CLASS 1 - INTRO TO SOCIAL PSYCH Flashcards
(22 cards)
What is “good” and “bad”?
Give an example
Even though we try to come up with objective ways of defining morality, I feel like c’est un concept très subjectif. Cette def de moralité est transmise par la socialization (the process of internalizing the norms and ideologies of society).
Ce qui nous amène à nous poser la question if morality even exists? I believe it exists, because something can exist even with us having different opinions about it.
For example: Transactional relationships are considered “bad”, but are they really? No….
You can have transactional relationships that are both good and right for you.
A transactional relationship is a dynamic where both people expect something specific in return for what they give
We are all selfish in some way; for example, you might keep the door open for people because you’re scared of what they will think about you if you dont. So even if you dont think you’re being selfish, you kinda are, cause you’re expecting a certain “perception” of you in return.
What is Narcissism ? Is it bad?
coffee shop rush -> careless -> we automatically perceive them as narcissists…
Mais déjà, what is narcissism? It’s a personality disorder.
Personality = HOW (you are) ; basis of identity.
Identity = WHO
we are so quick to think that WHO someone is (their identity as a whole) is the equivalent of how fucked they are. When in reality, when you look at the whole picture, the way they chose to cope makes sense (logic), but it might just not work for them
which is why some clinicians will put an emphasis on “leaving the diagnosis at the door”, because we automatically ten to think hat the way we are (PERSONALITY) is what defines us as an individual. (our own self-schemas and schemas about others too!!!!!)
Does true altruism exist?
Altruism: doing good deeds without expecting anything in return.
Doesn’t really exist because for one, it ultimately manipulates the way others perceive us. Even if you don’t EXPECT something in return, you will still get something in return… whether it be love and affection (from your children), smiles from the people you’re helping, satisfaction from within (helper’s high…)
Helper’s high: positive emotions following selfless service to others.
Le cas avec les enfants:
- Evolutionary psychology will say that you have children because you want to pass on your genes, thus live longer (living through your descendance basically).
So, what is personality? How do we develop personality?
Identity = Who we are
Personality = How we are
- life experiences
- Biology (e.g. temperament = basic foundation of personality, usually assumed to be biologically determined and present early in life)
Bref, personality develops as a result of both genetic and environmental factors.
Is emotion a disorder? Is personality a disorder?
NO. Dont be too quick to diagnose.
Emotion is not a disorder:
Experiencing emotions—like sadness, anger, or fear—is a normal part of being human. These emotions become concerning only when they are extreme, persistent, or interfere with daily functioning. For example:
Feeling sad isn’t the same as having depression.Feeling anxious before a big event isn’t the same as having an anxiety disorder. Emotions themselves are not inherently pathological; they become part of a disorder only when they meet specific clinical criteria.
Personality is not a disorder:
Personality refers to stable traits and patterns in how people think, feel, and behave. Just because someone has a distinct personality (e.g., being introverted, outgoing, or emotionally intense) doesn’t mean they have a personality disorder. Personality disorders are diagnosed when these traits cause significant distress or impair someone’s ability to function in social, occupational, or other important areas of life.
For example:
Being detail-oriented isn’t obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD).
Being shy isn’t the same as avoidant personality disorder.
*** The behaviour you are engaging in makes sense given what you have been through. Maybe the way you chose to cope with what you’ve been through is just not the right idea.
Retour sur class activity. What were the conclusions?
The fundamental attribution error (FAE) describes how, when making judgments about people’s behavior, we often overemphasize dispositional factors and downplay situational ones.
On se voit plus comme “depends on the situation” qu’on voit le prof, alors qu’on la meet once, for most (first class)
Après understandable, cause we have a better gage/ understanding of our behavior.
What is psychology? What are some possible answers to questions we can try to answer?
- What affects the words we choose to say when madly in love?
- What makes an individual view another group in less than favourable terms?
Scientific study of individuals thoughts, feelings (mental processes - what is going on in the brain to lead to that behaviour) and behaviours. Allows us to understand why people engage in a behaviour, but also how.
- What affects the words we choose to say when madly in love? Attachment styles
- Secure Attachment
Individuals with secure attachment are comfortable with intimacy and expressing their emotions.
They are likely to use words that convey openness, trust, and commitment, such as “I feel so safe with you”. - Anxious Attachment
People with an anxious attachment style often seek reassurance and fear abandonment.
Their words may reflect dependency or a need for validation, like “Do you love me as much as I love you?” - Avoidant Attachment
Those with avoidant attachment might struggle to express deep emotions or vulnerability.
They may use words that focus on maintaining some emotional distance, such as “I care about you” instead of “I love you,” or they may avoid overly sentimental language. - Disorganized Attachment
Individuals with disorganized attachment often experience conflicting feelings about intimacy.
Their words might swing between expressions of intense love and fear, such as “I need you so much, but I’m scared you’ll hurt me.” - What makes an individual view another group/person in less than favourable terms?
Values not aligned perhaps (political opinions for ex)
what makes you like someone?:
- nice or kind (attention nice=on ice, temporaire)
- familiarity
meaning “social”?
- society/its organization
- tending to form cooperative and interdependent relationships with others
Another form of the word:
- desire to be around people, “social butterfly”
What is Social psychology
Scientific study of behaviour and mental processes as they relate to how people (we) interact with/relate to others.
The Society for Personality and Social Psychology defines social psychology as the scientific study of how people’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviours are influenced by the actual (physically seen), imagined (change of behaviour based on the “what if someone saw me” idea, or implied (influence of social norms, expectations and roles) presence of others.
implied presence: even if there is no one around, being quiet in a library….
bref l’idée is that social psych implied an interaction of individuals (pas nécessairement besoin d’interagir avec eux, juste une interaction)
FOCUS: Individual not society.
How is personality psychology and social psych related?
Personality traits (how you are) influence how we interact with society.
ex: let’s say you have to go to class, and you see someone fall badly, blood and all. Do you go over and help them and risk being late to class? or do you just go to class and ignore them/call the ambulance or smtg? OR.. imagine t’avais un exam…
Someone with high conscientiousness might be more inclined to just go to class/the exam, where someone with high neuroticism might’ve not even noticed that person due to high anxiety.
How do social psychologists do their work? I guess like other psychologists would…?
1) Observe the world
2) Measure and record behaviour
3) Manipulate the conditions under which behaviour may occur
4) Infer correlation or causation about social behaviour(s)
What is personality psychology?
It is the scientific study of INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES in people’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviour, and how these come together as a whole [to create a pattern].
Idea of pattern: genre based on personality we can predict how someone MIGHT act in a given situation.
How can personality and social psych interact? What is the difference between those two?
Well one (personality psych) can help us predict how you are more likely to act in a given social situation (how you interact with society basically)
For example, you are running late to class, but you see someone fall badly, blood and stuff. Do you go up to them to help them, or do you go to class?
Or do you just call the ambulance and go to class? Or imagine there are many people around but no one is going up to that person (bystander effect)….
bref, someone with higher conscientiousness might just go to the exam, whereas someone with higher neuroticism might’ve not even noticed that person hurt due to high anxiety, stress…..
- Social psychologist: how likely are you o help someone due to a situational or personal factor?
Focus: How the situation or social context influences behavior.
- Personality psychologist: are there certain personality traits that govern helping behaviour.
Focus: How do personality traits influence behaviour across different situations.
What is sociology?
Sociology is the study of society or groups, both large and small groups. Sociologists study the social lives of people, groups, and societies; studying our behaviour as social beings.
FOCUS: society
Sociology:
Looks outward to see how society shapes individuals.
Example: How do economic status and social class affect a student’s participation in group activities?
Social Psychology:
Looks inward to see how individuals’ thoughts and feelings respond to social interactions.
Example: How does fear of rejection influence a student’s willingness to speak up in a group?
A Metaphor to Help:
Think of a house:
Sociologists study the house in its neighborhood: How do zoning laws, local customs, and economic conditions shape this house and its occupants?
Social Psychologists study the people inside the house: How does living in this house affect their behavior, emotions, and relationships?
What are four ways to do do research in social psych?
1) Observe the world
2) measure and record behaviour (op def; use the method you want to record)
3) manipulate the conditions under which such behaviour may occur (true experiements)
4) infer correlation or causation about social behaviours
What is the difference between basic and applied social psychology research?
- Basic social psychology research: knowledge for the sake of knowledge (questions related to people’s thoughts, behaviours and feelings)v
for ex: why do people treat out-group members differently than in-group members?
Why do first impressions matter so much?
- usually it’s matter of how safe we feel with them, if we don’t feel safe, we might not pursue a relationship with them….
Why are we attracted to some people but not others?
- familiarity, attachment style…
- Applied social psychology research: Finds solutions to real-world problems.
ex: developing K-12 programs to promote tolerance of others.
Determining the best ways to make a first impression at a job interview
genre admettons from basic social psychology research, on a appris que people tend to be racist because fear based response (sometimes truly just hate-based…) due to unfamiliarity. So from there, applied research would be determining ways we can increase familiarity, so gaps between in-groups and out-groups diminuent….
Lets look at the topic of obesity from a social psych lens, Personality psych lens and sociology lens. Tell me about the sociological lens first.
tackling the obesity pandemic (over the past 50 years, worldwide obesity rates have tripled, creating a public health crisis so widespread and damaging that it is sometimes referred to as an epidemic)
Sociology aims to categorize.
STUDY: Maralani & Mckee (2017)
aim: Looking at whether the threshold for being “too fat” is a static or fluid concept and looking out how people’s weight (BMI) is linked to socioeconomic outcomes (money, jobs, family life…).
The study is examining how perceptions of being “too fat” affect people’s economic and social opportunities.
two categories: weight and socioeconomic groups!!!
they compared participants from 1979 from those in 1997
main conclusion:
Association between BMI and social outcomes is NOT CONSTANT.
The relationship between body size and socioeconomic outcomes depends on who is being judged, who is doing the judging, and in which social domain. Rather than using the medical conceptualization of obesity, it is important to recognize that “too fat” is a subjective, contingent (subject to change) and fluid judgment in the social world. (BMI is shit also!)
social domains:
Workplace, Educational Institutions, Healthcare Settings, dating or social circles, Cultural or Community Contexts
Tell me about the study on obesity from the social psychology lens.
STUDY: Vartanian & Trewarth (2016), this one is a good example of basic and applied research overlapping!
Disgust predicts prejudice and discrimination toward individuals with obesity.
Research question: if emotions are threat dependent, what emotion (disgust, contempt, and/ or anger is elicit in response to obesity?
participants were randomly assigned to view wither an image of an obese female or a female with a healthy weight. (encore une fois avec l’idée de BMI). Information was also given about the target and her daily activities…
Disgust, contempt and anger was assessed with a scale from not at all to extremely (0 to 100). Attitude was also measured to assess common obesity stereotypes (ex; being lazy…) Avoidance/social distance (of the target individual) was also measured using the seating distance task.
Some neuroscience:
**Amygdala activates fight or flight responses, which in turn inhibits activity in the prefrontal cortex. Which means, when you are in fight or flight, you literally are not thinking clearly.
**Disgust is a strong response mechanism in humans for survival (poison is bitter…)!!!!. It manifests by gagging, avoiding… Disgust is even stronger in babies (for survival again). like for them spinach is so bitter.
RESULTS:
Primary emotion expressed to obese target was disgust (negative attitudes, negatives stereotypes than the healthy target, with greater desire for social distance)
Feeling disgusted, which makes people avoid certain things, might be why efforts to reduce bias against obesity haven’t worked as well (such an automatic response, that even cognitive re-appraisal doesn’t NECESSARILY result in decrease in emotional response… so like by educating, for example),
an example of education could be around the topic of BMI. A higher BMI doesn’t equal no exercice and bad eating habits…
so maybe faut toucher a l’aspect plus emotional de la chose: empathy, encourager positive interactions, reframing body diversity and body ideal, inclusive language, Addressing the Root of Disgust
by tackling the cultural and psychological sources of disgust…
Puis aussi reframe some schemas we might have about them. For example, an evolutionary psychologist might say that we think that this person is bad, because she is taking all the ressources…
A way we could help diminish disgust toward obese people:
Repetitive exposure overtime to a stimulus, leads to a decrease in anxiety (think about exposure conditioning/counter conditioning). Le prof said an emotion cannot last more than 20 mins. so off si acres 5 mins tu pars, ben tu vas avoir une autre emotion face a cette personne, and anxiety will keep being high if you see them again….
Tell me about the study on obesity from the personality psychology lens.
Research question: Do different personality traits (OCEAN - a west tool; HEXACO, same but with honesty-humility, culturally sensitive!) contribute to whether a person has a high or low BMI?
hyp: Conscientiousness and BMI negatively correlated. Neuroticism (emotional stability) and BMI positively correlated.
How it went: 5150 participants completed the big five inventory and reported height and weight (to determine their BMI). They also completed self-report questionnaire about their eating and physical activity habits over the past 30 days and a health history questionnaire.
RESULTS:
- Positive correlation neuroticism and bmi
- negative correlation conscientiousness and bmi
- Higher scores on “activity” facet of extraversion had lower BMIS
- Older participants with higher agreeableness had lower BMIs
- Association with conscientiousness was strongest in older adults (perhaps fear of death, sickness…)
bref, those who were more emotionally stable, extraverted, open, agreeable and conscientious, reported eating healthier food, and less convenience food, engaging in more physical activity, and eating at regular intervals at the same time each day.
Va voir image may 20, 5:14. How do personality psych, social psych, and sociology all influence each other?
Sociology: The outermost circle (society).
Social Psychology: The middle circle (individuals in social interactions).
Personality Psychology: The innermost circle (individual traits and differences).
Psychology arose out of …
Philosophy. So psycho est une branche de la philo
