Chapter 16 Social Behavior

Question 1

Attractive people are seen to be more

Answer 1

sociable, friendly, poised, warm, and well-adjusted // but in actual fact there is little correlation

reason is that they are vastly over-represented in media where they are shown in a positive light

our perception is swayed by our desire to bond with these people

study for children shows that attributing more positive to good looking people starts really early (chart 16.1 page 743)

people also see good looking people as more competent as a result they tend to secure higher paying and better jobs

Question 2

baby faces

Answer 2

associated with perceptions of honestly and integrity
warm, submissive, helpless, naive
though there is no substantiating proof

Question 3

Social Schemas are

Answer 3

what does a computer programmer, jock, social climbers, wimps look like

Question 4

Stereotypes

Answer 4

are widely held beliefs that people have certain characteristics because of their membership in a particular group

Question 5

Illusory correlation occurs

Answer 5

when people estimate that they have encountered more confirmations of an association between social traits than they have actually seen
or opposite as in “I’ve never met an honest lawyer”

Question 6

evolutionary take on attractiveness

Answer 6

associated with reproductive potential in women and health and vigour and the accumulation with material resources in men

Question 7

evolutionary take on stereotyping

Answer 7

distant ancestors need to classify quickly
in-group: with one you identify
out-group: a group that you don’t belong to or identify with
as thought that classification activates 2 different brain circuits

Question 8

What are attributions?

Answer 8

inferences that people draw about the causes of events, others’ behaviours and their own behaviour
you assume you know why someone turned down your invitation to your party
not necessarily correct

Question 9

Distinguish between internal and external attributions.

Answer 9

Internal Attributions: the business failed because of his lack of acumen for sales

External Attributions: The business failed because the market is in a slump right now

Question 10

Summarize Weiner’s theory of attribution

Answer 10

stable and unstable internal and external factors, so if you didn’t get a job:

stable internal = lack of ability
unstable internal = inadequate effort to put together a nice resume
stable external = too much outstanding competition
unstable external = bad luck

Question 11

the fundamental attribution error refers to

Answer 11

observers’ bias in favor of internal attributions in explaining others’ behaviours
you see someone do something and you attribute it to an internal trait of theirs: they are so lazy
because relating their behaviour in terms of situational factors requires way more thought
people also believe that there are very few situational factors that would negate personal choice
observers are often unaware of historical and situational considerations so again its easier to assume you acted like an asshole at the bank because you are an asshole, and not because you were treated poorly consistently

Question 12

Actor-Observer Bias

Answer 12

actor blames the situation (external attributions)

observer blames the personality trait (internal attributions)

Question 13

defensive attribution is

Answer 13

a tendency to blame victims for their misfortune, so that one feels less likely to be victimized in a similar way
bad luck implies that it can happen to you and confirms that the world is potentially an unsafe place
this is a problem for us because we want to believe the world is just and admitting that shit can happen to us dismantles that safety net

Question 14

collectivist cultures are

Answer 14

less prone to the fundamental attribution error

Question 15

Self-Serving Bias is the tendency to

Answer 15

attribute one’s successes to personal factors and failures to situational factors

more prevalent in individualistic cultures

Japanese display self-effacing bias for explaining success

Question 16

three key factors in attraction

Answer 16

1) Physical attractiveness
2) The matching hypothesis proposes that male and females of approximately equal physical attractiveness are likely to select each other as partners

3) SIMILARITY EFFECTS
married/dating tend to be similar in age, race, religion, social class, personality, education, intelligence

Question 17

Sternberg subdivides love into 2 things:

Answer 17

intimacy
warmth, closeness and sharing

and

Commitment

intent to maintain a relationship in spite of the difficulties and costs that may arise

Question 18

The three big attachment theories

Answer 18

secure (56%)
anxious-ambivalent attachment (20%)
avoidant (24%)
Attachment patterns are relatively stable over time

Question 19

A later version is where people fall on two continuums that can generate 4 subtypes:

Answer 19

Attachment Anxiety and

Attachment avoidance

the four subtypes are:
secure, preoccupied, avoidant dismissing, avoidant fearful

Question 20

cultural variations in romantic attraction: similarities

Answer 20

mutual attraction, kindness, intelligence, emotional stability, dependability and good health
males place more importance on females attractiveness and women more on men’s status and financial resource

Question 21

cultural variations in romantic attraction: differences

Answer 21

marriage for love is new and represents the ultimate expression of individualism
arranged marriages are pretty common still in many countries (romance is less important in collectivist cultures)
collectivist cultures: what will my parents and culture say vs. what will my heart say

Question 22

Describe the evolutionary perspective on attraction

Answer 22

facial symmetry because developmental abnormalities are associated with asymmetry
hourglass figure in woman means she’s healthy, young, and not pregnant
youth for women = greater reproductive potential
male ambition, social status, financial potential, = ability to invest in offspring
when approaching ovulation, women prefer attractiveness, dominance,
strippers earn more money when they are ovulating
might be that the men are picking up on something or the women are hornier, so they are coming on to the men more

Question 23

three components of attitudes

Answer 23

cognitive:
beliefs people hold about the object of an attitude

affective:
emotional feelings stimulated by an object of thought

behavioural:
predisposition to act in certain ways toward an attitude object

Question 24

relationship between attitudes and behaviour

Answer 24

Attitudes are mediocre predictor of behaviour 0.41

attitude strength

firmly held, durable over time, have an impact on behaviour

attitude accessibility

how often one thinks about it // how quickly it comes to mind

ambivalence attitude

conflicted evaluations that include positive and negative feelings about an object of thought

Question 25

Explicit vs Implicit Attitudes

Answer 25

Explicit ones that we hold consciously and can readily describe Implicit ones that are expressed in subtle automatic responses over which we have little conscious control

Question 26

process of persuasion

Answer 26

The Source Message Factors Receiver Factors

Question 27

The Source is

Answer 27

the person who sends a communication persuasion is more effective when the source is credible via expertise and trustworthiness as well as likability and physical attractiveness

Question 28

Message Factors

Answer 28

should you present both sides of an argument or just one? should you use fear as a tactic? repeating a message makes people believe it even if it's not true - fake news

Question 29

the mere exposure effect is

Answer 29

the finding that repeated exposures to a stimulus promotes greater liking to the stimulus

Question 30

Receiver Factors

Answer 30

when you expect to be persuaded you are less persuadable stronger attitudes are harder to persuade and if the persuasive effort fails to change someone's attitudes, they will believe in that attitude even more

Question 31

Leon Festinger's dissonance theory:

Answer 31

inconsistencies among attitudes propels people in the direction of attitude change experiment group was asked to lie regarding an attitude of something being enjoyable when it was not. one group was payed $20 one was paid $1

Question 32

cognitive dissonance exists

Answer 32

when related cognitions are inconsistent and contradict one another

Question 33

effort justification

Answer 33

stand in line at a fancy restaurant for an hour then say it was great even though it sucked in order to justify your effort

Question 34

self-perception process (Daryl Bem)

Answer 34

people infer their attitudes from their behavior rather than the other way around eg: $1 isn't enough to get me to lie, so I must have enjoyed the task

Question 35

2 basic routes to persuasion in likelihood model are

Answer 35

central route: talk about the facts in clearly detailed way peripheral route: politician that depends on marching bands and celebrity endorsement (classical and operant conditioning) the first has longer lasting effects and predicts behavior better

Question 36

Describe Asch’s work on | social roles:

Answer 36

social roles are widely shared expectations about how people in certain positions are supposed to behave Jail experiment, the ones that were assigned to play the guards became really cruel as they were turning into what people expected of them

Question 37

Describe Asch’s work on conformity:

Answer 37

Conformity occurs when people yield to real or imaginary social pressure

Question 38

Normative influences operates when

Answer 38

people conform to social norms for fear of negative social consequences about being liked

Question 39

Informational influence operates when

Answer 39

people look to others for guidance about how to behave in ambiguous situations about being right which fork should I use -- I'll watch others at the restaurant

Question 40

Milgram’s study on obedience

Answer 40

experiment was a fake shock administered by an unknowing participant

Question 41

obedience is a form of

Answer 41

compliance that occurs when people follow direct commands, usually from someone in a position of authority

Question 42

bystander effect

Answer 42

people are less likely to provide needed help when they are in groups rather than when they are alone people look around to confirm whether this is an actual emergency if everyone hesitates, this signals that there's no real danger reduced responsibility: if it's just you, then the responsibility is all up to you, but if there's a crowd you can easily defer Though it is less likely to occur if the person is in obvious danger or if the group is a group of friends

Question 43

worker efficiency up or down in group?

Answer 43

declines with more people in a group

Question 44

social loafing is a

Answer 44

reduction in effort by individuals when they work in groups as compared to when they work by themselves individuals can hide in the crowd high achievers are less likely to social loaf

Question 45

group polarization occurs when

Answer 45

group discussion strengthens a groups' dominant POV and produces a shift toward a more extreme decision in that direction group discussion exposes group members to persuasive arguments when people notice that their views are shared by others they take it to the next level so that they are liked even more by the group

Question 46

groupthink occurs when

Answer 46

members of a group emphasize concurrence at the expense of critical thinking in arriving at a decision groups start censoring dissent as the pressure to conform increases resulting in bad decisions based on a skewed view start to see the outgroup as the enemy, people who are dissenters

Question 47

group cohesiveness refers to

Answer 47

the strength of the liking relationships linking group members to each other and to the group is thought to be a cause of group think team spirit / loyalty it is more likely when the group is isolated dominated by a strong directive leader

Question 48

empiricism

Answer 48

psychiatrists failed to predict the Milgram experiment

Question 49

cultural factors

Answer 49

love as related to mating relationships is different in cultures

Question 50

experience of the world is highly subjective

Answer 50

pressure to conform can make people doubt their senses

Question 51

Describe the difference between prejudice and discrimination

Answer 51

prejudice is a negative attitude held towards members of a group discrimination, which involves behaving differently, usually unfairly towards the members of a group they tend to go hand in hand but as the restaurant seating example shows, they are not necessarily correlated

Question 52

Biases in attribution exist for success and failures

Answer 52

if a woman succeeds its attributed to luck, effort or ease of task if a man succeeds its attributed to his ability

Question 53

realistic group conflict theory means that

Answer 53

intergroup hostility and prejudice are a natural outgrowth of fierce competition between groups

Question 54

analyzing credibility and social influence tactics

Answer 54

does the source have a vested interest in the issue at hand? not necessarily financial, could be belief-based what are the sources credentials? training? expertise? is the information grossly inconsistent with the conventional view of the issue? what was the method of analysis used in reaching the conclusion? anecdotal evidence? by focusing on highly trivial aspects, holocaust deniers build their case

Question 55

foot in the door involves

Answer 55

getting people to agree to a small request to increase the chance that they will agree to a larger request later sign a petition now, make a donation later

Question 56

the reciprocity norm

Answer 56

the rule that we should try to pay back in kind what we receive from others address stickers from the SPCA free samples

Question 57

the lowball technique involves

Answer 57

getting someone to commit to an attractive proposition before its hidden costs are revealed ask a friend to come to the cabin, then reveal that there's work to be done at the cabin

Question 58

the feigned scarcity tactic

Answer 58

people often want what they can't have so companies write "supplies limited" "while they last" "time is running out"