chapter 11 psych

in the field of social psychology, attitude means

describes an opinion or perspective that someone has towards a person, behavior, a belief or a concept

observational learning approach to aggression

emphasizes that social and and environmental conditions can teach individuals to be aggressives

Social Exchange Theory (Models of Relationships)

evolving exchange of goods where objective is to minimize costs and maximize benefits

Investment Model

examines ways commitment, investment, and the availability of alternate attractive partners predict relationship satisfaction and provide stability long term

Social Loafing

exerting less effort-lower accountability

features were participants accurate at detecting or determining, based on view a photograph, having a brief interaction, or only watch brief video clip?

-a person's propensity for violence -a person's romantic interest in the participant -a person's sexual orientation

ways to reduce cognitive dissonance

-change the attitude causing the dissonance -change the behavior causing the dissonance

factors that related to cross-cultural differences in cultural traditions and conformity

-differing weather -differing terrain

neurotransmitters and/or neurohormones associated with prosocial behavior

-dopamine -oxytocin -serotonin

cognitive determinants of aggression

-observing others engaging in aggression -the presence of a weapon

when are attitudes more likely to guide behavior

-when a person has strong attitudes -when a person is very aware of his or her own attitudes -when a person rehearses and practices his or her strong attitudes

Prosocial Behavior Psychological Factors

Empathy: feel what others are feeling, put ourselves in someone else's shoes • Personality: Agreeableness is most strongly associated with prosocial behavior • Mood: Happy people are more likely to help others; however, helping someone could boost mood

social perception

Process by which a person uses social stimuli to form impressions of others • First impressions (100 millisecond to form impression) • Are first impressions accurate? Many studies say yes!! • Power of the face/how we perceive physical attractiveness

elaboration likelihood model

identifies two pathways of persuasion: a central route and a peripheral route

Social contagion

imitation of behavior ex. Laughing at commercial

Social Facilitation

improved performance with others

self-perception theory

individuals often make inferences about their attitudes by perceiving their own behavior

low levels of which of the following personality traits are associated with agression

low levels of conscientiousness and low levels of agreeableness

self-fulfilling prophecy

social expectations cause people to act in ways that make expectation come true Ex. Today is going to be a bad day...then you have a bad day if people think that members of a specific group lack ambition, they may treat them in a way that actually brings about a lack of ambition

Attitudes can predict behavior when:

1. Attitudes are strong 2. Person shows strong awareness and is seen practicing and rehearsing such attitudes 3. When the person has a vested interest

prosocial behavior

Behaviors that benefit another person or society • Sharing • Helping • Donating • Volunteering

altruism

Giving aid to another person with the ultimate goal of benefiting that person, even if it's costly to person giving help

aggression

Objective is to harm someone physically or emotionally • Seen in humans and non humans • Stem from: biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors • (Biological) Genes: unprovoked aggression could be related to genes • Reactive aggression is seen in environmental effects • Neurobiological factors: • Limbic system: areas of self control • Murders: issues with frontal lobe and limbic system • Lower levels of serotonin • Testosterone

normative social influence

Want others to like us

obediance

Want others to like us

Individualistic cultures

value individuals and individual accomplishments and emphasize differences and uniqueness.

conformity

a change in behavior brought by following the standards of others a change in behavior to coincide more closely with a group standard

stereotype

a generalization about a group's characteristics that does not consider any differences

stereotype threat

a person's fast acting self fulfilling fear of being judged based on a negative stereotype about his or her group • Ex. Female with blonde hair saying something "dumb"

door-in-the-face strategy

a persuasion tool that involves making a big pitch at the beginning of a sale

a situation where groupthink is most likely to occur

a powerful leader surrounded by people of lower status

several factors that contribute to attraction

acquaintance, similarity, proximity

heuristics

are cognitive shortcuts that enables us to make decisions rapidly

attitudes

are our opinions, beliefs about people, objects and ideas • How we feel about the world

higher levels of serotonin

associated with prosocial behavior

solomon asch

carried out the classic experiment of conformity

faces participants rate as attractive

faces that were an "average" (composite) of several other faces

positive illusions

favorable views of the self that are not necessarily rooted in reality

example of mere exposure

finding someone attractive because you bump into him or her frequently

risky shift

group decisions tend to be riskier than decisions made by an individual

Group Polarization

group views strengthened once topic is discussed

aggression, like other social behaviors has

has multiple determinants

egoism

helping another person for personal gain (to feel good or to avoid guilt) giving to another person to ensure reciprocity

foot-in-the-door strategy

involves making a smaller request ("Would you be interested in a three-month trial subscription to a magazine?") at the beginning, saving the biggest demand ("How about a full year?") for last. The foot-in-the-door strategy works because complying with the smaller request sets the stage for the person to maintain consistency between their prior behavior and the next one (and avoid dissonance).

door-in-the-face technique

involves making the biggest pitch first ("Would you be interested in a full-year subscription?"), which the customer probably will reject, and then making a smaller "concessionary" demand ("Okay, then, how about a three-month trial?"). This technique relies on the fact that the customer feels a sense of obligation: You let him off the hook with that big request; maybe he should be nice and take the smaller offer.

persuasion

involves trying to change someone's attitudes and/or their behavior

groupthink

is a type of thinking in which group members share such a strong motivation to achieve consensus that they lose the ability to critically evaluate alternate points of view.

Stereotype threat

is an individual's fast-acting, self-fulfilling fear of being judged based on a negative stereotype about his or her group (Griffin & Hu, 2015; Schmader, Hall, & Croft, 2014). A person who experiences stereotype threat is well aware of stereotypical expectations for him or her as a member of the group.

prejudice

is an unjustified negative attitude toward an individual based on his or her group membership preconceived opinion not based on experience or fact

discrimination

is behavior directed toward individuals on the basis of their membership in a particular group

social cognition

is the area of social psychology that explores how people select, interpret, remember and use social information. How we think in social situations

self-esteem

is the degree to which we have positive or negative feelings about ourselves

social exchange theory

is the equity in a relationship

empathy

is the feeling of oneness with the emotional state of another person

social comparison

is the process in which individuals evaluate their thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and abilities in relation to other people We most likely compare ourselves to those who are similar

obedience

is the social psychological term for a change in behavior in response to the commands of others.

The group polarization effect

is the solidification and further strengthening of an individual's position as a consequence of a group discussion or interaction.

cognitive dissonance

modifying attitudes, rationalizing attitudes, and/or changing behavior are all ways to reduce it. Psychological discomfort caused by two inconsistent thoughts • Ex. Eating junk food is not good but do it anyway • To reduce dissonance we can: change behavior to fit attitude or change attitude to fit behavior

Deindividuation

reduces individual identity (less responsible)

social loafing

occurs when an individual exerts less effort in a group because of the reduced accountability for individual effort

affectionate love or companionate love

occurs when an individual has a deep, caring affection for another

social facilitation

occurs when an individual's performance improves due to the presence of others

relational aggression

refers to activities such as gossiping and spreading rumors

the murder of Kitty Genovese inspired researchers to examine whether

people are less likely to help if other people are present

Overt aggression

refers to physically or verbally harming another person directly. Boys and men tend to be higher in overt aggression than girls and women.

aggression

refers to social behavior whose objective is to harm someone physically or verbally

person perception

refers to the processes by which we use social stimuli to form impressions of others

Self-serving bias

refers to the tendency to take credit for one's own successes and to deny responsibility for one's own failures

Group Think

right decision is less important than "keeping peace in a group"

social identity theory

states that social identity is a crucial part of self-image and a valuable source of positive feelings about oneself.

social psychologist

study an immediate social situation: how one person can affect behavior

self-serving bias

take credit for one's success and deny responsibility if something goes wrong. Ex. Taking credit for a job well done or acing a test

bystander effect

tendency for other people to help less during an emergency when other people are present vs when observer is alone • When alone, will help 75% of time • With others, 50% of time

according to observational learning theory, if the consequences are positive..

the behavior is likely to be imitated when observers find themselves in a similar situation

normative social behavior

the influence other people have on us because we want them to like us

informational social influence

the influence other people have on us because we want to be correct

Mere exposure effect:

the more we encounter someone, image, or word; we are more likely to start liking person or thing. • Attracted to those we see most often (same proximity) • Humans usually associate with those similar to us • Do opposites really attract? • What do we look for in a friendship or relationship?

social psychology

the study of how people think about, influence, and relate to other people -fundamental part of human existence -we are innately social is related to sociology: study of human societies, organizations, and institutions ( at the group level)

attribution theory

the view that people are motivated to discover the underlying causes of behavior; theirs as well as others Ex. Is the person mean because he/she is hostile or did something else affect a mood

the bystander effect

this effect makes it less likely an individual will help someone in need when other people are around

zimbardo explains that when an authority figures removes personal responsibility

true evil can emerge

passionate love

type of love is a state of intense absorption in someone that includes intense physiological arousal

fundamental attribution error

when making attributions about someone, the immediate environment is more stable and less attention grabbing than the observed person's behavior. Observer's overestimate of important internal traits • Underestimation of the importance of external situations when they seek explanations of someone else's behavior Ex. Someone in need asking for money & someone assumes they do not want to work)

social identity

when someone is asked to identify themselves, and they answer with the religious or ethnic group affiliations

a circumstance where research would not expect attitudes to guide behavior

when the person's attitudes changed recently

deindividuation

which occurs when being part of a group reduces personal identity and erodes the sense of personal responsibility

Sociocultural influences on aggression

• Culture of honor (masculine pride to protect) Male reputation is threatened • Gender 1. Overt aggression= boys, men higher (Physical fighting 2. Relational aggression=girls, woman (gossip) • Media: Does what we watch influence aggression? • Correlational studies show an association (video games & neg outcome) • Extensive use of violent video games show: • More aggression • Reduced sensitivity • Violent thoughts

Prosocial Behavior Biological Factors

• High levels serotonin associate with prosocial behavior • Dopamine receptors • Oxytocin (bonding) • Areas of midbrain are active when we feel compassion • Neural factors associated with parent/ child relationship are involved in kindness/compassion

Psychological influences on aggression

• Personality: Low levels of agreeableness • Light levels of neuroticism • High on hostility and irritability (provoked or not) • Poor coping skills • Others? • Frustrating circumstances (think about kids) • Cognitive determinants (presence of weapons) • Observational learning (reinforcement, watching others, media violence)