UNIT 4

Dispositional Attribution

Internal and Relatively Unchanging

Failing a test =

• person doesn’t want to study (internal)

• OR person is lazy (unchanging)

Situational Attribution

External and Temporary

Failing test =

• Works a job (external)

• Classmate will eventually quit job (temporary)

Optimistic Explanatory Style

Failing Test =

• External: Challenging questions

• Relatively Temporary: Not enough time to study

• Specific Causes: night job = less study time

Actor-Observer Bias

Tendency for us to say external causes and situations cause our behavior,

• Observers say it’s because of internal and dispositional factors like personality

• EX: Jake played bad because he’s not good at basketball, I didn’t play well because the crowd was loud.

Fundamental Attribution Error

Observers look at other’s behavior underestimate situation and overestimate personal disposition

• minimizes effect of situation

• EX: meeting someone for first time and their late = “irresponsible and unorganized”

Self Serving Bias

Readiness to perceive oneself favorably

EX: Studied hard for test

• Fail = teacher didn’t explain and questions were unfair

External Locus of Control

Chance or outside forces beyond control determine fate

EX: Didn’t get into college

• Admissions is biased, favored people of certain backgrounds and connections

Internal Locus of Control

We control our own fate

• EX: You good test score = you studied and prepared a lot and put in effort

Mere Exposure Effect

Influences how much people like something

• EX: hear song once and don’t like it, hear it in TikTok trend and like it

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

False belief brings out behavior and makes it true in the end

• EX: Teacher thinks kid is gifted and gives them hard work and attention = kid becomes smarter and more gifted

Social Comparison

EX: Comparing yourself to a runner who’s faster at running not considering what they put in to get there

Relative Deprivation

EX: Excited about getting a B on a test because you worked hard, then you hear a friend got an A = less excited

Stereotype

Belief about a culture, group, person, etc

• EX: women aren’t good at math

Prejudice

Attitudes or feelings towards a group

• EX: not liking someone because they don’t practice the same religion as you

Discrimination

Behavioral action towards a group

• EX: Someone refusing to rent to someone based on race

Implicit Attitudes

Not aware, unconscious beliefs or attitudes

• EX: Man and women race, you automatically think man will win

Explicit Attitudes

Aware, conscious beliefs or attitudes, chose to think something

• EX: Men and women are equal

Just-World Phenomenon

Blaming victims for their misfortune, helps maintain the belief that we live in just a world

• SA case: She shouldn’t have wore that and was asking for it

Out-Group Homogeneity Bias

View in group members as more diverse than out of group

• EX: BEHS views students as having diverse interests, hobbies, etc Central thinks we’re all the same

In-Group Bias

Favor our own group

• EX: Favor BE over BC because we have better work ethic, coaches, abilities

Belief Perseverance

Clinging to your initial thoughts even after they were proved incorrect

• EX: Statistics that’s sharks aren’t harmful = still scared of sharks

Confirmation Bias

Search for information that only supports our side

• EX: Scared of Sharks so you only research why sharks are bad

Cognitive Dissonance

Discomfort when actions and attitudes are conflicting each other

• EX: Smoker knows that smoking is bad but continues to smoke because it relieves stress

Normative Social Influence

Desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval

• EX: All of your friends skip school you know it’s wrong but do it to get approval

Informational Social Influence

Willingness to accept others opinions about reality

• EX: choosing restaurants based on reviews with others opinions

Elaboration Likelihood Model

How people form and change their attitudes

Central Route: changing attitude by showing facts

• buying car based on research and comparing features

Peripheral Route: emotional cues: leads to no or weak attitude change

• buying car because you like the way it looks

Halo Effect

Persuasion influences how you think of others and distorts our overall reality

• EX: show up to job interview well dressed and confident = interviewer thinks your qualified before application

Foot in the door technique

Small request → Big request

• EX: Agreeing to sign petition then organization wants you to donate money

Door in face technique

Large request → Small request

• EX: Asking parents for $100 then asking for $25

Conformity

SOLOMON ASCHE’S “LINE EXPERIMENT”

Adjusting our behavior to match with group

• EX: Group chooses the wrong line you know it’s wrong and chose it anyways

Obedience

Comply with direct command from authority figure

• EX: principal tells you to put your phone away vs a classmate you’ll listen to principal

Individualism

EX: Wanting to be a artist in a family of doctors

Collectivism

View oneself as a member of a larger group, rather than independent

• EX: Teacher encourages students to work together in groups

Multiculturalism

When different cultural and ethnic groups coexist, have equal status, BUT maintain their own identity

• EX: Cities that have many diverse food places represents the diverse groups of people there

Group Polarization

Enhancement of group’s previous opinions through a discussion with group

• Positive or negative beliefs

• EX: You don’t like a celebrity but after talking with a group you absolutely hate that celebrity

Group Think

When making decisions in a group you want to be the same so you override realistic or alternative opinions

• EX: Doing a popular trend to fit in even if you don’t believe in it (Don’t challenge it cause it’s popular)

Diffusion of Responsibility

When you lose sense of responsibility when in a big group

• Presence of others has on our decision to help

• EX: IN emergency everyone assumes someone will call 911, nobody does

Social Loafing

Tendency for people to exert less effort in group when all working towards a common goal

• EX: Not trying in group project because you think others will do the work for you

Social Facilitation

Improved performance of known tasks in front of others

• EX: Soccer player plays better in game than in practice

False Consensus

Overestimate how much others agree with us

• EX: Student that skips classes assumes that lots of others do it

Superordinate Goals

Shared goals that override differences among people

• EX: BE and BC unite to raise money for cancer at gold out game

Social Trap

When individuals do what’s best for them but if everyone does it, everyone ends up worse off

• EX: Throwing trash on ground instead of in trash can, if everyone does it the area becomes dirty

Industrial Organizational Psychology

How people perform in workplace, feel about work, and relationships made at work

• EX: Company has free lunch and flexible scheduling to motivate employees to come into work

Altruism

Selfless act in the regard of others

• EX: Holding the door open for strangers, helping opponent up, etc

Social Responsibility Norm

People will help those needing their help

• EX: Stranger helps old person carry groceries because it’s the right thing to do

Social Reciprocity Norm

An expectation that people will help others who have helped them

• EX: You help a friend with science homework, and they help you with history in return

Bystander Effect

Less likely to help if other people are present

• EX: Someone faints in grocery store, no one helps because they think everyone else will

Psychodynamic Perspective

Focus on the unconscious and the importance of childhood experiences

• EX: childhood trauma can control adults traits like trust, might not remember what trauma was that caused issues

Unconscious Processes

Unaware information processing of unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, etc

• EX: Gut feeling in a bad situation

• Repressing bad childhood memories

Ego Defense Mechanism

Strategies used by the ego to protect the us in uncomfortable situations, thoughts, conflict, etc

Denial

Refusing to believe painful realities

• EX: Denying an action you did

Displacement

Redirection from a threatening target to a safer one

• EX: taking out frustration on a family member instead of a boss.

• “SCAPEGOATING”

Projection

Attributing one's own unacceptable thoughts or feelings to someone else.

• EX: Accusing your partner of being jealous when you are actually feeling that way.

Rationalization

Creating logical or reasonable explanations for actions or feelings that are actually motivated by irrational or emotional factors.

• EX: Justifying cheating on a test by claiming that everyone else does it.

• Hearing a gunshot and saying it’s a firework

Reaction Formation

Switching unacceptable impulses into their opposites

• EX: Laughing at a funeral instead of crying

Repression

Pushing unwanted memories into the unconscious

• Motivated forgetting

• EX: Girl that was in school shooting blocked it out, but if she heard gunshots she might flashback or flinch

Regression

Retreating to a younger/immature behavior or age of development

• EX: Acting like a child and having immature reactions

Sublimation

Channeling unacceptable impulses into socially acceptable actions or behaviors.

• EX: Someone may take up sports to redirect aggressive impulses.

Projective Tests

Psychological assessments that reveal underlying motives, feelings, and conflicts by analyzing responses to ambiguous stimuli.

• EX: Rorschach Inkblot test identifies inner feelings and interpretations

Unconditional (positive) regard

Acceptance and support of a person regardless of what they say or do.

• Develops self-awareness + self-acceptance

• EX: Child breaks something, parent is upset, but still loves and cares for them

Humanistic Perspective

Emphasizes the individual's drive towards self-actualization and personal growth

• EX: Parent encourages child to explore interests even if it’s not what the parent had wanted (Art instead of sports)

• Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers

Self Actualization

Fulfillment of one’s potential and being our best selves

• Happens after basic physical, psychological needs are met, esteem is achieved and motivation to fulfill potential

• EX: Doctor works to save and improve lives not for money

Social-Cognitive Theory

We learn through watching others and our own traits

• EX: Kid learning to tie shoes watches sibling do it, their learning through observing and not being directly taught

Reciprocal Determinism

This means that individual behavior can shape the environment while also being shaped by it.

WANTING TO BE BETTER AT STUDYING
- Behaviors: finding what you struggle in, ask for help, study

-Environment: surround yourself with hard workers

-Internal cognition: growth and not fixed mindset, believe in self

Self-Efficacy

Sense of competence and effectiveness

• EX: being able to believe that you can perform and achieve goals like PR’S

Self-Concept

Thoughts and feelings about ourselves

• EX: How you see yourself maybe as a kind and caring person

Trait Theories

Personality has consistent characteristics that response to various situations and contexts, suggesting that traits drive behavior.

• Being talkative at home and at school

Big 5 Theory of Personality (OCEAN)

Openness: Trying unfamiliar foods

Conscientiousness: Always meeting school work deadlines

Extraversion: Talking to random people easily

Agreeableness: Avoid conflict and agree with people

Emotional Stable: Get stressed or don’t get stressed easily

Drive-Reduction Theory

How certain behaviors help maintain homeostasis

• Ex: need for food and water drive home and go to chipotle

• Need warmth go and get jacket

Homeostasis

Tendency to maintain a balance or constant internal state

• EX: Body temperature is too low you shiver which tells you to put layers on

Arousal Theory

Motivated to maintain an optimal level of arousal by engaging in certain activities can help achieve this balance.

• Too Low: bored and need stimulation like solving a puzzle

• Too High: Overwhelmed and overstimulated, you take nap

Yerkes-Dodson Law

Performance increases with arousal only up to a point beyond which performance decreases.

• LOW: Underperformance (Hard task)

• MEDIUM: Best performance

• HIGH: Declining performance (Easy Task)

Self-Determination Theory

Motivation is driven by intrinsic (inner) want to do something

• EX: Being able to choose between a video or essay for a project

Intrinsic Motivation

Desire to perform behavior for it’s own sake

• EX: want to go to college, get high paying job to support yourself and be successful

Extrinsic Motivation

Perform behavior to receive promised rewards or avoid punishment

• EX: Getting $20 for good grades and you won’t have phone taken away

Incentive Theory

Role of rewards in motivating certain behaviors

• EX: Parents will take away phone if you don’t clean your room

• Parents give you money to do chores

Motivational Conflicts Theory

Lewin’s Conflict Theory

• How conflicts arise when faced with choices containing both appealing and unappealing factors, influencing stress and decision-making.

Approach-Approach Theory

Conflicts when choosing between 2 desirable options

• EX: Choosing between two great vacation areas

Approach-Avoidance Theory

Conflict when choosing between a desirable and undesirable option

• EX: Want a promotion but don’t want the increased workload

Avoidance-Avoidance Theory

Conflict when choosing between two undesirable options

• EX: Having to choose between cleaning kitchen or bathroom

Sensation Seeking

Seek out intense and novel experiences, often associated with risk-taking behaviors. Activities that are exciting or stimulating.

• Disinhibition: Reduced ability to tell ourselves no, not a good idea

• Boredom Susceptibility: Not tolerating repetitive experiences/routine

Eating Motivation

The drive to consume food influenced by biological, psychological, and social factors.

• Tells us when to seek food and when not to

Ghrelin

Hormone that tells the body that it’s hungry and needs to eat

Leptin

Hormone that increases metabolism and decreases hunger.

Hypothalamus

Brain region that regulates hunger and energy balance, controlling appetite and body weight.

Pituitary Gland

Gland that produces hormones regulating various bodily functions, including growth and metabolism.

External Factors Motivating Hunger

Factors outside the body, such as presence of food, time of day, friends, etc

Theories of Emotion

Early: 1.) Stimulus, 2.) Physiological Arousal, 3.) Experiencing emotion

Later: 1.) Stimulus, 2.) Physiological Arousal, 3.) Experiencing emotion, 4.) Cognitive Appraisal

• REALIZED APPRAISAL OF SITUATION PLAYED A ROLE IN EMOTION

Facial Feedback Hypothesis

The theory that facial expressions can influence emotional experiences, suggesting that smiling can make a person feel happier.

Components of Emotion

1.) Stimulus: Growling Dog

2.) ANS Arousal: Heartbeat faster, sweating

3.) Feeling/Emotion: Fear

4.) Cognitive Appraisal: Dog looked like one that attacked you

Broaden and Build Theory of Emotion

• Positive emotions broaden awareness and encourage new things

• Negative Emotions reduce awareness and narrow thinking

Universality of Emotions

Certain emotions are experienced and expressed similarly across different cultures, indicating a biological basis for emotional responses.

Display Rules

Cultural norms dictate the appropriate expression of emotions in social contexts.

• Slavic Girls don’t show emotion, and can be seen as cold and judgmental

Personality Inventories

Standardized questionnaires designed to measure various aspects of personality traits and characteristics.

Factor Analysis

Identify underlying relationships between variables, used in the development of personality tests to reduce data complexity.