Introduction To Social Psychology Flashcards

What is social psychology? The study of how individuals behave, think, and feel in social situations, and how people act in the presence of others. Culture Ongoing pattern of life passed down from one generation to another. What are the three types of roles? Social role, Ascribed role, and Achieved role. Social role? Patterns of behavior expected of people in various social situations (the President) Ascribed role? Assigned to the person, not under your control (your daughter) Achieved role Attained voluntarily by special effort (teacher) What is role conflict? When two or more roles make conflicting demands (Example: a mother with a full time job) Group structure Network of roles, communication, pathways, and power in a group Group cohesiveness Degree of attraction among group members or their commitment to remaining in groups Cohesive groups work better Status Level of social power and importance. Norm Accepted, but usually unspoken standard of behavior In-group Group with which an individual identifies Out-group Group with which individuals do not identify What is the autokinetic effect? The apparent measurement of a stationary point of light displayed in a dark room. If one person says the distance they believe it to be first, then the other people will be more likely to base their decisions off of that. Attribution Making inferences about the causes of one's own behavior and others behavior What is consistency in attribution? Behavior changes very little in difference circumstances What is distinctiveness> Noting that a behavior only occurs under certain circumstances. What are the four social perception terms? Actor- person of interest Object- aim, motive, target of an action Setting- social/physical environment in which action occurs Situational demands- pressures to behave in certain ways in certain settings or social situations. Discounting Downgrading internal causes as a way of explaining an individual's behavior when a person's actions seem to have strong external causes. Example: Friend doesn't tip the waiter, you assume it's because they're stingy. External causes may be that the waiter provided bad service. Consensus Degree to which people agree. Implies that responses are externally caused. What is self handicapping? Arranging to perform under conditions that usually impair performance so as to have an excuse for a poor showing. (Ex- procrastination) Fundamental attribution error Tendency to attribute behavior of others to internal causes (personality, likes) Actor-observer bias Tendency to attribute behavior of others to internal causes, while attributing our own behavior to external (situation, circumstantial). What is attitude? Learned tendency to respond to people, objects, or institutions in a positive OR negative way. What are the three components of attitude? Belief component- what the person believes about object of an attitude Emotional component- feelings toward the object of an attitude Action component- actions toward various people, objects, or institutions. What are the ways in which attitudes are formed? Direct contact- personal experience with object of the attitude Interaction with others- influence of discussions with people holding a particular attitude Child rearing- effects of parental values, beliefs, and practices Group membership- social influences from belonging to certain groups Mass media- all media that reach large audiences (tv, internet) Mean worldview- viewing the world/other people as dangerous or threatening Chance conditioning- A condition occurring my chance or coincidence Social distance scale scale where the degree of a person's willingness to have contact with a member of another group is measured Attitude scale Statements on scale representing various possible views on an issue Reference group Any group a person identifies with an uses as a standard for social comparison What is persuasion, and the three parts of it? Deliberate attempt to change attitudes or beliefs with info and arguments. Communicatior- person presenting arguments/info Message- content of the arguments Audience- person/group the message is directed to Cognitive dissonance? Festinger Contradicting or clashing thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, or perceptions cause discomfort. We need to have consistency in thoughts, perceptions, or images of ourself. So we attempt to justify our actions and make excuses to convince ourselves that we are doing the right thing, so we aren't uncomfortable by our decisions. Justification Degree to which one's actions are explained by rewards or other circumstances Social Influence changes in a person's behavior induced by the presence or actions of another person. -Someone else influences your decision (husband, mother, peer, etc) Peer pressure is a good example of persuasion and social influence Conformity Bringing one's behavior into agreement with norms or behavior of others What are the different types of power? Social, reward, coercive, legitimate, referent, expert. Social power Ability to control, alter, influence the behavior of another person Reward power rewarding a person for complying with desired behavior Coercive power Based on ability to punish a person for failure to comply Legitimate power accepting a person as an agent of an established social order Referent power respect for a person or group Expert power Based on possession of knowledge or expertise Social facilitation tendency to look/perform better when in the presence of others Social loafing tendency to work less hard when part of a group than when solely responsible for their work Personal space Area surrounding the body defined as private and subject to personal control What are the four spacial norms? Intimate distance (most private space, about 18 inches from the skin- special people or special circumstances only) Personal distance (interactions with friends, 18in-4ft from body; arms length) Social distance (impersonal interaction, 4-12 ft) Public distance (formal interactions-giving a speech; 12 ft or more) Proxemies systematic study of human use of personal space, especially in social settings Groupthink Compulsion by decision makers to maintain agreement, even at the cost of critical thinking Group sanctions rewards/punishments given by groups to enforce conformity among members What is the Soloman Asch experiment? When a group of people must select a line most closely matching the standard line. All lines are shown to a group of 7. Other 6 people accomplices, and at times would select the wrong line. 33 of trials- real subject conformed to group pressure even when the answers are obviously wrong. Compliance Bending to requests of one person who has little/no authority or social power Foot-in-the-door effect A person who agreed to a smaller request is more likely to later agree to a larger demand Door-in-the-Face effect Person who refused a major request will be more likely later on to comply with a smaller request Lowball technique Commitment gained first to reasonable/desirable terms, which are then made less reasonable/desirable. Obediance? Milgram Conformity to demands of authority. Would you shock a man with a known heart condition who is screaming and asked to be released, because authorities tell you to? Brainwashing Engineered/forced attitude change requiring a captive audience. What are the 3 steps of brainwashing? Unfreezing- loosening former values/convictions Change- person abandons former beliefs Refreezing- rewarding/solidifying new attitudes/beliefs Cults Groups professing great devotion to a person/people, & follows them almost without questions -Leaders personality is usually more important than the issues they preach -Cult members are usually victimized by the leader What are some ideal cult targets? Cults try to recruit at a time of need, especially when a sense of belonging is most attractive. -Look for college students/young adults Assertiveness training Learn to be self-assertive What is self-assertion? Standing up for yourself by speaking out on your behalf; direct, honest, expression of feelings and desires. Aggression Hurting another to get one's way no matter what, without regard for feelings What is the broken reward? Self-assertion technique involving repeating a request until it's acknowledged. Good way to be assertive