UNIT 3: Social Psych Flashcards
Social Psychology
-focus on the situation; they study the social influences that explain why the same person acts differently in different situations
-It is the scientific study of how we think about, influence and relate to one another
Attributions
how we explain other people’s behaviour - what we ‘attribute’ a person’s behaviour to.
attribution theory
the theory that we tend to explain the behaviour of others as either an aspect of their inner trait (disposition) or due to external factors (situation).
Dispositional attributes
A person’s stable, enduring traits such as intelligence or personality
Dispositional attribute EXAMPLE
Max is a close friend and has just told you he got a perfect score on Mr Bixon’s History test.
‘Max is always so good at History’
situational attributes
behavior that is attributed to external factors
situational attribute EXAMPLE
‘Yeah, but that was a super easy test’
False Consensus Effect
The tendency for people to overestimate the number of people who agree with them.
False consensus EXAMPLE
Ms Cole loves pizza and often overestimates the number of people who enjoy it to the same degree.
‘Most people would…..’
‘Everyone agrees with me…’
Fundamental Attribution Theory
overestimating an individual’s disposition and underestimating the situation.
Fundamental attribution theory EXAMPLE
In class, Julie is quiet and never contributes to class discussion, unless called on by the teacher.
Ryan, enjoys participating in any type of discussion.
An observer, falling prey to the Fundamental Attribution Error would conclude that Julie is an introvert and Ryan is an extrovert.
However, when performing in the end of year school play, Julie has the lead role and presents herself confidently, signing and acting in solos. Ryan, opts to be an extra, standing at the back in silence.
Fundamental attribution theory: Individualist
Western cultures more often attribute behaviour(s) to personal disposition
-Tend to show lower rates of obedience
Fundamental attribution theory: Collectivist
Eastern cultures are more sensitive to the influence of situation
Just World Bias
The tendency to think that bad things happen to bad people. The word is ‘just’ so assuming we are ‘good’, good things will happen.
Just world bias EXAMPLE
You get what you deserve’
Misfortunes or negative experiences only happen to those who deserve it
Halo Effect
-When one trait of a person is used to make an overall judgment of that person.
- Attractiveness is one of the key traits that leads to the halo effect
Mere Exposure Effect
The tendency for us to like something more with repeated exposure
Mere exposure effect EXAMPLE
The more we see a person, the more we like them
Explanatory style
Explanatory style is the way a person creates a narrative about a specific event in their life.
optimistic explanatory
-a situation is temporary
-there are aspects they can control,
-it’s not their fault
-A person who creates positive narratives about life events can bounce back more quickly and keep a happier mental outlook
pessimistic explanatory style
-situation feeling permanent
-completely their fault when it probably isn’t
-there is nothing they can do to change their situation, even if there is.
External locus of control
the perception that chance or outside factors beyond your control determines your fate. Pessimistic
Internal locus of control
the perception that you control your own fate. Optimistic
social comparison
people value their personal and social worth by assessing how they compare to others.
Upward social comparison
-compare ourselves with those who we believe are better than or superior to us
-These comparisons often focus on the desire to improve ourselves, our current status, or our level of ability
Downward Social Comparison
-when we compare ourselves to others who are worse off than us.
-Such comparisons are often centered on making ourselves feel better about our abilities or traits
Relative deprivation
-the perception that we are worse off to those whom we compare ourselves to
-Relative deprivation is a more superficial judgment of your own standing in comparison to others
-NEGATIVE COMPARISON
Self-Serving Bias
-The tendency to take more credit for good outcomes (personal attribution), and blame negative outcomes on situational factors
-Humans prefer to view themselves favorably
Confirmation Bias
-Our tendency to cherry-pick information that confirms our existing beliefs or ideas
-someone forms an opinion and then will accept only information that agrees with it discounting or ignoring everything else
Actor-Observer Bias
-Refers to the tendency to attribute one’s own actions to external causes while attributing other people’s behaviors to internal causes
-we like to make excuses for our own behaviour.
Self fulfilling prophecy
-Labels, or specific ideas about your own, or other people’s dispositions, can directly influence your own or their behaviour(s)
E.g. I am going to have such a rubbish day today. Result, quite often you transform the mentality into a reality, and you do have a rubbish day.
stereotype
generalised beliefs about a group of people. They can be either positive or negative. Stereotypes can sometimes reflect reality, but most often they are exaggerated.
Prejudice
an undeserved, usually negative, attitude towards a group of people
Ethnocentrism
the belief that one’s race/ethnicity/culture is superior to others
Discrimination
an unjustifiable negative behaviour (action) towards a group of people. It can be either explicit, or microaggressions such as the reluctance to sit next to someone.
cognitive load
Brains processing amount
Explicit attitude
a person is aware of this attitude and conscious of it when they behave
implicit attitude
we are unaware of a prejudicial attitude and how it influences our behaviour. The key here is that it is unconscious
In-group and Out-group Bias
favouring members of one’s in-group, over members of the out-group
out-group homogeneity
the tendency to perceive those in the out-group as all being very similar, whilst the in-group are more diverse
Cognitive dissonance!!!!!
mental tension/discomfort (dissonance) felt when our actions and attitudes (cognitive) do not align.
Social Influence Theory
The idea that people are heavily influenced by the thoughts and actions of others.
Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM)
dual process theory describing the change of attitudes. Efforts to persuade generally take 2 forms
Central Route Persuasion
core evidence/arguments in a message
FACT AND DETAIL ORIENTED
Peripheral Route Persuasion
Other parts of the message that elicits emotional based judgement
EMOTIONAL DRIVEN
Obedience
Individual follows a direct order
-People are more likely to comply with the orders given if they come from someone perceived to have legitimate authority
Foot in the door
-A small request is then followed by a larger request.
-To get people to agree to something big, start small and build up’
Door in the face
An unrealistically large request is followed by a smaller request
After people refuse a large request, they will look more favourably upon a follow up that seems in comparison, more reasonable
Social Reciprocity
Norm
People have the tendency to feel obligated to reciprocate kind behavior
Conformity
the change in a person’s attitude or behaviour due to real or imagined pressure from others.
Normative Social Influence
-Need to be liked
-People do not want to appear foolish or be rejected by others - they prefer to gain social approval
-By conforming to the apparent social norms (expectations) of the group, a person will be accepted
Informational Social Influence
-need to be right
-Individuals follow the behaviour of the group (the majority) is because they want to be right
-Most likely to occur in in situations that are new to a person or when it isn’t clear what is right
Social Facilitation
-The tendency to perform tasks better or faster in the presence of others.
-What you can do well, you are likely to do even better in, in font of an audience
-Happens with a skill you are already good at
Social Inhibition
-The tendency to perform worse at a new or poorly-learned task when in the presence of other people
-What you normally find difficult, becomes even more challenging, in front of an audience
Social Loafing (aka ‘diminished responsibility’)
-people put in less effort when faced with a group goal, in comparison to the effort they put in when individually accountable
-Diffusion of responsibility can account for social loafing as well
Deindividuation
-the phenomenon whereby an individual experiences a loss of self-awareness and self-restraint in high arousal group situations, that also provide a sense of anonymity
Group Polarisation
-the tendency for an individual to undertake more extreme decisions/attitudes following exposure to a group discussion, than he/she would make individually
Groupthink
-when group members suppress their doubts about an idea being discussed/supported by the group
-as a result, a false unison is created and flaws in the groups decision may be overlooked
Bystander Effect
-The tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present
-when more people share responsibility for helping it results in a diffusion effect
Single individual = high responsibility…. they are compelled to help because they are the only ones and feel responsible
Large group of individuals = a diffusion of responsibility occurs - individuals can share out responsibility to others: ‘someone else will help’
Bystander Effect Variables
Situational
-We are not in a hurry
-We are in a small town or rural environment
Attentional Variables
-We are not preoccupied and can focus on others
-We have just observed someone else being helpful
-The person is a woman
-The person is a child
-We are in a good mood
social traps
-define situations in which the conflicting parties, each pursuing their own self-interests rather than group benefits, become caught in destructive behaviour
superordinate goals
shared goals that override differences among people because require their cooperation
Altruism
acting to help someone else at some cost to oneself
-sacrificing ones life to save others, giving money to charity, volunteering, holding the door open
Prosocial behavior
voluntary behavior intended to benefit another
Social debt (guilt)
-Altruism and prosocial behavior is to combat guilt
social exchange theory
-weighing up the cost-benefit of the action
-social behaviour is an exchange process, the aim of which is to maximise benefits and minimise costs
For example = whether to give money to charity
Costs: financial loss, anxiety, time and effort
Benefits: social approval, reduced guilt and good feelings
social learning
-We believe we have to help because we have been socialised to do so, through norms presented to us regarding how we ought to behave
-Through socialisation we learn the reciprocity norm
-An expectation that people will help, not hurt, those who have helped them
social-responsibility norms
-The idea that we should help those who need our help - even if the cost outweighs the benefits
-It is a focal point when teaching young children morals and values important to be a part of society
burnout
a physical, emotional or mental exhaustion brought on by an overburdening workload which can negatively impact motivation, performance and attitude.
Industrial-organisational (I/O) psychologists
-study how people perform in the workplace
-I/O Psychologists examine best practices in management of work, relationships among people working together or for a common company, and how people feel about their work
superordinate goals
Shared goals that override differences among people and require their cooperation
