Psych Unit 2 Aos 1. Social cognition and group influence

Chapt 7+8

Person perception

The mental processes we use to form our impressions and opinions of other people.

Schemas

When we form an opinion and make judgements about the person based on the schema that we have assigned them in.

Factors that influence person perception

-Physical cues

-Saliency detection

-Body language

-Social categorisation

Attribution

An evaluation made about the causes of behaviour and the process of making this evaluation

Types of attribution

-Internal (personal)

-External (situational)

Internal (personal) attribution

Occurs when we judge behaviour as being caused by something personal within an individual (e.g. Psychological state, age, gender, intellect, motivation, ability, desire, past behaviour)

External (situation)

Occurs when we determine the cause of a behaviour as resulting from situational factors occurring outside the individual (e.g. environment, events experienced by the individual)

Fundamental attribution error

Our tendency to explain other people's behaviour in terms of internal factors, while ignoring possible external factors

Actor-observer bias

Our tendency to attribute our own behaviour to external situational factors, yet attribute other's behaviour to internal factors

Self-serving bias

When judging ourselves, we tend to take credit for our successes and deny responsibility for failure, which is blamed on external, situational factors.

Attitudes

An evaluation of something such as a person, object, event or idea

Criteria of attitudes

1. Attitude must be an evaluation over something

2. Attitude must be settled or stable

3. The attitude must be learnt through experience

The tri component model of attitudes

Affective, Behavioural, Cognitive (ABC)

Stereotype

Widely held belief and generalisation about a group, such as people, animals or objects.

Reasons for stereotyping

-Perceive others

-Keep us safe, determine threat or not

-Act socially appropriate

-Makes person perception more efficient

Problems with stereotyping

-Can be often oversimplified and inaccurate judgements

-Most stereotypes are negative, rather than positive

-Ignores individuality

-Stereotypes are fixed and resistant to change

-Can lead to social stigma

Stigma

Negative attitudes against someone based on a distinguishing characteristic, such as mental illness, disability, gender, sexuality, race, religious or culture

Ingroups

Groups you belong to, or can identify with

Outgroups

Groups you don't belong to, or can't identify with

Cognitive dissonance

Psychological tension that occurs when our thoughts, feelings, and/or behaviours do not align with one another.

Types of cognitive bias

-Confirmation

-Halo effect

-False-consensus bias

-Self-serving bias

-Actor-observer bias

Cognitive bias

Unconscious, systematic tendencies to interpret information in a way that is neither rational nor based on objective reality

Heuristics

Information-processing strategies or 'mental shortcuts' that enable individuals to form judgements, make judgements, make decisions, and solve problems quickly and efficiently

Availability heuristics

A cognitive bias where people rely on easily accessible information, or instances that readily come into mind, when making judgements and decisions

Representative heuristics

A cognitive shortcut where people make judgements about the probability of an event based on how similar it is to a stereotype or prototype

Affect heuristic

Cognitive bias where people use their feelings and emotional reactions to assess the quality of a situation or decision

Prejudice

Prejudice is a prejudgement that you make about others before interacting with them, and it happens when stereotypes become beliefs

Prejudice categories

-Old fashioned prejudice

-Modern prejudice

Direct discrimination

When someone is openly treated unfairly due to their association with a certain group or possess a particular characteristic

Indirect discrimination

Practice or blanket rule applies to all people and unfairly disadvantages a group or person

Intersectional discrimination

Someone is subjected to greater discrimination because they are affected by more than one form of discrimination

Reducing prejudice, discrimination and stigma

-Inter-group contact

-Sustained contact

-Contact hypothesis

-Mutual independence

-Equality

-Superordinate goals

What makes a group

-Two or more people

-Interactions over a period of time

-Influences on each other

-Some sort of common purpose

A collective

Where the following characteristics don't exist and are not present - where they exert minimal influence on each other and do not interact with every other person

Status and power within groups

-Coercive power

-Expert power

-Informational power

-Legitimate power

-Referent power

-Reward power

Groupthink

A psychological phenomenon where people prioritise group harmony over critical thinking and sound decision-making

Symptoms associated with groupthink

-Collective rationalism

-Illusions of invulnerability

-Outgoing stereotypes

-Direct pressure on dissenters

-Self censorship

Factors that influence group think

-Strong group identity among members

-Powerful and charismatic leader

-Lack of personal knowledge among members

• Groups experience of extreme stress

Group shift

The tendency of a group to make decisions that are more extreme than the other initial inclinations of its individual members

Deindividuation

When individuals lose their sense of personal identity and self-awareness while in a group, leading them to act in ways they normally wouldn't

Collectivist cultures

Prioritise group goals, long-term relationships, community, support with identity formed through group interactions

Individualist cultures

Emphasise independence, personal goals and self-reliance

Obedience

Complying with commands which are often given by a source of authority

Constructive obedience

Can result in a negative outcome for society

Destructive obedience

Can result in a negative outcome for society

Blind obedience

When individuals obey a powerful figure to the extent of taking part in activities they normally wouldn't, as they know they are wrong

Why do we obey?

-Status of the authority

-Proximity (social and relational)

-Group pressure

Conformity

Adjusting one's thoughts, feelings or behaviours to match those of others, a social group, or a social situation

Informational social influence

The need for certainty. engaging in social comparison to figure out how to behaviour when in ambiguous situations

Normative social influence

The need for social acceptance and approval. We conform in order to be accepted and fit in

Factors that effect conformity

-Group size

-Unanimity

-Normative influence

-Informational influence

-Culture

-Social loafing

-Deindividuation