AP Psychology - Unit 6: Social Psychology

from Google Sheets, apologies for all the "'s everywhere that are extra.

Overall Terms

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social psychology

psychology of social influence on our behaviors

• study personal traits & dynamics -- leading different people to act differently

• study social influences -- leading same person to act differently in different situations

Attributes & Attitudes

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Attribution Theory

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& also, the THEORY of how one attributes factors to a situation/explains the causes of a situation's results; a common attribution theory is the theory of there being two types of attribution - dispositional and situational

dispositional attribution

crediting someone's behavior/a situation to the person's inherent nature

situational attribution

crediting someone's behavior/a situation to the situation that they are in

fundamental attribution error

error during attribution; when you overestimate the impact of dispositional attribution for others (people you observe) - i.e. you attribute situation and its results to their nature - and discount situational attribution (discounting the aspects of the context that led to the situation and its results); and (**ACCORDING TO MY TEACHER - technically this part isn't included) doing the opposite for yourself, where you attribute more of the situation to the situation rather than your own disposition

actor-observer bias

(very similar to fundamental attribution error; simply the "bias/tendency"; and TECHNICALLY adding on the part where it applies to yourself) tendency for OBSERVERS to underestimate the impact of an ACTOR's situation and instead OVERestimate the impact of personal disposition; and an ACTOR instead to lean towards situation for themselves while discounting personal disposition as much

self-serving bias

tendency for oneself to attribute one's SUCCESSES to personal traits or hard work (disposition and/or a job well done), but to attribute one's FAILURES to external factors out of our control (luck, unfairness)

• shows that we are often sensitive to the situation when it is for ourselves (kind of "displays" the self side of the actor-observer bias)
  (similar to actor-observer bias and fundamental attribution error, BUT this is about self-esteem and mostly yourself; has a connection but not the same)

Persuasion Methods & Cognitive Patterns

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attitudes

feelings, often influenced by beliefs, predisposing us to respond in a particular way to objects, people, and events

central route persuasion

using evidence & arguments, logical factors that trigger careful thinking to convince someone of your side; works for people who are naturally analytical or involved in an issue; more durable and thoughtful, less superficial

• e.g.: specifying all the good features of a product that are logical/needed for it, arguing about the causes of a societal problem

peripheral route persuasion

using "attention-getting" and emotional/irrational cues that trigger EMOTIONAL "snap-judgments" or feelings to convince someone; produces fast results, but not as durable/doesn't lead to systematic thinking

• e.g.: highlighting the fluffy features of something that are "nice"/trigger a desire for it, but not rational or needed for the product; using a celebrity or someone attractive to promote

cognitive dissonance

the discomfort felt cognitively/psychologically when 2 of one's thoughts are inconsistent (1 can be an action and 1 can be an attitude), OR when one's actions or reality/situation do not align with their internal beliefs about reality/themselves; people naturally want to resolve this discomfort

three potential steps to RESOLVE dissonance:

• change belief

• change action

• change action perception (count the action as an ""exception"" to the rule, or otherwise justify the action within the current belief)

foot-in-the-door phenomenon/technique

the tendency for people who have FIRST agreed to a SMALL request to comply later with a LARGER request because they have already complied with a previous, smaller request

door-in-the-face technique/phenomenon

persuasion strategy where a requester initially makes a large, unreasonable request that is REJECTED; following it up with a smaller, more reasonable (and representing the actual wish/desire) request leads to more likely compliance from the person they are asking

• norm of reciprocity, psychological feeling of a concession being made by the other person (we need to reciprocate with our own concession)

Social Influence

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Terms from Reading

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• good to know in general but idk

norms

understood rules for accepted & expected behavior; norms prescribe "proper" behavior

social contagion

the rapid & often unconscious spread of behaviors, emotions, attitudes, and beliefs through groups/social networks

chameleon effect (social contagion - behaviors)

human tendency (or animals' tendency) to, within proximity with others, subconsciously imitate others' behaviors; due to social contagion, but specifically related to behavior

mood contagion (social contagion - mood/emotion, individual)

human tendency to take on the emotional tones of others around us, inferred from expressions, postures, inflections of voice, gramar, etc (an individual taking on the emotions of another)

mood linkage (social contagion - mood/emotion, group-wise)

human GROUP tendency to share moods overall within a larger group/have a "dominant mood" that defines the group atmosphere

positive herding

the phenomenon where something that was already highly rated continues to receive even more positive ratings, at a higher rate than those that did not already begin with a positive rating
*effect of mood linkage, pluralistic ignorance

role

a set of expectations/norms about a social position that someone is in, defining how those in the position ought to behave

Unit Terms

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conformity

adjusting our behavior or thinking to concide/align with a GROUP STANDARD; does not necessarily require being part of the group, but generally taking notice of norms and (consciously or not) aligning ourselves to them such that we "fit in" the best

normative social influence

the pressure on a person and the conformation to others that results from their desire to gain APPROVAL and avoid DISAPPROVAL from the group

informational social influence

the conformation of a person to other people because they want to be correct and are willing to accept others' opinions/believe that they are more correct

obedience (social influence)

the conformation of a person to a perceived legitimate authority figure; tendency to follow rules, orders, and commands

social facilitation

IMPROVED performance on simple or well-learned tasks (tasks that you are GOOD at) in the presence of others/with an audience; strengthened performance in others' presence if you were already inclined to be good at it; amplified dominant behavior, but positive, with an audience

• often due to arousal ""pumping us up""

"
"social inhibition

EVEN WORSE performance on tasks that you are BAD at in the presence of others/with an audience; amplified dominant behavior, but negative, with an audience

• often due to arousal leading to amplified insecurity --> more likely to do worse

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social loafing

the tendency for people in a GROUP to exert LESS EFFORT (in ANY situation, not just in emergencies) when pooling efforts towards attaining a common goal, less than they would have if they were individually accountable

deindividuation

the phenomenon where individuals in a GROUP experience a loss of self-awareness, personal identity, accountability, and self-restraint; occurs in group situations that foster AROUSAL and ANONYMITY

group polarization

the enhancement of a group's PREVAILING INCLINATIONS through discussion within the group (and often an isolated perspective during discussion); beliefs of the group grow stronger as they are discussed with like-minded others, leading to an opinion polarization

"groupthink

the mode of thinking that occurs in a group when the DESIRE FOR HARMONY within the group overrides people's realistic consideration of alternative perspectives; people disregard other perspectives in favor of the one that most people are agreeing with because it is easier to agree with the group to avoid conflict

• often due to: overconfidence, conformity, self-justification, group polarization

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Social Relations & Interaction

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"just-world hypothesis/fallacy

a cognitive bias that believes that the world is ""inherently fair/just,"" where noble actions are rewarded and evil actions are punished naturally due to ""karma""; believe that ""people get what they deserve"" to maintain a sense of order, safety, and control

• common effect: victim-blaming as people believe that they ""deserved"" what came to them - helps people feel less bad about others' misfortunes

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"scapegoat theory

the tendency that individuals or groups, usually in groups, will find innocent & less powerful ""out-groups"" to blame for the main group's misfortunes; reduces tension and maintains our self-image by redirecting anger and pain to a scapegoat

• often leads to discrimination, violence

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contact hypothesis

when people DIRECTLY INTERACT (face-to-face), promotes cooperation, harmony, and lessened prejudice/discrimination/stereotyping/tension; works best when people are seeking similar goals and outcomes, and have similar social status

"frustration-aggression hypothesis

when people are frustrated, this leads to a psychological need for aggression or an aggressive inclination, which acts as ""catharsis"" if released; i.e., aggression is caused by frustration

• can lead to scapegoating

Crowd/Group Effects

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ingroup/outgroup (bias/theory)

favoring our own group and seeing them as unique and diverse/preferring ""us"", while seeing other groups in a negative light & as all the ""same"" to each other

• leads to favoritism, prejudice, stereotyping

bystander effect

the phenomenon where individuals are less likely to offer help to a VICTIM (usually something going on) when other people are present; the likelihood of intervention decreases as group size decreases

diffusion of responsibility

underlying psychological CAUSE of bystander effect; witnesses feel less personal accountability/responsibility because of the assumption that others will intervene, the effect of this increasing with the amount of people there

pluralistic ignorance

phenomenon where individuals privately reject a group norm/internally do NOT agree with it, but publicly conform to group norms and/or believe that everyone else is right (following ""group rules"") and therefore do the same thing as them

• can lead to collective inaction, because nobody actually thinks it but everyone thinks that everyone thinks it

• can also be underlying psychological CAUSE of bystander effect #2

Relationships

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reciprocity norm

fundamental social rule/NORM -- requires individuals to ""repay"" to others what they have received from them/to give back what others have provided; creates a sense of obligation to return favors, gifts, kind acts

• creates cooperation, but also facilitates door-in-the-face technique, etc

social exchange theory

the THEORY that social behavior & relationships are fueled by the perspective of maximizing the GOOD aspects that result from a relationship (so people act to get as much of this as possible from their relationships) and minimizing the BAD aspects that result from a relationship (so people act to get as little of this as possible from their relationships)
***PERSONAL PROFIT -- people want to make the most out of their relationships

• good aspects: companionship, money, status; people aim to maximize these, by choosing their interactions carefully and/or maintaining relationships that provide this

• bad aspects: effort, time, conflict; people aim to minimize these

interpersonal attraction

the positive drive/pull that people feel towards each other when they are attracted to each other; usually due to:

• proximity

• similarity

• physical attraction

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proximity

geographic nearness; literally physically being around someone -- MOST ACCURATE predictor of being friends; enhances interpersonal attraction

"mere exposure effect

the phenomenon that repeated (consistent, repeated) exposure to NOVEL stimuli (no preexisting notions about this stimulus) --> increases liking of the stimuli merely by being around them a lot

• e.g. preferring faces that are similar to your own or faces that are familiar to you

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similarity

sharing common attitudes, beliefs, interests; or other aspects like age, religion, race, education, intelligence, smoking status, economic status; tends to INCREASE interpersonal attraction & make it more likely for you to be friends/have a positive view of each other

physical attraction

feeling physically attracted to someone's appearance, often determining first impressions the most; best predictor of whether people end up becoming romantically interested in someone or not

"equity theory

the theory that relationships WORK/are BEST when people RECEIVE in proportion to what they GIVE to the relationship; i.e., the relationship is mutually benefitting both parties
***FAIRNESS for BOTH parties creates satisfaction; equal ratios of benefit in 1 relationship with 2+ people

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self-disclosure

relationships work best when people reveal intimate details and aspects of themslves to others; plays a large role in ensuring "equity" (equity theory); increases liking

positive support

positive interactions and mutual support for each other in a relationship; helps relationships work best

Cases & Experiments

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"Solomon Asch - Line Experiment

key terms: conformity, cognitive dissonance

study - experiment
1 true subject is surrounded by multiple (4+) confederates and asked to name the longest/largest line; the confederates answer incorrectly, making the subject feel uncomfortable and choose to answer the same incorrect answer (clearly while not agreeing) just to conform

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"Stanley Milgram - Shock Obedience Experiment

key terms: obedience (conformity to authority)

study - experiment
1 true subject is the ""educator/teacher"" who shocks a fake confederate learner every time they get a pairing of questions wrong; educator/teacher cannot see the confederate learner, but can hear them; almost 70% of the time, people went ALL THE WAY even to incredibly dangerous shock levels

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"Philip Zimbardo - Stanford Prison Experiment

key terms: disposition vs situation ""attribution"" (or more like actual cause); deindividuation, (groupthink,) learned helplessness, humiliation, ""foot-in-the-door phenomenon"" (slowly being coerced into doing bad things)

study - experiment
1/2 of subjects are pretend ""prison guards"" and 1/2 are ""prisoners,"" and they begin to act like their assigned roles, to the point of causing genuine harm/distress on others; disputed scientific validity and ethics

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"Darley and Latane/Genovese Effect

key terms: bystander effect, pluralistic ignorance, diffusion of responsibility

case where a woman (Genovese) was being hurt by a murderer at her apartment complex with 30+ people, and everyone heard it but nobody offered help or to call the police, because everyone assumed someone else would do it!