social psych exam 2

Self-concept

The overall set of beliefs that people hold about their personal attributes

Child’s self-concept

tends to be concrete, relying on references to characteristics such as age, sex, neighborhood, and hobbies

Maturing self-concept

places less emphasis on physical characteristics and more emphasis on psychological states and how other people judge us

the “true self”

changes in a person’s morality (e.g., cruelty to others) are perceived to alter the “true self” more than other changes (such as becoming forgetful, needing eyeglasses, or changing musical preferences.

the medial prefrontal cortex…

was preferentially recruited when participants made judgements related to themselves, compared to judgements about others.

chinese participants…

activated the brain’s self-center similarly when they thought about themselves and when they thought about their mother

western participants…

did NOT activate the brain’s self-center similarly when they thought about themselves and when they thought about their mother. was completely different

Independent view of the self

defines the self through one’s own internal thoughts, feelings, and actions, rather than those of other people.

independent view of the self values…

independence and uniqueness and is commonly held in many western cultures

interdependent view of the self

defines the self through relationships to other people and recognizes that others’ thoughts, feelings, and actions affect one’s own behavior.

interdependent view of the self values…

connectedness, and interdependence, frowns on uniqueness, and is held in many asian and non-western cultures.

self knowledge

the way we understand who we are and organize this information

self-control

the way we make plans and execute decisions.

impression management

the way we present ourselves to others and get them to see us as we want to be seen.

self-esteem

the way we maintain positive views of ourselves.

introspection

when people look inward and examine their own thoughts, feelings, and motives.

self-awareness theory

when people focus their attention on themselves, they evaluate and compare their behavior to their internal standards and values.

judging why we feel the way we do

in a study tracking daily moods over 5 weeks, college students were overall inaccurate in estimating how variables like weather, workload, and sleep predicted their moods

affective forecasting

the tendency to overestimate the enduring impact of future events.

self-perception theory

the theory that when our attitudes and feelings are uncertain or ambiguous, we infer these states by observing our behavior and the situation in which it occurs.

occurs only when we don’t know how we feel and must judge whether our behavior reflects how we feel or if it is the result of the current situation

two-factor theory of emotion

a. experiences physiological arousal

b. seek an appropriate explanation for it

implications

emotions are somewhat arbitrary and depends on our explanations for arousal.

misattribution of arousal

making mistaken inferences about what is causing us to feel the way we do.

misattribution of arousal study

male hikers who talked with a female confederate right after crossing a scary bridge were more likely to call her later compared to those who had rested after crossing

intrinsic motivation

engaging in an activity because of enjoyment and interest, not external reward or pressure

extrinsic motivation

engaging in an activity because of external reasons, not because of enjoyment or interest

overjustification effect

the tendency of people to view their behavior as caused by extrinsic reasons, underestimating the impact of intrinsic reasons

preserving intrinsic interest

rewards will undermine interest only if interest was initially high

task-contingent rewards

given for performing a task regardless of how well it is done

performance-contingent rewards

based on how well a task is performed and are less damaging to intrinsic interest, though they have a potential backfiring effect

fixed mindset

idea that we have a set amount of an ability and that cannot be changed

growth mindset

the idea that our abilities can change and we can learn and grow

fixed and growth mindset experiment

participants praised for effort rather than intelligence worked harder, longer, and enjoyed a second, challenging test more after experiencing failure.

social comparison theory

the idea that we learn about our own abilities and attitudes by comparing ourselves to other people.

upward social comparison

comparing yourself to people who are better at a particular trait to know what we can look up to/aspire to be

downward social comparison

comparing yourself to people who are worse at a particular trait to feel better about ourselves

similar background comparison

comparing yourself to people with similar backgrounds to acquire accurate self-knowledge

social media use study

the more time adolescents and young adults spend on social media sites, the more likely they are to report being lonely and depressed

self-control strategy

the ability to subdue immediate desires in order to achieve long-term goals

ineffective strategies

simply trying not to think about temptations by solely focusing on the long-term goal and its importance

effective strategies

using implantation intentions, arranging the environment, and maintaining the belief that willpower is unlimited

implantation intentions

specific plans regarding where, when, and how to fulfill a goal and avoid temptations

impression management

the attempt to get others to see you the way you want to be seen

self-handicapping

creating obstacles and excuses for ourselves when we do poorly so we can avoid blaming ourselves

behavioral self-handicapping

acting in ways that reduce the likelihood of success

reported self-handicapping

making excuses for yourself rather than acting

self-handicapping drugs and intellectual performance study

college students who received unearned or accidental success on an intellectual task (soluble vs. insoluble problems) frequently chose a performance-inhibiting drug over a performance-enhancing drug before a promised retest.

north american context of positive self-views

focuses on maintaining high self-esteem and a promotion focus

east asian context for positive self-views

focuses on the amount of social value you are given when you live up to standards (aka face) which is tied to status and is easily lost

cognitive dissonance

the discomfort people feel when beliefs and attitudes conflict/when they act in ways that are inconsistent with their conception of themselves

cognitive dissonance example

the heaven’s gate cult

ways to reduce dissonance

a. change your behavior to align with cognition

b. justify your behavior by changing one of your cognitions

c. justify your behavior by adding new cognitions

post-decision dissonance

aroused after making a decision; typically reduced by enhancing the attractiveness of the chosen alternative and devaluing rejected alternatives

consumer testing study

participants rated appliances and were given one as a gift, when asked to re-rate products after, rated the one they were gifted higher and the one they weren’t lower to justify their answer.

permanence and importance

more important and irreversible decisions generate greater dissonance

photography class study

photography students were told to choose their two favorite pictures, then had to choose to keep one of the two. some were told their decision was final, some were told they had a few days to change their mind.

students who didn’t have the option to change their mind were significantly happier while students who were given the option to change were significantly anxious.

lowballing

when a salesperson sells a product to a customer at a low price, then later claims it was an error and raises the price.

customers still pay the difference, due to previous commitments

justification of effort

the tendency for individuals to increase their liking for something they have worked hard to obtain

screening study

participants went through various screening initiations; students who went through more severe initiation to join a study group enjoyed it more, regardless of how dull it was.

external justification

a reason or explanation for dissonant personal behavior that resides outside the individual

internal justification

the reduction of dissonance by changing something about oneself

counter-attitudinal advocacy

stating an opinion or attitude that runs counter to one’s private belief or attitude

counter-attitudinal advocacy study

participants were given either $1 or $20 to lie about a boring activity being fun. $1 participants rated it as significantly more enjoyable because they felt less guilty about lying. $20 participants rated it less fun, felt more guilty about lying and saw the money as bribe money.

The Ben Franklin effect

Doing a favor for a disliked person creates dissonance between behavior and attitude, prompting the individual to like the person more

justifying cruelty

in “First impression” Studies, participants lowered their ratings of a target person after being forced or led to insult them

decision to cheat

Viewing oneself as honest conflicts with cheating. Dissonance is reduced by adopting an attitude that “it’s not a big deal” leading to less ethical future behavior

decision not to cheat

Post decision dissonance (“i could have had a better grade”) is reduced by convincing oneself that cheating is extremely immoral, solidifying a stricter ethical stance.

language impact

Referencing identity (“don’t be a cheater”) reduces cheating more effectively than referencing action (“don’t cheat”)

severe threats

Provide sufficient external justification; behavior stops, but underlying attitude remains unchanged

mild threats

Create insufficient external justification, forcing individuals to create internal justification and change their underlying attitude

forbidden toy study

children rated the attractiveness of toys, were forbidden to play with the toy they found most attractive.

either given threats of severe or mild punishment if they disobeyed and played with the toy.

those threatened with severe punishment still found the toy highly attractive, where as those threatened with mild punishment rated the toy as less attractive

self affirmation theory

People can reduce threats to self-esteem by affirming themselves in areas unrelated to the threat source

self evaluation maintenance theory

Focuses on dissonance experienced when someone close outperforms us in a domain central to our self-esteem.

self-esteem

Overall evaluation of self-worth

narcissism

Excessive self-love, combined with a lack of empathy

attitudes

Evaluations of people, objects, and ideas composed of three main components

three components of attitudes

Cognitive affective and behavioral

cognitive attitudes

thoughts and beliefs about the object

affective attitudes

Emotional reactions toward the object

behavioral attitudes

Actions or observable behaviors toward the object

cognitively based attitudes

Based primarily on beliefs about property attributes

Example… Evaluating a car on safety metrics for fuel efficiency

affectively based attitudes

Based on feelings and values.

Example… Voting based on gut feelings or aesthetic Appreciation.

Linked to values, classical/operant conditioning and sensory reaction reactions. non-rational.

behaviorally based attitudes

Inferred from observations of one’s own behavior when initial attitudes are weak or ambiguous (Self perception theory)

explicit attitudes of awareness

Conscious and easy to report

implicit attitudes of awareness

Involuntary uncontrollable and often Unconscious

explicit attitudes of origin

Recent experiences/ Deliberate thought

implicit attitudes of origin

Rooted in childhood or cultural stereotypes

explicit attitudes of measurement

Self-report surveys

implicit attitudes of measurement

Implicit association test (IAT)

explicit attitudes of example impact

Endorsing equality explicitly

implicit attitudes of example impact

Resume callbacks favoring white vs African-American names

spontaneous behaviors

Predicted by attitudes only when attitude accessibility is high

deliberate behaviors

Governed by the theory of planned behavior

behavior model

specific attitude + subjective norms + perceived behavioral control → behavioral intention → behavior

LaPiere Study (1930s)

showed discrepancy between reported attitudes (90% of restaurant stating they would refuse service to Chinese guests) and actual behavior (only one of 251 establishments actually refuse service when they showed up in person)

The Yale attitude change approach

Attitude change via persuasive communications depends on “who said what to whom”

who (source) in the yale attitude change approach

credible and attractive speakers persuade more

sleeper effect

overtime individuals associate message content from low credibility sources, increasing message impact later

what (message) in the yale attitude change approach

high-quality, clear, self refusing arguments work best.

identifiable victim effect

People are moved more by vivid individual stories than abstract stats