PSYCHOLOGY-UNIT 2_AOS 1

How are people influenced to behave in particular ways?

Social cognition

how we judge others in social situations by interpreting and analysing this information

Cognitive bias

A systematic error in thinking that can occur when we rely on shortcuts in processing info

Cognitive dissonance

The psychological tension experienced when our actions don’t match our beliefs or thoughts.

Person perception

are the processes we use to form impressions and opinions of other people.

Schema

our pre-existing mental ideas relating to a given concept that help us organise and interpret new information

Physical cues

the physical characteristics and behaviours of people that influence our impressions of them.

Physical cues (Body language)

non verbal communication in which physical posture, movement and behaviour rather than words are used to express a certain message

Physical cues (appearance)

Social categorisation

A mental shortcut, usually unconscious used to categorise people into groups based on their shared social characteristics.

Halo effect

A cognitive bias in which one quality of a person whether it be negative or positive, might make use think other aspects of them are also good or bad

Saliency detection

When certain personal characteristics attract our attention more because they are more important to us.

Fundamental attrivution bias

The tendency to explain other peoples behaviour by focusing on internal causes and ignoring external ones

Personal attribution

Causes of behaviour that come from within a person, such as mood, ability or personality

Situational attribution

Causes of behaviour that come from outside a person, such as environment, luck or other people

Actor observer bias

The tendency to explain our own behaviour using external causes, while explaining others behaviour using internal causes

Self serving bias

The tendency to attribute our successes to internal factors and our failures to external ones

Attitude

A persons overall evaluation of people, objects or situations

Affective

The emotional component of an attitude and how you feel about something

Behavioural

The behavioural or component of an attitude- what you do or don’t do

Cognitive

The cognitive or mental component of an attitude- what you think or believe

Stereotype

Stigma

prejudice

A negative emotional attitude towards individuals based only on their membership to a group

Discrimination

Negative behaviour that is directed towards a group or group member

Ageism

A type of prejudice or discrimination based on a person’s age.

Sexism

A type of prejudice or discrimination based on a person’s sex or gender

Racism

A type of prejudice or discrimination based on a person’s race or ethnicity

intergroup contact

a concept proposing that for prejudice between groups to be reduced, there must be more direct contact between the groups’ members (i.e. the groups must spend more time together)

sustained contact

prolonged and cooperative interaction between two groups who are prejudiced against eachother

equality of status

The state of being on the same level as one another, with neither group having more or less status or power than another.

mutual independence

When two groups must somehow depend on each other to meet a goal

superordinate goals

the top level, ultimate goals shared between groups that cannot be achieved alone or without a person or group

social influence

how people change there behaviour or attitudes due to the direct or indirect influence of others

group

two or more people who interact or influence each other and work towards a common goal

collective

a collection of people who exert a minimal amount of influence on each other and don’t interact with every other person in the collection

status

the level of importance (real or imagined) that group members perceive regarding  another group members position in the group

social power

an individual’s ability to control or strongly influence the thoughts, feelings and behaviour of another person or group

referent

A person or agency

has the quality of being

idolised or adored as a

role model.

coercive

A person or agency has

the ability to punish.

reward

A person or agency has the ability to reward behaviour positively or by removing negative effects.

informational

A person or agency has useful information that isn’t readily available elsewhere.

legitimate

A person or agency with a formally recognised position in an organisation to exert rights over others and prescribe behaviour in others.

expert

A person or agency has specialist knowledge and skills.

group think

when group members’ desire to maintain group loyalty becomes more important than making the best choices

Individualistic

cultures that stress the needs of the individual over the needs of the group as a whole

collective culture

cultures that emphasise the needs and goals of the group as a whole over the needs and desires of each individual

Obedience

the act of people changing their behaviour in response to direct commands from an authority figure

Social proximity

in the field of psychology, how physically close one or more people are to each other

Group pressure

Individuals are more likely to disobey orders if members do

legitimacy of the authority figure

a concept referring to an authority figure who has a higher position or status in a social hierarchy

Group pressure

an occurrence in which other members reveal whether they are obedient to the authority figure or not

Conformity

The tendency to adjust to one’s thoughts, feelings or behaviours in ways that are in agreement with those of a particular individual or group

Unanimity

If there is agreement in the opinions of the group.

Group size

Conformity is likely to increase as the number of people in the group increases

Informational influence

Wanting to be right

Normative influence

Wanting to be liked

Social loafing

Refers to a persons tendency to reduce their effort when working in a group

de-individualisation

when people act a certain way because of the anonymity (loss of identity) that a group provides

non-comformity

any behaviour that is not conformity

anti-comformity

deliberate behaviour that acts against the position of one or more people

independence

A person perceives group pressure but does not respond to it at the public or private level.

task ambiguity

Individuals do not mind being the odd ones out and acting independently.

personality factors

IQ-

• Conformers= Less intelligent

• Non-conformers= More Intelligent

Emotions-

• Conformers= More anxious

• Non-conformers= less anzious

explanations for non-comformity

Psychological reactness

Need for uniqueness

need for uniqueness

A persons distinctiveness or differences in relation to other people

psychological reactness

an unpleasant motivational arousal that emerges when people experience a threat to or loss of their free behaviours