Influence on Social Cognition

Question 1

How does individualism and collectivism shape thought and actions? (3 points)

Answer 1

1. Perception of Self
2. Visual Processing
3. Attribution

Question 2

What are the 6 theories of self-perception (unique vs. common)?

Answer 2

1. The importance of self concept
2. Self View (Markus & Kittyama)
3. Models of the self (Fiske)
4. Twenty Statements Test (Kuhn and McPartland)
5. The Mutual Constitution of Cultures and Self
6. Psychological Patterns associated to Self-concept

Question 3

Why is self concept important?

Answer 3

1. Organise information about self
2. Direct attention to relevant information
3. Guides motivation
4. Interpretation of the environment
5. Emotional experiences
6. Shape lifestyle decisions

Question 4

What is Markus and Kittyama’s Self-veiw theory?

Answer 4

Independent people = individualist
A person who is self contained, autonomous, comprised of component parts; personality traits, attitudes and abilities.
Interdependent people = collectivist
They are a part of a social network, their role benefits a group and they have obligations to their group.

Question 5

According to the models of the self (Fiske) what is the independent person?
6 traits

Answer 5

1. They are bounded, stable and autonomous.
2. They have personal attributes to gain action.
3. They are achievement orientated and they form goals.
4. They define life by success and are highly competitive.
5. They’re responsible for their own behaviour.
6. They strive to feel good about the self.

Question 6

According to the models of the self (Fiske) what is the interdependent person?
6 traits

Answer 6

1. They are connected, fluid and flexible
2. Their social relationships guide their action
3. They are orientated tot he collective
4. They meet obligations and conform to norms
5. They’re jointly responsible for join behaviour
6. They are cooperative and subsume in the collective

Question 7

What is the point of Kuhn and McPartland’s twenty statement test?

Answer 7

It measure sense of self and self image.

A person is either independent or interdependent and follows norms based on that self-image.

Question 8

What is the difference between independent and interdependent people according to Kuhn and McPartlands twenty statements test?

Answer 8

Independent:
Usually westerners, individual people living in countries such as UK, Canada and Australia. Their internal psychological character has fixed personality traits and attitudes.

Interdependent:
Usually easterners, collective people living in societies such as Native America, East Asia. They each have roles such a ‘provider’ and identify themselves based on relationships like ‘father’, ‘brother’ etc. Their identity depends on the context and group they’re in therefore they are sensitive to contextual cues.

Question 9

What are the psychological patterns associated to self-concept?

Answer 9

1. Positive self-view
2. Personal choice
3. Motivations to conform

Question 10

What effect does a ‘positive self-view’ have on a person?

Answer 10

Self-serving bias or the better than average effect which has long been considered fundamental to human psychology. It only represents a small percentage of the human population. Non-western populations (like native american and Mexicans) score lower. East-Asian populations score non or reverse shooing a self-effacing bias.

Question 11

What effect does ‘personal choice’ have on a person?

Answer 11

Henrich!

Personal choice shows differences in level of value ascribed, extent of control over feelings and decisions and feeling that you have made a choice.

There is higher feeling of free choice in western cultures and lower free choice in eastern countries.

Question 12

What effect do ‘motivations to conform’ have on a person?

Answer 12

Classic Asch experiment. People will go along with majority even when they know it is wrong.

Bond and Smith studies 17 societies and showed a weaker effect in westerners and easterners show higher motivation to conform.

Question 13

What are the two types of visual processing?

Answer 13

Global and local

Question 14

What visual processing do you see in western, independent societies?

Answer 14

Local processing. It is more analytic.

Question 15

What visual processing do you see in eastern, interdependent societies?

Answer 15

Global processing. It is holistic. They are sensitive to contextual information such as emotion judgement and eye fixations (Masuda). they recall more contextual information and make more error when recognising novel context. They perceived relationships better, they display changes in categorical perception (Goldstone)

Question 16

What are the two types of attribution?

Answer 16

Internal and external.

Question 17

How has attribution influenced social cognition?

Answer 17

We can identify and explain the source causing behaviour, cognition and events.

Question 18

What are the two identities of attribution?

Answer 18

Dispositional and Situational

Question 19

Explain dispositional attribution

Answer 19

Includes personality traits, focuses on ‘self + others’. Common attribute of individualist (internal) people. Suffer the fundamental attribution error. Suffer a self-serving bias. Traits remain stable over time and reliably predict behaviour.

Question 20

What is the fundamental attribution error?

Answer 20

Ross: People over value dispositional explanations (others behaviour) and ignore situational constraints.

Question 21

Explain situational attribution

Answer 21

highly influenced by the environment. Focuses on ‘others + culture and environment’. Common attribute of the collectivist (external) people. We identify situational actors as the cause of behaviour. They show a self-effacing bias. Roles describe people better than traits do. Trait-related behaviour changes across contexts.

Question 22

What are the 6 talking points about ‘warmth and competence’?

Answer 22

1. Social pressure
2. Identifying threat and safety
3. Warmth
4. Competence
5. BIAS Map
6. Predicting emotional behaviour across cultures

Question 23

Discuss social pressures with reference to wrath and competence

Answer 23

Social pressure is an adaptive behaviour that reflects evolutionary pressures.

Question 24

What was Whalen theory of social pressure?

Answer 24

Whalen said in order to quickly identify threats in the environment and act to survive the amygdala is selectively sensitive to eye whites. He said greater signal in the amygdala occurs in fearful eye whites

Question 25

How do we identify threats and safety?

Answer 25

We express liking (warmth and trustworthiness), respect (competence and efficiency) and assess whether people are capable of hurting or helping us either physically, psychologically, emotionally or socially.

Question 26

What 5 perceived intents are due to warmth?

Answer 26

1. Friendliness 2. Helpfulness 3. Sincerity 4. Trustworthiness 5. Morality

Question 27

What 5 perceived abilities are due to competence?

Answer 27

1. Intelligence 2. Skill 3. Creativity 4. Efficacy 5. Morality

Question 28

What are the 6 groups on the Behaviours from Intergroup Affect and Stereotypes (BIAS) Map (Fiske)?

Answer 28

1. Warmth 2. Competence 3. Admired groups 4. Hated groups 5. Envied groups 6. Pitied groups

Question 29

What do the 6 groups of the BIAS Map elicit?

Answer 29

1. Warmth elicits active behaviour 2. Competence elicits passive behaviour 3. Admired groups elicit passive and active facilitation 4. Hated groups elicit passive and active harm tendencies 5. Envied groups elicit passive facilitation and active harm 6. Pitied groups elect active facilitation and passive harm

Question 30

Discuss emotional and behavioural response predictions across cultures

Answer 30

Based on "Liking vs. disliking" Positive responses predict warmth and competence. Negative responses predict cold and incompetence. Ambivalent responses predict a mixture.

Question 31

What were the findings of Dotsch's internal models of stereotypes?

Answer 31

He found a reverse correlation: he constructed internal models of out-groups and found high prejudice for criminal and untrustworthiness.

Question 32

What did Todorov's 2005 study explain?

Answer 32

Inferences of competence from faces predicted election outcomes. Based solely on 1 second exposure of facial appearance. Rapid and unreflective trait inferences contribute to voting choices not rational considerations.