Introduction to Social Pyschology Flashcards
what is social pyschology?
the branch of pyschology concerned with how others influence the way a person thinks, feels, and acts
social pysch demonstrates how others affect us powerfully
social environments can be more powerful than individual “dispositions”
social expectations create both our social reality and internalized individual pyschological states
often times, situations cause behavior NOT values
what are 2 important themes linked with social pysch?
- we tend to vastly underestimate the power of situations in shaping our own and other people’s behaviors
- a great deal of mental activity occurs automatically and without conscious awareness or intent (implicit schemas, attitudes, etc)
what are the core concepts in social pysch?
fundamental attribution error
social comparison (everyone thinks that they are better than average - overestimate)
attitudes (implicit (not aware we have them) and explicit_
persuasion (convincing)
self-fulfilling prophecy
confimation biases (look for info that confirms our beliefs)
cognitive dissonance (attitude inconsistent with behavior)
deindividualization and dehumanization
bystandard apathy (don’t act when someone is in distress)
obedience
conformity
what is the fundamental attribution error?
we tend to overemphasize the importance of personality traits and underestimate the importance of situations
invidual characteristics vs. situation
what is the actor-observer discrepancy?
if you do something bad, you will blame it on the situation and not flaw in character (vice versa when something bad happens to others)
how do we make attributions about others?
the “just world” hypothesis - the way we view the world, victims must have deserved it
3 attribution dimensions - want to be self-protective, will make us feel better
- personal vs situational - situational makes you feel better
- stable vs. variable - variable will make you feel better, changes allow us to do better next time
- controllable vs. uncontrollable
attributional style if depressed = personal, stable, uncontrollabe
*attributions can make us feel better or worse
what are attitudes? how do we form attitudes?
attitudes = opinions, beliefs, and feelings
shaped by social context (how we’ve been raised/ implicit)
play an important role in how we evaluate and interact with other people (our “lens” - how we view and filter the world)
direct experience of, or exposure to, things shapes attitude
socialization with parents, teachers, peers, and others affects attitude
what is the mere exposure effect?
the more we are exposed to something, the more likely we are to like it
can attitudes be conditioned?
yes
ex. advertisers use this to improve attitude on what they are trying to sell
what are stereotypes?
cognitive schemas that organize information about people based on their membership in certain groups (catergorization context)
can have postivie and neutral stereotypes too
how are stereotypes maintained?
once a sterotype (label) is formed, then confimation bias maintains it
once a stereotypes is formed, we are resistant to change (changing schema takes effort)
what is prejudice?
an emotional or attitudinal resporise associated with stereotype
negative association
how were stereotypes involved in the Diallo case?
impacts on perception
police shot an unarmed black man who was innocent (had a stereotype and expected him to do something harmful)
more likely to pair a gun with a black face (IAT tests)
can be retrained - reverse implicit thoughts
how can stereotypes lead to prejudice?
ingroup/ outgroup bias…
more likely to associate self with ingroup - some people are more likely to develop associations between aversive events and members of an outgroup
these people are more likely to be racially biased (view outgroup as the same and don’t look at individual differences)
the formation of ingroup and outgroup distinctions appear to occur early in life
what is the outgroup homogeneity effect?
everyone in the outgroup is viewed as the same
ingroup favortism
ex. dillao case
how can cooperation reduce prejudice?
working together for a greater purpose may help people overcome group hostilities
Musafer sherif…
demonstrated that completition created hostility, prejudice and discrimination
cooperation among groups to achieve a superordinate goal diminished these problems and reduced hostility
*look at elaboration likelihood model diagram
how did sherif’s study show cooperation can reduce prejudice?
boys from 2 summer camps were pitted against each other in athletic competitions - negative feelings developed quickly
then the boys from the 2 camps were required to work together as one group to achieve common goals - more people worked together and there was reversal of stereotypes
cooperation = understanding and empathy
competition = hositility
how can persuasion change attitudes?
elaboration likelihood model
if use central route processing (use rational cognitive processes) stonger attitudes, less resistant to change
affect thoughts and beliefs
if use peripheral route processing, it is not as strong
not using thinking, only use if you know they won’t think about it in the future
ex. classical conditioning of a watch and a favorite star
*what marketing is all about
how do jigsaw classrooms develop cooperation?
dividing people into diverse groups
these groups must get info from other groups and bring this info back to theirs
allows kids to develop expertise and interact with everyone
people who are underserved do better, all are more engaged and challenged
*cooperation improves
what does critical thinking involve?
making sound arguments
an argument must have a conclusion and reason
people strengthen their arguments by acknowledging alternative opinions (more influential)
agruments may include a qualifier, contraint, or restrictions
*it is important to use both strengths and weaknesses in an argument
how can persuasion change attitudes?
ex, politics
one sided arguments best if on side already, if not 2 sided arguments are the best
arguments that appeal to emotions are most effective (fear, etc)
if you repeat a lie enough people will believe it
what is group think? does it lead to better or worse decisions?
people getting together leads to making worse decisions…
group is often under pressure
perception of external threat
biased in a particular direction
dissent is discouraged
group members assure each other doing the right thing
to avoid? leaders should play devil’s advocate to avoid bad choices, reverse group think process to make better decisions
what is cognitive dissonance?
“the perceptual incongruity that occurs when there is a contradiciton between 2 attitudes or between an attitude and behavior”
dissonance causes anxiety/ tension
motivated to reduce by changed attitudes or behaviors
*importance of maintaining view of self
how can behaviors become more consistent?
an attitude is more likely to predict behavior, to be consistent over time, and to be resistant to change…
the stronger it is
the more personally relevant it is
the more specific it is
if it is formed through direct experience
attitude accessibility predicts behavior consistent with the attitude
explicit vs. implicit attitudes
