Social Psychology

social psychology

the study of how people think about and relate to each other

big ideas of social psychology

social thinking, social influences, social relations

social neuroscience

how the brain functions and coordinates during social functions

theory

a broad sweeping statement about how the world works

hypothesis

a testable question that applies to a theory

sample

the participants in your study

population

everyone you are making a statement about in your study

random assignment

separating experiment groups randomly, more likely that the groups will be similar to each other

laboratory research

performed in a psych lab, variables are controlled, problem is whether people would act the same in the real world as they do in lab

field research

Based on public observations, the public looks like the real world; however, there is no control over other variables, therefore it is difficult to draw cause and effect conclusions

experimental research

one thing is manipulated and an outcome is measured, deception may be used (different than placebo)

correlational research

observational, one thing happens so another thing does/doesn’t, correlation cannot equal causation

independent variables

the variable the researcher is manipulating

dependent variables

the outcome the researcher is looking for

mundane realism

the degree to which an experiment is superficially similar to everyday situations

experimental realism

the degree to which an experiment absorbs and involves it’s participants

experimental realism example

if a participant only answers c on every question they are not absorbed/involved therefore the experiment has low degree

replication

repeating an experiment on a different population, larger sample size, etc. gives more evidence and nuance on a theory, confirms results

ethics

main reason is to protect humans and animals from harm

spotlight effect

the belief that others are paying more attention to our appearance or behavior than they really are, common among youth and those with social anxiety

spotlight effect example

We feel it more when we are a noticeably different member of a group

illusion of transparency

we believe that our emotions (including those we are clearly hiding) are leaking out and we assume people know how we feel

self interest

affects our perception of the world and our social judgements, affects what we remember and how we process information

self concern

motivates our social behavior, eg lying to protect yourself

social relationships

define our sense of self, includes those with friends, family, coworkers, etc

self concept

what we know and believe about ourselves

self schemas

beliefs about self that organize and guide processing self-relevant information

social comparison

comparing beliefs and abilities to what others can do, social media makes this a problem, often compare ourselves to those doing better than us, like when others like us

collectivism

priority is given to the groups goals over our own, less value in uniqueness, promotes greater sense of belonging, more integrated sense of self, self esteem tends to be more malleable and is influenced by different settings/situations

individualism

prioritize ourselves over the gorup, self esteem is more personal, less relational, more self expression is encouraged, increase in economic prosperity and urbanism increase rates

self knowledge

we think we know ourselves, but we are not always accurate

planning fallacy

tendency to underestimate how long it will take to complete a task

affective forecast

people have a hard time telling the intensity and duration of future emotions

impact bias

we overestimate the emotional effect of an emotion causing event/we underestimate our coping mechanisms

dual attitude system

implicit and explicit attitudes, can have differing explicit and implicit attitudes toward the same object

implicit attitudes

require slow change, with practice of habits, is automatic

explicit attitudes

may change with education/persuasion, consciously controlled

self esteem

a persons overall self evaluation or sense of self worth, we have high self esteem when we feel good about domains that are important to us

self efficacy

how competent we think we are at something

effects of high self efficacy

more persistent, less anxious, less depressed, healthier, more academically successful

motivation

we want to protect our self esteem

terror management theory

people exhibit self protective responses when confronted with their mortality

ways to pursue high self esteem

doing kind things for others, self compassion, pursuit of beauty, riches, popularity

low self esteem leads to

poor mental health, may be the product of other aspects of life

narcissism

inflated sense of self, high self esteem with no value on relationships with others, often initially popular, often know they are narcissistic, correlation between parents thinking their child dese4rves special treatment and narcissism

self serving bias

tendency to perceive oneself favorably, contributes to marital discord, worker dissatisfaction, bargaining impasses

unrealistic optimism

view ourselves as more likely to have good outcomes, can create vulnerability

false consensus

overestimate the commonality of one’s opinion and one’s undesirable behaviors/attitudes

false uniqueness

underestimate the commonalities of one’s abilities

self presentation

expressing oneself and behaving in ways designed to create a favorable impression se

self handicapping

protective self-image, create excuses you can use if you fail at something later

intuitive judgements

automatic and controlled thinking, some debate about how uch we should pay attention to inhibition

illusory intuition

We believe we know someone, but it is not true, display ove4rconfidence when intuitions are wrong

priming

automatic associations made/triggered by specific stimuli

embodied cognition

mutual influence of bodily sensations on cognitive preferences and social judgements, influenced by how we look

confirmation bias

we do not look for information that disagrees with what we believe, but we are eager to verify what we do believe

how to fix overconfidence

prompt feedback, think why we might be wrong

belief perseverance

persistence of one’s initial conceptions

attribution theory

people can be inclined to contribute behavior to disposition or to situation

fundamental attribution error

the tendency for observers to underestimate situational influences and overaestimate dispositional influences on other’s behavior

self fulfilling prophecies

when we think something is going to happen it makes it more likely to happenb

behavioral confirmation

a type of self fulfilling prophecy whereby people’s social expectations lead them to behave in ways that cause others to confirm their expectations

principle of aggregation

a single behavior is not a good indicator of someone’s attitudes, but a pattern of behaviors over time is more reliable

moral hypocrisy

appearing to be moral but not following through with moral actions

implicit bias

a form of implicit attitudes, unconscious, can be about race, gender, religion, etc.

theory of planned behavior

belief about behavior outcome, evaluations of behavior outcome, normative beliefs, and motivation to comply all contribute to intention to do the behavior

impression management

attempting to control how you are perceived by others through behavior and attitude

cognitive dissonance

holding on to ideas that contradict each other

selective exposure

tendency to seek information that already agrees with you

facial feedback

facial expressions can trigger the emotional response that they are expressing

self perception theory

the idea that we learn about our own attitudes and feelings by observing our own behavior

overjustification effect

feeling that your behavior is externally controlled rather than internally (using a reward system to control behavior, cannot be an unexpected reward and must be an unnecessary reward)