognitive process
- stereotype threat lacking reliability
Research Methods (Lab Experiments)
Bandura and Martin and Halverson
- have IV and DV
- random assignment or matched pairs
- standardized procedure and minimizing confounding variables
- no knowledge of prior influences
Long-Term Orientation vs. Short-Term Orientation (Cultural Dimensions)
- focused on saving, investments, and persistence
- generally more thrifty and focused on saving money
… - focused on immediate satisfaction, spending, and leisure time
- less economical
