Social Psych Exam #1

hindsight bias

people’s tendency after learning about a given outcome to be overconfident about whether they could have predicted a given outcome

thought experiment

speculating about how you would test a given idea

observational research (naturalistic observation)

observing participants in social situations

archival research

analyzing social behaviors documented in past records

surveys

asking participants questions, usually through a questionnaire

random sampling

every person has an equal chance of being studied

correlational research

does not involve random assignment to different situations or conditions; it is conducted to determine whether there is an association among two or more variables

reverse causation

in correlational research, the opposite direction of causation than when variable 1 is assumed to causally influence variable 2

third variable

in correlational research, this is a variable that exerts a causal influence on both variable 1 and variable 2

self-selection

in correlational research, this is a problem that arises when participants (rather than the researcher) select their level on each variable

experimental research

randomly assigns people to different conditions or situations; enables researchers to make strong causal inferences about why an association among variables exists or how these different conditions affect behavior

natural experiment

a naturally occurring event or phenomenon having somewhat different conditions that can be compared with almost as much rigor as in experiments in which the investigator manipulates the conditions

internal validity

the likelihood that only the manipulated variable could have produced the results

external validity

an indication of how well the results of a study generalize to contexts other than those of the study itself

field experiment

an experiment conducted in the real world (not a lab), usually with participants who are not aware that they are in a study of any kind

social group

a collection of individuals who have relations to one another that make them interdependent to some significant degree

ontogeny

development of an individual within a species

phylogeny

evolution of an entire species over generations

mutual intentionality

two conditions must be met for group membership to be recognized:

1. a joiner wants to be in a group

2. the group wants the joiner to be in their group

social facilitation

a broader term for the effect, positive or negative, of the presence of others on performance

Zajonc’s theory says that the presence of others increases _____, and arousal increases an individual’s _______ ________

dominant responses

social loafing

the tendency to exert less effort when working on a group task in which individual contributions cannot be monitored

groupthink

groups, especially ones that are highly cohesive, can produce poor group decisions because they prioritize maintaining group harmony over making accurate judgments

self-censorship

withholding information or opinions in group discussions; a symptom of groupthink

group polarization

the tendency for group decisions to be more extreme than those made by individuals

persuasive arguments account

exposure to additional arguments in favor of your preexisting opinion can strengthen that opinion

social comparison perspective

you compare yourself to others, with the drive to be “better” than others

power

the ability to control one’s own outcomes and those of others; the freedom to act

power is ______

relational

the relational nature of power manifests in a _____ _____

social hierarchy

_________ people often feel less constrained by social rules

high-power

approach theory

high-power individuals are inclined to go after their goals and make quick (and sometimes rash) judgments

inhibition theory

low-power people are more likely to constrain their behavior and pay careful attention to others

deindividuation

a reduced sense of individual identity accompanied by diminished self-regulation that can come over people when they are in a large group

deindividuation results from feelings of __________, lack of _________, and the ________ effects of being lost in a crowd

anonymity, accountability, energizing

individuation

having people refocus attention on themselves (self-reflect) can lead them to act more carefully, deliberately, and in accordance with their values

self-awareness theory

when people focus their attention inward on themselves, they become concerned with self-evaluation and how their current behavior conforms to their internal standards and values

spotlight effect

shows that when people think that other people are paying attention to them (to their appearance or behavior), they behave differently

social influence

the many ways that people affect one another

three key forms of social influence

1. Conformity

2. Compliance

3. Obedience

conformity

changing one’s behaviors or beliefs in response

two mechanisms of of conformity

explicit or implicit

two levels of conformity

real or imagined

compliance

responding favorably to an explicit request by another person regardless of their status

obedience

in an unequal power relationship, submitting to the demands of the person in authority

some forms of conformity are non-conscious, such as _____ _______

automatic mimicry

who is most likely to mimic?

people who have a stronger drive to affiliate with others

_________ mimicry can create particularly powerful feelings of closeness and bonding

synchronous

informational social influence

when other people influence your thinking or behaviors via the social information they provide

informational social influence is more likely when…

1. the situation is ambiguous or difficult

2. we feel low in knowledge or competence about the topic

normative social influence

the influence of other people that comes from the desire to avoid their disapproval and other social sanctions

5 factors that affect conformity

1. Group size

2. Group unanimity

3. Anonymity

4. Expertise and status

5. Culture

as group size increases, conformity ______, but only up to a point

increases

as group size reaches ___ or ____ people, conformity rates level off

three or four

there is _____ conformity when the group is unanimous

more

anonymity eliminates _____ social influence and therefore should substantially _____ conformity

normative, reduce

experts exert more ________ social influence

informational

high status exerts more _________ social influence

normative

more conformity in _______ cultures, and less in _______ cultures

interdependent, independent

when do we conform less?

1. when we understand the reasons for other people’s behaviors

2. when we have an obvious explanation for why we have a deviant option

conformity is affected by our _______

construals

only certain types of conformity cause us to ________ new information

internalize

when can the potentially harmful majority opinion be changed by minority opinion?

1. opinion is consistent

2. through informational social influence

3. not seen as acting out of self interest

4. believed to have a reason for diverging from majority opinion

door-in-the-face-technique

making a large request before making a smaller one

why does the door-in-the-face-technique work?

the large request makes the small request seem much more reasonable; people don’t like to be disagreeable; norm of reciprocity

foot-in-the-door-technique

making a smaller request before making a larger one

why does the foot-in-the-door-technique work

compliance with small requests leads to a change in that person’s self-image; person then has a reason for agreeing to the subsequent, larger request

pluralistic ignorance

misperception of a group norm that results from observing people who are acting at variance with their private beliefs, which serves to reinforce the erroneous group norm

descriptive norms

the behavior exhibited by most people in a given context

prescriptive norms

the way a person is supposed to behave in a given context

negative state relief hypothesis

the idea that people engage in certain actions, such as agreeing to a request, to relieve their negative feelings and feel better about themselves

release from responsibility

feeling of responsibility is transferred to someone else

step-by-step involvement

people can get caught on a “slippery slope” because of the step-wise nature of demands

reactance theory

people want to reassert their prerogative when they feel like their freedoms are threatened

persuasion

a specific type of social influence that involves intentionally trying to change another person’s beliefs and/or behavior

elaboration likelihood model (ELM) of persuasion

states that there are two basic routes to persuasion — the peripheral route and the central route

central route

messages that encourage people to think carefully and deliberately; attend to logic, strength of argument, evidence, etc.

peripheral route

messages that leverage peripheral aspects—superficial, easy-to-process features that are tangential to the information itself; e.g., attractiveness and expertise of the source, how “well” the message is delivered

to process along the central route, we must be both ______ and ____ to engage in in-depth processing

motivated, able

identifiable victim effect

when the vivid plight of a single individual is more effective than an abstract number of people

agenda control

efforts of the media to select certain events and topics to emphasize, thereby shaping which issues and events people think are important

hostile media phenomenon

the tendency for people to see media coverage as biased against their own side and in favor of their opponents’ side

stereotype

the belief that certain attributes are characteristic of members of a particular group

prejudice

an emotion-based attitude (negative or positive) toward a group and its members

discrimination

any behavior characterized by unfair treatment of individuals based on their membership in a particular group

______ ______ is prejudice directed at racial groups that exists alongside the rejection of explicitly racist beliefs

modern racism

the ambivalent sexism scale is an example of ______ processing

controlled

the implicit association task is an example of ______ processing

automatic

priming

the presentation of information designed to activate a concept (such as a stereotype) and hence make it accessible

any serious attempt to address stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination must be answered with approaches that are ________

comprehensive

economic perspective

groups have competing interests that set them apart from one another

motivational perspective

we have psychological needs that lead to intergroup conflict

cognitive perspective

humans are hardwired to categorize, say, items of furniture into distinct classes of chairs, couches, and tables

realistic group conflict theory

conflict between groups due to competition toward limited resources

ethnocentrism

glorifying one’s own (racial/ethnic) group while vilifying others

theory predicts that the strongest feelings of prejudice come from the group that has the _____ to lose

most

minimal group paradigm

even when groups are meaningless, people show preferences for their ingroup

social identity theory

one’s need to have positive self evaluations of their group and self

basking in reflected glory

taking pride in the accomplishments of other people in one’s group, such as when sports fans identify with a winning team

cutting off reflective failure

opposite of basking in reflected glory