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Social psychology
The scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another
Attribution theory
The theory that we explain someone's behavior crediting either the situation or the person's disposition
I. Consistency II. Distinctiveness, III. Consensus
What are the three components attribution theory is based on?
Situational attribution
Attributing behavior of an individual to the environment/situation; taking into consideration the circumstances i.e. Understanding that a person may act one way at prom then they would act normally, more sociable then they generally are in your third period psychology class
Dispositional attribution
Attributing behavior to the person's disposition and traits, ignoring SITUATIONAL circumstances; "generalization" as if someone/something always acts one way i.e. If someone cuts you off in traffic, immediately make the judgement that they are a jerk and horrible driver without any understanding or thought of the circumstances behind such an event
Person-stable attribution
Dispositional attribution that doesn't change; observed for an extended time period i.e. Identifying the valedictorian as good at math
Person-unstable attribution
Attribution to a person the things observed on a rare occasion i.e. Charlie studied a lot for this one test
Situation-stable attribution
The situation is predictable and unchanging i.e. Charlie's math teacher is an easy teacher
Situation-unstable attribution
Attributing success to someone's inconsistent situation, success due to luck i.e. Charlie has a tough teacher who gave an easy test once
Fundamental attribution error
The tendency for observers, when analyzing others' behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition; "You will never know another person ENTIRELY, no matter how well you think you know them"
Questions to consider in regard to fundamental attribution error
How might this change when we reflect on our own behavior? How could the fundamental attribution error be used to explain the strangeness of encountering a teacher outside of school? When does the fundamental attribution error become an important concern? (Ex. What causes poverty? Liberal vs. conservative views)
Attitudes
Feelings, often influenced by our beliefs, that predispose us to respond in a particular way to objects, people, and events
AFFECT our ACTIONS, so persuading a person to believe something causes an alteration in their behavior; ex. changing the public's awareness of pollution leads to an increase in recycling
Peripheral and central route persuasion
What are the two forms of persuasion efforts?
Peripheral route persuasion
Occurs when people are influenced by incidental cues, such as a speaker's attractiveness; when your belief is influenced by the way in which it is presented versus the argument itself i.e. Believing we need to take care of Earth and environment sustainability because Leonardo DiCaprio posted a tweet about it
Central route persuasion
Occurs when interested people focus on the arguments and respond with favorable thoughts; when you actually look at all aspects regarding a belief before assimilating it into your values and beliefs i.e. Buying a car, looking at all the features, cost, reliance of a car before deciding to buy it, aren't influenced by look and celebrities driving cars if you end up buying a Toyota Prius
Foot-in-the-door phenomenon
The tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request; useful as a compliance strategy; Essentially manipulation - basic brainwashing Ex. if you want to borrow $20, first ask your friend for $5
Door-in-the-face phenomenon
Argues that after people refuse a large request, they will look more favorably upon a follow-up request that seems, in comparison, much more reasonable Ex. after refusing to loan you $100, your friend might feel bad and lend you $20
Role-playing
Acting according to a set of expectations (norms) about a social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave; "costumes"
Philip Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment
Assigned a group of students to either play the role of prison guard or prisoner; the students assumed their roles too well, and the experiment had to be ended to due the cruelty of the guards
Cognitive dissonance theory
The theory that we act to reduce the discomfort (dissonance) we feel when two of our thoughts (cognitions) are inconsistent- when we become aware that our attitudes and our actions clash, we can reduce the resulting dissonance by changing our attitudes; change our attitudes to accommodate our actions Ex. Mr. Lindsay absolutely loathing thievery, finding a wallet with $1,000 on the ground and will accommodate values to steal it, will justify actions by saying it was to teach a lesson to the person who lost their wallet
Leon Festinger & James Carlsmith Experiment
Conducted an experiment in which participants performed a boring task and were asked to lie and tell the next subject (a confederate of the experimenter) that they had enjoyed the task
The people who received a dollar thought they were not lying at all about the experiment being fun, indicating that they had undergone cognitive dissonance; integrity was bought for a buck
In the Leon Festinger & James Carlsmith experiment, subjects who had been paid $1 were found to have significantly more positive attitudes toward the experiment than those who had been paid $20... WHY IS THIS?
Conformity
When we adjust our behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard
Automatic mimicry
The unconscious or automatic imitation of speech and movements, gestures, facial expressions, and eye gaze of another person
Chameleon effect
Unconscious mimicry of the postures, mannerisms, facial expressions, and other behaviors of one's interaction partners; ex. "contagious yawning"
Mood linkage (mood contagion)
The human tendency to absorb and participate in the prevailing mood of the other people around us; helps us to empathize (i.e. sadness is palpable and easily absorbed)
Solomon Asch (1951)
Conducted famous conformity experiment
Asch Conformity Experiment
Participants were brought into a room of confederates (experiment participant actors) and asked them to make a series of simple perceptual judgments (identifying matching vertical lines of various lengths)
All members of the group gave their answers aloud, with the participant going last; tasks had a clearly correct answer
Confederates would state aloud a clearly incorrect answer, and around ⅓ of the participants conformed to the wrong answer
Results: Showed that conformity is most likely to occur when a group's opinion is unanimous; groups larger than 3 do not significantly increase the tendency to conform (rules above apply unless more than 3 people, conformity increases with increased number of individuals in a group)
Normative social influence
Occurs when the influence results from a person's desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval ("I just want to be normal."); don't want to be the odd one out
Informational social influence
Occurs when the influence results from a person's willingness to accept others' opinions about reality ("They must more informed than me."); question your own intelligence and believe others are more knowledgeable than you
Obedience
A form of social influence in which a person yields to explicit instructions or orders from an authority figure (even when they go against your beliefs)
Stanley Milgram Experiment
Milgram recruited subjects for an experiment to see how far people will go to obey authority figures. An experiment that tested the compliance of an individual to an authority figures by having them administer different levels of (fake) electrical shocks to another individual from 15 to 450 volts. Results showed that 2/3 (60%) of subjects were compliant throughout the entire experiment.
Example: Teacher gave learners electric shocks when they answered a question wrong on a memory test at the command to a "doctor."
Jane Elliott's Brown Eyes Blue Eyes Experiment
The "Brown Eyes Blue Eyes Experiment" is an experiment in which teacher Jane Elliot taught and instilled the understanding of discrimination in her students after Martin Luther Jr. was assassinated
Students were told that an article said blue eyed individuals were smarter and therefore in Ms. Eliot's class, they would receive benefits, led to ostracism, mistreatment, and "discrimination" of brown-eyed students
When roles were reversed, discrimination took place in same magnitude in retaliation
Demonstrated influence of group on behavior
Social facilitation
The IMPROVED performance on simple or well-learned tasks in the presence of others; ex. Running - if a person is running on a track and another person or people are present, it will encourage them to run faster or for longer distances
Social loafing
The tendency for people in a group to exert LESS effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable; ex. Tug-of-war i.e. Group project in school, people just sit back and relax, take less accountability because someone else can do all the work
Deindividuation
The loss of self-awareness and self-restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity; could engage in activities that morally people will never do and with anonymity and never receive any punishment; moral compass extinguished Ex: January 6th, 2021 United States Capital Attack = Riots
Group polarization
The enhancement of a group's prevailing inclinations through discussion within the group; ex. the KKK, terrorists, and cheerleaders A belief that is originally in common in a group and therefore is encouraged and developed, can reach an EXTREME
Groupthink
(Irving Janis): is the mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives (kind of goes with conformity); ex. the Bay of Pigs Invasion The effects of groupthink can be prevented by welcoming open discussion of alternative views, opinions, and plans Doing the opposite of what is expected can reassert our sense of freedom & help develop a minority influence
Minority influence
The case where a minority of group members influences the behavior or beliefs of the majority
Prejudice
An unjustifiable and usually negative attitude toward a group and its members (ex. ethnocentrism (thinking one ethnic group is superior to others)
3 components of prejudice
A. Stereotyped beliefs (stereotypes) B. Negative feelings (prejudice is all about fear and anger) C. A predisposition to discriminatory action (discrimination)
Overt/explicit prejudice
People behaving or speaking outwardly & openly prejudicially; less common today, but still clearly exists (i.e. being a part of the KKK, very obvious and outspoken prejudice)
Subtle/implicit prejudice
Negative emotions and feelings kept inside, or even that the person is unaware of...but which come out in behavior and opinions; prejudice you don't consciously understand you respond or react to (i.e. Preferring blonde dolls over all others) Note: This form of prejudice continues to linger as opposed to over/explicit prejudice
Contact theory
States that contact between hostile groups will reduce animosity or conflict, but only if the groups are made to work toward a goal that benefits all and necessitates the participation of all (A SUBORDINATE GOAL!)
Subordinate goal
A shared goal that necessitates cooperative effort; a goal that overrides people's differences from one another
Just-world phenomenon
Tendency for people to believe the world is just and that people therefore get what they deserve and deserve what they get
Blame-the-victim dynamic
A phenomenon in which victims of crimes or tragedies are held accountable for what happened to them; i.e. Believing that what someone was wearing implies that it is justified for the sexual assault, got what was coming for them for dressing like a prostistute
Victim blaming allows people to believe that such events could never happen to them = PROTECTS US AGAINST FEAR FOR OURSELVES
Ingroup bias
The tendency to favor our own group ("ingroup"); increases the risk for prejudice as our social identities cause us to associate ourselves with certain groups and contrast ourselves with others ("outgroup") - disliking everyone but own group
Scapegoat theory
The theory that prejudice offers an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame; ex. anti-Asian violence during COVID-19 pandemic Prejudice used to vent or target others in order to avoid recognizing how you are feeling
Cognitive Roots of Prejudice
Byproduct of how we cognitively simply the world, including:
Forming categories
The other-race effect
Relying on availability heuristics
Categories
We are introduced to new information, like the distinctive facial features of less-familiar minorities, we categorize the data into easily accessible groupings; these categories often develop into stereotypes
Outgroup homogeneity
The tendency to view members of outgroups as more similar to each other than we see members of ingroups
Other-race effect
Tendency to recall faces of one's own race more accurately than faces of other races; also called the cross-race effect or the own-race bias
Spend time around other races, will be able to distinguish features and such; essentially EXPOSURE or CONTACT will eliminate stereotypical grouping
How do you overcome the other-race effect?
Availability heuristics
Vivid cases are more readily available to our memory and feed our stereotypes - when making snap decisions, rely on information that can be readily recalled within the mind Ex: Watching a lot of Karen youtube videos, then seeing a white middle aged women and immediately perceiving her to be a Karen
Aggression
Any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy; results from a combination of biology and experience
3 levels at which aggression is influenced by biology
A. Genetic- identical twins are more likely to report "having a violent temper" when compared to fraternal twins and regular siblings B. Neural- neurologically, activation of the amygdala triggers the "anger" response (ex. the "amygdala lady"), while the frontal lobes allow us to better control our aggressive impulses C. Biochemical- electrochemically, low levels of serotonin & elevated testosterone levels (hormone) correlate to increased levels of aggression
Frustration-aggression principle
The principle that frustration creates anger, which can generate aggression
3 aversive stimuli that evoke hostility
Hot temperatures, physical pain, and personal insults
Social script
A commonly understood or culturally modeled pattern of interaction that serves as a model of behavior in familiar situations; i.e. Action movies and teens, encourage "manliness" in teens
Mere exposure effect
The phenomenon that repeated exposure to novel stimuli increases liking of them FAMILIARITY BREEDS FONDNESS
Correlation of mere exposure effect to attraction
Many studies demonstrate that those who live in the same neighborhood, who sit nearby in class, who work in the same office, who share the same parking lot, or who eat in the same cafeteria are most inclined to like, and even to marry each other - all this combined CONTACT and EXPOSURE = ATTRACTION
Benefits of attractiveness
Impact how often people date and their self perception of their own popularity
Affects initial impressions of people's personalities
Typically perceived as healthier, happier, more sensitive, more successful, and more socially skilled and as it is
More likely to make a favorable impression on potential employers, and they tend to be more successful in their jobs
Led to higher incomes (described as a "premium")
Downfalls of attractiveness
Unrelated to their self-esteem and happiness; doesn't influence self-love
Experience suspicions that praise for their work may be a result of reactions to their looks
Less attractive people are more inclined to accept praise as sincere and view it as genuine
Universally attractive qualities
For women: those who have a youthful, fertile appearance, as well as a low waist-to-hip ratio
For men: those who seem mature, dominant, masculine, and affluent as more attractive, even more so when the women are on their monthly cycle
Face holds a far greater influence on the overall attractiveness in comparison to the body
Physical features, such as noses, legs, and physiques, that are neither unusually large nor small
Symmetrical faces and bodies
Person's trait disposition - "Come to love someone and watch beauty grow"
In real life, opposites RETRACT; SIMILARITY is what leads to ATTRACTION with common attitudes, beliefs, and interests in addition to age, religion, race, education, intelligence, and more
Regarding attraction, do opposites attract?
Passionate love
An aroused state of intense positive absorption in another (usually present at the beginning of a love relationship); passion-facilitating hormones = testosterone, dopamine, and adrenaline ADRENALINE MAKES THE HEART GROW FONDER!
Companionate love
Deep, affectionate attachment that we feel for those who are consistently present in our lives, indicative of constant contact and leads to when a passionate love matures and becomes steady; replaces passion-facilitating hormones with oxytocin, supports feelings of trust, calmness, and bonding
EQUITY - receive just as much as they give in a relationship, chances for satisfying compassionate love are more reliable (solid)
SELF-DISCLOSURE - knowledge of intimate details about others, including likes and dislikes, dreams and worries, and proud and shameful moments, breeds liking = PATTERN OF OPENING UP, reciprocated continuously
SELF-DISCLOSING INTIMACY + MUTUALLY SUPPORTIVE EQUITY = ENDURING
Two keys for companionate love
Altruism
Completely and utterly unselfish concern for the wellbeing and welfare of others
Bystander effect
The tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present; DECREASES ALTRUISM!
Social exchange theory
A person is more likely to offer help in which there is a greater positive versus negative outcome, essentially when it is selfishly "in our interest" "If the rewards exceed the costs, you will help." - when GAIN is GREATER than COST
Reciprocity norm and the social-responsibility norm
What are the two norms associated with socialization?
Reciprocity norm
Expectation and "unwritten rule" in which people will help, not hurt, those who have helped them and hold each other accountable for behaviors and actions in order to "get even"
Social-responsibility norm
Expectation or inclination to help those in need and that we as a society should make an effort for those who cannot give as much as they receive, even if the cost far outweighs the benefits i.e. Donating to Red-Cross
Social trap
A situation in which the conflicting parties, by each rationally pursuing their self-interest, become caught in mutually destructive behavior i.e. Hunters view few tigers they might take out would not threaten the species and others would kill them anyway → endangerment i.e. Car owners reason that it would cost more money or comfort to buy an environmentally sustainable car, they are only one person and will not contribute much to greenhouse gases → collective result threatens disaster on planet
Mirror-image perceptions
Mutual views often held by conflicting people, as when each side sees itself as ethical and peaceful and views the other side as evil and aggressive; i.e. Conflict between political parties in the U.S.
When contact between two conflicting parties is noncompetitive and is between groups or individuals of equal status, tension and aggression is lessened GREATER CONTACT = GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF OTHERS
How can CONTACT transform feelings of prejudice, aggression, and conflict into attitudes that promote peace?
Cooperation can lead people to define a new, inclusive group that dissolves their former subgroups and by working together, prejudice, aggression, and conflict in attitudes can be entirely revolutionized and overwritten for the better and more unified and amendable processes such as peace and we can transform misperceptions that feed conflict into feelings of solidarity based on common interests WORKING TOGETHER TO ACHIEVE A GOAL = REDUCED TENSION + GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF OTHERS
How can COOPERATION transform feelings of prejudice, aggression, and conflict into attitudes that promote peace?
By facilitating communication, conflicting parties can be helped to understand the other's needs and goals as well as help each party to voice its viewpoint. The success of such communication is palpable and a mutually beneficial resolution can be obtained, entirely transforming those initial feelings of prejudice, aggression, and conflicting attitudes toward peace and cooperation COMMUNICATION = UNDERSTANDING AND RESONATION WITH OTHERS
How can COMMUNICATION transform feelings of prejudice, aggression, and conflict into attitudes that promote peace?
In times of anger or crisis, while understanding and cooperative resolution are most needed, they are the hardest to obtain, yet any strong individual has the ability to be the bigger person and resort to the peaceful means in order to obtain an agreeable resolution = CONCILATION Making an effort to reach a mutually beneficial resolution with prompt reciprocity from the other in obtaining that goal
How can CONCILATION transform feelings of prejudice, aggression, and conflict into attitudes that promote peace?
GRIT (Graduated and Reciprocated Initiatives in Tension-Reduction)
A strategy developed by social psychologist Charles Osgood in an effort to decrease international tensions. It does so by primarily, one side first announces its recognition of mutual interests and its intent to reduce tensions, then initiates one or more small, conciliatory acts, opening the door for reciprocity by the other party. i.e. U.S. President John F. Kennedy's gesture of stopping atmospheric nuclear tests began a series of reciprocated conciliatory acts that culminated in the 1963 atmospheric test-ban treaty
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