Prejudice, Aggression, Attraction, Relationships, and Altruism

Flashcards based on lecture notes about prejudice, aggression, attraction, relationships, and altruism.

What is prejudice?

Hostile or negative attitude toward people in a distinguishable group based solely on their membership in that group.

What is the affective component of prejudice?

Negative emotions about groups are often ingrained, which makes such attitudes difficult to dispel.

What is discrimination?

Unjustified or harmful action toward the members of a group simply because of their membership in that group.

What are stereotypes?

A generalization about a group of people, certain traits assigned to virtually all members of the group.

What are norms?

People's ideas of how men and women ought to behave.

What is the women-are-wonderful effect?

People don’t respond to women with gut-level negative emotions as they do certain other groups; most people like women more than men and perceive them as more understanding, kind, and helpful.

What is social dominance orientation?

A motivation to have one’s group dominate other social groups.

What is implicit prejudice?

Prejudice that happens outside our awareness; we might not be conscious of it but it shapes our behaviors.

What is explicit prejudice?

People verbalize prejudice.

What is social identity?

Part of our identity that stems from our membership in groups.

What is displaced aggression/scapegoating?

Redirecting hostility, often due to frustration, when the cause is intimidating or unknown.

What is ingroup bias?

The tendency to favor members of one’s own group and give them special preference over people who belong to other groups.

How does self-esteem relate to ingroup bias?

Individuals enhance self-esteem by identifying with specific social groups and seeing these groups as superior to others.

What is the outgroup homogeneity effect?

In-group members perceive out-group members as being more similar (homogeneous) than they really are.

What is group-serving bias?

We tend to think more positively about our groups.

What is ethnocentrism?

The belief that your own culture, nation, or religion is superior to all others.

What is stereotype threat?

The apprehension experienced by members of a group that their behavior might confirm a cultural stereotype.

What is subtyping?

Exceptions to the rule when there is a stereotype for a group.

What is subgrouping?

Coming up with a stereotype for a subset of a population.

What is the relationship between religion and racism?

White people within the church community tend to be more racist compared to those outside of the church.

What is aggression?

Intentional behavior aimed at causing physical harm or psychological pain to another person.

What is physical aggression?

Hurting someone else’s body.

What is social (relational) aggression?

Hurting someone else’s feelings or threatening their relationships.

What is hostile aggression?

Aggression stemming from feelings of anger and aimed at inflicting pain or injury.

What is instrumental aggression?

Aggression as a means to some goal other than causing pain.

What is an instinctive behavior?

Behavior that is innate, unlearned, and exhibited by all other species and is based on the need to survive.

What is the relationship between testosterone and aggression?

Greater testosterone is linked to greater aggression.

What is the frustration-aggression theory?

The idea that frustration, the perception that you are being prevented from attaining a goal, increases the probability of an aggressive response.

What is displacement?

The redirection of aggression to a target other than the source of the frustration.

What is relative deprivation?

People perceive a discrepancy between what they have and what they think they should have.

What is social learning theory?

People learn social behavior through observation and imitation of others and by being rewarded and punished.

Which environmental irritant is most studied in relation to aggression?

Warm temperatures.

What is the weapons effect?

The increase in aggression that can occur because of the mere presence of a gun or other weapon.

What is the catharsis hypothesis?

Doing something aggressive to reduce feelings of aggression; this is generally not effective.

What is the need to belong?

Motivation to bond with others in relationships that provide ongoing, positive interactions.

What is ostracism?

The acts of excluding or ignoring.

What is functional distance?

Certain aspects of architectural design that make it more likely that some people will come into contact with each other more often than with others.

What is reciprocal liking?

The finding that we like people who like us.

What is anticipatory liking?

Expecting that someone will be pleasant and compatible, increases the chance of forming a rewarding relationship.

What is the mere exposure effect?

The finding that the more exposure we have to a stimulus, the more apt we are to like it.

What is implicit egotism?

We are more attracted to people whose arbitrary experimental code number resembles our birth date, and we are even disproportionately likely to marry someone whose first or last name resembles our own, such as by starting with the same letter.

What is the matching phenomenon?

The tendency for men and women to choose as partners who are a “good match” in attractiveness and other traits.

What is the physical-attractiveness stereotype?

The presumption that physically attractive people possess other socially desirable traits as well.

How does similarity contribute to liking and relationships?

For committed relationships, choose a similar partner, relationships based on differences can be difficult to maintain; for a low level of commitment such as a fling, choose dissimilar partners.

What is complementarity?

The popularly supposed tendency, in a relationship between two people, for each to complete what is missing in the other.

What is passionate love?

An intense longing we feel for a person, accompanied by physiological arousal; when our love is reciprocated, we feel great fulfillment and ecstasy but when it is not, we feel sadness and despair.

What is compassionate love?

The intimacy and affection we feel when we care deeply for a person and our lives are deeply intertwined; do not necessarily experience passion or arousal in the person’s presence.

What are the three elements of Sternberg’s love triangle?

Passion, intimacy, and commitment.

What are attachment styles?

The expectations people develop about relationships with others, based on the relationship they had with their primary caregiver when they were infants.

What is secure attachment?

Trust, a lack of concern with being abandoned, and the view that one is worthy and well-liked; people with this style are more likely to develop mature, lasting relationships

What is anxious/ambivalent attachment?

Concern that others will not reciprocate one’s desire for intimacy, resulting in higher-than-average levels of anxiety; people want closeness but worry their partner will not return affection

What is avoidant attachment?

Suppression of attachment needs because attempts to be intimate have been rebuffed; people with this style find it difficult to develop intimate relationships, are less able to trust others, and find it difficult to develop close, intimate relationships.

What is an equitable relationship?

Rewards and costs are roughly equal; relationships are the happiest and most stable. Inequitable relationships can be over-benefited, or under-benefited.

What is self-disclosure?

Revealing intimate aspects of oneself to others; related to deep friendship and love.

What is disclosure reciprocity?

The tendency for one person’s intimacy of self-disclosure to match that of a conversational partner.

In what cultures is divorce more common?

Individualistic cultures.

According to John Gottman, what is true of healthy marriages?

There can be conflict, but healthy marriages are marked by an ability to reconcile differences and to overbalance criticism with affections; successful marriages have positive interactions that outnumber the negative interactions by at least a 1-5 ratio.

According to Rusbult, what are the responses to a failing relationship?

Actively harming the relationship, passively allowing the relationship to deteriorate, actively trying to improve the relationship, and passively remaining loyal to the relationship.

What are the four stages about breakups?

Thinking about dissatisfaction, discussing breakup with partner, breakup announced to others, and recovering by thinking about why and how it happened.

What is altruism?

A motive to increase another’s welfare without conscious regard for one’s self-interest.

What is prosocial behavior?

Any act performed with the goal of benefiting another person, which could be hoping to get something in return.

What is the social-exchange theory?

What we do stems from a desire to maximize rewards and minimize costs subconsciously; in relationships with others, try to maximize the ratio of social rewards to social costs.

How does happiness relate to helping?

Spreading happiness onto others

What is the reciprocity norm?

Especially in public situations, without an opportunity return help in kind, many people do not want to accept help.

What is the social responsibility norm?

People should help those who need help, without regard to future exchanges.

Who helps more: folks in big cities or small towns?

Small towns.

What are some of the effects of empathy-induced altruism?

Produces sensitive helping, inhibits aggression, increases cooperation, and improves attitude toward stigmatized groups; downsides are they can be harmful, can’t address all needs, burns out, and feeds favoritism, injustice, and indifference.

What is the bystander effect?

The finding that a person is less likely to provide help when there are other bystanders.

What are the steps in Latane and Darley’s decision tree?

Notice the event, interpret the event as an emergency, assume responsibility, know appropriate , and deciding to implement the help.

What is the effect of prosocial models of helping?

Prosocial video games and songs increase helping.

How does religion affect helping behavior?

When primed with “god”, they are more likely to help outgroup members; when primed with “religion” they are more likely to help other people who share their beliefs.

What are gender differences in helping behavior?

Males are more likely to perform chivalrous and heroic acts, women are more likely to be helpful in long term relationships that involve greater commitment.