social psych final review

What is the single most important characteristic that tends to determine attraction?

physical attractiveness

What is the dominant assumption of psychology today about interpersonal attraction?

people are basically hedonistic -- we are attracted to those whose presence is rewarding to us

What is the "what is beautiful is good" stereotype/halo effect?

there is a positive stereotype associated with physical attractiveness; attractive people are perceived to be happier, more successful, more socially skilled, more interesting to be with, and more intelligent

What makes someone physically attractive in general?

babyfacedness: big eyes, small nose, strong jawline, cheeks, big hair; face symmetry

What are the effects of self-fulfilling prophecies with attractiveness?

-People treat physically attractive people in a way that manifests what they believe about them-Synder, Tanke, and Berscheid (1978): men given a photo of someone attractive rated the woman more positively after a phone conversation (warmer and more interested)

What are the factors that affect attraction?

physical attractiveness, similarity, proximity, familiarity, contextual factors

What effects does physical attractiveness have on judgments (teacher evaluations, courtroom verdicts)?

-biases judgments-attractive people get higher ratings on evaluated essays-attractive people get longer sentences for swindling someone and shorter sentences for burglaries (penalize attractive people for using attractiveness in bad way?)-tend to give benefit of the doubt to the attractive person

How does attraction affect judgments of similarity vs. complementarity?

-we like people who are similar to us (values, attractiveness)-matching hypothesis (more likely to form committed relationship with someone equally attractive/socially desirable)

What is the repulsion hypothesis?

theory that similarity does not lead to liking, but that dissimilarity leads to repulsion

How does proximity/propinquity affect attraction?

physical proximity is an important factor in liking/attraction b/c sheer frequency of contact; more likely to form relationships with people physically close to us

What is functional distance?

influence of an architectural layout to encourage or inhibit certain activities, including contact between people

How does familiarity affect attraction?

the more you see something, the more you like it (if you didn't have strong initial leaning)

What is Zajonc's mere exposure effect?

-gave people novel stimulus and varied \# of times they were exposed-the symbols people liked more were the ones they saw more frequently-effect occurs even with subliminal exposure

Why does greater familiarity produce greater liking?

-resolution of uncertainty (if you have no feelings at first, with more exposure you gain familiarity and comfort)-role of the accompanying feelings of positive affect (what mood you're in)

When does repetition lead to greater disliking as opposed to liking?

negative stimuli -- if you have an initial negative feeling, repetition will usually reinforce your inclination

What are contextual factors of attraction?

context matter in terms of how we judge attraction

Explain Schachter's work on fear and affiliation (Dr. Zilstein study).

-female participants anticipate electric shock-high fear condition = shocks will be painful-subjects given choice to wait alone or with others-high fear condition had strong preference to be with other people (want social support, comfort)

Explain Aronson & Linder's gain-loss study.

-wanted to study effects of changes in evaluation of liking-how evaluations from other people affect how we feel about them-participants exposed to all positive evaluations, gain condition, loss condition, or all negative evaluations-people in the gain condition rated person highest b/c it felt like they "won them over"; loss conditions --\> rate worse b/c they more the person got to know them the more they didn't like them

What is ingratiation?

class of strategic behaviors designed to influence another person to like us more

What are the 4 major classes of ingratiation tactics?

other enhancement (flattery), opinion conformity (agreeing with them), self-presentation (make yourself seem like someone they should want to know), rendering favors

What methods can one use to make one more attractive/likable to another person? (while avoiding being viewed as a brown noser)

have a friend tell someone something flattering from you (seems more sincere), do favors for someone (making it clear there is nothing expected in return), self-presentation (find middle ground between arrogance and modesty)

What is the ingratiator's dilemma?

-how to do ingratiating behaviors without getting labelled as insincere (a "brown noser")-someone of high status has to be vigilant for ingratiation behaviors b/c more likely to be insincere

Explain norms of fairness in social exchange.

different relationships have different rules for what's fair; Alan Fiske's relational model typology (communal sharing, authority ranking, equality matching, market pricing)

What is Fiske's relational models theory? What are the four different kinds of relational styles and how do they differ?

-communal sharing: allocation according to need-authority ranking: follow a status hierarchy (usually business relationships)-Equality matching: norm of equality-market pricing: norm of equity

What is equity theory?

-resources in a relationship should be proportionately distributed based on how much someone has contributed-two factors that must be considered: comparison level (CL) and comparison level for alternatives

What is the equity theory formula?

one's outcomes in a relationship should be proportional to ones inputs to a relationship

What is the CL in equity theory? CL alt?

-CL = comparison level-your expectations about the level of outcomes you will receive in a given relationship-if O meets or exceeds your CL, you are satisfied-if O is below your CL, you will be dissatisfied-expectations can depend on history of relationships; is subjective

What is the CLalt in equity theory?

-CLalt = comparison level for alternatives-your expectations about the level of outcomes you could receive in an alternative relationship-if O is better than any CLalt, you are dependent on this relationship-if O is is lower than CLalt, you are not dependent and may consider leaving

What are attachment styles?

an adult individual's way of relating to others (particularly romantic partners); based on studies of infant-caregiver relationships

What are the different attachment styles?

-Secure attachment: PC is significant and consistent source of comfort-Avoidant attachment: PC not a source of comfort-Anxious-ambivalent: PC inconsistent and unpredictable source of comfort

How does a secure attachment style affect relationships?

-"I am safe, I am worthy, others are trustworthy and reliable"-trusting-comfortable w/ intimacy-it helps to turn to partner in times of need-don't worry about being alone or not having others accept me-tend to believe that others are reliable and see themselves as worthy of care and lovable

How does an avoidant attachment style affect relationships?

-"I am emotionally distant, I am skeptical, others are unreliable, I am uncomfortable being close"-unwilling to become close/share feelings w/ partner-"my desire to become close sometimes scares people away"-"I want to be emotionally intimate w/ others, but I find that they are reluctant to get as close as I would like"-fearful (recognize need for others but avoid them b/c untrustworthy)-dismissing (deny need for attachment)

How does an anxious-ambivalent attachment style affect relationships?

-"I am misunderstood, not confident, others aren't as reliable and loving as I would like them to be"-uncertain of partner's love-high anxiety-nervous when partner gets too close to them-prefer not to depend on others or have others depend on me-tend to cling to attachment figures or demand reassurance, fear that they are deficient or unlovable

What is the strange situation procedure?

-developed by Ainsworth to assess attachment in infants-unfamiliar room w/ parent --\> wait --\> stranger enters and both adults are there --\> parent leaves baby alone w/ stranger --\> parent comes back & stranger leaves --\> parent comforts child and leaves again --\> stranger comes back --\> tries to comfort baby --\> parent comes back

What is compassionate vs. passionate love?

-compassionate: communal relationship (monitoring and responding to another's needs)-passionate: intense emotion and sexual drive (romantic love); has a time course (starts intense and then grows into deep sense of intimacy)

What is Sternberg's triangular theory of love?

three types of love: companionate, compassionate, romantic (passionate)

Explain communal relationships vs. exchange relationships.

-communal: individuals feel special responsibility for one another and give & receive according to principle of need; usually long term-exchange: individuals feel little responsibility toward one another, giving and receiving are governed by concerns about equity and reciprocity; usually short term

Explain Rusbult's investment model of interpersonal relationships.

three determinants make partners more committed to each other: relationship satisfaction, few alternative partners, and investments in the relationship

What is the evolutionary/sociobiological approach to love?

-evolutionary theory claims that an organism's dominant motivation is reproductive success-males seek to impregnate as many females as possible-females seek males who have resources to protect them and their offspring, ensuring their survival

What is reproductive fitness?

-capacity to pass one's genes on to subsequent generations-we've evolved to prefer people whose physical features signify health (average faces, bilateral symmetry)

Explain intrasex competition/intersex attraction in terms of evolutionary theory.

-women invest more in offspring --\> more selective in mates-men don't invest very much --\> can be less committed to relationship

What was Dutton and Aron's "love on the bridge" study?

study on a bridge (scary and not scary), men asked to write a story by a pretty woman, given phone number --\> those in high arousal situation wrote more romantic stories and called back more times

What is Schachter & Singer's two factor theory of emotion?

-Emotion = Arousal + Label-key: to what source do we attribute the cause of our arousal?-this theory allows for the misattribution of arousal in ambiguous situations!

According to Schacter & Singer, how and when do misattribution affects occur?

-misattribution occurs when source of arousal is unclear-created ambiguous arousal procedure by informing correctly, incorrectly, not at all, and placebo-those who were told the opposite of injection's true effect (misinformed) used silly person as reference for arousal and experienced arousal as euphoria

What is ZIllmann's theory of excitation transfer?

-misattribution only occurs in a specific set of circumstances-key: conditions of residual arousal-when we think we're back to baseline and when we're at baseline are not the same

What are conditions of residual arousal?

subjects will transfer the arousal from the earlier source to the present source of arousal, and show an exaggerated emotional response (arousal is leftover from previous experience, contributing to greater arousal in subsequent event)

When are people going to show the most exaggerated reaction to an event?

-when event happens and there is still residual arousal, a person will give an exaggerated response (before and after --\> not exaggerated)-constrained to situations where you don't think an earlier event is influencing you

What is the feelings-as-information perspective?

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What is immune neglect?

tendency for people to underestimate their capacity to be resilient in responding to difficult life events, which leads them to overestimate the extent to which life's problems will reduce their personal well-being

What is focalism?

tendency to focus too much on a central aspect of an event while neglecting the possible impact of associated factors or other events

How does one define an act of aggression?

-definition is difficult-hostile vs. instrumental: aggression depends on underlying motive

What is hostile vs. instrumental aggression?

-hostile: behavior intended to harm another (physically or psychologically), motivated by feelings of anger and hostility-instrumental: behavior intended to harm another in the service of motives other than pure hostility (attention, wealth, advance causes)

What is relational aggression?

aka emotional aggression; women seem to exceed men; gossip, forming alliances, practice exclusion and social rejection

What is Freud's hydraulic theory of aggression?

we feel better after releasing aggression, reducing the aggressive urges that were building up inside us and making us less likely to lose control

What is the "culture of honor"?

culture defined by its members' strong concerns about their own and others' reputations, leading to sensitivity to insults and a willingness to use violence to avenge any perceived wrong

What are neural/physiological causes of aggression?

-predisposition to aggression: levels of testosterone, density of neural connections in frontal lobe-stimulate amygdala --\> hyper aggression (mouse will attack a lion)

What are some sociobiological explanations of aggression?

-evolutionary theory, everything is in service of passing on genes-promotes aggression to ward off threats to reproduction and aggression when offspring is threatened-certain kinds of aggression are selected for

What is the frustration-aggression hypothesis?

-experience of frustration is the impetus to aggression-strong view: every frustration --\> aggression (NOT SUPPORTED)-strong view replaced by cognitive neoassociationistic view - takes advantage of fight or flight

What are conditions of relative deprivation?

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What is displaced aggression?

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What is the cognitive neoassociation model of aggression?

aggression is a result of associative networks of an emotional state and consists of specific feelings, thoughts, physical arousal, evoked by frustrating events

What are situational factors that increase aggression?

-ambient temperature (heat)-physical pain-unpleasant associations (handicapped others)-cues to aggression (presence of weapons, etc)
**These magnify one's negative affect and couple w/ frustration --\> increased aggression.**

What is the "weapons effect"?

tendency to act more aggressively when a weapon is nearby

What is the hostile attribution bias?

tendency to overattribute hostile intentionality to others for ambiguous behavior
ex: relationally aggressive girl hears two girls talking about a party and assumes she has been deliberately excluded

What is Type A behavior pattern?

-always moving, walking, eating rapidly-feel impatient w/ others' pace-strive to think/do two things at once-cannot cope w/ leisure time-obsessed w/ numbers-display a tendency toward hostile aggression when they are frustrated in pursuit of their goals

What is Bandura's social learning theory?

-people learn aggression through observational learning-key: what kind of consequences are seen following the model's aggression?

What is the role of rewards and punishments in learning? (Bandura)

-children learn beahviors from models --\> behavior not punished --\> reduced inhibition toward that kind of behavior-learns that behavior maybe isn't so socially undesirable after al

What is negative reinforcement?

-aggression produces negative reinforcement-something unpleasant or uncomfortable is removed --\> increases likelihood of behavior

What is direct vs. observational learning?

direct learning: classical and operant conditioning (aggression is negatively reinforced)
observational learning: watching others and imitating what they do

Explain what happened in Bandura's Bobo doll experiment.

kids imitated the behavior of models and acted aggressively towards the doll

What are the effects of media violence on aggressive behavior?

-CORRELATIONAL data relates violent video games and aggressive behavior-many studies have found greater exposure to violent programming is associated w/ increased aggression-why? disinhibition, activation of aggressive response tendencies, modeling of aggressive behavior

What is disinhibition?

-reason why TV violence is associated w/ aggression-people feel that the aggression is justified b/c its a means to an end-violence is justified in movies b/c its against the bad guys --\> communicates that things we are taught we're not supposed to do are ok in certain situations

What is desensitization?

response is repeatedly elicited in situations where the action tendency that arises out of the emotion proves to be irrelevant
ex: desensitized to violence b/c played so many video games

What are modeling effects?

-people see the potential rewards when aggressive behavior is modeled-illustrated by David Phillips' work (sociologist who studied Werther effect)

Explain David Phillips' work on suicide.

-after a suicide story makes front page news, the \# of people who die in commercial airline crashes increases by 1000%-came up with Werther Effect-showed that the effect was not due to social conditions (region specific) or bereavement (specific to type of story)

What is the Werther effect?

-after a suicide story makes front page news, the \# of people who die in commercial airline crashes increases by 1000%-Phillips says that these events aren't accidents -- they're actually suicides avoiding the stigma of suicide-maybe people imitate far more than we think they do

What are the effects of violent pornography?

-distortion of perceptions of reality-changes in attitudes toward violence (more accepting, desensitized)

What two measures are used to measure belief changes in relation to violent pornography?

-acceptance of interpersonal violence toward woman scale (ex: being roughed up is sexually stimulating to many women)-rape myth acceptance scale (ex: many women have an unconscious wish to be raped)

What are effective methods of defusing anger?

-incongruent emotions (empathy): misattribution effects -- people interpret emotions as anger-find other ways to channel emotional reactions (misattribute it beneficially)

How effective is punishment as a deterrent?

not effective b/c it teaches you that it's okay to act aggressively too (punisher is acting aggressively)

What is catharsis? Is it effective for deterring aggression?

-theory: need to vent aggressive impulses-blowing off steam in more socially appropriate ways-not effective! all this is really doing is priming aggressive thinking!

How does one build empathy?

put yourself in someone else's position

What are the evolutionary/sociobiological explanations for prosocial behavior?

sociobiological: kin selection, reciprocal helpingevolutionary: inclusive fitness

What is inclusive fitness?

fitness of an individual is based on reproductive success and the passing of one's own genes and those of relative to future generations

What is kin selection?

want to ensure that those related to you survive; we are most likely to offer assistance to those related to you

What is reciprocal helping?

helping others with the expectation that they will probably return the favor in the future; increases chances of survival and reproduction for all parties

What are the effects of mood on helping?

-positive mood: more likely to help others; primes positive thoughts and memories; more optimistic; see others more favorably
-negative mood: varies as a function of type of negative mood; want to get out of negative mood --\> will help others to improve their mood (negative state relief hypothesis)
*angry negative mood is not likely to help, sad and guilty do promote helping

What is social exchange/cost benefit analysis? (social exchange model)

-people compare rewards vs. costs of helping/not helping in any given situation-people will do things to maximize rewards

What are the effects of self-awareness on helping?

-people made to feel self-aware follow their norms and self-guides-helpfulness is part of most people's standards-make more self-aware --\> more likely to help

What is the empathy-altruism view?

there is a distinction between helping motivated out of personal distress vs. empathic concern

What is the distinction between personal distress and empathic concern?

personal distress: helping is motivated by concern about your own discomfort
empathic concern: helping is motivated by concern about the other persons discomfort

What is Batson's work (Elaine study)?

-tested participants willingness to switch places with "Elaine" and receive the shocks instead-two manipulations: empathic concern and ease of escape-predictions: egoism (only help when escape is difficult) or empathy (will help regardless when empathy is high)

What are norms affecting helping?

norm of social responsibility and just world theory

What is the norm of social responsibility?

we have been given a lot, feel like we should give to those who haven't

What is the just world hypothesis?

thinking that people get what they deserve and that bad outcomes are brought about by bad or incompetent people

What are modeling effects on helping?

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Situational factors play a large role in affecting helping behavior. What are the important factors?

-urban vs. rural-presence of other bystanders

How does the setting affect helping behavior?

people in rural areas are more helpful; most predictive based on where person is currently living, not where they grew up

How does the presence of other bystanders affect helping behavior?

-bystander effect: people are less likely to help when others are around-due to diffusion of responsibility and ambiguous situations

What are the 5 stages of Latane and Darley's model of bystander intervention?

1. notice the event (obstacle = distraction)2. interpret the event as an emergency (obstacle = pluralistic ignorance)3. assume responsibility in the situation (obstacle = diffusion of responsibility)4. knowing how to help (obstacle = perceived competence)5. deciding to implement help (obstacle = evaluation apprehension)
**all 5 must be completed for someone to offer assistance in situations