wk 7-9 social

Question 1

What makes a species

social?

Answer 1

1) cannot defend self from predators easily ,so rely on cooperative defence from predators and competitors.

2) tend to produce offspring that take a long-time to rear and so rely on cooperative rearing of the young by the group

3) tend not to be able to hunt effectively on their own and rely on cooperative foraging or hunting

Question 2

Dilution Effect

confusion effect

Answer 2

Dilution Effect (Lethonen & Jaatinen, 2016): Danger of a successful predator attack is divided among group members. This ‘dilutes’ the risk to any given individual, so that the risk of perishing in an attack decreases as 1/Group Size.

Confusion Effect (Hogan et al., 2007): phenomenon of decreasing predator attack success with increasing prey group size.

Question 3

Explaining these effects: the role of social support

Answer 3

Social support affects mental and physical health (Cohen & Wills, 1985)

Buffers stress which is directly associated with health via biologically mediated pathways – reduce cortisol, improved neuroimmune responses (Turner-Cobb et al., 2000).

Social network may lead to improved health behaviours and earlier diagnosis - married patients and those with a larger network may be diagnosed earlier and thus have a better prognosis (Ramirez et al., 1999).

Encourage better compliance with medication (Kroenke et al., 2006)

Instrumental support: practical, immediate support when most needed (Umberson & Montez, 2011).

Question 4

Sternberg’s (1986)

Triangular Theory of Love

3 types of love

define

Answer 4

intimacy, passion, and commitment.

Passion is the physical attraction—the flame in the fire.

Intimacy is the sharing of details and intimate thoughts and emotions.

Commitment is standing by a partner.

Question 5

The social construction of love

(Beall & Sternberg, 1995; Gregon & Gregon, 2003)

Answer 5

Social Constructionist View = idea that the definition of love differs between cultures and time

western = monogomous, love then marriage, gay is fine, Divorce as a social construction?

Elsewhere/in past = 25% polygymy worldwide, in 18th century, arranged marriage, homosexuality illegal in 69 countries, 6,000 divorces per year in 1971. Now around 110,000 divorces The average overall divorce rate in England and Wales is 33% (ONS, England and Wales, 2021)

Question 6

largest predictor of attraction for men

Answer 6

physical attractiveness

Question 7

largest predictor of attraction for women

Answer 7

status

(+signs of dominance)

Question 8

Unlikely that attractive people are born more sociable and friendly

They become more sociable bcause…

Answer 8

Mothers treat attractive children better

Attractive pupils are treated better by peers and teachers

Attractive people receive more help and cooperation

Attractive people confirm the what-is-beautiful-is-good-stereotype by reciprocating favourable responses from others – self-fulfilling prophecy (Snyder, Tanke, & Berscheid, 1977)

Question 9

difference between straight and gay relationships

Answer 9

But, whereas research shows that heterosexual partners tend to be matched in some way (i.e., on attractiveness, similar ages, similar racial backgrounds), this is not found as commonly amongst gay and lesbian people (Kurdek and Schmitt, 1987)

According to US Census data (2010), 20.6% of gay and lesbian couples were interethnic or interracial compared to only 9.5% of heterosexual couples (Gates, 2012).

Conway (2015) found that there was a greater age range between partners in gay rather than straight relationships.

41% of same-sex couples met online compared to 17% of heterosexual couples (Rosenfeld & Thomas, 2012)

Can be explained as a result of ‘smaller field of eligible’ and/or less prejudiced attitudes, but more research needed (Lehmiller, 2018)

Question 10

Baxter (1982): Four factors that characterise the strategies that people employ when relationships breakdown.

Answer 10

(1) Withdrawal/Avoidance

(2) Manipulation

(3) Positive-tone strategies

(4) Open confrontation

Question 11

WHAT IS CULTURE?

Answer 11

The set of cognitions and practices that characterise a specific social group and distinguish it from others.

A set of meanings, not genetically transferred between individuals, shared within a population and enduring for generations.

Culture is the expression of group norms at the national, racial and ethnic level.

Question 12

THREE MAIN QUESTIONS OF CULTURAL PSYCHOLOGY

Answer 12

Are Western psychological theories valid in other cultures?

Are there psychological constructs that are culture-specific?

How can we evolve a psychology with universal relevance?

Question 13

Independent (culture)

Answer 13

autonomous self wiht clear boundaries between self and other. Thoughts feelings and attributes less affected by social context. Behaviour determined by internal characteristics

Question 14

Interdependent (culture)

Answer 14

Flexible and diffuse boundaries between self and others. Tied into relationships and much more responsive to social context

Question 15

Attribution bias

cultural differences

Answer 15

Cultural differences in attributional style-the fundamental attribution error/correspondence bias is NOT present in collectivist cultures

(Kitayama and Uskul, 2011)

Question 16

Asch’s conformity to group pressure

Smith and Bond (1998)-Meta-analysis of 31 Asch-type studies in US and 16 other countries

found:

Answer 16

Conformity stronger outside of western Europe and North America

Question 17

Tradition of aggression and or beneficence in certain cultures, particularly among men in dealing with threat (Cohen et al, 1996)

e.g:

Answer 17

E.G. US Southern culture of honour

Question 18

Western European nations are i_______ and ________

Eastern European Nations are _____ and _____

Asian nations are _____ and _____

e.g individualistic vs collectivist
hierarchical vs egalitarian

Answer 18

individualistic and egalitarian

individualistic and hierarchical

collectivist and hierarchical