SocialPsych Exam 3

Conformity

changing one’s behavior to match the responses of others

Why do people conform?

wants to imitate the actions of others, increase sense of connection,, and maintenance of positive self-concept

Informational Influence

people go along with the crowd because the actions of others often provide info as to what is socially appropriate—> you believe that others possess info that you don’t have and you want to be right

Descriptive Norms

the perception of what most people do in a given situation

Normative Influence

people go along with the crowd because they are concerned about what others think of them

Obedience

submitting to the demands of a person in authority

Persuasion

the process by which a message induces change in beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors

Central Route

direct, relevant, logical messages, long lasting attitude change

Peripheral Route

relies on superficial cues that have little to do with logic (mindless), heuristics

Reciprocity

humans are motivated by a sense of equity and fairness; when someone does something for us, we feel obligated to return the favor

Social Proof

“if everyone is doing it, it must be right!”

Commitment and Consistency

once we commit, we are more likely to agree to further commitments (foot in the door)

A door in the face

persuader begins with a large request that they know will be turned down so that they can follow up with a request that is more likely to be accepted

Sunk Cost Trap

implores loss aversion to continue throwing money at something because they don’t want to waste their previous investment

3 conditions in which people are likely to change their attitudes

Source, Message, Audience

Manipulating the Perception of Trust

testimony and endorsements, presenting the message as education, and word of mouth

how to defend from unwelcome persuasion

knowledge, awareness, anti-vulnerability training (inoculation, stinging)

Outgroup Homogeneity

to see outgroup members as more similar to eachother compared to ingroup members

Stereotypes

biased thoughts about a person

Stereotype Threat

the fear of confirming stereotypes others have about one’s group

Prejudice

biased feeling/attitude against people based on group membership

Discrimination

behavior bias against a person/group based on stereotyped beliefs about that group

effects of social categorization

we see people from different groups as more different that they are, and people from the same group as more similar than they are

Robbers Cave Experiment

a study where boys at a summer camp were split into 2 groups, pitted against each other causing hostility, then reunited through cooperative tasks with shared goals—hostility and intergroup bias decreased

Social Dominance orientation

an explicit bias reflecting the belief that group hierarchies are inevitable and desirable for social order; predicts endorsing the superiority of certain groups

SDO- low vs. high careers

Low SDO: social work, public defense, psychology High SDO: prosecutors, finance, police

Right-wing authoritarianism (RWA)

explicit bias that endorses obedience and respect for authority, prioritizing group conformity and unity over individual rights

subtle (implicit) biases

Unexamined, sometimes unconscious biases that still have real consequences. Three types: automatic, ambiguous, and ambivalent

Automatic Bias

Unintended, immediate, and hard to resist. Involves own-group preference — measured by the Implicit Association Test (IAT)

Ambiguous Bias

Favoring the ingroup and distancing from the outgroup without realizing it. Includes Social Identity Theory, Self-Categorization Theory, and Aversive Racism.

Aversive Racism

form of racial bias the person doesn't intend and would reject, but shows up as avoidance of interracial contact

Ambivalent bias

Mixed feelings toward a group — explained by the Stereotype Content Model.

Stereotype Content Model

Social groups are perceived along two dimensions: warmth and competence (warm/cold, competent/incompetent)

Social Identity Theory

tendency to favor your own group over another group

Implicit Association Test (IAT)

measure of automatic implicit bias that detects unconscious associations between social groups and attributes

Aggression

any behavior intended to harm another person who does not want to be harmed

Features of Aggression

1. a behavior that you can see

2. intentional

3. the victim wants to avoid the harm

Violence

aggression intended to cause extreme physical harm; all violent acts are aggressive but not all aggressive acts are violent

Relational Aggression

intentionally harming another person’s social relationships or sense of inclusion—gossip, spreading rumors, silent treatment, withdrawing affection

Hostile Perception Bias

the tendency to perceive social interactions in general as aggressive

hostile expectation bias

tendency to expect others to react to potential conflicts with aggression

explicit aggression

aggressive tendencies we are aware of—can be measured directy

implicit aggression

aggressive tendencies we are NOT aware of; operates through automatic processing

justification mechanisms

Illusory defenses people use to rationalize aggression. The 6 types are: hostile attribution, potency, retribution, victimization by powerful others, derogation of target, and social discounting.

when are people the most aggressive?

at ages 1-3

gender and aggression

men tend to be more physically aggressive while women are more likely to engage in relational aggression

Catharsis (myth)

idea that acting aggressively or watching aggression releases aggressive impulses. NOT supported by research

Pluralistic Ignorance

relying on other bystanders to determine if help is needed, doing nothing

When do people help?

Pluralisitic ignorance, diffusion of responsiblity, cost and rewards

Cost and Rewards

if the benefits outweigh the costs, the likelihood of helping increases

Bystander Intervention

phenomenon whereby people intervene to help others in need even if the other is a complete stranger and the intervention puts the helper at risk

Who helps?

men are more likely to help in a dangerous situation, and women are more likely to help when there is no danger

Prosocial Personality

other-oriented empathy, helpfulness

Egoistic Helping

when a helper seeks to increase their own welfare by helping another

Egoistic Motives

there is something in it for us; we get some physical or mental benefit for helping others

Altruistic Helping

when a helper seeks to increase another’s welfare and expects nothing in return; motivated by empathy

Empathy-Altruism Model

when we take the POV from another person, we experience empathic concern, and we are motivated to help by altruistic concerns to reduce the other person’s distress; we help even if the cost to us is high

Negative State Relief Model

we help others to make ourselves feel better; when we don’t feel good, helping can boost our mood

Cooperation

the coordination of multiple people toward a common goal that will benefit everyone involved

Prisoner’s Dilemma

scenario explaining the tension between choosing personal reward (defecting) vs. gains for the group (cooperating); cooperating yields the highest combined reward, but defecting is the “rational” personal choice

Rational self-interest

idea that people will always make choices involving personal gain—meaning the rational choice is always to defect; doesn’t reflect what we actually observe in real life

Social Value Orientation

a person’s general tendency when dividing resources between themselves and others; 3 types: cooperative (wants positive outcomes for all), individualistic (less concerned with others outcomes), and competitive (wants to actively undermine others to get ahead)

Decomposed Games

Exercises where people choose between outcomes — used to measure Social Value Orientation

Commons-Dilemma Game

Mimics a common-pool resource (like farmland or water). The resource remains available if people don't overuse it, but depletes if people take too much.

Empathic Ability

ability to feel and understand another’s emotioanl experience—an individual difference that promotes cooperation

Communication and Commitment

Open communication can promote cooperation; cooperation involves vulnerability — the risk of being exploited or harmed by the other party

Trust and free rider problem

Social loafing/free riding (benefiting without contributing) earns a reputation for not helping, making others less likely to cooperate with that person in the future

Group Identification

people belong to groups they highly value, which shapes their social identity; because identity is tied to what the group values, group membership can influence cooperative behavior