Sociocultural Terms/Theories

Question 1

What is the sociocultural approach?

Answer 1

The study of investigating relationships between people and how behavior changes around other people

Question 2

Social Identity Theory

Answer 2

How our groups and social connection with groups define us and change us as individuals, and form our identities

Question 3

Social Categorization

Answer 3

process where we identify the groups we belong to (ex. identifying you have become a fan of football)

Question 4

Social Identification

Answer 4

process of adapting the norms and characteristics of a group (ex. a sig kid starting to complain about homework)

Question 5

Social Comparison

Answer 5

process where we compare ourselves and our groups to other groups, as a means to justify group membership

Question 6

Ingroup favoritism

Answer 6

where identification with a group means we are more likely to favor members of that group, and we get higher self-esteem from doing that

Question 7

Outgroup Homogeneity Bias

Answer 7

bias that we view members of an outgroup as all basically the same, and more negative than our ingroup. we view the ingroup as more diverse and more positive than the outgroup

Question 8

Social Cognitive Theory

Answer 8

Theory that humans learn behavior through observational learning and imitating behavior, sometimes on purpose, sometimes unconscious

Question 9

Vicarious Learning

Answer 9

Learning behavior from viewing the mistakes + successes of others

Question 10

Vicarious Reinforcement/Punishment

Answer 10

Learning punishment/reward by viewing someone else being rewarded/punished for a behavior

Question 11

Sabido Method

Answer 11

Method to promote certain behaviors by including themes and messages in media that takes advantage of vicarious learning and punishment

Question 12

Stereotypes

Answer 12

The application of a schema to one person because of their identity as part of a group, a mental shortcut used to understand new people by basing assumptions off their groups. usually harmful

Question 13

Theories on the Origin of Stereotypes

Answer 13

1. Social Identity Theory- says that ingroup views out-group as homogenous, which is a formation of a stereotype (Sheriff, Hiel, Harris & Fiske)
2. Conformity- says that people will conform to their in-group and adapt their views to the same as the ingroup (Roger and Frantz)

Question 14

Effect of Stereotypes

Answer 14

Memory distortion, where stereotypes are the schema in which reconstructive memory is filtered through

Question 15

Culture

Answer 15

Common rules in a group with shared values and attitudes, a “software of the mind” that guides a group of people in their daily interactions

Question 16

Surface Culture

Answer 16

Cultural aspects that are easy to see, like food, clothes, language, festivals, etc

Question 17

Deep Culture

Answer 17

Cultural aspects that are difficult to see, like family values, body language, attitude towards school, cleanliness, health and medicine, etc

Question 18

Cultural Dimensions

Answer 18

Values within a culture that influence behavior and cognition that are used to measure culture and define it concretely

Question 19

Individualistic vs. Collectivist

Answer 19

Cultural dimension that deals with whether individuals see themselves as independent or dependent from a social group. (ie. do they value achievement + uniqueness or social harmony and tradition)

Question 20

Power Distance

Answer 20

Cultural Dimension that deals with how individuals relate to power and authority (ex. low = democracy, where people can speak + participate, high = paternalistic, authoritarian, people don’t participate)

Question 21

Uncertainty Avoidance

Answer 21

Cultural dimension that deals with whether individuals see unknown situations as threatening or challenging
(ex. high = lots of rules, don’t like change and stick with the familiar)

Question 22

Masculinity vs. Femininity

Answer 22

Cultural dimension that deals with competitiveness and cooperation. one type is achievement + heroism drive, other is cooperation + modesty driven

Question 23

Long Term vs. Short Term Orientation

Answer 23

Cultural dimension that deals with the sacredness and holding of tradition, with one type preferring to maintain traditions, with suspicion of change, and the other more pragmatic and likely to change

Question 24

Indulgence vs. Restraint

Answer 24

Cultural dimension that deals with gratification, with one allowing for free gratification and things related to having fun and enjoying life, while another suppresses gratification of needs and regulates it via social norms