Ch. 12: Social Psychology

Social brain hypothesis

Attributes the understanding of group expectations to brain size. According to this hypothesis, larger brains are necessary for processing complex social relationships and navigating social environments.

ingroups

groups with which individuals identify, resulting in social favoritism and bonding.

outgroups

groups with which individuals do not identify, often leading to prejudice or discrimination.

outgroup homogeneity effect

The tendency to view outgroup members as less varied than ingroup members. Also shows positivity bias for ingroup members.

Social identity theory

The idea that ingroups consist of individuals who perceive themselves to be members of the same social category and experience pride through their group membership.

Ingroup favoritism

The tendency for people to evaluate favorably and privilege members of the ingroup over members of the outgroup. (ex: volunteers were assigned to a group using a coin flip and gave more money to their ingroup)

risky-shift effect

Groups often make riskier decisions than individuals do (ex: corporate boards’ risky decisions vs. initial attitudes)

group polarization

The process by which initial attitudes of groups become more extreme over time. (ex: when a jury discusses a case, a juror’s initial opinions are reaffirmed and stronger).

groupthink

The tendency of a group to make a bad decision as a result of preserving the group and maintaining its cohesiveness, especially likely when the group is under intense pressure, is facing external threats, and is biased. (ex: left-leaning outlets who were confident in Hillary Clinton’s chances of winning)

social facilitation

The idea that the pressure of others generally enhances performance. Only occurs if the response is easy/learned. (ex: bicyclists pedal faster when riding with others)

social loafiing

The tendency for people to work less hard in a group than when working alone. Due to the diffusion of responsibility, the free-rider effect, and the sucker effect. (ex: experiment where people had headphones and shouted louder alone than in a group).

deindividuation

A state of reduced individuality, reduced self-awareness, and reduced attention to personal standards; this phenomenon may occur when people are part of a group.

normative influence

The tendency for people to conform in order to fit in with the group. (ex: the three lines test where the participant knew the answer was wrong, but answered the same anyway)

informational influence

The tendency for people to conform when they assume that the behavior of others represents the correct way to respond. (ex: the auto-kinetic test, where the estimate is highly variable and subjective, so the participant may think the group is correct).

group formation

requires reciprocity and transitivity.

reciprocity

If person A helps (or harms) person B, then person B will help (or harm) person A.

transivity

people generally share friends and enemies

auto-kinetic effect

You think a light is moving, but it’s your eyes that are moving. Seen in Sheiff’s experiment to show conformity by having participants estimate the distance moved in a group vs. alone)

line comparison experiment

Comparing a line to 3 other lines to find the same length. Seen in Asch’s experiment, where he hypothesized that people wouldn’t conform if confederates gave an objectively wrong answer. This hypothesis was proven wrong.

prosocial behaviors

Actions that benefit others, such as doing favors or helping. Why?: Batson argues it’s motivated by empathy, while Cialdini argues that it’s derived from selfish motives like maintaining public image. Others propose it’s an inborn tendency to help others (ex: when infants become distressed when seeing other infants crying).

altrusim

Providing help when it is needed, without any apparent reward for doing so.

inclusive fitness

An explanation for altruism that focuses on the adaptive benefits of transmitting genes, such as through kin selection, rather than focusing on individual survival. (ex: ants and bees protect the egg-laying queen, but never reproduce).

bystander intervention effect

The failure to offer help by those who observe someone in need when other people are present. (ex: experiment where people were placed in situations where helping in required-like smoke from a vent. If alone, most likely to help; with 2 other naive participants, few initially went for help; and with 2 calm confederates, only 10% went for help in the first 6 minutes).

attitudes

People’s evaluations of other people, objects, events, or ideas. People develop negative attitudes more quickly than positive attitudes because of evolution.

mere exposure effect

The idea that greater exposure to a stimulus leads to greater liking for it.

attitude accessibility

The ease/difficulty that a person has in retrieving an attitude from memory. Fazio shows that attitudes that are easily brought to mind are more stable, predictive of behavior, and resistant to change).

explicit attitudes

Attitudes that a person can report,

Implicit attitudes

Attitudes that influence a person’s feelings and behavior at an unconscious level.

Implicit Association Test (IAT)

Measures how quickly a person associates concepts of objects with positive or negative words.

punctured unanimity

If even one person dissents, conformity drops dramatically.

proximity of authority

When the authority figure is in the same room, conformity is higher than seperated by a barrier, like a phone.

proximity of learner

when close to the victim, conformity decreases

elaboration likelihood model

The idea that persuasive messages lead to attitude changes in either of 2 ways: via the central route or via the peripheral route.

central route of persuasion

When people are motivated and able to process information. Perceptive to the arguments, considering all information using rational cognitive process. Leads to strong attitudes that last over time and people defend.

peripheral route of persuasion

When people are unmotivated to process information of unable to process it. People minimally process the message, like the attractiveness or status of the argumentor. Leads to more impulsive actions and a weaker belief.

compliance

The tendency to agree to do things requested by others. The factors that increase compliance is if a person is in a good mood and if a reason is given.

foot-in-the-door techinque

If someone agrees to a small request, they are more likely to comply with a large and undersirable request.