Social Psychology 340 SDSU Marx Midterm 2

Gender differences : Trait

Women: relational, warm, nurturing, emotional

Men: independent,cold, uncaring, competive,

Social Norms

Expectations about behaviors, thoughts, or feelings are appropritate within a given context, situation or society.

Situational social norm example

Not talking in a library

Societal social norm example

in germany rather than clapping, tapping on a table after a performance is the norm

Group social norm example

Wearing a baseball cap because your group of friends wear them

Conformity

is not mimicry

1. compliance

2. obedience

Change in behavior or belief to accord with others and being affected by how they act.

you do something you wouldn't normally do

Compliance

Involves publicly acting in accord with an implied or indirect request while privately disagreeing: at your friends house they take off shoes at the door so you comply and take off your shoes.)

Obedience

Occurs when an authority figure gives a direct request/order and you conform to it (feeling does not match belief) ex: a professor says write an essay that says God doesn't exist, or he will fail you so you write it even thought u are christian

Acceptance

First not agreeing with a behavior, but then you seeing its merits and start to believe it yourself. (feeling matches belief)

ex: you write essay and become an atheist

Chameleon effect

Natural mimicry of others' postures generally elicits liking-- except when echoing others' negative expressions such as anger.

What breeds obedicence?

Emotional distance, authority

Emotional distance

When you can see the other person and their suffering it makes it harder to obey. (feeling matches behavior). When you cannot see them face to face it dehumanizes them and creates an emotional distance.

example: in milgram experiment they could hear screams but not see the person getting shocked

Authority is based on?

1.Closeness

2.Legitimacy

3.Insitutional

Authority is based on? Acronym

(CIL) Close In Legitimacy

Authority is based on?

Closeness

When the authority figure is close to the participant, they are more willing to obey

ex: In milgram experiment the authority figure was in the room telling them to shock or sometimes he was on the phone or in the another room

Authority is based on?

Legitimacy

How professional the authority figure is, the more formal, the more people are willing to obey

EX: Stanley milgram was a professor at Yale university and wore lab coat

but if his assistant played the authority figure, subjects protested more and quit the study because he lacked legitimacy

What predicts conformity?

1. Group size

2. Unanimity

3. Cohesion

4. Status

5. Public Response

6. No prior commitment

what predicts conformity? acronym

(CG PUNS) Co Groups Publicly unite No Status

Group size

at least Five people will be the highest influence you can get from a group, after 5, it doesn't matter because your level of conformity stays the same

ex: tour groups mess with people, stare up at sky, they conform, if he got 5 of his friends stare up at sky then most of tour group conformed

Solomn Ash experiment

Line experiment

subject in a group had to decide which line matches which but someone most of group is a confederates who say the wrong answer on purpose

subjects go along with the group

Unanimity

Idea that everyone responds similarly. In the Ash experiment when everyone said the wrong answer, the participant was more likely to conform to that decision, but when the subject had a partner who gave the right answer they were more likely to not conform

Cohesion

If you are part of a close-tight group you are more likely to conform/obey. (ex: uniforms in the military) cohesion create bonds

Normative influence

Conformity based on a person's desire to fulfill others' expectations, often to gain acceptance.

-to be accepted and avoid rejection

to be liked

ex: in line experiment the one guy didnt want to make waves in the group

Informational Influence

conformity occurring when people accept evidence/information about reality provided by other people, and do something they normally wouldn't do

in line experiment they think if the whole group thinks the answer is b they must be right

Status

More likely to conform when you are of lower status in a group

high status of group is important and leads to more conformity

Reactance

The idea that we are bothered by the denial of our personal freedoms. (ex: "You cant do that" we want to do that even more)

Ex: parents say cant bleach hair, so u shave head into mohawk.

Stereotype

Mental representation (cognitions/beliefs) of a specific group

Prejudice

It is a feeling towards a group of people (affective/attitude)

Generally negative, but can be positive

Racism

An individuals prejudicial attitudes and discriminatory behavior toward people of a given race

Sexism

An individuals prejudicial attitudes and discriminatory behavior toward people of a given sex

Discrimination

Unfair or biased treatment (behavioral), often motivated by prejudice

Reverse discrimination

Lowering the bar for minorities

Gender Differences :

Social Dominance orientation

A motivation to have one's group dominate other social groups

-tend to view people in terms of hierarchies

-use prejudicial beliefs to justify its privileged position

Men : are more likely to be leaders, ask women out, pay the bill, more assertive and interrupt

women: followers, dont interrupt, polite

its socially constructed

Ethnocentric

Believing in the superiority of one's own ethnic and cultural group and having corresponding disdain for all other goups

Realistic group conflict theory

The theory that prejudice arises from competition between groups for scarce resources

Aspects of stereotypes

-Can apply to any group

-Can be covert or overt

-Are not fixed

Own-race bias

People more accurately recognize faces of their own race when asked to recall faces previously shown to them

Stigma consciousness

How much people expect to be discriminated/prejudiced

Group serving bias

Explaining away outgroup members' positive behaviors; also attributing negative behaviors to their dispositions( while excusing such behavior by one's own group)

Subtyping

Thinking of a particular stereotyped person as an "exception to the rule"

Subgrouping

Creating a new stereotype for people who derivate from one's stereotype

social sources of prejudice:

3. Depersonalize the enemy

Develop negative perceptions about the enemy to justify negative behaviors and congitions against them.

Creates emotional distance and dehumanization (particularly in war).

View same group as differently in peace

Researchers have found that slower responses to racially ambiguous faces is?

Evidence for bias

cognitive sources of prejudice:

Outgroup homogeneity effect

See the outgroup as similar to one another than those in your ingroup (we are different).

cognitive sources of prejudice:

Distictiveness

People who stand out, often because of....

-Physical deformity

ex: someone is really tall

-Cues to identity

ex: wearing a turban

Your behaviors have more weight and associations are attached to your outgroup

ex: all asians are bad drivers

cognitive sources of prejudice:

Interpretation of an ambiguous behavior

We use our stereotypes of the group we are thinking of at the time to understand ambiguous behavior.

ex: prime soccer hooligans

a random push could be seen as aggressive rather than as playful

3 consequences of prejudice:

Self perpetuating stereotype

When we have preconceived notions and we only see or acknowledge what we already believed.

ex: I believe people from Arizona drive quickly, are fun-loving

I go to Arizona and see those thing everyone. reinforcing my stereotype

3 consequences of prejudice:

Discriminations impact

If I already think bad of a group/individual, I will draw out these behaviors when I treat that person/group.

ex: I believe john is rude , the way i act towards john elicits rudeness from john. John reacts rudely and reinforces my belief

3 consequences of prejudice:

Stereotype threat

The situational pressure posed by the prospect of being seen or treated through the lens of a negative stereotype.

Applies to any member of a group that a stereo type applies to

ex: the only woman in engineering

feels the pressure

collapses under the pressure

doesn't do well and reinforces stereotype

How does stereotype threat work?

1. Be a member of a stereotyped group

2. Care about task/ability to perform well

3. Stress/anxiety

4. Working memory capacity limited because of....

-Intrusive thoughts

what are people thinking of me?

-Impression-related concerns

will they think women are stupid?

elements of persuasion

1. The communicator (who says it )

-credibility, attractiveness,

2. The message ( what is said)

-reason vs emotion

-primacy and recency

3. How the message is communicated

-active vs passive reception

-personal vs media influence

4. The audience

-How old are they ? ( the younger the more open to info )

-What are they thinking ?

peripheral vs central route

elements of persuasion (acronym)

(CHAM) Communication Heals A Messenger

Six Persuasion Principles (CLAR2S)

common lions are really 2 scarce

1. reciprocation

tendency to return a favor

2. scarcity

tendency to find something rare or diminishing more attractive

3. authority

tendency to follow the lead of an expert or authority figure

4. consistency

People tend to honor their public commitments.

5. liking

tendency to comply with someone we like

6. social proof

tendency to follow what everyone else is doing

Use "peer power"—have respected others lead the way.

primacy and recency effect

the tendency to show greater memory for information that comes first or last in a sequence

Albert is : intelligent, critical, industrious, impulsive cold

Solomon is : cold, industrious, impulsive, critical, intelligent

peripheral persuasion

focus on irrelevant/otherwise meaningless factors

ex. humor, mood, attractiveness of persuader

central persuasion

Focus on content of message, appeals to logic and reason

the communicator example

1. Funny and likable : Danny Wallace

does guy stunts

say yes to everything

Karma army

Random acts of kind Less

2. Credible and charismatic : Jim Jones -Cult leader

communal living

Kool aid

The message example

1. vivid and catchy

Danny wallace

created a catchy jingle

associating Fluency - with jingles

2. compelling

Jim Jones - emotional message

The audience

The young are more susceptible because critical thinking isn't fully developed

Educated middle class who fall prey to peripheral cues

Group effects

cult leaders isolate the group

in isolated community

sleep depravation

or food depravation

Lower critical thinking

social roles

The Many Hats we Wear

-When norms are undefined not a social role

-We are actors playing a role

-Roles have powerful effects

Social Roles Examples

stanford Prison experiment

Patty hearst

Socialite Philanthropist

Kidnapped by

Subanese army

she became Tanya

Found guilty

she was released

switched role back to charity

maybe she got consumed in her role

High and low status,

Role experiment

Even in experiments We adopt role attributes

and people took on that role

high status became more authoratitive

Low status more submissive

Role stuck after experiment

Role Reversal

Perspective taking

Role reversal help create empathy for the other side

What is Sex?

Physical characterist

xy or XX

anatomatical

What is gender?

a social construct that consists of a set of social arrangements that are built around sex

SOCIAL SOURCES for Gender construction

Institutional Support:

-Advertisements

-TV shows

-Children's books

ex :What girls can be

The Powers of Conformity (Peer Pressure)

Milgram Experiment

obedience; authority figure told subjects "teacher" to electrically shock the learner to incorrect answers;

they understood 450 volt was dangerous and lethal

a fair number actually gave lethal shock

good ppl can do bad thing given situational factors

Authority is based on?

institutional (status) example

Ex: milgram experiment done at yale univesity and is an impressive institution

he moved experiment to Bridgeport conneticut

didnt have the same status as yale

the experiment lost some of its power

but still got ppl to obey

public response

people conform more when they must respond in front of others rather than writing their answers privately

No Prior Commitment

if you dont get to say your response first, in ash study the subject conformed after hearing the rest of group give the wrong answer

according to society what are the 4 gender differences?

1. Trait

2.Abilities

3.Dominance orientation

4.Aggression

resisting social pressure

1. Reactance

2. asserting uniqueness ( iam me, and you are you)

there is always going to be a tension between wanting to fit into the group while still maintaining some sense individuality

according to society what are the 4 gender differences? acronym

(TADA) Trait And Dominance Aggression

Gender differences : Abilities

Girls: Verbal and emotions

Boys: Spatial and math and science

society expectations shape these

gender differences: Aggression

physical dominance ( intent to harm)

Men: hunters, more likely to commit murder

Women: gatherers , less likely to commit murder, can be socially aggressive

Some argue is evolutionary because of biological differences

Gender and Mating Preferences

1.biology

Men seek out quantity

Women seek out quality

2. physical dominance

women choose male who can provide protection

3. universal tendencies

attractiveness, wealth, youth, age differences

Gender and Mating Preferences (Acronym)

(PUB) Physical Unisex Biology

Gender differences in jealousy

College student study ...ask them which bothers them more and found

Men-can't get over sexual infidelity

Women- cannot get over emotional infidelity

but christine harris argued forced choice format is biased and hypothetical

she reran study with survey of people who had been cheated on and didnt force them to choose

found both genders focused more on emotional infedility than sexual

Prime to Behavior Effects

Bargh, Chen and Burrows experiment

had students come into Lab

had them solve word scrambles

based on stereotypes of elderly

they measured how slowly they walk to next room

the college students walked slower the more they stereotyped to elderly

they primed a thought and you act accordingly

social sources of prejudice :

1. social status

2. competence vs warmth

social hierarchy and status is universal

-high status is seen as more competent

for example: Masculine MEN, Non traditional women, Germans

-Low status is seen as more warm

for example: traditional Women, disable, effeminate men

motivational sources of prejudice

1. scapegoat theory

Taking it out on someone else

2. social identity theory

3. Need for status and belonging

motivational sources of prejudice (acronym)

(2SN) Scapegoats Socially Need

motivational sources of prejudice:

2. social identity theory

We want to be part of groups, some we are born into it and others we choose. These groups are important in how we define ourselves and we may use these groups to make us seem unique.

- conflict enhances both in-group love and outgroup hate

motivational sources of prejudice:

3. Need for status and belonging

1. those in higher status tend to stereotype more

2. show more prejudice when status is being threatened

3. insecurity can motivate need for justification and prejudice

motivational sources of prejudice:

scapegoat theory (Taking it out on someone else) example

(Fein and Spencer experiment)

Negative feedback

gave participants negative, positive or no feedback ( False feedback), assigned to evaluate Jewish vs Italian candidate for cashier job. when participants receive negative feed back, they viewed Jewish candidate as less competent. to make themselves feel better

cognitive sources of prejudice:

1. categorization

stereotyping is a normal cognitive process

1. Categorization: age, gender, race

ex: study brought brought ingroup white males and outgroup males had them categorize white and non white and ambiguous faces

ingroup whites were slower to make judgements whether the person belonged to their group

we stereotype more when we are?

1. under time pressure (snap judgements)

2. preoccupied (cognitive load)

3. tired (morning person vs night owl person)

4. emotionally aroused

5. too young ( inexperienced, naive )

cognitive sources of prejudice

1. Categorization

2. Out group Homogeneity effect

3. Distinctiveness

4. interpretation of ambiguous behavior

we stereotype more when we are? acronym

(PETTU) Preoccupied emotionally 2 tired to understand

4 cognitive sources of prejudice acronym

(CODI) Cat Outside Dies Inside

3 consequences of prejudice

1. Self-perpetuating stereotypes

2. Discrimination impact

3. Stereotype threat

3 consequences of prejudice acronym

(SDS) Self disappearing stereos

natural selection

A process in which individuals that have certain inherited traits tend to survive and reproduce at higher rates than other individuals because of those traits.

Culture

Beliefs, customs, and traditions of a specific group of people.

Epigenetics

the study of environmental influences on gene expression that occur without a DNA change

ex: One study of New Zealand young adults revealed a gene variation that put people at risk for depression, but only if they had also experienced major life stresses such as their parents' divorce (Caspi et al., 2003). Neither the stress nor the gene alone produced depression, but the two interacting did.

Norms

rules and expectations by which a society guides the behavior of its members

Leung and Bond's Universal Social Belief Dimensions

The Big Five Social Beliefs

1.Cynicism

"Powerful people tend to exploit others."

2.Social complexity

"One has to deal with matters according to the specific circumstances."

3.Reward for application

"One will succeed if he/she really tries."

4.Spirituality

"Religious faith contributes to good mental health."

5.Fate control

"Fate determines one's success and failures."

Leung and Bond's Universal Social Belief Dimensions

The Big Five Social Beliefs (acronym)

(CRF2S) Cyanide Really Far 2 Social Spirits

autokinetic phenomenon Self

(auto) motion (kinetic). The apparent movement of a stationary point of light in the dark.