Social Psychology Exam Study Guide Part 1

Independent variable

A situation, event or construct that influences people’s responses and is often manipulated by the researcher

Dependent variable

Variable that represents people’s responses to an independent variable and is measured by a researcher

Manipulated independent variable

Manipulation of a situation that produces two separate conditions to compare and can establish a cause-and-effect relationship.

Participant independent variable

Construct that participants come into a study already possessing and cannot establish a cause-and-effect relationship

Observational methods

Examine people in a naturally occurring setting
Example: Pace of life across 31 countries

Survey methods

Examines how two variables are related to each other by implementing self-report questionnaires to test hypothesis, and assumes data reflects people’s true responses to questions. Cannot establish a cause and effect relationship.

Experimental methods

Studies that examine a cause-and-effect relationship between an independent and dependent variable

Neuroscience methods

Interdisciplinary field that explores neural basis of social and emotional processes and behaviors.

Replication Crisis

A large-scale project that found only 36% out of the studies were replicable.
Critique: conceptual replications contained key differences, including different populations and procedures

WEIRD samples

Populations that are Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic.
Problem? Only 12% of countries fit this notion and other culture/populations/and countries need to be studied too

Self esteem

A person’s favorable or unfavorable evaluation of their self-concept, it’s how someone see’s themselves.

Social identity theory

People define part of their self-concept through their groups. People want their groups to have a positive and distinct set of attributes that can boost self esteem. Weak group attachment negatively impact self-concept.
Example: Being a big fan of Stray Kids and identifying strongly with the fan group STAY, loving when skz wins awards, feeling bonds with other fans by wearing the group colors or having a light stick, not agreeing with other fans of other groups to boost self-esteem.

Individualistic cultures

Focuses on needs of self

Value of independence, self-reliance, personal pride, and personal responsibility

Define self-concept/construal through personal traits and goals

Collectivistic Orientation

Focuses on needs of others

Value of cooperation, conformity, humility, and social responsibility

Define self-concept/construal through relations and collective

Self-construal

Degree to which people define their self-concept through their social environment.

Independent self-construal

Self concept is defined by personal attributes and abilities.
For example: I am adventurous, goal oriented person who loves solving puzzles (focuses on a a person’s attributes)

Interdependent self-construal

Self concept is defined by one’s social environment and their roles with it
Example: I am a fun younger sister (attributing myself to a relationship with a sibling and how I fit into the family group)

Social Comparison Theory

The self is constructed by comparing one’s abilities and opinions against other people. Can occur on dimensions important to the self and are directed against similar others.

Upward Social Comparison

Compare oneself to another person of better abilities>

Weakens self-esteem

Reflects a self-improvement motive because perceiving oneself as ‘less’ can motivate people to improve.

Downward Social Comparison

Compare oneself to another person of worse abilities.

Increases self-esteem

Reflects a self-enhancement motive, perceiving oneself as ‘better’ can increase self-esteem, however can result in pity and scorn toward others.

Self-enhancement motives

People want to experience pleasure and view themselves in a positive light

Self-knowledge motives

People want to understand their self-concept and confirm their idea of who they are as a person

Self-improvement motives

People want to improve their self-concept

Self-serving attributions

People will explain outcomes in such a way that it makes their self-concept appear positive.
Positive outcomes are because of one’s self concepts but negative outcomes are because of external factors.

Ensures that positive outcomes are associated with self-concept. Acts as a buffer against threatening self-esteem.

Examples: Failing a class was because of the teacher, but passing a hard class was all because of me

Cultural difference: People in the west exhibit more self-serving attributions. People from collectivist cultures more prone to engage in collective-serving attributions

People with depression are more likely to seek out negative feedback

False consensus effect

Tendency to overestimate the commonality of one’s opinions and negative behaviors in a situation.
Example: a student who finds a test extremely difficult and assumes most other students also found it very hard, overestimating shared struggle because their own experience feels universal

False uniqueness effect

Tendency to underestimate the commonality of one’s abilities and of one’s positive attributes. Can result in people have unrealistic optimism about their future. People think they are more unique than they are. Consequence of using self-serving attributions for positive outcomes.

Example: Thinking your spotify music taste is rare than it actually is.

Locus of Control

The extent to which people perceive life’s outcomes as controllable.

Internal control: perceive outcomes as controlled by self

Example: Failing a test and saying I should have studied harder, I can do better next time.

External control: perceive outcomes as controlled by others.

Example: Blaming failing a test on a bad teacher and hard questions.

Terror management theory

People defend their cultural worldviews to reduce death-anxiety. Death anxiety threatens positive view of self-concept. Death anxiety associated with motivation defend self
Example: increased religious devotion after a near-death experience

Misinformation effect

Incorporating misinformation into one’s memory about an event after receiving misleading information about it. Can lead to false memory of event.
Example: when people who watch a car crash video are later asked how fast cars were going, and using words like "smashed" makes them recall higher speeds

Availability heuristic

Personal judgment based on the availability of an event in working memory.

Discount evidence based on the availability of memory

Example: fearing shark attacks more than car accidents because shark attacks, though statistically rarer, are more vividly reported in the media, making them easier to recall

Representative heuristic

Judgement that a person belongs to a certain category due to having its representative characteristics.

Example: assuming a quiet, bookish person wearing glasses is a librarian rather than a salesperson

Affect heuristic

Judgement of stimuli, event, or person based on emotional reactions
Example: buying a product because you like its brand's cheerful advertising, leading you to feel it's safer and more beneficial, even without checking facts

Heuristic

Thinking strategy that enables quick judgments about people and situations.

Confirmation bias

Tendency to search for information that confirms one’s previous expectations.

Belief perseverance

Persistence of one’s initial opinion about people, objects and issues after being presented with counter evidence.

Person perception; warmth

Traits related to social behavior

Consists of sociability and morality evaluation

People perception; competence

Relates to traits about goal-oriented behavior

Consists of ability and agency evaluation

Primacy of warmth

Occurs when evaluating others.

Conveys intentions more than competence.

Morality more important than sociability

Primacy of competence

Refers to the idea that ability and skill are primary in social judgment

Past oriented

Focused on previous success and failures, as well as upholding traditions.
Example: an Italian family's pride in generations of craftsmanship

Present oriented

Focus on maximizing immediate benefits of the situation and avoiding displeasure. More likely to engage in substance abuse and unprotected sex
Example: Buying something on impulse

Future oriented

Focus on achieving goals in future. More likely to restrict their sexual behavior.
Example: Taking a pre-term class now so that I get the credit but I don’t have to take it during the actual semester and be stressed out.

Self categorization theory

People have the tendency to categorize others based on their social identity.

Salience of personal vs social identity

Refers to whether an individual's unique traits ("I") or their group memberships ("we") are more prominent in their self-concept

Two types of attributions

Dispositional - cause of behavior is person’s intentions or personality

Situational - cause of behavior are environmental or situational factors

Kelly’s Covariation Model

Goal to understand if cause of behavior was dispositional>

3 Factors:

1. Consistency - Does this person usually behave this way in this situation?

2. Distinctiveness - Does this person behave differently in this situation than in others?

3. Consensus - Do others behave similarly in this situation?

Fundamental attribution error.

People have the tendency to underestimate situational factors and overestimate dispositions when explaining other people’s behavior.

Actor/observer effect

Occurs when people focus on situational factors more when attributing one’s behavior, but dispositional factors for other people’s behavior.
Example: when you're late for work, blaming traffic (situational), but when a colleague is late, you assume they're lazy (personality), showing you attribute your actions to external factors but others' actions to internal traits

Correspondence bias

People infer other people’s traits and attitudes from their behaviors while ignoring situational factors.

Consequence of internal attributions without accounting for situational factors.

Explicit Attitudes

Attitudes people are aware of
Example: openly supporting a political candidate, stating you value diversity

Implicit Attitudes

Attitudes people are unaware of
Example: having a faster, positive reaction to seeing a picture of your favorite kpop group logo than a rival group’s logo, even if you consciously believe both groups are equally good

Ambivalent attitudes

Attitudes that contain both positive and negative evaluations of a person, stimuli, or event.

Can be assessed objectively or subjectively

Susceptible to persuasive messaging

Example: attitudes towards virtual learning

Cognitive dissonance

Psychological tension that arises when one holds two inconsistent cognitions (thoughts).

Situations when dissonance occurs

• Having inconsistent thoughts and behavior

• Having two inconsistent thoughts within an attitude

• Current behavior differs from previous behavior

• Behaviors differ from cultural norms

Magnitude of dissonance

Amount of dissonance produced due to inconsistency. Determines whether attitude change is needed.

Methods to reduce dissonance

• Changing dissonant behaviors or thoughts

• Adding outside thought into system to justify the behavior

• Change environment that produced dissonance

• See thoughts as unrelated and not in conflict

Insufficient justification

People attribute their own behavior to internal motivations due to lack to external justification.
Example: when people paid only $1 to lie and say a boring task was fun later convince themselves the task was actually enjoyable, unlike those paid $20 who had sufficient external reason (money) to lie and didn't need to change their attitude

Over justification effect

External rewards lead people to see their behavior as extrinsically motivated.
Example: when a child who loves to draw for fun starts getting paid for their drawings they eventually lose interest in drawing for pleasure, viewing it as a chore to earn money rather than an enjoyable activity.

How does free choice increase the magnitude of dissonance?

increases cognitive dissonance because making a decision between attractive alternatives creates conflict
High choice = insufficient justification for behavior

Low choice = over justification effect

How does commitment increase the magnitude of dissonance?

Inability to revoke behavior = more dissonance over discrepant thoughts

How does free effort justification increase the magnitude of dissonance?

People reduce dissonance by justifying the effort they put into their behavior.
People justify effort to theoretically reduce dissonance

How does self-relevance/hypocrisy increase the magnitude of dissonance?

Recalling instances when past behaviors were counter to our current attitude and/or behavior which leads to an increase in dissonance.

Post dissonance decision making

Discomfort between choosing two appealing options and having to justify the final choice.
Upgrade the chosen, but downgrade the unchosen

Self perception theory

People use their behavior to determine their attitude toward an object.
Explains attitude formation, not change

Self affirmation theory

People respond to threats about their self integrity by affirming other parts of their self concept

Dissonance seen as ‘self-threat’ from this perspective

Self integrity

Belief that one has worth and positive attributes

Self threat

An event that challenges our self-integrity
Can be reduced by affirming part of oneself or attitude change whereas dissonance is reduced by only changing one’s attitude

Descriptive norms

Belief about what most people typically do in a situation.

Based on observing others behavior

Communicate how most people are acting

Motivated to engage in correct behavior

Example: Highlighting the frequency of drinking

Injunctive norms

Belief about what behaviors are approved or disapproved in a situation

Based on expectations of how to behave

Communicate what behavior is approved

Motivated to gain approval and avoid disapproval by others
Example: Approval of drinking

Compliance conformity

Public change of behavior, but no attitude change, due to a request or social pressure

Desire to be liked and avoid exclusion

Obedience conformity

Public change of behavior in response a demand by an authority

Fear of punishment from powerful other

Acceptance conformity

Public change of behavior that can eventually lead to an attitude change

People can eventually internalize behavior as correct

Engaged in this conformity due to goal to have correct knowledge and understanding of world

Informational influence

Conformity based on a person’s motive to behave correctly in the situation.

Behavioral change due to hold correct information

Relates to acceptance and descriptive norms

Normative influence

Conformity based on a person’s motive to be liked and avoid exclusion

Behavioral change to fulfill a sense of belonging

Relates to compliance and injunctive norms

Sherif’s Norm Formation Study

Autokinetic phenomenon - apparent movement of a visual stimuli even though there is no actual movement, only apparent movement.
Goal of the study was to examine how norms can form among a group of people - focused on information influence
Discovery - people look to others behavior for how to behave when feeling uncertain, perceive other people’s behavior as “correct”, conforming to have correct behavior not to be liked, knowledge can reduce uncertainty on how to behave

Asch’s Conformity Study

Goal to understand how people react to group pressure

Initially presumed people would exhibit non-conformity
Proved that people knew the correct response but chose the incorrect one due to a desire to be liked by the others.

Milgram’s Obedience (main findings, findings of modifications, critiques and alternative interpretations)

Goal to understand when people follow commands
Influenced by events in WWII

Not ethical, a lot of deception, the confederate playing the learner would scream in pain

Status of institution, distance to authority, legitimacy of authority, same room as learner, touch the learner, dissenting partner

Group size and conformity

More people engaging in a behavior gives credibility to it

More people also elicits more concerns about exclusion

More people in a group = more conformity

Unanimity and conformity

The amount of agreement there is among group members about a social norm

• Provides more credibility to behavior

• Can elicit more concern about exclusion

• Lack of this allows for dissent to occur

• Perceiving this produces more conformity

Self-categorization and conformity

Perceive in-group members behavior as ‘correct’

People more concerned about exclusion from in-group members

People are more likely to conform to the social pressure from in-group members, not out-group members

Culture and conformity

Connectedness valued over autonomy in collectivism

Conformity occurs at a higher rate in collectivist cultures than individualistic

Reciprocity

Tendency for people to feel obligated to give back after receiving a gesture to remove the feeling of indebt.
Feeling of obligation occurs regardless of liking others.

Door-in-the-Face

Tendency to agree with a smaller, secondary request after denying an initial, large request
Example: Can I borrow 100? No. Can I borrow $10? Yeah, sure.

Foot-in-the-Door

Tendency for people to agree to a second, larger request after initially agreeing to a smaller request

People want to appear consistent to other people and follow along with their commitments

Slow escalation of requests can increase compliance especially when the second request is same topic and similar task.