Psychology - Social, Retrieval Practice

Which of the following strengthens conformity to a group? a) Finding the group attractive. b) Feeling secure. c) Coming from an individualistic culture. d) Having made a prior commitment

A. Finding the group attractive

How do our attitudes and our actions affect each other?

Our attitudes often do influence our actions as we behave in ways consistent with our beliefs. However, our attitudes also follow our actions; we come to believe in what we have done.

What psychosocial, biological, and social-cultural influences interact to produce aggressive behaviors?

Our biology (our genes, neural systems, and biochemistry - including testosterone and alcohol levels) influences our tendencies to be aggressive. Psychological factors (such as frustration, previous rewards for aggressive acts, and observation of others' aggression) can trigger any aggressive tendencies we may have. Social influences, such as whether we've grown up in a "culture of honor" or had a father-absent home, can also affect our aggressive responses.

What are some ways to reconcile conflicts and promote peace?

Peacemakers should encourage equal-status contact, cooperation to achieve superordinate goals (sharing goals that override differences), understanding through communication, and reciprocated conciliatory gestures (each side gives a little).

Two vital components for maintaining companionate love are _____ and _____.

equity; self-disclosure

People tend to marry someone who lives or works nearby. This is an example of the _____ _____ _____ in action.

mere exposure effect

When prejudiced judgment causes us to find an undeserving person to blame for a problem, that person is called a _____.

scapegoat

People tend to exert less effort when working with a group than they would alone, which is called _____ _____.

social loafing

How does being physically attractive influence others' perceptions?

Being physically attractive tends to elicit positive first impressions. People tend to assume that attractive people are healthier, happier, and more socially skilled than others are.

Driving to school one snowy day, Marco narrowly misses a care that slides through a red light. "Slow down! What a terrible driver," he thinks to himself. Moments later, Marco himself slips through an intersection and yelps, "Wow! These roads are awful. The city plows need to get out here." What social psychology principle has Marco just demonstrated? Explain.

By attributing the other person's behavior to the person ("he's a terrible driver") and his own to the situation ("these roads are awful"), Marco has exhibited the fundamental attribution error.

How does the two-factor theory of emotion help explain passionate love?

Emotions consist of (1) physical arousal and (2) our interpretation of that arousal. Researchers have found that any source of arousal (running, fear, laughter) will be interpreted as passion in the presence of a desirable person.

Why didn't anybody help Kitty Genovese? What social relations principle did this incident illustrate?

In the presence of others, an individual is less likely to notice a situation, correctly interpret it as an emergency, and then take responsibility for offering help. The Kitty Genovese case demonstrated this bystander effect, as each witness assumed many others were also aware of the event.

Why do sports fans tend to feel a sense of satisfaction when their archrival team loses?

Sports fans may feel a part of an ingroup that sets itself apart from an outgroup (fans of the archrival team). Ingroup bias tends to develop, leading to prejudice and the view that the outgroup "deserves" misfortune. So, the archrival's team's loss many seem justified.

Psychology's most famous obedience experiments, in which most participants obeyed an authority figure's demands to inflict presumed life-threatening shocks on an innocent other, were conducted by social psychologist _____ _____.

Stanley Milgram

What situations have researchers found to be most likely to encourage obedience in participants?

The Milgram studies showed that people were most likely to follow orders when the experimenter was nearby and was a legitimate authority figure, the victim was not nearby, and there were no models for defiance.

You are organizing a meeting of fiercely competitive political candidates. To add to the fun, friends have suggested hanging out masks of the candidate's faces for supporters to wear. What phenomenon might these masks engage?

The anonymity provided by the masks, continued with the arousal of the contentious setting, might created deindividuation (lessened self-awareness and self-restraint.)

What is social facilitation, and is it more likely to occur with a well-learned or a brand-new task? Why?

This improved performance in the presence of others is most likely to occur with a well-learned task, because the added arousal caused by an audience tends to strengthen the most likely response. This also predicts poorer performance on a difficult task in others' presence.

When people act in a way that is not keeping with their attitudes, and then change their attitudes to match those actions, _____ _____ theory attempts to explain why.

cognitive dissonance

When like-minded groups discuss a topic, and the result is the strengthening of the prevailing opinion, this is called _____ _____.

group polarization

When a group's desire for harmony overrides its realistic analysis of other options, _____ has occurred.

groupthink