Social Psych Exam 1

critical thinkers need to have dispositions such as:

• open-mindedness

• fair-mindedness

• a skeptical attitude towards unsupported claims

• asking problem questions

social psych

the scientific study of how people think about, influence and relate to one another

observing people

valuable clues to spoken/unspoken views & attitudes:

• what people say

• how people say it

• what people OMIT saying (avoid saying)

becoming more observant

being less self- absorbed (with ones own thoughts and feelings)

we adopt to our social context-

• our attitudes are shaped by external social forces

theory

an integrated set of principles to explain & predict

• a set of related ideas to explain observation

theories that are open to revision

• allows for further research

• other researchers might test the theories by replicating the study

social desirability bias

biggest disadvantage of survey

common words in correlational research

• link

• relationship

• connection

experimental research

determines a causal relationship

• shows the cause & effect

T OR F

independent variables are manipulated, and dependent variables are measured

TRUE

particular care is taken when…

…when studying “vulnerable populations” (individuals with psychological disorders, children, animals)

confidentiality is only shared…

… if stating harm to themselves or others

ideal-self

the person you wish to be

self-image

how you see yourself at this moment in time

self-esteem

how much you like, accept, your values

illusion of transparency

feeling that our social blunders & public mental slips are very visible to others

T OR F

Familiarity with someone does NOT reduce the chances of experiencing this illusion

TRUE

upward social comparisons

comparing ourselves to those that we believe are better than us

the goal of social life is…

to harmonize with and, support one’s communities

interdependent self-construal

these concerns lead to a conception of the self as something embedded within social relationships, role, and duties

self knowledge is necessary for mental well-being & psychological growth (Schaffner,2020)

• makes us more proactice rather than reactive

affective forecasting

research shows people have the greatest difficulty predicting the intensity and the duration of their future emotions.

self knowledge

can help us feel less intimidated by others and becomes less gullible

Ted Talk Dan Gilbert

“end of history” illusion

• we imagine that the person we are right now is the person we will be for the rest of life.

introspection

looking “inward”

rumination

• unproductive

• repetitive, negative, self- defeating/ destructive thoughts

• can create anxiety & depression

self- esteem

interestingly friends’ successes can be more threatening than that of strangers

self- efficacy

competence plus persistence equals accomplishment

bias blind spot

convinces us we are always right

false consensus effect

example: “I love sushi, so all my friends do as well”

Cherry (2022)

• cultural influences

• self-serving bias is more common among people in individualistic societies

the irony of self-handicapping?

• these self- destructive behaviors become self- protective

self monitoring

may lead to people not presenting their true selves

victims seen wrongly…

…are believed to seek out and submit to the violence they endure

can victim blaming happen for minor crimes?

YES

invulnerability hypothesis

creates a false sense of security for the people who are blaming the victims

effects of victim blaming

• resistance to reporting the crime or abuse

  -especially when the response was unsupportive & filled with victim blaming.

dispostion attribution

attributing to the persons disposition and traits (internal causes)

our thought process

automatic processing influences more of our actions than controlled processing

hindsight bias

I-knew-it-all-along phenomenon

overconfidence phenomenon

tendency to be more confident than correct

• overconfidence can cost us, but realistic self-confidence is adaptive

confirmation bias

example- only watching news channels that support our perspectives

availability heuristic

may lead us to misjudge the probability of things

Example: AIRPLANE ACCIDENTS, us thinking they’re more dangerous than cars

illusory correlation

we ignore or forget all the times unusual events do not coincide

understanding our perceptions

we respond not to reality as it is but to reality as we construe it

constructive perception

some of us see the whole whereas others see the parts

• helps us to maintain order

• shape - size - color

constructive memory

memory that utilize knowledge and expectations to fill in the missing details in retrieval memory traces

can be distorted by:

-stress -beliefs - expectations

misinformation effect

• Elizabeth Loftus Experiment

“How reliable is your memory?” Elizabeth Loftus

asked how fast do you think the cars were going when they “hit each other” and “smashed each other”

false confessions

many are “complaint confessions”

• -confessions made by people who are stressed, worn down, and often sleep-deprived

  -other confessions are “internalized confessions”

• false memories believed after people were fed misinformation

Introspection

• Self-exploration

• Open-mindedness

• Self-awareness

self presentation

expressing oneself and behaving in ways designed to create a favorable impression

Self-handicapping

protecting one’s self-image with behaviors that create a handy excuse for later failure