Chapter 13

Question 1

What is social psychology?

Answer 1

The area of psychology that focuses on how people think about other people and interact in relationships and groups

Question 2

what is social cognition?

Answer 2

How people perceive the social world and how they attend to, store, remember, and use information about other people and the social world

Question 3

what is attitude?

Answer 3

An attitude is “a relatively enduring organization of beliefs, feelings, and behavioral tendencies towards socially significant objects, groups, events or symbols”

Question 4

how can attitude help us predict behavior?

Answer 4

Strong, stable, relevant, important, memorable attitudes most predictive if someone is strongly religious we assume they are in church on sunday

Question 5

how can behavior affect attitude?

Answer 5

Cognitive dissonance tells us that in defending a randomly assigned attitude changes peoples’ attitudes. Why? This produces a feeling of discomfort leading to an alteration in one of the attitudes, beliefs or behaviors to reduce the discomfort and restore balance etc.

Question 6

What are the ABC’s of attitude?

Answer 6

Affective component: this involves a person’s feelings / emotions about the attitude object. For example: “I am scared of spiders”. Behavioral component: the way the attitude we have influences how we act or behave. For example: “I will avoid spiders and scream if I see one”. Cognitive component: this involves a person’s belief / knowledge about an attitude object. For example: “I believe spiders are dangerous”.

Question 7

what knowledge does attitude give us?

Answer 7

Provides meaning for life Allows prediction what / how events might happen Gives structure and organization We know someone is religious, so we can predict that they go to church

Question 8

What are key characteristics of ego expressive attitude structure?

Answer 8

Helps to communicate who we are Asserts our identity - tattoo, clothing Adaptive behavior - hip hop kids, kids in high school tend to fit into groups Helps assign us to social groups and social acceptance

Question 9

What are key characteristics of ego defensive attitude structure?

Answer 9

Protects our self-esteem and those behaviors that might otherwise make us feel guilty Also solidifies a position within a social group

Question 10

what is Festinger’s cognitive dissonance theory?

Answer 10

we have an inner drive to hold all our attitudes and beliefs in harmony and avoid disharmony (or dissonance). Cognitive dissonance –conflicting attitudes, beliefs or behaviors. This conflict produces feelings of discomfort Leads one to alteration one of the attitudes, beliefs or behaviors In turn, this leads to a reduction of discomfort

Question 11

What are the different methods of reducing dissonance?

Answer 11

Indirect strategies Feeling good about ourselves in other areas of life Direct strategies Change our attitude about what we believe Trivializing an inconsistency

Question 12

What are stereotypes?

Answer 12

A belief (or set of beliefs) about people from a particular category or group

Question 13

how can stereotypes be used as cognitive shortcuts?

Answer 13

Assign social information to a category of people

Question 14

what is prejudice?

Answer 14

An attitude (generally negative) toward members of a group

Question 15

what are the 2 components of prejudice?

Answer 15

Cognitive—beliefs and expectations about a group Emotional—negative feelings towards a group

Question 16

what is discrimination?

Answer 16

Negative behavior based on prejudice negative behavior toward individuals from a specific group due to unjustified negative attitudes about that group based on anything that distinguishes groups

Question 17

Why Does Prejudice Exist?

Answer 17

Realistic conflict theory - Competition for resources - Prejudice reduced when competition is eliminated ie poor whites started competing with blacks for jobs and were the worst offenders of prejudices social learning: Prejudice transmitted through culture

Question 18

what are the two categories or social prejudice?

Answer 18

Ingroup Outgroup

Question 19

what does robber’s cave study tell us about prejudice?

Answer 19

when the boys were competing they were violent and prejudice toward each other when they were asked to work together toward a common goal it eliminated the bad behavior

Question 20

how can people change their prejudice?

Answer 20

Contact hypothesis Re-categorization Mutual interdependence

Question 21

what is the contact hypothesis?

Answer 21

• When faced with enough inconsistent information or exceptions to the stereotypes, people change the stereotypes that give rise to their prejudice - can shatter the illusion that the outgroup is homogeneous (military teaches soldiers that enemy all has the same face) - Increase awareness of similarities - Information inconsistent with stereotypes

Question 22

what is Re-categorization as it relates to prejudice?

Answer 22

Shifts from “us” and “them” to less distinct entities

Question 23

what is the mutual interdependence as it relates to prejudice?

Answer 23

each member’s contribution is a piece of the whole

Question 24

how can we change our attitude through a central route?

Answer 24

Central route— - paying close attention to the persuasive argument - If you’re already against the premise it is not too useful

Question 25

how can we change our attitude through a Peripheral route?

Answer 25

Peripheral route - The source of the argument is attractive (Kate Upton) - The source is famous (Bono) - The number of arguments for or against can be swaying - The opinions of others exposed to the argument

Question 26

how can we change our attitude through a Mere exposure effect?

Answer 26

Mere exposure effect - exposure to other things changes attitude (college?)

Question 27

how can we change our attitude through Persuasive people?

Answer 27

Identity - Experts or famous people Fast talking - Fast-talkers seem to be most persuasive Seems honest

Question 28

how can we change our attitude through Persuasive message?

Answer 28

Fear (politicians - if you vote for obama the country will die in 4 yrs) Public service messages (ex-smokers dying on commercials)

Question 29

what is social cognitive neuroscience?

Answer 29

The area of psychology that attempts to understand social cognition by specifying the cognitive mechanisms that underlie it and by discovering how those mechanisms are rooted in the brain

Question 30

what is Attribution?

Answer 30

An explanation for the cause of an event or behavior

Question 31

what is an example of an Internal/Dispositional attribution?

Answer 31

“I did a good job because I’m smart.”

Question 32

what is an example of an External/Situational attributions?

Answer 32

“I did a good job because the task was easy.”

Question 33

what are examples of attributional biases?

Answer 33

Fundamental attribution error - AKA the correspondence bias - Bias to attribute internal causes for other people’s behavior Self-serving bias - Attribute external causes for your own failings Belief in a just world - People get what they deserve. (karma)

Question 34

What does it mean to like someone?

Answer 34

Physical attraction Repeated contact Similarity

Question 35

What are the two different types of love?

Answer 35

Companionate, passionate

Question 36

What are characteristics of companionate love?

Answer 36

Altruistic love Spend time, resources and attention

Question 37

What are characteristics of passionate love?

Answer 37

Being “in love” with someone Sexual attraction, arousal, desire reciprocal love, physical closeness, fear of losing the other person

Question 38

what are the different attachment styles for love?

Answer 38

secure, avoidant, anxious-ambivalent

Question 39

what are characteristics of a secure attachment style for love?

Answer 39

Secure Need for closeness and interdependence Not fearful of losing the other 59% in the US

Question 40

what are characteristics of a avoidant attachment style for love?

Answer 40

Avoidant Uncomfortable with the intimacy 25% in the US

Question 41

what are characteristics of a Anxious-ambivalent attachment style for love?

Answer 41

Anxious-ambivalent Both want and fear an intimate relationship 11% in the US

Question 42

Sternberg’s triangular model of love

Answer 42

Question 43

what are some key traits in the evolutionary theory or mating preferences?

Answer 43

Both Sexes: kindness and intelligence Emotional stability, dependability, good disposition Men: physical attractiveness Women: wealth and power

Question 44

what are the key characteristics of social organizations?

Answer 44

A Group has -Regular interaction -Emotional connection -Interdependence Norms -Enforcement through sanctions Roles -Expected behavior based on position within group

Question 45

what did we learn about the stanford prison experiment?

Answer 45

guards and inmate fell into their roles without much effort. behavaiors in the group affects others in their role as well as the opposites and how they reacted

Question 46

what is conformity?

Answer 46

Change in behavior in order to follow a group’s norms

Question 47

what is Informational social influence?

Answer 47

is a psychological phenomenon where people assume the actions of others in an attempt to reflect correct behavior for a given situation.

Question 48

what is Normative social influence?

Answer 48

Normative social influence is a type of social influence leading to conformity. It is defined as “the influence of other people that leads us to conform in order to be liked and accepted by them”.

Question 49

what does asch’s study of conformity tell us?

Answer 49

people deny what they see and conform if the person has a partner they tend to answer how they feel person feels they have less pressure to conform if they are able to write their answer

Question 50

what is compliance?

Answer 50

Change in behavior brought about by a direct request rather than by social norms

Question 51

what are the six principles of compliance?

Answer 51

Friendship/liking (“you and I are friendly, so ok!”) Commitment/consistency (“well I have already come this far”) Scarcity(“only while the supply lasts!”) Reciprocity (“well you helped me before”) Social validation (“IF they jumped off a bridge would you?”) Authority (“You’re the boss!”)

Question 52

what are the 3 techniques of getting someone to comply?

Answer 52

Foot-in-the-door - Small request followed by a large request (America heart assoc , asks for $1 then $10) Lowball - Offer something then increasing the cost Door-in-the-face - Make a huge request then make a smaller request (works best)

Question 53

what were the results of the milgram study?

Answer 53

study where shock was administered to a person that the test subject couldn’t see but hear. Expected: 2% administer maximum shock Observed: 65% administer maximum shock Foot-in-the-door technique (started small and got larger) Authority (if someone else was taking the responsibility for the well being of the shocked patient then the shocker was more likely to comply Other manipulations Physical proximity Physical contact - dr physically touched the person to reassure them it was ok

Question 54

what are the different areas of group psychology?

Answer 54

Group Decision-making Majority-win vs. truth-win rule Group polarization Opinions become more extreme after group discussion Groupthink: Lack of critical analysis Example: the boardroom of a company with an authoritarian leader Social loafing: Freeloading Has anybody had to do a group project? Social facilitation: Power of an audience (do better in the presence of a group)

Question 55

what is altruism?

Answer 55

Motivation to increase another person’s welfare

Question 56

what are characteristics of the helper in prosocial behavior?

Answer 56

Need for approval Takes personal and social responsibility Less concern for one’s own welfare homeless people - more likely to give $$$or help when the person looks like us (we can relate more) more likely to help someone at night vs daytime. daytime we feel there are plenty of other people that can help (feel less pressure/responsible to provide help)

Question 57

what are characteristics of the helper in prosocial behavior?

Answer 57

They are similar to us They are someone we like Is not responsible for their predicament

Question 58

what are characteristics of the situation in prosocial behavior?

Answer 58

Cost of helping is low / cost of not helping is high Return is substantial

Question 59

what does the Bystander Effect tell us about the Death of Kitty Genovese?

Answer 59

if a person is by themselves and witness something (attack) they feel more pressure to help. if several people witness something (attack) and know others witness it, the pressure to react to help is diffused.

Question 60

what are the 5 choice points in the bystander affect?

Answer 60

if no to any of the below then no help is given, if yes, then proceed to next step until 5 and then he/she intervenes Step 1 Is the emergency noticed by the bystander? Step 2 Does the bystander correctly perceive the event as an emergency? Step 3 Does the bystander assume responsibility to intervene? Step 4 Does the bystander know what to do and how to help? Step 5 Is the bystander motivated enough despite possible negative consequences?