Social Psychology Flashcards
(89 cards)
1
Q
Social psychology
A
the scientific study of how a person’s behaviour, thoughts, personality and feelings influence and are influenced by social groups
2
Q
conformity
A
changing one’s own behaviour to match the actions of others more closely
3
Q
conformity study
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Muzafer Sherif - light experiment
Solomon Asch - line experiment
4
Q
Groupthink
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occurs when people within a group feel that it is more important to maintain the group’s cohesiveness, rather than consider the facts realistically
5
Q
characteristics of groupthink
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invulnerability rationalisation lack of introspection stereotyping pressure lack of disagreement self-deception insularity
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Q
invulnerability
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members feel that they cannot fail
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Q
rationalisation
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members explain away warning signs
help each other rationalise their decision
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Q
lack of introspection
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members do not examine the ethical implications
they believe they cannot make immoral choices
9
Q
stereotyping
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members stereotype their enemies as weak, stupid or unreasonable
10
Q
pressure
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members pressure each other to not question the prevailing opinion
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lack of disagreement
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members do not express opinions that differ from the group consensus
12
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self-deception
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members share in the illusion that the all agree with the decision
13
Q
insularity
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members prevent the group from hearing disruptive but potentially useful information from people who are outside the group
14
Q
Compliance
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occurs when people change their behaviour as a result of another person or group asking or directing them to change
15
Q
Obedience
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when a person asking for another person to change has a level of authority and the person does change their behaviour
16
Q
compliance techniques
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foot-in-the-door technique
door-in-the-face thechnique
lowball technique
17
Q
foot-in-the-door technique
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getting a person to agree to a large request by first asking them to agree to a small request
people want to behave consistently
18
Q
door-in-the-face techique
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asking a person to agree to a large unreasonable task which is then refused
then asking them to complete a more reasonable task
19
Q
lowball technique
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getting a person to commit to something and only after they have committed, you increase the cost of that commitment
20
Q
obedience
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Changing one’s behaviour at the direct order of sn authority figure
21
Q
shock experiment
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Stanley Milgram
22
Q
Social cognition
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focuses on the ways in which people think about other peopled how those cognitions influence behaviour towards those other people
23
Q
attitudes
A
an attitude can be defined as a tendency to respond positively or negatively to a certain idea, person, object or situation
can include options beliefs and biases
attitudes influence the way people view these things before they have even been exposed to them
24
Q
ABC model of attitudes
A
affective component
behaviour component
cognitive component
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affective component
the way a person feels towards the object, person or situation
affect = emotion/feeling
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behaviour component
the action that a person take-in regard to the person, situation or object
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cognitive component
the way the person thinks about the person, situation or object
includes beliefs and ideas about the focus of the attitude
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predictions from attitudes
attitudes = poor predictors for behaviour
| cognitive dissonances exist
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attitude formation
direct contact
direct instruction
interaction with others
vicarious conditioning
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direct contact
direct contact with the person, idea or object that is the focus of the attitude
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direct instruction
attitudes can be formed by direct instruction from parents or other individuals
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interaction with others
sometimes attitudes are formed because a person is surrounded by other people that hold a certain attitude
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vicarious conditioning
many attitudes are learned through observation
| attitudes are influenced by the education system, mass media, television and marketing
34
Persuasion
the process by which one person tries to change the belief, opinion, position or course of action of another person through argument, pleading or explanation
35
factors in predicting successful persuasion
source
message
target audience
medium
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Source
people give more weight to people who are perceived as experts, as well as those who seem trustworthy, attractive and similar to the receiver of the message
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message
is the message clear and well organised?
| its more effective to present both sides of the argument
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target audience
the characteristics of the people who are the intended target of the message of persuasion are also important in determining the effectiveness of the message
you adults and late teens are more susceptible to persuasion than older people
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medium
the form in which the person receives the message is also important
television vs newspaper
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Elaboratio liklihood model
model of persuasion
2 types of processing are hypothesised in this model
central-route processing = assumes that people elaborate (add details and information) based of what they hear (the facts of the message) or
peripheral-route processing = they do to elaborate at all, preferring to pay attention to the surface characteristics of the message (length of message, who delivers it, how attractive they are)
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Cognitive dissonance
when people find themselves doing or saying things that do not align with their thoughts or opinions of themselves
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how to reduce cognitive dissonance
1. change conflicting behaviour to match attitude
2. change conflicting cognition to justify behaviour
3. form new conditions to justify behaviour
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Social categorisation
unconscious process of assigning newly met people to a certain group or category based on their characteristics
can result in stereotyping
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impression formation
the forming of the first knowledge the person has about another person
part of social categorisation process
includes assigning a person to a number of categories and drawing conclusions about what that person is likely to do
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Implicit personality theories
sets of assumptions that people have about how many types of people, personality traits ad actions are all related, and form in childhood
can become stereotypes
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Attribution
the process of explaining both one's own behaviour and the behaviour of other people
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Attribution theory
```
developed by Heider
a way of explaining why things happen as well as why people choose the particular explanations of behaviour that they do
2 kinds of explanations
situational cause
dispositional cause
```
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situational cause
when the cause of behaviour is assumed to be from external sources
the observed behaviour is assumed to be caused by whatever situation exists for that person at that time
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dispositional cause
when the cause of the behaviour is assumed to come from within the individual
it is the person's internal personality traits that are seen as the cause of the observed behaviour
these kids of attributions have an emotional component
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fundamental attribution error
tendency for people observing someone else's actions to overestimate the influence of that person's internal characteristics on behaviour and underestimate the situation
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Prejudice
when a person holds an unsupported and often negative stereotyped attitude about members of a social group
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discrimination
when prejudicial attitudes cause members of a specific group to be treated differently from others in situations that call for unequal treatment
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realistic conflict theory
states that increasing prejudice and discrimination are closely tied to an increasing degree of conflict between the in-group and the out-group
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Social identity theory
3 processes are responsible for a person's identity within a particular social group and the attitudes, concept, and behaviour that go along with that group
1. social categorisation
2. social identity
3. social comparison
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social identity formation
the view of oneself as a member of a particular social group within the social category
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social comparison
when people compare themselves favourably to others to improve their own self esteem
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Stereotype vulnerability
the effect that a person's knowledge of another's stereotyped opinions can have on that person's behaviour
people often feel anxious about behaving I ways that can support their stereotype
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stereotype threat
members of a stereotyped group are made anxious and wary of any situation in which their behaviour might confirm their stereotype
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equal status contact
a situation where either group holds power over the other
has shown to reduce prejudice and discrimination
encourages going positive cooperation
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social factors in stress
poverty
job stress
culture
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culture stress
acculturation:
| a process of adapting to a new, or different culture
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acculterative stress
1. integration
2. assimilation
3. separation
4. marginalisation
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integration
practicing original culture at home while still maintaining a positive relationship with the dominant culture outside of the home
acculturative stress = low
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assimilation
the minority person gives up the old cultural identity and completely adopts the ways of the majority culture
moderate levels of acculturative stress
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separation
person rejects the majority culture's ways
maintains original cultural identity
high degree of acculturative stress
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marginalisation
people who don't maintain their original culture and also doesn't join the majority culture
highest level of acculturative stress
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social support system
```
network of friends, family, co-workers, neighbours and others who can offer help to a friend in need
help =
advice
physical/financial support
emotional support
love and affection
companionship
```
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good support system
live longer
less likely to die form injury or illness
positive effect on immune system
improves mental health
makes stressors seem less threatening as a result of having more help
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how culture and religion affects stress
a belief in a higher power can be a great source of comfort inn times of stress
religion makes people feel better about their weaknesses, failures or feelings of inadequacy
religion can give meaning to things that seem purposeless
death = pathway to paradise
encourages healthy behaviour
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interpersonal attraction
several factors involved in attraction to a person
proximity
physical characteristics
elements of personality
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proximity
how close your are to other people
availability depends heavily on proximity
people want to be with people who are available
exposure effect
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exposure effect
the more people experience something, the more they like it
| when people are repeatedly exposed to one another, they may increase their attraction to one another
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similarity
people tend to like being around others who are similar to them
the more people have in common, the more they ted to like each other
when other person has similar ideas or beliefs to you, it validates those ideas for yourself
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reciprocity of liking
people have a strong tendency to like people who like them
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love triangle
Robert Sternberg
there are 3 components of love and three combinations that these components can produce
1. intimacy
2. passion
3. commitment
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intimacy
feelings of closeness
emotional ties to one another
not physical but psychological
enjoying the presence of one another
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passion
physical aspect of love
emotional and sexual arousal that a person feels towards other person
all physical aspects of a relationship
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commitment
decisions one makes about the relationship
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Aggression
when a person deliberately tries to hurt or destroy another person
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cause of aggression
```
often a reaction to frustration
also a basic human instinct (freud)
biology
alcohol
social roles
media
```
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frustration-aggression hypothesis
negative sensations are often intense and uncontrollable
| this leads to frustration and often aggressive acts against the nearest available target
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Aggression and biology
it may be that some gene, or complex of genes, makes certain people more susceptible to aggressive response under the right environmental conditions
aggression = controlled by amygdala, frontal lobe and other parts of limbic system
testosterone can also lead to aggression
83
alcohol and aggression
alcohol acts to release inhibitions, making people less likely to control their behaviour
84
social roles and aggression
social role = pattern of behaviour a person is expected to take based on their particular social position
people who watch aggressive behaviour may model their behaviour around this aggression
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Prosocial behaviour
socially desirable behaviour that benefits others rather than bringing them harm
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altruism
helping someone in trouble with no expectation reward and often without fear of one's own safety
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bystander effect
the likelihood of helping someone inn need decreases as the number of bystanders increases
this is because of the diffusion of responsibility
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diffusion of responsibility
the phenomenon in which a person refuses to take responsibility for either action or inaction because of the presence of other people who are seen to share the responsibility
form of attribution in which people explain their behaviour as a result of the presence of other people
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5 decision points I helping behaviour
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noticing the situation
defining it as an emergency
taking responsibility for acting
planning a course of action
taking action
```
