Social Psych Flashcards
(187 cards)
1
Q
What are the 4 factors that characterise the strategies that people employ when relationships breakdown?
A
- Withdrawal/ avoidance
- Manipulation – e.g., create lots of arguments so the other person ends the relationship
- Positive-tone strategies – positive spin on ending relationship “it’s me not you”
- Open confrontation – come clean and be honest
2
Q
Are quality of alternative and investment reliable predictors of relationship stability?
A
yes
Lower quality of alternative and greater investment size predicted:
- More commitment
- Less frequent leaving behaviour
3
Q
Is satisfaction a reliable predictor of relationship stability? Give an example
A
Satisfaction is not a reliable predictor:
- Abused women stay when
o They have limited/ poor-quality alternatives
o They have invested more in their relationships
4
Q
What is investments in the economic maintenance theory of relationships?
A
- Investments – level of resources put into a relationship which increase the costs of withdrawing from the relationships o Financial (e.g., money, house), temporal (e.g., been with them 10 years), emotional (e.g., welfare of kids, self-disclosure)
5
Q
What is quality of alternatives in the economic maintenance theory of relationships?
A
- Quality of alternatives – 2 factors
o Comparison level – comparing current levels of satisfaction with previous relationships
o Comparison level for alternatives – comparing current relationship to other possible relationships on offer
6
Q
What is satisfaction in the economic maintenance theory of relationships?
A
- Satisfaction – based on costs and rewards and these tend to be subjective
o All relationships have an outcome (subtracting costs from rewards – profit or loss). Satisfaction is when rewards outweigh costs
7
Q
What is the economic maintenance theory of relationships? What are the three factors it considers?
A
- Economic maintenance of relationships – look at what we put into and get out of a relationship – will leave if there’s a better deal elsewhere
o Satisfaction
o Quality of alternatives
o Investments
o All feed into commitment which leads to relationship stability
8
Q
What happened in the bridge study? (arousal and romance)
A
o Shakey bridge condition: high level of arousal from crossing bridge, shown image from thematic apperception test, ask to make up a story based on image, given phone number of an attractive experimenter, described picture in more sexualised way, more likely to call experimenter
o Safe and wide bridge: low level of arousal, same procedure, non-sexual story, less likely to call experimenter
9
Q
What are the 3 things we need in the three-factor theory of love?
A
o A state of physiological arousal
o An appropriate label for the arousal
o An appropriate love object
10
Q
What is self disclosure? How does it operate? How does it increase likeability?
A
- Revealing information about oneself to another person is important in interpersonal relationships
- We disclose more to people we like; we like people more after having disclosed to them, we like people who disclose more
- Self-disclosure usually operates according to a “norm of reciprocity”
- Sharing intimate information maintains relationships
11
Q
What is the matching hypothesis? What have studies shown about it? Is it also true for gay and lesbian couples?
A
Matching hypothesis – the more socially desirable an individual is, the more socially desirable they would expect their partner to be
- People learn their position in the “attractiveness hierarchy via a feedback loop
- Study found that real couples were rated with similar levels of attractiveness than pseudo couples
- Doesn’t seem to hold true for gay and lesbian people e.g., age, attractiveness, racial background – possibly due to having a smaller pool of choice of people
12
Q
What findings demonstrate that deception is an issue with dating apps?
A
o Compared users’ profiles to national average
o Men and women claimed to be taller than national average
o Women claimed to weigh less than the national average
13
Q
What findings demonstrate why objectification is an issue with dating apps
A
o “relationshopping” – leads to objectification of individuals
o Found that people tend to see pictures and profiles as “sales pitches” and that we reduce people to products
o Difficult to measure subtle “experimental” attributes from a profile but easy to reduce/categorise people on attributes
14
Q
Describe a study that demonstrates why having too much choice when using dating apps is an issue
A
o Supermarket shopper: encountered tasting booth of 6 or 24 jams
o Shoppers significantly more likely to stop at the booth with the larger array, but 10 times more likely to purchase the jams from the smaller array
15
Q
What are some problems with apps and speed dating?
A
- When given too much choice, people experience choice paralysis, in which they avoid making any decision rather than exerting the mental effort required to make a decision
- Objectification – presented with thousands of profiles. Online websites allow users to narrow their search categories in much the same way that users on a shopping website can refine their searches
- Deception – people engage in deliberate self-presentation when constructing their profiles
16
Q
Why does a cognitive bias for attractive people exist?
A
- Attractive people are more extraverted, have higher self-confidence, possess better social skills
-They become more sociable because:
o Mothers treat attractive children better
o Attractive pupils are treated better by peers and teachers
o Attractive people receive more help and cooperation - Attractive people confirm the what-is-beautiful-is-good-stereotype by reciprocating favourable responses from other – self-fulfilling prophecy
17
Q
What are some examples that suggest a cognitive bias for attractive people?
A
- Students are judges as more intelligent and get higher grades
- Raise more money for charity
- Higher income
- Lower sentences in court
- Attractive babies: mothers play more and display more affectionate behaviour
18
Q
What are the objectively attractive features of the face and body for men and women?
A
- Symmetrical faces are judged as more attractive than asymmetrical faces
- Female faces with high cheekbones and smooth skin – most sensitive indicator of high level of oestrogen
- Male faces with large jaw, prominent brow ridges and cheekbones – signal high levels of testosterone
- Symmetrical bodies:
o Man: narrow waist and broad chest and shoulders
o Women: hourglass shaped waist-to-hip ratio of 0.70 (associated with fertility)
19
Q
Is attractiveness linked to fertility in women?
A
Possibly and would explain why men seek out more attractive female partners
20
Q
Why are there sex differences in what people find attractive?
A
Parental investment theory – idea that sex differences can be understood in terms of the amount of time, energy and risk to their own survival that males and females put into parenting versus mating
21
Q
What attracts us to people?
A
- In romantic relationships, men focus on physical attraction whereas women focus on status, followed by physical attractiveness
22
Q
What is majority influence? What is it based on?
A
– individual will conform to larger group and their norms
- based on conformity
23
Q
What is minority influence? What is the basis of it?
A
– minority influences majority
- based on innovation, something new that not many people are doing yet
24
Q
What is low balling?
A
o Pitch a reasonable offer that I agreed to followed by a more savoury, less beneficial version of the same request
o E.g., for only $200! Then 15 mins later saying that that didn’t include tax
o Target feels obligation to the requester and so still agrees to the less beneficial offer
25
What is the foot-in-the-door technique?
o start with a very small favour – that will be agreed to – the follow this up with a larger but related favour – the one they originally had in mind
o small step up so more likely to do it
26
What is the door-in-the-face technique?
o start with an extreme request – knowing this will be refused – then retreat to more moderate request – the original request you had in mind
o start big then become moderate – target more likely to agree
27
What is the out-group homogeneity effect?
– tendency to see in-group as highly diverse (e.g., different beliefs, personalities, ages, occupations) but the out-group members as “all alike”
- part of socio-cognitive approach
28
What is the socio-cognitive approach to prejudice?
- Cognitive miser account of prejudice – motivated to preserve mental energy, rely on shortcuts to help us navigate the social world.
- One useful and inevitable short cut is categorisation – can lead to wrong information
- Consequences of cognitive classification – the mere act of ascribing group membership to an individual results in people starting to perceive differences between those groups (even when no differences exist)
29
What is the motivational approach to prejudice?
- Being prejudice and discriminating against an out-group fulfils a major psychological function: it makes us feel more positive about ourselves and the groups to which we belong
- Raises our levels of self-esteem through being hostile and prejudice and discriminatory
- When group membership is criticised, self-esteem will drop. In order to restore this threatened self-esteem, people will:
o Focus on the positive aspects of the groups to which they do belong
o Focus on the negative aspects of the groups to which they do not belong and treat out-group badly
- This out-group hostility creates prejudice
30
What is discrimination?
Discrimination (behavioural component) – actual violence or action with a negative impact on a minority group
31
What are stereotypes?
```
Stereotypes (cognitive component) – a fixed, over generalised belief about a particular group or class of people
- Typically tend to come from the media
```
32
What is prejudice?
Prejudice (affective component) – typically negative feelings towards a member of a group because of their group membership
33
What was the internal racism study done by Clark & Clark?
- Showed white and black children identical dolls – one white, one black
- Asked questions to children e.g., give me the nice doll
- White children chose the white doll for nice questions and black doll for the bad questions
- Black children gave responses similar to the white children
- Preference to white doll is a form of internalised prejudice – happens due to the society that they are being brought up in, children pick up on this from an early age
34
What are racial microaggressions?
Racial microaggressions – brief daily verbal, behavioural or environment indignities, whether intentional or unintentional – communicate hostile, derogatory or negative racial slights and insults towards people of colour
35
What is modern prejudice?
Modern prejudice – actively opposing racism/discrimination of minority groups, but treating outgroup members differently, either intentionally or unconsciously – often with devastating consequences
36
What is traditional prejudice?
Traditional prejudice – consciously acknowledge and openly expressed by the individual and/or supported by the govt e.g., Holocaust
37
Is low self-esteem bad?
- Lower self-esteem isn’t all bad – realism is good but we do need a positive bias
38
What does individual self-esteem vary between?
- Individual self-esteem tends to vary between moderate and very high, not between low and high
39
What happens if you build someone's self-esteem but it isn't based on evidence?
If you build someone’s self-esteem up so highly and it isn’t based on evidence, then when they come to realise the truth, this can be really damaging
40
What is narcissism?
– high self-view but fragile self-esteem
41
How do we strategically self-present?
o Agree with people’s opinions, but make them believe it (forceful agreement and weak disagreement)
o Be selectively modest
o Don’t look too desperate for approval
42
What is self-monitoring?
- Self-monitoring – carefully controlling how we present ourselves
43
What is impression management?
- Impression management – people’s use of various strategies to get others to view them in a positive light
44
How do people protect the positive aspects of the self?
- Self-serving bias – take credit for success but deny blame for failure
- Forget failure feedback more readily than success or praise
- Criticize criticism but accept praise
- Flaws are human but qualities are rare and distinctive
45
What is self-enhancement bias?
- We are good at protecting our own self image
- Greater self-reflection on positive than on negative aspects of self
- Self-affirmation theory: we act to affirm positive aspects of oneself
46
What is high self-esteem associated with?
- Lower self-concept confusion and more self-knowledge
- Self-enhancing orientation and a motivational orientation, whereas lower self-esteem is associated with a protective orientation
- Lower anxiety, lower social rejection and exclusion
- Good index of social acceptance and belonging
47
What is the issue with research into self-esteem?
Issue with research and self-esteem is that it often measured in the moment – might have just taken a hit and so have poor self-esteem but this is not actually reflective of your overall self-esteem
48
What are the types of self-esteem?
- Global – overall opinion of oneself at any one time, on a scale between negative and positive
- Domain specific – relates to self-esteem in a particular area e.g., sport. Domain specific form global
- Trait – an individual’s accumulated lifelong perception of social inclusion and exclusion (continuous over time, shaped by lifelong experience, resistant to change)
- State – a perception of changes in one’s level of social inclusion, given a particular setting (reactive to each moment of time or setting)
49
What is self-esteem?
- confidence in your own worth and abilities
- judgement and attitudes towards yourself
- can predict clinical and non-clinical outcomes e.g., academic achievement, depression etc.
50
What is social comparison theory?
o People compare themselves to others to have a benchmark to measure how they are doing
o For many attributed there is no objective standard we can only compare
o We seek out similar others to validate ourselves – how groups form
o Upward social comparison – comparison to someone who appears to have things better. Can lower self-esteem but also motivate
o Downward social comparison – comparison to someone who appears to have things worse. Elevates self-esteem but less motivating, defensive strategy (self-protection)
51
What is the over-justification effect? What theory does it relate to?
o Over-justification effect – if an activity is rewarded then this intrinsic motivation is reduced
- relates to self-perception theory
52
What is self-determination theory?
o Our behaviour can guide who we think we are, and can make our cognitions fit our behaviour
o Behaviours lead to self-definition
o Intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation – if there aren’t a lot of external reasons why we are behaving a certain way, we assume it is intrinsically (internal) motivated. Extrinsic (outside) motivation happens when there are external reasons for doing something
53
How does the self-schema develop?
- Baby – no self-schema
- 18 months – awareness of self
- Around 5-6 - “I’m a good girl,” “I like red,” produce self-statements
- Around 13 becomes more complex – beliefs and ideas
- Schematic with some things and aschematic (don’t have a schema) with others
54
What is self-discrepancy theory?
o Actual self – who we really think we are
o Ideal self – who you want to be, hopes and aspirations (if there is a discrepancy between actual and ideal self this can make you feel anxious, sad, uncomfortable etc.)
o Ought self – who we are expected to be from society, parents, internalised others – negative, obligations (conflict between actual and ought can create agitation, frustration etc.)
55
What is self-knowledge?
o Self-schema – the beliefs and ideas people hold about themselves
o Have multiple and wide range of these
o Working self-concept – depends on context you are in
56
What is social self-categorization?
- Situationally accessible? – can you access what you need to be a part of this group e.g., can a student access the lectures
- Structural fit?
- Normative fit? – are your behaviours in line with the group norms
- Does it reduce uncertainty? – does it give you a category you fit into
- Does it satisfy need for self enhancement? – does it make you feel good
57
What is the minimal group paradigm?
- Groups were assigned based on arbitrary meaningless criteria
- No group interaction or affiliation
- People still assigned resources/points and show bias with a preference for their group
58
What is social identity salience?
- Different aspects of our social selves become more or less relevant through the process of social categorization and our need to reduce uncertainty
- We look for things, like minimal cues to categorize ourselves and others
- To make ourselves more coherent
59
True or false, we attribute other people’s behaviour to their character but attribute our own behaviour to the situation?
TRUE
60
Do we have single or multiple selves?
- Representations of self, become more or less salient depending on situational factors – sometimes different traits are more important to express in different contexts so, there is one self rather than multiple
61
What is social identity theory?
- Social identity – Defines the self in terms of group memberships
- Personal identities – Defines the self in terms of idiosyncratic traits and close personal relationships
62
True or False, we see ourselves as others see us?
FALSE
| we see ourselves as we think others see us
63
What is symbolic interactionism?
– we are defined through our interactions with others
64
What is the self?
– the entire person of an individual, typical character or behaviour, the union of elements that constitute the individuality and identity of a person, personal interest
-Definitions lack emphasis on social element of the self
65
What factors appear to affect the strength of the relationship between scarcity and purchase intention/behaviour?
- Anticipatory regret
- Need for uniqueness
- Increased arousal
- Impaired cognition – leading to heuristics
66
What are scarcity appeals?
- Scare items often tend to be valuable and in turn people appear to perceive value in items as scare
- Promotional messages that stress that a given item is in limited supply have been commonly used in ads – scarcity can be signalled via quantitative appeals, limited supply or time constraints
- Have been shown to have a positive effect on consumers desirability for a product and lead to increased purchasing
67
Is humour effective in ads?
- Humour increases recall of events in ads but not necessarily the brand
- Humour enhances liking both the ad and the ad brand
- Humour lowers resistance to ads and stops critical evaluation
- Depends on demographic and the product
68
What is the incongruity-resolution theory?
- Most common type of humour used in ads
- Exists when the meaning of the advert is not immediately clear. When the meaning is eventually determined, the result is misattributed as a pleasant sensation and a more favourable attitude towards the advert
- The pleasure derived from incongruity is the divergence from the expectation, and the greater the divergence the funnier the material
69
Give an example of how the mere exposure effect is used in online gaming?
Through product placement
Players may not consciously notice the product but then still see it and this is enough to create a memory trace and leave more positive feelings about the brand
70
How does the mere exposure effect relate to advertising?
- People develop an increase in positive effect from repeated presentation of an unfamiliar stimuli
- Suggests that consumers do not need to pay conscious attention to advertisements and it may explain why some companies use “minimal” advertising strategies
- Research shows that the simple repetition of images and brands is enough to generate a “memory trace” in the consumers mind and unconsciously affect their preferences for a specific product
- Positive preferences can be generated independently of conscious processing
71
What is the bandwagon effect?
- People have an innate drive to copy others’ decisions and behaviours
- Being part of a group helps reduce risk and is beneficial for our survival
- e.g., the toilet roll or petrol shortages recently
72
What is the peripheral route in the elaboration likelihood model?
– not thinking carefully about the message (cognitively lazy, tired, product is trivial, low motivation, low ability)
o May not even attend to the message consciously
o Persuasion then can also result from peripheral cues in the target message
73
What is the central route in the elaboration likelihood model?
- involves thinking about an argument/message and systematically scrutinising the info contained in the advert
o This process of thinking about the message is called “Elaboration” and is most frequent when:
- The consumer is highly motivated
- High in ability
- E.g., wanting to buy a laptop and so actively looking for one – pay attention to the advert
74
In the Elaboration likelihood model, what determines which route is taken?
the processing strategy used (motivated or not)
75
What is the elaboration likelihood model (dual process model)?
- explains how people are persuaded
-Source message (input) > high ability and motivation (central route)
• >low ability or motivation (peripheral route) both then lead to persuasion (output)
76
What is self-perception theory?
- Idea that people interpret their own attitudes through their behaviour, especially when attitudes are weak, ambiguous or not rehearsed
- Using previous behaviour to infer a state (an attitude)
- Suggests that when an attitude is not well rehearsed (not often thought about) our behaviour then informs us about these attitudes
77
What is the genetic basis of attitudes? What is the research for this?
- Doesn’t mean that genes cause specific attitudes
- Rather those genes lead to the expression of certain personality characteristics and that these might mediate the target behaviour
- Not that there’s one to one mapping of genes to attitudes, its that genes mediate the relationship between attitudes
- Studies on Mz and Dz twins have found that Mz twins were more likely to have the same attitudes towards issues than Dz twins. Issue with environment however because Mz twins are more likely to be treated the same than Dz twins
78
How can we explain the mere exposure effect?
- Perceptual fluency – idea that people are cognitively lazy and so like things that are easy to encode and process
- Objects are easier to process if they are more familiar and this causes a positive sensation that is this misattributed as liking
79
What is the mere-exposure effect?
- Repeated exposure can create positive attitudes
- Mere exposure effect – increase in liking for an object as a result of being repeatedly exposed to it
- Zajonic (1986) – Found that Chinse characters (letters) were liked more, the more times they had been presented
80
What is evaluative conditioning?
- Is a subtype of classical conditioning
- EC is similar but takes a stimulus that is already associated with a positive/negative feeling, pairing this with a neutral object and then end up with an attitude of this object
- Seems that attitudes are learnt and develop in part as a result of the context in which we are exposed to the attitude object
81
Where do attitudes come from?
- Social experiences (e.g., learning)
- Biological predispositions
- Interpretation of our own behaviour
82
What are ambivalent attitudes? Give an example
- Ambivalent attitudes consist of both positive and negative evaluations of the same object
- e.g., arachnophobes know that spiders are harmless (positive cognition) but will still feel fear (negative affect) and run away shrieking (negative behaviour) on seeing a spider
83
What are the three components of the tripartite model of attitudes?
- Affective component – feelings towards the attitude object
- Cognitive component – beliefs about the object
- Behavioural component- intended action with respect to object
84
True or false, attitudes are abstract theoretical concepts?
TRUE
85
What is a psychological tendency?
Psychological tendency – can’t see or directly observed, abstract and theoretical
86
Give an example of how attitudes can affect how we perceive objective reality (football teams watching a match)
- Study asking students from rival unis to watch a film and count the number of fouls committed by each team during a game of football
- Princeton students reported more fouls of the Dartmouth team and vice versa
- Both cannot be true – attitudes affecting objective reality
87
Attitudes are ubiquitous, what does this mean?
They are stables and enduring
88
Give a real life example of the consequences of obedience (nurses and doctors?
- Nurse asked to administer large amount of a new drug to a patient – drug level was too high.
- 95% of nurses obeyed the doctors – broke hospital regulations
- But nurses are expected to obey instructions from doctors in normal medical practice
- Disobedience would’ve been difficult in this situation
89
What is the agentic shift?
people shift between two states:
o Autonomous state – people behave voluntary and self-directed – conscious
o Agentic state – mindlessly accept order of someone seen as responsible – do what we are told. We pass off the responsibility to the person telling us what to do.
o Happens when we believe the authority is legitimate and if we believe that they will accept responsibility and take charge – we become agents of the orders.
90
How do situational factors lead to obedience?
- Situational factors: some situations are so “strong” that they dominate individual differences in personality and make us behave
91
How do binding factors lead to obedience?
- Binding factors: subtle creation of psychological barriers to disobedience; gradual increase in punishment levels in Milgram’s research is a mean of entrapment – foot-in-the-door technique
92
What is the sociocultural prospective of why we obey?
We learn to obey authority and expect the encounter legitimate, trustworthy authority
93
What were some variations of the Milgram obedience study? What were the results?
- Free to choose shock level, 95% stayed blow 150v
- Authority of experimenter – easier to resist orders when authority figure is not close by:
o On phone – obedience reduced to 21%
o Use another ppt as experimenter, no lab coat – reduced obedience largely
- Location – run down building – 48% still obeyed
- Proximity of learner – moved to same room – obedience reduced to 40%
o Teacher holding down learner hand to shock plate – obedience at 30%
- Three teacher condition – 2 confederates who refuse to give shocks at 200 v – 10% obedience
94
What was Milgram's obedience study? What were the results?
- Ppts believed the study was on examining the effect of punishment on learning
- Teacher and learner positions were rigged
- Teacher had to administer electric shock to learner for each incorrect answer, voltage was increased
- Teacher believed that the shocks were real to learner
- All ppts carried on up to 300 volts
- 65% of ppts gave shocks up to 450v (max)
95
What is obedience? What does it involve?
– complying with orders from a person of higher social status within a defined hierarchy or chain of command
- Obedience involves an authority figure
96
What is self-categorization theory?
categorisation as a group member
97
What is Moscovici's dual process "conversion theory"?
- Conflict is critical factor
- Different processes and outcomes for majority/minority:
o Majority – comparison, public compliance, normative social influence, short term compliance
o Minority – validation, internalisation, informational social influence, longer lasting attitude change
98
What was Moscovici's minority influence study?
- 6 ppts, 2 confederates
- Confederates said that unambiguous blue slides were green
- If consistent in saying this, 8.42% agreed saying they were green
- 0.25% said green in control
- Consistent and confidence – over time minority influence can work (slower and maybe not as effective but can work)
99
What is the minority's behavioural style?
o Confidence
| o Consistency
100
What variations did Asch use on his line experiment? What were the results?
- ppt “arrive late” so had to write down answers with confederates saying it out loud -- conformity fell to 12.5%
- Group size – larger group = more likely to conform.
- Independence – important confederates seemed independent, if they seemed like they were copying conformity decreased
- Social support – one other confederate saying the right answer to support the ppt, then ppt feels more confident in saying correct answer and so conformity decreases. Social support has to seem valid though
- Unanimity – if a confederate said a different answer, not necessarily the correct one, conformity fell as someone else had broken away from the group norm and so the ppt felt more comfortable to do so as well
- Culture
101
What is Asch's line experiment?
- line experiment – match line to one of three options
- when done privately there was over 99% accuracy – clear answer
- groups of 6-9, all male, one participant with the rest being confederates
- gave same incorrect answer 36.8% of the time (1 third)
102
What is Sherif's autokinetic effect?
- Asked groups to estimate the amount of movement of a stationary light in a dark room
- Group norm rapidly established
- more uncertainty = quicker to conform
- also found to have changed private beliefs when asked privately – had to led to internalisation
103
What is internalisation? What type of social influence does it go with?
– deep and private
– change public behaviour as well as private beliefs
- This goes with informative social influence
104
What is compliance? What type of social influence does it go with?
- usually go only and agree with request but don’t change internal views
- superficial and public level of conformity but don’t change personal views
- This goes with normative social influence
105
What is informational social influence? Who's concept is this?
informational: (need to be right)
- going along with others based on a more informed view
- think group know more or have more accurate info
- their behaviour make sense
- might change actual beliefs because you think the group is right
- e.g., deciding which side of the road to drive on
Deutsch and Gerard
106
What is normative social influence? Who's concept is this?
Normative: (need to be liked)
- going along with others so that they like you, reassurance that behaviour is acceptable
- trying to fit in
- might not internally agree but change actions just to fit in
- e.g., clothing choices
Deutsch and Gerard
107
What is deliberate social influence?
– explicit attempts to influence/ persuade others or groups influencing each other
108
What is incidental social influence?
– presence of other influences us without an explicit attempt being made to do so – it just happens
109
What is social influence?
- attitudes and behaviour brought about by others
| - individuals changing behaviour to meet demands of society
110
What is conformity?
Conformity involves changing something about ourselves e.g., our perception or behaviour to be consistent with the group norms
111
What is confirmation bias?
a process where people pay more attention and remember info that tends to support their underlying stereotypes/beliefs. It leads people to preferentially attend to and seek out info that confirms it while ignoring info that contradicts it
-part of socio-cognitive approach
112
What is illusory correlations?
– an incorrect belief that two events are related when they actually are not
• Distinctive (low frequency) events capture attention
• Negative events (e.g., crime) are also salient
e.g., If a member of a minority group commits a crime, people remember it more readily and overestimate how frequently that behaviour is performed by the group
- part of socio-cognitive approach
113
What was the Sherif "Robber's Cave" study?
Two groups of 11-year-old boys were taken to a summer camp in Robber’s Cave State Park
- Phase 1 – forming 2 groups, 2 separate cabins, spent their time bonding, chose a shirt and flag, didn’t know the other group existed
- Phase 2 – created conflict – 2 groups brought together for a 5-day tournament where only one group could win. Other group is now an obstacle. This led to conflict, stealing and burning the other group’s flag
- Phase 3 – making peace – created larger goals (superordinate goals) that made the groups have to depends on each other in order to succeed – were enough to reduce prejudice
114
What is the economic perspective of prejudice?
- When groups are competing for limited resources, the groups experience conflict, prejudice and discrimination
- Resources such as jobs, places at a school, limited social housing
- Prejudice and discrimination should be strongest among groups that stand to lose the most if another group succeeds
115
Is similarity important in forming relationships?
- Very little evidence for the idea that opposites attract
| - Similarity-attraction effect – we like others who are similar to us
116
What is the role of familiarity in forming relationships?
The role of familiarity –
| - Familiarity with a new person increases liking
117
What is the proximity effect in terms of forming relationships?
Proximity effect –
| - Being physically close to others increases the chances of becoming friends
118
How do relationships (romantic/friendship) start?
- Proximity – do they live nearby?
- Familiarity – do we feel like we know them
- Similarity – are they like us
119
What study showed that love can be addicting at the start of relationships?
- Ppts who were madly in love
- Brain activity in brain scanner was measured while looking at a picture of their loved one
- Results: dopamine system was activated = associated with anticipation of reward and focused attention; involved in pleasure and addiction
- Love as a strong motivation, addictive craving to be with the other people
120
Give some example of love in different cultures/times (social construction of love)
- Western dominant model –
o romantic love = monogamous
o marriage: people fall in love and then get married
o gay marriage now legal in 29 out of 197 countries
o divorce as a social construct
- But elsewhere/in the past –
o polygamy = 25% of countries worldwide
o arranged marriages most common for of marriage worldwide in 18th century
o homosexuality illegal in the UK 1967, marriage illegal in the UK until 2014
o 6,000 divorces per year in 1971, now around 110,000 – 1/3 marriages end in divorce
121
What is the social construction of love?
- Idea that the definition of love differs between cultures and time
- Love as an emotional experience that changes according to cultural setting – different cultures experience love differently
122
What is the triangular theory of love?
- Theory attempts to define the different types of love that a person may experience
- Proposes that there are 3 key components of love: intimacy, passion and commitment
o Passion – physical attraction
o Intimacy – sharing of details and intimate thoughts and emotions
o Commitment – standing by a partner
- There are multiple ways that these three components can interact to define multiple types of love
o Companionate love – intimacy and commitment
o Romantic love – passion and intimacy
o Fatuous love – passion and commitment
- Want to reach consummate love – all three components – all three wane and vary
123
What study suggest that happier people may have a higher chance of being in long-term relationships?
o Positive emotional expressions on pictures in college yearbook predicted marriage success 20 years later – looking at Duchenne and non-Duchenne smiles
o Replicated in both men and women
124
Does romantic relationships make people happier?
no, but there is a correlation between people in romantic relationships and their levels of happiness
125
How does social support positively affect mental and physical health?
- Buffers stress – directly associated with health via biologically mediated pathways – reduce cortisol, improved neuroimmune response
- Social network may lead to improved health behaviours and earlier diagnosis – married patients and those with larger networks may be diagnosed earlier and thus have a better prognosis – indirect
- Encourage better compliance with medication
- Instrumental support: practical, immediate support when most needed
126
What is social support?
Social support – how easily people think they can get help from others when they’re in crisis
- Resources may include care, money etc.
127
True or false, social networks have no effect against physical and psychological effects?
False, they act as a buffer
128
Can loneliness predict dementia?
- Measured cognition in older ppts, followed up at 1, 5 and 10 years. Results at the 10-year follow-up suggested that loneliness independently predicted dementia
129
How can social networks affect illness (short term illnesses)
- Medical student with good social networks showed stronger immune response to Hepatitis B vaccine
- Happily married patients had 30% higher survival chance 4 years after heart attack compared to single patients
130
Give some examples of how social isolation can lead to disease
- Individuals with the lowest level of involvement in social relationships are more likely to die than those with greater involvement
- Poor social networks are associated with a host of condition including the development and progression of cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, cancer and delayed cancer recovery
- Women with advanced breast cancer lived significantly longer if they attend a support group
131
How does being around others affect mood? Give an example of a study
People experience more positive mood when around other, especially when there is a certain level of closeness and intimacy
- Students randomly paged throughout the day
- Asked to record who they were with and how they felt
- Ppts most happy when with friends and family
- Least happy when alone or in public spaces alone
132
What is natural selection? How do it work?
Natural selection – individuals with adaptive traits are more likely to survive and reproduce and pass those adaptive traits onto their offspring
- Over time, the advantageous traits become common in the population
- Individuals with close relationships to others were more likely to survive and reproduce – share resources
133
What is the confusion effect?
o Confusion effect: decreasing predator attack success with increasing party size, predator finds it more difficult to target an individual
134
What is the dilution effect?
o Dilution effect: danger of a successful predator attack is divided among group members – “dilutes” risk to any given individual, risk decreases
135
What features do social animals have in common?
- Cannot defend themselves from predators easily so rely on cooperative defence
- Tend to produce offspring that take a long-time to rear and so rely on cooperative rearing of the young by the group
- Tend not to be able to hunt effectively on their own and rely on cooperative foraging or hunting
136
True or false, social networks have no effect against physical and psychological effects?
False, they act as a buffer
137
What are the 3 things we need in the three-factor theory of love?
o A state of physiological arousal
o An appropriate label for the arousal
o An appropriate love object
138
Is satisfaction a reliable predictor of relationship stability?
Satisfaction is not a reliable predictor:
- Abused women stay when
o They have limited/ poor-quality alternatives
o They have invested more in their relationships
139
What is culture?
- Set of cognitions and practices that characterise a specific social group
- A set of meanings, not genetically transferred between individuals, shared within a population and enduring for generations
- Culture is expressed as a set of group norms at national, racial and ethnic levels
140
What does culture shape about a person?
- Who you are
- What you do
- What you think and believe
141
What category of people did research use to focus on?
Most research used to focus on white middle-class males – ignored cultural differences but this is now changing
142
What is the independent side of culture?
- Bounded, stable, autonomous
- Personal attributed guide action
- Achievement-orientated
- Personal goals
- Define life by successful goal achievement
- Competitive
- Strive to feel good about the self
143
What is the interdependent side of culture?
- Connected, flexible, fluid
- Participates in social relationships that guide action
- Orientated towards the collective
- Meets obligations and conforms to norms
- Responsible with others for group behaviour
- Defines life by contributing to the collective
- Cooperative
- Subsumes self in the collective
144
What is attribution bias in culture?
- Cultural differences in attributional style – the fundamental attribution error/correspondence bias is not present in collectivist cultures
145
How does culture affect cognition?
- Differing thought processes between different cultures – holistic vs. analytical manner
146
How does culture affect conformity and aggression?
- Asch’s conformity to group pressure:
o Conformity stronger outside of western Europe and North America
- Aggression
o Varies across cultures e.g., US Southern culture of honour
147
What 5 dimensions did Hofstede find across cultures? What did this show?
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o Power distance
o Uncertainty avoidance
o Masculinity-femininity
o Individualism-collectivism
o Time perspective
- Showed that different countries fall in different places on a continuum for different dimensions
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148
What 3 groups can nations be put into in terms of values?
o Western European nations are individualistic and egalitarian
o Eastern European Nations are individualistic and hierarchical
o Asian nations are collectivist and hierarchical
149
What is the main type of contact between cultures? What can this lead to?
- Most contact is visiting
o Too short to make changes in attitudes
o Tends to enhance stereotypes and prejudice
150
What factors of contact between cultures lead to negative outcomes?
o Language difference, pre-existing prejudice, ethnocentrism, intergroup anxiety, history of intergroup conflict, if culture is viewed to be very dissimilar
151
What can reduce the negative outcomes that occur due to contact between cultures?
- Verbal/non-verbal differences
| - Cooperation
152
What is acculturation?
Acculturation = the process of internalizing the rules and behaviours of another culture
153
What are the 4 types of acculturation?
- Integration = high home culture and high dominant culture
- Marginalization = low home culture and low dominant culture
- Separation = high home culture and low dominant culture
- Assimilation = low home culture and high dominant culture
154
Should we have indigenous or universal psychology?
- European social psychology isn’t greatly different from that of the US
- More important differences for Asian regions
- So should use both
155
What is aggression?
Aggression = any form of behaviour intended to harm or injure another living being who is motivated to avoid such treatment
156
What are the three defining features of aggression?
- Aggressor must intend to harm or injure another person
- Aggressor must have awareness of adverse effects of the behaviour
- Target of aggression must want to avoid the harm: not performed at target’s request
157
What is the difference between violence and aggression?
- Violence is carried out with intention or threat of causing serious physical harm
- Aggression doesn’t necessarily result in physical harm – could just be screaming and shouting
158
What is hostile aggression?
- Aggressive behaviour motivated by the desire to express anger and hostile feelings
- Motive: harm the target
159
What is instrumental aggression?
- Aggressive behaviour performed to reach a particular goal, as a means to an end
- Motive: reach a goal, harm as a side effect
160
How can we measure aggression?
- Unethical to set up an experiment that puts ppts into a high state of aggression and then allows for genuine personal harm to be cause
- Can perform experiments that use “trivial” and non-serious acts of harm
- Archival data
161
Give an example of how experiments with trivial harm can be used to measure aggression?
- E.g., one ppt plays violent video game and other plays non-violent video game. Invite to take part in reaction time test. Person who won more trails is the winner – must punish the loser, given options on intensity and duration of punishment. Ppt in violent video game more likely to choose louder and longer punishment
162
What is a problem with using experiments with trivial harm to measure aggression?
- Problem – lack of realism but all these measures have been validated. People who are most aggressive outside the lab score most highly on lab measures indicating good construct validity
163
What is archival data and how can we use it to measure aggression?
- Official records
- Crime statistics: can calculate the incidence of particular types of crime
- Incidence of particular forms of aggression
- Once we have this data, can run some interesting correlations in the data
164
What is a problem with using archival data to measure aggression?
- Problem: set up by external, non-research agencies, so limited in the data that we want
165
What are the biological and psychological approaches to theories of aggression?
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- Biological approaches
o Behavioural genetics
o Hormonal explanations
- Psychological approaches – affective and cognitive reactions to aggression-eliciting stimuli
o Frustration-aggression hypothesis
o Excitation transfer model
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166
What is the behavioural genetics explanation for theories of aggression?
- Some animals have been actively bred for aggression --> there may be a series of genes underpinning violent behaviour
- Study: took normal mice and bred the most aggressive ones together and the least aggressive ones together over 26 generations – had a fierce set of mice and a placid set – biological basis
- A child who is non-aggressive at the age of 8 is significantly less likely to be aggressive at age 48 than a child who is aggressive at age 8
167
How are adoption and twin studies used to explain the behavioural genetic explanation of aggression? What does a meta-analysis of their findings show?
- Adoption studies
o Compare how aggressive a person who has been adopted is with the aggression levels of their adoptive parents and their biological parents
- Twin studies
o Compare the behaviour of identical and fraternal twins
- Meta-analytic review of twin and adoption studies: genes explain 41% of the variance but the environment explains 59%
168
What role does testosterone have in explaining aggression?
- Appears to be linked to violence
- Men are also overwhelmingly the victims of crime – 20x more likely to kill other men than women
- Highly aggressive men have higher levels of testosterone
- Testosterone levels do tend to be higher amongst prisoners convicted of both planned and unprovoked violent crimes than prisoners not convicted of such crimes
169
What is the weapons effect?
Weapons effect – just being exposed to an aggressive cue can increase testosterone and make people more aggressive.
170
What is the frustration-aggression hypothesis?
- All frustration leads to aggression. All aggression comes from frustration
- Frustration is blockage of a goal-directed activity
- Aggression is driven by a goal to overcome/neutralise the feeling of frustration – called catharsis
171
Does aggression really lead to catharsis? (frustration-aggression hypothesis)
no
| – research has found that doing nothing (sitting quietly) actually is more effective in reducing anger than “venting”
172
What is the excitation-transfer theory?
- Builds on two-factor theory of emotion
- When physiological arousal from a neutral activity is still present when a person encounters an anger-eliciting situation, the earlier arousal (excitation) is transferred onto the anger-related arousal and falsely attributed as anger
- Leads to an increase likelihood that the individual will behave aggressively
- Theory is particularly useful for explaining aggression in sports
173
What is the two-factor theory of emotion?
o Emotion based on physiological arousal and cognitive label – physiological sensations such as nausea and “butterflies” can be labelled as excitement or fear depending on context
174
What are 3 factors that can lead to aggression?
- Alcohol
- Music
- Heat
175
Describe an experimental test of the alcohol-aggression link
- Alcohol condition and placebo condition
- Testing for the effect of ethanol as well as psychological expectancy of alcohol on behaviour
- Found causal link between alcohol intake and aggression – more aggressive when drunk than when sober
176
What are the limitations of an experimental test for the alcohol-aggression link?
o Major individual differences – not everyone becomes aggressive when drunk
o People with aggressive, irritable or depressive personalities when sober are more likely to be aggressive when drunk
o People who struggle to control anger, lack empathy or have low executive function are also more likely to be aggressive when drunk
177
Why does alcohol lead to aggression?
- Alcohol keeps us grounded and stops us worrying about the past and future experiences
- Leads to alcohol myopia
- This prevents a comprehensive appraisal of situational cues
- Intoxicated people are more likely to misinterpret what someone is saying or to respond aggressively to provocation
178
What is alcohol myopia?
alcohol myopia – a narrowing of cognitive or intellectual focus
179
What are the features of alcohol myopia?
o Decreases self-regulation
o Reduces anticipatory regret
o Increases reactivity
o Sensitive to the immediate environmental cues
180
Describe the findings of an experimental study that tested the effects of music on aggression?
- Men more likely to act aggressively if the confederate was female and they were exposed to the misogynistic song
- Women acted no more aggressively to female or male confederates regardless of which song they listened to
- Men act more aggressively after being exposed to misogynistic lyrics
- Men also showed more aggressive cognitions on word completion tasks after listening to misogynistic song lyrics
181
What are the limitations of an experimental study that tests the effects of music on aggression?
o Songs were quite different so could’ve been other factors such as the beat that contributed to the aggression
o Songs were by well-known artists so it could be the perception of these artists that contributed to the aggression
o Only know short term effects (approx. 20 mins) – know nothing about long-term effects
182
What is the heat hypothesis?
- Heat hypothesis – aggression and heat are positively correlated
183
What is the geographical regions approach to testing the heat hypothesis?
o Compares violent crime rates in hotter and cooler regions of the same country or neighbouring countries
o Support heat hypothesis
184
What are the limitations of the geographical regions approach to testing the heat hypothesis?
o Other factors differ in these countries not just heat e.g., unemployment rates, education level, drinking culture
o May be that heat is a factor but it is not the sole one
185
What is the time periods approach to testing the heat hypothesis?
o Compares violence rates in the same region during cooler and hotter periods
o Supports heat hypothesis
186
What are the limitations of the time periods approach to testing the heat hypothesis?
o Other variables at play e.g., people change their behaviour – are more sociable during summer so more opportunities for aggression
187
What is the potential impact of global warming on crime?
- Presents risk factor for the rise of violent crimes
- An increase in temperature by 1.1 degrees could increase murder and assault rate by 9 cases by 100,000 = 24,000 additional murders per year in US
