Social Psychology Flashcards
(230 cards)
1
Q
Define self-concept/self-identity
A
◦ Broadly defined as the sum of an individual’s knowledge and understanding of his- or herself
◦ Includes, physical, psychological and social attributes which can be influenced by the individual’s attitudes, habits, beliefs, and ideas
◦ How an individual defines him- or herslef based on their self-schemas
2
Q
Define self-consciousness
A
Awareness of one’s self
3
Q
Define self-schemas
A
How an individual defined themselves, based on beliefs that person has about themself
4
Q
Define personal identity and social identity
A
◦ Personal identity: consists of one’s own sense of personal attributes (ie. smart, funny)
◦ Social identity: consists of soial definitions of who you are (including race, religion, gender, occupation)
5
Q
Define “self”
A
A personal and social construction of beliefs
6
Q
What is the theory of self-verification?
A
That individuals want to be understood in terms of their deeply held, core beliefs
7
Q
What is the ADRESSING framework
A
◦ An acrynom of identity characteristics:
◦ Age
◦ Disability status
◦ Religion
◦ Ethnicity/race
◦ Sexual orientation
◦ Socioeconomic status
◦ Indigenous background
◦ National origin
◦ Gender
8
Q
What is the self-reference effect?
A
The tendency to better remember information relevant to ourselves
9
Q
Who was Carl Rogers?
A
◦ Founder of humanistic psychology perspectice
◦ Described personality as being composed of the ideal self and the real self
10
Q
Define the ideal self and the real self
A
◦ Ideal self: is contructed out of your life experiences, societal expectations, and the things you admire about role models. It is the person you ought to be
◦ Real self: is the person you actually are
11
Q
What happens when the real self and the ideal self are similar? What happens when they are not?
A
◦ When they are similar, the result is a positive self-concept
◦ When the ideal self is an impossible standard to meet, and when the real self falls short, the result is incongruity
12
Q
What are the three powerful influences on an individual’s development of self-concept?
A
- Self efficacy
- Locus of control
- Self-esteem
13
Q
Define self-efficacy
A
A belief in one’s own competence and effectiveness
◦ How capable we believe we are of doing things
◦ Can vary depending on task
14
Q
Define locus of control
A
◦ Can be internal or external
◦ Internal locus of control: believe they are able to influence outcomes through their own efforts and actions. Can be empowering and lead to proactivity.
◦ External locus of control: percieve outcomes as controlled by outside forces. Often result is passivity
15
Q
Define learned helplessness
A
A condition in which a person has a sense of powerlessness, arising from a traumatic event or persistent failure to succeed.
16
Q
Define self-esteem
A
One’s overall self-evaluation of one’s self-worth
◦ Can be based on different factors for different individuals, depending on which parts of a person’s identity they have determined to be the most important
17
Q
How is self-esteem related to self-efficacy?
A
◦ Self-efficacy can improve self-esteem if one has it for an activity that one values. But if the activity is not valued, it may not help with self-esteem
18
Q
What are important elements of identity development?
A
◦ Gender
◦ Moral
◦ Psychosexaul
◦ Social development
19
Q
What was the impact of Charles Cooley?
A
◦ Posited the idea of the looking-glass self - the idea that a person’s sense of self develops from interpersonal interactions with others in society and the perceptions of others
◦ Therefore, people share their self-concepts based on their understnading of how others perceive them
◦ The looking-glass self beings at an early age and continues throughout life (we never stop modifying it unless all social interactions cease
20
Q
What was the impact of George Herbert Mead?
A
◦ Developed the idea of social behaviorism
◦ Believed that there is a specific path to development of the self
◦ The preparatory stage (children would imitate others), the play stage (take of the role of others (ie. mom)), the game stage (consider and understand the responsibilities of multiple roles at once) -> all leading to the child understanding the generalized other
◦ Characterized the “me” and the “I”
21
Q
Define social behaviorism
A
The mind and self emerge through the social process of communicating with others
22
Q
Define symbolic interactionism
A
The idea that the mind and self emerge through the social process if cimmunication or use if symbols
23
Q
Define the generalized other
A
The common begavioural expectations of general society
24
Q
Differentiate b/w the “me” and the “I”
A
◦ “me” is how the individual believes the generalized other perceives it (could also be defined as the social self
◦ “I” is the response to the “me” (the “I” is the response of the individual to the attitudes of ithers
◦ The “I” is the self as subject
◦ The “me” is the self as object
25
Define socialization
The process through which people learn to be proficient and functional members of society
◦ Lifelong, and learn the attitudes, values, and beliefs that are reinforced by a particular culture
◦ Socialization allows a culture to pass on its values from one generation to the next
◦ Occurs through socializing
26
Define feral children
Children who were not raised with human contact or care - extremely deprived humans (results in terrible consequences)
27
Define norms
Spoken or unspoken rules and expectations for the behavior of a society
◦ Can be classified in many ways
28
Define normative behavior
Social behaviors that follow the expectations of norms and meet the ideal social standard
29
What reinforces normative behaviors?
Sanctions
30
Define sanctions
Rewards and ounishments for behaviors that are in accord with or against norms
31
Differentiate b/w formal norms and informal norms
◦ Formal norms: Generally written down (ie. laws), precisely defined, publically presentated and accompanied by strict penalities for those who violate them
◦ Informal norms: Generally understood, but are less precise and often carry no specific punishment (handshake when meeting someone)
32
What are the different ways to classify norms?
◦ Formality (formal and informal)
◦ Importance (mores and folkways
33
Define Mores vs folkways
◦ "More-ays" are norms that are highly important for the benefit of society and so are often strictly enforced (ie. animal abuse or treason)
◦ Folkways are norms that are less important but shape everyday behavior (ie. ways of dressing, ways of greeting others)
34
How are norms classified by importance?
◦ Mores
◦ Folkways
35
Define taboo
◦ Behaviors that customs forbid
◦ The endorsement of the norm is so strong that its violation is considered forbidden and can be punishable
◦ Taboo behavior can result in disgust toward the violator
◦ There is often a morla or religious component ot the taboo, and violation of the norm poses the threat of divine penalties (ie. for a Muslium to eat pork, cannibalism, incest, murder
◦ Can be considered a social construct as the idea of taboo changes in response to changes in social sotructure and there is no universal taboo
36
Define anomie
When there is a lack of the usual social or ethical standards in an individual or group
◦ lack cohesion and order
◦ Often thought of as a state of normlessness
◦ concept developed by Emile Durkheim
◦ A characteristic of societies in which social cohesion is less pronounced
37
Define Non-normative behaviour
◦ Viewed as incorrect b/c it challenges shared values and institutions, threatening social strucgture and cohesion
38
Define deviance
Actions that violate the dominant social norms, whether formal or informal
◦ Can be seen as criminal, in cases it violates public policies
◦ Deviance is contextual
39
____ and ____ are social constructs
◦ Deviance
◦ Taboo
40
B/c there are no behaviors in which deviance is inherented...
Instead, deviance is situational and contextual
41
How does Edwin Sutherland's differential association relate to deviance?
This perspective argues thast deviasnce is a learned behaviour reuslting from interactions b/w individuals a dn their communities (for exam, the comminication of ideas)
◦ Sutherland suggests that individuals become deviant when their contacts with favourable attitudes toward deviance outweight their contacts with unfavourable attitudes
42
What is a criticism of differential association?
The idea that individuals are reduced to their environments instead of considering people as independent, rational actors with personal motivations
◦ This perspective suggests that deviant behavour is learned from one's environment w/out choice
43
How does Howard Becker's labeling theory relate to deviance?
This perspective suggests that deviance is the result of society's response to a person rather than something inherent in the person's actions (behaviours become deviant through social processes (it assumes the act itself is not deviant for intrinsic moral reasons))
◦ Can have serious consequences of on others view said individual and that persons self-perception b/c individuals might internalize labels which can lead to self-fullfulling prophecies
44
Define self-fulfilling prophecies
When individuals internalizse labels and redefine their concept of the self
◦ Due to sociaetal preoccupation with labels, the individual might begin to exhibit more deviant behaviours to fulfill the expectations associated with specific ascribed labels
45
Define agents of social control
When dominant groups have the power to enforce the boundaries of normal behavour and thus define the difference b/w non-deviant and deviant behaviours, perheaps instuitutionalizing these differences through legal policies
◦ THey have an ability to attach stigmas to certain behaviours (ie. a doctors can define obsessive-compulsive behaviour as a mental illness, a form of deviance)
46
What is a criticism of labeling theory?
The idea that deviance is assumed to be an automatic process
◦ Individuals are seen to be influences through the use of labels, which ignores their abilities to resist social expectations
47
How does Robert Merton's structural strain theory relate to deviance?
This perspective purports that deviance is the result of experienced strain, either individual or structural
◦ In this state, individuals experience social strain; b/c existing social structures are inadequence, there is pressure to use deviant methors to prevent failure
◦ When the social goals and means are balanced, deviance is not expected
48
What is a criticism of the structural strain theory?
The fact that some deviant behaviors, and in particular criminal behaviours, persist in excess that are non-utiliarian
◦ Ie. Merton's perspective is applicable to fraud and theft in the cases where the economic structure is not serving individuals as best as possible, however, it is less applicable to deviant behaviours that are malicious and violent in nature, such as sexual assult
◦ This perspective is more applicable to material, rather than social goals
49
Define collective behaviour
This concept describes the actions of people operating as a collective group; however it is important to distinguish collective behaviour from group behaviour
◦ It is generally, more short-lives and less conventional values influence the group's behavior and guidelines for membership
◦ Examples of collective behaviour (as opposed to those of group behaviour) do not reflect the existing social structure but are instead spontaneous situations in which individuals engage in actions that are otherwise unacceptable and violate social norms
◦ In collective behaviour, there is a loss of the individual and independent moral judgement in exchange for a sense of the group - this can be destructive or harmless
50
Who was Herbert Blumer?
A sociologist whose ideas were foundational in the understanding of collective behaviour
◦ He identified four main forms of collective behaviour; crowds, publics, masses and social movements
51
What are the four main forms of collective behaviour?
1. Crowds
2. Publics
3. Masses
4. Social movements
52
Define crowds
A group that shares a purpose
◦ An example of collective behaviour
◦ Can sometimes be subject to herd behaviour
◦ Can be classified based on their specific intentions
53
Define herd behaviour
When there is a non-permenent loss of rational thought and the crowd influences individual behaviours
54
Explain panic as a collective behaviour
Panic is a situations in which fear escalates to the point that it dominates thinking and thus affects entire groups
55
Explain mobs as a collective behaviour
A mob is a specific eample of a crowd in which emotion is heighted and heviour is directed toward a specific and violent case
◦ A historial example of mobs include lynching
56
Define public
A group of individuals discussing a single issue, which conflicts with the common usage of the term
◦ This form of collective behaviour begins as the dicscussion begins, and ends when the discussion ends
◦ People in publics share ideas
57
Define masses
A group whose formation is prompted through the efforts of mass media
◦ Masses consist of a large number of people who may not be in close proximity but nevertheless share common interests
58
Define social movements
A collective behaviour with the intention of promoting change
◦ Two types of social movements: active movements and expressive movements
◦ Social movements can become established and permanent social institutions
59
Differentiate b/w active movements and expressive movements
◦ Active movements: attempt to foster social change (ex. revolutions)
◦ Expressive movements: attempt to foster individual change (ie. support groups)
60
Define a fad
◦ Also know as a craze
◦ Is an example of a collective behaviour in which something (1) experiences a rapid and dramatic incline in reputation, (2) remains popular among a large population for a brief period, and (3) experiences a rapid and dramatic decline in reputation
◦ Enthusiasm for it is driven through peer pressure and social media
61
Define trends
◦ Promotes widespread social change that is long-lived (or can be permenent)
62
Define mass hysteria
◦ An aspect of collective behaviour
◦ Is a diagnostic label that refers to the collective delusion of some threat that spreads through emotions (ex. fear) and escalates until it spirals out of control (ie. panic)
◦ Is the result of public reactions to stressful situations and can be described as a form of groupthink
63
What do outbreaks, epidemics, and pandemics refer too?
An unexpected increase in the incidence of an infectious disease in a given region, with outbrekas being the most limited and pandemics being the most widespread
64
Define a moral panic
A specific form of panic as a result of a perceived threat to social order (ie. Salam witch trials)
65
Define riots
◦ An example of collective behaviour and a form of crowd behaviour
◦ Have no specific end
◦ Generally occur as the result of general dissatisfaction w/ social conditions
◦ Riots have power and can lead to increased public attention and participation due to mass media coverage
◦ Is an increase in criminal behaviour and they are generally chaotic, disorganized and described as states of civil disorder, distress or unrest
66
List some general examples of collective behaviour
1. Fad/craze
2. Trends
3. Mass hysteria
4. Moral panic
5. Riots
6. Fashion
7. Rumors
8. Social movements
67
What are the six agents of socialization?
1. Family
2. School
3. Peer groups
4. Workplace
5. Religion/government
6. Mass media/technology
68
Explain how family is an agent of socialization
As socialization is a lifelong process, it is generally driven first by family members as they attend to a baby's needs and help with social development
◦ Those initial relationships heavily influence how an individual will interact in future relationships
◦ Family teachs children customs, beliefs, and traditions of their cultures through instruction and modeling
◦ They also influence the situations to which children are exposed too
69
Explain how school is an agent of socialization
◦ School explicitly teaches children the norms and values of their culture
◦ Schools can affect children's self-identities by accentuating those intellectual, physical, and social strengths that society endorces
◦ Schools can reinforce divisive aspects of society b/c the quality and availability of schooling is influenced by SES
70
Explain how peer groups are an agent of socialization
◦ As children age, family often becomes less important in social development and peer groups become more significant
◦ Peers often influence, fashion, speech style, gender role identity, sexual activity, drug/alcohol use, and can influence hierarchies (such as popularity)
71
Explain how the workplace is an agent of socialization
◦ As people generally spead a lot of time at work, workplaces influences behaviour through written codes, rules and informal norms
◦ The pressure to dit in at the workplace often alters behaviour
◦ Occupation can be a large part of one's identity
72
Explain how religion/the government is an agent of socialization
◦ Both government and organized religion influence the course of cultural change by creating "rites of passage" (comes of age/marriage vs drinking age/votes/driving)
◦ Laws both influence and are influenced by the societies that they apply to
73
Explain how mass media/technology is an agent of socialization
◦ Mass media and technology have extended themselves to influence almost everyone, through tv, movies, the Internet, phones, and other communications
74
Define assimilation
The process in which an individual forsakes aspects of their own cultural traditions to adopt those of a different culture
◦ Generally, those individuals are members of a minority group who is attempting to conform to the culture of the dominant group
A+B+C -> A
75
Define amalgamation
Occurs when the majority and minority groups combine to form a new group
◦ A unique cultural group is formed that is distinct from any of the initial groups
A+B+C->D
76
Define multiculturalism
Multiculturalism, or pluralism, is a perspective that endorses equal standing for all cultural traditions
◦ It promotes the idea of cultures coming together in a true melting pot, rather than a heirarchy
◦ In true multiculturalism, each culture is able to maintain its practices
◦ Supporters says it increases diversity and helps empower minority groups
◦ Opponents say it encourages segregation over unity by maintaining physical and socail isolation and hinders cohesiveness of a society
A+B+C -> A+B+C
77
Define a subculture
A segment of society that shares a distinct pattern of traditions and values that differs from that of the larger society
◦ Can be thought of as a culture existing within a larger, dominant culture
◦ Has unique behaviours and activities that are specific to their subculture
78
What are Kohlberg's stages of moral development?
1. Obedience and punishment orientiation
2. Self-interest orientation
3. Interpersonal accord and conformity
4. Authority and social-order maintaining orientation
5. Social contract orientation
6. Universal ethical principles
*The stages all form the basis of ethical behaviour and stages cannot be skipped
79
How are Kohlberg's stages organized?
The six stages are groups into three levels, with two stages in each level
◦ Each stage provides a new and necessary moral perspective and stages cannot be skipped
◦ Most adults attain, but do not surpass the fourth stage, in which mirality is dictated by outside forces (laws, rules, etc)
◦ Few people attain a post-conventional level of moral reasoning
80
Explain level 1 of Kohlberg's stage's of moral development
Pre-conventional level of moral reasoning: morality judged by direct consequences to the self (no internalization of "right" and "wrong"
◦ Typical of children
81
Explain level 2 of Kohlberg's stages of moral development
Conventional level of moral reasoning: morality judged by comparing actions to society's views and expectations (acceotance of conventional definitions of "right" and "wrong")
◦ Typical of adolescents and adults
82
Explain level 3 of Kohlberg's stages of moral development
Post-conventional level of moral reasoning: morality judged by internal ethical guidelines; rules viewed as useful but malleable guidelines
◦ Many people never reach this abstract level of moral reasoning
83
Explain stage 1 of Kohlberg's stages of moral development
Obedience and punishment orientation:
◦ Individuals focus on the direct consequences to themselves of their actions ("How can I avoid punishment?")
84
Explain stage 2 of Kohlberg's stages of moral development
Self-interest orientation:
◦ Individuals focus on the behaviour that will be in their best interest, with limited interest in the needs of others ("what is in it for me?")
85
Explain stage 3 of Kohlberg's stages of moral development
Interpersonal accord and conformity:
◦ Individua's focus on the approval and disapproval of others, and try to be "good" by living up to expectations ("what will make others like me?")
86
Explain stage 4 of Kohlberg's stages of moral development
Authority and social-order maintaining orientation:
◦ Beyond a need for individual approval, individuals feel a duty to uphold laws, rules, and social conventions ("What am I supposed to do?")
87
Explain stage 5 of Kohlberg's stages of moral development
Social contract orientation:
◦ Individuals see laws as social contracts to be changed when they do not promote general welfare ("The greatest good for the greatest number of people")
88
Explain stage 6 of Kohlberg's stages of moral development
Universal ethical principles:
◦ Morality is based on abstract reasoning using universal ethical principles; laws are only valid if they are grounded in justice
89
Define attribution theory
◦ Rooted in social psychologuy and attempts to explain how individuals view behaviour (both our own behaviour and the behaviour of others)
◦ Can more specifically be broken down to dispositional attribution or situational attribution
90
Differentiate b/w dispositional attribution and situational attribution
◦ Dispositional attribution is when, given a set of circumstances, individuals attribute behaviour to internal causes
◦ Situational attribution is when, given a set of circumstances, individuals attribute behaviour to external causes
91
What would you classify the following as:
you're driving and someone cuts you off. You might think, "wow that driver is a real jerk"
◦ dispositional attribution b/c the drivers behaviour is attributed to an internal cause (he is a jerk)
92
What would you classify the following as:
you're driving and someone cuts you off. You think, "wow, that driver must be in a hurry becayse of an emergency - maybe he just found out his mom is in the hospital"
◦ Situational attribution (there is an emergency)
93
What determines whether we attribute behaviour to internal or external causes?
1. Consistency - is anger consistent with how said person normally acts? Yes - likely has to do w/ them (dispositional). No - likely has to do w/ the environment (situational)
2. Distinctiveness - is said person just angry at you? No - everyone (dispositional). Yes - it may be situational
3. Consensus - is said person the only one angry or is everyone angry? If only them - likely has to do w/ them (dispositional). If everyone, might be situational
94
For distinctiveness, is the attribution of cause more likely to be external or internal?
External
95
For consensus, is the attribution of cause more likely to be external or internal?
External
96
For consistency, is the attribution of cause more likely to be external or internal?
Internal
97
Explain the fundamental attribution error
The reality that we tend to underestiminate the impact of the situation and overestimate the impact of a person's character or personality
◦ We tend to assume that people are how they act
98
What is the actor-observer bias?
The tendency to blame our actions on the situation and blame the actions of others on their personalities
99
What is the self-serving bias?
The tendency to attribute successes to ourselves and our failures to others or the external environment
◦ ie. If we perform well academically, it is b/c we are smart and workded hard. If we perform poorly, it is b/c the test was unfair or the teacher graded too hard
100
What is the optimism bias?
The belief that bad things happen to other people, but not to us
101
What is the 'just world phenomenon'?
The tendency to believe that the world is fair and people get what they deserve
◦ When bad things happen to others, it is the result of their actions or their failure to act, not because sometimes bad things happen to good people. When good things happen to us, it is because we deserved it
102
What is hindsight bias?
Or the 'knew-it-all-along' effect, is the tendency to believe that an event was predictable after it has already occured
103
What are the five types of attributional biases?
1. Fundamental attribution error
2. Actor/observer bias
3. Self-serving bias
4. Optimism bias
5. Just world belief
104
What is the halo effect?
The tendency to believe that people have inherently good or bad natures, rather than looking at individual characteristics
◦ Occurs when we make assumptions of others
◦ Our overall impression of a person is influenced by how we feel or think about their character
105
What is the physical attractiveness stereotype?
◦ A specific type of halo effect
◦ People tend to rate attractive individuals more favourably for personality traits and characteristics than they do those who are less attractive
106
What are factors that can influence your thoughts/feelings of someone?
1. Attribution bias
2. Culture affects attribution
3. Self-perception (and how it shapes our perceptions of others)
4. Stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination
5. Emotion and cognition in prejudice
6. Self-fulfilling prophecy and sterotype threat
7. Ethnocentrism vs cultural relativism
8. Bystander effect
9. Social loafing
10. Good polarization
11. Deindividuation
12. Social facilitation
13. Group think
14. Stigma and deviance
15. Conformity and obedience
107
How can culture affect attribution?
◦ B/c different cultures (western vs eastern asia) tend to endorse different attitudes/behaviours
◦ Western cultures more individualistic (individual attribution for success and failure)
◦ Eastern asian cultures has more external attribution
108
Explain self perception
◦ The process responsible for our judgments and impressions about other people, and allows us to recognize how others impact us, and predict how they might behave in given situations
◦ It is the initial information we process about other people in order to try to understand their mindsets and intentions
109
What is social cognition?
The ability of the brain to store and process information regarding social perception
110
What is a false consensus?
Occurs when we assume that everyone else agrees with what we do (even though they may not)
111
What is projection bias?
Occurs when we assume others have the same beliefs we do
112
Define stereotypes
The oversimplified ideas about groups of people, based on characteristics (race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, disability)
◦ Can be positive or negative
113
Define prejudice
Refers to the thoughts, attitudes, and feelings someone holds about a group that are not based on actual experience (thinking a certain way)
◦ Is a prejudgment or biased thinking about a group and its members
◦ Can be blatant/overt or subtle
◦ Predudice can be found at the subconscious level
114
Define discrimination
Involves acting a certain way toward a group
115
What is affirmative action
An example of an attempt to limit discrimination
◦ Policies that take factors like race or sex into consideration to benefit underrepresented groups in admissions or job hiring decisions
116
What is reverse discrimination?
Discriminating against the majority
◦ Ie. Actions taken like affirmative action
117
Define racism
Prejudices and actions that discriminate based on race, or hold that one race is inferior to another
118
What is institutional discrimination?
Unjust or discriminatory practices employed by large organizations that have been codified into operating procedures, processes, or institutional objectives
◦ Ie. "don't ask, don't tell" policy of gay personal in US military
119
What are the three components of attitudes?
ABC's
◦ affect (feelings)
◦ behavioural inclinations/tendencies
◦ cognition (beliefs)
120
Define scapegoats
The unfortunate people at whom displaced aggression is directed
121
What is an illusory correlation?
A cognitive bias where individuals perceive a relationship between two unrelated events or variables when none actually exists
◦ It's a false impression of a link between things that are either not related or less closely related than assumed.
122
What is the self-fulfilling prophecy?
When stereotypes can lead to behaviours that affirm the original stereotypes
◦ Said stereotypes are reinforced
123
What is stereotype threat?
A self-fulfilling fear that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotypes
◦ Ie. the idea that males are better at math than females. If before a math test a female is reminded of this (or if males are present), she will likely preform worse
124
Define ethnocentrism
a phenomenon with the tendency to judge people from another culture by the standards of one's own culture
◦ An example of favouritism for one's in-group over out-groups
125
Define cultural relativism
Judging another culture based on its own standards
◦ This can be hard to do, especially when the values of another culture clash with the values of one's own
◦ Involves judging a practice in the context of that cultures values (ie. child labour, judged by cultural values in India)
126
Define a group
A collection of any number of people (as few as two) who regularly interact and identify with each other, sharing similar norms, values, and expectations
◦ Groups come in numerous varieties
◦ They help clearly define social roles and statuses
◦ Can be further divided into primary groups and secondary groups
127
Differentiate b/w primary groups and secondary groups
◦ Primary groups play a more important role in an individual's life - these groups are usually smaller and include those with whom the individual engages with in person, in long-term, emotional ways. They serve expressive functions (meeting emotional needs)
◦ Secondary groups are larger and more impersonal and may interact for specific reasons for shorter periods of time. They serve instrumental functoons (meeting pragmatic needs)
◦ Can be further sub-categorized into in-groups and out-groups
128
Differentiate b/w an in-group and an out-group
◦ An in-group describes a group that an individual belongs to and believes to be an integral part of who they are. Ie. Those we identify with
◦ An out-group describes a group that an individual does not belong to. Ie. Those we do not identify with
129
What is a reference group?
A standard measure that people compare themselves to
◦ An individual can have multiple reference groups
130
What is a dyad?
The smallest social group, which contains two members and therefore one relationship
◦ Dyadic interactions are often more intimate and intense than that in larger groups b/c there is no outside competition. This group size also requires active cooperation and participation from both members to be stable
◦ Can involve equal partners (marriage) or unequal partners (master-servent)
131
What is a triad?
A group containing three members and therefore three relationships, one between each pair of members (for this reason triads can be more or less
stable)
◦ They can be equal or unequal hierarchies
132
Define aggregate
People who exist in the same space but do not interact or share a common sense of identity
133
Define a category
People who share similar characteristics but are not otherwise tied together
◦ ie. all of the people studying for the mcat this year make up a category of people
134
Define bureaucracy
A term used to describe an administractive body and the processes by which this body accomplishes work tasks
◦ They arrise from an advanced division of labour in which each worker does this own tasks which are presided over and coorinated by managers
◦ Max weber is thought to have developed a major theory of bureaucracy
135
What are the five characteristics of an ideal bureaucracy posited by Max Weber?
1. It covers a fixed area of activity
2. It is hierarchically organized
3. Workers have expert training in an area of specialty
4. Organizational rank is impersonal, and advancement depends ontechnical qualification, rather than favouristism
5. Workers follow set procedures to increase predictability and efficiency
136
Define rationalization
The process by which tasks are broken down into component parts to be efficiently accomplished by workers within the organization
◦ Henry Ford popularized this process
137
Define McDonaldization
The rationalization of fast food production with four components;
1. efficiency
2. calculability
3. predictability
4. control
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Explain the Iron Law of Orligarchy
The "iron law of oligarchy" states that all forms of organization, regardless of how democratic they may be at the start, will eventually and inevitably develop oligarchic tendencies, thus making true democracy practically and theoretically impossible, especially in large groups and complex organizations.
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What does 'mere presence' mean?
It means that people are simply in each other's presence, either completeing similar activities or apparently minding their own business
◦ People do not have direct engagement
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What is the social faciliation effect?
When people tend to perform simple, well-learned tasks better when other people are present
◦ It only holds true for simple or practiced tasks
◦ The presence of others can impair performance when completing complex or novel tasks
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What is deindividuation?
When people are in situations with a high degree of arousal and a low sense of responsibility, people may act in startling ways (to both themselves and others)
◦ People may lose their sense of restraint and their individual indentity in exchange for identifying with a group or mob mentality
◦ It is a lack of self-awareness and is the result of a disconnection of behaviour from attitudes
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What are the ideal factors that are ideal for deindividuation to occur?
◦ Group size: larger groups create a diminished sense of identity and responsibility and may allow people to achieve anonymity by getting 'lost in the crowd'
◦ Physical anonymity: using facepaint, masks, costumes, or communicating online to make one less identifiable
◦ Arousing activities: rather than beggining with a frenzy, deindividuating circumstances usually start with arousing activities that escalate
◦ Therefore, factors that reduce self-awareness increase a sense of deindividuation
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What was the Kitty Genovses case?
She was stabbed to death and called for help and although her neighbours heard her, none called the people b/c they all thought someone else already called
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What is the bystander effect?
The finding that a person is less likely to provide help when there are other bystanders
◦ B/c the presence of others creates a diffusion of responsibilty
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What is social loafing?
When a group is working together toward a common goal, there is a tendency for people to exert less effort if they are being evaluated as a group than if they are individually accountable
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What is social facilitation?
When being part of a group increases concerns over evaluations
◦ Those in groups work harder than if alone
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What is group polarization?
Groups tend to intensify the preexisting views of their members - the average view of a member of the grou[ is accentuated
◦ The entire group tends toward more extreme versions of the average view they initially shared prior to discussion
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What are the two reasons why group polarization occurs?
1. Informational influence
2. Normative influence
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Differentiate b/w informational influence and normative influence
◦ Informational influence: in group discussions, the most common ideas are those that favour the dominant viewpoint, which persuades others to take a stonger stance toward this viewpoint, making people more polarized
◦ Normative influence: is based on social desirability, and wanting to be accepted or admired by others (b/c you want to be liked, you take a stronger stance on something than you otherwise would have)
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What is social comparison?
Evaluating our opinions by comparing them to those of others
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Explain groupthink
The pressure to not 'rock the boat' in a group by providing a dissenting opinion
◦ It is a state of harmony within a group as everyone seems to be in a state of agreement
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Explain the process of mindguarding
When some members of the group prevent dissenting opinions from permeating the group by filtering out facts and info that go against the beliefs of the group
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Define deviance
A violation of society's standards of conduct or expectations
◦ Can range from being late to an interview to smuggling drugs
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Define stigma
Society often devalues deviant members by assigning demeaning labels
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What did Solonom Asch study?
He wanted to test the effects of group pressure (or peer pressure) on individuals behaviour
◦ Created a study on visual perception - where people had to determine which line of three was most similar to a comparison line. He had individuals complete this task alone and with others (who were confederates)
◦ When alone, people were very accurate. When with confederates, people would go along with when others were saying to avoid being different
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What are confederates?
People who are part of running the experiment, but the individual being tested doesn't know that
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Define conformity
The phenonmenon of adjusting behaviour or thinking based on the behaviour or thinking of others
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What experiment did Stanley Milgram perform?
◦ A study on obedience involving fake shocks
◦ An individual was to deliever a 'shock' which turned out to be fake, but the person administering it didn't know that it was fake, to a person if said person got an answer wrong
◦ Every wrong answer, the power of the 'shock' would increase and at different levels, the person administering the shocks could hear moans, screams, yelling, etc
◦ Milgram performed many variations of his original study to see how various independent variables affected obedience
◦ He found that the decreased distance of the "learner", increased distance of the authority figure, more casual wardrobe of the authority figure, and worse office location all decreased obedience among subjects. Gender did not play a role in obedience
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What are the three ways that behaviour may be motivated by social influences?
1. Compliance - heavily impacted by the presence of rewards or punishments
2. Identification - dependent on whether a person wants to be like someone or a group
3. Internalization - motivated by values and beliefs that have been integrated into one's belief system. *This factor is the most powerful of the three
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Differentiate b/w normative social influence and informational social influence
◦ Normative social influence: when the motivation for compliance is desire for the approval of others and to avoid rejection (people conform b/c they want to be liked and accepted by others
◦ Informational social influence: The process of complying b/c we want to do the right thing and we feel like others "know something that I don't know" (more likely to apply to new situations, ambiguous situations or when an obvious authoruty figure is present
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What are the six factors that can influence conformity?
1. Group size: (3-5 is better than 1-2)
2. Unanimity
3. Cohesion: if the opinion comes from a person that someone identifies
4. Status: higher-status people ahjve stronger influence on opinions
5. Accountability: When people will be held accountable for their actions/opinions
6. No prior commitment: people tend to stick to public commitments
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Define status
A broad term in sociology that refers to all the socially defined positions within a society
◦ Ie. President, parent, republican, etc
◦ One person can hold multiple statuses at once
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What is one's master status?
The one status that dominates the others and determines that individuals general position in society
◦ May not be the one someone perfers
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Why can statuses be described as ascribed or acheived?
◦ Ascribed statuses: are those that are assigned to a person by society regardless of the person's own effort
◦ Achieved statuses: are considered to be due largely to the individual's efforts (these can include doctor, parent, democrat)
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What are social roles?
Expectations for people of a given social status
◦ Role expectations can come with an ascribed statues (ie. it might be expected for the mom to watch the baby)
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What is role conflict?
It happens when there is a conflict in society's expectations for multiple statues held by the same person (ex. male nurse, or gay priest)
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What is role strain?
When a single status results in conflucting expectations
◦ ex. a guy man feels pressure to be more gay, or that he is not gay enough
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What is role exit?
The process of disengaging from a role that has become closely tied to one's self-identity to take on another
◦ Ie. high school student leaving home to go to uni
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What is one's social network?
A web of social relationships, including those in which a person is directly linked to others as well as those in which people are indirectly connected through others
◦ Often based on groups that individuals belong to
◦ Network ties may be weak, but they can be powerful resources in meeting people
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Define organizations
Large, more impersonal groups that come together to persue particular activities and meet goals efficiently
◦ Tend to be complex and hierarchically structured
◦ Serve the purpose of increased efficiency, predictability, control and uniformity in society.
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What are the three types of organizations?
1. Utilitaran organizations
2. Normative organizations
3. Coercive organizations
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What is an utilitarian organization?
Those in which members get paid for their efforts, such as businesses
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What is a normative organization?
Motivate membership based on morally relevent goals (ie. Mothers against drunk driving, MADD)
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What is a coercive organization?
Those for which members do not have a choice in joining (ie. prison)
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Define empathy
The ability to identify with others emotions
◦ Putting yourself in someone else's shoes
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What is impression management?
◦ Also known as self-presentation
◦ Is the conscious or unconscious process whereby people attempt to manage their own images by influencing the perceptions of others
◦ This is achieved by controlling either the amount or type of informatio, or the social interaction
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What is self-handicapping?
A strategy in which people create obstacles and excuses to avoid self-blame when they do poorly as it is easier to erect external hindrances to explain our poor performances than to risk considering or having others consider an internal characteristic to be the cause of a poor-performance
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What is the dramaturgical perspective?
Posits that we imagine ourselves as playing certain roles when interacting with others
◦ Stems from sociology and symbolic interactionism
◦ Suggests that our identities are not necessarily stable, but dependent on our interactions with others
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What is nonverbal communication?
Involves all of the methods of communication that we use that do not include words
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Define mimicry
the action or art of imitating someone or something
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Differentiate b/w front stage and back stage
◦ Front stage: In front stage, we play a role and use impression management to craft the way we come across to other people
◦ Back stage: In back stage, we can 'let down our guard' and be ourselves
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What are warning colours?
◦ Used in animal signals and communication
◦ Bright colours meant to advertise to predators that an organism is toxic or noxious
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What are pheromones?
◦ A chemical messager employed by animals to communicate with each other
◦ Can be employed within a given species to attract mates
184
Explain attraction
◦ b/w members of the same species is a primary component of love, friendship and relationships
◦ Research into human attraction found 3 characteristics to foster attraction: proximity, physical attraction, and similarity
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Explain proximity
◦ Geographic nearness
◦ Is the most powerful predictor for friendship
◦ Impacted by the mere exposure effect
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What is the 'mere exposure effect'?
People prefering repeated exposure to the same stimuli
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Explain appearance
◦ Is an important predictor of attraction
◦ Those more attractive are thought to be more likeable
◦ Those with more positive personality traits are thought to be more attractive
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Define similarity
◦ Similarity b/w people also impacts attraction
◦ People generally like those they have things incommon with
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What three factors influence attraction?
1. Proximity
2. Appearance
3. Similarity
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Define aggresion
◦ As behaviour that is forceful, hostile, or attracking
◦ Is considered something that is intended to cause harm or promote social dominance within a group
◦ Can be communited verbally or by actions/gestures
◦ There is likely some genetic predisposition for aggressive behaviour
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What are the three types of predictors for aggressive behaviour?
1. genetic
2. neutral
3. biochemical
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What is the frustration-aggression principle?
◦ Suggests that when someone is blocked from achieving a goal (in pain, hot temperatures, etc), this frustration can trigger anger, which can lead to aggression
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What is a major determinant of health and wellbeing for humans and other animals?
Social support
194
What is foraging?
Behaviour that describes the search for and exploitation of food resources by animals
195
What is the inclusive fitness of an organism?
Defined by the number of offspring the organism has, how it supports its offspring, and how its offspring support others in a group
◦ It proposes that an organism can improve its overall genetic success through altruistic social behaviours
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Define altruistic behaviour?
Helps ensure the success of survival of the rest of a social group, possibly at the expense of the success of survival of the individual
◦ Often the sounding of an alarm will result in the demise of the individual, but help promote the survival of the rest of the clan
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What is game theory?
◦ Analysis that is used to try and predict large, complex systems, such as the overall behaviour of a population
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Define persuasion
Is one method of attitude and behaviour change
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Explain the elabortion likelihood model
Explains when people will be influenced by the content of the speedch (or the logic of the arguments), and when people will be influenced by other, more superficial characteristics like the appearance of someone or the length of the speech
200
What are the three key elements that influence persuasiveness?
1. The message characteristics
2. The source characteristics
3. The target characteristics
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Differentiate b/w the message characteristics, the source characteristics, and the target characteristics
◦ The message characteristics: are the features of the message itself (such as the logic and number of key points in the argument). Include the length of the speech and its grammatical complexity
◦ The source characteristics: of the person or venue delivering the message (such as expertise, knowledge, and trustworthiness)
◦ The target charactertistics: of the person receiving the message, such as self-esteem, intelligence, mood, and other personal characteristics all influence whether a message will be perceived as persuasive
202
What are the two cognitive routes that persuasion follows?
1. The central route
2. The peripheral route
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Differentiate b/w the central route and the peripheral route
◦ The central route: people are persuaded by the content of the argument, and allow those features to influence their decision to change their POV
◦ The peripheral route: functions when people focus on superficial or secondary characteristics of the speech or the orator and people are oersuaded by the attractiveness of the orator, the length of the speech, whether the orator is an expert in their field, or other features
204
What is the social cognitive theory?
◦ A theory of behavior change that emphasizes the interactions b/w people and their environment
◦ Focuses on how we interpret and respond to external events, and how our past experiences, memories, and expectations influence our behaviour
◦ Social factors, obervational learning, and environmental factors can also influence a person's attitude change
205
What is reciprocal determinism?
The interaction b/w a person's behaviours (conscious actions), personal factors (individual motivational forces or cognitions), and environment (situational factors)
206
What are individual motivational factors?
◦ Personality differences that drive a person to act
◦ AKA cognitions
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What are the three different ways that individuals and environments interact?
1. People choose their environments which in turn shape you
2. Personality shapes how people interpret and respond to their environment
3. A person's personality influences the situation to which she then reacts. Experiments have demonstrated that how you treat someone else influences how they will treat you
208
What is behavioural genetics?
Attempts to determine the role of inheritance in behavioural traits
◦ The interaction b/w heredity and experience determines an individual's personality and social behaviour
◦ Seeks to understand how the genotype and environment affect the phenotype
209
Which cells in humans do not contain DNA?
Mature red blood cells
210
Define genotype
The genetic makeup of an organism
211
Define phenotype
The obervable characteristics and traits
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What two behavioural genetics studies of are used to determine the influence of genes vs the environment?
1. Twin studies
2. Adoption studies
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What are twin studies?
◦ Used to compare traits in monozygotic (identical) and dizygotic (fraternal) twins
◦ Attempts to assess the variance of a phenotype (behaviour, psychological disorder) in a large group in order to estimate genetic effects (heritability) and environmental effects (both from shared environment or experiences and unshared/unique environment or experiences)
◦ Monozygotic (MZ) twins have essentially identical genotypes and an almost identical environment, starting from the womb
◦ Dizygotic (DZ) twins share roughly 50% of their DNA (genetically no more similar than siblings), and an arguably similar environment, starting from the womb
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What are adoption studies?
◦ Present a unique way to study the effect of genetics and environment on phenotype
◦ Creates two groups: genetic relatives and environmental relatives
◦ Adopted individuals can be compared with both groups to determine if they are more similar to their genetic relatives or their environmental relatives
◦ Adopted children have personalities more similar to their biological parents than their adopted parents - traits like agreeableness, extraversion, introversion tend to be biologically passed on. However, adopted children are more similar to their adoptive families in terms of attitudes, values, manners, faith, and politics
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Is either the twin study or the adoptive study better than the other?
Arguably, the adoptive study is better as it can help to elucidate the impact of both heredity and environment on phenotype, while the twin study can only examine the impact of genetics b/c the environment is so similar for the twins
216
Define transgenesis
The introduction of an exogenous or outside gene
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Why is the interaction b/w genotype and phenotype easier to study in animals?
B/c genes and environment can be more tightly controlled
◦ Researchers can use transgenesis or knockout genes to alter genotypes while controlling for environment
218
Define temperament
emotional excitability
219
What did Francis Galton do?
◦ First proposed a theory of general intelligence
◦ Believed intellience had a strong biological biases and could be quantified by testing certain cognitive tasks
◦ Argues that intelligence is genetically determined
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What did Alfred Binet do?
Administered intelligence tests to schoolchildren, with the goal of developing a measure to determine which children were in need of special education
◦ Called the Stanford-Binet Intelligence scale (or Intelligence Quotient (IQ) test)
221
What did Charles Spearman do?
◦ First coined the term general intelligence (spearman's g)
◦ Believed that intelligence could be strictly quantified through cognitive tests, and those who possessed high general intelligence would do well on lots of different measures of cognitive ability
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What did Raymond Cattell do?
◦ He proposed two types of intelligence: fluid intelligence and crystallized intelliegence
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Differentiate b/w fluid intelligence and crystallized intelligence
◦ Fluid intelligence: (Gf) is the ability to 'think on your feet' and solve novel problems
◦ Crystallized intelligence: (Gc) is the ability to recall and apply already-learned information (generally what you're expected to do in school)
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What did Howard Gardner do?
◦ Had a theory on multiple intelligences, which breaks intelligence down into eight different modalities (logical, lingustic, spatial, musical, kinesthetic, naturalist, intrapersona and interpersonal intelligences)
◦ Renewed the idea of social intelligence
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What did Edward Thorndike do?
First proposed the idea of social intelligence
226
Define social intelligence
the ability to manage and understand people
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Define emotional intelligence
Involves beng well attuned to one's own emotions, being able to accurately intuit the emotions of others, and using this information as a guide for thinking and acting
228
Define an intellectual disability
Individuals who not only have a score below 70 on intelligence tests, but also have difficulty adapting to everyday demands of life
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What is the life course perspective?
◦ AKA the life course approach
◦ Looks at how key events in a person's life such as marriage, death, adn the birth of children unfold over time and lead to a person's development
