social psychology- Final

Chapter 11-Sterotyping, Prejudice, and Discrimination

11.1 Explain the differences between Prejudice, Discrimination, & Stereotypes

Stereotype- the belief that certain attributes are characteristic of members of a particular group

Prejudice-negative attitude or response towards a group and its individual members

·       Negative feelings or attitudes toward an individual based on them being a part of a certain group

Discrimination-Unfair treatment of individuals based on their membership in a particular group

·       Unfair or biased treatment of an individual based solely on their being from a particular group

Prejudice is the thought, discrimination is the deed

11.2 Discuss the three theoretical perspectives that explains the concepts in The Economic, Motivational, & Cognitive Perspectives.

Theoretical Perspectives- why do stereotypes/ prejudices occur.

1.     Economic- one group has more material possessions than the other

·       Prejudice can be reduced when groups see themselves as working together to achieve a goal

·       Working together can benefit both groups

2.     Motivational Perspective- a need that leads to intergroup conflict

·       When someone views their group more favorably (in group) than “out groups”

·       An in-group is a group to whom you, as a person, belong, and anyone else who is perceived as belonging to that group. An out-group consists of anyone who does not belong to your group.

·       Think the idea of “us” v. “them”

Both Motivational and Economic perspectives can explain why people are more willing to help members of their own group but to be hostile to outside groups

3.     Cognitive Perspective- when we categized people in certain groups

·       Due to schemas about differences between ingroup and outgroup members.

·       Floyd Allport’s Cognitive Misers theory- describes stereotyping as “the law of least effort.” We spend our time developing complex attitudes about some things and sketchy beliefs for other/ most things.

11.3 Explain the differences between Overt, Covert, & Benevolent Racism and Sexism.

Two types of Prejudice that has taken generations to change are Racism and Sexism:

Modern Racism: decreases in overt discrimination over the past 50 years, prejudice continues more subtle, covert forms.

overt means “apparent” or “visible.” Covert means “hidden” or “concealed.”

Benevolent racism (or sexism)- Race and gender stereotypes often contain a mix of positive and negative sentiments

·       Sometimes positive stereotypes can be used to justify holding negative

·       One can claim to have both positive and negative stereotypes, to cover up that they only have negative stereotypes.

11.4 Explain Social Identity Theory with regards to in-groups and out-groups.

The major impact of Social Identity Theory is the idea of us v. them:

Social identity theory- a person’s self-esteem derives from personal identity, accomplishments and group standing. This theory implies that people will look through the Lense of us v. them.

·       self-esteem is based partly on status

·       may boost the status of our group members.

Basking glory- taking pride of other people in one’s group (think sports team)

Denigrating Outgroups to Boost Self-Esteem- we can boost our self-esteem by negative evaluations of out groups

·       can increase negative stereotyping and boost self-esteem.

11.5 Explain the differences between Automatic and Controlled Processing, and how they impact attitudes.

Social Information may be processed in two different ways:

Automatic Processing- Automatic, involuntary, and unconscious

Often based on emotional responses

Controlled Processing- Conscious, systematic, and deliberate

Controlled processing can override automatic responses – If we choose to expend the time and energy to do so…

11.6 Explain the concepts of Attributional Ambiguity, Stereotype Threat, & the Cost of Concealment

Social psychologists have focused on three burdens that come with knowing that others might be prejudiced against one’s group:

Attributional Ambiguity- is the treatment I receive because of my attributes or race

Ex: For instance, wondering if you didn’t get a job because you weren’t qualified or whether it was because of your race, gender, handicap, or similar attribute

Stereotype Threat- The fear of confirming the stereotypes others have about one’s group

Black students do worse on a golf task when it’s described as a test of “sports intelligence”; white students do worse on a golf task when it’s described as a test of “natural athletic ability

The Cost of Concealment-Members of stigmatized groups throughout history have often felt compelled to hide their true identity

Gay and lesbian individuals have often chosen to remain “in the closet,” light-skinned blacks have sometimes tried to “pass” as white, and many older adults get plastic surgery, tummy tucks, and toupees

Chapter 12-Groups

12.1 Explain what a group is & what unites a group

What is a group? What unites them?

Group- group of people who are interdependent to some degree on each other OR people who interact and influence one other "us"

What unites a group?  

1.     Interaction

2.     Common goal/ belief, values, practice

3.     Shared experiences

12.2 Explain the concepts of Social Facilitation, Social Loafing, Groupthink, & Polarization.

Social Facilitation- what effect does the presence of someone influence someone's performance

• Can have positive, negative, or no effect

• Can impair us on difficult tasks, but boosts on an easy task

Zajonc’s theory- the presence of others increase arousal. This arousal can increase an individual’s dominant response.

            Dominant response- the response that someone is the most likely to make in a situation.

·       For simple task/ well learned it can facilitate our performance

·       For difficult task it can impair our performance

A perceived Prescence can be more powerful than an actual presence

Social Loafing- extorting less effort when working on group tasks(ex: when I do all the work for the group).

            When do people loaf less?

·      When the task is challenging, appealing, the rewards are significant, team spirit

·      Bad apple effect- the presence of one “loafer” will cause the other people to “loaf”

Do groups hinder or assist good decisions?

• Everyone should bring a unique perspective

• Sometimes a strong leader will make all the decisions

• Calling an expert may be a good idea

Groupthink- which members of a group will conform to majority opinion to maintain group harmony rather than stating their own opinion.
Issues with group think:

1.     Having a strong leader that completely takes over

2.     Time constraints

3.     When a group is too cohesive (no devils advocate)

Self-Censorship- withholding information or opinions in group discussions

·       Think doubts and concerns

Risky shift- when a group decides something by consensus without much discussion

Minority Slowness Effect- people who hold the minority opinion in a group will express it less quickly than those who hold the majority

Defections from the minority- a person who is majority but becomes a minority, is more persuasive than someone who is constantly minority

Group Polarization- when a group of like-minded people reinforce each other's opinions, positive or negative, and these opinions become more extreme as they're discussed.

·       Persuasive arguments- come back

·       Social comparison- comparing self to others(drive is to be better than others)

·       Valuing risk-group decisions have greater risk

12.3 Describe the four types of leaders.

1. social leader- leaders who build teamwork and offers support

2. transactional leader- leaders who set clear, short-term goals and reward people who meet them

3. transformational leaders- leaders who inspire followers to focus on the long-term goals

4. task-oriented leaders-leaders who are more focused on getting the job done, rather than feelings

Ex: Stalin, general grant

5. relationship-oriented leaders- more concerned about feelings rather than getting the job done

12.4 Explain what Power is and how it affects those who have it and those who do not.

Power- the amount of control/ and or influence one person (sometimes a leader) has over another person (or group of people).

*The more power, the more a person thinks they are “above”

*More power, less cooperation

*Power makes people feel good

*Those without power act in the opposite way

Power includes authority, dominance, power, status

12.5 Explain what Deindividualization is.

Deindividualization- reduced sense of self identity, little or no self-regulation

·       Caused by feelings of anonymity and lack of accountability

·       Results in impulsive, antisocial behaviors

·       The larger the group, the more members lose their self-awareness

Chapter 13- Aggression and Conflict Resolution

13.1 Discuss the impact of the different forms of media, including video games and pornography, on aggression and violence.

Aggression- physical or verbal behavior intended to cause harm

·       Hostile aggression- physically or psychological harm

·       Instrumental aggression- indirect harm, more about motives

Aggression has five categories

1.     Internal- from within

2.     Interpersonal- between persons

3.     External- outside of a person, environmental  

4.     Self and culture- person v. culture

5.     Other- against others or society

What are internal causes of aggression?

·       Boredom, bad mood, stress, anxiety, depression, anti social. Tendencies, psychological issues, cognitive biases, paranoia, age, gender

What are external causes of aggression?

Weapons effect- if someone is holding a weapon on you, they tend to be more aggressive

• We look at wear the weapon is pointed, not in the face

• Certain objects (think rival gangs colors) will trigger aggressiveness

• Gang or gang warfare (us v. them)

Unpleasant environment- depending on the environment/ the person, we tend to be more aggressive  

·       Heat- hot weather and higher temperatures are related to higher rates of aggression. Leads to more violent crimes(summer months and places with higher temperatures)

·       Mass Media- Video games desensitize (the more and more realistic they become

-             The news (think hit and run, murder, assault)

-             Can lead to physical, sexual, and emotional aggression

-             Social scripts- think television shows (what we see on television people might try and reenact in real life

-             Social/ mass media

·       Copycat Violence- when people see acts of violence and copy those actions

·       Media violence- people will reenact violence that are found in the media

-             These acts can carry over into adulthood

-             More likely to be in prison 

·       Video game violence

-             People are having a hard time picking up social skills because of media, video games, etc…

-             Are becoming more violent

-             Increase arousal, aggressive behaviors/ thoughts

-             Decrease helping others and empathy   

Sexual Violence- distorted perceptions of sexual reality

·       Rape myth- women are more likely to give in to being raped after a certain period of tome

·       The more exposure to “violent” pornography increase behavior against women

Experiments studies show that repeated exposure to films

·       Decrease attraction for one’s partner

·       Increase affairs, and how men perceive women

13.2 Explain the difference between Conflict and “Peace.”

Conflict-  A perceived incompatibility of actions or goals.

• Incompatibility(difference) of actions or goals 

• Social trap

Peace- low levels of hostility and aggression

·       Peace is not the absence of conflict

13.3 Explain the Prisoner’s Dilemma and the Tragedy of the Commons.

Prisoners Dilemma

• It always seems that it’s the best decision to betray others rather than staying silent

• Do you remain silent, or do you betray?

• 3 categories of people that you don't want in jail with you: Former member of law enforcement, Child abuser, A snitch

Tragedy of the Commons

• Involves any shared resources

• Involves energy sources

• We are depleting our natural resources

Example:

At one point the U.S. had 4% of the world’s population and used 20% of the natural Resources. NOW everyone wants the same standard of living. But for the other 96% to achieve this everyone would use 480% of the available resources.

• We will start to see scarcity

13.4 Explain what creates Conflict and how we can achieve “Peace.”

Social Dilemma

The examples of the Prisoners Dilemma and Tragedy of the Commons are some social dilemmas (and or situations) that can create conflict
* these areas may cause people to display the fundamental attribution error

Non- Zero-Sum Games- win or lose situation. However, with cooperation both sides can win or both sides don't lose as much

Resolving Social Dilemmas/ Conflict

1.     Communication(main priority)

·       Hard to establish, therefore its best to have a third party. Third parties are important to keep peace

2.     Creating benefit that rewards cooperation

·       Must have an agreed set of rules

3.     Altruistic Norms-people’s desire to appear good and honest

 What creates conflict?

Competition

Types of conflict include: realistic group conflict, win-lose competition, negative images of outgroup, strong in group cohesiveness

Perceived injustice- people perceive justice as equity

·       Distribution of rewards is in proportion to the contribution

·       If a person feels cheated, this can create conflict

Mirror Image Perceptions- when we view ourselves(groups) as good and view everyone else as bad

Evil Leader-Good People illusion- viewing the enemy as good.

·       can be used to ignore evil

·       example: People in the West thought the Germans were peace loving people, but Hitler was bad

Simplistic Thinking- Not thinking about something from someone else point of view

Shifting perceptions- the same process that can create the enemy’s image can reverse it.

Misperceptions- of other motives and goals

*The seeds of misperceptions- self-serving bias, tendency to self-justify, fundamental attribution error, previous mistrust or misunderstanding.

How to cultivate peace?

1.     Friendship

2.     College or military- maybe the first time you have group interaction

3.     Equal Status Contact- an interaction or relationship with another person or group who is on the same social level as you.

4.     Cooperation

5.     Superordinate Goal – a shared goal that takes a cooperative effort

6.     Bargaining- seeking to end a conflict through direct negotiation

7.     Mediation- using a third part to resolve a conflict

8.     Arbitrations- resolution of a conflict by a neutral third part who studies both sides and creates a settlement

GRIT- “Graduated and Reciprocated Initiatives in Tension reduction”—a strategy designed to de-escalate international tensions

·       think of this as the baby steps used to compromise

13.5 Explain what the common mistakes in negotiation are.

• Expanding in fixed pie- thinking that one side has to win and the other has to lose

• When one side gives up in the conflict

• Is it to easy? What are the risks to giving in to quickly?

De-Escalating conflict- when both sides need to go more towards the middle

Undercutting Overconfidence- expecting one side to concede more than they do

 Reframing Negotiations- people respond differently to problems whether they are framed as gains or loses

·       People are more likely to choose between the small sure gain than a larger risker decision

Prosocial Behavior- the idea of doing something good for society without reward.

·       Altruism- helping others without return

·       Intentional

·       Benefits another person

14.2 Explain why we help others and why sometimes we do not help others.

The four hypotheses of why people help others:

1.          empathy altruism- helping others reduces stress(PUREST)

2.        empathy specific punishment-empathy is triggered by fear of punishment

3.        empathy specific reward- empathy is triggered by the need of social reward

4.       negative state relief- people help other people in hopes that people will help to relieve their own stress(LEAST PURE)

14.3 Explain the situational determinants of altruism.

Good Samaritan study- those who were not in a hurry were more than six times likely to stop v. those in a hurry

·      

Example of Bystander Effect

Catherine Susan "Kitty" Genovese's murder on March 13, 1964, caught the world's attention and specifically the attention of many psychologists. It was reported that 37 bystanders heard the commotion and failed to act. The incident led to several social experiments that explored what is now called the bystander effect.

Bystander intervention- recognizing a potentially harmful situation or interaction and choosing to respond in a way that could positively influence the outcome

Victim characteristics- some people are more likely to receive help than others

Diffusion of responsibility- urgency to help someone in an emergency thinking/ assumptions others will help.

14.4 Differentiate between Cooperation and Competition.

Cooperation- an essential human function. Must balance between the desire to cooperate with the desire not to be taken advantage of

* everyone does there part and works together toward common goal

Competition-people believe their goals are negatively related to other people's goals

14.5 Discuss where Social Psychology (and psychology in general) may be headed in the future.

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1. changes in climate change and public opinion on climate change

2. has their been any progress in race? Has views changed

3. What are the impact on new technologies?

4. our generation will be one of the first not to have a retirement safety net.

5. economic issues.