Sociocultural Unit Pysch

How do people/culture affect others?

Can shape behavior

5 Core Social Motives/Tendencies

• To desire social connection

• To want shared social meaning

• To understand link of behavior to outcome

• To want to be seen positively

• To want to view others positively

Asch(1951), IV, DV, Findings, 2 Reasons

• IV: P’s was alone vs. in group w/ confederates 

• DV: Conformity; # of incorrect answers that aligned w/ confederates

• Findings(2 percentages): 75% of Ps conformed at least once, conformity happened on about 33% of trials

• Reasons: Informational Influence, Normative Influence

Informational Influence

Conformity occurs out of assumption that others know more than us.

Normative Influence

Conformity occurs out of a desire to fit in with a group

Culture def

The ideas, values and behaviors associated with a community

Is culture physical or abstract?

Culture is abstract, not physical or tangible

Is culture shared or individually interpreted?

Trick: Both. Culture is shared; it is a social construct, but it is also up to the interpretation of the individual.

Cultural Norms def and the 3 ways its taught

A set of expectations around behavior that exists within a culture

Can be directly taught, communicated, indirectly taught. 

Social Cognitive Theory def

an all-encompassing explanation of human behavior

Triadic reciprocal determinism factors(fuckass name)

Personal factors

Environmental factors

Behavior

The 2 core ideas of the TRD (you must say it out loud)

People are NOT driven by inner forces or shaped/controlled by their environments.

People contribute to their own motivation behavior and development; they have agency

Observational learning def

Observational learning is the ability to learn behavior merely by observing others.

Bandura et al (1961)

Ps aged 3-6 observed either an aggressive or non-aggressive model (also a control) interact with a ‘Bobo’ doll. Researchers then observed P imitative and non-imitative aggressive acts.

• Ps that observed the aggressive model exhibited significantly more imitative and non-imitative aggressive acts.

• Some aggression (verbal imitation and non-imitative aggression) was more prominent when the model was of the same sex.

Vicarious learning def

People have the ability to learn by observing the consequences of others.

Self efficacy (SE) def

our appraisal of our own capability at a given task.

Enculturation

the process where individuals learn and adapt the ways of their specific culture. 

Odden and Rochat (2004)

observation research on enculturation in Samoa.

• Enculturation does not only occur through explicit teaching/participation, also through observational learning.

• Samoan kids receive almost no direct instruction on many tasks like fishing, household chores, and roles in traditions/social hierarchies.

• However by the time they are teens, they almost universally learn expected cultural behaviors.

Enculturation

• Process of learning the meaning + info system of culture

Acculturation

• process/response of an individual interacting w/ a new culture

  • 1. The desire of individuals to maintain their original culture

  • 2. The desire of individuals to fit in/develop relationships

Social Cognitive Theory

• Learning is the byproduct of social influence + individual interpretation

  • Triadic reciprocal determinism

Social Identity Theory

• Social Categorization

  • ingroup-outgroup

• Social Identification

  • Sense of self can be linked to group identity 

• Social Comparison

  • Can produce a tendency to stereotype+bias of out groups.

Stereotypes formation

• Social cognitive explanation

  • Stereotypes are a type of schema, SCT can explain how we pick up on social schemas

    • Grain of truth hypothesis

Stereotype effect

• Stereotype threat

  • People who are the subject of a stereotype (Especially negative ones), when triggered, the awareness of the stereotype can negatively impact behavior. 

Cultural dimensions

• Individualism

  • Values individuality, individual desire, and success

• Collectivism

  • Values group harmony, success of the group

4 Acculturation results

• 1. The desire of individuals to maintain their original culture

• 2. The desire of individuals to fit in/develop relationships

• Integration: Desire for both

• Assimilation: desire for 2, but not 1

• Separation: desire for 1 but not 2

• Marginalized: neither happens 

Cohen et al (1996)

• Culture of Honor

• Northern v Southern men

• DV: response after insult

• Southern had a more aggressive reaction, a spike in cortisol (stress), and testosterone. 

• Odden and Rochat (2004) SCT y Enculturation

• Observational study

• Samoan village, children learned cultural behaviors through observation and not direct instruction. 

Lueck + Wilson (2010) Acculturation

• Interviews with Asian immigrants found factors that upped levels of acculturative stress.

• The desire to speak only English increased stress

• Desire for both found lower 

Kulkovsky et al (2011) Cultural Dimensions

• Individualist cultures had FBMs more likely for shared events and personally significant ones.

• Collectivists are less likely to experience personally significant events, but equally likely for shared events. 

• Tajfel et al (1971) SIT

• Minimum group paradigm - Ps assigned to group by painter

• Asked to assign points to members in/out groups

• Had a tendency to assign points to maximize the difference between the groups instead of maximizing the benefit

• Cohen (1981) Formation

• Librarian or waitress 

• Triggered stereotype that influenced the memory process

  • Attention

  • Speed of process

  • Facilitated retrieval

Steele + Aronson (1995) Effect

• White and black p’s are diagnostic or non-diagnostic

• Only black p's in the diagnostic condition had impacted performance