Unit 14: Social Psychology Flashcards
Culture
the behaviors and beliefs shared by a group of people
Norms
the conventional behaviors and beliefs of a culture
What unspoken rules govern the use of personal space?
Depending on the culture, people may or may not enter one’s imaginary personal space due to discomfort
How does group membership affect individual behavior?
People within the group will be inclined to practice behaviors that benefit the group and think in accordance with the group. They also put the group before themselves
How do we perceive the motives of others and the causes of our own behavior?
According to self-serving bias, we tend to perceive the motives of others as external attributions while the causes for our own behavior as internal attributions
attribution theory
theory that explains how attributions are formed and how they affect our behavior and attitudes
fundamental attribution error
tendency for individuals to attribute behaviors to personal factors while discarding the effects of external factors
self-serving bias
tendency for individuals to attribute successes to themselves while attributing failures to external factors
attitude
evaluation of something that influences a certain behavior
cognitive dissonance theory
theory that cognitive tensions due to conflicting attitudes and emotions leads to change in attitude
peripheral route persuasion
a weak persuasion method factoring in the source’s attractiveness and credibility with low elaboration
Leon Festinger
developed Dissonance Theory
What are attitudes, and how are they acquired?
Attitudes are one’s evaluation of something, which then influences behavior associated with that attitude. Attitudes are formed by conditioning and learning according to learning theory, changed by cognitive dissonance according to the dissonance theory, and by behavior according to the self-perception theory
How are attitudes measured and changed?
Attitudes are measured via their strength, their accessibility, and their ambivalence. According to the dissonance theory, cognitive dissonance changes attitude
Under what conditions is persuasion most effective?
Persuasion is most effective when: the source is trustworthy, has expertise on the topic, and is likable; the message is delivered with emotion, considers both sides of the argument, and repeats the main point multiple times
What is cognitive dissonance, and how does it relate to attitudes and behavior?
Cognitive dissonance is the cognitive tension experienced from conflicting attitudes and emotions. A cognitive dissonance leads to a change in attitude and with that, behavior
How does brainwashing work?
Brainwashing involves the use of the foot-in-the-door phenomenon, which states that people will be likely to accept larger tasks later if primed with small and simple tasks beforehand
central route persuasion
persuasion involving the use of evidence and reasoning to persuade a certain thought
Conformity
adjusting one’s behavior and thinking towards the group standard
Deindividuation
loss of self awareness and self-restraint that occurs in group situations with anonymity and arousal
foot-in-the-door phenomenon
tendency for people who have first agreed to comply with small requests to later accept larger requests
group polarization
enhancement of beliefs and behaviors due to interaction with like minded individuals
groupthink
thinking that occurs when desire for harmony in group decisions overrides realistic alternatives
informational social influence
willingness to accept others’ opinions about reality
normative social influence
desire to obtain social approval and avoid social disapproval
Obedience
performing behaviors that an authority states even if there is any disagreement
Role
set of expectations about a social position that defines how those who are in the position ought to behave
role-playing (and impacts)
as one slowly accustoms to a new role, they slowly accept and believe in the new role
social facilitation
improved performance in the presence of others
social loafing
decreased group effort when there is belief that others are there than the group alone
social psychology
the scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another
the Asch study
a group experiment involving the group answer the same question for multiple trials, which showed that we tend to conform to the group beliefs, even when we think we are right