Social Psychology Final Exam

What are two evolutionary reasons for males being aggressive?

Males behave aggressively to secure status. (females choose men who offer protection and resources)

Males egress “jealousy" (to enure paternity)

Why are attitudes important?

They evaluate what they encounter and they form attitudes.

Cognitively Based Attitudes

Thoughts and Feelings

-An attitude based primarily on people’s beliefs about the properties of an attitude object

-Sometimes our attitudes are based primarily on the relevant facts

Do twins share similar attitude?

Identical twins share more than fraternal

Behaviorally Based Attitudes

Actions or Observable Behaviors

An attitude based on observations of how one behaves toward an attitude object

Affectively Based Attitudes

Emotional Reaction

An attitude based more on people’s feelings and values than on theur beliefs about the nature of an attitude object

What is a sensory reaction?

A reaction of one or more senses. (liking the tase of something)

Operant conditioning

Freely chosen behaviors increase or decrease when followed by reinforcement or punishment; A method of learning that occurs through rewards and punishments for behavior.

Classical conditioning

A stimulus that elicits an emotional response is paired with a neutral stimulus

Explicit attitudes

Attitudes that we consciously endorse and can easily report

Implicit attitudes

Attitudes that are involuntary, uncontrollable, and at times unconscious

Ice Bucket Challange

In 2014, this challenge exploded on the media, capitalizing on processes related to conformity to raise amounts of money in the battle against ALS.

US Attitudes toward conformity

Stressed the importance of not conforming

Celebrates the rugged individualist

Two motivations to conform

See others as a source of information to guide our behavior

Believe that other’s interpretation of the ambiguous situation is more correct that ours and will help us choose an appropriate course of action

Normative social influence

Conform in order to be liked and accepted by others

Results in public compliance with the group’s beliefs and behaviors

Not necessarily private acceptance of those beliefs and behaviors

Informational social influence

A psychological phenomenon where people conform to the opinions or behaviors of others because they believe those others possess accurate information

Autokinetic effect

An illusion of your eyes when a stationary light seems to move in a dark place

Conformity

What does informational social influence often lead to?

Sherif’s experiment

Private acceptance

What constitutes a group an how a group is defined?

Two or more people who interact and are interdependent in the sense that their needs and goals cause them to influence each other

Deindividuation

The loosening of normal constraints on behavior when people cannot be differentiated, leading to an increase in impulsive ad deviant acts

Social norms

The implicit or explicit rules a group has for the acceptable behaviors, values, and beliefs of its members

Internet troll

a modern example of deindividuation, made possible by the feelings of anonymity of online presence

Agressivness

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

Hostile agression

Agression stemming from feelings of angers and aimed at inflicting pain or injury

Instrumental agression

A goal not intended for pain

Do opposites attract

Yes, research supports similarity, not complementary

Propinquity

Proximity, the finding that the more we see and interact with people, the most likely they are to become our friends

41%

What percentage of next-door neighbors indicated that they were close friends

22%

What percentage of those who lived two doors apart were friends

10%

What percentage of those who lived on opposite sides of the hall were close friends

Functional distance

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

Mere exposure effect

The finding that the more exposure we have to stimulus the more likely we are to like it

Assertivness

Communicating in a direct and honest way with no intention of being rude

Agression

Has intentions to hurt

Reciprocal liking

People who we like and get to know become familiar

When they are looking for sexual partners

When physical attraction is considered most desirable

Resources

Women are attracted by mens …

Appearance

Men are attracted by womens …

Halo effect

A cognitive bias by which we tend to assume that an individual with one positive characteristic also possesses other positive characteristics

Signs

Observation made by a clinician (objective) learned directly or through tests

Symptoms

Patients description of his/her problems

26.2%

Percentage of us population that will qualify for a diagnosable disorder

Deinstitutionalization

A movement to reduce number of patients in psychiatric facilities, moving them into community health centers to reduce dependency, hopelessness and other maladaptive behaviors

Social stigma, lack of access, financial limitations

Why people don’t seek psychiatric help

90%

Percentage of suicides linked to depression

No, there is only bipolar one and two

Is there a manic only disorder?

Anxiety

A feeling of worry, nervousness, or fear that can be mild or severe