Social Psychology - Ch.18

What is an attitude?

a predisposition to respond in a particular way towards a specific thing

One major influence in our attitudes toward food, music, and lifestyles is the general attitude of our...

culture

In the Bennington study, Newcomb found what?

That peers became more important than family beliefs in attitude determination

What is compliance?

when we appear to conform to certain attitudes in order to avoid discomfort or rejection and to gain support

The process whereby in individual wants to define himself or herself in terms of another person or group and adopts the attitudes of that person is called what?

identification

attitudes formed through identification are based on a _______ attachment

emotional

The process by which an attitude wholeheartedly and becomes an integral part if the person is called what?

internalization

when we decide beforehand what an individual will be like, rather than withholding judgment until it can be based on the person individual traits is called what?

prejudice

to be prejudice means that we hold what about that group?

stereotypes

what type of groups did Thomas Pettigrew study?

dominant and submissive groups

What is discrimination?

the unequal treatment of members in a certain group

What is a scapegoat?

the target of displaced aggression

the need to corporate forces people to do what?

abandon negative stereotypes

contact between different people who occupy the same ______ in society aids in breaking down stereotyped barriers

status

When ___________ support intergroup cooperation, people are likely to turn contacts into friendships

social norms

What is cognitive dissonance?

the uncomfortable feeling that arises when a person experiences contradictory or conflicting thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, or feelings

how can you reduce cognitive dissonance?

change either behavior or attitude, avoid situations or exposures to information that may create conflict

self-justification

a need to justify their behavior (If you act and speak as if you have certain feelings and beliefs you may really begin to really feel and believe that way)

Self-fulfilling prophecy

When a person acts in such a way to make his or her attitudes come true (bad cook example)

Persuasion

a direct attempt to influence attitudes

Communication Process

has 4 parts the source, the message, the channel, and the audience

the source

how a person sees the source or originator of a message may be a critical factor in someone's acceptance or rejection of it. (trustworthy, sincere, knowledgeable)

Boomerang effect

when people dislike an Individual or group delivering a message they are likely to respond by taking the opposite point of view (don't like the person = wont agree with them no matter what they say)

The message

The most effective messages combined emotional appeal with factual information and argument - a good message can cause a shift in opinion (personal contact is the most effective approach to an audience)

The channel

when, where, and how a message is presented - can influences the audience's response

Foot-in-the-door technique

Making a very small request that someone is Almost sure to agree to then making a much more demanding request

Foot-in-the-face technique

To encourage people to agree to a moderate request that might otherwise be rejected you make a major request that is likely to be rejected. You follow up immediately with a more minor request

what is the sleeper effect?

when someone reaches a different conclusions after a period of time, take a while to change their opinion.

what are the 2 explanations for the sleeper effect?

1. after a while you only remember the massage and not the source 2. different decay hypothesis or simply it just takes a while for the message to "sink in"

inoculation effect

can help resist attitude change, it motivates individuals to defend their beliefs and it gives them some practice in defending those beliefs

inoculation effect

when a person tries to resist attitude change

how can inoculation effect be explained?

it motivates individuals to defend their beliefs more strongly and it gives them some practice in defending those beliefs

what are the most vulnerable attitudes you have?

the ones you have never defended (you might find it hard to defend your faith in democracy or the healthfulness of vegetables if you have never had those beliefs questioned)

What is brainwashing?

The most extreme means of changing attitudes, it involves a combination of phycological gamesmanship and physical torture

When was the most extensive brainwashing done?

it was done on Westerners who had been captured by the Chinese during the Korean War and subject to the “thought reform.” The Chinese broke down people's convictions and introduced new patterns of belief, feeling, and behavior

what is the aim to brainwashing?

To create a new person and to change attitudes

What is the first step to brainwashing?

to strip away all identity and subject the person to intense social pressure and physical stress

What is the perfect setting for brainwashing/ first step of brainwashing?

Prison because people are isolated from social support, has a number not a name, are dressed like everyone else, are surrounded by people who have their thoughts "reformed" and are contemptuous of "reactionaries." At some point, the prisoner realizes the resistance is impossible, resistance gives way to corporation but only as a means of avoiding any more demoralization

What did Margaret Singer study and what did she see from her studies?

She studied people who became dissatisfied with the religious cult they were in and quit. She saw that the people had trouble readjusting to the world they left behind. She observed depression, loneliness, indecisiveness, passivity, guilt, and blurring of mental activity in the

How long does the average person to return to normal after being brainwashed?

6 - 18 months

What did Psychologist Solomon Asch find?

that people may conform to other people’s idea of the truth, even when they disagree (matched the line - everyone chose the wrong one)

What was the most important finding in the cards experiment?

that if one person among the first five failed to conform to the group's judgment the subject was able to stick to his own perceptions. It’s hardest to stand alone

Obedience

A change in behavior or attitude brought about by social pressure to comply with “authorities”

In the obedience example, where someone shocks someone else every time they couldn't answer a question, why was there a surprisingly high level of obedience?

because there was ligament authority

- People assume that such an authority knows what he is doing, even when his instruction seems to run counter to their own standards of moral behavior

- simply getting up and leaving would have violated powerful unwritten rules of acceptable social behavior