psych chap 11

social psychology

study of the effects of social variables and cognitions on individual behavior and social interactions

social cognition

explores how people select, interpret, remember, use social information; the way people think in social situations

personal perception

processes by which we use social stimuli to form impressions of others

stereotype

a generalization about a group's characteristics that doesn't consider any variations from one person to another

self-fulfilling prophecy

expectations cause people to act in ways that serve to make them come true

attribution

process by which we come to understand the causes of others' behavior and form an impression of them as individuals

attribution theory

views people as motivated to discover underlying causes of behavior as part of their effort to make sense of the behavior

internal/external causes

internal: traits and abilities; external: social pressure, social situation, weather

stable/unstable causes

is the cause relatively enduring and permanent or temporary?

controllable/uncontrollable causes

we perceive that we have power over some causes but not others

actor

person who produces behavior to be explained; explain their own behavior in terms of external causes

observer

person who offers a causal explanation of actor behavior; explains actor's behavior in terms of internal causes

fundamental attribution error

observers overestimate importance of internal traits and underestimate importance of external situations when they seek explanations of another person's behavior

false consensus effect

overestimation of the degree to which everybody else thinks or acts the way we do

self-esteem

the degree to which we have pos/neg feelings about ourselves

positive illusions

rosy views of themselves that are not necessarily rooted in reality

sedikides

many of us think of ourselves as above average

taylor

having positive illusions about the self is often related to heightened well-being

self-serving bias

the tendency to take credit for one's own successes and deny responsibility for one's own failures

stereotype threat

an individual's fast-acting, self-fulfilling fear of being judged based on a negative stereotype about their group

social comparison

process by which individuals evaluate their thoughts, feelings, behaviors, abilities in relation to others

festinger

theory of social comparison that when individuals lack objective means to evaluate their opinions and abilities, they compare themselves with others

attitudes

our feelings/opinions about people, objects, ideas

when the person's attitudes are strong

those whose attitudes toward the president are highly favorable are more likely to vote for their policies than those who only moderately favor toward chief executive

when the person shows a strong awareness of their attitudes and when the person rehearses and practices them

a person who's asked to give a speech about recycling is more likely to recycle than is an individual with the same attitude but hasn't put the idea into words or in public

when the person has a vested interest

people are more likely to act on attitudes when the issue at stake will affect them personally

cognitive dissonance

festinger. an individual's psychological discomfort caused by 2 inconsistent thoughts; hypocrisy

effort justification

rationalizing the amount of effort we put into something

self-perception theory

bem's explanation of how behaviors influence attitudes

hovland

elements of persuasion: communicator, medium, target, message

communicator (source)

trustworthiness and expertise are credibility characteristics that help change people's attitudes; other factors include power, attractiveness, likability

medium

technology used to get the message across; live images and digital media are generally more powerful than print sources for changing attitudes

target (audience)

age and attitude strength are 2 characteristics of audience that determine whether a message will be effective

the message

some messages involve strong, logical arguments, others focus on exciting emotions such as fear and anger

elaboration likelihood model

2 ways to persuade: central route and peripheral route

central route

engage someone thoughtfully with a sound, logical argument

peripheral route

non-message factors such as source's credibility and attractiveness or emotional appeals

foot in the door

making a smaller request at the beginning and saving the biggest demand last

cialdini

door in the face technique, involves making the biggest pitch at the beginning then making a smaller demand

inoculation

mcguire. giving people a weak version of a persuasive message and allowing them time to argue against it can help individuals avoid persuasion

altruism

unselfish interest in helping another person

egoism

giving to another person to gain self-esteem; to present oneself as powerful, competent, caring, or to avoid censure both from oneself and society for failing to live up to expectations

reciprocity

involves an expression of trust for another person and feelings of obligation and guilt

empathy

a person's feeling of oneness with the emotional state of another

batson

searched for proof that truly altruistic behavior does exist; empathy

market economy

require individuals to extend principle of reciprocity to strangers because a normal flow of business requires a certain degree of trust

bystander effect

darley and latane. the tendency of an individual who observes an emergency to help less when other people are present than when observer is alone

aggression

social behavior whose objective is to harm someone either physically or verbally; frontal lobes, low serotonin, testosterone

dollard

frustration-aggression hypothesis

frustration-aggression hypothesis

frustration, the blocking of an individual's attempts to reach a goal, always leads to aggression

what leads to aggression

frustration, hormones, frontal lobes, physical pain, personal insults, crowding, unpleasant events, environment

berkowitz

show how the presence of a weapon may prime hostile thoughts and produce aggression

cohen

examined ways in which some cultural norms about masculine pride and family honor may foster aggression

culture of honor

man's reputation is essential aspect of his economic survival, insults to honor are seen as diminishing his reputation and views violence as a compensation for loss

overt aggression

physically or verbally harming another person directly

conduct disorder

a pattern of offensive behavior that violates basic rights of others

relational aggression

behavior that is meant to harm social standing of another person through activities such as gossiping and spreading rumors

conformity

a change in a person's behavior to coincide more closely with a group standard

asch's experiment

conform to wrong answer even though yours is right because of group pressure

factors that contribute to conformity

informational social influence and normative social influence

informational social influence

the influence other people have on us because we want to be right; conform tendency depends on how confident we are in our own independent judgment and how well informed we perceive the group to be

normative social influence

influence others have on us because we want them to like us

klucharev

examined what happens in brain when people find out their opinions conflict with those of others using fMRI

obedience

behavior that complies with explicit demands of individual in authority; explicit demand to comply

milgram

shock experiment to test obedience; disobedience more common when people see others disobey, when authority figure wasn't perceived to be legitimate and wasn't close by, when victim was made to seem more human

burger

70% chose to continue study even when confederate asked to be released from study

zimbardo

stanford prison experiment; situational factors powerfully affect human behavior

deindividuation

occurs when being part of a group reduces personal identity and erodes sense of personal responsibility

social contagion

imitative behavior involving spread of behavior, emotions, ideas

social facilitation

occurs when individual's performance improves because of the presence of others

zajonc

presence of others arouses us which produces energy and facilitates our performance in groups

social loafing

each person's tendency to exert less effort in a group because of reduced accountability for individual effort

3 aspects of group decision making

risky shift and group polarization, groupthink, majority and minority influence

risky shift

tendency for a group decision to be riskier than average decision made by individual group members

group polarization effect

solidification and further strengthening of an individual's position as consequence of a group discussion or interaction

groupthink

impaired group decision making that occurs when making right decision is less important than maintaining group harmony; conformity and unanimity

social identity

the way individuals define themselves in terms of their group membership

deaux

5 types of social identity: ethnicity and religion, political affiliation, vocations and avocations, personal relationships, stigmatized groups

tajfel

social identity theory

social identity theory

social identity is a crucial part of self-image and a valuable source of positive feelings about oneself

in-group

invariably think of the group to which we belong

out-groups

a group that has special value in comparison with other groups

ethnocentrism

tendency to favor one's own ethnic group over other groups

prejudice

unjustified negative attitude toward an individual based on individual's membership in a group

examine prejudicial attitudes on 2 levels

explicit or overt racism and implicit or covert racism

explicit racism

person's conscious and openly shared racist attitudes which might be measured using a questionnaire

implicit racism

racial attitudes that exist on a deeper, hidden level; requires measures that don't rely on awareness like IAT

discrimination

an unjustified negative/harmful action toward a member of a group simply because the person belongs to that group

sexual harassment

unwelcome behavior of a sexual nature that offends, humiliates, or intimidates another person

task-oriented cooperation

working together on a shared goal; competitive and cooperative activities change perceptions of out-group

proximity

physical closeness is a strong predictor of attraction

mere exposure effect

the more we encounter someone or something, the more likely we are to start liking the person or thing even if we don't realize we have seen it before

consensual validation

explains why people are attracted to others who are similar to them

social role of view of gender

eagly. asserts that social, not evolutionary, experiences have led to differences in gender behavior

secure attachment

have positive views of relationships, find it easy to get close to others, aren't overly concerned or stressed about their romantic relationships

avoidant attachment

are hesitant about getting involved in romantic relationships and distance themselves from partner

anxious attachment

demand closeness, are less trusting, are more emotional, jealous, possessive

romantic love

passionate love, love with strong components of sexuality and infatuation, predominates in early part of a love relationship

berscheid

it is romantic love we mean when we say we're in love with someone; judges sexual desire to be more important ingredient of romantic love, men fall in love more quickly and easily

affectionate love

companionate love, type of love that occurs when an individual has a deep, caring affection for another person and desires to have that person near; as love matures, passion tends to give way to affection