Social Psychology

Question 1

Social psychology guiding principles

Answer 1

the social brain, the power of the situation, levels of analysis, critical thinking

Question 2

the social brain

Answer 2

our brains are good at taking in an processing social information

Question 3

the power of the situation

Answer 3

the social contexts we find ourselves in shape the way we think, fell and act

Question 4

levels of analysis

Answer 4

socials psychs are interested in individuals, dyads and groups
individual, interpersonal, intragroup, intergroup

Question 5

Personal identity

Answer 5

the self is a unitary and continuous awareness of who one is, many aspects of the self are influenced by social experiences

Question 6

Social Identity

Answer 6

groups we belong to, binds us to others
Self categorization theory:
-we categorize people into ingroups and outgroups

Question 7

Cultural identity

Answer 7

our sense of self derived from groups we belong to that have a distinct culture
can be fostered directly or indirectly

Question 8

Being with others can be good for us

Answer 8

connection with others fosters psychological needs e.g- belonging and self-esteem
Self-evaluation maintenance model:
1. we seek to maintain or improve our self-evaluation
2. comparisons with others influence our self-evaluation
Two processes: reflection and comparison

Question 9

Being apart from others is bad for us

Answer 9

psychological distance (loneliness), social distance, induced distance
impact of discrimination and ostracism

Question 10

the online context

Answer 10

stimulation hypothesis: online interaction strengthen existing relationships and thus have a social benefit
displacement hypothesis: social media replaces offline, face to face interactions, thus incurring social costs

Question 11

Making a first impression

Answer 11

snap judgements: how quickly do we form impressions
thin slices: how much information do we need to form accurate impressions
person perception: what information do we use to form impressions (warmth and competence)

Question 12

updating a first impression

Answer 12

impression formation: the process by which people combine information about others to make overall judgements
Updated either algebraically or configurationally

Question 13

algebraic models

Answer 13

impressions formed on the basis of a mechanical combination of information about a person

Question 14

configurational model

Answer 14

people combine information they receive about someone into an overall impression
Central traits: influential in impression formation
Peripheral traits: less influential in impression formation

Question 15

Getting to know someone

Answer 15

we like people who are familiar, similar, attractive
sharing with others and self-disclosure helps us get closer with others

Question 16

Obedience

Answer 16

high rate of obedience is typically attributed to a number of factors
-authority figure has high status
-participants believe the authority figure is responsible for the actionsp

Question 17

persuasion

Answer 17

appeals to the head and heart
emotion-based approaches: compliance with requests is higher when people are in a positive mood
reason-based approaches: induce compliance by providing good reasons for people to agree to a request
Norm of reciprocity: when someone does something for us, we feel pressure to help in return
Power of commitment: once a choice has been made, people feel pressure from themselves and others to act consistently with that commitment

Question 18

social norms

Answer 18

Norm-based approaches: our tendency to conform to the behavior of others around us can be harnessed to achieve compliance
Majority influence: when most group members behave in a certain way, one tends to behave in a similar fashion (anonymity, expertise and status, group size
Minority influence: a consistent minority in the group can affect group members attitudes and behavior

Question 19

Social loafing

Answer 19

the tendency to exert less effort when working on a group task in which individual contributions can not be monitored
Deindividuation: people fell they can hide in the crowd and avoid the consequences of slacking off
Equity: people don’t work hard in groups so reduce thier own effort
Reward: people feel their personal effort won’t be recognized even if they try hard

Question 20

Social Facilitation

Answer 20

Co-action effects: we perform better at tasks when we do them with other people
Audience effects: we perform better at tasks when we are watched by other people

Question 21

Altrusim

Answer 21

prosocial behavior that benefits others without regard to consequences for oneself
social reward, personal distress, empathic concern

Question 22

Why do bystanders not intervene?

Answer 22

diffusion of responsibility, pluralistic ignorance, evaluation apprehension

Question 23

prejudice

Answer 23

an attitude or affective response toward a group and its members

Question 24

discriminaton

Answer 24

favourable or unfavourable treatment of individuals based on thier group membership

Question 25

Blatant Prejudice

Answer 25

explicit rejection of the outgroup, inferiority of the outgroup, outward expression of negativity toward the outgroup

Question 26

Subtle prejudice

Answer 26

rejection of explicitly prejudiced beliefs while still feeling animosity, unacknowledged negative feelings toward members of certain groups

Question 27

Where does prejudice come from?

Answer 27

-prejudice will increase under conditions of economic difficulty -the mere existence of group boundaries can be sufficient to initiate group prejudice

Question 28

Prejudice reduction

Answer 28

economic lessons, motivational lessons, cognitive lessons