Final Exam Study Guide: Social Psychology Concepts

Hypothesis

A prediction about what will happen under particular circumstances

Theory

A body of related propositions intended to describe some aspect of the world. Theories generally have support in the form of empirical data.

Scientific Method Process

Observation, Explanation, Hypothesis, Research

Observational Research

Cheap, low effort, real world relationships and phenomena, correlational though not all correlations are observable.

Archival Research

Research that searches different archives such as census reports, police records, sports stats, newspaper articles, existing databases, and social media.

Correlational Research

Measures 2 or more variables, longitudinal (over time), does not equal causation (third variable problem, self-selection problem).

Experimental Research

Researcher takes active control, manipulating one or more variables and randomly assigning participants to conditions, best to establish causality.

Correlation vs. Causation

Correlation only establishes a relationship; there is still the issues of self-selection and third variables.

Independent Variable

A variable the researcher manipulates.

Dependent Variable

A variable that measures the effects of the independent variable.

Internal Validity

Confidence that the experimental results were being caused by the manipulated variables.

External Validity

The degree to which experimental results can generalize to other contexts.

Mundane Realism

The extent to which an experimental setting and tasks resemble real-life situations and events.

Experimental Realism

The degree to which an experiment engages participants in a meaningful and engaging way, eliciting responses that are spontaneous and natural.

Research Ethics

Main concerns: Harm to participants, Deception - Ensures natural reactions to events in the study.

Basic Research

Understanding a phenomenon with a goal of scientific discovery.

Applied Research

How do we solve a problem in order to use it in practical application.

Self-Concept

A person's beliefs about their roles, traits, abilities, experiences.

Self-Concept Clarity

We prefer when our self-concept feels clearly defined, internally consistent, and consistent across time.

Self-Verification

We strive for stable, subjectively accurate beliefs about the self because such self-views give a sense of coherence.

Self-Complexity

Our self-concept has many facets.

Situationism

Aspects of the self may change depending on the situation.

Working Self-Concept

Subset of self-knowledge that is brought to mind in a particular context.

Distinctiveness

We highlight what makes us unique in a given situation.

Continuity

Our sense of self shifts according to context... but we also feel like we have a stable, core self.

Direct Feedback

The information received from others about our traits and abilities.

Reflected Appraisals

Our perception of how others perceive and evaluate us.

Social Comparison

The act of comparing our traits and abilities with the traits and abilities of others.

Upward Social Comparison

Comparing to better, motivating to feel similar.

Downward Social Comparison

Boosts if you feel separate.

Self-Perception

Learning about ourselves by 'observing' our own behavior.

Self-Narratives

We continually 'write' our own story or narrative.

Judgement of Internal Traits

We are the better judge.

Judgement of External Traits

Other people have better judgement.

Self-Esteem

Trait vs.

State self-esteem

Self-esteem also fluctuates over time (STATE)

Contingencies of self-worth

Sources of self esteem, which differ from person to person and across time.

Sociometer theory

Self-esteem is an evolutionary metric for how we're doing socially.

Better-than-average effect

The tendency to perceive ourselves as better than the average person.

Self-affirmation theory

People can maintain an overall sense of self worth following psychologically threatening information by affirming a valued aspect of themselves unrelated to the threat.

Self-serving attributional bias

A cognitive bias where individuals tend to attribute successes to internal factors (self) and failures to external factors (others).

Self-evaluation maintenance model

Others' successes can threaten our self esteem.

Strategies to improve self-evaluation

Improve our performance, Reduce closeness, Reduce importance of the domain.

Self-enhancement vs. self-verification

Self-enhancement seems to be most relevant to our emotional responses to feedback about the self, whereas self-verification determines our more cognitive assessment of the accuracy of the feedback.

Self-presentation

Controlling, regulating, and monitoring the information we provide about ourselves to create a desired impression.

Multiple audience problem

Arises when desired identity differs for two audiences present at the same time.

Self-monitoring

The tendency to monitor one's behavior to fit the demands of the current situation.

High self-monitors

Scrutinize situations, Shift self-presentation to fit the context 'Actors', and Change behavior according to the situation.

Low self-monitors

Behave according to their own traits and preferences and Social context doesn't influence behavior as much.

Social cognition

The study of how people think about the social world and make decisions about socially relevant events.

Cognitive misers

People look for ways to conserve cognitive energy by attempting to adopt strategies that simplify complex problems.

Dual process theory

System 1: Automatic processing; fast, intuitive, emotional. System 2: Controlled processing; slow, deliberate, logical.

Heuristics

Mental shortcuts that ease the cognitive load of making a decision.

Availability heuristic

When we judge the frequency or probability of some event by how readily pertinent instances come to mind.

Representative heuristics

When we try to categorize something by judging how similar it is to our conception of the typical member of the category.

Halo effect

We tend to generalize our broad impressions to specific qualities about a person.

Order effects

When info is ambiguous: Information presented first has the most influence; When the last item comes more readily to the mind: Information presented last has the more influence.

Positive/negative framing

Negative info = More attention; greater psychological impact. Positive info = Less attention; less psychological impact.

Confirmation bias

The tendency to test a proposition by searching for evidence that would support it.

Bottom-Up processing

Data-driven mental processing; An individual forms conclusions based on the stimuli encountered in the environment.

Top-Down processing

Theory-driven mental processing, where an individual filters and interprets new info in light of preexisting knowledge and expectations.

Belief perseverance

Persistence of one's initial conceptions, even in the face of opposing evidence.

Consensus

The tendency to assume that others share our opinions, preferences, and behaviors

Egocentric bias

Tendency to focus on ourselves

Spotlight effect

People tend to overestimate how much others notice and judge their actions and appearance

Liking gap

After conversations, people underestimate how much their conversation partner likes them

Thought gap

After conversations, people underestimate how much their conversation partner thinks about them (relative to the reverse)

Causal attributions

Explanations people use for what caused a particular event or behavior

Dispositional attribution

Caused by something about the person

Situational attribution

Caused by something about the situation

Covariation principle

The idea that behavior should be attributed to potential causes that occur along with the observed behavior

Correspondent inference

The tendency to make dispositional attributions for others' behavior

Social Influence

Refers to the many ways people affect one another

Conformity

A change in behavior to be in line with the majority

Informational social influence

Other people provide information which leads to internalization

Internalization

Private acceptance

Normative social influence

We feel pressure to fit in which leads to public compliance

Public compliance

No internalization

Asch's conformity experiment

Demonstrated how group pressure can influence individual judgments, even when the group's answer is clearly wrong

Compliance

Responding favorably to a direct request (not demand) made by another person

Foot-in-the-door effect

Agree to a small request, more likely to comply later with a larger request

Door-in-the-face effect

Turn down a large request, more likely to comply with a reasonable request

Low-balling

People who agree to an initial request maintain commitment when the request increases

Reciprocity

The expectation that people will help those who have helped them

Descriptive norms

What are most people ACTUALLY doing

Prescriptive norms

What SHOULD people be doing

Obedience

A change in behavior in response to a command from someone in a position of authority

Milgrim's experiment

Covers the effects of punishment on learning and following orders from authority through the use of electric shocks

Reactance

A motive to protect one's sense of freedom; arises when freedom feels threatened

Explicit attitudes

Conscious evaluations, generated by the cognitive system

Implicit attitudes

Unconscious associations, generated by the experiential system

Likert scales

Common way of measuring explicit attitudes

Implicit association test

Measures attitudes from reaction time

Cognitive dissonance theory

People dislike inconsistency among their beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors

Ways to reduce dissonance

Change something (belief, attitude, or behavior), downplay the importance of something, add something that resolves inconsistency

Insufficient justification

Dissonance arises following a behavior that is unjustifiably inconsistent with beliefs or attitudes.

Post-decisional dissonance

Finalizing a difficult decision often leads to dissonance.

Effort justification

Reducing dissonance by convincing ourselves that suffering was valuable.

Persuasion

Intentional efforts to change someone's attitude, usually in hopes of changing their behavior.

Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM)

A model that describes the central and peripheral routes of persuasion.