Studied by 9 people
cross-cultural products
Cultural products such as advertisements illustrate cross-cultural differences in views of the self and others. Eastern countries more likely to show fitting in with group.
cultural products
Goods and services that include the arts (performing arts, visual arts, architecture), heritage conservation (museums, galleries, libraries), the cultural industries (written media, broadcasting, film, recording), and festivals.
Social psychology
The scientific study of how people think about, influence and relate to one another, the way people's thoughts, feelings and behaviours are influenced by the real or imagined presence of people
Social influence
The effect that the words, actions or mere presence of other people have on our thoughts, feelings, attitudes or behaviours
Personality pscyhology
focuses on individual differences
Fundamental attribution error
The tendency to explain our own and other person's behaviour entirely in terms of personality traits
What happens when we underestimate the power of social influence?
Gain a feeling of false security Increases personal vulnerability Lowering our guard
What happens when we fail to appreciate the power of the situation
Oversimplify complex situations Decrease understanding of the true causes Blaming victim when people are overpowered by social forces
Social cognition motive
Trying to gain accurate understandings so we can make effective judgements and decisions
Social cognition
how people think about themselves and the social world - how people select, interpret, remember and use social information to make judgements and decisions
Automatic thinking
Thought that is unconscious, unintentional, involuntary and effortless
How do schemas affect automatic thinking?
Schemas are mental structures use to organise the social world around themes or subjects, helps us to organise and interpret new situations.
What are the types of automatic thinking?
Automatic goal pursuit (priming with religious words --> religious) Automatic decision making (choosing the best apartment) Automatic thinking and metaphors (smelling something clean --> more trusting stranger) Judgemental heuristics - mental shortcuts (mental shortcuts people use to make judgements quickly and efficiently)
Stereotypes
cluster of characteristics that are attributed to members of a specific social group or category
types of schemas
Person schema (behave certain way), content-free schema (making assumptions about certain things that don't actually exist), self schema (how we view ourselves), script schema (what happens in a class), role schema
How do we determine which schema to use?
Accessibility - schemas are at the forefront of people's minds Priming - the effect of recent experiences increases the accessibility of a schema
How do we form impressions of others?
Stereotypes, social schemas, self-fulfilling prophecy
Korsakov syndrome
People with this disorder lose the ability to form new memories and must approach every situation as if they were encountering it for the first time
Self-fulfilling prophecy
where people have an expectation about what another person is like, influencing how they act towards that person
cognitive shortcuts
Representative heuristics - estimating the likelihood of an event comparing it to an existing prototype that already exists Availability heuristics - relies on immediate examples that comes to a person's mind. Anchoring - adjusting beliefs based off an initial idea All based on other people and ourselves.
schemas
cognitive structures we use to organize our knowledge of the social world.
social-cognitive learning
we learn to aggress by observing and imitating others.
belief perserverance
tendency to cling to one's initial belief even after receiving new information that contradicts or disconfirms the basis of that belief.
Controlled thinking
thinking that is conscious, intentional, voluntary and effortful
Conformity
change in one's behaviour due to the real or imagined influence of other people
Why do people conform?
Confusing or unusual situation Behaviour of people around us Don't want to be ridiculed or punished Acceptance by a group
What is informational social influence?
Conforming because we see others as a source of information to guide our behaviour
When will people conform to informational social influence?
Ambiguous situation Crisis situation When other people are experts
How does normative social influence motivate people to conform?
Social norms - implicit or explicit rules a group has Normative social influence - going along with what other people do in order to be liked and accepted
How can people use their knowledge of social influence to influence others?
Injunctive norms - people's perception of what behaviours are approved and disapproved by others Descriptive norms - people's perceptions of how people actually behave in given situations
What are some examples of compliance techniques
Foot in the door Door in the face Propaganda
Social perception
The study of how we form impressions of and make inferences about other people
Nonverbal communication
how people communicate, intentionally or unintentionally, without words. encode -> decode
emblem
Non-verbal gestures that have well understood definitions within a given culture
Attribution theory
The way in which people explain the causes of their own and other people's behaviour
internal attribution
the inference that a person is behaving in a certain way because of something about the person, such as attitude, character, or personality
external attribution
The inference that a person is behaving a certain way because of something about the situation he or she is in; the assumption is that most people would respond the same way in that situation
Self concept
the overall set of beliefs that people have about their personal attributes
independent view of the self
a way of defining oneself in terms of one's own internal thoughts, feelings, and actions and not in terms of the thoughts, feelings, and actions of other people
interdependent view of the self
a way of defining oneself through relationship to other people
self-serving bias
internal factors for success, external for failure
two-factor theory of emotion
experience physiological arousal, then seek appropriate explanation
group polarisation
tendency of groups to make decisions that are more extreme than the initial inclinations of their members. persuasive arguments and social comparison
realistic conflict theory
The idea that limited resources lead to conflict between groups and result in increased prejudice/ discrimination.
steps to helping
Noticing an event.
Interpreting the event as an emergency.
Assuming responsibility.
Knowing appropriate form of assistance.
Implementing decision to intervene.
What are the functions of the self?
Self knowledge Self control Impression management Self-esteem
introspection
The process whereby people look inward an examine their own thoughts, feelings and motives
self-awareness theory
the idea that when people focus their attention on themselves, they evaluate and compare their behaviour to their internal standards and values
Intrinsic motivation
Engage in activity because of enjoyment and interest
Extrinsic motivation
Engage in an activity because of external reasons
social comparison theory
The idea that we learn about our own abilities and attitudes by comparing ourselves to other people
When do we engage in social comparison
No objective standard exists to measure against Uncertainty
What is upward social comparison?
Comparing to people who are better on a particular ability, aspiring up
What is downward social comparison?
comparing to people who are worse on a particular trait or ability, feeling better about yourself
social tuning
the process whereby people adopt another person's attitudes
self control
making choices about present and plans for the future. like muscle, practice helps, gets worn out
How do we improve self control?
Believing willpower is an unlimited resource Prayer
What is impression management?
Attempt by people to get others to see them as they want to be seen
What is self handicapping?
creating obstacles to successful performance in order to have an excuse if failure occurs (ex. helping a friend instead of studying for a test)
What are the types of self handicapping
Behavioural self-handicapping Reported self-handicapping
behavioural self-handicapping
People act in ways that reduce the likelihood of success so that if they fail, they can blame it on obstacles rather than ability
reported self-handicapping
rather than creating obstacles to success, people devise ready-made excuses in case they fail
self-esteem
how you feel about yourself
What is a group?
two or more people who interact and are interdependent in the sense that their needs and goals cause them to influence each other
What are the benefits of a group?
Important source of information Aspect of identity Establishment of social norms and social roles
What is group cohesiveness?
qualities of a group that bind members together and promote liking between members
What are the benefits of group cohesiveness?
Stay in the group Participation Recruit new like-minded members
social facilitation
People do better on simple tasks, and worse on complex tasks, when they are in the presence of others and their individual performance can be evaluated
social loafing
People do worse on simpler tasks but better on complex tasks when they are in the presence of others and their individual performances cannot be evaluated
deindividuation
loosening of normal constraints on behaviour when people can't be differentiated
What are examples of deindividuation?
Mobs of soccer fans attacking one another Hysterical fans at rock concerts Lynching of African Americans
Why does deindividuation lead to impulsive acts?
Makes people feel less accountable Increase obedience to group norms
Why do some groups not work?
Finding out who the competent member is Competent member - hard to disagree with everyone Communication problems
groupthink
a kind of thinking in which maintaining group cohesiveness and solidarity is more important than considering the facts in a realistic manner
When does groupthink occur?
Highly cohesive Isolated from contrary options Directive leader
What are some methods of avoiding groupthink?
Remain impartial Seek outside opinions Create subgroups Seek anonymous opinions
transactional leaders
leaders who set clear, short-term goals and reward people who meet them
transformational leaders
leaders who inspire followers to focus on common, long-term goals
social dilemma
a conflict in which the most beneficial action for an individual will, if chosen by most people, have harmful effects on everyone
negotiation
A form of communication between opposing sides in a conflict in which offers and counteroffers are made and a solution occurs only when both parties agree
prosocial behaviour
The phenomenon of people helping each other with no thought of reward or compensation
Why do people help?
Evolutionary psychology Reciprocity Norm
altruism
the desire to help another person even if it involves a cost to the helper
When will people help?
Immediate surroundings Urban overload hypothesis Residential mobility - community based
How do we increase helping behaviour?
Increasing volunteerism Positive psychology Human virtues Increase skills and confidence
prejudice
a hostile or negative attitude toward people in a distinguishable group, based solely on their membership in that group.
What is prejudice based on?
Nationality Racial and ethnic identity Gender Sexual orientation Religion Appearance Physical state Weight
What are the three components of prejudice?
Cognitive Affective Behavioural
What is the cognitive component of prejudice?
Beliefs or thoughts that causes stereotypes
What is the affective component of prejudice?
Emotion linked with attitude
What is the behavioural component of prejudice?
Taking action --> discrimination
normative conformity
The strong tendency to go along with the group in order to fulfill the group's expectations and gain acceptance
blaming the victim
The tendency to blame individuals for their victimisation, is typically motivated by a desire to see the world as a fair place
How do we reduce prejudice?
Information Disconfirming evidence Contact hypothesis
contact hypothesis
the idea that prejudice will disappear if we just bring groups in contact with each other
six conditions of contact
Mutual interdependence Common goal Equal status Friendly, informal setting Knowing multiple out-group members Social norms of equality
attitudes
evaluations of people, objects, and ideas
cognitively based attitude
An attitude that allows us to classify the pros and cons of an object so that we can quickly determine whether we want to have anything to do with it.
affectively based attitude
An attitude based more on people's feelings and values than on their beliefs about the nature of an attitude object.
What are positive attitudes?
Result in positive outcomes, focusing on the good in people and situations
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