Unit 14 Social Psychology Flashcards
Social psychology
The scientific study of how the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of individuals are influenced by:
• the presence of others
• the internalized social norms of our culture
Social influence
Conforming to fit in with the group because you don’t want to appear foolish or be left out
To avoid rejection gain social approval or seem normal
Conformity
A change in a person’s behavior or opinions as a result of real or imagined pressure from another person or group of people
Solomon Asch
Experiment that demonstrated the extent to which social pressure group could could cause a person to conform
Informational influence
Where a person conforms because they have a desire to be right and look to others who they believe may have more info
Normative influence “social norm”
Conforming to fit in with the group because you don’t want to appear foolish or be left out to gain social approval to appear normal
Obedience
Following orders typically given by an authority figure
Passionate Love
Intense absorption with one another usually at the beginning of a romantic relationship
Companionate Love
Deep love & commitment such as that between long-married couples for whom passionate love might no longer be active
Consummate Love
Love that consist of all three components considered to be the “ultimate” form of love but research shows it’s harder to maintain than to achieve passion wanes over time
Culture
The behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values & traditions shared by a group of people & transmitted from one generation to the next
Attribution theory
Concerned with how ordinary people explain the causes of behavior & events
Dispositional attributions
Attributes the cause of behavior to some internal characteristics of the person rather than to outside causes
Situational attributions
Attributes behavior to some situations circumstances or event outside of a persons control
Fundamental attribution error
When judging other people’s behavior we tend to overestimate the influence of personality and underestimate the influence of situations.
Chameleon effect
Our tendency to mimic the mannerisms gestures or facial expressions of the people we interact with
Muzafer Sherif (1936)
Primarily interested in understanding how membership groups affected the psychology of individuals focus on competition between groups inter group conflict & negative prejudices had by individuals with groups
Stanley Milgram (1963)
Social psychologist who is famous for his experiments on obedience to authority known as the Milgram experiments
The obedient participant
Participant’s willingness to do what another asks them to do
Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment
Explores how social norms influence behavior
Normal students randomly assigned as prisoners or guards adopted their roles to alarming extents
Bystander Effect
The tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present
Diffusion of responsibility
A reduction in the sense of urgency to help someone involved in an emergency because you assume other observers will
Bystander intervention
Individuals are more likely to help in a crisis if they notice it, feel it is an emergency and feel personality responsible to offer aid the presence of others could deter this process
Group
Dividing the world into us and them can lead to conflict racism and war but it also provides benefits or being connected to a group
Social facilitation
Improved performance in simple or well learned tasks in the presence of others
Social loafing
The tendency for a person to achieve a goal when they work in a group than when they work alone
Deindividuation
People engage in seeming impulsive deviant and sometimes violent acts in situations which they believe they can’t be personally identified
Group polarization
The beliefs and attitudes we bring to a group grow stronger as we discuss then with like-mined others
Groupthink
Faulty thinking / defective decision-making that occurs in highly cohesive groups.
• Occurs when the desire to maintain harmony or consensus prevents group members from raising concerns or considering alternative views/approaches to solving a problem.
Social Dilemma
Conflict between immediate self interest and longer term collective interests
Prisoner’s Dilemma
A situation where two parties separated and unable to communicate must choose between cooperating with each other or not
Graduated & Reciprocated Initiative in tension-reduction (GRIT)
Bargaining strategy where one side imitating a breakthrough in the form of a concession/compromise on 1 of its demands
Stereotype
A fixed oversimplified & often biased belief about a group of people
Prejudice
A preconceived judgement/opinion or attitude directed toward certain people based on their membership in a particular group
Discrimination
The unfair or prejudicial treatment of people or groups based on characteristics like race, gender age or sexual orientation
Racism
A form of prejudice that generally includes negative emotional reactions to members of the group, acceptance of negative stereotypes & racial discrimination again individuals
Stereotype threat
The situation in which there is a negative stereotype about a person group & they are concerned about being judged or treated negatively in ghetto basis or the stereotype
Self-fulfilling prophecy
When a person unknowingly causes a prediction to come true due to the simple fact that they expect it to be true
Scapegoat theory
Our prejudiced dictate who to blame when we are angry & negative emotions exacerbate prejudice