Unit 4- Social Psychology Flashcards
social psychology
studies how people think, feel, and behave in social situations
social cognition
study of how we think when it comes to other people
social influence
how other people influence us
person perception
how we form impressions of ourselves and others, including attributions of behavior
attributions
how we explain the causes of events/behaviors
attribution theory
the theory that we explain someone’s behavior by crediting either the situation (a situational attribution) or the person’s stable, enduring traits (a dispositional attribution).
fundamental attribution error
the tendency for others, when analyzing others behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition.
what is an influence on attribution?
culture, westerners more often attribute behavior to people’s personal traits. People in China and Japan are more sensitive to the power of the situation.
actor-observer bias
when we see others perform an action, we tend to concentrate on them and not the environment, but when we perform an action, we see environment, not person.
we know our behavior changes from situation to situation, but we don’t know this about others.
self-serving bias
a cognitive bias where people tend to attribute their successes to internal factors while blaming external factors for their failures.
social comparison
we judge our own success by comparing it to others.
categorization
the tendency to group similar objects/people
ex) school groups: jocks, emo
prejudice
an unjustifiable and usually negative attitude toward a group and this members. Prejudice generally involves negative emotions, stereotyped beliefs, and a predisposition to disctiminatory action.
what are the three parts to prejudice?
negative emotions
stereotypes
a predisposition to discriminate
discriminate
to act in negative and unjustifiable ways towards members of the group
explicit prejudice
on the radar screen of our awareness
implicit prejudice
an unthinking, knee-jerk response operating below the radar, leaving us unaware of how our attitudes are influencing our behavior.
self-handicapping
person creates an excuse in advance so they can fall back on it if they do poorly
self-effacing bias
modesty bias, involves blaming failure on internal, personal factors, while attributing success to external, situational factors.
collectivist cultures
liberals vs. conservatives
L- more likely to blame/credit past and present situations
C- more likely to blame/credit personal disposition
colorism
those with darker skin tones experience greater prejudice and discrimination
criminal stereotypes
black men are judged more harshly than white men when they commit “stereotypically black” crimes rather than “stereotypically white” crimes
medical care
health professionals spend more money to treat white patients than to treat equally unhealthy black patients
gender prejudice examples
work and pay: in western culture, we pay more to those(usually men) who care for our streets than to those (Usually women) who care for our children
leadership: from 2007-2016, male directors of 1000 popular films outnumbered female directors by 24:1.
precieved intelligence: despire equality between men and women in intelligence test scores, people tend to percieve their fathers as more intelligent than their mothers.
masculine norms: organizations often value and reward masculine ideas, values, and interaction styles.
LGBTQ Prejudice
although 29 countries allowed same-sex marriage by 2021, dozens more had laws criminalizing same-sex relationships.
just-world phenomenon/bias
the tendency for people to beliece the world is just and that people thereorr get what they deserve and deserve what they get.
good is rewarded and evil is punished
Jane Elliot experiment
Blue eyes/brown eyes
Kenneth B Clark experiment
baby doll, internalizing the stereotypes about their group, effecting their self image and performance
blame the victim
victims of discrimination way react in ways that feed prejudice through the classic “blame the victim” dynamic.
social identity
comes from our group memberships
ingroup
“us”, people with whom we share a common identity
outgroup
“them”, those perceived as different/apart from out ingroup
ingroup bias
the tendency to favor our own group
scapegoat theory
the theory that prejudice offers an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame
schadenfreude
a German word for the secret joy that we sometimes take in another’s failure
ethnocentrism
the tendency to view our own ethnic or racial group as superior
outgroup homogeneity
uniformity of attitudes, personality, and appearance
other-race effect (cross-race effect, own-race bias)
the tendency to recall faces from one’s own race more accurately than faces of other races.
availability heuristic
the tendency to estimate the frequency of an event by how readily it comes to mind.
door-in-the-face
large request you know they’ll say no to, then smaller request;
more lilkely to say yes to smaller request
Leon Festinger
cognitive dissonance
attitudes
feelings, often influenced by our beliefs, that predispose us to respond in a particular way to objects, people, and events.
fake it till you make it
studes have shown that acting postive and smiling even when you don’t want to be excites your brain and influences your mood
looking-glass effect
we eat less when we see ourselves eating in a mirror
only 7% of students still cheated when taking a test in front of a mirror
attitudes-follow-behavior principle
attitudes can affect our behavior, especially when external influences are minimal, and when the attitude is stable, specific to the behavior, and easily recalled.
cooperative actions, such as those performed by people on sports teams feed mutual liking. such attutdes, in turn, promote positive behavior.
foot-in-the-door phenomenon
the tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request.
role
a set of expectations (norms) about social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave.
cognitive dissonance theory
the theory that we act to reduce the discomfort (dissonance) we feel when two or our thoughts (cognitions) are inconsistent. for example, when we cecome aware that our attitudes and our actions clash, we can reduce the resulting 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 a speaker’s attractiveness.
central route persuasion
occurs when interested people’s thinking is influenced by considering evidence and arguments.
low-ball technique
persuader ges you to commit to a low-ball offer, then say you can’t do it for that price. since you have already committed, it’s hard to say no to the new higher price demand.
that’s-not-all
make an offer but before it’s accepted, you throw something extra in to make it more attractive
rule of commitment
once you make a public commitment, it applies pressure to you to stay consistent with your earlier commitment.
four-walls technique
a series of carefully worded questions, makes you realize that you have no good reason for not purchasing, saying no makes you a liar, causes cognitive dissonance.
norms
a society’s understood rules for accepted and expected behavior. norms describe “proper” behavior in individual and social situations
chameleon effect
the spontaneous spread of behaviors example: yawning
mood linkage
the sharing of moods
positive herding
great reviews of a movie or product generates more positive reviews
Solomon Asch
(line)conformity experiment
evaluated the extent to which social pressure from a majority group could influence a person to conform
conformity
adjusting our behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard
normative social influence
peer pressure, want to appear “normal”
influence resulting from a person’s desire to gain approval or avoid disappoval
informational social influence
influence resulting from a person’s willingness to accept others’ opinions about reality
don’t want to be wrong
reciprocity norm and compliance
we feel obligated to return favors, even those that we did not want in the first place.
opposite of foot-in-the-door
obedience
complying with an order or a command
Stanley milligram experiment
obedience: a groundbreaking psychological study conducted by milligram to investigate how far people would go in obeying an authority figure, even if it meant harming another person. (electric shocks to “learner” by “teacher”/participant) 65% of participants went up to the maximum 450 volts, despite the “learner’s” apparent suffering.
the study suggested that situational factors, like authority pressure, are more influential than personality traits in determining behavior.
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.
deindividuation
the loss of self-awareness and self-restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and being anonymous
group polarization
the enhancement of a group’s prevailing indictations through discussion within the group
a social psychological phenomenon where group discussions lead individuals to adopt more extreme views or decisions than they would have initially, reinforcing existing opinions and attitudes.
groupthink
the mode of thinking that occurs when the disire for harmony in a desicion-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives.
say what’s needed to keep situations unanimous
culture
the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next
tight culture
a place with clearly defined and reliably imposed norms
collectivist
loose culture
a place with flexible and information norms when we don’t understand what’s expected or accepted, we may experience culture shock
individualistic
aggression
any physical or verbal behavior intended to harm someone physically or emotionally. Aggression is an antisocial behavior
antisocial behavior
behavior that defies social norms or violates other’s rights
neutral influences - relationship to aggression
animal and human brains have neutral systems that, given provocation, will either inhibit or facilitate aggression.
biochemical influences
our genes engineer our individual nervous systems, which operate electrochemically.
frustration-aggression principle
frustration creates anger, which can generate aggression
prosocial behavior
voluntary actions intended to benefit others, despite if it is selfish or selfless.
proximity breeds liking because of…
the mere exposure effect
which kind of relationship is slightly more likely to last and be satisfying?
internet-formed friendships and relationships, as opposed to those formed in person
in speed dating experiments…
attractiveness influences first impressions
attractive people are perceived as…
healthier, happier, more sensitive, more successful, etc
when people rate faces and bodies separately, the ____ tends to be a better predictor of overall physical attractiveness
face
reward theory of attraction
we will like those whose behavior is rewarding to us, including those who are both able and willing to help us achieve our goals.
passionate love
an aroused state of intense positive absorption in another, usually present at the beginning of a romantic relationship.
compassionate love
the deep affectionate attachment we feel for those with whom our lives are intertwined.
two-factor theory of emotion
assumes that emotions have two ingredients- physical arousal plus cognitive appraisal. arousal from any source can enhance one emotion or another, depending on how we interpret and label the arousal.
3 components of compassionate love
equity
self-disclosure
positive support
altruism
unselfish regard for the welfare of others
Darley & Latane’s studies
bystander intervention
found that we will help only if the situation enables us first to notice the incident, then to interpret it as an emergency, and finally to assume responsibility for helping. At each step, the presence of others can turn us away from the path that leads to helping.
bystander effect
the tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present
social exchange theory
the theory that our social behavior is an exchange process, the aim of which is to maximize benefits and minimize costs
Social exchange theory posits that social interactions and relationships are based on a cost-benefit analysis, where individuals seek to maximize rewards and minimize costs in their interactions
social-responsibility norm/theory
an expectation that people will help those needing their help
Kitty Genovese
38 people heard her cry for help but didn’t help her- she was raped and stabbed to death
social traps
a situation in which two parties, by each pursuing their self-interest rather that the good of the group, become caught in mutually destructive behavior
prisoner’s dilemma
Roger and chris would both do the best If they both stay silent, but chances are they will both instead betray each other. most people focus on their self-interest, even when trusting and cooperating with each other would help them more personally.
mirror-image perceptions
mutual views often held by conflicting parties, as when each side sees itself as ethical and peaceful and views the other side as evil and aggressive.
perceptions such as these can become self-fufilling prophecies: a belief that leads to its own fufillment
3 parts of promoting peace
contact
cooperation
communication
GRIT
Graduated and reciprocated initatices in tension-reduction: a strategy designed to decrease international tensions.
