Test 3 - Final Flashcards
Social Psychology
-Social psychologists interested in studying how and why people interact
How do interactions with others affect a person’s thoughts, feelings, behaviors?
- Humans have evolved to be social beings
- Social psychology tries to answer this
Social Roles/What position does someone occupy in society?
- They can overlap; people can have more than one role
- Ex: me - student, daughter, sister, caregiver, driver, etc.
Attributions/Why did somebody behave in a particular way? What caused the behavior?
- Two types of attributions:
- Internal (dispositional): (ex: They cut me off because they’re late to something?)
- External (situational): (ex: They cut me off because they’re rude?)
Fundamental Attribution Error
- A tendency to attribute others’ behavior to internal factors
- Ex: Guy cuts you off, and you say, “He’s a bad driver; he’s reckless”
- Ex: Why is woman yelling at her companion? We say it’s she’s mad at him, when that may not even be the case!
Other Attribution Errors?
- We make different attributions for ourselves and others
- Actor-Observer Bias
- Self-Serving Bias
- Don’t forget Fundamental Attribution Error it part of this too!
Actor-Observer Bias?
- Our tendency to attribute others’ actions to internal factors, while attributing our own actions to external factors
- Ex: Guy cut you off, and you say he’s a bad driver, but you cut someone off and you say you’re in a rush
Self-Serving Bias?
- We judge our failures as due to situational factors (they’re out of our hands), but our successes as due to dispositional factors
- Ex: I got an A because I’m so smart, but I got a D because I got a flat tire, and I was worried about that instead
Attitudes
-May include cognitive, affective, and behavioral components
- Cognitive: beliefs, ideas
- ”Gun owners are more likely to shoot a loved one than a criminal”
- Affective: emotions, feelings
- Ex: “Gun’s make me sick”
- Behavioral: actions
- Ex: “I voted for gun-control politicians
Persuasion
-Related to characteristics of the communicator, the message, and the audience (these three factors all matter!)
- Persuasion is more successful when:
- The communicator is attractive/likeable, appears to be credible (seems trustworthy), appears to be an expert
- The message doesn’t seem like an overt attempt to persuade us
- The message appears to present both sides of an issue
- When people are in a negative mood, they are more likely to be critical and less trusting
- May not even want to listen to what you have to say
Cognitive Dissonance. Can this state be solved?
- An uncomfortable state that occurs when behavior and attitudes do not match
- Ex: Someone who exercises, also smokes
- Ex: Think of teens performing risky behavior, and then feeling bad about doing it because it’s not how they were raised
- This state can be solved, but it isn’t easy
Stereotyping
- A simplified set of traits that are associated with group membership
- Tend to be negative
- Doesn’t just have to be racial
- Ex: Her dad’s a professor, and they say she’s a nerd and likes school
Prejudice
- A preconceived opinion or attitude about an issue, person, or group
- It’s an IDEA
Discrimination
- The biased treatment of people based on their membership in a particular group or category
- Treating someone in a biased or unfair way simply because they belong to certain group
- Overlaps with prejudice and stereotypes
- It’s an ACTION
Reducing Prejudice
- Increase contact in cooperative activities
- Especially with kids, this is important!
- Interacting with different groups
- Ex: doing group work
Conformity
-Behaving in ways that increase the likelihood of gaining a group’s approval and avoiding rejection
Who created conformity experiment, and what was it about?
- Solomon Asch
- The line experiment thing!
Compliance
- Agreeing to do something simply because we have been asked
- Compliance and obedience line can get blurry
Obedience
- Complying with instructions given by an authority figure
- More serious than compliance because it’s given by an authoritative figure
Who did an obedience experiment?
- Dr. Stanley Milgram
- Shock experiment (wanted to study why Holocaust happened)
- Studied only men
Social Facilitation
- Occurs when the presence of other people changes individual performance
- Might do better or worse if family member/crush/friend is there
- Ex: With sports’ drivers exam; at work/ when police is watching you
Social Loafing
- Reduced motivation and effort by individuals who work in a group as opposed to work alone
- Ex: group projects; with teams
Deindividuation
- Immersion of the individual within a group, making the individual relatively anonymous
- Ex: With group, we see someone drop a box, and nobody in the group helps, so you don’t either
- Related to bystander effect
Groupthink
- A type of flawed decision making in which a group does not question its decisions critically
- Group doesn’t analyze situation critically
- Happens a lot within politics
- Ex: horrible bill gets passed, and we don’t understand how it even happened
Aggression
-An act done with the intent to harm others
- Several Contributing Factors:
- Biology (hormones)
- Frustration (when frustrated, tend to be more aggressive)
- Learning (tied to frustration; learn to behave aggressively from others)
-Going to have negative outcomes (usually)
Can you have aggression without violence?
Yes!
Altruism
- Engaging in helping behaviors without the expectation of any personal gain
- Ex: volunteering; what parents to do for their kids
Bystander Apathy
- a.k.a bystander effect
- People’s willingness to lend help deceases when others are around
- Less likely to help when others are around
- The more people around, the less likely you are to help – deindividuation happens
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Sources of Stress
- Major life events (don’t all have to be negative)
- Ex: wedding
- Catastrophes
- Ex: hurricanes; shootings
- Daily hassles
- frustration
- Ex: traffic; finding parking on campus
-Conflict
Scale of that measures stressful events?
- Holmes and Rahe
- Social Readjustment Rating Scale
Catastrophes
- Uncontrollable disasters that can be traumatic
- Affect both physical and mental health
- She thinks of them to be more global disasters and impacting a lot of people
- Shootings, hurricanes, fires, and other natural disasters
Extremities of Stress: Trauma and PTSD
-People who experience trauma won’t always experience PTSD
Daily Hassles
- May add to stress of major life events
- May just be part of daily life
Conflicts
- Approach-Approach Conflict: Both good outcomes
- Solve problem by satisfying both sometimes?
- Ex: see latest superhero movie or see latest comedy
- Avoidance-Avoidance Conflict: Avoiding both alternatives
- Both bad options
- Ex: Withdraw from a required class or stay in class and get a D or an F
- Approach-Avoidance Conflict: One good option, but there’s something not desirable about it
- Ex: Dogs are cute and cuddly, but you need to wake up early for walks
The Experience of Stress
- Acculturative and minority stress
- Acculturative: someone migrates to another country and experiences stress (ex: with language, social life, etc.) (could just be child of immigrant too)
- Minority: discrimination, diet issues; very similar to acculturative (doesn’t have to be just immigrants, can be LGBTQ community too)
- Poverty and stress
- Resilience in the face of stress
Chronic Stress?
-Stress that lasts for a long time
Stress and Health. How does stress stress affect health?
- Immune System: becomes suppressed and weakened
- Ex: get sick week before finals
-Heart Disease: raised blood pressure, stress eating, smoking
A Biopsychosocial Model of Health
- “Bio” = genes (ex. Get certain disease)
- ”Psycho” = personality; addictive behaviors
- ”Social” = relationships; friendships; support system
- Individual Differences: genes, development, experience
- Perceived Stress: threats, helplessness, vigilance
- Behavioral Responses: fight or flight, personal behavior (e.g., diet, smoking, drinking, exercise)
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Cognitive Appraisal
- Primary:
- Is this a threat, harm, or challenge?
- Body evaluates whether it’s a danger, threat, harm, or challenge
- Not necessarily conscious
- Ex: see guy with mask following you, heart rate increases because it’s a threat
- Secondary:
- How can I cope or manage this stressor?
- Your solution
- Ex: decide to call campus security to be escorted
Coping with Stress – Approaches
- Problem-focused coping
- wanting to change what is going on in environment
- ex: finding new job because you hate your current one (Mera)
- Men are more this type
- Emotion-focused coping
- Want to change emotions
- Ex: feel sad and cry, so you try and find a way to make you feel better (in situations you can’t change usually)
- Women are more this type, or they can be equal with this and problem-focused
Coping with Stress – Defensive Mechanisms
- Denial
- Rationalization
- Reaction Formation
- Regression
- Sublimation - don’t have to be negative (ex: exercise)
- Repression
- Projection - more about ideas, behaviors
- Displacement - more emotional
Denial
-Refusing to accept or acknowledge the reality of a situation or idea
Rationalization
-Devising a plausible reason or motive to explain one’s behavior
Reaction Formation
-Engaging in a behavior or attitude that is at the opposite extreme of one’s true motive or impulse
Regression
- Returning to an earlier stage of development in one’s behavior, thinking, or attitudes
- Ex: stick tongue out; make a face; etc.
Sublimation
-Directing emotions into an activity that is more constructive and socially acceptable
Repression
-Excluding wishes, impulses, ideas, or memories from consciousness
Projection
-Attributing one’s own ideas, feelings, or attitudes to other people
Displacement
-Directing emotions toward a less threatening source
Stress Management Techniques
- Physical:
- Exercise
- Progressive relaxation
- Meditation
- Psychological:
- Image in a calm environment
- Try to be optimistic
- Be spiritual
- Laugh
- Manage time wisely
- Social:
- Develop social support
- Talk with friends
- FInd community
- She finds this one most important
-If poor stress management, psychological disorders can arise, anxiety disorders, illnesses, higher blood pressure, stress eating (so obesity)
Medical Model
- What we abide by nowadays
- 18th and 19th century
- ”Abnormal behavior is a disease”
- Before Medical Model emerged, individuals with abnormal behavior were thought to be possessed by demons or to be witches, and were treated inhumanely with chants, rituals, exorcisms, etc.
Classification System
- Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - 5th Edition (DSM-5)
- Categorical (before DSM-5) vs. dimensional (how DSM-5 is working (sort of); ex: mild, moderate, severe depression; how many symptoms) approaches
Abnormal Behavior: Criteria
- Deviance: goes against norms
- Maladaptive behavior: behavior that is not adaptive/productive/can be hurtful or harmful (ex: not showering)
- Personal distress
Co-Morbid
-Two or more disorders
Alan’s performance at work has suffered because he’s been drinking alcohol to excess. Several co-workers have suggested he seek help for his problems, but he thinks they’re getting alarmed over nothing. “I just enjoy a good time once in awhile,” he says. Type of disorder?
-Substance use disorder (with alcohol)
Monica has gone away to college and feels lonely, sad, and dejected. Her grades are fine, and she gets along okay with the other students in the dormitory, but inside she’s choked with gloom, hopelessness, and despair.
-(Mild) depression
Boris believes that he’s Napoleon reborn. He believes he is destined to lead the U.S. military forces into a great battle to recover California from space aliens.
-Schizophrenia
Natasha panics with anxiety whenever she leaves her home. Her problem escalated gradually until she was absent from work so often that she was fired. She hasn’t been out of her house in 9 months and is deeply troubled by her problem.
-Agoraphobia (type of anxiety)
Medical Model of Abnormal Behavior (Process)
- Diagnosis: distinguishing one illness from another
- Etiology: apparent causation and developmental history of an illness
- What happened in their life leading up to this (look at time from womb with present day)
- Prognosis: Forecast about probable course of an illness
The Diathesis-Stress Model
- This model looks at the three factors that cause/contribute to mental health illness:
- genetics (biology)
- environments
- psychology
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Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders
- Characterized by delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, and deterioration of adaptive behavior
- NOT “split mind” or Dissociative Identity Disorder
- Common symptoms
- Prevalence: approximately 1%
- high genetic component
Positive Symptoms of Schizophrenia
-They’re there, but they shouldn’t be there
- Delusions:
- more like beliefs
- Hallucinations
- visual or auditory
- this predominantly (more than hallucinations)
- Disorganized speech (world salad):
- not coherent at all
- Disordered behavior (head banging, childlike silliness, inappropriate sexual behaviors)
- hygiene goes down
- can’t hold jobs
- head-banging
- laughing when supposed to
Negative Symptoms of Schizophrenia
-Things that should be there, but aren’t there
- Blunted affect (lack of emotional expression)
- Ex: when sad, should frown, but they don’t
- Alogia (also called poverty of speech, refers to decreased quality and/or quantity of speech)
- won’t talk much
-Avolition (the inability to follow through on one’s plans. A person with schizophrenia may seem apathetic, sitting for long periods of time, showing little interest in his or her usual activities you may have once enjoyed)