Culture and Values 2017

Question 1

Define attitude

Answer 1

An evaluation a person makes about an object, person, group, event or issue.

Question 2

Where do attitudes come from?

Answer 2

Direct contact, interaction, child rearing, group membership, the media and chance conditioning

Question 3

Describe direct contact

Answer 3

Attitudes are formed when knowledge and experience interact with what we already think about something (a previous attitude), to produce a modification of that attitude.

Question 4

Describe interaction

Answer 4

Relationships between friends or peers (reinforced attitudes are stronger).

Question 5

Describe child rearing

Answer 5

Upbringing; parental values, beliefs, practices and attitudes are enforced.

Question 6

Group membership

Answer 6

Attitudes about certain groups are reinforced depending what group you belong in. E.g living in Perth, you favour it.

Question 7

Describe the media’s effect on attitudes

Answer 7

The media has a powerful effect due to its watchers/readers. It can reach a larger audience and usually reinforces attitudes more often.

Question 8

Describe chance conditioning

Answer 8

Particular attitudes may be enforced through past experiences and the situation of the past situation.

Question 9

Explain the tri-component model of an attitude

Answer 9

1. Affective component (emotions/I feel)
2. Behavioural component (actions/behaviours)
3. Cognitive component (beliefs/I think)

Question 10

Explain the conditions of the components

Answer 10

All components must be present for an attitude to exist.

There may be inconsistencies between components.

Question 11

Define cognitive dissonance

Answer 11

Psychological tension or discomfort; resulting from:

1. An awareness of inconsistencies in our various attitudes, or;
2. When the way we actually behave is different from the way we believe we should behave.

Question 12

Define primary effect

Answer 12

First impressions based on cognitive schemas.

Question 13

Define stereotype

Answer 13

A collection of beliefs that we have about the people who belong to a certain group, regardless of individual differences among members of that group. We tend to see and remember people not by individual characteristics, but by the characteristics of the stereotype.

Question 14

Define prejudice

Answer 14

Holding a usually negative attitude towards the members of a group, based solely on their membership of that group.

Question 15

Define old fashioned prejudice

Answer 15

A blatant and deliberate form of open rejection towards an individual or group, based purely upon a person’s membership of that group.

Question 16

Define modern prejudice

Answer 16

More subtle than old fashioned prejudice. It is a form of prejudice that insinuates rejection whilst displaying acceptance.

Question 17

Define discrimination

Answer 17

Refers to positive or negative behaviour that is directed towards a social group and its members. Can be both positive and negative.

Question 18

Explain social influence as a cause of prejudice

Answer 18

Attitudes towards others, including prejudiced attitudes, can be learned from important people in our lives. Children’s attitudes towards others can usually be influenced not be their parents’ and friends’ actually attitudes but what the children believed their attitudes to be (Aboud and Doyle, 1996).

Question 19

Explain just world penomenon

Answer 19

When one group of people has more peer, status and money than another group, there is a tendency for the ‘haves’ to consider that they are well-off due to their hard work and intelligence and that the ‘have nots’ are poorly off because they are lazy and ignorant. In this way, the ‘haves’ can justify the inequalities in their own minds.

Question 20

Explain social categorisation

Answer 20

Simply categorising people into groups - is and them - is enough to trigger in-group favouritism and out-group rejection.

Question 21

Explain inter-group competition

Answer 21

In times of economic hardship, when it is hard to find food, housing or jobs, prejudice often arises against groups that are seen to be a threat. ‘They are stealing our jobs’ or ‘they are taking food from our children’s mouths’ become the catch-cries, where they may be a migrant group, working women or some other group.

Question 22

Name and define the two types of factors reducing prejudice

Answer 22

Intergroup contact- contact can break down barriers of prejudice
Cognitive intervention- teaching people about the way they think about prejudice, with hope it can be reduced.

Question 23

Name the factors within intergroup contact

Answer 23

Sustained contact, mutual interdependence, super-ordinate goals, inter-group contact, equality of status.

Question 24

Define sustained contact

Answer 24

The theory that the more time you spend with someone, the less likely you are to hold a prejudiced view of them.

Question 25

Define mutual interdependence

Answer 25

The idea that in order to reduce prejudice among groups, the two groups must somehow be dependent upon one another.

Question 26

Define super-ordinate goals

Answer 26

When the cooperation of two people (or two groups) is required to complete a task that bears equal importance to each party and that cannot be completed alone.

Question 27

Define inter-group contact

Answer 27

The theory of inter-group contact states that for prejudice amongst two groups to be reduced, there must be an increase in the direct contact between the groups' members - the groups must spend more time together.

Question 28

Define equality of status

Answer 28

To reduce prejudice towards each other, two groups must be seen or treated equally, through having the same level of influence, prestige or power.

Question 29

Name the different methods to measuring attitudes

Answer 29

Observational method, qualitative self-report method, quantitative self-report method

Question 30

Explain the observational method

Answer 30

Can be covert - researcher pretends to be an ordinary member of the group and observes in secret; or overt in which the researcher tells the group he or she is researching.

Question 31

Name and define the different types of observation.

Answer 31

Natural - spontaneous behaviour recorded in a natural setting. Controlled - observed under controlled conditions. Participant - the observe has direct contact with the group of people they are observing Non-participant - the researcher does not have direct contact with the people being observed.

Question 32

Explain qualitative self-report method

Answer 32

Used when readily observable behaviours are not available, includes written or verbal responses, rely on participants giving honest responses, open-ended interviews that provide qualitative data.

Question 33

Name two (2) advantages and two (2) disadvantages of the qualitative self-report method.

Answer 33

Advantages: generates large amounts of information, provides rich of data. Disadvantages; time-consuming, subjective.

Question 34

Explain quantitative self-report method

Answer 34

Uses fixed-response interview questions, quantitative data can be analysed statistically, uses rating scales - respondents indicate the strength of their opinion (intensity and direction).

Question 35

Define culture

Answer 35

The shared rules that govern behaviour and define our day-to-day reality. It consists of beliefs, behaviours, attitudes and traditions (B-BAT).

Question 36

Name and define the two types of culture

Answer 36

Individualistic - emphasise the individual over the group | Collectivist - emphasise the group over the individual

Question 37

Explain individualistic cultures

Answer 37

An "I" mentality, opinion and tasks matter, each person is an individual.

Question 38

Explain collectivist cultures

Answer 38

People are born into extended families or clans which protect them in exchange for loyalty. Everything the person does is for the benefit of the family.