lec 11: social psychology

Question 1

define social psychology.

Answer 1

branch of psychology that studies effects of social variables and cognition on individual behavior and social interactions.

Question 2

what is the social context?

Answer 2

social context is the combination of

1. people
2. activities and interactions they are engaged in
3. the setting in which the behaviour occurs
4. social norms and expected behaviours in that setting

Question 3

situationism vs dispositionism

Answer 3

1. situationism is the view that people’s behaviour is influenced by the environment conditions as much as or more than their disposition do under some circumstances, while
2. dispositionism is the view that people’s behaviour is influenced by their inner characteristics and personality like values, character, and genetic makeup.

Question 4

define social role.

Answer 4

a socially defined pattern of behaviour that is expected of people in a given setting or group.

eg. as a mother, more likely to be caregiver and do housework
as a student, attend class and study

Question 5

what are social norms?

Answer 5

a group’s expectations regarding what is appropriate and acceptable attitudes and behaviours for its members

Question 6

schema vs script

Answer 6

schema is a cluster of related concepts that provide the framework for a particular topic, while script is the knowledge of the sequence of events that is expected to happen in a particular setting.

schema - stovetop, induction cooker, knives, meat, spices (kitchen)

script - in a restaurant, we get seated, order from a menu, get our food, eat, then pay

Question 7

what is the chameleon effect? what about conformity?

Answer 7

chameleon effect is the tendency to mimic other people, while conformity is the tendency to adopt others’ point of views, attitudes and behaviour.

Question 8

what is the Asch effect?

Answer 8

a form of conformity whereby a group majority influences individual judgements on unambiguous stimuli.

Question 9

what are some factors that encourage conformity?

Answer 9

1. size of group
2. unanimity of group (everyone agrees)
3. power of ally (in the case where one person disagrees, conformity likelihood decreases significantly)
4. self esteem
5. ambiguity/difficulty of task
6. makeup of the majority (a group of doctors vs a group of senile old men)
7. independence (so much so as to not conform even when they should)
8. making public commitment (must tell the rest your answer)

Question 10

state the autokinetic effect and what does it say about group influence?

Answer 10

the autokinetic effect is the perceived motion of a stationary dot of light in a dark room. it is used by sherif to study the formation fo group norms.

the study reveals that norms can be transmitted from one generation of group members to the next and can continue to influence people long after the original group that created the norm no longer exists.

Question 11

what is groupthink?

Answer 11

the term for poor judgments and bad decisions made by members in a group that are overly influenced by perceived group consensus or the leader’s pov.

Question 12

what are some conditions that promote groupthink?

Answer 12

1. dominant leader
2. high group cohesiveness
3. homogeneity of members’ social background and ideology
4. high stress from external threats

Question 13

why do people conform?

Answer 13

1. normative social influences - the need to act in ways that we feel will let us be liked, accepted, approved
2. informative social influences - take our cues from others on how to behave in ambiguous or new situations

Question 14

what factors affect obedience?

Answer 14

1. peer obedience
2. hgiher authority
3. anonymity of victims
4. under direct surveillance

all these are situational factors, not personal/dispositional factors

Question 15

explain the bystander effect.

Answer 15

• the tendency of people not lending a hand in emergencies, espeically when there are other people present
• the more bystanders, the less likely to help
• due to diffusion of responsibility (weakening of each group member’s obligation to act when responsibility is perceived to be shared with all group members)

Question 16

what should we do when we encounter emergencies and need help?

Answer 16

1. ask for help
2. make the situation specific
3. call out specific people to help

Question 17

what influences our judgments of other people?

Answer 17

1. their behaviour
2. our interpretation of their behvaiour in the given social context

Question 18

define social reality.

Answer 18

one’s subjective interpretation of others and their relationship with them.

Question 19

what is the reward theory of attraction?

Answer 19

the reward theory of attraction predicts that we like best those who give us maximum rewards at minimum cost.

Question 20

based on principle of proximity and the reward theory of attraction, explain why people make friends with their neightbors.

Answer 20

reward theory - we like best, people who give us maximum rewards at minimum cost

principle of proximity - people near to each other usually become friends

assuming our neighbor is equally if not more attractive than us, we get maximum rewards for minimum cost in terms of time and convenience since they live right next door, when we make friends with them.

Question 21

state the similarity principle.

Answer 21

it states that people are attracted to those who are most similar to themselves on significant dimensions.

Question 22

what is self-disclosure in a relationship?

Answer 22

the sharing of personal information and feelings with another person to develop trust.

*2 people sharing secrets and having deep conversations with each other means they are getting more attracted to each other.

Question 23

list the factors that increase attractiveness of other people.

Answer 23

1. reward theory of attraction (max. rewards, min. cost)
2. self-disclosure (develop trust)
3. similarity (common ground on significant dimensions)
4. proximity
5. physical attractiveness (pretty privilege)

Question 24

name an exception to the reward theory of attraction.

Answer 24

matching hypothesis - people tend to make friends/find partners who they deem to be on their same level of attractiveness

*they do the matching based on expectancy-value theory whereby people decide whether or not to pursue a r/s by weighing the potential value of the r/s (attractive of the other person) against their expectation of success in establishing that r/s (will the other person like me back based on my attractiveness)

Question 25

define and explain cognitive dissonance.

Answer 25

the cognitive dissonance theory states that when people are willingly doing acts or behaving in a way that goes against their comfort level (psychologically or physically), attitudes and values, they develop this highly motivated mental state called cognitive dissonance where they change thier cognition (thinking) to fit their behaviour.

2 ways to rid cognitive dissonance:
1. change behavior (action)
2. change cognition (thinking)

reason for cognitive dissonance (changing of thinking to fit behaviour) - maintian consistency and self-esteem, so they change their way of thinking to explain their own behaviour to themselves.

collectivist cultures are more likely to experience cognitive dissonance since they value their groups more than their individual selves.

explains:
1. abusive r/s where the abused min. the abuse and max. the abuser’s good points, to justify staying in the bad r/s
2. our tendency to ignore negativity and only see the positivity surrounding things we want (eg. porche)

Question 26

give a brief summary of the triangular theory of love by Robert Sternberg.

Answer 26

• the theory describes various kinds of love using 3 components (passion, intimacy, commitment)
• passion: erotic attraction
• intimacy: sharing of feelings and connections
• commitment: dedicated to place this r/s as 1st priority
• examples:

1. romantic love (temporary and highly emotional condition based on infatuation and sexual desire) - high on passion and intimacy, low on commitment
2. friendship - high on intimacy, low on passion and commitment
3. infatuation - high passion, low commitment and intimacy
4. complete love - high on all 3

Question 27

what is FAE?

what should we practise to prevent FAE?

Answer 27

interpersonal bias

fundamental attribution error - dual tendency to judge other people’s behaviours by overemphasising on their internal and dispositional causes and minimising external, situational pressures.

we should practise attributional charity - look for external situational factors that may justify their behaviours first, before looking at dispositional explanations

Question 28

what does the self-serving bias say?

Answer 28

• intrapersonal bias
• definition: an attributional pattern in which we take credit for success but denies responsibility for failures
• elaboration: attribute succeses to ourselves and look for external situational explanations for failures
• reason: deep rooted need for self-esteem, to cast our actions is best possible light, to ourselves and others

Question 29

what bias does intrapersonal and interpersonal bias produce?

Answer 29

actor-observer bias whereby behaviours of others are due to their internal dispostional causes (FAE) while our behaviour is due to external situational pressures (self-serving bias)

Question 30

fill in the blank:

___ is the term for negative attitude toward an individual just because of his or her membership in a particular group or category.

Answer 30

prejudice

Question 31

state the difference between prejudice and discrimination.

Answer 31

• prejudice is the negative attitude towards someone based solely on his/her membership to a particular group/category, often without evidence.
• discrimination is the negative action one takes towards somone who he/she has a negative attitude towards due to that someone being in a particular group/category.
• discrimination is the behaviour that stems from prejudice, while prejudice is the attitude

Question 32

what are the causes of prejudice?

Answer 32

1. greater social distance/dissimilarity - the differences between oneself and others.
   eg. boomers vs gen-zs
2. economic competition - one group wins economically at the other group’s expense
   eg. timber workers vs environmentalists
3. scapegoating - blaming innocents for one’s own troubles, then discriminating against them
   eg. german jews serving as scapegoats for nazis in world war ii
4. conformity to social norms - thoughtless tendency to maintain things the way they are, despite unfairness
   eg. male nurses and female executives
5. media stereotypes
   eg. yellow-tinted mexico, white people in high end jobs
6. dehumanisation - thinking that certain groups/people are less human, like feared or hated animals

Question 33

name 2 ways to combat prejudice.

Answer 33

1. new role models
2. equal status contact
3. jigsaw classrooms where each child is a puzzle piece for a group based on their knowledge and specialty
4. legislation

Question 34

what is the stereotype threat?

Answer 34

the stereotype threat is the effect that an individual performs poorly due to knowledge that his/her group is going to perform poorly.