Social Psych

social psychology

The scientific study of how individuals’ thoughts, feelings and behavior are shaped by the actual, implied, or imagined presence of others.

→Power of the situation

→ Our behavior is shaped by our subjective construal of situations

social role

a set of expectations (norms) about a social position, defining how those in the position behave. think stanford prison experiment

self-fulfilling prophecy (behavoiral confirmation)

a belief that leads to its own fulfillment.

People behave in ways that confirm their belief or perceptions of themselves or others. 

social comparison theory

Social comparison theory-   we are unable to self-judge our opinions and abilities accurately and instead rely on comparing ourselves to other people to form an evaluation.

Judging your sense of deprivation based on others. 

downward comparison

Gratitude - Pity

upward comparison

hope - envy

attributional and explanatory style

the way in which you explain your circumstances to yourself.

dispositional attributions

relate to internal causes (characteristics of the person, personality ex. emotional, dramatic, smart, dumb, ambitious, lazy)

situational attributions

relate to external causes (characteristics of the situation-  ex. traffic, alarm didn’t go off, family circumstances emergency, bad/good sleep.)

explanatory style

how people explain good and bad events in their lives and in others.  Explanatory styles can be optimistic or pessimistic.

actor-observer bias

the tendency for individuals acting in a situation to attribute the causes of their behavior to external or situational factors, but for observers to attribute the same behavior to internal or dispositional factors 

fundamental attribution error

a bias toward overattributing the behavior of others to internal causes. This is more likely to happen when we do not know the person well.  How accurate is your first impression of someone?

self serving bias

tendency to attribute positive outcomes and successes to internal factors like our personal traits, skills, or actions. Why did you not get the grade you wanted on a paper?- Teacher is unfair.   I won the game today because I am a great athlete; yesterday I lost the game because the referee made some bad calls”

false consensus effect

s the tendency to think other people share our attitudes more than they actually do. “I like this movie so my friends must like it too.”

optimistic explanatory style

Temporary

Specific causes

External causes

“This is a temporary moment . I will move on.” 

pessimistic explanatory style

Permanent 

Pervasive (global)

Personal (internal) causes

“I will never live this down.” 

mere exposure effect

repeated exposure increases our liking.

the halo effect

ex. the attractiveness stereotype, which refers to the tendency to assign positive qualities and traits to physically attractive or friendly people.  

social influence

 a process by which social groups and individuals exert pressure on an individual either deliberately or unintentionally.

Influence is much more likely to occur in highly homogenous groups, ambiguous situations, and when the subject is highly concerned with unwanted attention, the perceptions of others, and when the need to be accepted is high

normative social influence

trive to act in way that are consistent with group norms even if you disagree, groups place direct or indirect pressure on members to comply with norms  *team spirit, senior skip day, standing for the national anthem,

informational social influence

we conform to people who we believe have accurate information, we accept others’ opinions as reality because they seem informed [we side with ppl. who seem well informed] 

compliance

where an individual does what someone else wants them to do, following their request or suggestion. It is similar to obedience, but there is no order – only a request.

foot-in-the-door phenomenon

People agreeing to a small request will find it easier to agree later to a larger one

• Signing a petition then putting a sign in the yard

door-in-the-face technique

People agreeing to smaller request once they rejected a larger request

elaboration likelihood model

theory of attitude change.  Explores how  we process information differently and how the outcomes of these processes result in changing attitudes and, consequently, behavior.

 

central route persuasion

 high level of persuasion, offers evidence and arguments to trigger thoughtful responses [Swayed by logic and merit]  More durable. 

peripheral route persuasion

high level of persuasion, uses incidental cues such as marketing or endorsements (informational social influence - Halo Effect) to try to produce [fast but relatively thoughtless changes in attitudes].  

cognitive dissonance

When attitudes/beliefs do not fit with actions, tensions are often reduced by changing attitudes to match actions (cognitive dissonance theory).

conformity

 following group standards or behavior as a result of group pressure, real or imagined.

obedience

• occurs when people follow direct commands, usually from someone in a position of authority.   

conditions that facilitate conformity

• 3 or more members of a group agrees

• They feel incompetent or insecure

• They admire the group’s status and attractiveness (normative social influence)

• They know they are being observed

• Their culture encourages respect for social standards (collective societies)

ethnocentrism

tendency, often unintentional, to base perceptions and understandings of other groups or cultures on one’s own.

prejudice

is a negative attitude.

stereotype

 is a generalized concept about a group of people

Individualism vs Collectivism

discrimination

negative behavoir

in group bias

• the tendency to favor one’s own group, its members, its characteristics, and its products, particularly in reference to other groups. 

social trap

individuals, groups, organizations, or whole societies initiate a course of action or establish a set of relationships that lead to negative or even lethal outcomes in the long term, but that once initiated are difficult to withdraw from or alter. 

Stage one: The two groups were allowed to bond, in isolation from one another and create social norms.

Stage two: The moment of more direct competition and frustration.    

Stage three: Reduce the friction - a common superordinate goal

minimal group paradigm

a method for investigating the minimal conditions required for discrimination to occur between groups.

implicit bias

when we have attitudes towards people or associate stereotypes with them without our conscious knowledge.

outgroup homogenity bias

the tendency to assume that the members of other groups are very similar to each other, particularly in contrast to the assumed diversity of the membership of one’s own group.

group polarization

• Group discussions with like-minded others strengthen members’ prevailing beliefs and attitudes. (social media, echo chambers)

groupthink

• People are driven by a desire for harmony within a decision-making group, overriding realistic appraisal of alternatives. →harmonious + unrealistic  

social facilitation

•  increased level of effort as a result of the presence of others. Enhances performance on easy tasks but impairs performance on difficult tasks  (go to the library or coffee shop to study, exercising at the gym)

social loafing

• Tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable   

deindividuation

• Tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable   

prosocial behavoir

a behavior that produces positive social consequences

altruism

Altruism is an intentional behavior that benefits others at some cost to the individual

diffusion of responsibility

responsibility for intervening is shred, or diffused, among those present. The more people in an emergency, the less personally responsible each individual feels — and therefore the less help one provides. Similar to Social Loafing. 

bystander effect

A consequence of diffusion of responsibility - Tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present. 

Just World Hypothesis

tendency to believe that good people are rewarded, and bad people are punished.   We want to rationalize that the bad

Social Reciprocity Norm-

behavior that benefits another with the expectation that those benefits will be returned in the future. Examples?

industrial-organizational psychology (also called I/O psychology)

  is characterized by the scientific study of human behavior in organizations and the work place. The specialty focuses on deriving principles of individual, group and organizational behavior and applying this knowledge to the solution of problems at work.