social psych set

units 5-7

Narrative Identity

Internalized and evolving story of the self.
 Reconstructs the past
 Anticipates the future
 Provides unity, meaning,
and purpose

The authors then tested if liberals and
conservatives were more likely to use these
four themes in their narratives

Conservatives (compared to liberals) used
more themes related to rules and discipline,
whereas liberals (compared to conservatives)
used more themes related to empathy

examined agent

a person who reflects on their needs, desires, goals, values, and fears in order to understand the purpose and motivation behind their behaviors.

Schema (or script):

a mental model of a person, object, situation, or event that we develop from direct encounters as well as from information from secondhand sources.

Heuristics:

mental shortcuts that reduce complex problem-solving strategies to simpler rule-base decisions

Representativeness heuristic:

judge the likelihood of the object belonging to a category based on the extent to which the object appears similar to one’s mental representation of that category.

example: Seeing someone in a lab coat and assuming they are a scientist rather than a pharmacist, just because they look like a “typical scientist,” even if pharmacists are more common.

Linda is 31 years old, single, outspoken, and very
bright. She majored in philosophy. As a student, she
was deeply concerned with issues of discrimination
and social justice, and also participated in anti-nuclear
demonstrations.
Which is more probable?
a) Linda is a bank teller.
b) Linda is a bank teller and is active in
the feminist movement.

a) Linda is a bank teller 

it’s less probable, because the probability of two events (being a bank teller and a feminist) happening together can never be higher than the probability of one event alone (being a bank teller).

Conjunction fallacy

• A fallacy or error in decision making where
people judge that a conjunction of two
possible events is more likely than one or both
of the events separately.
• This is much more likely when conjunction (i.e.
combined category) is similar to our
representation of the categories.
• Errors give us a measure of people’s intuitive
representativeness.

Thinking it’s more likely that someone is a vegan and a yoga instructor than just a vegan, because the combination seems more “typical” of a health-conscious person, even though the probability of both together is always less than either one alone.

Atheist conjunction fallacy

• Error rate and direction suggests that people
represent atheists as more immoral than
religious people.
• This is because they are more likely to make
the conjunction fallacy between for an
immoral behavior when atheists are part of
the conjunction

Availability heuristic :

evaluate the frequency or likelihood of an
event, based on how easily instances of it come to mind.

Hot Cognition -

Mental processes that are influenced
by desires and feelings.

Confirmation bias-

Tendency to interpret information in a way that confirms your prior point of view

What result does the CO2 emissions increase study support?

A: Cities that enacted strict CO2 vehicle emissions
standards were more likely to have a decrease in
CO2 emissions than cities without such standards.
B: Cities that enacted strict CO2 vehicle emissions
standards were more likely to have an increase in
CO emissions than cities without such standards.

Hot Cognition / Motivated
Reasoning

We interpret information so that it is consistent
with our desires
– Whether we engage in simple or complex
reasoning processes depends on which is
consistent with our views.
– We trust test results that confirm our desires and
views of ourself.

Moral conviction:

attitudes that people perceive as
grounded in a fundamental distinction between right
and wrong.

– Absolute/Universal
– Treated as fact
– Tied to emotions
– Resistant to change
– Intolerant of disagreement

John is going to a football game in a city he is visiting
for the first time. Even though he’s never been there,
he has a mental representation of what the stadium
will look like and how he will find his seat. John is
relying on a ______for a football stadium to inform his
predictions.
a. heuristic
b. bias
c. schema
d. concept

A schema is a mental framework or organized set of knowledge that helps us understand and predict situations based on past experience.

An object that can move itself and work
toward a goal is known as a(n) ______.
a. agent
b. imitator
c. intentional behavior
d. theory of mind
e. projector

An agent is something (often a person or organism) that can act on its own, move independently, and work toward goals or intentions.

Shawna comes home from school absolutely furious.
She complains to her sister Loretta about an awful
exam she took. Loretta finds herself feeling very angry
as well. This is an example of
A. introjected affectivity.
B. personalization and enhancement.
C. automatic empathy.
D. selective compensation.

Automatic empathy occurs when you unconsciously mirror or share another person’s emotions just by observing or hearing about what they feel.

What is ToM?

Understanding and reasoning about other people’s minds

Why do we need ToM?

It’s necessary to predict what people will do &
to plan how to interact with people.

Intentional actions:

skillful, directed actions consistent
with goals (examples?)

Unintentional actions:

accidental or lucky actions that may or may not be
consistent with goals

Imitation

 Watch and model actions
 Can be automatic (mimicry)
or intentional

Synchrony

 When two people mutually
mimic one another synchrony and liking.

Simulation:

Using one’s own mental states as a
model for others’ mental states
– “What would it feel like sitting across from the
stern interrogator? II would feel scared . . .”

Projection:A social perceiver’s assumption

A social perceiver’s assumption
that the other person wants, knows, or feels
the same as the perceiver wants, know, or
feels.

False Belief Test:

Experimental procedure that assesses whether a
perceiver recognizes that another person has a false belief—a belief that contradicts reality

When a person lacks the skill to excel at a task and also
lacks awareness that they are poor at this task, it can
lead them to predict that they will perform well even
though they cannot do so. This is the ________
explanation of the Dunning-Kruger effect.
A. social loafing
B. downward drift
C. double curse
D. upward comparison

The Dunning-Kruger effect describes how people who lack skill or knowledge in an area often overestimate their competence.

The “double curse” explanation means that:

1. They don’t have the skills to perform well, and

2. They don’t have enough insight to recognize their own lack of skill.

So their incompetence both causes poor performance and prevents them from realizing it — the double curse.

Self-Evaluation

 Dimension is relevant to
the self
 Compare ourselves to
similar others
 Direction of Comparison
 Downward
 Upward

Consequences of Downward Comparisons:

 Self-Enhancement Effect Behavioral

 Behavioral Consequences

Consequences of Upward Comparisons:

 Counterfactuals
 Behavioral Consequences

Self Evaluation Maintenance
Two core assumptions

1. A person will try to maintain or increase their
own self-evaluation
2. Self-evaluation is influenced by relationships
with others.

Reflection:

When a close other performs well (your sibling wins the break-dancing competition), your self-evaluation rises.

Self Evaluation Maintenance
Comparison:

When a close other performs well
on a relevant dimension, your self-evaluation lowers
How then to manage this lower self-
evaluation?
• Spend less time with comparison person
• Redefine performance dimension as less relevant
• Harming performance of comparison person
• Improving your own performance

Dunning-Kruger Effect:

Unskilled people often
think they are on par or superior to their peers
in tasks such as test-taking abilities.

Double curse explanation:

Poor performers not only get things wrong (curse 1), but also do not posses the ability to identify what they
are getting wrong (curse 2)

Application: Social Comparison
& Inequality

• When we compare ourselves to other people
in our income group
– Rich people feel poor
– Poor people feel rich
• When we compare ourselves to a more
representative sample
– Rich people feel rich
– Poor people feel poor

Lori is training to be an opera singer, and is in a
performance with several other singers. She tends to
compare herself to the other women in the show, but
she does not compare herself to the famous soprano
Maria Callas, whose opera career was legendary. This is
an example of the ________ effect.
A. social-categorization
B. downward comparison
C. self-enhancement
D. local dominance

The local dominance effect refers to the tendency for people to compare themselves to others who are nearby or similar, rather than to distant or exceptional individuals.

When people mentally compare
themselves to others in order to
understand their own abilities, they are
using ______.
a. social comparison
b. ability discrimination
c. counterfactual thinking
d. cooperative analysis
e. out-group bias

Social Comparisons: Basics

“The process by which people
understand their own ability or
condition by mentally comparing
themselves to others.”

Relevance

 performance dimension has to be relevant to the self

Similarity

 people compare themselves to those who are similar

Discouraged by peer excellence: Study 1
What kind of study design was Study 1?
A. Experimental study
B. Survey study
C. Archival research
D.Cross-cultural study

a) experimental study

Study 2
• What kind of study design was Study 2?
A. Experimental study
B. Survey study
C. Archival research
D. Cross-cultural study

b) survey

Self as autobiographical author:

“The sense of the self as a storyteller who reconstructs the past and imagines the future in order to articulate an integrative narrative that provides life
with some measure of temporal continuity and purpose.”

Hot cognition

mental processes influenced by desires and feelings
• One example, are directional goals: “we are motivated to reach a particular
outcome or judgment”
• In principle these could be very broad, including “my political opinion is correct”, “my
romantic partner is ‘the one’”, “my cat is best little cat there is”

Paulo is in his mid-twenties, and recently he has
been considering his life. He thinks back over all of
his past experiences as well as what he wants to
accomplish in the future. The combination of these
actions produces a(n) ______that may be revised
several times as his life continues.
a. narrative identity
b. integrated personality
c. life review
d. autobiographical constancy
e. internal locus of control

A narrative identity is the evolving life story a person creates to give their experiences meaning and coherence over time.

Asking yourself questions about your needs,
wants, desires, goals, values, and fears
helps you to understand the purpose of your
behaviors. This is call the “______ agent.”
a. independent
b. examined
c. autonomous
d. motivated
e. social

An examined agent is someone who reflects on their inner world — their needs, wants, goals, values, and fears — to understand why they behave the way they do.

A(n) ______ narrative highlights a
transition from suffering to an
enhanced status. It often features such
themes as atonement, upward
mobility, liberation, or recovery.
a. prescriptive
b. redemptive
c. externalized
d. motivated
e. autobiographical

A redemptive narrative describes a life story in which negative experiences or suffering lead to positive outcomes or personal growth — a transition from pain to enhancement.

Internal (Dispositional) Attribution

• The cause is located within the person.

• We assume behavior stems from enduring traits, abilities, or choices.

• Focus is on who they are rather than what situation they’re in.

Examples:

• “He forgot my birthday because he’s selfish.”

• “She got the promotion because she’s smart and hardworking.”

• “They cheated because they’re dishonest people.”

External (Situational) Attribution

• The cause is located outside the person.

• We assume behavior stems from context, environment, or circumstances.

• Focus is on what happened to them, not who they are.

Examples:

• “He forgot my birthday because he’s been under a lot of stress.”

• “She got the promotion because her boss likes her.”

• “They cheated because everyone around them was doing it.”

Mark is sitting in jail after being arrested for
driving under the influence, Mark can use
______ reasoning to draw conclusions about
how his recent behavior has led to his
current situation.
a. formal operational
b. concrete
c. postconventional
d. autobiographical
e. abstract

Formal operational reasoning (from Piaget’s theory of cognitive development) allows individuals, typically from age 12 onward, to think abstractly, hypothetically, and systematically about consequences.

John is going to a football game in a city he
is visiting for the first time. Even though he’s
never been there, he has a mental
representation of what the stadium will look
like and how he will find his seat. John is
relying on a ______for a football stadium to
inform his predictions.
a. heuristic
b. script
c. bias
d. schema
e. concept

A schema is a mental framework or organized knowledge structure that helps people interpret and predict events based on past experiences.

Which of the following is a good example of the planning fallacy?
a. Andrew tries to solve every problem using the exact same solution.
b. Marcia fails to recognize other people’s perspectives.
c. Lawrence allows other people to take advantage of him because he is afraid of conflict.
d. Barbara thinks that her children can do no wrong, even when she is shown evidence of their mistakes.
e. Stanley frequently ends up scrambling at the last minute to complete projects at work.

e. Stanley frequently ends up scrambling at the last minute to complete projects at work. ✅

Explanation:
The planning fallacy is a cognitive bias in which people underestimate the time, costs, or resources needed to complete a task, even when they have past experience showing that similar tasks take longer.

______are general beliefs about a group of people and,
once activated, they may guide one’s judgments outside
of conscious awareness.
a. Discriminations
b. Heuristics
c. Stereotypes
d. Prejudices
e. Biases

Stereotypes are generalized beliefs about a group of people that can influence our perceptions and judgments, often automatically and unconsciously.

When people reflect on the ways in which their past
experiences have informed their sense of identity and
wonder about how they might change in the future they
are considering _________.
A. mortality salience
B. self-esteem
C. temporal continuity
D. self-actualization

Temporal continuity refers to the sense that one’s identity remains coherent over time — linking past experiences, present self, and future aspirations.

The ______is the tendency to
overestimate the intensity of
one’s future feelings in
response to a given event or
situation.
a. state/trait dichotomy
b. availability fallacy
c. durability heuristic
d. person-place-thing error
e. impact bias

Impact bias is the tendency to overestimate how strongly or how long future events will affect our emotions.

An object that can move itself and work
toward a goal is known as a(n) ______.
a. agent
b. imitator
c. intentional behavior
d. theory of mind
e. projector

An agent is an entity that can act autonomously, move on its own, and pursue goals or intentions.

The false-belief test is a procedure for
determining if a child has developed what?
a. autism
b. explicit mental state inference
c. automatic empathy
d. imitation
e. visual perspective taking

The false-belief test assesses whether a child can understand that other people can hold beliefs that are different from reality and from their own beliefs.

When people mentally compare
themselves to others in order to
understand their own abilities, they
are using ______.
a. social comparison
b. ability discrimination
c. counterfactual thinking
d. cooperative analysis
e. out-group bias

Social comparison is the process of evaluating oneself by comparing abilities, traits, or performance to others.

“Oh I know that I’ll just be sad forever,” Monique cries,
after her first boyfriend broke up with her. “I’m never
going to love again. My life is RUINED!” Given that she is
unlikely to be sad forever, Monique is demonstrating the
__________ bias.
A. impact
B. durability
C. affective forecasting
D. halo

The durability bias refers to the tendency to overestimate how long negative (or positive) emotions will last after an event.

The finding that people can
boost their own self-
evaluations by using
downward comparison is
known as what effect?a. Dunning-Kruger effect
b. local dominance effect
c. self-esteem effect
d. counterfactual effect
e. self-enhancement effect

The self-enhancement effect is the tendency for people to boost their own self-evaluations by comparing themselves to others who are worse off (downward comparison).

Courtney compares her SAT score to
the scores of other people in her
school, rather than the national
averages. Her comparison is due to
the ______effect.
a. proximity
b. mastery
c. Dunning-Kruger
d. local dominance
e. N

The local dominance effect occurs when people compare themselves to those who are nearby or similar (e.g., classmates) rather than to a broader or more distant reference group (e.g., national averages).

After her softball team won 2nd
place in the tournament, Ebony
was upset that they didn’t win.
She focused on ways she could
have played better. What type of
thoughts are these?
a. counterfactual
b. fixed
c. damaging
d. anxious
e. upward

Counterfactual thoughts involve imagining alternative scenarios or outcomes — thinking about “what could have been” if things had gone differently.

Which of the following are the criteria that are
necessary for a person to engage in the process of
social comparison?
A. relevance and proximity
B. relevance and similarity
C. proximity and similarity
D. pragmatics and proximity

The correct answer is: B. relevance and similarity ✅

Explanation:
For social comparison to occur, people typically compare themselves to others who are:

1. Relevant — The domain or trait being compared matters to them (e.g., comparing grades if academics are important).

2. Similar — The other person is similar enough to make the comparison meaningful (e.g., classmates rather than world-famous experts).

• Proximity (physical or social closeness) can influence comparisons, but the core criteria are relevance and similarity.