Chapter 12: Social Psychology

Shelby sees a man lying on the sidewalk in a big city, but she doesn't help because she cannot determine whether the man is sleeping, drunk, or injured. What cause of bystander apathy is this?

fear of making a social blunder

neophobia

fear of new things

Conformity

altering one's behavior to match other people's behavior or expectations

inclusive fitness

an explanation for altruism that focuses on the adaptive benefit of transmitting genes, such as through kin selection, rather than focusing on individual survival

Which of the following statements is the best example of the fundamental attribution error?

"people live in poor neighborhoods because they lack the motivation to make anything of themselves"

Casey is jealous of his sister Yvette, who seems to get special treatment because she is very physically attractive. Yvette always breezes through airport security, and whenever she gets pulled over for speeding, she is able to talk her way out of getting a ticket. From which stereotype does Yvette benefit?

"what is beautiful is good"

What kinds of faces might we perceive as attractive?

- a symmetrical face - the face of a biracial person - a composite image of 30 normal faces average together - a composite image of 10 attractive faces averaged together

What could we expect of a couple who has been married for 2 years?

- their relationship is based on social support, friendship, and intimacy. - they will have sex about half as frequently as they did in their first year of marriage.

Evolutionary development of group membership:

- we are motivated to form groups because living in social groups helped our ancestors survive - humans have the largest group size of all primates and also the largest prefrontal cortex - humans developed more cognitive resources to deal with the many challenges that come from living in large groups.

In what situations are people more likely to offer help?

- when there are only 2 people in a parking lot and one of them is having trouble starting his car. - a person on an isolated hiking trailing falls and asks the next hiker who walks by to help him to his car. - one person approached another and asks for a dollar to buy a bus ticket home.

What factors would make two people more likely to develop attraction and friendship?

-they find each other physically attractive - have similar attitudes and backgrounds - both kind and trustworthy - come into contact frequently - look familiar to one another

Which of these scenarios is an example of normative influence on behavior?

Nobody at Emily's new office wore sandals or denim, so she decided not to either.

The more specific an attitude is, the more predictive of a behavior it is. Which scenario best exemplifies this?

Sean's attitude toward spanking is more predictive of whether he will spank his kids than his attitude toward parenthood in general

(TRUE/FALSE) By age 7, children can make judgments about a face's trusthworthiness that match adults' judgments.

TRUE

(TRUE/FALSE) Politicians whose faces were rates as looking more competent win more often

TRUE

passionate love

a state of intense longing and desire

Deindividualization

a state of reduced individuality, reduced self-awareness, and reduced attention to personal standards; this phenomenon may occur when people are part of a group

prosocial behaviors

actions that tend to benefit others, such as doing favors or helping

compliance

agreeing to do things requested by others

Dr. Barker is an experienced medical professional, but he is also a smoker. In order to reduce inevitable __________, he probably needs to change his behavior and quit smoking, because it will be very difficult for him to change his attitude and stop believing that smoking is bad for his health.

cognitive dissonance

insecure attachment

difficult to trust and depend on others

A blind woman needs help crossing a busy street in a crowded plaza but the passersby all think someone else will help her. What cause of bystander apathy is this?

diffusion of responsibility

secure attachment

easy to get close to others without the fear of being abandoned

Efram decides to drive an hour away to go to a restaurant, and once he gets there he thinks the food is much better than at restaurants closer to home. What cause of cognitive dissonance is this?

justification of effort

Which phenomenon may explain why someone people want to join a fraternity or sorority badly enough that they will endure weeks of humiliation and physical discomfort to gain membership?

justification of effort

prejudice

negative feelings, opinions, and beliefs associated with a stereotype

central route persuasion

occurs when interested people focus on the arguments and respond with favorable thoughts

Misha decides not to intervene in a bar fight between two large men for fear of getting hurt. What cause of bystander apathy is this?

weighing the risks and benefits of helping

companionate love

a strong commitment based on friendship, trust, respect, and intimacy

What is true about how people from Eastern and Western cultures differ when making attributions about people?

Eastern Cultures - rely on broader range of info when making attributions. - more likely to believe behavior is the result of both personal and situational factors Western Cultures - rely more on personal factors than situation factors when making attributions.

How do groupthink and group polarization differ?

Group polarization is the name for the process of a group developing more extreme views about someone or something. Groupthink describes how peer pressure within groups leads to poor decision making.

peripheral route persuasion

Not motivated to process info. This route leads to more impulsive decisions.

Jamie wants to persuade her parents to let her go to Europe with her school choir. Which approach is most likely to convince them to say yes?

Using descriptive, compelling reasons that will stick in her parents' minds while they mull over their decision

The Sandersons have been married for over 40 years. They are a happy couple, and they tend to overlook each other's bad behavior or respond constructively. What is this process called?

accommodation

cognitive dissonance

an unpleasant state that arises when a person recognizes the inconsistency of his or her actions, attitudes, or beliefs

Sitting in his car in traffic, Jasper sees two people fighting on a bridge but no one can see him, so he doesn't feel the need to help. What cause of bystander apathy is this?

anonymity

explicit attitudes

attitudes that a person can report

implicit attitudes

attitudes that influence a person's feelings and behavior at an unconscious level

Doug and Danni have been a couple for several years. They are very devoted to helping and taking care of each other. Marcy and Martin have only been dating for a month but feel a very strong desire to be together. Doug and Danni are experiencing __________ love, while Marcy and Martin are experiencing __________ love.

companionate; passionate

personal attributions

explanations of people's behavior that refer to their internal characteristics, such as abilities, traits, moods, or efforts

postdecision dissonance

dissonance aroused after making a decision, typically reduced by enhancing the attractiveness of the chosen alternative and devaluating the rejected alternatives

As discussed in the textbook, a psychology study conducted in the 1970s compared men raised in the northern part of the United States to men raised in the South. When a confederate in the study was verbally aggressive, southern men responded by

exhibiting increases in cortisol and testosterone

social norms

expected standards of conduct, which influence behavior

situational attributions

explanations of people's behavior that refer to external events, such as the weather, luck, accidents, or other people's actions

Obedience

following the orders of a person in authority

risky-shift effect

groups often make riskier decisions than individuals do

Which of the following summarizes the biochemical basis of aggression?

high serotonin levels facilitate and low serotonin levels hinder the prefrontal cortex's ability to regulate aggressive behavior

Austin and Hallie just witnessed a serious accident where a cyclist crashed while riding through the park. The couple was shocked that none of the nearby people in the crowded park rushed over to help. According to the psychologists who first described the phenomenon of bystander apathy, which factor should increase the chances of the victim receiving help from others?

if there are fewer bystanders, someone is more likely to help the victim.

"foot in the door"

if you agree to a small request, you are more likely to comply with a large request

"door in the face"

if you refuse a large request, you are more likely to comply with a smaller request

fundamental attribution error

in explaining other people's behavior, the tendency to overemphasize personality traits and underestimate situational factors

Lastri does a small favor for her neighbor, whom she doesn't know very well, and justifies it by telling herself that she likes her neighbor. What cause of cognitive dissonance is this?

insufficient justification

Researcher Stanley Milgram wanted to understand why normal citizens would follow orders to injure or kill innocent people during World War II. He wanted to know what factors influence people to follow orders given by an authority figure. In other words, he wanted to understand which phenomenon?

obedience

Neil and Gretchen recently started dating, and they feel an overwhelming urge to be together all of the time and to have sex as often as possible. Armando and Jenny have been married for several years, and they each feel lucky to be married to their best friend. Neil and Gretchen are experiencing __________ love, while Armando and Jenny's relationship has evolved into __________ love.

passionate; companionate

actor/observer discrepancy

people focus on situations to explain their own behavior while focusing on dispositions to explain other people's behavior.

attitudes

people's evaluations of objects, of events, or of ideas

attributions

people's explanations for why events or actions occur

What characteristics of attitudes most strongly predict one's behavior?

personally relevant, easy to remember, and formed through direct experience

According to the text, how do perspective giving and perspective taking differ?

perspective giving involves sharing experiences of discrimination. Perspective taking involves imagining oneself in another's position.

Adrienne decides to go on vacation to Cambodia rather than Thailand, and once she arrives in Cambodia she thinks about how much better it is than Thailand. What cause of cognitive dissonance is this?

post decisional dissonance

altruism

providing help when it is needed, without any apparent reward for doing so

what are the 10 most positive personal characteristics?

sincere, honest, understanding, loyal, truthful, trustworthy, intelligent, dependable, open-minded, thoughtful

When Cody arrived at the gym, it was relatively empty. She started riding a stationary bike at a leisurely pace. Once a few other people sat down at nearby bikes, she began to speed up her pace and push herself a bit more. What is this phenomenon called?

social facilitation

According to John Gottman, which of the following behaviors (if repeated regularly) poses a serious threat to a relationship?

stating a complaint about one's partner after the partner states a complain

modern racism

subtle forms of prejudice that coexist with the rejection of racist beliefs (ex. believing that admitting Asians to top-tier schools is negatively affecting the student culture at those schools)

Tina attributes her poor performance on the quiz to her teacher's inability to teach the material. However, she believes that other students who did not do well on the quiz failed because they did not study hard enough. Tina's reasoning illustrates

the actor/observer discrepancy

conformity

the altering of one's behaviors and opinions to match those of other people or to match other people's expectations

"what is beautiful is good" stereotype

the belief that attractive people are superior in most ways

bystander intervention effect

the failure to offer help by those who observe someone in need when other people are present

mere exposure effect

the idea that greater exposure to a stimulus leads to greater liking for it

social identity theory

the idea that ingroups consist of individuals who perceive themselves to be members of the same social category and experience pride through their group membership

social facilitation

the idea that the presence of others generally enhances performance

Discrimination

the inappropriate and unjustified treatment of people as a result of prejudice

Groupthink

the mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives (groups can make bad decisions on pressure to maintain cohesiveness)

group polarization

the process by which initial attitudes of groups become more extreme over time (ex. group members believe something even more strongly after discussing it)

social loafing

the tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable (individual effort decreases as a group size increases)

normative influence

the tendency for people to conform in order to fit in with the group

informational influence

the tendency for people to conform when they assume that the behavior of others represents the correct way to respond

in-group favoritism

the tendency for people to evaluate favorably and privilege members of the in-group more than members of the outgroup

outgroup homogeneity effect

the tendency to view outgrip members as less varied than in-group members

elaboration likelihood model

theory identifying two ways to persuade: a central route and a peripheral route

Human beings typically engage in prosocial, altruistic behavior. According to your text, why do we engage in this behavior?

to manage our public image, to help individuals in our gene pool, and to relieve negative mood

What are the 10 most negative personal characteristics?

unking, untrustworthy, malicious, obnoxious, untruthful, dishonest, cruel, mean, phony, liar

low-ballong

when you agree to buy a product for a certain price, you are likely to comply with a request to pay more for the product