CH 12 Social Psychology

humans depend

on each other

social brain hypothesis

primates have large brains because they live in complex social groups that change over time

being a good group member requires the capacity to understand complex/subtle social rules, recognize what actions might offend others, control desires that could violate group norms

ingroups

groups particular people belong to

outgroups

groups these people do not belong to

groups form when

they have reciprocity and transitivity

ig reciprocal treatment and similar opinions of other people

outgroup homogeneity effect

the tendency to view outgroup members as less varied than ingroup members

positivity bias for ingroup members

“they all look alike” effect with racial groups

social identity theory

the idea that ingroups consist of individuals who perceive themselves to be of the same social category and experience pride through their group membership

ingroup favoritism

the tendency for people to evaluate favorably and privilege members of the ingroup more than the outgroup

part of brain for thinking of other people

medial prefrontal cortex

less active when thinking of members of outgroups

dehumanization

effect of seeing people in outgroup as less human

groups influence

individual behavior

risky shift effect

groups often make riskier decisions than individuals do

group polarization

the process by which initial attitudes from groups become more extreme over time

groupthink

the tendency of a group to make a bad decision in attempt to preserve the group and maintain its cohesiveness; especially likely when the group is under pressure, is facing external threats, or is biased in one direction

prevent groupthink

leaders should avoid expressing strong opinions at beginning of discussions, try to have alternative ideas first

social facilitation

the idea that the presence of others generally enhances performance

social loafing

the tendency for people to work less hard in a group than they would alone

Deinviduation

a state of reduced individuality, reduced self-awareness, and reduced attention to personal standards; may occur when people are part of a group

individuated

to have a sense of self as an individual controlling their own actions

we are more individuated than disinviduated

disindividuation can accelerate

aggression

conformity

the altering of one’s behaviors and opinions to match those of other people or to match people’s expectations

normative influence

the tendency for people to conform to fit into a group

informational influence

the tendency for people to conform when they believe the behavior of others is the correct way to respond

basically looking for social cues on how to respond - what is everyone else doing right now

social norms

expected forms of conduct that influence behavior

autokinetic effect

a perceptual phenomenon in which a stationary point of light appears to move when viewed in a totally dark environment

happens when people have no frame of reference and can’t correct for small eyemovements

people were able to come up with group estimates, and when placed in new groups agreed with the previous group norm

conformity

levels off - about the same effect as a group of 7 and a group of 16

social norms marketing and binge drinking on campus

social norms marketing backfired with

nondrinkers and light drinkers

people who drank one drink occasionally were more likely to drink 2-3 if that was considered the norm

obedience

following the orders of a person of authority

Milgram’s experiments

proved that people could be coerced into obedience

teachers were more likely to shock learners

if they were told they had no choice, if study was conducted at prestigious university, if there was credibility given to experiment

teachers were less likely to shock learners

if teachers could see learner or touch them

people will

rationalize away actions when they can

need to belong can also lead to

altruism and generosity

aggression

behaviors with the intention to harm someone else

agression is more common in

the heat — more crimes occur over the summer

situations inducing negative emotions

can trigger more physical aggression

testosterone

modest correlation with physical aggression but not directly tied to it, more related to social dominance

serotonin

regulates aggression

culture of honor

culture encouraging boys and men to protect their reputation through physical aggression

collaboration can

reduce outgroup bias

superordinate goals, or those that require people to cooperate

reduce hostility

competition can create ____, collaboration can create _____

enemies, friends

not always true depending on situation

prosocial behaviors

actions that benefit others

strengthen relationships

altruism

providing help when needed without any reward for doing so

inclusive fitness

Explanation for altruism that focuses on the adaptive benefits of transmitting genes, such as through kin selection, rather than individual survival

kin selection

seeing family members thrive and supporting their wellbeing so they can develop and genes can thrive

reciprocal helping

the idea that someone might help another person so they can return the favor later

bystander intervention effect

the failure to offer help by those who observe someone in need

reasons for bystander effect

diffusion of responsibility, social blunders, desire to keep anonymity, harm

diffusion of responsibility

bystanders expect other bystanders to help

harm in helping

people will weigh how much harm they risk to themselves and what benefit they receive by not helping

attitudes

people’s evaluations of other people, objects, or ideas

people develop

negative attitudes more quickly than positive ones

stems from sense of danger

mere exposure effect

greater exposure to a stimulus leads to greater liking of it

people prefer

seeing mirrored versions of themselves bc that’s what they see in the mirror

attitudes will remain stable and predict behavior

when they are stronger, more specific, and personally relevant/related to personal experience

attitude accessibility

the ease or difficulty a person has retrieving an attitude from memory

explicit attitudes

attitudes you can report to other people

implicit attitudes

attitudes influencing feelings and behavior at an unconscious level

implicit attitudes work like

implicit memories - quicker to access and make it easy to perform action, such as buying a product if you’ve already seen a celebrity use it

implicit association test

found that people who have an implicit association between female and bad would have an easier time categorizing words they think are female or bad than someone with an association between female and good

controversial but sometimes meaningful test

insufficient justification

people like to consider themselves honest so they may change their attitudes to what they say 

people who were paid $1 liked the test more because they were insufficiently justified - why are you lying about $1

people experience dissonance when

they put themselves through pain, embarrassment, or discomfort to join a group

post decisional dissonance

motivates the person to focus on the chosen choice’s positive aspects and the other choice’s negative aspects

someone can have positive opinions about two schools when they apply to college, but will experience this when they choose one

persuasion

the active and conscious effort to change an attitude or behavior, usually with a message of some kind

persuasiveness of a message

source, content, and receiver

where it’s from, what it is, and who receives it - ideally someone similar to themselves

elaboration likelihood model

the idea that persuasive messages can change attitude in 2 ways:

via peripheral route

via central route

central route

when people are motivated and able to process information

paying attention to arguments, information, using rational cognitive processes

strong, lasting attitudes people will defend

peripheral route

when people minimally process a message, leading to more impulsive action

cues include attractiveness/status of source

elaboration likelihood model

compliance

the tendency to agree to do things requested by others

compliance influenced by

buttering up, having a reason for request, foot in door, door in the face, lowballing

foot in the door

if you agree to a small request now, you are more likely to comply with a large request later

door in the face

if you refuse a huge request first, you are more likely to comply with a smaller request

lowballing

when you agree to buy a product for a certain price, you are more likely to comply with a request right after to pay more for the product 

faces are important

for first impressions

nonverbal behavior

body language, or the facial expressions, gestures, mannerisms and movements by which one communicates with others

thin slices of behavior

people can make accurate judgements based on only a few seconds of observation

attributions

people’s explanations for why events or actions occur

personal attributions

explanations of people’s behaviors based on internal characteristics, such as abilities, traits, moods or efforts

situational attributions

explanations of people’s behavior on external events, such as weather, luck, accidents, or people’s actions

fundamental attribution error

in explaining other people’s behavior, the tendency to overemphasize personality traits and underemphasize environmental factors

actor/observer discrepancy

the tendency to focus on situations to explain one’s own behavior but focus on dispositions to explain others’ behavior

from a psychological standpoint stereotypes are

neutral and meant to produce efficiency, but can be positive or negative in content

occur from limits in mental resources

illusory correlations

seeing relationships that do not exist because of noticing only information that confirms stereotypes

subtyping

when people who encounter someone who does not fit a stereotype and places them in a special category/as an exception

prejudice

negative feelings, opinions, or beliefs associated with a stereotype

discrimination

the differential treatment of people based on their group membership

prejudice, discrimination, stereotypes

negative Affect, Biased Behavior, Cognitive thoughts/beliefs (ABC)

shooter bias

participants more likely to assume objects held by Black people are guns or weapons even when they’re not

modern racism

subtle forms of prejudice that exist alongside the rejection of racist beliefs

belief that discrimination is no longer a serious problem and that minority groups demand too much change to traditional societal values

indirectly endorsing actions/policies that have the same effect as overt discrimination without labeling them as such

stereotype threat

fear or concern about confirming negative stereotypes related to one’s own group, which in turn impairs performance on a task

when people are primed about stereotypes that are related to them

they tend to perform in those manners, good or bad

stereotype threat is counteracted when

people are warned about it

use reframing and self labeling

perspective taking

actively contemplating the psychological experiences of other people

reduces racial bias, stereotyping

perspective giving

when people share their experiences being targeted by discrimination

perspective and attitude changes

the more people come into contact

the more likely they are to be friends