my notes

  • conformity: adjusting your thoughts or behavior to align with a group idea or standard

    • asch’s study: 37% will report same wrong answer, and 75% will conform at least once

    • conformity drops when at least 1 person gives the right answer

  • why:

    • biological

      • mirror neurons

      • automatic mimicry/chameleon effect

      • evolutionary

        • follow successful patterns

        • gain allies

      • nonconformity activates “cold” sensory center of brain

        • feel chilly

    • psychological

      • belief that group must be right (informational social influence)

  • social

  • increases likability

  • fear of disapproval

  • more likely to conform if

    • you feel pressure to conform

    • group of 4 or more

    • group in unanimous

    • you are impressed w/ group’s status

    • you haven't already committed to another response

    • rest of group is observing you

    • your culture values respect for social standards

  • social norms: unwritten rules that dictate acceptable behavior

  • informational social influence: the influence to accept info from others as evidence about reality, often when correct action/belief in uncertain

  • normative social influenceL influence to conform

  • social comparison: process of evaluating oneself by comparing w/ others, often to assess one’s abilities

  • relative deprivation: feeling of dissatisfaction or injustice experienced when individuals compare themselves to clothes

    • envy

  • upward social comparison (perceived to be better off, decrease self esteem) vs downward social comparison



  • social facilitation: perform differently when in the presence of others

  • group polarization: when people in a group talk about an idea, they often end up agreeing even more strongly with each other, making group opinion even more extreme

    • ex: politics

  • groupthink: desire for harmony or conformity in a group leads to irrational or dysfunctional decision-making outcomes

    • members suppress dissenting opinions, leading to a loss of individual creativity and responsibility

    • can lead to bad decision making

    • don’t want conflict, can sacrifice creativity

    • agree because don’t want conflict

  • diffusion of responsibility: feel less responsible for taking action or helping in a situation when others are present, leading to a decrease in the likelihood of intervention

    • group text (longer wait time) vs direct message (instant response)

  • social loafing: tendency for individual to exert less effort when working in a group than when working alone

  • deindividuation: individuals lose their self-awareness and sense of identity in group settings often leading to impulsive and deviant behavior

    • stanford prison experiment

  • deindividuation and group polarization:

    • arousal (social facilitation) + anonymity (social loafing) = deindividuation



  • ingroups and outgroups

  • prejudice in not innate

    • learned, not born with

    • some patterns in human behavior to fall into prejudice trap

    • brain likes to categorize

    • evolutionary standpoint: ingroups and outgroups

      • enemy vs. friend

  • stereotype: generalized belief

    • oversimplified, usually not based on direct experience

    • reduce cognitive load

  • confirmation bias: tendency to search for, interpret, favor, etc. info in a way that confirms one’s preexisting beliefs or hypothesis

  • belief perseverance: tendency to old onto one’s initial beliefs even after that have been shown to be false, often ignoring contradictory evidence presented

  • self-fulfilling prophecy: when a belief about a situation or person leads to actions that make the belief come true

  • prejudice: unjustifiable and negative attitude toward a group and its members

    • negative emotions, stereotyped beliefs

  • discrimination: unjustifiable negative behavior (action)

  • implicit attitudes: subconscious beliefs that individuals hold about a person or group, often leading to automatic judgments and reactions without conscious awareness.

  • just-world phenomenon: the world is fundamentally fair, leading people to rationalize injustice or misfortune as deserved

    • defence mechanism

  • outgroup homogeneity bias: the tendency to see members of an outgroup as more similar to each other than they really are, often perceiving them as a monolithic group rather than individuals with unique traits.

  • ingroup bias: tendency to favor and extend loyalty to members of one’s own group over those in other groups, often leading to preferential treatment and judgement

  • mere exposure effect: repeated exposure to a stimulus increases an individual’s preference for that stimulus

  • ethnocentrism: the belief that one's own culture or ethnic group is superior to others, often accompanied by a tendency to view other cultures from the perspective of one's own.

  • collectivism: the practice or principle of giving a group priority over each individual in it, often emphasizing communal goals and responsibilities

  • multiculturalism: the coexistence of multiple cultures within a society, promoting an appreciation for diversity and encouraging equal participation and respect for different cultural backgrounds.

  • superordinate goals: shared goals that require cooperation among people, typically overriding smaller or individual conflicts and fostering collaborative efforts


  • altruism: selfless concern for the well being of others

    • leading to behavior that benefits others at a personal cost

    • intent: doesn’t necessarily benefit you

    • ex: anonymous donation

    • aka prosocial behavior

      • acting in ways that promotes welfare of others

  • we are more likely to help when the victim is similar to us

    • happy or guilty

    • not in a hurry

    • uncrowded area (bystander effect)

    • woman

  • diffusion of responsibility: people feel less responsible for taking action or helping in a situation where others are present

    • aka bystander effect

  • social responsibility norm: social expectation that people should help others who need assistance without regard to future exchanges

  • social reciprocity norm : the expectation that individuals will respond to each other's prosocial actions with similar acts of kindness or assistance in the future.

  • social debt: the obligation to repay acts of kindness or assistance that one has received, leading individuals to feel compelled to help others as a way of restoring balance in social relationships.

  • social trap: a situation in which individuals or groups act in their own self-interest rather than the common good, leading to negative outcomes for the collective.

  • prisoner’s dilemma: a scenario in game theory where two individuals must choose between cooperation and betrayal, with the optimal outcome occurring when both cooperate, but where individual self-interest may lead both to betray each other, resulting in a worse outcome for both.