PSYCH1110 - Ch. XII: Social Psychology

Exam

Social Psychology

The study of how behaviour is influenced by the presence and behaviour of others.

Fundamental Attribution Error

The tendency to attribute success to oneself, but attribute failures to situational factors

Actor-Observer Bias

attributing others’ behaviour to internal factors, while attributing our own behaviour to situational factors

Self-Serving Bias

The tendency to attribute one’s success to personal factors, and failures to situational factors

What are the “three dimensions of attributions”?

1. Locus of Control (internal vs external)

2. Stability (stable vs unstable)

3. Controllability (controllable vs uncontrollable)

Just-World Hypothesis

The tendency to blame victims for their misfortune

Cognitive Dissonance

Psychological discomfort that arises from one’s inconsistent thoughts, beliefs, or opinions.

What are two experiments that looked into reducing cognitive dissonance?

1. Festinger & Carlsmith

2. Aronson & Mills

Persuasion

The process of changing an attitude through communication

Yale Attitude Change Approach

Describes the conditions under which people tend to change their attitudes

What are the conditions included under the “yale attitude change approach”?

1. Communicator

2. Message

3. Channel

4. Audience

What does the “Elaboration Likelihood Model” depict?

There are two roots to persuasion:

1. central (motivated, high effort, long-lasting change)

2. peripheral (the opposite)

What are three examples of persuasion techniques?

1. Foot-in-the-Door Technique

2. Door-in-the-Face Technique

3. Lowballing

Foot-in-the-Door Technique

A method of persuasion in which the persuader obtains compliance with a small request, and then later presents a larger request.

Door-in-the-Face Technique

A method of persuasion in which the persuader makes a large request that they anticipate the refusal of, and then presents a smaller request.

Lowballing

A method of persuasion in which the persuader gets someone to commit an action, and then raises the “cost” of the action before it is performed.

Conformity

Yielding to social pressure (real or imagined)

What are examples of influencing factors of conformity?

• Group size

• presence of a dissenter (reduces conformity)

• inherent nature of responses

• Normative social influence

• Informal social influence

Normative Social Influence

Avoiding negative social consequences; needs to be accepted

Informal Social Influence

Looks to others in ambiguous situations; need to be right

Obedience

Compliance to commands

Groupthink

modification of beliefs to align with the group consensus

Group Polarization

When the average opinion of a group becomes more extreme

Social Loafing

reduction in effort by individuals when working in groups

Social Facilitation

when one performs better in the presence of others

Bystander Effect

one’s willingness to help is decreased in the presence of others (usually due to the diffusion of responsibility)

Aggression

behaviour intended to harm another; can be hostile or instrumental

What brain structures influence aggression?

• Hypothalamus stimulation can induce aggressive behaviours

• Amygdala destruction decreases aggression

• Frontal lobes are associated with impulse control

How does “reinforcement” influence aggression?

Aggression increases when the aggressive behaviour produces a positive outcome for the individual

How does “modelling” influence aggression?

There is a positive correlation between aggressive behaviour in children and their parents

Altruism

 the desire to help another without concern for oneself

Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis

true altruism is produced by empathy

Negative-State Relief Model

high empathy causes personal distress, so helping others reduces our own upset