PS102 - FINAL (CH. 13 & 14) Flashcards
(68 cards)
social psychology
an area of psychology that seeks to understand, explain, and predict how people’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviours are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others
social cognition
the way in which people perceive and interpret themselves and others in their social world
attitudes
relatively stable and enduring evaluations of things and people
ABC model of attitudes
a model proposing that attitudes have three components: the affective component, the behavioural component, and the cognitive component
The affective component (ABC Model)
how we feel toward an object
The behavioural component
how we behave toward an object
The cognitive component
what we believe about an object
cognitive dissonance
a state of emotional discomfort people experience when they hold two contradictory beliefs or hold a belief that contradicts their behaviour
self-perception theory
a theory suggesting that when people are uncertain of their attitudes, they infer what the attitudes are by observing their own behaviour
attitude specificity
The more specific an attitude, the more likely it is to predict behaviour
attitude strength
stronger attitudes predict behaviour more accurately than weak or vague attitudes
implicit attitude
an attitude of which the person is unaware
stereotypes
fixed overgeneralized and oversimplified beliefs about a person or a group of people based on assumptions about the group
prejudice
negative and unjust feelings about individuals based on their inclusion in a particular group
social identity theory
suggests that in social situations individuals often identity as a member of the group. They see themselves at times as a member of the group rather than an individual
Social identity theory proposes that prejudice emerges through three processes:
- Social categorization - a person affiliates with a particular group as a way of figuring out how to act and react in the world
- Social identity - the person forms an identity within the group
- Social comparison - the group member compares the group favourably with other groups, and in turn derives a sense of positive well-being from looking at himself as superior in some way
central route to persuasion
emphasizes the content of the message, using factual information and logical arguments to persuade
- requires a fair amount of effort on the receiver’s part
- commonly used for matters of some significance
- decisions based on central route are more likely to last than decisions based on peropheral route
peripheral route of persuasion
relies on more superficial information, feelings, and impressions
- When you respond to peripheral appeals, you are responding to such factors as how attractive the spokesperson is and how amusing or engaging the message is
foot-in-the-door technique
involves getting someone to agree to a small request and then following up with a much larger one
door-in-the-face technique
involves making an absurd first request that will obviously be turned down, and then following it with a more moderate request
appeals to fear
Pursuading reciever by using fear
- must have a credible source sending the message
- must make receivers truly believe that something bad will happen to them if they don’t comply with the source’s request
- E.g., Anti-smoking campaigns
Barriers to Persuasion
- Forewarning an audience that you will be trying to persuade them of something will immediately raise their defences
- Beginning with a weak argument instead of a strong one can make subsequent arguments seem weaker
attributions
causal explanations of behaviour
fundamental attribution error
the tendency to use dispositional attributions to explain the behaviour of other people
