Social Psychology 2

Social Influences and Group Processes

Central Route Persuasion

Occurs when we are highly involved or interested. We focus on arguments and if there is enough evidence, arguments are strong and our attitude changes.

Peripheral Route Persuasion

Occurs when we have low involvement. Instead of logic we rely on heuristics or cues. The quality of arguments here matters less.

When did attitudes predict behavior?

There is a strong and direct experience and when the person is aware of them.

Cognitive Dissonance

When our attitudes do not math with behavior (smoking is bad for my health, but I smoke.)

What is the resolution of cognitive dissonance?

Changing our attitudes (self-justification), because changing the past behavior for instant decrease of discomfort is not possible.

Good predictor of strong relationships

Attitude similarity, physical attraction , being near someone and familarity.

Social Facilitation

The presence of others creates physical arousal, which influences performance depending on the difficulty of the task.

Bystander Effect

A phenomenon where individuals are less likely to help a victim when other people are present. It was inspired by the murder of Kitty Genovese in 1964.

Diffusion of Responsibility

The tendency for individuals in a group to feel less responsible for acting because they assume "someone else will do it".

Pluralistic Ignorance

The situation where no one acts because they look at others to see how to react. If no one else looks worried, individuals assume nothing is wrong.

Group Polarization

After discussing with a group, individual’s opinion may become more extreme, solely for the purpose of validation.

Groupthink

In order to keep the harmony of the group, they might ignore realistic evidence, that could cause disruption. Often they blindly believe the leaser and this is the case 1 VS All.

Group Behavior

When people join a large crowd or group, they lose their identity and stop acting like an individual for the sake of unity, by collective unconsciousness.

Deindividualization

Losing self-awareness and individual identity.

Zimbardo Effect

Anonymity (wearing hoods) causes more aggression.

What did Johnson found after Zimbardo

If the anonymous uniforms is positive, like the nurse’s or nun’s outfit, it causes less aggression and everything depends on the social norms.