Ch 17: Prosocial and Antisocial Behavior

Unit 1 Affiliation and Attraction

Familiarity and proximity

choice is based on physical proximity, which creates frequency of contact between people (schoolmates, co-workers, neighbors)

Similarity

how much alike you are to another person in background, age, sex, interests, attitudes, ethnicity, beliefs, and so on

physical attractiveness

regarded as good-looking by others; halo effect is a tendency to generalize an impression to unrelated personal chacteristics which in this case means that a good-looking person is more likely to be seen as a “better” person

-Think of “pretty privilege.”

Reciprocity

a mutual exchange of feelings, thoughts, or things between people

Social Exchange Theory

Social exchanges: We unconsciously weigh social “rewards” and “costs.”

-seek to maximize rewards (love, support, money, status, fun, attention)

-seek to minimize costs (time, effort, money, conflict, stress, alienation)

-the rewards (pros) must outweigh the costs (cons) for relationship continue

Comparison Level (CL)

a personal standard for what someone thinks they deserve in a relationship, based on past experiences or social norms

Comparison Level for Alternatives (CLalt)

how the current relationship compares to possible alternatives. If alternatives seem better, a person may leave the relationship

Secure Attachment

• Caring, intimacy, supportiveness, understanding

• Regard self as friendly, good-natured, likable

• Regard others as well-intentioned, reliable, trustworthy 

Avoidant Attachment

• Fear of intimacy, tendency to resist commitment

• Aloof, suspicious, skeptical about love

• Regards others as unreliable or overly eager to commit

Ambivalent Attachment

• Conflicting feelings of affection, anger, emotional turmoil, physical attraction

• Worry that romantic partners don’t really love them or may leave them.

• Preoccupied with doubts

Evolution and Mate Selection (Biological Sexes)

Man

• Casual sex, younger, physically attractive partners

• Jealous of real or imagined physical cheating and infidelities

• Men tend to value youth and fertility

Woman

• Tend to seek those higher in status, economically successful (typically correlates with an older mate)

• Jealous of emotional involvement with others

• women may prioritize status, wealth, and resource provision

Unit 2 Prosocial Behavior: Helping Others

Prosocial Behavior

any action that benefits another person or society at large

Evolutionary forces

chances of survival increased when individuals lived in groups. even more so if the individual fits in with the group

self-oriented

improve own circumstances- there is alaways some personal benefit

• Stem from “egoism” 

other-oriented

do good for others with no self-gain whatsoever

• Stems from “altruism”

Bystander effect

unwillingness to offer help during emergencies

• often related to the number of people present

• Assumes someone else will help

• or that since nobody else is helping, it must not be an emergency

aggression

antisocial acts that directly harm another person

antisocial behavior

violates social norms and rights of others

things that are frowned upon by society (stealing, lying, cheating, etc.).

Bullying

behavior that deliberately and repeatedly exposes a person to negative experiences

Preventing Aggression

At the societal level:

• Reduce society’s exposure to real violence

• Increase exposure to prosocial behaviors

• Make basic needs accessible

At the individual level:

• Learn self-regulation strategies

• Problem-focused coping strategies

• Changing attributions for frustrating events

Frustration

• Prejudice as a form of scapegoating: Blaming a person or group for actions
  of others or conditions not of their making.

• Displaced aggression: Hostilities triggered by frustration and redirected
  at “safer” targets

Social Learning

• Can be traced to direct experiences with members of rejected group.

• It is possible to teach bias and prejudice; status inequalities encourages prejudice as well.

• Dehumanization: Belief that members of outgroups are less human.