Chapter 13 - Social Behaviour

what is social psychology?

how we **think** about other people, **interact** in relationships and groups, and are **influenced** by others

(the study of social situations)

what information do we use when making judgements? (3)

* appearance
* behaviour
* information from others

what is a social schema?

organized clusters of ideas about categories of social events and people (assumptions)

(ex. we might associate picnics with calmness, class with feeling bored, family reunions with awkwardness, etc.)

what is the implicit personality theory?

people assume that certain aspects or traits go together

what is the halo effect?

when you observe one good thing about someone, you assume everything about them is good

(ex. people percieved as more attractive got shorter sentences for the same crime)

what is the primacy effect?

people are more influenced by information they recieve early in interaction than by information that appears later

* tendency to overrate first impressions

what is the recency effect?

opposite of primacy effect, last interaction makes you overlook past experiences

what is ingroup bias?

we prefer our group over outsiders

(groups can be religion, ethnicity, sports team, residence, etc.)

what is outgroup homogeneity?

idea that people percieve members of outside groups as all the same, but percieve people from inside their group as unique people

why do humans stereotype? (2)

* minimal limited knowledge about the outgroup
* humans are “cognitive misers” (intellectually lazy, tend to take mental shortcuts)

how are stereotypes maintained? (2)

* conformation bias (tendency to pick information that confirms our existing beliefs or ideas)
* illusory correlation (when we see an association between two variables when they aren't actually associated)

what is internal attribution?

attributing causes of behaviour to personal dispositions, traits, abilities, and feelings

(ex. “he’s dishonest”, explaining the cause of behaviour as from internal reasons)

what is external attribution?

attributing causes of behaviour to situational demands and environmental constraints

(ex. “he was busy and didn’t mean to”, the behaviour was caused by external factors)

what is the fundemental attribution error?

when bad things happen to others, we attribute that to an internal reason. when it happens to us, we attribute it to an external reason.

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(ex. others get a good mark on a test because it was easy, we get a good mark on a test because we are smart)

what is the actor-observer bias?

the tendency of people to attribute internal causes when observing others’ behavior (as in the fundamental attribution error), but attribute external/situational causes to their own behavior when they are the actors

what is defensive attribution?

tendency to blame victims for their misfortune, protects people from feelings of vunerability

(ex. blaming homeless people for their homelessness and attributing the cause to drugs or being careless with money, only because it protects your mind from the thought that homelessness could happen to you)

what is self-serving bias?

biases that are protective to our self esteem

includes the fundemental attribution error, actor-observer bias, and defensive attribution, etc.

what is the matching hypothesis?

people of equal physical attractiveness end up together

what is relationship reciprocity?

overtime, we become more like our partners

what is relationship self-verification?

we are more attracted to people who make us feel good about ourselves and verify our own self-concept to us

what is positive illusion?

we see our partner as more attractive, more kind, and more perfect than they really are

what are the two main types of love according to berscheid and hatfield?

(describe them)

* passionate love: sexuality and infatuation
* companionate love: caring, affection, trust

what are the three components of sternberg’s triangle of love?

* intimacy
* commitment
* passion

what is consummate love?

the presence of intimacy, commitment, and passion

in sternbergs view, what parts of love decrease over time?

passion

in sternbergs view, what parts of love increase over time?

commitment and intimacy

what is rusbult’s investment model?

states that more satisfaction, more investments, and less alternatives lead to a commited relationship

what are the three components of attitude?

* cognitive (beliefs, feelings)
* affective (emotions, feelings)
* behavioural (predispositions to act)

what is the bystander effect?

the diffusion of responsibility because there are more people

what are explicit attitudes?

attitudes we hold conciously and can readily describe

what are implicit attitudes?

covert attitudes that are expressed in subtle automatic responses over which we have little concious control

what is the source factor in persuasion?

persuasion tends to be more successful when the source has credibility and likeability

what is the message factor in persuasion?

* two-sided arguments tend to be more effective than one-sided presentations
* fear appeals tend to work (emotional arousal)
* repetition of a message can be effective

what is the reciever factor in persuasion? (2)

* persuasion is more difficult when the reciever is warned before about the persuasive effort
* resistance is greater when strong attitudes are targeted

what is the dissonance theory?

assumes that inconsistancy among attitudes propels people in the direction of attitude change

what is conformity?

yielding to social pressure

what did solomon asch’s experiements study?

conformity

what two factors influence conformity?

* group size
* group unanimity

what is normative conformity? what does it involve?

* yield to social pressure because you want to fit in
* involves compliance (publicly accept, privately rejects)

what is informational conformity? what does it involve?

* yield to social pressure because you lack knowledge about the situation and you look to the group for guidance
* involves internalization (accepting the view as your own)

what did stanley milgram conduct experiments about?

obedience

what is obedience?

a form of compliance that occurs when people follow direct commands, usually from someone in a position of authority

what is group polarization?

the tendency for a group to make decisions that are more extreme than the initial inclination of its members

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(extreme view is tempered by the opposing group view, until more people agree with you, then your view becomes more radical)

what is groupthink?

phenomenon that occurs when a group of individuals reaches a consensus without critical reasoning or evaluation of the consequences or alternatives. Groupthink is based on a common desire not to upset the balance of a group of people.

what is moral disengagement?

the process of setting aside our own moral standards because of a situation, and displacing / diffusing responsibility for our actions

what is adventageous comparison?

comparing ones bad behaviors to worse behaviours commited by others, and by doing so, one's own behaviours would seem less harmful or insignificant