week 23 - social thinking and people in groups

collectivism vs. individualism

Belief system that emphasizes the duties and obligations that each person has toward others.

vs. Belief system that exalts freedom, independence, and individual choice as high values.

social cognition

The study of how people think about the social world.

social influence

The process through which other people change our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and through which we change theirs

attitude

relatively enduring evaluation of something

attitude consistency

For any given attitude object, the ABCs of affect, behavior, and cognition are normally in line with each other

forewarning

Giving people a chance to develop a resistance to persuasion by reminding them that they might someday receive a persuasive message, and allowing them to practice how they will respond to influence attempts

high self-monitors vs. low self-monitors

Those who tend to attempt to blend into the social situation in order to be liked

vs. Those who are less likely to attempt to blend into the social situation in order to be liked

inoculation

Building up defenses against persuasion by mildly attacking the attitude position

self-monitoring

Individual differences in the tendency to attend to social cues and to adjust one’s behavior to one’s social environment

spontaneous vs. thoughtful message processing

When we accept a persuasion attempt because we focus on whatever is most obvious or enjoyable, without much attention to the message itself.

vs. When we think about how the message relates to our own beliefs and goals and involves our careful consideration of whether the persuasion attempt is valid or invalid

theory of planned behaviour

The relationship between attitudes and behavior is stronger in certain situations, for certain people and for certain attitudes

the sleeper effect

Attitude change that occurs over time

subliminal advertising

Occurs when a message, such as an advertisement or another image of a brand, is presented to the consumer without the person being aware that a message has been presented

what are the different components of attitudes?

cognitive, affective and behavioural

Jo has a positive attitude toward getting up early to exercise. Even though this attitude is positive, based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour, unless Jo also has the following, they are less likely to follow through on getting up early to exercise.

• social support

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• intentions

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• habits

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• concrete plan for action

intentions

collective self-esteem

Feelings of self-worth that are based on evaluation of relationships with others and membership in social groups.

common knowledge effect

The tendency for groups to spend more time discussing information that all members know (shared information) and less time examining information that only a few members know (unshared).

group cohesion vs. group polarization

The solidarity or unity of a group resulting from the development of strong and mutual interpersonal bonds among members and group-level forces that unify the group, such as shared commitment to group goals.

vs. The tendency for members of a deliberating group to move to a more extreme position, with the direction of the shift determined by the majority or average of the members’ predeliberation preferences.

social comparison

The process of contrasting one’s personal qualities and outcomes, including beliefs, attitudes, values, abilities, accomplishments, and experiences, to those of other people.

social facilitation

Improvement in task performance that occurs when people work in the presence of other people.

social identity theory

A theoretical analysis of group processes and intergroup relations that assumes groups influence their members’ self-concepts and self-esteem, particularly when individuals categorize themselves as group members and identify with the group.

social loafing

The reduction of individual effort exerted when people work in groups compared with when they work alone.

sociometer model

A conceptual analysis of self-evaluation processes that theorizes self-esteem functions to psychologically monitor of one’s degree of inclusion and exclusion in social groups.

To increase his self-esteem Sam chooses to play in a tennis league with players who are less skilled them himself. This is an example of:

• Mere Exposure Effect

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• Downward Social Comparison

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• Social Facilitation

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• Group Polarization

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• Bystander Effect

downward social comparison

When golfing, Jill plays better when her teammates are watching than when she is by herself. This is an example of:

• Social Inhibition

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• Mere Exposure Effect

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• Practice Effect

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• Bystander Effect

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• Social Facilitation

social facilitation

The manager at the movie theater notices that a crew of 4 cleans a theater as quickly as a crew of 6. This is possibly due to ______.

• groupthink

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• social facilitation

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• social loafing

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• sociometer model

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• need for affiliation

social loafing

An executive board makes a risky decision based on the CEO’s recommendation. ______ occurred because members did not speak out about their concerns.

• Homogeneity

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• Groupthink

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• Social loafing

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• Group polarization

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• The bystander effect

groupthink

group polarizaation

The tendency for members of a deliberating group to move to a more extreme position, with the direction of the shift determined by the majority or average of the members’ predeliberation preferences.

automatic bias

Automatic biases are unintended, immediate, and irresistible.

aversive racism

Aversive racism is unexamined racial bias that the person does not intend and would reject, but that avoids inter-racial contact.

implicit assocaition test (IAT)

Implicit Association Test (IAT) measures relatively automatic biases that favor own group relative to other groups.

right-wing authoritarianism

Right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) focuses on value conflicts but endorses respect for obedience and authority in the service of group conformity.

self categorization theory

Self-categorization theory develops social identity theory’s point that people categorize themselves, along with each other into groups, favoring their own group.

social dominance orientation

Social dominance orientation (SDO) describes a belief that group hierarchies are inevitable in all societies and even good, to maintain order and stability.

social identity theory

Social identity theory notes that people categorize each other into groups, favoring their own group.

stereotype content model

Stereotype Content Model shows that social groups are viewed according to their perceived warmth and competence.

stereotypes vs. subtle biases

Stereotypes

Stereotype is a belief that characterizes people based merely on their group membership.

Subtle biases

Subtle biases are automatic, ambiguous, and ambivalent, but real in their consequences.

prejudice

Prejudice is an evaluation or emotion toward people merely based on their group membership.

Bertram is a taxi driver in New York. He feels that businessmen are the biggest tippers. As a result, he does not stop to pick up casually dressed people. Bertram’s behaviors demonstrate ______.

• survival of the fittest

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• social dominance

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• socioeconomic leveling

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• class stratification

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• hierarchy of needs

social dominance

summaraize the principles of evolutionary psychology

why is the concept of attitude so interesting to social psychologists?

describe the hisotry of social psychology

• Began when scientists first started to systematically and formally measure the thoughts, feelings, and behaviours of human being

• 1940-50s (Kurt Lewin and Leon Festinger) – refinement in experimental approach to studying behaviour, creating social psychology as a scientific discipline

  • Stressed need to measure variables and to use laboratory experiments to systematically test research hypotheses about social behaviour and the power of the social setting, stereotypes, aggression, witnesses, etc.

the person and the social situation

Individual characteristics (e.g. personality traits, desires, motivations, and emotions) have an important impact on our social behaviour and interact with the social situation

• Person-Situation Interaction – the joint influence of person variables and situations variables on behaviour o Behaviour = f(person, social situation)

name the three components of attitudes

cognitive, affective and behavioural

attitude strength

the importance of an attitude, as assessed by how quickly it comes to mind

• Stronger attitudes are general held as more important, are less likely to be changed, and may guide our behaviour without our awareness

• these attitudes are more cognitively accessible

attitude consistency - what is it and why is it important?

– for any given attitude object, the affect, behaviour, and cognition are normally in line with each other. this predicts the fact that our attitudes are likely to guide behaviour

what are situations where strong attitudes would predict our behaviour more than weak ones?

• when there is a strong intention to perform the behaviour

• when the attitude and behaviour occur in similar social situations

• when components of the attitude are easily accessible when the behaviour is performed

• when attitudes are measured as specific, rather than a general level

• when self-monitoring occurs to adjust for one’s social environment

what does an effective communicator have/do?

Must first get people’s attention, then send an effective message to them, and then ensure that they process the message in the way we would like them to.

• Must take into consideration the cognitive, affective, and behaviours aspects of their methods

• Must understand how the communication they are presenting related to the message recipient

sleeper effect

attitude change that occurs over time

what makes a message effective?

it will not be effective unless people pay attention to it, understand it, accept it, and incorporate it into their self-concept

which routes do we take: thoughtful or spontaneous, depending on the scenario?

• When people see message as highly personally relevant, they engage in thoughtful processing

• When a message is largely irrelevant, they relied on spontaneous processing and were easily swayed by communication factors (e.g. Attractiveness, expertise, etc.)

what are techniques for preventing persuasion?

• forewarning -

• inoculation -

what’s the problem with persuasion?

psychological resistance

the psychological significance of groups

the need to belong, affiliation of groups (i.e. downward social comparison), identity and membership (i.e. social identity theory, collective self-esteem, sociometer), evolutionary advantages of group thinking

name the group development stages

forming, storming, norming, performing, adjourning

blatant biases

conscious beliefs, feelings, and behavior that people are perfectly willing to admit, are mostly hostile, and openly favor their own group

social dominance orientation (SDO)

– belief that group hierarchies are inevitable in all societies and even good, to maintain order and stability ▪ Believe that some groups are inherently better than others, so there is not such thing as group “equality”

right-wing authoritarianism (RWA)

focuses on value conflicts but endorses respect for obedience and authority in the service of group conformity. Respects group unity over individual preferences, wanting to maintain group values in the face of differing opinions

20th century biases: subtle biases

unexamined, automatic, and sometimes unconscious but real in their consequences o Sometimes automatic associations, often driven by society’s stereotypes, trump our own, explicit values which can result in consequential discrimination against other groups

self-categroization theory

people categorize themselves, along with each other into groups, favoring their own group

stererotype content model

shows social groups are viewed according to their perceived warmth and competen