WEEK 10

Question 1

Two different theoretical perspectives on the self are…

Answer 1

psychodynamic perspective: focusing on mental models or representations of the self

cognitive perspective: focusing on the way the self-concept shapes thought and memory.

Question 2

Reference groups…

Answer 2

categories of people with whom individuals compare themselves

Question 3

Relative deprivation…

Answer 3

the belief that, in comparison to a reference group, one is getting less than is deserved

e.g. an actor who receives $5 million to star in a film feels slighted if a co-star is receiving $10 million.

Question 4

Deindividualization…

Answer 4

a psychological state in which a person becomes ‘submerged in the group’, which results in loss of individuality and a tendency
to do things not normally done when alone

Question 5

Social loafing…

Answer 5

exerting less effort when performing a group task than when performing the same task alone

Question 6

‘Social perception’….

Answer 6

he processes through which people interpret information about others, draw inferences about them, and develop mental representations of them

Question 7

self-fulfilling prophecy

Answer 7

a process through which our expectations about another person cause us to act in ways that lead the person to behave as we expected

e.g. a teacher has low expectations for a student named Sarah because of her previous academic performance. The teacher believes that Sarah will struggle in the upcoming math exam and may even fail. Consequently, the teacher interacts less with Sarah, provides less support, and does not offer extra help.

Question 8

According to Kelly, what are the three key variables to help understsnd behaviour?

Answer 8

• consensus – the degree to which other people’s behaviour is similar to that of the actor
• consistency – the degree to which the behaviour is the same across time or situations (difficult to ascertain without information about distinctiveness)
• distinctiveness – the extent to which the actor’s response to one situation stands out from responses to similar situations

Question 9

‘Fundamental attribution error’…

Answer 9

a bias towards overattributing the behaviour of others to internal causes

Another form of the fundamental attribution error is known as ‘essentialism’, which is the tendency to attribute the actions of members of certain groups to essential, internal, biological factors, most commonly their genetic makeup, leading to the (incorrect) idea that these people’s behaviour will never change.

e.g. attributing someone arriving late to work to poor time management, when in actual fact there may have been an inordinate amount of traffic that morning

Question 10

Out-group

Answer 10

those whom we perceive as being different from ourselves

Question 11

In-group

Answer 11

those who we perceive as being similar to ourselves

Question 12

Name an example of cognitive bias, in relation to in-groups and out-groups

Answer 12

When members of a social or ethnic out-group (people we see as ‘different’) do something positive, we attribute their behaviour to luck or some other external cause. However, we attribute their negative behaviour to an internal cause, such as dishonesty. At the same time, when members of an in-group (people we see as being like ourselves) do good deeds, we attribute the behaviour to integrity or other internal factors. If they do something bad, we attribute it to some external cause.

Question 13

actor-observer effect…

Answer 13

the tendency to attribute other people’s behaviour to internal causes while attributing our own behaviour (especially errors and failures) to external causes.

less likely to occur in collectivist cultures such as Japan or India

Question 14

self-serving bias…

Answer 14

the tendency to attribute our successes to internal characteristics while blaming our failures on external causes
The self-serving bias occurs, in part, because people are motivated to maintain their self-esteem,
and ignoring negative information about themselves is one way to do so.

Question 15

Schemas…

Answer 15

our prior knowledge has an impact on our perceptions of individuals

Question 16

The success of a persuasive message depends primarily on which factors?

Answer 16

-the person communicating the message * *
-the content of the message
-the audience who receives it

Question 17

Elaboration likelihood model…

Answer 17

a model suggesting that attitude change can be driven by evaluation of the content of a persuasive message (central route) or by irrelevant persuasion cues (peripheral route

Question 18

The elaboration likelihood model of attitude change…

Answer 18

The model is based on the notion that persuasive messages can change peoples attitudes through one of two main routes.

The first is called the peripheral route because when it is activated, we devote little attention to the
central content of the persuasive message. Instead, we tend to be affected by the persuasion cues that surround it, such as the confidence, attractiveness or other characteristics of the person delivering the message. Persuasion cues influence attitude change even though they say nothing about the logic or validity of the message content. Commercials in which movie stars or other attractive non-experts praise pain relievers, hearing aids or political candidates are designed to operate via the peripheral route to attitude change.

By contrast, when the central route to attitude change is activated, the content of the message becomes more important than the characteristics of the communicator in determining attitude change. A person following the central route uses logical steps, such as those outlined in the ‘Thinking critically’ sections of this book, to rationally analyse the content of the persuasive message. This analysis considers the validity of the message’s claims, determines whether the message leaves out important information, assesses alternative interpretations of evidence, and so on.

Question 19

What determines the chosen route in the elaboration likelihood model?

Answer 19

-One factor is a person’s need for cognition –
the desire to think things through. People with a strong need for cognition are more likely than others to follow a central route to attitude change. Personal involvement with a message’s content is another important factor.

-People are more likely to activate the central route when thinking about topics that are personally relevant.

for example, that you hear someone arguing for the cancellation of all student loans in Chile. This message might persuade you through the peripheral route if it comes from someone who looks attractive and sounds intelligent. However, if the message proposes eliminating student loans at your own school, you are more likely to follow the central route. You might still be persuaded, but only if the logic of the message is clear and convincing.

This is why celebrity endorsements tend to be more effective when the products being advertised are relatively unimportant to the audience

Question 20

Cognitive dissonance theory…

Answer 20

a theory asserting that attitude change is driven by efforts to reduce tension caused by inconsistencies between attitudes and behaviours (Leon Festinger).
Changing attitudes to beliefs to make them congruent with behaviour, and vice versa

For example, someone who believes that texting while driving is dangerous, but who must also admit that they often text when they drive, would be motivated to reduce the resulting dissonance. Because it is often difficult to change a well-established behaviour, people usually reduce cognitive dissonance by changing the attitudes that are inconsistent with the behaviour. Therefore, rather than quit texting, the person might decide that texting at the wheel is not so dangerous after all.

Question 21

How does cognitive dissonance differ in individualistic cultures, compared with collectivist cultures?

Answer 21

In individualist cultures, dissonance typically arises from behaving in a manner inconsistent with one’s own beliefs because this behaviour causes self-doubt.

in collectivist cultures, dissonance typically arises when such behaviour causes people to worry about what others think of them

Cultural values also help shape dissonance-reducing strategies. For example, people from individualistic cultures can reduce the unpleasant feelings that accompany dissonance by affirming their value as unique individuals, whereas people from collectivist cultures can reduce the same kind of feelings by affirming the value of the groups to which they belong

Question 22

Self-perception theory…

Answer 22

a theory suggesting that attitudes can change as people consider their behaviour in certain situations and then infer what their attitude must be

For example, if someone observes themselves volunteering frequently, they may infer that they have a strong commitment to a cause. This theory highlights the role of behaviour in shaping one’s self-concept and beliefs.

Question 23

Stereotype…

Answer 23

a false assumption that all members of some group share the same characteristics- they are schemas about entire groups of people

Question 24

Prejudice…

Answer 24

a positive or negative attitude towards an entire group of people

Question 25

What are three types of theories behind stereotypes and prejudice?

Answer 25

-Motivational theories- For some people, prejudice against certain groups may enhance their sense of security and help them meet certain personal needs.
-prejudice may result when people’s motivation to enhance their own self-esteem causes them to disrespect other people.

Cognitive theories- One effective way to deal with social complexity is by grouping people into social categories.
Rather than remembering every detail about everyone we have ever encountered, we tend to put other people into categories such as doctor, senior citizen, conservative, student, Italian and the like. To further simplify perception of these categories, we tend to see group members as quite similar to one another. In fact, members of one race may find it harder to distinguish the faces of people in other racial groups than in their own
many people, especially those at lower levels of cognitive ability, seem to have a need for cognitive closure, meaning that they prefer to decide quickly and once and for all what they think about everyone in a particular group. Satisfying this need saves them the time and effort it would take to consider individuals as individuals.

Learning theories- Some prejudice is learnt on the basis of conflicts between members of different groups, but people also develop negative attitudes towards groups with whom they have had little or no contact
Evolutionary forces may even have created a form of biopreparedness that makes us especially likely to learn to fear people who are strangers or who look different from us

Question 26

Contact hypothesis…

Answer 26

the idea that stereotypes and prejudice towards a group will diminish as contact with the group increases

Evaluation of contact hypothesis indicates that it can provide only part of the solution to the problems of stereotyping,
prejudice and social discrimination. To reduce prejudice, we must develop additional techniques to address the social cognitions and perceptions that lie at the core of bigotry and hatred toward people who are different from ourselves

Question 27

What are some keys to interpersonal atttraction ?

Answer 27

The environment – simple physical proximity of another person can increase liking, or even a person who resembles someone who is close to us

Similarity – people tend to like people who are similar to themselves

Physical attractiveness – can be an important factor in attraction

Question 28

Matching hypothesis…

Answer 28

the notion that people are most likely to form relationships with those who are similar
to themselves in physical attractiveness

Question 29

Findings from sex differences in date and mate preferences

Answer 29

These psychologists say that women became more selective than men because they can have relatively few children and want a partner who is able to help care for those children. When asked about the intelligence of people they would choose for one-night stands, dating and sexual relationships, women preferred much smarter partners than men did. Only when the choices concerned steady dating and marriage did the men’s preference for bright partners equal that of the women. Critics of the evolutionary approach explain such sex differences as reflecting learnt social norms and expectations of how men and women should behave

Question 30

Triangular theory of Love (Sternberg)

Answer 30

According to his triangular theory, the three basic components of love are passion, intimacy and commitment. Various combinations of these components result in different types of love.

-romantic love involves a high degree of passion and intimacy but lacks substantial commitment to the other person.
-Companionate love is marked by a great deal of intimacy and commitment but little passion.
-Consummate love is the most complete because it includes a high level of all three components, and it is the most satisfying because the relationship is likely to fulfil many of the needs of each partner

Question 31

Descriptive norms…

Answer 31

indicate how most other people actually
behave in a given situation. They tell us what actions are common in the situation and thereby implicitly give us permission to act in the same way. Descriptive norms are based on what people commonly do in a particular context, and they influence the behaviour of individuals within that social setting.

In a classroom, students often raise their hands to ask questions or answer the teacher’s questions.

Question 32

Injunctive norms…

Answer 32

give more specific information about the actions that others
find acceptable and those that they find unacceptable. Subtle pressure exists to behave in accordance with these norms

For example, a sign that reads ‘Do not cross on red’ or the person next to you saying the same thing communicate injunctive norms

Question 33

Foot in the door technique…

Answer 33

works by getting a person to agree to a small request and then gradually presenting larger ones.

Question 34

Door in the face technique…

Answer 34

This strategy begins with a request for a favour that is likely to be denied (as when a door is slammed in a salesperson’s face). The person making the request then concedes that asking for the initial favour was excessive and substitutes for a lesser request.

Question 35

Lowball technique…

Answer 35

The first step in this strategy is to obtain a person’s oral commitment to do something, such as to purchase a car at a certain price. Once this commitment is made, the cost of fulfilling it is increased, often because of an ‘error’ in calculating the car’s price

Question 36

Milgram’s obedience experiment…

Answer 36

No shocks were actually delivered in Milgram’s experiments. The learner was always an employee
of the experimenter.

At that point, the learner screams that he cannot stand the pain any longer and starts banging on the wall. The experimenter says, ‘You have no other choice; you must go on’. Would you continue? Would you keep going even when the learner begged to be let out of the experiment and then fell silent? Would you administer 450 volts of potentially deadly shock to a perfect stranger just because an experimenter demanded that you do so?

only five of the 40 participants in Milgram’s experiment stopped before
300 volts, and 26 participants (65%) went all the way to the 450-volt level. The decision to continue was difficult and stressful for the participants. Many protested repeatedly, but each time the experimenter told them to continue, they obeyed

Question 37

Factors affecting obedience…

Answer 37

Status and prestige- expert power, which is the ability to influence people because they assume that the person in power is a knowledgeable and responsible expert.
The second was legitimate power, which is the ability to influence people because they assume that the person in power has the right or legitimate authority to tell them what to do.
People’s willingness to follow orders from an authority and do great harm to another person operates somewhat independently of the setting in which the orders are given

Others’ behaviour- the presence of others who disobey appears to be the most powerful factor in reducing obedience.

Learner behaviour- t perceiving a victim’s pain does not reduce obedience to authority but being reminded of a victim’s right to be released from the experiment does.

Personality characteristics-

Question 38

Key findings of conformity…

Answer 38

In cases of ambiguity, people develop a group norm and then adhere to it
Conformity occurs because people want to be right, because they want to be liked by others, and because conformity to group norms is usually rewarded
Conformity usually increases with the ambiguity of the situation, as well as with the unanimity and psychological size of the majority

Question 39

Upward social comparison…

Answer 39

Upward social comparison occurs when an individual compares themselves to others they perceive as being better or more successful in some way

Question 40

Ultimate attribution error…

Answer 40

The ultimate attribution error is a broader concept that extends beyond individual attributions to focus on group-level attributions and stereotypes.

Question 41

Kelley’s theory of attribution…

Answer 41

Kelley’s attribution theory provides a framework for understanding how individuals explain the causes of behaviour, taking into account the complexity of human judgment and the importance of context in making attributions. It has been influential in the field of social psychology and helps explain how people understand and interpret the actions of others in everyday life.

Kelley’s Covariation Model is a psychological theory of attribution, which helps us understand how people attribute the causes of behaviour to either internal factors (personality, traits) or external factors (situational circumstances).

Consensus, distinctiveness, consistency

Question 42

Reciprocal determinism

Answer 42

emphasizes the dynamic and interactive nature of the relationship between an individual’s thoughts (cognitions), behaviours, and the environment

Reciprocal determinism suggests that these three factors interact and influence each other bidirectionally. However, personality traits are not explicitly part of reciprocal determinism. Personality traits may play a role in influencing an individual’s cognitions and behaviours, but they are typically considered separate constructs in psychological theories.