AP Psych Unit 4: Social Psych & Personality

personality psychology

scientific study of personality & its development, structure, traits, processes, variations, & disordered forms (personality disorders)

social psychology

scientific study of how we think about, influence, & relate to one another

person perception

how we form impressions of ourselves & others, including attributions of behavior

attribution theory

theory that we explain someone’s behavior by crediting either the situational attribution (situation) or the dispositional attribution (person’s stable, enduring traits)

situational attribution

attributing behavior to external factors, ex. the situation

dispositional attribution

attributing behavior to internal factors, ex. personality

fundamental attribution error

tendency for observers, when analyzing behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situational attribution & overestimate the impact of the dispositional attribution

• also known as correspondence bias

actor-observer bias

tendency for those acting in a situation to attribute their behavior to external factors, but for observers to attribute others’ behavior to internal factors

• actors — bias for external factors

• observers — internal factors

• contributes to fundamental attribution error

prejudice

unjustifiable & usually negative attitude toward a group & its members

• generally involves:

  1. negative emotions

  2. stereotyped beliefs

  3. predisposition to discriminatory action

stereotype

generalized belief about a group of people

• sometimes accurate

• often overgeneralized

discrimination

unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group or its members based off prejudice

just-world phenomenon

tendency for people to believe the world is just & that people therefore get what they deserve & deserve what they get

ex. good is rewarded, evil is punished

social identity

part of our answer to “who am i?” that comes from our group memberships

• “we” aspect of our self-concept

ingroup

“us” — people with whom we share a common identity with

outgroup

“them” — those perceived as different or apart from our ingroup

ingroup bias

tendency to favor our own group

scapegoat theory

theory that prejudice offers an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame

other-race effect

tendency to recall faces of one’s own race more accurately than faces of other races

• also called cross-race effect and own-race bias

attitudes

feelings, often influenced by our beliefs, that predispose us to respond in a particular way to objects, people, & events

foot-in-the-door phenomenon

tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later w/ a larger request

• starting smaller, then going larger

role

set of expectations/norms about a social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave

Leon Festinger

proposed the cognitive dissonance theory

cognitive dissonance theory

theory that we act to reduce the dissonance (discomfort) we feel when 2 of our cognitions (thoughts) are inconsistent

ex. when we become aware that our attitudes & our actions clash, we can reduce the dissonance by changing our attitudes

persuasion

changing people’s attitudes, potentially influencing their actions

peripheral route persuasion

occurs when people are influenced by incidental cues

ex. speaker’s attractiveness

central route persuasion

occurs when interested people’s thinking is influenced by considering evidence & arguments

norms

a society’s understood rules for accepted & expected behavior

• prescribe “proper” behavior in individual & social situations

Solomon Asch

conformity experiment

• devised a test — participants take a seat w/ 5 other people, experimenter asks them to state, one by one, which of 3 lines is identical to a standard line, all answer line #2 as it’s correct, and boredom sets in due to the simplicity

• 3rd trial, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th person begin to say #2 even though it’s wrong, and then 5th person agrees w/ the previous 4 — you start to feel unsure & uneasy about the correct answer due to everyone agreeing on the wrong answer

• “do i adhere to my own standards, even when they conflict w/ the expectations of others?”

results/discovery

• more than 1/3 of the time, participants were willing to get the answer wrong just to go along or fit in w/ the rest of the group

conformity

adjusting our behavior or thinking to coincide (do @ the same time) w/ a group standard

normative social influence

influence resulting from a person’s desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval

informational social influence

influence resulting from a person’s willingness to accept others’ opinions about reality

• we think that others’ info is accurate, and that we are wrong

• rethink what we know

obedience

complying w/ an order or a command

Stanley Milgram

shock generator experiment

• took place @ Yale University for a psychology study of the effect of punishment on learning

• draw slips from a hat to see who will be the “teacher” & who will be the “learner”

• supposed learner is led to a nearby room & strapped to a chair, & from the chair, wires run thru the wall to a shock machine

• supposed teacher tests the learner on a list of word pairs

• for every wrong answer or no answer at all, teacher shocks the learner, slowly increasing the volts — and the experimenter (authority figure) tells the teacher to keep going even if the learner is screaming in pain

results/discovery

• more than 60% complied up to the last switch at the command of the experimenter/authority figure

• obedience was most effective when:

  1. person giving orders was close @ hand & perceived to be an actual authority figure

  2. a powerful/prestigious institution supported the authority figure

  3. victim was depersonalized/@ a distance or in another room

  4. there were no role models for defiance/disobedience

social facilitation

in the presence of others

• improved performance on simple or well-learned tasks

or

• worsened performance on difficult tasks

social loafing

tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually responsible

deindividuation

loss of self-awareness & self-restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal & anonymity

group polarization

enhancement of a group’s prevailing inclinations (beliefs & attitudes) through discussion w/in the group

groupthink

mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives

culture

enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, & traditions shared by a group of people & transmitted from one generation to the next

tight culture

place w/ clearly defined & reliably imposed norms

loose culture

place w/ flexible & informal norms

aggression

any physical or verbal behavior intended to harm someone physically or emotionally

frustration-aggression principle

principle that frustration (blocking of an attempt to achieve goals) creates anger, which can generate aggression

social scripts

culturally modeled guide for how to act in various situations

mere exposure effect

tendency for repeated exposure to novel stimuli to increase our liking of them

passionate love

aroused state of intense positive absorption in another, usually present @ the beginning of a romantic relationship

companionate love

deep affectionate attachment we feel for those w/ whom our lives are intertwined

ex. what we feel for friends, platonic feelings

equity

conditon in which people receive from a relationship in proportion to what they give to it

self-disclosure

act of revealing intimate aspects of ourselves to others

altruism

unselfish regard for the welfare of others

• expect no reward for helping

John Darley & Bibb Latané

• attributed the inaction of bystanders to a situational factor — the presence of others

• the action of helping occurs when the situation:

  1. enables us to first notice the incident

  2. interpret incident as an emergency

  3. then assume responsibility for helping

fake epileptic seizure emergency experiment

• students in separate lab rooms took turns talking over an intercom & only the person who’s mic was switched on could be heard

• one student (an accomplice) pretended to have an epileptic seizure & called for help

• those who believed only they could hear the victim (thought they alone were responsible for helping) — went to the victim’s aid

• those who thought others could also hear the victim (thought the responsibility of helping fell to the others/diffusion of responsibility) — less likely to go to the victim’s aid

results/discovery

• bystander effect

bystander effect

tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present

social exchange theory

theory that our social behavior is an exchange process

• aim: maximize benefits & minimize costs

reciprocity norm

expectation that people will help, not hurt, those who have helped them

social-responsibility norm

expectation that people will help those needing their help

conflict

perceived incompatibility of actions, goals, or ideas

social trap

situation in which 2 parties, by each pursuing their self-interest rather than the good of the group, become caught in mutually destructive behavior

mirror-image perceptions

mutual views often held by conficting parties, as when each side sees itself as ethical & peaceful & views the other side as evil & aggressive

self-fulfilling prophecy

a belief that leads to its own fulfillment

superordinate goals

shared goals that override differences among people & require their cooperation

GRIT/Graduated & Reciprocated Initiatives in Tension-Reduction

strategy designed to decrease international tensions

personality

an individual’s characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, & acting

psychodynamic theories

theories that view personality w/ a focus on the unconscious mind & the importance of childhood experiences

psychoanalysis

• theory of personality that attributes thoughts & actions to unconscious motives & conflicts; techniques used in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose & interpret unconscious tensions

• Freud’s therapeutic technique — believed the patient’s free associationa, resistances, dreams, & transferences, & the analyst’s interpretations of them, released previously repressed feelings, allowing the patient to gain self-insight

Sigmund Freud

contributions to psychology

• the unconscious mind

• psychoanalytic theory

• psychosexual development

• id, ego, superego

• defense mechanisms

• Freudian slips

• “penis envy”

unconscious

according to Freud:

• a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, & memories

according to contemporary psychologists:

• info processing of which we are unaware

free association

method of exploring the unconscious in which the person relaxes & says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing

• psychoanalysis

id

reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that (according to Freud) strives to satisfy basic sexual & aggressive drives

• operates on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification

ego

partly conscious, “executive” part of personality (according to Freud) mediates among the demands of the id, the superego, & reality

• operates on the reality principle, satisfying the id’s desires that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain

superego

partly conscious part of personality (according to Freud) represents internalized ideals & provides standards for judgment (the conscience) & for future aspirations

• strives for perfection, judging actions, & producing positive feelings of pride or negative feelings of guilt

defense mechanisms

ego’s productive methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality

• psychoanalytic theory

repression

basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, & memories

• psychoanalytic theory (Freud)

• defense mechanism

reaction formation

switching unacceptable impulses into their opposites

• defense mechanism

ex. feeling the urge to cry from disappointment turned into “i’m glad that it happened to me, actually”

projection

disguising one’s own threatening impulses by attributing them to others

• defense mechanism

ex. telling everyone how mad your parents are at someone else instead of how mad you are at that someone else

rationalization

offering self-justifying explanations in place of the real, more threatening unconscious reasons for one’s actions

• defense mechanism

ex. saying that one worked really hard for something (they didn’t actually and really suck @ it) & that one could have made the team if they really did want to

displacement

shifting sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable or less threatening object or person

• defense mechanism

ex. yelling at one’s younger sibling for no reason

sublimation

transferring of unacceptable impulses into socially valued motives

• defense mechanism

ex. feels urge to go to practice & yell @ the coach, instead offers to teach little sibling to play a sport that day

denial

refusing to believe or even perceive painful realities

• defense mechanism

ex. insists there was an error on the team list & that one will set things right w/ the coach

Alfred Adler & Karen Horney

• believed that childhood social tensions are crucial for personality formation

A.A.

• inferiority complex idea

• believed that much of behavior is driven by efforts to conquer childhood inferiority feelings that trigger our strivings for superiority & power

K.H.

• childhood anxiety triggers our desire for love & security

• opposed Freud’s “penis envy” & that “women have weak superegos",” attempted to balance his misogynistic bias

Carl Jung

• believed the unconscious contains more than our repressed thoughts & feelings

• believed that we have a collective unconscious — he said collective unconscious was why spiritual concerns are deeply rooted & why people in different cultures share certain myths & images

collective unconscious

Carl Jung’s concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces/images/archetypes (ex. hero, magician, explorer) from our species’ history

terror-management theory

theory of death-related anxiety

• explores people’s emotional & behavioral responses to reminders of their impending death

TAT/Thematic Apperception Test

projective test in which people express their inner feelings & interests through the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes

projective test

personality test that provides ambiguous images designed to trigger projection of one’s inner dynamics & explore the preconscious & unconscious mind

ex. TAT, Rorscach

Rorschach Inkblot Test

projective test designed by Hermann Rorscach

• seeks to identify people’s inner feelings by analyzing how they interpret 10 inkblots

Abraham Maslow

contributions to psychology

• hierarchy of needs

• self-actualization

• self-transcendence

developed his ideas by studying healthy, creative people (ex. historical figures) & had a person-centered perspective

humanistic theorists

theories that view personality w/ a focus in the potential for healthy personal growth

hierarchy of needs

Maslow’s levels of human needs, beginning @ the base w/ physiological needs

• often visualized as a pyramid, w/ needs nearer the base taking priority until they are satisfied

self-actualization

process of fulfilling our potential, becoming the best that we can be

• highest level in hierarchy of needs after basic physical needs & self-esteem is achieved

• Maslow

self-transcendance

striving for identity, meaning, & purpose beyond the self

• Maslow

Carl Rogers

person-centered perspective

• people are basically good & endowed w/ self-actualizing tendencies

• if we fall short of our ideal self, we feel dissatisfied & unhappy

believed that a growth-promoting social climate provides:

1. acceptance (unconditonal positive regard/unconditional regard)

2. genuineness (authenticity)

3. empathy

unconditional positive regard

caring, accepting, & nonjudgmental attitude

• Carl Rogers

• believed to help clients develop self-awareness & self-acceptance

• also known as unconditional regard

self-concept

all our thoughts & feelings about ourselves in answer to “who am i?”

trait

characteristic pattern of behavior or a disposition to feel & act in certain ways

• assessed by self-report inventories & peer reports

personality inventory

questionnaire on which people respond to items designed to gauge a wide range of feelings & behaviors

• used to assess selected personality traits

MMPI/Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory

originally developed to identify emotional disorders, now used for many other screening purpose

• most widely researched & clinically used of all personality tests

empirically derived tests

test created by selecting from a pool of items that discriminate between groups

ex. MMPI

Robert McCrae & Paul Costa

dubbed the Big 5 Factors/5 Factor Model

Big 5 Factors/5-Factor Model

5 traits (OCEAN) that describe personality:

1. openness

2. conscientiousness (wishing to do one’s work/duty well or thoroughly)

3. extraversion

4. agreeableness

5. neuroticism (unusually or excessively sensitive, obsessive, or anxious)

social-cognitive perspective

view of behavior as influenced by the interaction between people’s traits (including their thinking) & their social context

• emphasizes the interaction of our traits w/ our situations