Sociocultural Terms/Theories Flashcards
What is the sociocultural approach?
The study of investigating relationships between people and how behavior changes around other people
Social Identity Theory
How our groups and social connection with groups define us and change us as individuals, and form our identities
Social Categorization
process where we identify the groups we belong to (ex. identifying you have become a fan of football)
Social Identification
process of adapting the norms and characteristics of a group (ex. a sig kid starting to complain about homework)
Social Comparison
process where we compare ourselves and our groups to other groups, as a means to justify group membership
Ingroup favoritism
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
Outgroup Homogeneity Bias
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
Social Cognitive Theory
Theory that humans learn behavior through observational learning and imitating behavior, sometimes on purpose, sometimes unconscious
Vicarious Learning
Learning behavior from viewing the mistakes + successes of others
Vicarious Reinforcement/Punishment
Learning punishment/reward by viewing someone else being rewarded/punished for a behavior
Sabido Method
Method to promote certain behaviors by including themes and messages in media that takes advantage of vicarious learning and punishment
Stereotypes
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
Theories on the Origin of Stereotypes
- Social Identity Theory- says that ingroup views out-group as homogenous, which is a formation of a stereotype (Sheriff, Hiel, Harris & Fiske)
- Conformity- says that people will conform to their in-group and adapt their views to the same as the ingroup (Roger and Frantz)
Effect of Stereotypes
Memory distortion, where stereotypes are the schema in which reconstructive memory is filtered through
Culture
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
Surface Culture
Cultural aspects that are easy to see, like food, clothes, language, festivals, etc
Deep Culture
Cultural aspects that are difficult to see, like family values, body language, attitude towards school, cleanliness, health and medicine, etc
Cultural Dimensions
Values within a culture that influence behavior and cognition that are used to measure culture and define it concretely
Individualistic vs. Collectivist
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)
Power Distance
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)
Uncertainty Avoidance
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)
Masculinity vs. Femininity
Cultural dimension that deals with competitiveness and cooperation. one type is achievement + heroism drive, other is cooperation + modesty driven
Long Term vs. Short Term Orientation
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
Indulgence vs. Restraint
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
