social psych exam 3

what is social influence?

exercise of social power by a person/group to change the attitudes and behavior of others

what is power of the situation?

situations contain a variety of subtle yet powerful forces that direct and constrain behavior

what is conformity?

yielding to perceived group pressure by copying the behavior and beliefs of others

why do we conform to group norms?

we want to be right and we want to be liked

what is informational social influence?

conformity out of desire to gain information; the want to be right

when does informational social influence arise?

when uncertainty is high and desire to gain information is high. when situation is a crisis. when others are experts.

why do we conform with informational social influence?

we conform out of uncertainty

what was the Sherif’s “Autokinetic” study?

participants were placed in a dark room and asked to estimate the movement of a stationary point of light, first alone and then in groups. the study recorded how their individual estimates shifted over several trials until they eventually converged on a shared group average

what was the key phenomenon/term in the Sherif’s “Autokinetic” study?

informational social influence

what was the core discovery found in the the Sherif’s “Autokinetic” study?

groups create shared norms in ambiguous situations

what is normative social influence?

conformity out of desire to gain rewards and avoid punishment; the want to be liked

when does normative social influence arise?

when “objectively” correct behavior is obvious, when the dominant behavior pattern shown by most people (the majority) produces conformity and when we conform out of a desire to be liked or to avoid social punishments

what was the Asch’s Line Study?

participants were asked to match the length of a "standard" line to one of three comparison lines while seated in a group of actors who were instructed to unanimously give the wrong answer. the experiment measured whether the lone real participant would ignore their own senses and conform to the group’s obvious error or stick to the correct answer

what was the core discovery found in the Asch’s Line Study?

people conform to avoid social friction in unambiguous situations

what was the key term in the Asch’s Line Study?

normative social influence

what are two factors that influence conformity?

group size and group cohesiveness

what does a larger group mean with conformity?

more conformity

what is compliance?

publicly acting in accord with direct request; trying to “get our way”

what is external compliance?

acquiescing to request despite disagreeing with it

what is internal compliance?

both acting and believing in line with a request

what is mindless compliance?

following requests/norms without deliberating

what is Langer et al’s photocopier line-jumping study?

researchers approached people waiting to use a library photocopier and asked to cut in line using either a legitimate reason, no reason at all, or a "placebo" reason that sounded like a justification but offered no new information. the experimenters then recorded how many people complied with the request based on the specific phrasing used

what was the core discovery found in the Langer et al’s photocopier line-jumping study?

automatic compliance occurs when "scripts" (like "because") are used

what is the key term/phenomenon in the Langer et al’s photocopier line-jumping study?

mindless compliance

what human motivation facilitate compliance?

consistency motives and

what is the “low-balling” (or bait + switch) technique?

making a low offer to get compliance

what is French Cigarettes (jolue) study?

researchers approached student smokers and asked them to participate in a "concentration study" for a small payment; once they arrived, the experimenter used a "low-ball" technique by revealing the pay was lower than promised and then added a "foot-in-the-door" request that they must abstain from smoking for 18 hours. After completing the initial 18-hour abstinence, the participants were then asked to commit to an even more difficult task: not smoking for an additional three days

what was the core discovery found in French Cigarettes (jolue) study?

initial voluntary acts "freeze" us/blind us into future, costlier behaviors.

what is obedience?

the performance of an action in response to a direct order

which is stricter, obedience or compliance?

obedience stricter than compliance

what influences obedience?

legitimacy of authority, conformity, and incremental orders

what is a group?

two or more individuals that influence one another

what is entitativity?

seeing a group as a meaningful social entity

what are the 4 types of groups?

intimacy groups, task groups, social categories, and clusters of people

what is an example of intimacy groups?

family, friends, gangs

what is an example of task groups?

workplace, school group

what is an example of social categories?

gender, ethnicity

what is an example of clusters of people?

line at the bank

what motivates us to belong to groups?

need to belong and need to achieve goals

what are group processes?

group influences on individual behavior

what was the Triplett’s classic study?

researchers asked children to wind a fishing reel as fast as possible for six trials, alternating between working alone and working in "co-action" (side-by-side with another child)

what was the core discovery found the Triplett’s classic study?

presence of others improves performance on simple/well-learned tasks.

what is the key term/phenomenon in the Triplett’s classic study?

social facilitation

what is the mere presence hypothesis?

we become physiologically aroused around members of our own species

what is social loafing?

group induced reduction in individual output

what is Ringleman’s rope pull study?

researchers asked male volunteers to pull on a rope as hard as they could, first alone and then in groups of various sizes. they measured the exact amount of force exerted by each individual and the group as a whole

what core discovery was found in Ringleman’s rope pull study?

presence of others decreases individual effort when individual output isn't measured.

what is the key term/phenomenon in Ringleman’s rope pull study?

social facilitation

why does social loafing happen?

diffusion of responsibility

what is diffusion of responsibility?

belief that presence of others makes one less personally responsible for the outcomes

what does a bigger group mean in the context of diffusion of responsbility?

bigger the group, more diffusion of responsibility, less effort

when do groups perform well?

addictive tasks, disjunctive tasks, conjuncitve task