PSY 351 - Exam #2 Study Guide

attitudes

a positive, negative, or mixed evaluation of a person, place, or idea.

ambivalence

mixed (positive and negative) evaluations; also called “dual attitudes” or “mixed”.

explicit attitude

an attitude that a person is consciously aware of.

implicit attitude

an attitude that a person is not consciously aware of.

dispositional attitude

people have personality differences in their tendency to like or dislike things.

measuring implicit attitudes

IAT, behavior, facial muscles

Implicit Attitude Test (IAT)

a measure of implicit (subconscious) attitudes based on the speed that a person pairs concepts together.

behavior

tracking nodding and head shaking; people tend to nod when they agree and shake their heads when they disagree.

facial muscles

certain muscles contract when we are happy, sad, etc.

some instruments that measure this include the EMG and fMRI.

Facial electromyograph (EMG)

an instrument that records facial muscle activity associated with emotions and attitudes.

fMRI (brain activity)

used to track brain activity when people reads the names or we see certain people or objects.

measuring explicit attitudes

typically measured through self-report surveys (ex: likert scale).

likert scale

a measure that asks people that extent to which they agree or disagree with positive or negative evaluations.

need for cognition

the extent to which a person enjoys effortful (difficult) cognitive activities.

an individual difference (personality).

cues and shortcuts

people who have a lower need for cognition are more likely to be influenced by __.

strong arguments and logic

people who have a higher need for cognition are more likely to be influenced by messaged with __.

self-monitoring

the tendency to change behavior based on the social situation.

social image

high self-monitors are more persuaded by the possibility of doing things that enhance their __.

prejudice

holding negative feelings toward someone based on their group membership.

discrimination

ingroup favoritism

outgroup bias

social identity thoery

a theory that states we hold ingroup bias to enhance our self-esteem.

belonging to a successful group enhances our self-esteem.

leads to belittling other groups to make us feel better about ourselves.

realistic conflict theory

hostility between groups is caused by competition for limited resources.

limited resources include: jobs, land, power, economic opportunities.

ambivalent sexism

a form of sexism characterized by negative, resentful attitudes about women with chivalrous but patronizing beliefs and feelings.

social facilitation

a process in which the presence of others enhances performance on an easy task but weakens performance on a hard task.

what is “easy” or “hard” depends on the person—how talented or how practiced we are in the task.

explanations for social facilitation effect

the mere presence of others (promotes general arousal), evaluation apprehension theory, distraction-conflict theory.

evaluation apprehension theory

the presence of others only matters if we perceive them as evaluators.

distraction-conflict theory

the presence of others distracts from the task.

additive and disjunctive tasks

tasks enhanced by working in groups

additive tasks

tasks in which the outcome is the sum of all members’ contributions.

ex: gathering contributions to a fundraiser.

ex: making the most noise at the football game.

disjunctive tasks

tasks in which the outcome is based on the best individual performance.

ex: making the best advertising pitch.

ex: finding the escape room solution.

tasks weakened by working in groups

conjunctive tasks

conjunctive tasks

tasks in which the outcome is affected by the poorest individual performance.

ex: the weak link on the sports team.

ex: the slowest climber of the mountain-climbing group.

group polarization

the tendency to move towards more extreme positions after group discussions.

groupthink

a group decision-making style marked by an excessive tendency for uniformity.

persuasive arguments theory, social comparison, differentiation

potential contributors for group polarization

persuasive arguments theory

when there is a majority opinion, the majority generates more arguments that favor and push the majority opinion.

social comparison

to fit in with a group’s opinions, people align with and strongly advocate for a position.

differentiation

from other groups by aligning to a more extreme view.

strategies for guarding against groupthink

1. consulting with outside members

2. do not take a strong sand early

3. have subgroups discuss the same issue separately

4. have a group member play devil’s advocate

conformity

the tendency to change our perceptions, opinions, or behavior in ways that are consistent with social norms.

informational influence, normative influence

motivations behind conformity

informational influence

influence that occurs when a person believes others are correct in their judgements.

reflects a desire to be “right”.

when information is limited, we rely on each other.

normative influence

influence that occurs when a person fears negative social consequences of being deviants.

fear of ridicule and judgement.

compliance

changes in behavior that are prompted by direct requests.

requests can be direct (“can you do me a favor?”) or subtle (the layout of a store encourages purchases.

reciprocity

the process in which one person receives benefits from another and provides a benefit in return.

private conformity

when someone actually changes their beliefs; they accept the “truth” privately in their own minds.

public conformity

when someone changes their behavior or opinions superficially to blend in (but does not change their mind).

sometimes called compliance.

factors that impact processes related to influence

1. source

2. message

3. audience

factors of source

the influence of source might be affected by:

credibility and trusthworthiness

credibility

being knowledgable, well-spoken.

trustworthiness

being willing to report the truth without compromise.

factors of message

moderate messages are more readily received than extreme messages.

shorter messages tend to be more affective as well.

may appeal to emotions such as fear, or good moods.

factors of audience

some factors that may influence an audience’s reception of persuasion include:

need for cognition

self-monitoring

inoculation hypothesis

sleeper effect

the delayed persuasive impact of a non-credible source.

ex: “I heard somewhere that…”

psychological safety

the shared belief that it is safe to take risks, speak up, question, and raise concerns without fear of rejection or embarassment.

a way of harnessing diversity.

individualism

a cultural orientation focused on independence, autonomy, and self-reliance.fa

factors that promote individualism

1. complexity

2. affluence

3. heterogeneity

complexity

societies with complex, industrialized societies involved:

a. more groups to affiliate with

b. less loyalty to any one group

affluence

financial independence and wealth promotes:

a. social mobility

b. focus on personal rather than collective goals

heterogeneity

degree to which members share language, religion, and customs.

• societies that are more diverse tend to focus more on individual expression.

collectivism

a cultural orientation focused on interdependence, cooperation, and social harmony.

foot-in-the-door technique

a two-step compliance technique in which a requester starts with a small request then asks for a larger request.

door-in-the-face technique

a two-step compliance technique in which a requester first asks for a larger request that is likely to be denied then asks for a smaller request.

that’s-not-all technique

a two-step compliance technique in which the requester begins with a larger request than enhances the request by offering a discount or bonus.

lowballing

a two-step compliance technique in which the requester secures agreement then reveals the additional hidden costs.

integrative agreement

a negotiated resolution in which all parties receive superior outcomes compared to an equal division of resources.

trends in implicit attitudes over time

individual differences in changing attitudes over time.

procedures of the IAT

takes about 5-10 minutes; the faster the matching, the stronger the attitude.

predictive validity

how well a measure predicts future performance.

how attitude type relates to predictive validity.

IAT show implicit attitudes are less predictive of behavior than explicit attitudes. However, even when people are aware of their attitudes, research shows that they usually don’t carry out behaviors that are consistent with their attitude.