social psych

Social Psychology (defined)

• Social Psychology is the scientific study of how people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. This field examines the social context's impact on an individual, including interactions with others, social structures, and cultural norms.

Construal and central motives therein

• A construal refers to how individuals perceive, comprehend, and interpret the social world. Two central motives guide construals: the need to feel good about ourselves (self-esteem) and the need to be accurate (social cognition). These motives shape our interpretations and behaviors in different situations.

  • For example, in a disagreement, a person might construe another’s actions as hostile based on their desire to protect their self-esteem.

Gestalt Psychology

• A psychological approach emphasizes that people perceive objects not as individual parts but as wholes. This principle also applies to social perception, where individuals form holistic views of social situations rather than processing isolated facts.

Naïve Realism

• Naïve realism is the belief that we see the world as it truly is, without bias, while others who disagree are misguided or irrational. This can lead to conflicts in social and political realms because people assume their perspective is the only correct one.

  • For instance, two people in a political debate might each believe that they are the only one seeing the situation clearly, attributing the other's view to bias or misinformation.

Social cognition

• Social cognition refers to how people think about and process information regarding others. It involves attention, memory, and reasoning about social information and is influenced by cognitive biases and mental shortcuts (heuristics). For example, if someone meets a person at a party and forms an immediate impression of them based on their clothing, this is an example of social cognition at work.

Social perception

• Social perception is the process of interpreting information about others, such as their behavior, intentions, and emotions. Nonverbal cues, such as facial expressions or body language, play a significant role. An example of social perception is determining someone’s mood by reading their facial expressions.

Correlation (and coefficient)

• Correlation measures the relationship between two variables, where a positive correlation indicates both variables increase together, and a negative correlation indicates one increases while the other decreases. The correlation coefficient (ranging from -1 to +1) quantifies the strength and direction of this relationship. For example, a study might find a positive correlation between study time and exam performance.

Hindsight bias

• Hindsight bias is the tendency to believe, after an event has occurred, that one could have predicted the outcome beforehand. This "I knew it all along" effect often leads to overconfidence in decision-making.

  • For instance, after a sports game, a person might claim they knew the winning team would triumph even though they had expressed uncertainty before.

Ethnography

• Ethnography is a qualitative research method involving the in-depth study of people and cultures in their natural environment. It often involves observing behaviors and conducting interviews.

  • For example, an ethnographer might live within a community for months to understand their daily practices and social interactions.

Archival analysis

• Archival analysis involves examining pre-existing records or data sets to investigate social phenomena. Researchers might use historical documents, media reports, or census data to study trends or behaviors over time.

  • For example, a researcher could analyze historical voting records to study changes in political participation.

Sampling error/random selection

• Sampling error occurs when a sample does not represent the population, leading to biased results. Random selection minimizes sampling error by ensuring everyone in the population has an equal chance of being selected.

  • For example, if a researcher only surveys students from one university to understand college students' opinions nationwide, this could introduce sampling error.

Experimental method (DV, IV, groups)

• The experimental method involves manipulating one variable (the independent variable, IV) to observe its effect on another variable (the dependent variable, DV). Participants are often divided into experimental and control groups.

  • For example, in a study testing a new therapy's effectiveness, the IV might be the type of therapy (e.g., cognitive-behavioral therapy), and the DV would be the participants' mental health outcomes.

P-value

• The p-value indicates the probability that the observed results are due to chance rather than a real effect. A p-value below 0.05 typically indicates statistical significance, meaning the results are unlikely to have occurred by chance.

Internal vs. external validity

• Internal validity refers to the extent to which an experiment can establish a causal relationship between variables, while external validity refers to the generalizability of the results to other contexts or populations.

  • For example, a tightly controlled lab experiment may have high internal validity but lower external validity if the results do not generalize to real-world settings.

Cover story

• A cover story is a deceptive explanation provided to participants to disguise the true purpose of an experiment. It is often used to prevent participants from altering their behavior due to knowing the experiment's aims.

Basic and Applied research

• Basic research seeks to expand knowledge for the sake of understanding, while applied research aims to solve practical problems.

  • For instance, basic research might explore how memory works, while applied research could develop interventions to improve memory in people with cognitive impairments.

Ethics (informed consent, deception, IRB)

• Ethics in social psychology research involve obtaining informed consent (ensuring participants understand the study and its risks), using deception only when necessary (and ensuring it does not harm participants), and obtaining approval from an Institutional Review Board (IRB) to ensure research meets ethical standards.

Schemas

• Schemas are cognitive structures that help individuals organize and interpret information. They are mental shortcuts or frameworks based on past experiences and knowledge, allowing us to make sense of new information quickly.

  • For example, when you meet someone new, your schema for a "student" might guide how you interpret their behavior based on what you expect from students (e.g., they attend school, study, etc.).

Accessibility

• Accessibility refers to how easily information comes to mind. More accessible schemas, such as those activated recently or frequently used, are more likely to influence our thoughts, perceptions, and behaviors.

  • For example, after watching a horror movie, thoughts about danger may be more accessible, making someone more likely to interpret a noise as threatening.

Priming

• Priming is the process by which exposure to a stimulus influences responses to a subsequent, related stimulus. Priming can activate certain schemas, making them more accessible.

  • For example, if a person reads about kindness and then meets someone new, they might be more likely to perceive the person as kind due to the activated schema.

Self-fulfilling prophecy

• A self-fulfilling prophecy occurs when our expectations about someone cause them to act in ways that confirm those expectations.

  • For instance, if a teacher believes a student is intelligent, they may give the student more attention and encouragement, leading the student to perform better, thus confirming the teacher’s initial expectation.

Heuristics

• Heuristics are mental shortcuts that people use to make decisions and judgments quickly. Two common types are the availability heuristic, where decisions are based on how easily examples come to mind, and the representativeness heuristic, where people judge the likelihood of something based on how closely it matches a prototype.

  • For example, if you hear about plane crashes in the news, you might overestimate the danger of flying (availability heuristic).

Base rate information

• Base rate information refers to statistical data about the frequency of events. People often ignore base rate information when making decisions, focusing instead on specific, vivid examples.

  • For example, even though the base rate of plane crashes is extremely low, vivid news reports might cause someone to believe crashes are more common than they are.

Analytic vs. holistic thinking

• Analytic thinking involves focusing on individual objects and their attributes, which is common in Western cultures, while holistic thinking involves seeing the whole picture, including relationships between objects, and is more common in East Asian cultures.

  • For example, Westerners might focus on individual aspects of a person’s behavior, while East Asians might consider the social context surrounding that behavior.

Counterfactual thinking

• Counterfactual thinking involves imagining alternative scenarios and outcomes that could have happened but didn’t. This can be useful for learning from mistakes, but it can also lead to regret or dissatisfaction.

  • For example, after missing a train by one minute, a person might repeatedly think about what they could have done differently to catch it.

Planning fallacy

• The planning fallacy refers to the tendency to underestimate how long it will take to complete a task, even when previous experience suggests that it will take longer. This often leads to overly optimistic project timelines.

  • For example, students might underestimate how long it will take to write an essay, assuming they’ll finish it quickly despite past experiences of needing more time.

Nonverbal communication

• Nonverbal communication includes all the ways people communicate without words, such as facial expressions, gestures, body language, tone of voice, and eye contact. It plays a crucial role in social interactions and is often more powerful than verbal communication.

  • For example, someone’s crossed arms and lack of eye contact might signal discomfort or disagreement, even if they say they’re fine.

6 (international) emotional expressions

• Research by Paul Ekman identified six basic emotions that are universally expressed and recognized across cultures: happiness, sadness, fear, anger, surprise, and disgust. These emotions are expressed through facial expressions that are consistent across different societies.

Affect blends

• Affect blends occur when a person’s facial expression simultaneously displays more than one emotion.

  • For example, someone might simultaneously express surprise and anger by raising their eyebrows (surprise) while furrowing their brow and frowning (anger).

Emblems

• Emblems are nonverbal gestures that have well-understood meanings within a specific culture. Unlike facial expressions, which tend to be universal, emblems are culturally specific.

  • For example, a thumbs-up is a positive gesture in some cultures but may have offensive connotations in others.

1st impressions

• First impressions are the initial judgments we form about others based on appearance, behavior, and other nonverbal cues. These impressions are formed quickly, often within seconds, and can influence subsequent interactions.

  • For example, a person’s attire during a job interview might significantly shape the interviewer’s first impression.

Primacy effect/belief perseverance

• The primacy effect refers to the tendency for the first information we learn about someone to have a more substantial impact on our perception of them than the information we learn later. Belief perseverance is the phenomenon where people continue to hold onto their beliefs even after they have been discredited.

  • For example, if you learn early on that someone is kind, you might continue to believe that, even if they later behave rudely.

Internal vs. external attribution

• Attribution theory involves explaining the causes of behavior. Internal (dispositional) attributions assign the cause of behavior to a person’s character or personality, while external (situational) attributions assign the cause to external factors or the environment.

  • For example, if someone is late to a meeting, you might attribute it to their personality (internal attribution) or traffic (external attribution).

Covariation model

• The covariation model suggests that we make attributions about someone’s behavior based on three types of information: consensus (how others behave in the same situation), distinctiveness (whether the person behaves differently in different situations), and consistency (whether the person behaves the same way across time).

  • For example, if everyone is late to a meeting (high consensus), and it only happens when there’s traffic (high distinctiveness), we might make an external attribution (traffic).

Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE)

• The fundamental attribution error is the tendency to overemphasize internal factors and underestimate external factors when explaining others' behavior.

  • For example, if someone cuts you off in traffic, you might assume they are rude or reckless (internal attribution) rather than considering situational factors like an emergency.

Self-serving bias

• Self-serving bias is attributing our successes to internal factors (e.g., hard work, intelligence) and our failures to external factors (e.g., bad luck, unfair conditions).

  • For example, if you ace an exam, you might attribute it to your intelligence, but if you fail, you might blame the difficulty of the test.

Just world bias

• The just world bias is the belief that the world is fair and people get what they deserve. This bias leads to blaming victims for their misfortunes because it aligns with the belief that bad things happen to bad people and good things happen to good people.

  • For example, someone might blame a homeless person for their situation, assuming it resulted from poor life choices, even if external factors (e.g., systemic inequality) were more to blame.

Bias blind spot

• The bias blind spot is the tendency to recognize biases in others while failing to see one’s own biases.

  • For example, a person might criticize others for being politically biased while not recognizing their own biased opinions.

Self-concept

• Self-concept refers to the overall idea and understanding of who we are. It encompasses beliefs, values, and perceptions about oneself, including roles (e.g., student, parent), traits (e.g., introverted, ambitious), and social identities.

  • For example, someone might see themselves as a caring and responsible individual, which guides their behavior in relationships.

Independent/interdependent view of self

• The independent view of self emphasizes personal attributes, achievements, and independence, common in Western cultures. The interdependent view of self focuses on relationships and group memberships, common in Eastern cultures.

  • For example, an independent person might describe themselves based on their personal traits (“I am hardworking”), while an interdependent person might define themselves in terms of relationships (“I am a good daughter”).

4 main functions of the self

• Self-knowledge: Understanding oneself and one's motivations, traits, and preferences.

• Self-control: Regulating one’s behavior to achieve goals (e.g., resisting temptations).

• Impression management: Presenting oneself to others in a favorable way.

• Self-esteem: The positive or negative evaluation of oneself.

  • For example, when preparing for a job interview, self-knowledge helps you identify your strengths, and self-control allows you to stay focused. Impression management ensures you present yourself professionally, and high self-esteem boosts your confidence.

Self-perception theory

• Self-perception theory suggests individuals infer their attitudes and feelings by observing their behavior.

  • For example, if you frequently volunteer to help others, you might conclude that you are generous based on your actions.

Two-Factor Theory of Emotion

• The two-factor theory of emotion posits that emotions result from two processes: physiological arousal and cognitive interpretation of that arousal.

  • For instance, if you experience a racing heart after hearing loud noises, your emotional experience might depend on how you interpret the situation—if you perceive danger, you’ll feel fear, but if you think it’s a surprise party, you’ll feel excitement.

Misattribution of arousal

• Misattribution of arousal occurs when people mistakenly attribute their arousal to the wrong cause.

  • For example, if a person experiences an increased heart rate after exercising and then interacts with an attractive person, they might mistakenly attribute their physical arousal to romantic attraction rather than the exercise.

Intrinsic/extrinsic motivation

• Intrinsic motivation refers to doing something because it is inherently enjoyable or fulfilling, while extrinsic motivation involves doing something for external rewards, such as money or recognition.

  • For example, a person who paints because they enjoy it is intrinsically motivated, while someone who paints to win a prize is extrinsically motivated.

Growth/fixed mindset

• A growth mindset is the belief that abilities and intelligence can develop through effort and learning. A fixed mindset is the belief that abilities are static and unchangeable.

  • For instance, a student with a growth mindset might embrace challenges and view failure as an opportunity to learn, while a student with a fixed mindset might avoid difficult tasks to avoid appearing incompetent.

Social comparison theory

• Social comparison theory suggests that people evaluate themselves by comparing themselves to others. There are two types of comparisons: upward social comparison (comparing oneself to someone who is better off) and downward social comparison (comparing oneself to someone worse off).

  • For example, a student might feel motivated after comparing their grades to a higher-achieving classmate (upward comparison) or feel better about their performance after comparing it to a lower-achieving classmate (downward comparison).

Implementation intentions

• Implementation intentions are specific plans that people make about when, where, and how they will achieve a goal or perform a behavior.

  • For example, instead of just planning to exercise more, a person might create an implementation intention by stating, “I will go for a run every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7 a.m.”

Ingratiation

• Ingratiation involves using flattery or charm to make oneself likable to others, often to gain favor or approval.

  • For example, complimenting a supervisor’s work ethic to win approval is an ingratiation tactic.

Self-handicapping (behavioral/reported)

• Self-handicapping is a strategy where people create obstacles to excuse potential failure, thereby protecting their self-esteem. Behavioral self-handicapping involves actively sabotaging performance (e.g., procrastinating), while reported self-handicapping involves providing excuses for poor performance in advance (e.g., “I didn’t sleep well last night”).

  • For example, a student might stay up late the night before an exam to blame their poor performance on lack of sleep rather than their academic ability.

Cognitive dissonance

• Cognitive dissonance occurs when a person experiences discomfort due to holding conflicting beliefs or engaging in behavior that contradicts their values. To reduce this discomfort, people often change their attitudes or rationalize their actions.

  • For example, if someone values health but smokes cigarettes, they might reduce dissonance by downplaying the health risks of smoking.

Post-decision dissonance

• Post-decision dissonance occurs after making a difficult decision, where a person experiences discomfort about potentially choosing the wrong option. To alleviate this, they often enhance the attractiveness of the chosen option and devalue the rejected one.

  • For example, after buying a car, a person might focus on its positive qualities and downplay any drawbacks to feel more confident in their decision.

Justification of effort

• The justification of effort is the tendency to increase one’s liking for something they worked hard to achieve, even if it has drawbacks.

  • For example, if someone spends many hours training for a marathon, they might convince themselves that running is extremely rewarding, even if the experience was painful.

Counterattitudinal behavior

• Counterattitudinal behavior occurs when a person behaves in a way that contradicts their attitudes. They often change their attitudes to align with their behavior to resolve the resulting dissonance.

  • For instance, if someone initially opposes recycling but is asked to participate in a recycling program, they might later change their attitude to support recycling.

External/internal justification

• External justification involves finding reasons outside oneself for engaging in counterattitudinal behavior, such as receiving a reward or avoiding punishment. Internal justification involves changing one’s beliefs or attitudes to align with one's behavior.

  • For example, if someone lies to avoid hurting a friend’s feelings, they might use external justification (to avoid conflict), but if no external justification is present, they might change their beliefs to align with the lie.

Ben Franklin Effect

• The Ben Franklin Effect is where doing a favor for someone increases your liking for them. This occurs because, to justify the effort, people infer that they must like the person they helped.

  • For example, if you do a small favor for a colleague, you might find yourself liking them more afterward.

Terror Management Theory

• Terror management theory suggests that humans have a deep-rooted fear of death, which leads them to cling to cultural beliefs, values, and self-esteem to buffer anxiety about mortality.

  • For example, people might become more defensive of their cultural values when reminded of death.

Narcissism

• Narcissism is characterized by an inflated sense of self-importance, a need for admiration, and a lack of empathy for others. Narcissists often seek validation from others to maintain their self-esteem but struggle with criticism.

  • For example, a narcissist might react with anger or hostility if their achievements are not recognized.

Propaganda

• Propaganda is information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view. It often involves emotional appeals and persuasive tactics to influence public opinion.

  • For example, wartime propaganda might exaggerate the heroism of a nation's soldiers while demonizing the enemy to garner support for the war effort.

Hypocrisy induction

• Hypocrisy induction involves making individuals aware of the inconsistency between their actions and their stated beliefs, which creates cognitive dissonance and motivates behavior change.

  • For example, if a person advocates for environmental conservation but is found to waste resources, pointing out this discrepancy frequently may encourage them to act more sustainably.

Self-affirmation theory

• Self-affirmation theory suggests that when people face threats to their self-esteem, they respond by affirming other aspects of their identity to restore their sense of worth.

  • For example, if someone fails an exam, they might cope with the threat to their self-esteem by reminding themselves of their success in other areas, like sports or friendships.

Elements of self-evaluation maintenance

• The self-evaluation maintenance (SEM) model explains how people maintain their self-esteem despite others' success. It involves two processes: reflection and comparison. When others succeed in areas irrelevant to our identity, we "bask in reflected glory" (reflection). However, when others succeed in areas relevant to our identity, we compare ourselves, which can threaten our self-esteem.

  • For example, if a friend excels in a sport you don’t care about, you might feel proud, but if they outperform you in a shared hobby, you may feel threatened.

Components of attitudes

• Affective: Emotional reactions or feelings toward an object (e.g., fear of spiders).

• Behavioral: Actions or observable behaviors toward an object (e.g., avoiding spiders).

• Cognitive: Beliefs or thoughts about an object (e.g., believing spiders are dangerous).

  • For example, a person’s attitude toward recycling might involve positive feelings (affective), actually recycling (behavioral), and believing it’s beneficial for the environment (cognitive).

Explicit/implicit attitudes

• Explicit attitudes are conscious beliefs and feelings that individuals are aware of and can report, while implicit attitudes are unconscious associations or feelings that may influence behavior without conscious awareness.

  • For example, someone might explicitly express support for gender equality but have implicit biases that affect their actions in subtle ways.

Attitude accessibility

• Attitude accessibility refers to how easily an attitude comes to mind. Attitudes that are highly accessible are more likely to influence behavior.

  • For example, if a person has a strong, easily accessible positive attitude toward a political candidate, they’re more likely to vote for them.

Theory of Planned Behavior

• The theory of planned behavior suggests that attitudes toward a behavior, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control influence individuals’ intentions and, ultimately, their behavior.

  • For example, if someone has a positive attitude toward exercising, believes others expect them to exercise (subjective norms), and feels confident in their ability to stick to a workout routine (perceived behavioral control), they’re more likely to exercise.

ELM

• Central route: Involves careful, thoughtful consideration of the arguments, leading to lasting attitude change. This route is used when individuals are motivated and able to process the information.

• Peripheral route: Involves superficial cues (e.g., attractiveness of the speaker), leading to temporary attitude change. This route is used when individuals lack motivation or ability to process the message.

  • For example, a political ad that focuses on detailed policy proposals may use the central route, while one relying on catchy slogans or celebrity endorsements may use the peripheral route.

Yale Attitude Change Approach

• The Yale Attitude Change Approach examines the conditions under which people are most likely to change their attitudes in response to persuasive messages. It focuses on the source of the message (credibility, attractiveness), the content of the message (quality of arguments, emotional appeals), and the audience (individual characteristics like attention and intelligence).

  • For example, people are more likely to be persuaded by a well-spoken, credible expert than by a less reliable source.

Foot in the Door/Door in the Face

• Foot-in-the-door: Involves getting someone to agree to a small request first, which increases the likelihood they’ll agree to a larger request later.

  • For example, asking someone to sign a petition and later asking for a donation.

• Door-in-the-face: Involves making a large request that is likely to be rejected, followed by a smaller, more reasonable request.

  • For example, asking for a $100 donation, being turned down, and then asking for $10, which seems more acceptable in comparison.

Fear arousing messages

• Fear-arousing messages are persuasive communications that attempt to change attitudes by inducing fear. They are most effective when they not only evoke fear but also offer specific strategies to reduce the threat.

  • For example, a health campaign showing the dangers of smoking might be more effective if it also provides information on how to quit smoking.

Heuristic-Systematic Model of Persuasion

• Systematic processing: Careful evaluation of the arguments (similar to the central route in ELM).

• Heuristic processing: Using mental shortcuts or "rules of thumb" (similar to the peripheral route in ELM).

  • For example, a person might systematically evaluate a financial product by comparing interest rates or use the heuristic that a well-known brand is trustworthy.

Subliminal messages

• Subliminal messages are stimuli that are below the threshold of conscious awareness but may still influence behavior. While people cannot consciously detect subliminal messages, there is limited evidence that they have significant persuasive power.

  • For instance, a brief flash of the word “buy” in an advertisement might be considered a subliminal message.

Attitude inoculation

• Attitude inoculation involves exposing people to small doses of arguments against their position, which helps them build resistance to more potent attacks. It’s similar to how vaccines work: small exposure builds immunity.

  • For example, if someone is mildly exposed to arguments against recycling, they are more likely to refute those arguments when confronted with more potent anti-recycling messages later.