Chapter 11: Social Psychology

What is the difference between forced compliance and induced compliance? Which creates more cognitive dissonance and why?

Forced compliance: they are being forced to comply Induced compliance: they are being encouraged Induced compliance creates more cognitive dissonance because even though they are anti whatever they don't perform in line with it therefore it is harder to rationalize their behavior.

What are the two reasons we conform?

Normative (we want to belong) and Informative (we want to be right)

How does (a) personal responsibility, (b) mood, and (c) the situation influence one's willingness to engage in pro-social behavior (e.g., helping others)?

Personal responsibility- if no one else is around Mood - more likely if you're in a good mood Situation- more likely to help if you think they deserve help

What is the self-serving bias?

Seeing ourselves in the best possible light

What is self-monitoring and how is it related to being a social chameleon?

Self-monitoring is adjusting your behavior to fit with the people you are with. Social Chameleons can blend in anywhere.

What is the Pygmalion effect?

The greater the expectation placed upon people, the greater they perform and vice versa.

The source, the message, and the audience all influence attitude formation and change. Explain how each of these relates to attitude formation and change?

The source: We are more likely to listen to certain people The message: We are more likely to listen to arguments that are two-sided The Audience: In order for an attitude change, the audience has to have an open mind

In explaining our behavior, what accounts for our tendency to make reference to the situation?

With our own behavior, we can more easily come up with situational causes because we have all the information (we know if we had a bad day or not)

How do the following biases influence how you perceive others: - confirmatory bias - self-fulfilling bias - Fundamental-attribution error (i.e., the actor-observer bias) - Halo/Horns Effect

- confirmatory bias - We see what we want to see - self-fulfilling bias - People will act like you want them too - fundamental-attribution error (i.e., the actor-observer bias) - when explaining other people's behaviors we are more likely to make reference to the person - Halo/Horns Effect - Halo effect = good traits, good person and vice versa for horns effect

What is cognitive dissonance? How do we deal with cognitive dissonance? What does it have to do with attitude change? What happens if we prevent someone from having a stress response?

Cognitive dissonance is distress aroused by inconsistency between our important attitude and behaviors. We deal with it by rationalization and changes in your attitude and behavior. The drugs (for example) block them from changing their attitude.

How does commitment and embeddedness influence the strength of attitudes?

Commitment: When we have a high level of commitment towards an attitude, you are more likely to believe arguments that support it and explain arguments that contradict Embeddedness: When an attitude is closely tied to your self-concept (how you define yourself), it is very difficult for you to change it.

What is the jigsaw classroom?

Everyone has a part and everyone has to cooperate to be successful

How does classical/operant conditioning, observational learning, and evolved cognitive mechanisms influence the learning of attitudes?

Learning associations with attitudes.

How does argument complexity influence your perception of someone's expertise?

High complexity speakers are more likely to have people who will listen to them.

Attitudes consist of 3 components. What are they?

How you think, how you feel and how you act.

How does pointing out hypocrisy in one's attitude influence attitude change?

It can lead to them having cognitive dissonance. As such, they become motivated to change either their behavior or attitude

Stanley Milgram's experiments on obedience demonstrated that (a) legitimacy of authority, (b) personal responsibility, (c) foot-in-door (gradual escalation), and (d) psychological/physical separation influence obedience. You should be able to discuss how each of these factors influence obedience.

Legitimacy of authority: experimenter knows best Personal responsibility: I'm not in charge so I'm not responsible for what happens Foot-in-door: Gradual escalation made it easier to go on. It's only a little more than last time, what could it hurt? Psychology/physical separation:

What is out-group homogeneity and in-group heterogeneity?

Out-group homogeneity: They are all the same, there are no discernable differences In- group heterogeneity: We may have some similar beliefs, but each of us is unique.

What is the Minimal Intergroup Paradigm? What does it tell us about our "us vs. them" mentality?

Randomly determined groups, artificial groups, short term groups, involved no contact between group members Ex: Robbers Cave Experiment -- it shows the low threshold needed to activate the "us vs. them" mentality

How does selective avoidance and selective exposure influence attitudes?

Selective avoidance: directing your attention away from information that challenges our preexisting attitudes Selective exposure: exposing our self to things that further confirm our beliefs

What is social categorization? What are the 3 most common social categories?

Social Categorization: Based on group classification, we make assumptions concerning behaviors and beliefs. Common social categories: Age, Sex, and Race.

How does culture influence the fundamental-attribution error (i.e., the actor-observer bias)?

Some cultures tend to be individualistic (people are defined as individuals and are socialized to take personal responsibility) where as others tend to be collectivists (people are defined as in reference to the role they play within the larger community)

In reference to the attitudes we have towards the out-group: - What are stereotypes? - What is prejudice? - What is discrimination?

Stereotypes: Cognition Prejudice: Emotions Discrimination: Behavior

What is the "less leads to more" effect?

The less you're able to rationalize, the more you're forced to change your attitude

In the Robber's Cave experiment, how did the experimenters ultimately relieve tension between groups?

They had to figure out a away to force the two groups to collaborate, no longer engage in the "us vs. them" mentalitiy

How does knowing someone influence the fundamental-attribution error (i.e., the actor-observer bias)?

We know a lot about friends and family.