Week 11 - social psychology Flashcards
what is social psychology?
scientific investigation of how the presence of others/imaged presense of others influence the thoughts, actions and beliefs of people
what are the different components of attidude? in other words, what makes up a persons attitude?
cognitive (thinking): i have negative thoughts of managements
attitude (feeling): i dont trust managers
behavioural (acting): i would never be close with a manager
what are the different characteristics of attitude?
strength: the strength of the attitude. stronger the attitudes -> more stronger held it is and influence behaviour (acting). Strong attitudes usually from person having large knowledge/experience of that particular thing
ambivalence: evaluating the postive and negative avaluation that make up that attitude. ambivalence increases as the positive/negaitve sides become more equal - (high complexity?)
complexity: the degree of complexity in forming that attitude: Example: people who are strongly left/right wing have a very low/no complexity of attitude towards the subject.
coherence: internal consistancy - do we like what we beleive?
what are some factors influencing the attiudes/behaviour link? by changing attitudes how can we change behaviour?
factors affecting attitude/behaviour link
- specificity of the attitude
- attitude dimension - strength, complextiy, coherernace, ambivalence
- attitudes of other people around you
- other influences - practical constraints
what is the theory of planned behaviour?
TPB suggests that when poeple have time to plan behaviour it is heavily goverened by intentions. 3 factors contribute to the strength of the intention.
1. attitudes: evaluates objects, people, events and can be negative or positive
2. intention: how likely is it that you can perform the behaviour - easy/hard
3. subjective norms: how poeple aroudn you will act/feel towards the behaviour - approval/disapproval
3 factors determine if intention will be strong/weak
Example: someone has a positive attitude, intention of performing task is easy and approval of behaviors => his intention will be STRONG
what is the elaboration likelihood model?
Theory that evalues whether poeple will be more influenced by the content of persuasive communication or superficial characteristics (looks of the speaker). two ways in which attitude can change behaviour
- central route: when poeple think elaboratley about the message/ determine the meaning behind that message. If message is logical, holds strong arguments -> more likely to be persuaded . Example: if i am listening to a speach about the harms associated with drinking - i am likely to engage in the speech as it relates to my social life + engaded in speakers arguments -> i am persuaded
- peripheral: when people are not motivated by the facts but instead are motivated by superficial characteristics (looks, fame of the person)
example: i am listening to a speaches by donald trump and hilary - boring speeches - but hilary has a much more soothing/warm voice so i choose her and agree with her NOT BECAUSE OF HER ARGUMENTS
what are the two factors that deterine whether a person will take the central route or peripheral route in listening to an event?
motivation
ability
motivation + ability must be present to take the central route
no motivation/ability = peripheral route
example: If i hear a speech about tutiton fees increasing next year, i am motivated by that speech because i will be in uni and have abilinity in that i understand his argyments because he is using easy language.
example: i may be motivated by a speech but if i do not have the ability such as cant heaar the speaker or cant understand the complex language he is usuing then i will take the PERIPHERAL ROUTE -> begin to look at the length of speech/attractiveness of the guy
what is cognitive dissonance?
- when behaviour is inconsistant with our attitudes or when we recieve information that is inconsistant with our attitude.
- disagreeable feeling one experiences when one beleif/action conflicts with a pre-existing belief or action
example: if someone I HATE does something nice for me - i may try and convince myself that she is only being nice to try and make me feel guilty that i hate her
example: i know that smoking is bad but i smoke anyway - i try and justify by saying that smoking wont kill me and that something else will
what is social cognition? give an example
The study of how people percieve, repond to social stimuli - making sense of ourselves, others, social interactions
what is a schema? How are schemas developed?
Schema is a mental concept that informs a person on what to except for different experiences and situations. Schemas are developed by information given by life experiences and stored in memory
what are self schemas, event and person schemas?
Person schmeas: knowledge structure about the types of people we know personally/through, implicit characteristic theoies is when we only associate one characterisitc to a person (if sally goes to a party and is loud and extroverted but usually an introvert - this suprises ppl), sterotypes (gender, religion, role)
self schemas: expectations on how we ourselves should act in certain situations. (if i think i am introverted i will feel obligated to stay at home on weekends even if there is a party on)
event schemas: schemas that are expectations on how we should behave in a certain situation. based on how events should play out based on our past experiences with similar events/situations (dreamworld should be fun because movieworld was fun) (if you are working at a new job, your expectations will be based on your previous job - how much pay, when lunch break is, how much assignments i am given weekly) (schemas from previous experience, allow people to know how to behave at a restuarnt they have never been before)
why are schemas important?
influence how we process information.
- allows us to fill in gaps with past experiences/pre-conceptions (i will knw how to put petrol in a car in a gas station i have never been before in NSW because i have put gas in a car in a petrol station in brisbane)
- importnat t be aware of schemas to ensudre that we do not think every similar situation/event is the same
- schemas might change if constantly exposed to information that is opposite
what are some negative things about schemas?
- result in our thoughts/beliefs being biased
- example: if i see a black man beating someone up - i will think all black men are violent
what is heuristics and how is this related to schemas?
Heuristics are a mental shortcut that allows us to make quick decsions without needing to analyse/research information. Heuristics influenced by schemas (past experinces) we have of people/events/self
what are some negative things about heuristics?
can lead to errors in judgement
