The Individual and the Group

what are the essential understandings?

1. our behavior is influenced by others, even when we think we are acting independently

2. we have both an individual and a social identity that influences our behavior

3. behaviors are learned through our interaction and observation of others

4. stereotypes affect behavior

what are the assumptions of the sociocultural approach?

• human beings are social animals and have a basic need to “belong”

• culture influences behavior

• people have a collective or social identity depending on their various group memberships

• our behavior is influenced by others

what is culture?

the norms and values that define a specific group or society

what is reciprocal determinism?

the theory that the relationship between the individual and group is bidirectional

what is social comparison?

we look to others in a group to know how we are supposed to behave, which determines a lot of our behavior

what is informational social influence?

when we change behavior or opinions based on other people’s because we think those people have more accurate info

what is normative social influence?

when we look to others to see how to behave to be accepted and conform to group norms

what is conformity?

when we adapt our behavior to fit in with others

why is a sig amount of research naturalistic in qualitative research?

because they think it’s important that the behavior is as realistic as possible. even though they do not manipulate an iv, they can look at similar studies and identify trends.

what is participant observation?

when researchers immerse themselves in a social setting for an extended amt of time and observe behavior and interact with the participants (it is non-participant if they do not). this can be overt (the observees know) or covert (the observees dont know).

what is social identity theory?

argues that a person has not just one “personal self” but several social selves corresponding to group membership. it says that we must understand who we are and know our value in social contexts.

what is social categorization?

the process of classifying people into groups based on similar characteristics

what are in-groups and out-groups?

us and then. tajfel argues that even when people are randomly assigned to a group, they see it as their in-group.

what is social comparison?

individuals assess their personal and social worth by comparing themselves to others and weighing the benefits of the in-group vs the out-group

what is positive distinctiveness?

through social comparison, we attempt to make our in-group distinct from the out-group

what are limitations of social identity theory?

• it describes but doesn’t accurately predict human behavior

  • how come sometimes personal identity is stronger than group identity

• using the theory in isolation fails to address the environment that interacts with the “self” and is reductionist

  • cultural expectations, incentives, and societal constraints may play more of a role in behavior than one’s own in-group identity

what does social cognitive learning theory assume?

that humans learn behavior through observational learning (by watching models and imitating them)

what is vicarious reinforcement?

the fact that the model was rewarded or punished for a behavior is enough for us to learn a behavior

what are the factors social cognitive learning needs?

Retention

Attention

Motivation

Potential

explain retention in social cognitive learning

the learner must able to remember the behavior

explain attention in social cognitive learning

the learner must pay attention to the model. several factors may influence this, including attractiveness, authority, or desirability.

explain motivation in social cognitive learning

learners must want to replicate the behavior and understand the potential outcome (outcome expectancies).

explain potential in social cognitive learning

learners must be physically and/or mentally able to perform the behavior.

what are the factors that influence the learner’s motivation to learn?

consistency, identification with the model, and liking the model

explain consistency in social cognitive learning

if the model’s behavior is consistent across situations, the observer will be more likely to imitate it.

explain identification with the model in social cognitive learning

there’s a tendency to imitate models who are like us

explain liking the model in social cognitive learning

warm and friendly models are more likely to be imitated than cold, uncaring models

explain the effect of self-efficacy on imitation likelihood

self-efficacy is one’s belief in one’s ability to accomplish a task successfully. low = less likely to attempt to imitate because of fear of failure.

what is a stereotype?

social perception of an indiivual formed by negative or positive assumptions/generaliations about their group membership or physical attributes. it affects the behavior of those who hold the stereotype and are labeled by it.

what are some theories of the formation of stereotypes?

• tajfel argues it is a natural process of social categorization and is due to out-group homogeneity

• schneider argues they develop either indirectly or directly

• cambell argues that there are two sources: personal experience and gatekeepers and holds a grain of truth hypothesis

• hamilton and gifford argue that they are the result of an illusory correlation

explain tajfel’s argument for the formation of stereotypes

tajfel argues that we see out-groups as all having similar traits (out-group homogeneity). however, it does not explain where the connection between certain groups and certain traits comes from.

explain schneider’s argument for the formation of stereotypes

schneider argues that stereotypes can form from our culture or society (indirectly) or form from our personal experience with other people (directly).

explain campbell’s argument for the formation of stereotypes

campbell argues that there are two key sources: our personal experience with other people, and gatekeepers (the media, parents, those hwo influence us). he says that stereotypes therefore have a bit of basis (grain of truth hypothesis) on a small initial pattern.

explain hamilton & gifford’s argument for the formation of stereotypes

they argue that stereotypes come from an illusory correlation, which is when people see a relationship between two variables even when there is none. it is a form of cognitive bias, which is a person’s tendency to make errors in judgement based on cognitive factors.

what is confirmation bias?

people tend to seek out or remember information that supports their beliefs and overlook contradictions.

what are two effects of stereotypes?

stereotype threat and memory distortion.

explain stereotype threat

when there is a threat of being judged/treated stereotypically or a fear of doing something to confirm that stereotype. it is argues that you don’t need to believe in the stereotype for it to affect your behavior. it turns on spotlight anxiety, which may cause emotional distress and pressure that could undermine performance.

explain memory distortion

when retrieval of memory is wrong and info is remembered differently from what really happened. it happens bc people reconstruct the past from a variety of sources and mental processes.