Psychology 102 IU Personality (Exam 2) Irene

Social Influence :

the way ppl are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other ppl

Asch's line judgement study :

procedure: 1 subject asked to match line w correct line on card

2. others in group choose (obviously) incorrect line

results: 75% of subsets conformed at least once

Some factors influencing conformity-

-group size; increase in group size= increase in conformity

-power of a single dissenting ally: someone else disagrees w the group> you disagree w the group

- group cohesiveness: the closer u are to ppl in your group, the more likely you are to conform

Obedience:

compliance w an order (order someone gives you)

Milgram's obedience experiment:

Stanley Milgram -

1. Disturbed by the atrocities of WW2, asked "will a person hurt another person bc they are ordered to do so?"

2. Experiment: administering shock to ppl who get answer wrong bc they are ordered to do so

3. shows destructive obedience: violates what is morally right by telling ppl to act destructively

predictions- 24/39 psychologists said all subjects would quit by 150 volts

baseline results- 65% were willing to administer full shock (450v)

Situational Factors-

a. Physical proximity: u are in the same room w the person but not right next to them (obedience= 40%)

b. institutional authority: lab moved to downtown instead of at university (obedience= 48%)

c. authority of experimenter

1. not physically present (obedience= 20%)

2. experimenter is ordinary person (obedience = 20%)

Milgram's conclusions-

a. socialization of obedience: ppl are raised to be obedient; they value obedience, respect the legitimacy of the authority figure, and expect someone will be in charge

b. entrapment and escalator: at a certain point, some ppl said "I've got this far, what is another 15 volts?"

Some practical examples:

- the holocaust

- prison scandal in iraq

- McDonald's in kentucky

Milgrams study brought up:

-Issues of ethics

-so he did a proper debrief (explains all things and allows you to ask questions)

-during debrief he asked how they felt when they participated, only 1% said they regretted it

- 1 year later he asked same question and whether or not if they were affected by it, everyone said no.

- this would prob not be passed on ethics board bc of the stress and potential lasting effects it could have

group

a collection of ppl who have something in common that distinguishes them from others.

Ex: religions, nations, family, teams

Know the 4 reasons that when groups make decisions they often do worse than

individuals (this includes: common knowledge effect; group polarization; groupthink)

1. Groups don't usually capitalize on the expertise of their members. Ex: groups give too little weight to opinions of members who are experts and too much weight on the one w most power or most talkative

2. Common knowledge effect is the tendency for group discussions to focus on info that all members share but usually the more important info is what only a few know

3. Group polarization is the tendency for groups to make decisions that are more extreme than any member would have made alone

4. Group members usually care about how other members feel and are sometimes reluctant to "rock the boat" even when it needs a good rocking

Know why individuals act worse in groups than they do individually (deindividuation;

diffusion of responsibility & how it relates to social loafing and bystander intervention)

know why individuals act worse in groups than they do individually (deindividuation;

diffusion of responsibility & how it relates to social loafing and bystander intervention)

What is altruism? Kin selection? Reciprocal altruism? What does research show about

human examples of altruism?

-altruism is behavior that benefits another at a cost to oneself, kin selection is the process by which evolution selects for individuals who cooperate w their relatives , reciprocal altruism is behavior that benefits another w the expectation that those benefits will be returned in the future , we are capable of genuine altruism and some studies show were more altruistic than we realize

Which gender is more selective (choosier?) what are the biological and cultural

examples given?

- women, bc of child birth (biologically) and culturally

Know what males and females prefer with regard to body shape, symmetry and age,

and how that relates to good genes & fertility

What are the 3 reasons that similarity is such an attractive quality?

What percentage of current 20 years olds will get married? What is the median age of

marriage today for women? For men?

What are norms? What is the norm of reciprocity? What is normative influence? (know

the examples given in text)

-

What is a self-fulfilling prophecy? What is stereotype threat and what can that lead to?

social behavior

how ppl interact in relationships and groups

need for affiliation

inborn- it is built into us

interpersonal attraction

positive feelings toward another

factors in attraction (liking, friendship, love)

1. proximity- choose dates, friends- those living nearby

2. familiarity

- mere exposure affect: the more you're exposed to something the more you like it

--this is why ads are shown so often, they think you will like the product, this is backed by science

mirror

- we prefer mirror pics of ourselves bc were most used to seeing self that way, but we prefer regular pics of others

physical attractiveness :

1 key= romantic interest

2 matching hypothesis: select partners of equal attractiveness.

- when this is not true, 1 partner brings something else into the relationship

what is attractive?

a. men v women from an evolutionary perspective, men want women w high fertility, women want someone who can provide for her family

b symmetry- it's genetic, symbolizes good genes is your face/ body are symmetric

familiarity- "birds of a feather flock together

we like similarities

Friends and romance poll

MW friends- look for trustworthiness

same for in romance

women look for partners who are family oriented and goal oriented too

poll results

more behaviorally specific you are in a relationship the less headache you will cause later. don't assume yk what partner thinking. Irene husband was thinking about driving while on a date and she was thinking of a thousand things.

these things support the evolutionary theory

Differences across

cultures

time

at one time being fat meant you were wealthy now it means you're unfit, fat

ex. of 90s heroin chic- skinny

similarity-

attracted to those similar to us

dissimilarity causes dislike

have to work to get over these, predators attitude same age similar intelligence

reciprocity

mutual exchange of give and take

we like those who like us

hard to get effect?

turned off by those who reject us

prefer the moderatley selective

romantic love (2 kinds)

-passionate love = absorbed; sexual feelings, intense emotion

- compassionate love= caring, respect, warmth, trust

--over time, passionate decreases and compassionate increases

love myths

'you'll know when you're really in love" - maybe, its confusing, hormones

"love is always a positive experience" - more critical and less tolerant of romantic partners

"passionate love lasts forever" this is exhausting, has to decrease for one to function

phalic

3-6

zone: penis

task: identify w their same sex parent

(boys)Oedipus complex:

boy desires mother, but there is an obstacle. dad stands in the way of boy getting w mom. the boy resents and fears dad. Boy fears castration anxiety, that dad will fear him.

(girls) Electra complex

desire and love father. girl blames mother, resents mother. jealous of mom. penis envy- girl wants a penis substitute. the substitute is then a baby

latency stage

6- puberty

zone: no zone (children at this age are indifferent to sexually related matters)

task: identify w same sex parent

genital

puberty- adulthood

zone: genital

task: sexual intimacy, love relationship and to develop talents and interests related to productive work

evaluation of freud

a. not testable (not scientific) - empirical: measuring using senses

science moves by disproof ex. mom is harsh rejecting, marries someone like mom (dominating), marries someone opposite of mom (comforting)

b. atypical patients- built a universal theory

case studies - upper class, older women

measuring personality

a.demo: personality

inventory

b characteristics of a good test

-a reliability- consistency= produce same results if used again in some circumstances?

-b validity: does it measure what it is supposed to measure?

social cognition

how ppl think about others

Attitudes

organized beliefs about some aspect of the world

3 components to attititudes

affective (feelings)

behavior (predisposition to act)

cognition (thoughts)

these 3 things affect how strong our attitude is

values, knowledge, experience

how are attitudes learned?

observational learning: imitate, parents, peers, reference group (tv/social media)

classical conditioning: pair neutral object w obj that elicits positive emotional response

operant conditioning: reward, punish attitudes parents and culture

do attitudes predict behavior?

la pierre study 1930s

Chinese

traveled country w Chinese couple to 100s of hotels/restaurants

6 mos later he sent a survey "would u accept Chinese ppl in ur establishment?"

90% said no

but irl, only one place refused them.

this was a time w racism toward the Chinese

possible reasons why they let them in were for appearances, $, and hard to say no irl

attitudes do not consistently predict behavior. why?

situational constraints: sometimes have to act in ways not consistent w attitudes

ex. school Is important to you but you skip class

stronger your attitude Is the more likely you are to behave in ways consistent w that attitude