Social Psych Exam III

What is normative social influence?

influence that produces conformity b/c a person fears the negative social consequences of appearing deviant

What are social norms?

The rules and ideas of what's normal within a social group/situation

Describe Asch's research and what kind of social influence it demonstrates.

-demonstrates normative social influence
-"simple perception task" -- no ambiguity in correct answer
-confederates unanimously give obviously wrong answer --> 76% of participants conformed at least once
-you go along with it not b/c you don't know the right answer (Sherif) but b/c other people said it

What factors increase/decrease conformity due to normative social influence?

-group size (bigger group=more pressure)
-unanimity (difficult to be the only dissenter)
-group cohesiveness (care about what the people think=more pressure to conform)
-status w/in group (high status can do what they want w/out fear of retribution)
-public nature of response (private response=less conformity b/c no one knows)
-prior commitment (write down answer -> more likely to say it even when others don't agree)

What is informational social influence?

influence that produces conformity because a person believes others are correct in their judgments

What is the role of uncertainty/ambiguity in social influence?

People want to feel confident in the correctness of their actions. If they are uncertain, they will look to others to help define reality

Describe Sherif's research and what kind of social influence it demonstrates.

-informational social influence
-autokinetic effect! asked people to estimate how far the light moved alone, then in group, then alone again
-estimates alone were idiosyncratic, estimates in groups converged on a normative value
-when people were alone again, their answer remained consistent w/ the group norm

What are Kelman's three types of conformity?

-public compliance: superficial change in behavior w/out change in attitude; similar to normative influence
-private acceptance (internalization): true & permanent belief change, person privately accepts the position of others; similar to informational influence
-identification: people adopt behaviors of significant others; we want to be like those we identify with

What is the difference between anti-conformity and true independence?

-anti-conformity: act differently from majority group, but majority group is still frame of reference, still conform to norms of subgroup

-independence: act solely based on your own beliefs, not locked into following or going against any group

Markus & Kunda's (1986) research on perceptions of similarity vs. uniqueness

-state preferences for series of items
-participants in similarity (everyone agrees with you) or uniqueness (everyone disagrees with you & agrees w/ each other) condition
-then measured participant's judgments of similarity to other groups and self-categorization judgments
-both the uniqueness and similarity conditions were highly aversive --> participants compensated on the measures taken (made themselves more unique or similar to others)

What is Brewer's optimal distinctiveness theory?

-people have fundamental need for assimilation and differentiation
-attempt to balance the two needs -> state of optimal distinctiveness
-optimal state depends on situation

Milgram's Obedience experiments

-participants were "teachers", had to shock "learners" for wrong answers
-65% of participants shocked up to the highest level on the generator
-extremely surprising levels of obedience
-challenging ethical question

What factors encouraged/discouraged obedience in Milgram's obedience situations?

encourage:
-uncertainty of situation
-gradual increase in shock level
-experimenter prodding
-experimenter taking responsibility

discourage:
-proximity of experimenter
-proximity of victim
-presence of others who defy

What are the variations of Milgram's classic experiment?

-hear victim responses
-gender of subjects
-location of experiment
-legitimacy of authority figure
-proximity of authority figure
-proximity of victim
-presence of others who follow/defy authority

What were Baumrind's criticisms of Milgram's research?

-lab not an appropriate context to study obedience
-violated experimenter-participant trust
-potential long term effects of eroding trust in authority and loss of self-esteem
-emotional distress was intense -- worth the risk?

How did Milgram defend his research against Baumrind's criticisms?

-emotional reactions were short term
-results could not be foreseen
-subjects reported benefitting from experiment
-psychologist followed up -- no negative long-term effects found
-lab setting is generalizable (good to learn to question authority)
-people could disobey -- and did!

What is compliance?

getting someone to conform to a request we make

What do we mean by the term "mindlessness"?

we often respond relatively automatically in many social situations

What are Cialdini's 7 principles of compliance?

perceptual contrast, reciprocity, commitment & consistency, social proof, friendship/liking, authority, scarcity

Explain perceptual contrast.

things are not judged in a vacuum, context matters

ex: coming out of a movie theater -> look at things differently
ex: what difference will a $75 tie make on a maxxed out credit card?

Explain reciprocity.

norm of reciprocity, feel obliged to give something if you are given something; door-in-the-face

Explain the power of commitment.

when people commit themselves to something, they feel compelled to follow through with it

Explain social proof.

we engage in social comparison

ex: more likely to sign petition if see that other people have signed

Explain friendship.

we are more willing to comply w/ requests made from those we know, those who are friendly to us

ex: girl scout cookies

Explain authority.

people are more willing to comply with requests made from those with authority; trapping of authority (titles, clothing, etc) can lead to greater compliance

ex: waiter at a restaurant

Explain scarcity.

people want what they can't have

ex: limited time sale

What is the norm of reciprocity?

when given something, you feel obliged to reciprocate

What is the foot-in-the-door technique?

-first ask someone a very small request they will likely agree to, then increase the size of the request
-plays on the power of commitment

What is the door-in-the-face technique?

-first ask someone for a large request, then back down to a much smaller one
-plays on reciprocal concessions (norm of reciprocity)

What is the low-ball technique?

-give someone an inducement in order to get the commitment, then due to unexpected circumstances the seller withdraws inducement --> people will still follow through w/ initial commitment
-ex: free gift, great trade-in price

What is the chameleon effect?

-example of behavioral conformity
-subconscious mimicry
-we mirror the behaviors of people we're around that we like
-it makes interactions go better

What is social faciltiation?

-presence of others increases task performance
-term from Triplett (1898) cycling study
-not always the case!

When does the presence of others help/hinder performance?

helps when the task is well-learned, hinders when task is novel

What is the role of arousal in social facilitation? Who's research focused on this question?

-Robert Zajonc, work w/ cockroaches
-we are aroused in the presence of others b/c unpredictable stimulus -> we do what comes most naturally (the "dominant response")

What is the distinction between simple/overlearned tasks vs. novel/complex tasks?

a well-learned task will be our dominant response when aroused b/c requires less thinking

What is the notion of one's dominant response?

the dominant response is the one that comes most naturally to someone

What was Butler & Baumeister's work on the effects of supportive vs. adversarial audiences?

-had participants play novel video game in front of supportive, neutral, or adversarial audience
-the supportive audience actually hindered performance = evidence for "futile caution" (slower speed and more errors)
-supportive group report feeling less stress, more positive mood, etc.

What is social loafing?

situations in which individuals expend less effort when part of a group as opposed to when working individually

Why does social loafing occur?

-lack of coordination in groups
-anonymity is crucial
-individual responsibility/accountability
-evaluation of group product as a whole or not
-any factor that reduces individual's investment in the outcome

What factors increase/decrease the likelihood of social loafing occurring?

-clearly state each person's responsibilities
-make people feel accountable
-increase sense of challenge
-sense of competition

What is deindividuation?

loss of self-awareness and restraint when people are in situations that make them feel anonymous/unaccountable for their actions; respond to situation around them instead of own values

What are examples of deindividuation?

-"mob mentality"
-halloween costumes
-stanford prison study
-suicide baiting

Why does deindividuation occur? What happens to people under these conditions?

people become less self-aware in large crowds because they feel anonymous and unaccountable --> beahvior reflects the crowd and not their personal values and beliefs

What is the spotlight effect?

people's conviction that other people are paying attention to them (to their appearance and behavior) more than they actually are

What is group polarization?

group decisions tend to be more extreme than individual decisions; group discussion exaggerates initial tendencies of group members

Is group polarization a "risky shift" or movement to enhanced conservatism?

group opinion can shift any direction, risky or conservative; whatever direction the group is currently leaning

Why does group polarization occur?

1) persuasive arguments: people hear others who express new arguments in favor of position that they hadn't thought of before -> have more reason to believe that position; everyone comes in w/ confirmation bias

2) social comparison: people learn others' position on the issue; others share their views --> more confident that their position is correct --> greater extreme of position

What is the focus on shared vs. unshared information? (Stasser)

in group discussions people focus on shared as opposed to unshared information, neglect to take advantage of individual expertise; what people really benefit from is "what do you know that I don't know" -- but that's not what we focus on

What is groupthink?

the mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives

What are some historical examples of groupthink that Janis studied?

Bay of Pigs, Watergate, Challenger launch

What are the symptoms of groupthink?

-overestimation of the group: illusion of invulnerability, belief in inherent morality
-close-mindedness: collective rationalizations, stereotype of opponent
-strong pressures toward uniformity: self-censorship, illusion of unanimity, direct pressure on dissenters, self-appointed mindguards

What are the antecedents for groupthink? (What features promote groupthink?)

-highly cohesive groups
-homogenous members
-groups w/ directive leader
-work in relative isolation
-lack of systematic procedures
-stressful situations

What are ways a group can try and prevent groupthink?

-avoid insulation/isolation: bring in experts, discuss w/ nongroup members
-impartial leader: refrain from voicing opinion early in discussion, encourage/accept criticism
-establish rules of critical review of alternatives: break into subgroups, have a "devil's advocate", second chance meetings to reconsider everything

What is minority influence?

the power of one or two individuals to sway majorities

Why do majority pressures often promote resistance to minority influence?

public compliance motives - people will usually cave into fear of what others will think/do

How is a minority able to have influence in group settings?

majority will only go along with minority views for private acceptance reasons: must make majority rethink their position, have strong arguments, get majority talking about it

1) consistency/persistence
2) self-confidence
3) flexibility
4) defections from the majority

What is the difference between prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination?

prejudice: attitudes

stereotyping: beliefs/knowledge

discrimination: behaviors

How do we measure prejudicial feelings and attitudes?

survey responses are not very trustworthy -> use implicit measures

ex: IAT, Fazio's attitude accessibility (bonafide pipeline), social distance, job interview scenarios, court case scenarios, shooter task

How do we avoid social desirability concerns when measuring prejudicial feeling?

use alternatives to surveys like measuring social distance, job interview evaluations; implicit measures like IAT and Fazio's attitude accessibility

What are social distance measures?

participant interacts with partner, change who the person is, how far away do you sit?

What is Fazio's unobtrusive measure of racial attitudes (the "bonafide pipeline")?

looks for facilitation/inhibition of RT to the word

ex: faster at white face/+ word & black face/- word --> indicates negative attitude towards black people

What is Correll et al.'s "shooter paradigm"? (shooter task assignment)

-white participants shown white or black males in videogame format
-some holding a gun (armed), some holding a wallet (unarmed)
-quickly respond by shooting only the armed suspects
-whites made correct decision to shoot armed target more quickly if he was black, decided not to shoot unarmed target more quickly if he was white
-magnitude of bias varied w/ perceptions of cultural stereotype and levels of contact, but not w/ self-reported racial prejudice

What are the main explanations of prejudice?

socialization, personality type, frustration-aggression

-consequences of categorizing others in terms of stereotypes

What is socialization in terms of explaining prejudice?

people are taught to be prejudiced, the media perpetuates it; society perpetuates different groups

What is authoritarian personality type in terms of explaining prejudice?

-state of mind characterized by belief in absolute obedience or submission to one's own authority, as well as the oppression of one's subordinates
-based on Freudian theory -- not as relevant anymore
-personal insecurities -> strict and rigid adherence to externally imposed conventional norms (conventionalism) and to authorities who impose the norms (authoritarian submission)

What is the scapegoat theory in terms of explaining prejudice?

-frustration-aggression explanation
-when things are going badly, people want to find someone else to blame
-blame the minority

What are ingroup/outgroup effects?

-outgroups are perceived as homogenous
-ingroups are perceived as differentiated
-we have a lot more knowledge about our ingroup

What is ingroup favoritism?

-we want to feel like our groups are good
-Tajifel: people gave their team more points than the other
-Tajifel argued that it serves to maintain self-esteem

What is Tajfel's social identity theory?

idea that a person's self-concept and self-esteem derive from personal identity and accomplishments, but also from the status and accomplishments of the various groups to which the person belongs

What is the minimal group paradigm?

an experimental paradigm in which researchers create groups based on arbitrary and seemingly meaningless criteria and then examine how the members of these "minimal groups" are inclined to behave toward one another

ex: Tajifel and point allocation

What is outgroup homogeneity?

Tendency to see members of outgroups as more similar to one another than members of the ingroup

What is illusory correlation?

seeing a correlation between events that are not actually related

How do illusory correlations help explain stereotype formation?

distinctive behaviors by minority groups attract attention and are better recalled, leading to illusory correlation and stereotypes about that group; look for things that you already believe too

What is paired distinctiveness?

the pairing of two distinctive events that stand out even more b/c they occur together; negative events stand out and minorities stand out b/c they are distinctive

How do we deal with inconsistent evidence (evidence counter to our stereotypes)?

3 models: bookkeeping model, conversion model, subtyping model

What is the bookkeeping model?

we update our stereotypes accordingly when confronted w/ inconsistent evidence

What is the conversion model?

we abandon our stereotype because it is erroneous when confronted w/ inconsistent evidence

What is the subtyping model?

we form subtypes when confronted w/ inconsistent information, which allow us to maintain the stereotype while acknowledging the exception

What are the two main strategies of prejudice reduction?

contact hypothesis and Devine's model of prejudice

What is the contact hypothesis?

-belief is that prejudice is the result of ignorance/lack of contact between groups
-if groups are encouraged or forced to interact --> will dispel erroneous beliefs about outgroups
-6 necessary conditions

What are the 6 necessary conditions of the contact hypothesis?

-mutual interdependence
-common goal
-must be equal status contact
-informal, friendly setting
-interaction w/ multiple members
-social norms of equality present

What is the main theory behind desegregation?

contact hypothesis: get people to interact --> less ignorance about outgroup --> less prejudice

What are superordinate goals? What experiment demonstrated the use of these?

-goals that affect the whole group
-Sherif's Robbers Cave

What are the conditions of mutual interdependence? (jigsaw classroom)

-kids are interdependent, relying on each other
-divide class into groups, each person has to present the information and only they know the information
-kids who would typically get ridiculed were encouraged --> positive interactions

What is Patricia Devine's model?

-stereotypes are distinct from personal beliefs
-stereotypes are automatically activated when we encounter a member of that group, but different individuals react differently

What are the automatic and controlled components of Devine's model?

stereotypes are automatically activated, but personal beliefs can consciously inhibit those stereotypes

How do high and low prejudice individuals differ?

high: those who allow their stereotypes to affect their judgments and behavior

low: those who consciously inhibit their stereotypes, and put forth effort to act in accord w/ their personal beliefs

What is the distinction between personal beliefs and stereotypes?

stereotypes are our knowledge about characteristics associated w/ a group; personal beliefs are what we believe to be true about a group & are where we differ

According to Devine, how does one work at prejudice reduction?

-being nonprejudiced is like "breaking a bad habit" -- requires work
-low prejudice individuals under cognitive load will fail in their efforts to consciously inhibit their stereotype --> strong feelings of guilt and self-contempt and renewed efforts to be nonprejudiced

What is Dutton and Fazio's motivation to control prejudice scale?

two factors help to control prejudice:
-internal motivations: ex- personal beliefs in being egalitarian, getting angry at yourself when have a prejudiced thought

-external motivations: ex- worries about how you appear to others, hesitant to share viewpoint if you disagreed with a black student in class discussion

What was Fazio's test of Devine's model?

-used bonafide pipeline measure
-asked if everyone has automatically activated stereotypes
-results suggested that there is a great deal of variability
-there are unprejudiced people (no automatically activated negative attitude), but they are rare

What is ethnocentrism?

glorifying one's own group while vilifying other groups

What is stereotype threat? Give examples.

-situations in which individuals must perform in a context where negative group-level stereotypes exist
-"African Americans have lower IQ"
-"white men can't jump"
-"Women aren't good at math"
-can be avoided by dispelling stereotypes
-can be invoked by reminding people of their stereotypes

Why does stereotype threat occur?

-added pressure to perform may lead many to "disidentify" with the domain
-we don't definitively know why performance decreases
-maybe anxiety, lowered self-efficacy, evaluation apprehension, or self-handicapping

What is the self-fulfilling prophecy? (Rosenthal)

-people act towards certain groups in a way that encourages the behavior they expect to see
-teacher's expectations for children created one
-can result from student's beliefs about their own abilities too
-Rosenthal's results were an exceptional example of a real effect

How do you counteract stereotype threat?

-affirmation intervention where students write out their most important values
-teach that their abilities are under their control
-tend to fade over time

What are entity vs. incremental theories of intelligence/mindsets?

entity: belief that intelligence is something people are born with and can't change

incremental: intelligence is something people can improve by working at it

What are belongingness interventions?

Walton and Cohen, intervention (knowing that everyone struggles w/ making friends will give a new context to understand struggle not just by racial category) had large positive effect on blacks but not on whites

What is social stigma (Crocker and Major)?

-most theories predict that members of stigmatized groups (ex: obese, blind, disfigured individuals) should have low self-esteem -- but they don't
-C & M argue that there are self-protective properties that butter their self-esteem

How do members of stigmatized groups maintain self-esteem?

3 main mechanisms:
-attribute negative feedback or poor outcomes to the prejudiced attitudes of others toward their group
-make ingroup social comparisons, rather than to dominant (more advantaged) outgroups
-selectively devalue attributes on which they or their group fare poorly, selectively value those on which they excel