Social Psych Vocab

Conformity

a change in actual behaviour and one's belief caused by social pressure that is real or imagined

Compliance

a change in external behaviour, but not a real attitude change. Usually results in attempting to gain a reward or avoid a punishment

What make up group dynamics ?

Social groups, norms, and social roles

Social norms

implicit and explicit rules for all group members about how they act

in group bias, out group homogeneity

In Group Bias

favoritism towards people in the group

Out Group Homogeneity

negative feelings towards people outside of group, think of all members in out group as being the same.

Example of Social Norms

Fashion Trends

Social Group

two or more individuals sharing common goals and interests, influencing each other's behaviour

Example of Social Group

Best friends

Social Roles

the responsibilities or behaviours we adopt in certain situations

Example of Social Roles

all the responsibilities as a mother = parent, wife, coworker, take care of children, friend, etc

Normative Social Influence

Conforming because you want to be liked/part of a group (wanting to be normal) by following social norms

Example of Normative Social Influence

laughing at a joke you don't get

Informational social influence

Conforming to others because you want to be right, so you look to others for the answer

Example of Informational Social Influence

Going to the busier restaurant instead of the empty one because it looks more popular.

Social Facilitation

Tendency to perform simple, well learned tasks better in the presence of others.

Example of Social Facilitation

an actor who does better with an auidience

Social Inhibition

Tendency to perform complex, difficult tasks more poorly in the presence of othwers.

Example of Social Inhibition

when kids dont play as well with other kids

Social Loadfing

When people in a group put less effort when pooling their efforts together compared to when they are individually accountable

Why? Less accountable for what happens, contributions are dispensable (others can do it)

Example of Social Loafing

Mr. Ireland's friend's story

Deindividuation

Loss of self awareness in a group setting, sense of diffused responsibility "if everyone's doing it, then I won't get in trouble"

Decreased concern about how others perceive your behaviour

Example of Deindividuation

when people are in a mosh pit at a concert, they're punching the air and shaking their heads frantically-behaviors they wouldn't engage in if they weren't a part of a crowd

Group Polarization

Tendency for members of a group discussing an issue to move toward a more extreme version of the positions they held before

Example of Group Polarization

An angry mob, nazis, a meeting setting

Groupthink

By Irving Janis

Individuals self-censor beliefs to preserve group harmony

Individuals affected by this take irrational actions that dehumanize other groups

Example of Groupthink

The space shuttle disaster

Prejudice

Assumption or opinion about someone solely based on them being in a particular group (Attitude)

Example of prejudice

Don't like white people because they can't play basketball

Stereotypes

A fixed, over generalized belief about a particular group or class of people

Example of Stereotypes

All Asians are smart

Discrimination

Action that is based off of prejudice

Example of Discrimination

Ex: Not picking a white guy for your basketball team because you think they suck.

Example of Conformity

The popular kid gets new shoes so everyone gets those shoes

Example of Compliance

being told to go outside and doing it

Scapegoat Theory

Tendency to blame someone else for one's own problems

Example of Scapegoat Theory

Three employees plan a prank and then blame it on one person, getting him fired

Ethnocentrism

Belief that one's culture is superior to others

Examples of Ethnocentrism

Nazi's, KKK

Just-World Phenomenon

The idea that the world is a fair and orderly place where what happens to people generally is what they deserve

Good actions → rewards
Bad actions → Consequences

Karma

Example of Just-World Phenomenon

"you desereved it "

"he had it coming"

Aggression

physical or verbal behaviour intended to hurt another person

Hostile Aggression

end goal is to physically harm someone, on purpose or not

Example of Hostile Aggression

murder

Instrumental Aggresion

not to make the victim suffer, but to attain a goal with no injury

Example of Instrumental Aggression

Cutting someone off while trying to get to school quicker

Frustration-aggression principle

Failure to reach a goal turns into frustration, which turns into aggressive behaviour

Example of Frustration-aggression principle

failing a test and yelling at your best friend because of your bad mood

What strengthens friendships?

Proximity, similarity of interests, attractiveness, reciprocal liking

Ultilitarian Value

How benefical is someone to you?

Conflict

A fight or disagreement

Example of Conflict

a fight !!

Contact Theory

the idea that prejudice and negative stereotypes decrease and racial-ethnic relations improve when people from different racial-ethnic backgrounds, who are of equal status, interact frequently

Muzafer Sherif

Altruism

Unselfish concern for other people

Example of Altrusim

making sure someone is okay when they fall

Reciprocal altruism

You help someone with something, and expect them to do something for you

Example of Reciprocal Altruism

you buy someone lunch and expect them to buy you lunch the next day

Bystander effect

The more people that witness an emergency, the less likely one person is to help

Diffusion of Responsibility

The larger the group of people, the less responsible one individual feels to help

Example of Bystander Effect

Kitty Genovese case

Superordinate goals

goals that get people from opposing sides to come together and work toward a common end result

Example of Super ordinate Goals

moving a heavy couch out of an apartment with two people

Norm of Reciprocity

Positive actions bring about more positive actions, while negative actions bring about more negative actions

Example of Norm of Reciprocity

If someone gives another person a gift, they're more likely to give a gift back

If someone throws eggs at one's house, they'll most likely attempt to get them back

Persuasion

Methods to change a person's thoughts and attitudes

Systematic persuasion

Example of Persuasion

convincing your friends to go out for dinner

Elaboration likelihood model

Peripheral route of persuasion and central route of persuasion

Uses persuasion, usually found in advertisements

Example of Elaboration Likelihood Model

For example, imagine you're reading about a proposed soda tax in your city. If you're a soda drinker, the elaboration likelihood model would predict that elaboration would be higher

Peripheral route of persuasion

Using superficial distractors to persuade people to like something

Example of Peripheral route of persuasion

using attractive or famous people in an add, ethos

Central route of persuasion

Focuses on the factual content of the message

Example of Central route of persuasion

car ads give facts on what makes the car better than others

Negotiation tactics

Foot in door technique and door in foot technique

Door-in-the-face technique

When people deny a large request but agree to a smaller request

Example of Door-in-the-face technique

buyer offers super low price for a house so homeowner refuses, but then buyer offers price closer to price range so the homeowner agrees.

Foot-in-the-door technique

Someone asks you for a small request, then builds up to asking for a larger request, making you more likely to agree

Example of Foot-in-the-door technique

someone asks you to help them buy the ingredients to bake a cake, you agree. They ask you later if you will help bake the cake too and you also agree.

Lowball offer

Offering to buy something at extremely low price so when they say no, you offer a slightly higher price that they accept

Example of Lowball Offer

Ex: buying a house

Cognitive dissonance

We have a hard time doing things that do not line up with our values and behaviours; we may have to stop what we are doing or change our beliefs

How to reduce dissonance

Change behaviour/cognition
Ex: cheating on diet; stop cheating on diet

Justify behaviour by changing conflicting behaviour
Ex: cheating on diet

Justify behaviour by adding new cognition
Ex: cheating on diet; exercising to counteract it

ignore/deny any info conflicting with existing beliefs
Ex: cheating on diet; saying it was just a snack and doesn't count

Self-fulfilling prophecy

Schema that one has for another person influences their expectations for that person, influencing the actual outcomes the person displays

Example of Self-fulfilling prophecy

a teacher thinking a student is smart, the student finishes with high grades

Attribution

How we explain other's behaviour, we use internal and external causes

Example of Attribution

"oh they got a bad grade because cause they didnt study"

Fundamental attribution error

When analyzing behaviour, observers underestimate the impact of the situation (external) and overestimate the impact of personal disposition

Only considering the character of the person at fault rather than the situation surrounding it

Example of Fundamental attribution error

If someone cuts you off, you typically assume they're a terrible person and not something like "they may be in a hurry"

Actor observer bias

We attribute others behaviours to dispositional or internal causes while attributing our own behaviours to external or situational causes

Example of Actor observer bias

One may blame someone for failing a test, but when they fail, they make excuses

Prosocial behavior

Phenomenon of people helping eachother with not thought of reward/compensation

Anti-social behavior

Mental disorder where individual disregards social norms, doesn't care for rights and wrongs

Self-serving bias

Attributing success to yourself and failure to outside forces

Example of Self-serving bias

when you get a high grade, it's because you studied well; when you fail, it's because you didn't get enough sleep, busy, etc

Attitudes

affective feelings of liking or disliking toward an object that has an influence on behavior

Role playing

Affects attitude

When adopting new role, actions may feel phony, but person accepts role over time

Example of Role Playing

Zimbardo experiment

The role of the environment

Shapes behaviour

Said by Abu Ghraib

Abu Ghraib

Deindividuation can allow someone to step out of their comfort zone

Determined environment shapes behaviour

Mardi Gras Effect

Putting on a mask to hide your face, intensifies deindividuation

Example of Mardi Gras Effect

Wearing a mask in a robbery

Confirmation Bias

Searching for info that supports your opinions; this agrees with my views, so I don't need to do research