Unit 6: Social Behaviour

Question 1

Social Psychology

Answer 1

Is the branch of sociology concerned with the way individuals thought, feelings and behaviors are influenced.

Question 2

Person Perception

Answer 2

The process of forming impressions of others.

Question 3

Social Schemes

Answer 3

Are oreganized clusters of ideas about categories of social events and people.

Question 4

Self Schema

Answer 4

Is an integrated set of memories, beliefs and generalization about ones behavior in a given domain.

Question 5

Stereotypes

Answer 5

Are widely held beliefs that people have certain characteristics because of their membership in a particular group.

Question 6

Illusory Correlation

Answer 6

Occurs when people estimate that they have encountered more confirmations of an association between social traits than they have actually seen.

A cognitive bias where people perceive a relationship between two unrelated events when no such relationship exits.

Question 7

In group

Answer 7

A group that one belongs to and identifies with.

Question 8

Outgroup

Answer 8

A group that one does not belong to or identify with.

Question 9

Attributions

Answer 9

Are inferences that people drawn about the causes of events, others behavior and their own behavior.

Question 10

Internal Attributions

Answer 10

Ascribe the abuses of behavior to personal disposition, traits, abilities and feelings.
These are explantions based on an individual inherent characteristics such as personality traits, abilities and efforts.
(Ie) if a student excels in an exam, an internal attribution may be their intelligence or diligent study habits.

Question 11

External Attributions

Answer 11

Ascribe the causes of behavior to situational demands and environmental constraints that are outside of the individuals control.
(Ie) a student doing well on an exam due to an expectationally easy exam or effecting teaching.

Question 12

Fundamental Attribution Error

Answer 12

Refers to observers bias in favor of internal attributions in explaining others behavior.
Also known as correspondence bias.
The tendency to overemphasize personal characteristics/traits to underestimate situational factors when explaining others behaviors.
(Ie) people in an experiment are making wrong choices due to conformity. The individual observing the experiment assumes the people are “Idiots”.

Question 13

Actor-Observer Bias

Answer 13

Actors factor external attributions for their behavior whereas observers are more likely to explain the same behavior with internal attributions.
Example: a women at a party says, “I’m only drunk because I’m celebrating my friends new job, unlike most of these people who probably enjoy this every weekend.

Question 14

Self-Serving Bias

Answer 14

Is the tendency to attribute ones successes to personal factors and ones failures to situational factors.

Question 15

Defensive Attribution

Answer 15

Is the tendency to blame victims for their misfortunes, so that one feels less likely to be victimized in a similar way.

Question 16

Individualism

Answer 16

Involves putting personal goals ahead of a group goals and defining ones identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group membership.

Question 17

Collectivism

Answer 17

Involves putting group goals ahead of personal goals and defining ones identify in terms of the groups one belongs to (such as ones family, tribe, work group, social class and caste).

Question 18

Interpersonal Attraction

Answer 18

Refers to positive feeling toward another.

Question 19

Matching Hypothesis

Answer 19

Proposes that males and females of approximately equal physical attractiveness are likely to select each other as partners.
Supported by evidence that dating and married couples tend to be similar in level of physical attractiveness.

Question 20

Reciprocity

Answer 20

Involves likening those who show they like us.

Question 21

Passionate Love

Answer 21

Is a complete absorption in another that includes tender sexual feeling and the agony and ecstasy of intense emotion.

Question 22

Companionate Love

Answer 22

Is warm, trusting, tolerant affection for another whose life is deeply intertwined with ones own.

Question 23

Intimacy

Answer 23

Refers to warmth, closeness and sharing in a relationship.

Question 24

Commitment

Answer 24

Is an intent to maintain a relationship in spite of the difficulties and costs that may arise.

Question 25

Secure adults

Answer 25

Found it relatively easy to get close to others and described their love relations as trust.

Question 26

Anxious-Ambivalent

Answer 26

Adults reported a preoccupation with love, accompanied by expectations of rejection and they describe their love relations as volatile and marked by jealously.

Question 27

Avoidant Adults

Answer 27

Found it difficult to get close to others and described their love relations as lacking intimacy and trust.

Question 28

Attitudes

Answer 28

Are positive or negative evaluations of objects of thought.

Question 29

Explicit Attitudes

Answer 29

Are attitudes that we hold consciously and can readily describe.

Question 30

Implicit (Theory) Attitudes

Answer 30

Are covert attitudes that are expressed in subtle automatic responses over which we have little conscious control. Describes the specific patterns and biases an individual uses when forming impressions based on a limited amount of initial information about an unfamiliar person.

Question 31

4 Basic Elements in the Process of Persuasion

Answer 31

1. Source 2. Receiver 3. Message 4. Channel

Question 32

Source

Answer 32

Is the person who sends a communication

Question 33

Receiver

Answer 33

Is the person to whom the message is sent.

Question 34

Message

Answer 34

Factor of persuasion. Is the information transmitted by the source (Ie) when a researcher tries to demonstrate to the observer that they can avoid bad outcomes by increasing funding to reaserchers.

Question 35

Channel

Answer 35

Is the medium through which the message is sent.

Question 36

Cognitive Dissonance

Answer 36

Exists when related cognitions are inconsistent that is when they contradict each other. Mechanism that promotes attitude change. Is thought to create an unpleasant state of tension that motivates people to reduce their dissonance, by altering their cognition (beliefs)

Question 37

Effort Justification

Answer 37

When people turn somersaults to justifying efforts that haven’t panned out.

Question 38

Self Perception Theory

Answer 38

People often infer their attitudes from their behavior. Emphasizes a persons subjective point of view. You are a huge fan of a band. You like their first 3 albums but are not quite sure whether you like the new album. If you go to their concent you are more likely to love their new album.

Question 39

Elaboration Likelihood Model of Persuasion

Answer 39

Asserts that there are 2 basic routes to persuasion. 1. Central route: is taken when people carefully ponder the content and logic of persuasive messages. 2. Peripheral route: is taken when persuasion depends on non messages factors, such as the attractiveness and credibility of the source or on conditioned emotional responses.

Question 40

Conformity

Answer 40

Occurs when people yield to real or imagined social pressure. Key determinants: 1. Group size 2. Group unanimity

Question 41

Normative Influence

Answer 41

Operates when people conform to special norms for fear of negative social consequences.

Question 42

Informational Influence

Answer 42

Operates when people look to others for guidance about how to behave in ambiguous situations.

Question 43

Obedience

Answer 43

Is a form of compliance that occurs when people follow direct commands, usually from someone in a position of authority.

Question 44

Social Roles

Answer 44

Are widely shared expectations about people in certain positions are supposed to behave.

Question 45

Group

Answer 45

Consists of 2 or more individuals who interact and are interdependent.

Question 46

Bystander Effect

Answer 46

People are less likely to provide needed help when they are in groups than when they are alone. Most important factor: diffusion of responsibility When someone needs help and you are alone, this help rests squarely on your shoulders. When in a group, the responsibility is divided among others.

Question 47

Social Loafing

Answer 47

Is a reduction in effort by individuals when they work in groups as compared to when they work by themselves.

Question 48

Group Polarization

Answer 48

Occurs when group discussion strengthens a groups dominant point of view and produces a shift toward a more extreme decision in that direction.

Question 49

Groupthink

Answer 49

Occurs when members of a cohesive group emphasize concurrence at the expense of critical thinking in arriving at a decision.

Question 50

Group Cohesiveness

Answer 50

Refers to the strength of the liking relationships linking group members to each other and to the group itself.

Question 51

Social Neuroscience

Answer 51

Is an approach to research and theory in social psychology that integrates models of neuroscience and social psychology to study the mechanism of social behavior.

Question 52

Prejudice

Answer 52

Is a negative attitude held toward members of a group. Includes 3 components: 1. Cognitive component: beliefs 2. Affective component: emotions 3. Behavioral component: predispositions to act.

Question 53

Discrimination

Answer 53

Prejudice leads to this. Involves behaving differently usually unfairly towards the members of a group.

Question 54

Ethnocentrism

Answer 54

A tendency to view ones own group as superior to others and as the standard for judging the worth of foreign ways.

Question 55

Foot in the Door Technique

Answer 55

Involves getting people to agree to a small request to increase the chances that they will agree to a larger request later. Example: you are selling cookies. A stomper agrees to buy mint cookies. You mention to a customer that you have two other types of cookies with you as well.

Question 56

Reciprocity Norm

Answer 56

The rule that we should pay back in kind what we receive from others.

Question 57

Lowball Technique

Answer 57

Involves getting someone to commit to an attractive proposition before its hidden costs are revealed.

Question 58

Mere Exposure Effect

Answer 58

Is the finding that repeated exposure to a stimulus promotes greater likening to a stimulus.

Question 59

3 Strategies to Reduce Dissonance

Answer 59

1. Changing the inconsistent behavior 2. Changing the inconsistent attitude 3. Bringing a new perspective to the situation

Question 60

Feigned Scarcity

Answer 60

Used to enchanted the desirability of a commodity. Example: limited supply available or for a limited time only

Question 61

Self Fulfilling Prophecy

Answer 61

Refers to a situation where the initial belief or expectations, even if false, influence a person behavior, ultimately leading to the conformation of that belief. Is a cycle where a belief triggers actions that bring about the very outcome the belief predicted. Also know as pygmalion effector.

Question 62

High Self Monitoring

Answer 62

A personality trait reflecting an ability to modify ones behavior in response to situational pressures, opportunities and norms. High Self monitors are typically more apt to conform their behavior to the demands of the situation. Low self monitors tend to behave in accord to their internal feelings.

Question 63

Persuasion

Answer 63

Tends to be more successful when the source has high creditably.

Question 64

Risky Shift in Groups

Answer 64

Phenomenon where group decisions tend to be riskier than the average of individual decisions made before the groups discussion. This means that individuals after engaging in group discussion are more likely to make choices that involve higher risks compared to what they would have done alone.