Chapter 12: Social Psychology

Hovland

________ demonstrated that certain features of the source of a persuasive message, the content of the message, and the characteristics of the audience will influence the persuasiveness of a message.

Scripts

________ are important sources of information to guide behavior in given situations.

Sternberg

________ states that a healthy relationship will have all three components of love- intimacy, passion, and commitment- which is described as consummate love.

Stanley Milgram

________ designed an experiment where volunteer participants were told that they were to teach other students correct answers to a series of test items, and to shock the learners if they gave a wrong answer to a test item.

Obedience

________: the change of an individuals behavior to comply with a demand by an authority figure.

Companionate

________ love: characteristic of close friendships and family relationships, consists of intimacy and commitment but no passion.

Intimacy

________: the sharing of details and intimate thoughts and emotions.

Infatuation

________: the presence of passion without intimacy or commitment.

Conformity

________: the change in a persons behavior to go along with the group, even if they dont agree with the group.

Groupthink

________ can hinder opposing thoughts.

social networks

Homophily: the tendency for people to form ________ with others who are similar.

Humans

________ engage in aggression when they seek to cause harm or pain to another person.

Asch

________ effect: the influence of the group majority on an individuals judgment.

individual performance

Occurs when our ________ can not be evaluated separately from the group.

illusion of unanimity

Perceiving a(n) ________ among group members.

Bystander

________ effect: a phenomenon in which a witness or ________ does not volunteer to help a victim or person in distress, and instead just watch what is happening.

witnesses

Bullying involves three parties: the bully, the victim, and ________ or bystanders.

Solomon Asch

________ conducted several experiments in the 1950s to determine how people are affected by the thoughts and behaviors of other people.

Controllability

________: the extent to which the circumstances that are associated with a given outcome can be ________.

Self disclosure

________: the sharing of personal information.

Situationism

________: the view that our behavior and actions are determined by our immediate environment and surroundings.

Self fulfilling prophecy

________: an expectation held by a person that alters his or her behavior in a way that tends to make it true.

Prejudice

________: a negative attitude and feeling toward an individual based solely on ones membership in a particular social group.

Homophobia

________: prejudice and discrimination of individuals based solely on their sexual orientation.

persuasive message

The elaboration likelihood model: there are two main routes that play a role in delivering a(n) ________: central and peripheral.

Internal factor

________: an attribute of a person and includes personality traits and temperament.

Altruism

________: peoples desire to help others even if the costs outweigh the benefits of helping.

Fundamental attribution error

________: when people assume that the behavior of another person is a trait of that person, and to underestimate the power of the situation on the behavior of others.

Discrimination

________: negative action toward an individual as a result of ones membership in a particular group.

Confirmation bias

________: to seek out information that supports our stereotypes and ignore information that is inconsistent with our stereotypes.

Behavior

________ is a product of both the situation and of the person.

Empty love

________: having commitment without intimacy or passion.

Dispositionism

________: the view that our behavior is determined by internal factors.

Social norms

________ require guards to be authoritarian and prisoners to be submissive.

Social role

________: a pattern of behavior that is expected of a person in a given setting or group.

Fatuous love

________: having passion and commitment, but no intimacy.

Social facilitation

________: occurs when an individual performs better when an audience is watching than when the individual performs the behavior alone.

Social loafing

________: the exertion of less effort by a person working together with a group.

Attitude

________: our evaluation of a person, an idea, or an object.

Social psychologists

________ hold that we make these decisions based on the social situation, not our own personality variables.

physical attractiveness

Matching hypothesis: asserts that people tend to pick someone they view as their equal in ________ and social desirability.

Diffusion of responsibility

________: the tendency for no one in a group to help because the responsibility to help is spread throughout the group.

traditional bullying

The effects of cyberbullying are just as harmful as ________ and include the victim feeling lower self- esteem, frustration, anger, sadness, helplessness, powerlessness, and fear.

Stereotype

________: a specific belief or assumption about individuals based solely on their membership in a group, regardless of their individual characteristics.

Persuasion

________: the process of changing our attitude toward something based on some kind of communication.

Social exchange theory

________: we act as naïve economists in keeping a tally of the ratio of costs and benefits of forming and maintaining a relationship with others.

Normative social influence

________: people conform to the group norm to fit in, to feel good, and to be accepted by the group.

Ageism

________: prejudice and discrimination toward individuals based solely on their ________.

Aggression

________ takes two forms depending on ones motives: hostile or instrumental.

Prosocial behavior

________: voluntary behavior with the intent to help other people.

Social psychology

examines how people affect one another, and it looks at the power of the situation

The field of social psychology studies topics at both the intra

and interpersonal levels

Intrapersonal topics

those that pertain to the individual; include emotions and attitudes, the self, and social cognition

Interpersonal topics

those that pertain to dyads and groups; include helping behavior, aggression, prejudice and discrimination, attraction and close relationships, and group processes and intergroup relationships

Situationism

the view that our behavior and actions are determined by our immediate environment and surroundings

Dispositionism

the view that our behavior is determined by internal factors

Internal factor

an attribute of a person and includes personality traits and temperament

Fundamental attribution error

when people assume that the behavior of another person is a trait of that person, and to underestimate the power of the situation on the behavior of others

Actor-observer bias

the phenomenon of attributing other peoples behavior to internal factors (fundamental attribution error) while attributing our own behavior to situational forces

Self-serving bias

he tendency of an individual to take credit by making dispositional or internal attributions for positive outcomes but situational or external attributions for negative outcomes

locus of control (internal versus external), stability (stable versus unstable), and controllability (controllable versus uncontrollable)

One model of attribution proposes three main dimensions

Stability

the extent to which the circumstances that result in a given outcome are changeable

Controllability

the extent to which the circumstances that are associated with a given outcome can be controlled

Just-world hypothesis

the belief that people get the outcomes they deserve

Social role

a pattern of behavior that is expected of a person in a given setting or group

Social norm

a groups expectation of what is appropriate and acceptable behavior for its members-how they are supposed to behave and think

Script

a persons knowledge about the sequence of events expected in a specific setting

Stanford prison experiment

24 healthy male college students were randomly assigned to play the role of either a prisoner or a guard in a mock prison

The guards and prisoners enacted their social roles by engaging in behaviors appropriate to the roles

The guards gave orders and the prisoners followed orders

Attitude

our evaluation of a person, an idea, or an object

an affective component (feelings), a behavioral component (the effect of the attitude on behavior), and a cognitive component (belief and knowledge)

Typically, attitudes are positive or negative and have three components

Cognitive dissonance

psychological discomfort arising from holding two or more inconsistent attitudes, behaviors, or cognitions

We can reduce cognitive dissonance by bringing our cognitions, attitudes, and behaviors in line

This can be done in different ways

Persuasion

the process of changing our attitude toward something based on some kind of communication

Yale attitude change approach

describes the conditions under which people tend to change their attitudes

Central route

logic driven and uses data and facts to convince people of an arguments worthiness

Peripheral route

an indirect route that uses peripheral cues to associate positivity with the message

Foot-in-the-door technique

the persuader gets a person to agree to bestow a small favor or to buy a small item, only to later request a larger favor or purchase of a bigger item

Conformity

the change in a persons behavior to go along with the group, even if they dont agree with the group

Asch effect

the influence of the group majority on an individuals judgment

The size of the majority

the greater the number of people in the majority, the more likely an individual will conform

Theres an upper limit

a point where adding more members does not increase conformity

The presence of another dissenter

If theres at least one dissenter, conformity rates drop to near zero

The public or private nature of the responses

when responses are made publicly, conformity is more likely; however, when responses are made privately, conformity is less likely

Normative social influence

people conform to the group norm to fit in, to feel good, and to be accepted by the group

Informational social influence

people conform because they believe the group is competent and has the correct information, particularly when the task or situation is ambiguous

Obedience

the change of an individuals behavior to comply with a demand by an authority figure

Groupthink

the modification of the opinions of members of a group to align with what they believe is the group consensus

Group polarization

the strengthening of an original group attitude after the discussion of views within a group

Social facilitation

occurs when an individual performs better when an audience is watching than when the individual performs the behavior alone

Social loafing

the exertion of less effort by a person working together with a group

Prejudice

a negative attitude and feeling toward an individual based solely on ones membership in a particular social group

Stereotype

a specific belief or assumption about individuals based solely on their membership in a group, regardless of their individual characteristics

Discrimination

negative action toward an individual as a result of ones membership in a particular group

Racism

prejudice and discrimination against an individual based solely on ones membership in a specific racial group

explicit attitudes and implicit attitudes

Humans have two forms of attitudes

Explicit attitudes

conscious and controllable

Implicit attitudes

unconscious and uncontrollable

Sexism

prejudice and discrimination toward individuals based on their sex

Ageism

 prejudice and discrimination toward individuals based solely on their age