Social Identity Theory and Social Cognitive Theory Flashcards

Flashcards covering key vocabulary from lecture notes on Social Identity Theory, Social Cognitive Theory, Stereotypes, Culture and Cultural Dimensions.

Social Identity Theory

Explains how people develop a sense of who they are based on the groups they belong to; a person’s self-concept is shaped by personal and social identity.

Social Categorization

The process of categorizing ourselves and others into groups (e.g., “us” vs. “them”) to simplify the social world.

Social Identification

Adopting the identity of the group we belong to, including values, norms, and behaviors.

Social Comparison

Comparing our group to others, usually to boost our self-esteem; can lead to in-group favoritism and out-group discrimination.

In-group Favoritism

The tendency to favor members of one's own group and allocate more resources to them.

Out-group Discrimination

The tendency to treat members of out-groups unfairly or negatively.

Social Cognitive Theory

Suggests that behavior is learned through observing and imitating others within a social context; focuses on cognitive, behavioral, and environmental factors influencing learning.

Observational Learning

Learning that occurs by watching others perform behaviors and observing the consequences.

Modeling

Individuals (models) demonstrating behaviors that others may imitate.

Outcome Expectancies

The anticipation of positive outcomes or reinforcement influencing the likelihood of imitating behaviors.

Self-Efficacy

One’s belief in their ability to perform a behavior, influencing whether they will try to imitate it.

Reciprocal Determinism

The dynamic interaction between personal, behavioral, and environmental factors resulting in behavior.

Stereotype

A widely held (but oversimplified) belief about the characteristics of a group; can be positive, negative, or neutral.

Categorization (Stereotypes)

Mentally placing someone into a particular social group based on characteristics like age, race, gender, etc.

Generalization (Stereotypes)

Forming a belief about a particular social group and then applying that belief to all members of the group.

Out-group Homogeneity Effect

The tendency to underestimate individual differences between people in an out-group.

Stereotype Threat

The risk of confirming negative stereotypes about one's group, leading to underperformance.

Illusory Correlation

Incorrectly perceiving a relationship between two events or categories that are not actually related.

Culture

A system of shared attitudes, beliefs, behaviors, and symbols transmitted across generations that provides a framework for interpreting the world.

Cultural Norms

Norms that guide individual's behavior, for example how to act, think and interact within their society

Cultural Dimensions

The values of a society influence behavior