PSYC140 Final Prep

Week 1: What is Social Psychology?

• Definition: The scientific study of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of individuals in social situations (real or imagined).

• Levels of Analysis:

  • Which levels of analysis have been discussed in class (e.g., individual, group)?

• Goal of Social Psychology:

  • Define, explain, and predict phenomena. Understanding social psychology helps us predict and influence behaviors in real-life situations.

Week 1: Research Methods in Social Psychology

• Importance of Research Methods: Even if not pursuing a research career, knowing these methods helps in critically assessing research.

• Scientific Method:

  • Observation > Explanation > Hypothesis > Research (collect data, analyze, make conclusions)

• Types of Research:

  • Correlational, Experimental, Observational, Archival

  • Experimental Requirements: Control group, manipulation of variables, random assignment.

• Basic vs. Applied Research: Basic research advances knowledge, while applied research solves practical problems.

• Validity:

  • Internal, External, and Construct Validity

• Reliability and Ethics:

  • Informed consent, minimize harm, debriefing, compensation

  • Oversight by an ethics committee.

Week 2: Self + Identity, The Social Self

• Self-Concept:

  • Self-concept clarity, complexity, verification, working self-concept, situationism

• Schemas: Mental structures that guide the processing of self-relevant information.

• Self-Presentation:

  • Controlling or monitoring how we present ourselves to create a desired impression.

  • Example: Multiple Audience Problem (acting differently with friends, family, coworkers).

• Origins of Self-Knowledge:

  • Socializing Agents, Reflected Self-Appraisal (Looking-Glass Self), Social Comparison, Introspection, and Culture.

• Self-Esteem:

  • Global evaluation of oneself (different from self-concept).

  • Sources: Social approval, personal traits, media, childhood/family, etc.

  • Trait vs. State Self-Esteem

  • Sociometer Theory and Self-Evaluation Maintenance Model (maintaining self-esteem through social comparison).

Week 2: Becoming Your “Best Self”

• Self-Discrepancy Theory:

  • Actual vs. Ideal vs. Ought selves

• Self-Regulation:

  • Delayed gratification, implementation intentions, abstract vs concrete goals.

Week 2: Social Cognition - Self-Concept Cognition

• Self-Enhancement:

  • Better-Than-Average Effect, Positive Illusions

• Cognitive Biases:

  • Confirmation Bias, Hot Cognition, Motivated Skepticism, Egocentric Bias

• Attributions:

  • Fundamental Attribution Error (overestimating dispositional factors, underestimating situational factors).

Week 3: Social Comparison

• Social Comparison Theory (Festinger):

  • Self-evaluation and self-enhancement strategies

• Types of Comparison:

  • Attitudes, beliefs, ability, or performance.

  • Upward and Downward Comparison

  • N-effect and Frog Pond Phenomenon (size of group matters).

Week 4: Attitudes, Persuasion, Conformity, Social Influence

• Attitudes:

  • Implicit vs. Explicit Attitudes

  • Measured via surveys, IAT (Implicit Association Test)

  • Ajzen & Fishbein Model of predicting behavior.

• Cognitive Dissonance:

  • Occurs when our actions conflict with our attitudes (e.g., insufficient justification, post-decisional dissonance).

Week 4: Persuasion

• Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM):

  • Central vs. Peripheral Route Processing

• Persuasive Techniques:

  • Cialdini’s Principles of Persuasion:

    • Reciprocity, Commitment + Consistency, Liking, Social Proof, Authority, Scarcity

  • Techniques: Foot in the door, Door in the face, Labeling.

• Social Influence:

  • Conformity (changing behavior to match others):

    • Types: Normative vs. Informational influence

    • Situational Factors: Group size, unanimity, anonymity, status/expertise.

  • Obedience:

    • Milgram experiment

    • Factors affecting obedience (authority figure characteristics, emotional distance, institutional authority).

Week 4: Conspiracies and Misinformation

• Misinformation vs. Disinformation:

  • Misinformation: Incorrect info shared unknowingly.

  • Disinformation: Intentional spreading of false info.

• Characteristics of Conspiracies:

  • Emotional, black and white thinking, secretive, no coincidence.

Week 4: Relationships

• Why Relationships Matter:

  • Baumeister & Leary's Belongingness Theory: Humans have a fundamental need for social bonds.

  • Self-Determination Theory: Relationships satisfy our need for relatedness.

  • Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs: Belongingness is part of psychological needs.

  • Evolutionary Theory: Relationships help with survival and gene transmission.

• Relationship Types:

  • Communal vs. Exchange Relationships

  • Social Exchange Theory: Evaluating relationships based on costs vs. rewards.

  • Equity Theory: Both partners should benefit equally.

• Attachment Styles:

  • Secure, Anxious, Avoidant (can be combined to show levels of anxiety and avoidance).

Week 4: Relationship Maintenance

• Mechanisms:

  • Accommodation, Derogation of Alternatives, Forgiveness, Willingness to Sacrifice, Positive Illusions, Cognitive Interdependence.

• Attraction:

  • Proximity (mere exposure effect, functional distance)

  • Similarity, Reciprocal Liking, Physical Attractiveness (Evolutionary perspectives, Social constructs).

Week 4: Relationship Problems

• Communication Problems: Key factor in relationship breakdowns.

  • Active vs. Passive Constructive/Destructive responses.

• Conflict Communication:

  • John Gottman’s "4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse": Criticism, Defensiveness, Stonewalling, Contempt.

Week 4: Theories of Love and Attachment

• Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love:

  • Passion, Intimacy, Commitment.

• Hedonic Adaptation:

  • The tendency to take familiar experiences for granted over time.

Week 4: Family and Parenting

• Family Systems Theory:

  • Interdependence, self-regulation, differentiation.

• Parenting Styles:

  • Authoritative, Authoritarian, Permissive, Uninvolved.

WEEK 6: Psychology of Groups

Key Concepts:

• Culture: Shared social patterns of meaning (values, beliefs, traditions, etc.). Characteristics:
  

  • Versatile: Can change based on context.

  • Shared: Collective understanding.

  • Cumulative: Builds over time.

  • Systematic and Predictable: Follows patterns.

• Learning about culture:
  

  • Enculturation: Learning through socialization, direct teaching, and rituals.

• Cultural Intelligence: Ability to understand and adapt to different cultures, reducing ethnocentric bias (the tendency to judge other cultures based on one's own).
  

• Classifications of Culture:
  

  • Collectivist vs. Individualist: Group vs. personal goals.

  • Vertical vs. Horizontal: Hierarchical vs. equal relationships.

  • Independent vs. Interdependent: Self-concept based on personal or relational identity.

• Bicultural Identity Integration:
  

  • Distance vs. Overlap: How two cultural identities coexist (conflict vs. harmony).

WEEK 7: Stereotyping and Prejudice (Intergroup Bias)

Key Concepts:

• Stereotypes: Beliefs about people based on their group membership (Cognitive).
  

• Prejudice: Evaluative judgments (Emotional).
  

• Discrimination: Behavior that treats people unfairly based on group membership (Behavioral).
  

  • Cognitive control: Overcoming stereotypes (e.g., shooting task experiments).

• Implicit vs. Explicit Bias:
  

  • Implicit: Unconscious, automatic judgments (e.g., Outgroup Homogeneity Effect).

  • Explicit: Conscious, expressed bias.

• Stereotype Content Model: Groups categorized by warmth and competence.
  

• Stereotype Threat: Fear of confirming negative stereotypes about one's group.
  

• Motivational Factors:
  

  • Social Identity Theory: In-group vs. out-group mentality.

  • Social Dominance Orientation (SDO): Belief that social hierarchies are natural and desirable.

  • Authoritarianism: Emphasizes conformity and obedience, often linked to joining hate groups.

• Cognitive Factors:
  

  • Heuristics: Mental shortcuts that can lead to biased thinking (e.g., Confirmation Bias, Self-Fulfilling Prophecy).

  • Outgroup Homogeneity Effect: Perceiving out-group members as similar to each other.

• Reducing Bias:
  

  • Training, Contact Hypothesis, Perspective-Taking, Social Norms, Cultural Intelligence.

WEEK 8: Aggression and Violence

Key Concepts:

• Aggression: Intentional behavior to harm others.
  

  • Hostile aggression: Motivated by anger.

  • Instrumental aggression: Goal-oriented behavior.

• Violence: Extreme harm caused intentionally.
  

• Sources of Aggression:
  

  • Age: Aggression is common in young children and young adults.

  • Gender: Males tend to be more physically aggressive; females more relationally aggressive.

  • Personality: Traits like narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism contribute to aggression.

  • Culture: "Cultures of Honor" (e.g., American South, Machismo).

  • Cognitive: Hostile biases (e.g., Hostile Attribution Bias, Dehumanization).

  • External factors: Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis, heat, alcohol.

• Reducing Aggression: Social norms, de-escalation strategies, addressing microaggressions.
  

WEEK 8: Helping and Prosocial Behavior

Key Concepts:

• Prosocial Behavior: Acts intended to benefit others.
  

  • Altruism: Helping without regard for personal gain.

• Motivations for Helping:
  

  • Happiness motivation: Helping others brings personal happiness.

  • Social motivation: Social approval or reciprocity.

  • Evolutionary: Kin selection theory—helping family members.

  • Egoistic: Helping to reduce personal discomfort (Negative State Relief Hypothesis).

  • Empathy: Understanding and sharing the feelings of others (Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis).

• Decision Model of Helping:
  

  • Notice the event.

  • Interpret it as needing help.

  • Take responsibility.

  • Know how to help.

  • Decide to help.

• Factors Influencing Who Helps:
  

  • Gender: Similar levels of helping, but different types (e.g., women helping with nurturing, men with protective acts).

  • Personality: Agreeableness and a prosocial personality contribute to helping behavior.

WEEK 9: Happiness/Well-Being

Key Concepts:

• Positive Psychology: A shift from studying psychological disorders to focusing on happiness and flourishing (e.g., Seligman).
  

• Models of Well-Being:
  

  • PERMA: Positive emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, Achievement.

  • Subjective Well-Being (SWB): Balance of positive/negative emotions + life satisfaction.

• Correlates of Happiness:
  

  • Genetics: Personality traits contribute to happiness.

  • Close Relationships: Social support boosts well-being.

  • Faith and Religion: Can improve well-being.

  • Finances: Moderate correlation with happiness.

• Happiness and Relationships:
  

  • Need to Belong: Social connections are critical to well-being.

  • Social Media: Can increase connectedness, but also social comparison.

• Hedonic Adaptation: People tend to return to baseline happiness after positive or negative life events.
  

• Sustainable Happiness Model: 50% genetic, 40% intentional activity, 10% life circumstances.
  

WEEK 9: Emotions

Key Concepts:

• Emotions: Brief and specific emotional responses (vs. mood, which is longer-lasting).
  

• Distinguishing Emotions:
  

  • Appraisal: Automatic or deliberate assessment of events.

  • Physiological response: Bodily changes during emotions.

  • Expressive behavior: How we express emotions verbally and nonverbally.

  • Action tendencies: Behaviors we tend to engage in (e.g., anger → protest).

• Functions of Emotions:
  

  • Broaden-and-Build Theory: Positive emotions increase creativity and problem-solving.

  • Social/Cultural Functions: Emotions signal social relationships and impact others' behaviors (e.g., Social Proof).

• Cultural Differences in Emotions:
  

  • Cultural Display Rules: Norms about how emotions should be expressed.

  • Universal vs. Social-Constructivist Debate: Some facial expressions are universally recognized, but interpretation is shaped by culture.