Ch. 12 Social Psych

PSY 1010 101: Sandra Hoyt

Social Psychology

The scientific study of how we think about one another, influence one another, and interact with one another.

What is a person’s behavior produced from two things?

Their personality and situation.

Conformity

When we change our behavior or beliefs to go along with the group or majority.

Informational Social Influence

Conform because we lack information about how to act in an ambiguous situation.

Normative Social Influence

Conform when we don’t want to be embarrassed or seen as an outsider to the group.

Asch (1951)

Line perception experiment.

Attribution

What we PERCIEVE to be the cause of someone’s behavior.

Internal/dispositional attributions

When we attribute the cause of someone’s behavior and their personality, or things internal to them.

External/situational attributions

When we attribute the cause of someone’s behavior to the external situation.

Fundamental Error

We overemphasize internal explanations for other people’s behavior.

Prejudice

Negative evaluations (feelings/attitudes) of someone because they belong to a particular group

Stereotypes

Over-generalized cognitive categories (thoughts/beliefs) applied to individuals who belong to particular groups.

Discrimination

Behaviors toward individuals of particular groups that are negative, harmful, or limit opportunities.

Social Learning Theory

Learning from others.

Social Identity Theory

- Ingroups and outgroups

- Self-esteem

- Ingroup favoritism and outgroup bias

Altruism / Prosocial Behavior

Helpful Behavior

Why do we do we bother helping others?

- Mood/emotion

- Social norms/learning - reciprocity

Bystander effect

People tend to help less when others are present.

Diffusion of responsibility

Tendency to feel that responsibility is shared when others are present.

Observational Learning

Bandura’s study with the Bobo Doll experiment.

Frustration-aggression hypothesis

- Primary method for adult aggression

- Goal is blocked, resulting in frustration, which may lead to aggression

Environmental factors of aggression

Temperature, air quality, and crowding.

Stereotyping involves making _____ inferences.

Category-based

The president of a college justifies a proposed tuition increase to the students by describing how the current projected revenue will not meet the costs associated with operating the college. The president is attempting to use _____ to convince the students that the tuition increase is necessary.

Systematic Persuasion

Which statement about Milgram's studies on obedience is true?

More than 60% of the teachers in the studies delivered what they thought to be a potentially deadly shock to a learner.

What statement is TRUE across all cultures?

Straight men prefer younger females.

A school board is considering a complicated new zoning policy and debates the most basic aspects of it at a public meeting, where few are experts. This is an example of:

The common knowledge effect.

To minimize the risks of cooperation, people:

Form groups that foster trust.

Rachel helps her colleague when he needs assistance with work. Although her behavior seems genuinely unselfish, Rachel expects her colleague to return the favor for her someday. This is an example of:

Reciprocal altruism.

Over time, passionate love typically:

Decreases.

Men who are prone to aggression tend to have:

Unrealistically high self-esteem.

George believes the false stereotype that minorities are more likely to use illicit drugs. He is likely to remember news stories about drug arrests involving minorities but is less likely to attend to similar stories involving Whites. This is an example of:

Perceptual Confirmation.