Motivation and Social Psychology

Role

A given social position that is governed by a set of norms for proper behavior.

Entrapment

A gradual process in which individuals escalate their commitment to a course of ation to justify their investment of time, money, or effort. In psychologically distressing to back out once you have committed

Self-Efficiency

A person's belief that he or she is capable of producing desired results, such as mastering new skills and reaching goals.

Motivation

A process within a person or animal that causes movement either toward a goal or away from an unpleasant situation.

Victim-Blaming

A woman walking home in 'club clothes' on the Esplanade drunk in the middle of the night gets raped.

Wanting to be polite

Afraid of violating social norms (being rude) Milgram on a participant who kept apologizing and acting politely toward Milgram: "he thinks he is killing someone, yet he uses the language of the tea table!"

Factors Causing People to Obey

Allocating Responsibility to the authority. Those who stopped early were more likely to take responsibilty for their own actions. Routinizing the task. Becomes so normal that it doesn't seem strange anymore.

Defining Culture

program of shared rules that govern behavior of community and a set of values, beliefs, and attitudes shared by most members. Can be as large as American Culture. As small as the culture in this College classroom.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

An expectation that comes true because of the tendency of the person holding it to act in ways that bring it about.

Conformity

Asch Line Study Subjects in a group were asked to match line lengths. Confederates in the group picked wrong line. Subjects went along with wrong answer 37% of trials. Meta-analyses demonstrates that conformity has decreased in US. since 1950, May be due to social norms.

External Attribution

Assigns causality to an outside agent or force. Claims that some outside thing motivated the event. You study hard and take a test. You get test results back. You take a peek and see a 65%. You think about these disappointing results for a minute and realize what a lousy teacher you've got and how badly written the textbook is and how unfair the test was and . . . you make a lot of external attributions. What caused the 65%? Events outside of you. External things.

Internal Attribution

Assigns causality to factors within the person. Claims that the person was directly responsible for the event. I did it because I made a bad choice. You study hard and take another test. You get test results back. You take a peek and see, ahhhh, a 95%. Well, what can I say? When you're hot, you're hot. Some people are born great. Where's the causality? Inside of you, right? You assign causality to factors within the person and make internal attributions.

Robbers' Cave Experiment

Boys were randomly separated into two groups. "Rattlers" and "Eagles" Competitions fostered hostility between the groups. Experimenters contrived situations requiring cooperation for success. Cross-group friendships increased.

Modern or Aversive Racism

Distinguishing between explicit and implicit prejudice. Most people learned it is wrong to express explicit racist views so they don't. The private feelings may still be there and we have figured out how to measure them.

3 ways cognitive schemas distort reality

Exaggerate differences between groups. Produce selective perception. Underestimate differences between groups.

Approach

Goals are framed as getting what is wanted.

Avoidance

Goals are framed in terms of avoiding unpleasant experiences. To avoid an F.

Mastery (Learning) Goals

Goals framed in terms of increasing one's competence and skills.

Performance Goals

Goals framed in terms of performing well in front of others, being judged favorably and avoiding criticism.

Social and Cultural Functions

Groupthink Conformity Parental and societal messages (parents teach kids that those people are 'no good') By disliking others we feel closer to those who are like us. You can't just love the Red Sox, you must also Hate the Yankees.

Groupthink

In close-knit groups, the tendency for all members to think alike and suppress disagreement for the sake of harmony. Symptoms: illusion of invincibility, self-censorship, pressure on dissenters to conform, illusion of unanimity. Mean Girls "On Wednesdays We Wear Pink."

Diffusion of Responsibility

In organized or anonymous groups, the tendency of members to avoid taking responsibility for actions or decisions because they assume that others will do so.

Origins of Prejudice: Psychological

Low self esteem, anxiety and insecurity, People inflate own self worth by disliking groups they see as inferior. Those people aren't as good as me.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Low-level needs must be met before trying to satisfy higher-level needs. Physiological needs are at the bottom, then safety needs, belonging and love needs, esteem needs, and need for self actualization is at the top.

Economic Functions

Majorities' desire to preserve its status. Competition of jobs. Immigration hatred a 'coincidence' right now? Legitimizes unequal economic treatment. They should work for $5 an hour; better than what they get back home. Tendency to dehumanize them and act/feel greedy.

Measuring Implicit Prejudice

Measures of symbolic racism, measures of behaviors rather than attitudes, and measures of unconscious associations with a target group.

Reducing Prejudice and Conflict

Novel Idea Groups must have equal legal status, economic opportunities, and power. Both sides must have opportunities to work and socialize together, formally & informally. No separate movie theaters, and integrate neighborhood. Both sides must cooperate, working together for a common goal. Always help in group conflict, remember the boys. Post 9/11 prejudice: bonding together.

Bystander Apathy

People fail to call for help or help victims when others are near. Kitty Genovese...

Norms

Rules that regulate human life, including social conventions, explicit laws, and implicit cultural standards.

Us Vs. Them

Social identities are strengthened when groups compete with one another. Robber's Cave studies Yankees Suck

Stereotypes: Cognitive Scemas

Summary impressions of a group, in which a person believes that all members of the group share a common trait or traits (positive, negative, or neutral). Allow us to quickly process new information and retrieve memories. Distort reality in 3 ways

Procrastinators and Perfectionists

Tend to be perfectionists. Perfectionists fear doing something less than perfect, so they put it off. That way, they never need to judge or be judged.

Fundamental Attribution Error

Tendency in explaining other's behaviors to overestimate personality factors and underestimate situational influence. Making the mistake of putting all the blame on internal factors of the person without considering the external factors involved.

Self-Serving Bias

Tendency, in explaining own behavior, to take credit for one's good actions and rationalize one's mistakes. I have a nice apartment because I am smart and worked hard to afford it. I don't have a job, because I had bad luck in college, couldn't finish.

Ethnocentrism

The belief that one's own group nation, or religion is superior to all others. Aids survival by making people feel attached to their own group and willing to work on their group's behalf. Marathon Bombers, ISIS?

Goals Improve Motivation

The goal is specific The goal is challenging but achievable. The goal is framed in terms of approach goals instead of avoidance goals.

Just-World Hypothesis

The notion that many people need to believe that the world is fair and that justice is served. Bad people are punished and good people are rewarded. Used to explain the inaction on Africa Aids crisis, indifference to homelessness, poverty. It's a Wonderful Life was banned at one point?

Social Identity

The part of a person's self-concept that is based on identification with a nation, culture, or group or with gender or other roles in society.

Intrinsic Motivation

The pursuit of activity for its own sake.

Extrinsic Motivation

The pursuit of an activity for external rewards such as money or fame.

Attribution Theory

The theory that people are motivated to explain their own and other people's behavior by attributing causes of that behavior to a situation (external) or a disposition or character (internal).

Social Loafing

When people work less in the presence of others, allowing others to work harder.

Approach and Mastery

equals A+ and feelings of accomplishment

Milgram's Obediance Study

investigated whether people would follow orders, even when the order violated their ethical standards. 2/3 shocked the learner to the full extent. Results are controversial and have generated much research on violence and obedience.