Sociocultural Approach

attribution

studies how people explain the causes of their behavior and the behavior of others

Fundamental Attribution Error

tendency to overestimate the influence of personal characteristics on outcomes and to underestimate the influence of situational factors

social facilitation

describes how people perform better in the presence of others

deindividuation

losing self-identity in a group

social loafing

social loafing

groupthink

prioritizing consensus over critical thinking when making decisions

social context

the context in which behavior occurs is taken into account

reciprocal determinism

the relationship between the individual and the group is bidirectional: as the individual is affected by being part of a group, the individual can also affect behavior in the group

social comparison

determines a lot of our behavior; looking to others in a group in order to determine how we are supposed to behave, possibly because we don’t know what is expected of us

normative social influence

looking to others to see how to behave so that we can be accepted

informational social influence

looking at others and their actions and you understand the expectations and act the same way

conformity

adapting our behavior to be in line with others

method triangulation

studying behavior by both quantitative and qualitative methods

naturalistic

research done in the environments in which the behavior is most likely to take place

participant observation

when researchers immerse themselves in a social setting for an extended period of time and observe behavior

overt observation

when participants in the group know that they are being observed; require the researcher to gain the trust of the group that is to be observed

covert observations

sometimes used with groups that would be hostile to an outsider observing their behavior, or who would not be open and honest, perhaps because of the illegal nature of their activities (drug users)

cognitive dissonance

discomfort a person feels when their behavior does not align with their values or beliefs

Social Identity Theory

argues that a person has not just one “personal self”, but rather several social selves that correspond to group membership

social categorization

process of classifying people into groups based on similar characteristics, whether it be nationality, age, occupation, or some other trait

minimal group paradigm

The very allocation into a group is all that is necessary for individuals to exhibit discrimination against an out-group

Social Cognitive Learning Theory

formerly known as Social Learning Theory – assumes that humans learn behavior through observational learning—in other words, people can learn by watching models and imitating their behavior.

vicarious reinforcement

unlike some learning that we do, we do not need positive reinforcement to continue the behavior

self-efficacy

one’s belief in one’s ability to successfully accomplish a task

compliance techniques

authority, commitment, liking, reciprocity, scarcity, social proof

self-serving bias

(individualistic cultures) when people take credit for their successes by attributing them to dispositional factors and rationalize their failures through situational factors

modesty bias

(collectivist cultures) blame failures on lack of one’s own ability

out-group homogeneity

seeing out-groups as all having similar traits

grain of truth hypothesis

argues that an experience with an individual from a group will then be generalized to the group

illusory correlation

people see a relationship between two variables even when there is none (results in stereotypes)

confirmation bias

people tend to overlook information that contradict what they already believe; pays attention to behaviors that confirm what they believe about a group and ignore those behaviors contrary to their beliefs

cross-sectional

the behavior of the participants was not measured over time, but instead a snapshot in time was taken and the data were compared

spotlight anxiety

causes emotional distress and pressure that may undermine performance

stereotype threat

occurs when one is in a situation where there is a threat of being judged or treated stereotypically or fear of doing something that would inadvertently confirm that stereotype

cultural norm

set of rules based on socially or culturally shared beliefs of how an individual ought to behave to be accepted within that group

surface culture

what we easily see as different when we have contact with another group

deep culture

beliefs, attitudes, and values of a group

ethnocentric

founding theorists of psychology taking a solely Western view

universal behaviors

seeing cultures through the lens of their own culture

etic approach

“rules” of human behavior that could be applied to all cultures around the world; typically taken within cross-cultural psychology where behavior is compared across specific cultures; involved drawing on the notion of universal properties of cultures, which share common perceptual, cognitive, and emotional structures

emic approach

uses a more inductive approach to the study of culture; challenge psychologists to re-examine their ideas of “truth” with regard to culture

dimensions

how the values of a society affect behavior; describes the trends of behavior in a given culture

factor analysis

focusing on the key differences submitted by employees in different countries

Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions

power distance index, individualism vs. collectivism, uncertainty avoidance index, masculinity vs, femininity, long term vs. short term orientation, indulgence vs. restraint

enculturation

the learning and maintenance of the behaviors and norms of our own culture

values enculturation

attitudes about social relationships, gender roles, time orientation, beliefs about health and illness, and beliefs about morality

direct tuition

being told what you are supposed to do (by parents)

Social Cognitive Theory

observational learning

participatory learning

children engage in an activity and then transfer that learning to later situations

acculturation

when people move into another culture, they often begin to adopt the norms and behaviors of the majority culture; the process of cultural and psychological change that takes place as a result of contact between two or more cultural groups

assimilation

abandoning their original culture and adopts the cultural behaviors and values of their new culture

integration

there is an interest in adopting the behaviors and values of the new culture, while still maintaining the original culture

separation

migrants maintaining their own culture and minimizing contact with the new culture

marginalization

when it is not really possible to maintain one’s original culture, but because of the exclusion or discrimination, it is not possible to assimilate into the new culture

acculturative stress

the psychological, somatic, and social difficulties that may accompany acculturation, often resulting in anxiety, depression, and other forms of mental and physical stress

acculturation gaps, generational differences in acculturation and how this leads to conflict within the family

protective factors

influence the extent to which an individual acculturated and the effect that this will have on mental health

Reactive Identification

when the individual strengthens his or her ethnic or racial identity in response to discrimination (negative or positive)

immigrant paradox

“greater” degrees of acculturation were associated with problematic health outcome