Test 4 (Chapters 11-13) Flashcards
Define Prosocial Behavior
any act performed with the goal of benefiting another person (helping behavior)
Define Altruism
the desire to help another person even if it involves cost to the helper
Why do people help?
Social exchange – it’s all about rewards and costs
(We try to maximize our rewards and minimize our costs)
Rewards of help
increases the chances that they’ll help us in the future, makes
us feel better, makes us look good to others
Costs of helping
could be dangerous, could be painful or embarrassing, could take too much time
Define Empathy
ability to put oneself in the shoes of another person and to experience events and emotions (e.g., joy and sadness) that way that person experiences them
Define empathy-altruism hypothesis
idea that when we feel empathy for a person, we will attempt to help that
person purely for altruistic reasons, regardless of what we have to gain
Toi & Batosn (1982) study
Participants were informed abt student (carol) who was in a car accident and asked to share there notes to her
Empathy was manipulated
-high (getting in her shoes)
-low (don’t think abt her feelings)
Self interest
-see her in class
-not see her in class
Results
-high empathy helped carol regardless of self
interest
-low empathy only helped if it was in there self interest (see her in class)
Altruistic Personality
the qualities that cause an individual to help others in a wide variety of situations
How does gender play a role in helping?
Both help but in different ways
-men are more likely to help in situations like helping pull someone out of a car after an accident (chivalrous/heroic)
-women are more likely to help with helping a disabled neighbor around the house (nurturing/caring)
Define in-groups
group with which an individual identifies as a member
Define out-group
any group with which an individual does not identify
when are people more likely to help?
When they are in a good mood
Owen & Lewis Study
Left dime change slot of pay phones
-ppl who found $ were in a good mood while those who found nothing were in a neutral mood
-after a confederate walked by and dropped papers to see who would help
Those who found money were 84% more likely to help while those that didn’t only 4 % helped
Are ppl less likely to help in a bad mood?
No certain bad moods can increase helping
-sadness can motivate people to help bc it can be rewarding and can help them feel better
-guiltiness would make a person more likely to help another person to reduce guilt feeling
The Bystander Effect
the finding that the greater the number of bystanders who witness an emergency, the less likely any one of them is to help
Latane & Darnley’s 5 step process to helping
- notice event
- Interpret the event as an emergency
- Assume responsibility to help
- Know how to help
5.decide to help
why you might not help?
Don’t notice that someone in need to help
• Ex: being in a hurry or distracted can cause you to not notice
Darley & Batson (Good Samaritan” study
When in a hurry people are less likely to help
Pluralistic Ignorance
the case in which people think that everyone else is interpreting a situation a certain way, when in fact they are not
-Bystanders assuming that nothing is wrong in an emergency because no one else
looks concerned
Lagan & Darley (smoky room study)
-ppl that were in the room alone 50% went to get help after 2 minutes and 75% after 6
-ppl in the room with others 12% got help after 2 mins while only 38% got help after 6 mins
Diffusion of responsibility
each bystander’s sense of responsibility to help decrease as the number of
witnesses increases
-The more witnesses there are, the less likely any one will help because they think
someone else is going to take responsibility and help
Why might people not help?
-don’t know how
Ex: see that someone is choking but do not know how to give the Heimlich maneuver
How to increase helping?
Teach people abt the bystander effect
Beaman, Barnes, Klentz, & McQuirk (1978) study
-one group heard about bystander effect while others was a random topic
-bystander lecture 48% helped
-random lecture 25% helped
Define Aggression
intentional behavior aimed at causing physical harm or psychological pain to another person
-can be physical or verbal
Hostile Agression
aggression stemming from feelings of anger and aimed at inflicting pain
Example of hostile aggression
in a football game, a player on the losing team tackling the quarterback harder than necessary because he wants to hurt him, not necessary for the game (late hits,
unnecessary roughness)
Define instrumental agression
aggression as a means to some goal other than causing pain
Example of instrumental aggression
a football player tackling the quarterback to get him to fumble the ball
Genetic Programming
Physical aggression is genetically programmed
Men
-To establish dominance over other males
- To ensure paternity of their children Women
-To protect their children
Testosterone
Hormone associated with aggression
-Higher levels in males
-Higher levels of testosterone are associated with-increased aggression
-Studies have found that violent criminals have higher levels of naturally occurring testosterone compared to criminals convicted of non-violent crimes
Culture and aggression
-We’re born with an innate capacity for aggressive behavior, but the expression of aggression is learned and depends on our circumstances and culture
-Ex: all males have testosterone, but the rates of
aggression and violence vary dramatically
Are men more aggressive than women?
Research shows that males tend to be more overly, physically
aggressive than females (e.g., directly lashing out against someone)
However, females tend to express their aggressive feelings
more covertly (e.g., gossiping, talking about someone behind their back, spreading false rumors)
Relational aggression
When provoked how do ppl react?
-both react equally
-So in other words, in everyday life situations, when nothing special
is going on, men behave more aggressively than women
-But when provoked (e.g., frustrated, insulted, etc.), women will
react almost as aggressively as men
Social-Cognitive theory
the theory that people learn social behavior (e.g., aggression) in large part through observation and imitation of others and by cognitive processes such as plans, expectations, and beliefs
-You learn what is appropriate by watching others be rewarded and
punished for behavior
See someone get rewarded foe certain behavior
-Shows you this is how you are supposed to behave
-You develop the expectation that if you behave in this same way, you can get the same reward
See someone get punished for behavior
-Shows you this is NOT how you are supposed to behave
-You develop the expectation that if you behave in this same way, you
will also be punished
Bandura & Ross “bobo doll” study
Had three conditions
-One group of children watched an adult beat up a Bobo doll and get rewarded
-One group of children watched an adult beat up a Bobo doll and get punished
-The other group of children did not see any aggressive acts against the doll
-The children were then allowed to play with the doll
-Researchers were interested to see who would act out against the doll
Results
-Children who saw aggression rewarded were much more likely to beat up the
Bobo doll
-They behaved in the same aggressive manner as the adults (they beat up the doll just
as the adults had)
-Children who saw aggression punished were much less likely to beat up the Bobo
doll
Why does alcohol affect aggressive behavior?
-Alcohol reduces our social inhibitions, making us less
cautious than we usually are
Alcohol also disrupts the usual way we process information, making us more likely to interpret a situation as one of provocation when it really isn’t
Pain also influences aggression
participants had to immerse their hand in
painfully cold water or normal temperature water
-Those who had to experience the pain of the cold water were much more likely to act aggressively against other students
Discomfort and heat also increase aggression
-Participants either worked in a normal temperature room or a room that was heated to 90 degrees
-The students in the hot room reported feeling more aggressive and also expressed more hostility toward a stranger whom they were asked to describe and rate
FRUSTRATION-AGRESSION THEORY
frustration increases the probability of an aggressive response
Harris study
Had a confederate cut in line at a grocery store
-Two conditions
-Cut in front of second person
-Cut in front of 12th person
Results
-The person who was cut in front of was much more aggressive if s/he was the second person in line
Being provoked
Aggression can stem from the need to reciprocate (they started it)
Weapons effect
the increase in aggression that can occur because of the mere presence of a gun or other weapon
Berkowitz & Le Page (1967) Study
Two conditions
-Gun
-Badminton racket
Participants were then given the opportunity to administer what they believed were electric shocks to a fellow student
Results
-Ps who were made angry in the presence of a gun administered more intense electric shocks that those made angry in the presence of the badminton racket
Define catharsis
the notion that “blowing off steam” (by behaving aggressively or watching others do so) relieves built-up anger and aggressive energy and hence reduces the likelihood of further aggressive behavior ( doesn’t really help)
Define prejudice
a hostile or negative attitude toward people in a distinguishable group, based solely on their membership in that group
Example of prejudice
if you are prejudiced against a certain group, this means that you’re primed to be distant or hostile against any person from that group because you believe they are all alike
Affective component (Prejudice)
Emotional reaction towards the attitude object
Cognitive Component (Stereotype)
Beliefs or thoughts about the attitude object
Behavioral components (Discrimination)
Actions or behavior towards the attitude object
Affective component: Prejudice
negative emotional reaction toward a group of people
Cognitive component: Stereotype
a generalization about a group of people in
which certain traits are assigned to virtually all members of the group, regardless of actual variation among the members
Hostile Sexism
stereotypic views of women that suggest that women are inferior to men
• Ex: women are less intelligent, less competent
Benevolent Sexism
stereotypic views of women that are more positive but idealistic
• Ex: women are kinder, gentler, empathetic, more nurturing and sensitive
Behavioral component: Discrimination
unjustified negative or harmful action toward a member of a group solely because of his/he membership in that group
Ex: So, you treat someone unfairly solely because they belong to
a certain group
Define Microagressions
slights, indignities, and put-down directed at
minorities
Example of Micro aggressions
-following a minority around a store
•Insulting because it assumes that they are going to try to steal
something
commenting that a(n) (American) minority speaks
English “really well” or doesn’t have an accent; asking
someone where they are “really” from, even though the person was born in the US and has lived here their entire life
• Insulting because it assumes the person is a foreigner and doesn’t belong
Correll et al. (2002) study
Results
• Caucasian participants were especially likely to “shoot” an African American man, whether or not they were holding a gun
• They made the most “shooting” errors when the African American man was unarmed
• You can see how this Caucasian African American discrimination plays outUnarmed Armed in the real world
Greenberg & Pyszczynski (1985) study
One Black debater & one White debater • Manipulated 2 variables
• Performance
• Black debater performed better
• White debater did better
-Comments
• Racist
• Non-racist
• No comment
Implicit association test (IAT)
DEF: a test though to measure unconscious (or implicit) prejudices according to the speed with which people can pair a target face with a positive or negative association
Expectation – stereotype
Ex: math teacher thinks girls are bad at math
Our behavior – inadvertently treat a member of this group differently
• Ex: might not call on girls in a math class, be less willing to help girls compared to the boys
Target’s behavior – acts in a way that confirms your stereotype
Ex: girls have worse math scores than boys (because the teacher is ignoring them; not because they are actually bad at math)
Social Identity Threat
the threat elicited when people perceive that
others are evaluating them as a member of their group instead of as an individual
• This pressure or burden they put on themselves ends up negatively affecting their performance
INSTITUTIONALIZED DISCRIMINATIOn
practices that discriminate, legally or illegally, against a minority group by virtue of its ethnicity, gender, culture, age, sexual orientation, or other target of societal or company prejudice
• Normative conformity also plays a role here
NORMATIVE CONFORMITY
the tendency to go along with the group in order to fulfill the
group’s expectations and gain acceptance • -So you act prejudiced in order to be liked and accepted by your
group
Social Identity
the part of a person’s self-concept that is based on his/her identification with a nation, religious or political group, occupation, or other social affiliation
Individual level: In-group bias
the tendency to favor members of your own
group and give them special preference over people who belong to other groups
• Positive feelings and special treatment for people part of the in-group
• Negative feeling and unfair treatment for people in the out-group
Tajfel & Billig (1974) study
• Ps assigned to 1 of 2 groups
• Based on a coin toss
• Ps watched the coin toss
• Group members had to work on a task together in competition with the other group • Results
• Although they were strangers before the toss, after groups were formed, they behaved as though these people were close friends or kin
• They rated members of their in-group better than members of the
out-group
• Liked them more, thought they were more pleasant, did better work
Individual level: Out-group homogeneity
the perception that individuals in the out-group are more similar to each other (homogeneous) than they really are, as well as more similar than the members of the in-group are
• You believe that they are all alike
Blaming the Victim(s)
the tendency to blame individuals (make
dispositional attributions) for their victimization, typically motivated by a desire to see the world as a fair place
REALISTIC CONFLICT THEORY
the idea that limited resources lead to conflict between groups and results in increased prejudice and discrimination
• Thus prejudiced attitudes tend to increase when times are tense and conflict exists over mutually exclusive goals
Contact Hypothesis
According to the contact hypothesis, reduction in prejudice will occur when you expose members of different groups to each other
Intergroup contact/interaction
social interactions between members of different groups
-must be equal-be supported by law/norms
-share common goal
-involves inter group cooperation
Interdependence
the situation that exists when two or more groups need to depend on one another to accomplish a goal that is important to each of them
Interdependence example
With the Eagles and Rattlers, the researchers created goals in which the two groups had to work together to succeed (e.g., repairing the water system supply, pulling their broken down bus up a hill) – this resulted in reduced hostility between the groups
Jigsaw Classroom
a classroom setting designed to reduce prejudice and raise the self-esteem of children by placing them in small,
multiethnic groups and making each child dependent on the other children in the group to learn the course material
