Social Psych Exam 1

What do social psychologists study?

resolving philosophical issues

\n Understand and suggest how to solve social problems

\n Explain “mysteries" of human behavior

What are the aims of social psychologists?

? study how social influence, social perception and social interaction influence individual and group behavior.

What are some of the other fields that intersect with \n social psychology?

Cognitive, bio, clinical, cultural, developmental, personality Psychology

What domains of social life to they explore?

intergorup conflict- war

interpersonal discord- hatred

group mind- mobs, panic

personal dysfunction- depression lonliness

What global event sparked the creation of Social Psychology as a field? Why?

WW2

triplet- cycle experiment is the first

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why?

“common sense”

Hindsight Bias

Lack of Contact between Cultures

Spotlight of Science

Why can we not rely on our implicit understandings and experiences in social life to guide our \n understanding of social psychology?

***People are often unaware of their own mental processes***

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1\. relying on our own implicit knowing in our social life creates unnecessary bias

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people look "through" their theories rather than "at" them

What phenomena/dimensions make the human experience so subjective that we must use the scientific method to better understand it?

Human experience is subjunctive of-- bias, individual differences, beyond the intuitive

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What is the overall aim of the scientific method?

Sci method aims to reduce bias and other limitation

What are the stages/order of the scientific method?

observation

thoery construction

hypothesis generation

verification

What are some of the ways social psychologists measure variables in studies? Be able to read an example study and identify variables being \\n measured.

What are traditional study designs used to answer \n questions in Social Psychology?

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What are new \n methods?

What is it measuring?

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What can it tell us?

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What are all of the possible interpretations of correlation?

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What are some applied examples of ambiguous (unclear) correlational findings?

Correlation- Measuring the relationship between two (or more) \n characteristics in a \*large\* sample of people.

ex. surveys, behaviors, reaction time, height, weight

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A cause B, B causes A, A + B cause each other, unmeasured variable cause A+B

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What can correlation not tell us?

correlation not causation

Why would we conduct an experiment? What does it give us that correlation cannot?

why?

* Control over environment \n o Manipulating variables \n o Examine causes and effects of “holding variables constant”.

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expirement-- Establishing a Causal Relationship

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it gives- In an experimental design, you manipulate an independent variable and measure its effect on a dependent variable.

What can we establish using experimental methods that is impossible using correlational design?

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Be able to identify examples of studies that use experimental methods.

longitudunal designs, computer simulations, big data,

Be able to identify examples of studies that use longitudinal methods.

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Know that longitudinal designs assess change over time.

how do beliefs change across gen? at what age are people most depressed?

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Know that computer simulations are used in social psychology.

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Be able to identify examples of studies that use computer simulation methods.

sims- real-life situations in a computer world using ‘agents’ as people.

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ex. romantic relationship trajectories

What is an attitude? How does it differ from a belief?

Beliefs with an evaluation. “I think small colleges are better than large colleges.”

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beliefs are generalizationsGeneralizations about events and topics

What is a belief? How does it differ from an attitude?

Generalizations about events and topics

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“I believe in climate change.” \n “I believe the world is fair.” \n “I believe we have free will.”

What are the 4 functions of attitudes?

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Be able to identify examples of these functions.

utilitarian- what to do, what not to do

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knowledge- making sense of issuses

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ego defense- protection form unwanted truths

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value expressive- express aspects of the self

Know the three dimensions of attitudes.

* activation- dynamic vs static
* potency- strong weak
* evaluation- good bad

When does cognitive dissonance occur?

Mind strive for coherence and consistency

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happens when:

* 2 conflicting mental states emerge
* causes unpleasant arousal/ tension

Dissonance is experienced when…

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guilt, motivation to change, behavioral outcome

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Know that dissonance is experienced as an unpleasant state of physiological arousal/tension.

Why are people motivated to resolve dissonance?

in order to maintain our sense of identity,

to get rid of unpleasent arousal

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What are the three ways in which people attempt to reduce dissonance?

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Change the attitude to be consistent with the behavior.

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Change behavior to be consistent with the attitude.

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Change your perception of the action

What role did/does cognitive dissonance play in behavior during the Covid-19 pandemic?

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Understand how cognitive dissonance is manipulated in research studies.

people put trust in political leaders

What happens when people misattribute the source of their physiological arousal in experimental paradigms eliciting cognitive dissonance?

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Be able to identify examples.

Cognitive dissonance occurs because of unpleasant arousal. But what if people think their arousal is due to another source?

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zana and cooper,1974 drugs

What are they?

What are the proposed foundations of values?

Evolutionary Foundations- natural selection

Cultural Foundations

Terror Management Theory

What role is evolution theorizes to play in our value systems?

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How do our past harsh environments inform modern value systems?

Natural Selection: \n  Humans’ ancestral environment was challenging \n Only those who had the ‘right’ behavioral tendencies survived \n This allowed them to pass on their genes

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humans are now weak, only survive in groups, these tendencies are bases for **values** that determine **moral** behaviors

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values provide shared **reality** for groups

What are the 5 dimensions of moral foundations?

* Harm/Care
* Fairness & Reciprocity:
* Ingroup Loyalty:
* Authority & Respect
* Purity and Sanctity

What is the main distinction we make between cultures?

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How do values differ across this dividing line?

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==**cultures**== differ in their emphasis on basic values.

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Social Interdependence- Emphasis on connections with others \n  Family, occupation, social class, national identity, & religion \n  Prominent in Asia, Africa, and Latin America

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Social Independence

 Emphasis on personality and characteristics \n  Achievement, unique traits and skills, distinction from others \n  Prominent in North America and Europe

What is mortality salience and why do we have it?

awareness of death

humans only one

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“Briefly describe the emotions that your own death brings up” \n “What do you think will happen when you die”

What feelings are evoked when we think about our own death?

fanxiety, terror fear, pain, view pictures of fatal car accidents.

How do people defend against mortality salience?

children, contributions, religion,

How did death anxiety influence people’s experience of the Covid-19 pandemic?

commitment to leaders.

Why do people hold victim-blaming attitudes? In what way do they serve ego-protecting function?

to distance themselves from an unpleasant occurrence and thereby confirm their own invulnerability to the risk.

What are the six universal emotions?

happy

sad

suprise

fear

anger

disgust

Why is it important that we know all cultures express these emotions in the same way

We can all still communicate

What type of culture is more restrictive in their emotional expression? Why?

\n Overall, interdependent cultures tend to show more restraint in emotional expression.

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What are the 3 components of emotion?

 Physiological arousal \n  Subjective experience \n  Behavioral Expression

What are the two dimensions that emotions are evaluated on?

activation evaluation

What are the proposed stages of emotion in this theory? james lang

anger/ euphoric--- distinctive physiologvial state--- anger/euphoria

What are the proposed stages of emotion in this \\n theory? cannon bernard

perception of emotion arousing stim --- cosncious expeiernce and emotion anf general phys changes

What are the proposed stages of emotion in this \\n theory? theory of emotion

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What is included here that is missing from James-Lang?

emotion indusicng stim---phsy arousal---emotional interp

How can body language/posturing affect emotional \\n states? Be able to identify examples.

Changing one’s bodily state can change one’s emotional state -

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Standing upright instead of slouching \n  Pulling arms toward the body instead of \n pushing them away

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increases pos mood

What are some behaviors people engage in to control their emotions (i.e., improve their mood)?

alc, music, shopping, excersize

Why might people misattribute the source of emotional arousal?

Incorrectly interpreting physiological arousal

We can also attribute arousal to anxiety or excitement...it \n depends on the interpretation

Know the Bridge Study – procedure and outcomes. \n Be able to identify examples of arousal misattribution.

Crossing a bridge, encountering an attractive research \n confederate \n  Increased liking of confederate...excitement from bridge is \n misattributed to researcher \n  Used in research on attraction \n  We can also attribute arousal to anxiety or excitement...it \n depends on the interpretation

What is the main idea of the Hedonic Treadmill?

On a treadmill, no matter how big your steps are or how \n fast you run, you wind up in the same place.

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that is true for emotional states

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Regardless of big gains or losses in life, we tend towards \n an emotional equilibrium.

How does this connect to the idea of emotional \\ equilibrium?

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\\n Be able to identify applied examples of the Hedonic \\n Treadmill.

we stay in the same place and strive for eqalibrium

What is affective forecasting? \\n Be able to identify examples.

We tend to overestimate how long emotional states will persist

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Intense emotional states engage regulatory processes to correct \n the disequilibrium...e.g., breakup.

What are the components that determine happiness?

genetics -50

life circumstance-10

personal habits-40

How does music contribute to affect regulation? Pain tolerance/alleviation?

we can relate to a song and feel heard.

At what age do people develop self-awareness? Are humans the only species who have it?

15-18 months

orangatans

dolphin

elephant

birds

What is self-esteem? What characteristics predict SE? What characteristics do not?

A global evaluation of the self: \n o Subjective sense of personal worth \n o Transcends specific self assessments \n • Beyond “I am good at math”

It is associated with: \n o Social skill \n o Social dominance \n o Resistance to influence

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Weak correlation with ‘objective’ characteristics \n o IQ \n o Physical Well-Being \n o Demographics (sex, race, SES)

How is self esteem different from self-awareness? How is it different from the self-concept?

How sure you are about those evaluations.

Why did the self-esteem movement backfire?

***argued for praising intelligence rather than effort***

What is this better than avg effect?

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Why is it helpful for people to have \\n this bias?

I**ntelligence**: Most people think they are brighter than \n their others...ironically...

\n **Attractiveness:** \n Most people feel they are \n better looking than their peers.

What is the Self-Concept? What elements comprise it?

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traits, values skills

How does self concept differ from self-esteem and self-concept clarity?

traitsvalues skills

What is threatened egotism?

high self esteem low concept clarity

What is Self-Verification Theory?

Why does this matter \n for people with threatened egotism?

People respond differently to others depending on how they feel about \n themselves.

\n o This is especially true for those with Threatened Egotism

Positive feedback is inaccurate, but negative feedback is threatening

What is narcissism?

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How is it defined by implicit and \n explicit attitudes?

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What predicts narcissism?

grandiosity, bragging, putting down and blaming \n others, projecting weaknesses onto others, not taking \n responsibility for actions, etc...

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Can be attributed to differences in implicit and explicit self \n esteem – self doubt.

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predicts

nat or nurture

personality

child rearing (flaso praise)

self handicapping What is it?

Why do people do it?

Be able to identify examples.

An action or choice of performance setting that enhances the \n opportunity to externalize (excuse) failure and internalize (take \n credit for) success”

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\n Uncertainty in control over personal outcomes \n  Feeling that your actions reflect your competence \n  When you want to maintain a positive self-image

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party before exam

Gender Similarity Hypothesis

What is it?

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How does it affect our understanding of \n gender differences in self-handicapping?

men- self handicap drugs

women test aniexty and phys symptoms

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There is more variability \n within genders than there are between them.

What role does social media play in forming self-esteem \n and the self-concept?

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What are the implications for \n well-being?

anxiety and depression towards younger.

Know the stages of cognitive dissonance

**I**==**nitiation**-== An action or decision that conflicts with an important aspect of the self.

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\n ==**amplification** ==The decision as freely chosen. There are no strong threats or rewards. It produces unforeseeable negative \n consequences

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@@Motivation@@ - unpleasent arousal

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r@@eduction@@- Change designed to reduce the unpleasant arousal.

What is it? What are the elements? Are they clinical or \n subclinical measures? Do people with these traits \n engage in the Morally Good True Self Bias? To what \n extent to do they do so compared to people who do not \n display Dark Triad traits?

\n Machiavellianism, psychopathy, narcissism

they engage in morally good bias

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subclinical traits

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People high in Dark Triad traits viewed moral traits as less \n central to their identity, and immoral traits as more central

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the morally- \n good true self bias but to a lesser extent than those

Morally Good True \n Self Bias

People may act immorally and still view themselves \n as more good than bad.