Social Psychology Flashcards
(350 cards)
Bibb Latané
Worked on bystander intervention
John Darley
Worked on bystander intervention
Helping behavior
Includes altruism and behaviors that may be motivated by egoism or selfishness
Altruism
Form of helping behavior in which the person’s intention is to benefit someone else at some cost to himself
Robert Zajonc
Worked on the mere exposure hypothesis. Social facilitation effect. Found that the presence of others helps with easy tasks but hinders complex tasks.
Prosocial behavior
Behavior that benefit other individuals or groups of people. There are two types: 1) altruism and 2) helping behavior
Mere exposure hypothesis
Mere repeated exposure to a stimulus leads to enhanced liking for it. The more you see something, the more you like it. Robert Zajonc has done research about this.
Spatial Proximity and propinquity
Plays a role in attraction. Even small differences have an effect. Possible explanations: 1) Potential friendships have a better opportunity to develop; 2) Increases the intensity of initial interactions.
The propinquity effect is the tendency for people to form friendships or romantic relationships with those whom they encounter often, forming a bond between subject and friend.
Attractiveness Stereotype
Tendency to attribute positive qualities and desirable characteristics to attractive people. Explains why physical attraction has been found a determinant of attraction.
Need complementarity
People choose relationships so that they mutually satisfy each other’s needs. The person who likes to talk is complemented by the person who likes to listen. Even successful complementary relationships have fundamental similarities in some attitudes that favor dissimilarity.
Equity theory
We consider not only our own costs and rewards, but the costs and rewards of the other person. people feel most comfortable in situations in which rewards and punishments are equal, fitting or highly logical.
Overbenefited people tend to feel guilty. Random or illogical punishment make people anxious.
If one person feels that inequity is present, there’ll be an instability.
Social Exchange theory
A person weighs the rewards and costs of interacting with another. More rewards lead to more attraction to the other. People attempt to maximize rewards and minimize costs.
Cognitive dissonance theory
Is the conflict you feel when your attitudes are not in synch with your behaviors.
Engaging in behavior that conflicts with an attitude may result in changing one’s attitude so that it is consistent with the behavior.
The greater the dissonance, the greater the pressure to reduce dissonance.
How can cognitive dissonance be reduced?
Dissonance can be reduced by changing dissonant elements or by adding consonant elements.
Which are the two types of dissonant situations?
1) free-choice dissonance
2) Forced-compliance dissonance
Which are the principles of cognitive dissonance theory?
1) If a person is pressured to say or do something contrary to his privately held attitudes, there will be a tendency for him to change his attitudes.
2) The greater the pressure to comply, the less the attitude change. Attitude change generally occurs when behavior is induced with a minimum of pressure.
Post-decisional dissonance
Dissonance that emerges after a choice. Festinger
Define Social Psychology
Concerned with social behavior including ways people influence each other’s attitudes and behavior: 1) impact of individuals on one another; 2) impact of social groups on individual group members; 3) impact of individual members on social groups; 4) impact of social groups on other social groups.
William McDougall
Psychologist - In 1908 published alone first textbook on social psychology.
E.H. Ross
Sociologist - In 1908 published alone first textbook on social psychology.
Verplank
1950’s suggested that social approval influenced behavior.
Found that the course of a conversation changes dramatically based upon the feedback (approval from others.
Helped to establish reinforcement theory.
Reinforcement theory
Behavior is motivated by anticipated rewards. Was challenged by social learning theorists.
Social learning theory
Behavior is learned through imitation. Also the most influential theory on aggression. Aggression is learned through modeling (direct observation), or through reinforcement.
Albert Bandura
main figure in social learning theory