Social Psych

Question 1

Social Psychology

Answer 1

Study of causes & consequences of social tendencies in species

Question 2

Social Behavior

Answer 2

How people interact with one another

Question 3

Social Influence

Answer 3

How people change each other

Question 4

Social Cognition

Answer 4

How people think about each other

Question 5

Agression

Answer 5

Any behavior whose purpose is to harm another

Question 6

Coopreration

Answer 6

-Behavior by two or more individuals that leads to mutual benefit
-Benefits everyone but only if everyone cooperates

Question 7

Altruism

Answer 7

Behavior that benefits another without benefiting oneself

Question 8

Interpreting the behavior of others

Answer 8

Relying on external cues to provide information that helps understand the thoughts and actions of others

Question 9

Attribution theory

Answer 9

Framework for understanding the reasons behind the actions of others

Question 10

Fundamental attribution error

Answer 10

Tendency to attribute behaviors of others to internal causes, but to attribute own behavior to external causes

Question 11

Attributions

Answer 11

-The process of how we infer the cause of our own behavior or another person’s behavior
-Strongly influences the opinions of others
-Susceptible to many biases

Question 12

Impression formation

Answer 12

Process where individuals form either a positive or negative perception about people or groups

Question 13

Confirmation bias

Answer 13

-Tendency to interpret, seek, & create info in ways that verify existing beliefs
-Info inconsistent with prior beliefs will be processed more slowly & attended to less
-Fast processing of & increased attention to events that are consistent with our initial impression/beliefs

Question 14

Self-fulfilling prophecy

Answer 14

Process by which expectations about a person eventually lead to that person behaving in ways that confirm those expectations

Question 15

Behaving in the presence of others

Answer 15

Individuals alter their authentic behaviors when around other people

Question 16

Social Norms

Answer 16

-General rules of conduct established by society reflecting standards of approval & disapproval
-Exert power over the behaviors of others whether norm is true or false

Question 17

Individualistic (Western)

Answer 17

Focus on individual gains instead of the whole group

Question 18

Collectivistic (Eastern)

Answer 18

Focus on benefit of the group instead of the individual

Question 19

Conformity

Answer 19

-Tendency to change our perceptions, opinions, or behaviors in ways that are consistent with group norms
-Extent to which people modify behaviors to be consistent with behaviors of others
-Presence of others directly impacts conformity
-Difficult to think of behaviors that are not in some way affected by exposure to the actions of others
-Violating social norms is difficult for the individual

Question 20

Solomon Asch

Answer 20

-Conducted a study to test how the presence of others impacts conformity
-Tested how peoples’ beliefs affect the beliefs of others
-People completed a visual judgment task among confederates (researchers pretending to be participants)
-Objective: report which line most similar to the standard line
-Participant considers the desire to be correct or the desire to follow the group’s behavior

Question 21

Groupthink

Answer 21

-Group decision-making style characterized by excessive tendency among group members to reach same consensus
-Desire for harmony overrides realistic evaluations of decisions & alternatives
-Emerges when need for agreement takes priority over motivation to obtain accurate info & make appropriate decisions

Question 22

Characteristics that contribute to groupthink

Answer 22

1. Highly cohesive groups more likely to reject deviant opinions
2. Group structure: people with similar backgrounds, strong leader, lack systematic procedures for making decisions
3. Stressful situations provoke groupthink reassurance from others is highly desirable
4. Low knowledge: individuals lack knowledge or feel other members are more qualified

Question 23

METHODS TO AVOID GROUPTHINK

Answer 23

1. Leader emphasizes importance of diverse opinions
2. Leader should wait to voice opinions until others come up with ideas first
3. Assign group member role of ‘devil’s advocate’
4. Discuss group ideas/opinions with someone outside of group
5. Reward creativity & give plenty of opportunity to voice opinions
6. Diversity among group members

Question 24

Stanley Milgram

Answer 24

-Conducted a series of experiments assessing obedience to authority
-65% of participants continued to highest level of 450volts
-Participants felt anxious and uncomfortable the more the shock level increased
-When authority IS deemed important or prestigious 🡪 more obedience

Question 25

Philip Zimbardo

Answer 25

-Examined the power the situation has to determine behaviors -Examined the extent that social roles influence behavior -Stanford Prison Experiment ~ assigned role as prisoner or guard → chaos ensued as we saw in Unit 1

Question 26

Bystander Effect

Answer 26

-As the number of bystanders increases, a person in need is less likely to receive help -Emergency occurs observers most likely to take action if no one else is around -Some things increase helping, other things decrease helping

Question 27

Attitudes & behavior

Answer 27

Do attitudes shape behaviors, or do behaviors shape attitudes?

Question 28

Attitudes

Answer 28

-Learned tendency to evaluate object, person, or issue in a particular way -Have affective, behavioral, & cognitive (ABC) components

Question 29

Affective

Answer 29

Emotional evaluations & feelings

Question 30

Behavioral

Answer 30

Predispositions to act in a given way; attitudes reflected by action

Question 31

Cognitive

Answer 31

Thoughts & conclusions about topics/objects/people

Question 32

Cognitive Dissonance

Answer 32

-Unpleasant state of psychological tension (or dissonance) when you realize inconsistency of own actions, attitudes, &/or beliefs -Goal: reduce it via changing attitude or behavior in order to reach consistency -If you can easily rationalize behavior to make it consistent with attitude dissonance is resolved quickly & easily consistency -But if behavior cannot be easily justified must change attitude consistency

Question 33

Stereotype

Answer 33

-Characteristics attributed to members of specific social group -Assumes that people have certain characteristics because of membership to a social group

Question 34

Stereotype Threat

Answer 34

-Worry that may confirm stereotype (& negative beliefs) that others hold about you through your behavior -Results in decreased performance associated with a certain stereotype

Question 35

Prejudice

Answer 35

-Negative attitudes toward people who belong to specific social group -Learned via parents, peers, culture, & environment -Based on exaggerated notion that members of other social group (outgroups) are very different from our own social group

Question 36

Discrimination

Answer 36

Negative actions taken toward others based on common characteristics

Question 37

Aggression & altruism

Answer 37

Prejudice & discrimination vs. benevolence & helping

Question 38

Aggression

Answer 38

Any verbal or physical behaviors intended to cause harm

Question 39

Instrumental

Answer 39

-Violent behavior is purposeful & helps to achieve some goal; often carefully planned -No intent to harm someone, but might require physical force

Question 40

Hostile

Answer 40

-Violent behavior for sole purpose of inflicting harm one someone else -Intent to do harm

Question 41

Biological Factors

Answer 41

-Evolutionary basis in behaviors across people -Neurological differences – amygdala, limbic system, pre-frontal cortex (PFC) -Hormone differences – testosterone -Males: physical aggression; Females: verbal aggression, social rejection

Question 42

Environmental Factors

Answer 42

-Variables across situations influence aggression -Behavior modeling & social learning – think Bandura’s Bobo Doll experiment

Question 43

Psychological Factors

Answer 43

People who are violent are often just mimicking behaviors of others

Question 44

Altruism

Answer 44

Helping another person with no expectation of personal benefit or gain

Question 45

Prosocial Behavior

Answer 45

Any behavior that helps another person, whatever the underlying benefit

Question 46

Reciprocal Altruism

Answer 46

Expectation of returned gesture over long-term

Question 47

Reciprocity Norm

Answer 47

If others help us, we feel motivated to provide something in return