DINWIDDIE Unit 4 Study Guide

UNIT 4 SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY AND PERSONALITY STUDY GUIDE

ATTRIBUTION THEORY AND PERSON PERCEPTION

• Attribution Theory: Examines how we determine the causes of behavior and mental processes.

  • Dispositional Attributions: Attributing behavior to internal factors (e.g., personality).

  • Situational Attributions: Attributing behavior to external factors (e.g., environment).

• Explanatory Style: A psychological framework for explaining events.

  • Optimistic: Focusing on positive outcomes.

  • Pessimistic: Focusing on negative outcomes.

• Biases in Attributions: Distortions that affect how we see behavior.

  • Actor/Observer Bias: Tendency to attribute one’s own actions to situational factors while attributing others’ actions to their character.

  • Fundamental Attribution Error: Overemphasizing personality traits while underemphasizing situational influences.

  • Self-Serving Bias: Taking credit for successes (dispositional) and attributing failures to external factors.

• Locus of Control: Refers to the degree to which individuals believe they can control events that affect them.

  • Internal Locus of Control: Belief that one controls their own fate.

  • External Locus of Control: Belief that external factors control one's destiny.

• Person Perception: How we form impressions of others.

  • Mere Exposure Effect: Tendency to develop a preference for things merely because they are familiar.

  • Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: Expectations influence outcomes and behavior.

  • Social Comparison: Evaluating oneself in relation to others.

    • Upward Comparison: Comparing to those perceived as better.

    • Downward Comparison: Comparing to those perceived as worse.

    • Relative Deprivation: Feeling deprived when comparing to others who are better off.

ATTITUDE FORMATION AND ATTITUDE CHANGE

• Stereotypes: Simplified perceptions that can lead to prejudice and discrimination.

  • Cognitive Load Reduction: Using stereotypes reduces the cognitive effort in processing information.

• Implicit Attitudes: Unconscious biases that affect judgments and actions.

  • Just-World Phenomenon: Belief that the world is fair, leading to rationalizing injustices.

  • Out-group Homogeneity Bias: Tendency to see members of a out-group as more similar than they are.

  • In-group Bias: Favoring one's own group over others.

  • Ethnocentrism: Belief in the superiority of one's own culture.

• Belief Perseverance: Clinging to initial beliefs even when confronted with contradictory evidence.

  • Connection to Confirmation Bias: Focusing on evidence that supports existing beliefs.

• Cognitive Dissonance: Psychological discomfort from holding two conflicting beliefs, leading to attitude change.

PSYCHOLOGY OF SOCIAL SITUATIONS

• Impact of Social Situations: The context can significantly influence individual behavior and mental processes.

• Group Behavior: Being in a group can lead to conformity and changes in individual behavior.

• Prosocial Behavior: Actions intended to benefit others.

  • Social Norms: Unwritten rules about behavior.

  • Social Influence Theory: How attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors can be influenced by others.

    • Normative Social Pressure: Conforming to fit in.

    • Informational Social Pressure: Conforming because we believe others are correct.

• Persuasion Techniques: Strategies for changing beliefs and attitudes.

  • Elaboration Likelihood Model: Two routes of persuasion (explains how persuasion works through two different routes): central (involves careful consideration of logical arguments and evidence)(more durable change) and peripheral (relies on superficial cues like attractiveness or emotional appeal) (temporary change).

  • Halo Effect: Attributing positive traits based on a favorable initial impression.

  • Foot-in-the-Door Technique: Gaining compliance to a small request to lead to a larger request.

  • Door-in-the-Face Technique: Starting with a large request that is refused, followed by a smaller request.

• Research on Conformity and Obedience: Studies highlighting the influence of authority and group norms on behavior.

• Cultural Phenomena: Variations in behavior based on cultural contexts.

  • Individualism vs. Collectivism: The focus on self vs. group.

  • Multiculturalism: Emphasizing the value of diverse cultural perspectives.

• Group Dynamics: How group membership influences behavior.

  • Group Polarization: The tendency for group discussion to enhance group members' initial tendencies. It occurs when individuals adopt more extreme viewpoints after discussing an issue with like-minded people, reinforcing existing attitudes. 

  • Groupthink: A situation where consensus leads to poor decision-making. It happens when a group prioritizes harmony over critical thinking, often leading to poor decisions.

  • Diffusion of Responsibility: Individuals feel less responsible when in a group.

  • Social Loafing: Individuals exert less effort in a group setting. It refers to the tendency for individuals to exert less effort when working in a group than when working alone.

  • Deindividuation: Loss of self-awareness in groups leading to atypical behavior. It happens when people in a crowd lose self-awareness and restraint, leading to impulsive or aggressive behavior.

• Social Facilitation: Improved performance on tasks in front of others. It describes how the presence of others can improve performance on well-learned or simple tasks (e.g., athletes performing better in front of a crowd)

• False Consensus Effect: The false consensus effect is a cognitive bias where people tend to overestimate the extent to which others share their beliefs, opinions, behaviors, or attitudes.

• Superordinate Goals: Goals that unite different groups. It’s a big goal that two or more groups have to work together to achieve. It’s something so important that it helps people put aside their differences and cooperate, even if they don't get along.

• Social Traps: Situations where individuals act in their own self-interest leads to collective harm. It’s where individuals or groups act in their short-term self-interest at the expense of long-term collective well-being.

• Industrial-Organizational Psychologists: Focus on work behaviors and organizational efficiency.

  • Burnout: Exhaustion from prolonged stress.

• Altruism: Unselfish concern for the welfare of others.

  • Social Debt: A perceived obligation to help those who helped us.

  • Social Reciprocity Norm: Expectation to return favors.

  • Social Responsibility Norm: Expectation to help those in need.

  • Bystander Effect: A phenomenon where individuals are less likely to help a victim when others are present. (specifically in a emergency)

    • Situational Factors: The bystander effect is strongest in crowded settings, where individuals assume that someone else will help (diffiusion of responsibility) or  look to others for cues on whether intervention is necessary.

    • Attentional Factors: Influence awareness of the need to help. (If a person is distracted or focused on something else)

PSYCHODYNAMIC AND HUMANISTIC THEORIES OF PERSONALITY

• Psychodynamic Theory: Focuses on unconscious processes and childhood experiences affecting personality.

  • Ego Defense Mechanisms: Strategies used by the ego to protect itself.

    • Denial: Refusing to accept reality.

    • Displacement: Redirecting emotions to a substitute target.

    • Projection: Attributing own unacceptable thoughts to others.

    • Rationalization: Creating logical but false explanations to justify behaviors or feelings that might otherwise be unacceptable.

    • Reaction Formation: Acting in a manner opposite to one’s true feelings.

    • Regression: Reverting to an earlier stage of development.

    • Repression: Keeping traumatic experiences out of consciousness.

    • Sublimation: Channeling negative energy into socially acceptable activities.

• Projective Tests: Assessing personality through responses to ambiguous stimuli; explores the unconscious mind through preconscious vs. unconscious.

• Humanistic Theory: Emphasizes subjective experience and individual potential.

  • Unconditional Positive Regard: Accepting individuals without judgment.

  • Self-Actualizing Tendency: The drive to realize one's inherent potential.

SOCIAL-COGNITIVE AND TRAIT THEORIES OF PERSONALITY

• Social-Cognitive Theory: Highlights the role of social context and cognitive processes in shaping personality.

  • Reciprocal Determinism: Interaction of behaviors, internal influences, and environmental factors.

    • Self-Concept: Perception of self, shaped by interactions.

    • Self-Efficacy: Belief in one's abilities to succeed.

    • Self-Esteem: Emotional evaluation of self-worth.

• Trait Theories: Focus on identifiable characteristics that predispose individuals to behave in consistent ways.

  • Enduring Characteristics: Traits that contribute to personality stability over time.

• Big Five Theory of Personality: Describes personality across five dimensions.

  • Specialized Personality Inventories: Tools for personality assessment, often developed through factor analysis.

  • Traits:

    • Agreeableness: Measure of trust and kindness.

    • Openness to Experience: Willingness to embrace new experiences.

    • Extraversion: Levels of sociability and assertiveness.

    • Conscientiousness: Degree of organization and dependability.

    • Emotional Stability: Stability of emotional reactions over time.

MOTIVATION

• Theories of Motivation: Address factors influencing behavior and mental processes.

• Motivation from Physical Needs: Biological drives influencing behavior.

  • Drive-Reduction Theory: Motivations arise from biological needs.

    • Homeostasis: Body's tendency to maintain a balanced state.

  • Arousal Theory: The need for stimulation and optimal arousal for performance.

    • Yerkes-Dodson Law: Optimal performance at moderate levels of arousal; too little or too much impairs performance.

• Self-Determination Theory: Differentiates between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.

  • Intrinsic Motivation: Motivation driven by internal rewards.

  • Extrinsic Motivation: Behavior driven by external rewards; governed by incentive theory.

• Innate Instincts: Basic drives observed in both animals and humans.

• Lewin's Motivational Conflicts Theory: Describes conflicts arising from choices.

  • Approach-Approach: Choosing between two desirable options.

  • Approach-Avoidance: Choices with positive and negative outcomes.

  • Avoidance-Avoidance: Choosing between two undesirable options.

• Sensation-Seeking Theory: Preference for exciting and thrilling experiences.

  • Experience Seeking: Seeking new experiences for stimulation.

  • Thrill or Adventure Seeking: Motivation for risky and exciting activities.

  • Disinhibition: Willingness to engage in unconventional behavior.

  • Boredom Susceptibility: Discomfort from routine and monotony.

• Eating as a Motivated Behavior: Complex motivations that drive eating habits.

  • Hormonal Influences: Impact of hormones like ghrelin (hunger) and leptin (satiety).

    • Hypothalamus: Brain region involved in regulating hunger.

    • Pituitary Gland: Hormonal control center affecting appetite.

  • External Factors: Environmental influences on eating behaviors, such as social settings and availability of food.

EMOTION

• Theories of Emotion: Frameworks for understanding emotional processes and their effects on behavior.

• Expression of Emotions: How emotions are displayed can vary by culture and context.

  • Research on Universal Emotions: Investigating whether certain emotions are universally recognized and expressed.

• Commonly Experienced Emotions: Basic emotions that are universally expressed.

  • Anger: Emotional response to perceived wrongdoing.

  • Disgust: Reaction to something offensive or unpleasant.

  • Sadness: Response to loss or disappointment.

  • Happiness: Positive emotional response to favorable situations.

  • Surprise: Reaction to unexpected events.

  • Fear: Response to threat or danger.

• Emotional Expression: Cultural norms dictating how emotions should be expressed.

  • Display Rules: Unwritten rules on emotional expression according to social or cultural context.

  • Elicitors: Situations or stimuli that provoke emotional responses.