Social Psychology exam 2

self-handicapping

putting obstacles in the way of ones performance so that anticipated or possible failures can be blamed on the obstacle and not lack of ability

learned helplessness

ones actions will not bring about desired outcomes, leading to giving up and quit trying

planning fallacy

planners are overly optimistic because planners fail to account for unexpected problems

distal goals

long-term, final end goal

proximal goals

short term, stepping stones to long term goals

goal shielding

when working towards one goal you shut out others from consciousness

behvaiorism

explains behaviors based on learning disregarding inner states, thoughts or feelings

risk averision

more affected by possible losses than possible gains

panic button effect

having the belief that one has the option of escaping or controlling the situation reduces stress of suffering

error management theory

minimize consequences of error

self-defeating behavior

any action which people bring failure, suffering, or misfortune on themselves

certainty effect

greater weight given to definite outcomes than probabilities

temporal discounting

what happens now weighs more than what might happen in the future

reactance theory

people become distressed by loss of freedom or options and seek to reclaim or reassert them

setting and pursuing goals

self-determination theory

people neeed at least some degree of autonomy and internal motivation

the zeigarnik effect

tendency to remember unfinished or interrupted tasks better than completed ones

status quo

keep things the way they are instead of change. Effort, scared of change

omission bias

take the course of action that does not require you to do anything (default option) Prefer, its working why change

self-regulation

capacity to alter one’s own reponses

TOTE

test, operate, test, exit, used to achieve goals

goals

some desired future state

capacity for change

actually carrying out the changes

when do attitudes predict behavior

Specificity (attitude closely relates to behavior) and Aggregation (general attitudes predict aggregates of behavior)

cognitive dissonance theory

inconsistencies produce psychological discomfort

balance theory

can be combination of any 3 things. when axbxc= positive value

how attitudes are formed

learned through experience

implicit attitude 

Measures of attitufe that are physiological, physical movements, or IAT/AMP

explicit attitude

assume people are aware of their attitudes, able to report them, and willing to report them

zanna & cooper - disonance and arousal

cognitive dissonance creates a state of physiological arousal, and people are motivated to reduce this discomfort by changing their attitudes

functions of attitudes

utilitarian, ego-defensive, social adjustive, value-expressive

mere exposure

tendency to like things simply because you encounter them repeatedly

attitudes

an evaluation reaction to an attitude object (person, thing, issue) that is exhibited in feelings or intended behavior

beliefs

Facts or opinions

strong attitudes

persist over time, resist attempts at counter-persuasion, guide future thoughts and behaviors

the lapiere - chinese couple

In a classic study, LaPierre (1934) drove through the U.S. with a

Chinese couple. They stopped at over 250 restaurants and hotels and

were refused service only once. Several months later, the owners were

surveyed on whether they would serve Chinese people. The response

was overwhelmingly negative, 92 percent of those surveyed said that

they would not

• In this case, their behaviors gave less evidence of racial bias than their expressed attitudes did 

• Problems with this:

  • Different time… six months later

  • Different people

  • Chinese couple spoke flawless English; accompanied by standoff professor

• nevertheless, subsequent research did show that in some cases attitudes did not predict behaviors

classical conditioing

learning in which, through repeated pairings, a neutral stimulus evokes a conditioned response

social learning

imitate behaviors that are rewarded, less likely to imitate behaviors that were punished for

post-decision spread

people downplay close alternatives after difficult choice

effort justification

when people work hard or sacrifice, they try to convince themselves it is worthwhile

evolutionary presecptive on mating

attitudes behaviors shaped by natural selection and tend tone innate, goal for survival and passing on genes

short term mating

males more likely to report they would enter short term, male reproduce widely females do it wisely

long term mating

females more likely

attraction

initial attraction, best predictor for liking and desire to contiue dating

gotmans four horsemen

criticsm, defensiveness, contempt, withdraw. positive interactions must outweigh negatives 5:1

importance of physical attraction

Most important predictor for liking and desire to continue dating after 

opposites and attraction

SImilarity/complementary is what is sought after. we like whose who believe what we believe

reinforcement theory

behaviors are shaped by consequences such as rewards and punishments

social acceptance

one has to gain this, changing or adapting to others to appeal to them

the commitment model

commitment, satisfaction, dependence/alternatives, investments

men and womens acceptance of offers of sex

men more likely than women

matching hypothesis

we seek those who are similar to ourselves in social desirability and physical attractiveness

what is beautiful is good effect

we assume physical attractive people are superior to others

propinquity effect

physical or psychological proximity between people

strategies for relationship maintenance

four horsemen

utilitarian,

serves some useful function, like should i approach them>

ego-defensive

feel better about ourselves

social adjustive

helps us id with admired others

value-expressive

internal expression of some values we have