Unit 4 Flashcards
Person perception
How we form impression of ourselves and others, including attribution of behavior
attributions
How we explain the causes of events
Explanatory style
Interpreting goods or bad events in ways that are pessimistic or optimistic
Attribution theory
The theory that we explain someone’s behavior by crediting either the situation or a person’s stable, enduring traits
Fundamental attribution error
The tendency for observers, when analyzing others’ behavior to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition
Actor observer bias
The tendency for those acting in a situation to attribute their behavior to external causes, but for observers to attribute others’ behavior to internal causes, this contributes to the fundamental attribution error
disposition
Personal character
Social comparison
Comparing ourselves to others and judging whether we succeed or fail, this contributes to our self esteem
prejudice
An unjustifiable and usually negative attitude toward a group and its members
What are the 3 parts of prejudice
Negative emotions, stereotyped beliefs, and a predisposition to discriminatory action
Negative emotions in prejudice
Hostility or fear
stereotype
A generalized belief about a group of people
discriminate
In social psychology, unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group or its members
How do psychologist study implicit prejudice
Testing for unconscious group associations
considering unconscious patronization
monitoring reflexive body responses (minor facial responses and amygdala activation)
How does prejudice show in racial scenarios
Colorism
healthcare
criminal stereotypes
How does prejudice show in gender scenarios
Work and pay
leadership
perceived intelligence
masculine norms
just world phenomenon
The tendency for people o believe the world is just and that people therefore get what they deserve and deserve what they get
What does just world phenomenon contribute to
Blame the victim dynamic
social identity
The “we” aspect of our self concept that is derive from our group memberships
ingroup
People with whom we share a common identity
outgroup
Those perceived as different or apart from our ingroup
ingroup bias
tendency to favor our own group
Scapegoat theory
The theory that prejudice offers an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame
What is the evidence behind the scapegoat theory
Social trends - economically frustrated people express heightened prejudice
experiments - temporarily frustrated people intensify prejudice
ethnocentrism
tendency to view our own ethnic or racial group as superior
outgroup homogeneity
Uniformity of attitude, personality, and appearance
Other race effect
Tendency to recall faces of one’s own race more accurately than faces of other races. Also called the cross-race effect and the own race bias
What is a reason behind the other race effect
the observer’s selective attention is drawn to the distinctive features of the less-familiar minority
What contributes to victim blaming
Hindsight bias
attitudes
Feelings, often influenced by our beliefs, that predispose us to respond in a particular way to objects, people, and events
What does attitude affect? What can override attitude?
Attitude affects behavior
situational factors can override attitude-behavior actions
Foot in the door phenomenon
The tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request
Door in the face effect
Approaching someone with an unreasonable request, getting turned down, then approaching with a moderate request becomes more acceptable
role
A set of expectations about a social position defining how those in the position ought to behave
Cognitive dissonance theory
The theory that we act of reduce the discomfort we feel when two of our thoughts are inconsistent. For example when we become aware that our attitudes and our actions lase, we can reduce the dissonance by changing our attitudes
persuasion
Changing people’s attitudes, potentially influencing their actions
peripheral route persuasion
Occurs when people are influenced by incidental cues, such as attractiveness
norms
A society’s understood rules for accepted and expected behavior. Norms prescribe “proper” behavior in individual and social situations
Social contagion/chameleon effect
Spontaneous spread of behaviors
Mood contagion
Sponatenous spread of mood
Mood linkage
The sharing of moods
positive herding
When great reviews for a product generates more positive reviews
conformity
Adjusting our behavior or thinking to coincide wit a group standard
What did Solomon Asch test? What was the result?
He teste conformity. He devised a group test where people shared answers, this resulted in 1/3rd of college students answering incorrectly because of conformity
What are the 7 factors that contributes to conformity discovered by Solomon Asch?
- when we feel incompetent/insecure
- in a group with at least 3 people
- Everyone else in the group agrees
- admire the group status and attractiveness
- haven’t made a prior choice commitment
- knows that others will observe our behavior
- are from a culture that encourages respect for social standards
Normative social influence
Influencing resulting from a person’s desire to gain approval or to avoid disapproval
Informative social influence
Influence resulting from a person’s willingness to accept others’ opinions about reality
obedience
Complying with an order or a command
What was Stanley Milgram’s experiment? What was the result?
He made people shock others with increasing volts if they answered incorrectly and measured when the participants stopped shocking others. More than 60% complied until the end of the experiment
What factors (4) determined when Obedience was highest
- When those giving orders was close and perceived as an authority figure
- a powerful institution supported the authority figure
- The victim was depersonalized
- There were no role models for defiance
Social control
Power of the situation
Personal control
The power of the individual
minority influence
Power of one or two individuals sway majorities
What was Norman Triplett’s observation
He reported that adolescents would wind a fishing reel faster in the presence of someone doing the same thing than they would alone
Social facilitation
In the presence of others, improved performance on simple or well-learned tasks, and worsened performance on difficult tasks
Social loafing
The tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable
What do people feel when they are part of a group
- feel less accountable
- view individual contributions as dispensable
- overestimate their own contributions
- free ride on others’ efforts
deindividuation
The loss of self=awareness and self-restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity
Group polarization
The enhancement of a group’s prevailing inclinations through discussion within the group
groupthink
The mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives
culture
The enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next
What has culture ensured
Preservation of innovation and division of labor
What was lead to the preservation of innovation
Social living, imitation, and language
individualism
A focus on an independent separate self
muliculturalism
Places value on cultural and ethnic groups’ maintenance of their unique identities, beliefs, and practices
tight cultures
A place with clearly defined and reliably imposed norms
loose cultures
a place with flexible and informal norms
Culture shock
Shock from aspects of a culture that is not understood or unexpected
aggression
Any physical or verbal behavior intended to harm someone physically or emotionally
What type of behavior is aggression
Antisocial behavior, behavior that defies social norms or violates others’ rights
How does biology influence aggression, what are the 3 biological factors
Genetic, neural, and biochemical
What are genetic factors that influence aggression
- the y chromosome
- monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) gene, breaks down neurotransmitters, low gene expression behave aggressively
What are neural influences that affect aggression
- amygdala stimulation triggers aggression
- if the frontal lobes are damaged, then aggression is more likely because impulses aren’t easily controlled
What are biochemical factors influence aggression
- testosterone influences the neural systems that control aggression
- alcohol unleashes aggressive responses to frustration due to it inhibiting the brain regions that control judgement and inhibitions
Frustration aggression principle
The principle that frustration, the blocking of an attempt to achieve some goal, creates anger, which can generate aggression
How does observing aggression influence us
When people observe aggression that pays off, we are likely to act aggressive
How does a “culture of honor” affect violence
Cultures that encourage violence in response to provocation can result in higher rates of homicide and abuse
What are the 3 components of affection
Proximity, attractiveness, and similarity
proximity
Geographic nearness
Mere exposure effect
The tendency for repeated exposure to novel stimuli to increase our liking of them
What is a reason evolution could have contributed to the mere exposure effect
Unfamiliar entities were more often dangerous than familiar entities
What were the 4 findings of speed dating
- people who fear rejection often elicit rejection
- given more options, people make more superficial choices
- men wish for future contact with more of their speed dates, but women tend to be choosier
- compatibility is difficult to predict
What affects first impressions the most
Physical appearance
What makes a face attractive
Average facial features and a symmetrical face
How is attractiveness influenced by perception
Those with good traits are more often seen as attractive, or even imagined as attractive
Reward theory of attraction
We will like those whose behavior is rewarding to us
What are the 2 types of love
Passionate love and companionate love
Passionate love
An aroused state of intense positive absorption in another, usually present at the beginning of a romantic relationship
two factor theory of emotion
- emotions have 2 ingredients, physical arousal plus cognitive appraisal
- arousal can enhance emotions
Companionate love
The deep affectionate attachment we feel for those with whom our lives are intertwined
What contributes to companionate love
The change of hormones, passion facilitating hormones like testosterone, dopamine, and adrenaline subside, but oxytocin which provides feelings of trust, calmness, and bonding remain
equity
A condition in which people receive from a relationship in proportion to what they give to it
Self disclosure
The act of revealing intimate aspects of ourselves to others
altruism
Unselfish regard for the welfare of others
What are the factors that result in someone helping another
- to notice the situation
- interpret it as an emergency
- then assume responsibility
How does diffusion of responsibility affect chance of aid?
The more people there are, the less responsible one person feels to take action to help
What was Darley and Latanes microphone experiment? What were the findings?
They staged laboratory rooms and had an accomplice fake a seizure, then it was 1 person listening it and they believed they were the only ones listening or they believed multiple people were. They found out that when alone, people are more likely to help compared to if the listener believed multiple people were present
bystander effect
the tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present
When are the odds of helping the highest (9)
- the person appears to need help
- the person shares similarities
- woman
- we previously saw someone else being helpful
- we aren’t in a hurry
- within a small town or rural area
- are feel guilty
- we are focused on others and not preoccupied
- good mood
How does helping those breed happiness biologically
Helping others activates the brain areas associated with reward
Social exchange theory
The theory that our social behavior is an exchange process, the aim of which is to maximize benefits and minimize costs
Reciprocity norm
An expectation that people will help, not hurt, those who have helped them
Social responsibility norm
An expectation that people will help those needing their help
conflict
A perceived incompatibility of actions, goals, or ideas
Social traps
A situation where 2 parties, each pursuing their self-interest rather than the good of the group become caught in mutually destructive behavior
What are ways to convince people to work together for mutual betterment
Regulations, communication, and awareness
What do social traps challenge us to do
Balance our self-interest and our responsibility for the well being of all
What is the prisoner’s dilemma? Axelrod
A scenario where 2 prisoners are given the option to.
A: both betray each other, 5 years in prison
B:If one betrays the other, but the other remains silent, the one is free and the other gets 3 years
C: both remain silent and they only get 1 year
In this scenario, most people will focus on self-interest, even though cooperating will result in a better mutual result
mirror image perceptions
The mutual views often held by conflicting parties, as when each sides sees itself as ethical and peaceful and views the other side as evil and aggressive
How do mirror image perceptions result in self-fulfilling prophecies
When another side treats the conflicting side poorly due to their perception, the conflicting side by reciprocate resulting in that perception becoming reality
What 4 concepts promote peace
Contact, cooperation, communication, and concilliation
What does negative contact and positive contact do
Negative contact increases disliking while positive contact increases liking
Superordinate goals
Shared goals that override differences among people and require their cooperation, this showed cooperative contact
GRIT
Graduated and reciprocated initiatives in tension reduction - a strategy designed to decrease international tensions
What occurs when conflicts intensity
Images become more stereotyped, judgments become more rigid, and communication becomes difficult
