unit 4: social psychology and personality

compare and contrast personality psychologists and social psychologists

personality psychology focuses on individual differences in traits and behaviors, while social psychology examines how situational and social influences affect everyone's behavior

attributions

how we explain the causes of events; (if you do well in class, to what will you attribute your success?)

explanatory style

predictable pattern of attributions, interpreting good and/or bad events in a pessimistic or optimistic way

pessimistic explanatory style

type of explanatory style; “it’s all my fault!”

optimistic explanatory style

type of explanatory style; “i did the best i could, and i’ll do better next time”

attribution theory

we explain someone’s behavior by crediting either the situation (situational attribution) or the person’s stable, enduring traits (dispositional attribution)

fundamental attribution error

the tendency for observers, when analyzing others’ behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and overestimate the impact of personal disposition

what is a factor that influence our attributions?

culture

actor-observer bias

when we explain our own behavior, we are sensitive to how behavior changes with the situation

prejudice

“prejudgment,” is an unjustifiable and usually negative attitude toward a group and its members — who often are people of a particular racial or ethnic group, gender, or sexual orientation;

what is in prejudice and makes us it?

1. negative emotions, such as hostility or fear

2. stereotypes, which are generalized beliefs about a group of people. Our stereotypes sometimes reflect reality. Stereotypes can reduce the effort, or cognitive load, it takes to make decisions or judgments

3. a predisposition to discriminate — to act in negative and unjustifiable ways toward members of the group

implicit prejudice

an unthinking knee-jerk response operating below the radar, leaving us unaware of how our attitudes are influencing our behavior

explicit prejudice

involves conscious, deliberate beliefs and attitudes, often expressed openly through words and actions

just-world phenomenon

reflects an idea we commonly teach our children — that good is rewarded and evil is punished; the world is fair and that people therefore get what they deserve and deserve what they get

ingroup bias

the tendency to favor one's own group and its members over other groups; (ex) boys vs girls, religion vs religion, race vs race

ethnocentrism

the tendency to view our own ethnic or racial group as superior

out-group homogeneity

uniformity of attitudes, personality, and appearance

other-race effect

“cross-race effect" or own-race bias”; our greater recognition for individual own-race faces; emerges during infancy, between 3 and 9 months of age

social comparison

the tendency for individuals to evaluate their own abilities and opinions by comparing themselves to others

foot in the door phenomenon

people who agree to a small request find it easier to comply with a larger one; (ex) the captors began with harmless request, such as copying a trivial statement, but gradually escalated their demands

door in the face effect

to get people to agree with something big, start small and build; (ex) approach someone with an unreasonable request— “could you volunteer for 2 weeks" after you get turned down, a follow up request becomes more acceptable: “could you volunteer for 30 minutes?”

what can affect attitude?

role play

who conducted the stanford prison experiment and its purpose?

philip zimbardo; to test attitude and roleplay

the researchers who conducted the stanford prison experiment believed that the participants designated as guards acted harshly toward those designated as prisoners the..

guards responded to situational factors

in the stanford prison simulation, participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups, guards or prisoners. after a few days, the prisoners staged a failed revolt and were consequently punished and humiliated by the guards, how did the researchers explain the abusive behavior of the guard?

the guards were influenced by situation and attitude

cognitive dissonance theory

we may adjust our actions to match our attitudes; (ex) a smoker knowing cigarettes are harmful but continuing to smoke, a person who believes in being healthy but eats junk food, or a student who values honesty but still lie to avoid consequences

persuasion

others are trying to convince us something or we’re trying to convince ourselves

elaboration likelihood model

when we actively process a message, we more often retain it—advertisements; ads can be peripheral or central persuasion

peripheral route persuasion

uses attention-getting cues to trigger speedy, emotion-based judgements; (ex) using a celebrity endorsement for a product, where the persuasive power comes from the celebrity's attractiveness or fame rather than the product's features like using a famous athlete to promote protein shakes

halo effect

we may believe beautiful or famous people (celebs) are especially smart or trustworthy

central route persuasion

offers logical evidence and arguments that aim to trigger careful thinking

social norm

a society's understood rules for accepted and expected behaviors

social contagion

the spontaneous spread of behaviors; (ex) trends, popular and famous things, or seeing others do it

chameleon effect

the unconscious tendency for people to mimic the postures, mannerisms, and expressions of those around them; (ex) if you see someone shaking their foot, you may shake your foot too

conformity

adjusting our behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard

asch conformity experiment; social conformity

showed how people's behavior is influenced by group pressure, even when the group is obviously wrong; however, if the person knew the answer was wrong but nervous to comply to the right answer but given the opportunity to write on their paper down and didn’t have to say what they wrote there would be less pressure therefore they would say the correct answer

normative social influence

we conform to avoid rejection or to gain social approval; (ex) drinking at a party to fit in or dressing a certain way to adhere to office culture— conforming to social norms

informational social influence

we conform because we want to be accurate; (ex) following the crowd in an unfamiliar train station or looking to others to see how to react to a potential emergency

obedience

complying with an order or command

social facilitation

strengthened performance in others’ presence because the presence of others can arouse people; if one does well, you will do well but if they don’t do well you won’t do well

social loafing

the tendency for individuals to exert less effort when working in a group than when working alone— diminish feeling of responsibility due to not being individually accountable

deindividuation

process of losing self-awareness and self-restraint, often occurs when group participation makes people both aroused and anonymous

group polarization

the beliefs and attitudes we bring to a group grow stronger as we discuss them with like-minded others

groupthink

harmonious but unrealistic group thinking

collectivism

situations focus on “we,” on meeting group standards and accommodating others

individualism

they more often focus on “me” as an independent, separate self

multiculturalism

places value on cultural and ethnic groups’ maintenance of their unique identities, beliefs, and practices

prosocial behavior

behavior that intends to help or benefit someone

mere exposure effect

repeated exposure to novel visual stimuli increases our liking for them

what 3 things attracts us to people?

1. similarity

2. proximity

3. attractiveness (physical appearance)

diffusion of responsibility

when more people share the responsibility for helping

bystander effect

the tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present

social reciprocity norm

the expectation that we should return help, not harm, to those who have helped us

social responsibility norm

the expectation that we should help those who need our help

self-fulfilling prophecies

beliefs that confirm themselves by influencing the other country to react in ways that seem to justify those beliefs

superordinate goals

shared goals that override differences among people and require their cooperation; (ex) a student believing they will fail a test, so they don't study, which then leads to them performing poorly and confirming their initial belief

industrial-organizational (I/O) psychologists

a branch of psychology that applies psychological principles to the workplace to improve productivity and employee well-being

burnout

a state of emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion caused by prolonged and excessive stress

personality

an individual’s characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting

psychodynamic theory

theories that view personality with a focus on the unconscious mind and the importance of childhood experiences (or conscious mind)

unconscious mind

a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories

preconscious mind

a reservoir that stores some unacceptable thoughts and can be retrieved into conscious awareness

freud’s 3 personality

1. id; gratification principle - unconscious need for pleasure, displays itself as selfish and need for gratification (pleasure)

2. ego; reality principle - reduces superego and id conflict, brings you back to reality

3. superego; morality principle, internal conscience that forces the ego to consider the ideal, not just real

ego

the partly conscious, 'executive' part of personality— the decision you ultimately make after listening to the id and superego; operates on the reality principle

defense mechanism

tactics that reduce or redirect anxiety by distorting reality

repression

the basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories; (ex) s person may have no conscious memory of a traumatic childhood event, like abuse, yet later have symptoms like depression without understanding why

regression

retreating to an earlier psychosexual stage, where some psychic energy remains fixated; (ex) an adult in a heated argument with their partner stops communicating and slams the door, instead of working to resolve the conflict

displacement

shifting sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable or less threatening object or person; (ex) a person is angry with their boss for giving them a bad review. they come home and yell at their spouse or children, even though they have not done anything to deserve it

denial

refusing to believe or even perceive painful realities

sublimation

transferring of unacceptable impulses into socially valued motives; (ex) channeling aggressive impulses into a competitive sport like football or boxing

rationalization

offering self-justifying explanations in place of the real, more threatening unconscious reasons for one's actions; (ex) a student who receives a bad grade on an exam and claims the professor graded unfairly or the test was too difficult, rather than admitting they didn't study enough

reaction formation

switching unacceptable impulses into their opposites; (ex) a person who is secretly attracted to someone but acts hostile or cruel toward them to hide their true feelings or a person who secretly struggles with alcoholism and publicly becomes an extreme advocate for abstinence

projection

disguising one's own threatening impulses by attributing them to others; (ex) person who is jealous of a friend may accuse the friend of being jealous of them instead

unconditional regard

a caring, accepting, non-judgemental attitude that helps people develop self-awareness and self-acceptance; an attitude of grace that values us even knowing our failings

projective test

a personality test that provides ambiguous images designed to trigger projection of one's inner dynamics and explore the preconscious and unconscious mind

humanistic psychology

theories that view personality with a focus on the potential for healthy personal growth

self-actualization tendency

the belief that people are basically good and want to be better and improve; self-improvement

traits

people’s characteristic behaviors and conscious motives

factor analysis

a statistical procedure that identifies clusters (factors) of test items that tap basic components of a trait

personality inventories

longer questionnaires covering a wide range of feelings and behaviors; used to evaluate certain personality traits

what are the big 5 factors? (hint; OCEAN)

1. openness

2. conscientiousness

3. extraversion

4. agreeableness

5. neuroticism

openness

practical, prefers routine, conforming OR imaginative, prefers variety, independent,

conscientiousness

disorganized, careless, impulsive OR organized, careful, disciplined

extraversion

retiring, sober, reserve OR sociable, fun-loving, affectionate

agreeableness

ruthless, suspicious, uncooperative OR soft-hearted, trusting, helpful

neuroticism (emotional stability vs. unstability)

calm, secure, self-satisfied OR anxious, insecure, self-pitying

social cognitive perspective

emphasizes the interaction of our traits with our situations— influenced by the interaction between people's traits and their social context

reciprocal determinism

the interacting influences of behavior, internal cognition, and environment

self-esteem

our feelings of high or low self-worth

self-efficacy

our sense of competence and effectiveness

self-concept

all our thoughts and feelings about ourselves in answer to the question, “who am i"

drive-reduction theory

how we respond to innerr pushes and external pulls; the idea that a physiological need creates an aroused state that motivates an organism to satisfy the need

sensation seeking theory

theory that sensation seekers display traits such as experience seeking, thrill or adventure seeking, disinhibition, and boredom susceptibility

self-determination theory

the theory that we feel motivated to satisfy our needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness

grehlin

hormone secreted by the empty stomach; sends "I'm hungry" signal to the brain

leptin

hormone secreted by fat cells; when abundant, causes the brain to increase metabolism and decrease hunger

facial feedback hypothesis

the tendency of facial muscle states to trigger corresponding feelings such as fear, anger, and happiness

yerkes-dodson law

the principle that performance increases with arousal only up to a point, beyond which performance decreases

arousal theory

focuses on finding the right level of stimulation