Social Psychology Exam 1

Social Psychology

scientific study of behaviors mental processes as they relate how people interact with or relate to others, focuses on individuals

Sociology

society / systems

Personality psychology

Individual differences

Early Influences of Psychology

Philosophy (love & pursuit of knowledge) and Physiology (understanding how our body works- primarily brain & nerves system for social psychology)

Norman Triplett

1st article (1898)

William McDougall

1st textbook (1908)

Kurt Lewin

Behavior = f (social situation, person), sometimes called “father of social psych, research shows: social situation > person

Social Psych ABCs

Affect (feelings), Behavior (action), Cognition (thinking)

Top social psychology research based list

Social media (relationships / reliance / communication), Political opinion / conflicts, AI (general), Loneliness / belonging, Culture, Prejudice / Bias / Stereotypes, Social norms, Research advancements→Psychology is based on science

Quantitive

Numbers, statistics

Qualitative

lived experiences

Naturalistic observation

snap shot, pro= gather organic / natural interactions, con= resource intensive, observer bias

Case study

deep dive, pro= depth of infor unavailable in other methods, con= not generalizable

Survey

self-report information, pro= gather large amounts of info without limited resources, con= no way to verify data

Correlation

relationship (x & y are related), further from 0 = stronger correlation, correlation ≠ causation

Experiment

causation (x caused y), pro= determine causation (only way), con= resource intensive & sometimes variables of interest can’t be manipulated

Reliability

consistency / replication

Validity

does it measure / do what it is intended to do

IRB

Institutional Review Board, study ethics, Informed consent, Deception allowed to a degree *debrief

Reason for Replication Crisis

People are complicated, Society changes, Data falsification (unethical), Collecting additional data without reporting (unethical)

Replication (PRP)

All of psychology: 39% can be replicated, Social Psych- 25% (of the ~1500 were reproducible)

Self

sense of personal identity; “who you are”

Self concept

the way we see ourselves

Self-schema

thoughts & labels we have about ourselves

Introspection

looking inward, distractions (including social media) are taking time away from this

Self-discrepancy theory

can come from self or others; these influence and interact with one another, be it good or bad, actual, ideal, ought

Actual

attributes you believe you possess

Ideal

attributes you hope to possess

Ought

attributes you should possess

Looking Glass self

base our sense of self on how we think others see us

Reflected appraisal

base our sense of self on how those important to us see us

Social comparison

comparing ourselves to others, now we have a bigger pool (social media, technology, exposure to more people)

Upward comparison

comparing to someone we think is “better” than us or has something we admire/value, pro= motivation, con= impacts self-esteem negatively → constant chasing (lack of satisfaction)

Downward comparison

comparing to someone we believe we are “better” than, pro= temporarily improve self-esteem, con= overestimate our true capabilities

Individualistic (culture)

prioritizes & cares (values) individual

Collectivist (culture)

prioritizes & values group

Social norms

what is accepted by society

Self-esteem

how we feel about ourselves, both positive and negative, differences across gender & culture are complicated

Self-esteem trait & state

consistent & enduring; dynamic / changing (several of these impact trait), momentary change

Self-efficacy

your belief in your abilities; sense of competence we can solve problems we are presented with, can keep high overall self-efficacy even if low self-efficacy in some areas

Locus of control

how we attribute events that happen to us, Most people fall in the middle of the spectrum

Internal locus of control

believe you control the outcome (left side of the spectrum)

External locus of control

believe outside factors control the outcome (right side of the spectrum)

Self-regulation

controlling and directing the ABCs of social psychology to achieve goals (societal or personal)

Self-enhancement

tendency to see ourselves in a positive light, can be problematic in both directions (too much= narcissism, or too little= hurts self esteem)

Self-presentation

strategies we use to make ourselves appear in a more positive light

Self-monitoring

monitoring and adjusting our behavior based on situation to produce desired impression or meet demands, Can become problematic for authenticity and values if used too frequently

Social cognition

Collecting (sensory organs) and analyzing (brain) information about others to draw conclusions and make inferences

Nervous system

Central NS, Peripheral NS, Somatic NS

Central NS

Brain & Spinal cord

Peripheral NS

network of nerves and ganglia that lies outside the brain and spinal cord, Autonomic NS, Sympathetic NS, Parasynthetic NS

Sympathetic NS

elevates us

Autonomic NS

Involuntary → Fight or flight: is activated when we perceive a threat

Parasynthetic NS

brings us down

Somatic NS

controls conscious sensory perception and voluntary movements of skeletal muscles

What we collect

Physical cues- looks/clothing/posture, Salient- how much something stands out, Facial expressions, Personality traits, Eye contact Moral character, Nonverbal communication

Nonverbal communication

voice (verbal = words), Context, Clusters- single or multiple instances, Congruence between verbal and nonverbal

Negativity effect

tendency to recognize / be more sensitive to negative → survival origins, Important to be aware of negative perceptions

Halo effect

we assume someone with one positive quality has more positive qualities, con= this can blind us to the negative

Schemas that influence perception

Role, People, Event, Pro= increase cognitive processing speed, Con= use of incomplete information

Primacy effect

information we receive 1st is more impactful, Why 1st impressions are hard to overcome

Self-fulfilling prophecy

predictions on what will happen that end up happening due to us changing our behavior based on the prediction

Attribution

our desire to label behavior, dispositional, situational

Dispositional

person / trait → tend to assign to behavior of others

Situational

based on the situation → tend to assign our behavior, Fundamental attribution error= labeling the behavior of others as dispositional; ignoring situational factors

Attitude

evaluation, Can be positive or negative, Can be about ourselves, others, items, ideas, etc.

Affect

feelings, “I like it”

Behavior

action, “I frequently”= I do a behavior that exposes me to it

Cognition

thoughts, Attributes / descriptions

Why attitudes don’t always predict behavior

Attitudes conflict with other influences= Time pressure, Attitude strength, Relationship with person, Social norms, Specificity

Cognitive dissonance

when your attitudes don’t alight with your behaviors, Creates an uncomfortable state

Factors that influence cognitive dissonance

Attitude strength → stronger attitude is harder to change, Frequency of behavior, How intentional the behavior is, Social norms, Importance of attitude vs behavior, Self concept impact

Priorities when deciding what to change

Not necessarily what is easiest, Impact on self-concept (go great lengths to preserve), Leads to least amount of psychological discomfort

Improves Relationships by

Increase empathy, Patience, Improve communication, Desire to understand → curiosity, Reduces judgement, Be more vulnerable, Decreases defensiveness / personalization, Increase awareness

Persuasion

serves important social roles, Not inherently bad, It is all around us