social psychology exam 2

What are the four realms of dissonance?

1. postdecision dissonance 2. insufficient justification 3. justification of effort 4. good and bad deeds.

What are four domains where we self-percieve?

1. triats 2. attitudes 3. Motivation 4. emotion

3 components of social comparison; weight example

Actual- what weight you are at (195). ought: Where you should be (180). Ideal: Goal of what weight you want to be (185)

Three sources of attitudes within Balance theory

Affectively-based attitude, cognitively based-attitudes, behaviorally-based attitudes

What is reasons-generated attitude change?

Attitude change resulting from thinking of the reasons for one's own attitudes. You have reasons you like X Changes attitude in short run When someone asks why, you generate different (easily verbalized) reasons Your attitude toward X may temporarily change due to the reason that were (or were not) easily generated. Has a lot to do with availability heuristic.

Dutton and Aron (1974) bridge study

Attractive woman asked men if they would fill out a psychology questionnaire for her. She was rated as physically attractive. Were given pictures and had to fill out what was going on (this was not the primary task) Following, the attractive woman experimenter ripped off a corner of the questionnaire with her phone number for men to keep How attractive do you think the men found the woman? Do you think they called her. If any of the guys called her back it was attributed to them thinking she was attractive. Wanted to measure physical attractiveness. Half of participants were approached on a tranquil bridge other half were approached on a sketchy ass bridge that was high off the ground. Results: 9/18 that were approached on anxiety producing bridge called the woman back. These participants misattributed their physiological arousal as being due to the attractive woman when in reality it was due to the bridge.

Describe the method and results of Dutton and Aron's (1974) "bridge study."

Attractive woman asked men if they would fill out a psychology questionnaire for her. She was rated as physically attractive. Were given pictures and had to fill out what was going on (this was not the primary task) Following, the attractive woman experimenter ripped off a corner of the questionnaire with her phone number for men to keep How attractive do you think the men found the woman? Do you think they called her. If any of the guys called her back it was attributed to them thinking she was attractive. Wanted to measure physical attractiveness. Half of participants were approached on a tranquil bridge other half were approached on a sketchy ass bridge that was high off the ground. Results: 9/18 that were approached on anxiety producing bridge called the woman back. These participants misattributed their physiological arousal as being due to the attractive woman when in reality it was due to the bridge. Did not think about greater situation In tranquil bridge situation: 2/16 people called her back because they genuinely found her as attractive and directed their arousal at the right source. These participants had no physiological arousal to misattribute.

While completing a personality test, Craig comes to an item that asks if he sees himself as shy. Craig reflects on some of his recent behavior. He reasons that since he does not talk much in class discussions and avoids large parties, he must be shy. Which of the following strategies for self-knowledge is Craig using? A. self-presentation B. self-perception: he is observing that he is not observing in a certain behavior. Starting point is behaviors and then making an inference about himself. C. self-discrepancy D. social comparison

B. self-perception: he is observing that he is not observing in a certain behavior. Starting point is behaviors and then making an inference about himself.

Three sources of attitudes within Balance theory; cognitively based-attitudes

Based on beliefs about attidue objects

Three sources of attitudes within Balance theory; behaviorally-based attitudes

Based on self-preceptions of one's behavior. Connected with self-perception theory.

Describe reasons that self-esteem is important from a psychological perspective.

Benefits of high self-esteem: Adaptive value; gave ancestors signals which was effective for survival, downward social comparison, self-serving bias, Protects us from depression. Motivates people to have an internal locus of control, sense of hope, and to persevere, terror management. High self-esteem can serve as a buffer against dishones or self-defeating behaviors because people strive to keep their self-conceptions consistent with their actions. If our behavior does not match with what we feel, our self-esteem can be negatively impacted. Problems of high self-esteem: Narcissism hard to empathize.

Affective-based attitudes and classical conditioning.

Classical conditioning: pairing a neutral object (stimulus) enough times with something by itself that evokes a strong response will eventually make the neutral object elicit the same response Neutral stimulus: conditioned stimulus Evocative stimulus: Unconditioned stimulus.

Define social comparison theory.

Learning about our abilities and attitudes by comparing ourselves to other people.

What is introspection?

Consciously "looking inward" and examining reasons for one's actions and emotions, or predicting the way one will act or feel in the future. Looking within. Motivated to look within when something bad happens.

Social comparison theory

Learning about our abilities and attitudes by comparing ourselves to other people.

What is intrinsic motivation?

Desire to engage in activity because of personal enjoyment (and not because of external awards or pressures)

Describe cultural differences in regard to Talhem's research on cultural differences within cultures.

Differences within cultures: Ex: china although they are more collectivist as a whole there are variability. He also notes that they vary between cities. South conflict avoidant. North able to talk about issues. He thought that farming could have an impact on this. Wheat growing region in north and rice growing region in south. Rice growing is labor intensive and needs to work together with other people. Also need to collaborate with vendors more. How people have survived and thrived in terms of livelihood/nutrition/money. View themselves and how they interact with others in their environment. What has been adaptive. Gave questionnnare: North more independent. South more interdependent. (Talhelm, 2018) Do these differences influence behavior? In north and south part of china. Set up chairs where you need to do something in order to get to the register at starbucks. North would move chairs apart. South would contort body to get through. But everyone overall tended to contort their bodies due to the culture.

What emotional reactions occur when actual vs ideal emotional reactions do not match up?

Dissapointment, frustration, anger, dejection (sad and depressed)

self-justification summary

Dissonant cognitions produce a feeling of cognitive dissonance. We can change either our behavior, cognition or add a new cognition Often is easiest to add a new cognition Many of our beliefs are probably the result of dissonance Remember the four realms in which cognitive dissonance is an important social force.

Examples of behavioral self-handicapping

Doing your laundry, writing out thank you cards, and doing anything but studying for the exam tomorrow. "I've got a terrible headache today, but I will give this lecture my best shot" "I'm not good at new dances, but I will give this dance my best shot"

two-factor theory of emotions.

Emotion =arousal + attribution. Trying to understand why you are feeling certain ways. Different emotions are based on different contexts. Connected with Two step process for making attributions: when someone engages in an action first make internal attributions and then have to correct for it and realize that it could be an external factor.

Describe the two-factor theory of emotion

Emotion =arousal + attribution. Trying to understand why you are feeling certain ways. Different emotions are based on different contexts. We first experience arousal, and then try to explain it.

four realms of dissonance; postdecision dissonance

Enhancing the attractiveness of a chosen alternative and devaluing the rejected alternative. Strategically think of all positive aspects of boot A and think of all of the negative options of boot B. Make us feel better about the decision we made

attitude

Evaluations of people, objects and ideas that often determine what we do.

Self-knowledge example

Example: Factors influencing mood People think day of the week influences mood but it does not. (Wilson et al 1982, Stone et al 1985)

Why do we self-handicap?

Failing at something doesn't feel good (self-esteem-based motive) and protects self-esteem if we fail. Win win situation; if you tell someone that you are not good at it then people will be impressed. If you do behavioral activities and still do well then you feel good that you were so productive. It is functional for us. Often unconscious.

What emotions occur when actual vs ought components do not match up?

Feel guilt, anxiety, shame, and fear

What is self-concept?

How we as individuals think and perceive ourselves. The overall set of beliefs that people have about thier personal attributions.

social surrogates

Inanimate objects that activate feelings of emotion Driven by classical conditioning

What is self-perception?

Inferring information about the self by observing your own behavior. Makes inferences (attributions) about ourselves based on behavior. -much more automatized -usually applied in situational where we have less experience in a particular domain.

Describe self-perception theory.

Inferring information about the self by observing your own behavior. Makes inferences (attributions) about ourselves based on behavior. -much more automatized -usually applied in situational where we have less experience in a particular domain. We infer information about our attitudes.

What are two sources of motivation?

Intrinsic and extrinsic

What are sources of self-knowledege?

Introspection, Self-perception, Social comparison: looking outside yourself

four realms of dissonance; insufficient justification

Lack of justification for action Ex: When prophecy fails cult thinks they predicted the end of the world but actually didn't.

four realms of dissonance; Justification of effort

Liking something that one has worked hard to obtain. Think we have a positive attitude toward group or attitude.

How does the Dutton and Aron's (1971) bridge study illustrate the concept of misattributon of arousal?

Men thought their emotions were caused by the women and her attractiveness but in fact it was because it was due to being scared on the bridge.

impact bias

Method of self-protection. We want to prepare ourselves for the worse scenario because then you will be prepared for the worse and when things slightly improve you can get over what occurred emotionally more quickly

Misattribution of arousal; movie example

Movie example: on a first date to a scary movie. Can feel clammy and sweaty. Could be feeling that way due to being scared of the movie vs being nervous because you are on a date. Would more easily think its because you like your date and then would grab their hand.

Why is it a problem to be a narcissistic?

Narcissists do less well academically than others, are less successful in buisness, are more violent and agressive, especially when people get to know them. In business you need to collaborate with others and may not be receptive to feedback.

Self-justification

Need to justify our thoughts and behaviors, and to perceive that we are rational, consistent individuals. Often times in life we do not feel like rational consistent people. Awareness of behavior that you are engaging that is not in line with societal norms

What is Self-knowledge?

Our belief about who we are. The way we understand who we are and formulate and organize this information

Balance theory: Fritz Heider (1946):

Our motive for consistency influences our liking (attitude toward) objects, ideas, and people. Balance has three parts: a person, a comparison person or "thing," and a third "thing" Attitude: Positive and/or negative evaluations of people, place, objects, and ideas.

In what ways does Baumeister characterize self-control as a limited resource and analogous to a muscle?

Over the long run, exertion of self-control increases the self-control muscle Over, short run, exertion of self-control weakens the self-control, but only temporarily Conserve muscles and also taps into reserve for extraordinary tasks.

What does it mean to say that we as humans often self-perceive our traits and attitudes toward things?

Overestimating the extent to which behavior is due to extrinsic, in comparison to intrinsic reasons Makes people lose interest in activity they originally intrinsically enjoyed. Can lose personal enjoyment. Should use external rewards when someone does not enjoy doing an activity.

What is the overjustification effect within motivation?

Overestimating the extent to which behavior is due to extrinsic, in comparison to intrinsic reasons. Makes people lose interest in activity they originally intrinsically enjoyed.

Describe the components of self-discrepancy theory.

People compare their actual behavior to internalized self-guides. Components are actual self, ought self, and ideal self. Discrepancies lead to increased self-awareness and specific emotional reactions that can motivate change.

What are some general reasons that introspection can be an inaccurate source of self-knowledge?

Self is flawed. May look for things that confirm your beliefs and ignore bad things about yourself.

How is the two-factor theory of emotion consistent with othere terms discussed in class

Physiological arousal=behavior that we are experiencing or engaging in Self-perception theory=labeling or attributing Two step process for making attributions: when someone engages in an action first make internal attributions and then have to correct for it and realize that it could be an external factor.

What is impact bias?

Predicting emotion. Overestimating the enduring impact of emotion-causing (especially negative) events. Predict future feelings and behaviors. We think we will never get over these negative events

How is impact bias connected with the planning fallacy?

Predicting emotion. Overestimating the enduring impact of emotion-causing (especially negative) events. Predict future feelings and behaviors. We think we will never get over these negative events Planning fallacy predicts behavior Both fall under introspection

four realms of dissonance; good and bad deeds

Reason I did a good deed for someone else because they are a good person or because we like them

What is the term self-justification connected to?

Related to self-discrepancy theory: People compare their actual behavior to internalized self-guides. Discrepancies lead to increased self-awareness and specific emotional reactions that can motivate change. *** Similar to self-perception theory **** as all of this is happening internally and primarily related to cognitive dissonance theory

What general kinds of information is contained in the self-concept, and when does the self-concept start to develop? Explain.

Self-concept: How we as individuals think and perceive ourselves. Affect=Self-esteem Behavior=Knowledge of actions. Cognitions=Beliefs about self Awareness of self develops around 18-24 months

What term is self-discrepency theory tied to?

Self-discrepancy theory: People compare their actual behavior to internalized self-guides Discrepancies lead to increased self-awareness and specific emotional reactions that can motivate change. Similar to self-perception theory as all of this is happening internally

Describe sociometer theory

Self-esteem is an affective gauge for our interpersonal relationships and how we are being accepted by others. Evolutionary based. Adaptive for our ancestors, lets us know when doing something good/bad. Ancestors who could do this lived. Reducing anxiety in TMT. Ex: compared to gas gauge.

What does sociometer theory put forth about the function of self-esteem?

Self-esteem is impacted by this theory. If we have good self-esteem, our tank is full and individuals feel good about themselves and tend to have more positive relationships. When conflict arises our gauge becomes low and warning light of negative emotion/low self-esteem occurs and negatively impacts our relationships. Low self-esteem indicates there are problems in ones relationships. self-esteem positive relationships Allows us to see how they are doing in social relationships. Aids in the process of working with others.

How is self-discrepancy theory different from other forms by which we acquire information about ourselves, such as self-perception theory?

Self-perception theory involves attempting to attribute our feelings to our behavior. Where self-discrepancy compares their actual behavior to internalized self guides.

What are acts that we engage in for impression management?

Smiling, non-verbal's, feigning interest, dress; self-presentation, Concealing true emotions or reactions, respectful actions

What is the dramaturgical perspective within impression management?

Social roles and social situations influence the strategies we engage in to make other people perceive us in a positive light.

What are some general reasons discussed in class that introspection can be an inaccurate source of self-knowledge?

Sources of self-knowledge: Explaining feelings and behavior Predicting feelings and behavior Introspection is difficult and fallible Explaining behavior and emotions. Is error prone.

Narcissism

The combination or excessive self love and lack of empathy toward others. Extermely self-centered and are more concerned with themselves than with other people. This is more prevealant in America because of a more self focused society.

Compare and contrast the individual, relational, and collective components of the self-concept.

Three primary aspects of the self: Individual self: INDIVIDUAL view of self. Beliefs about our unique personal traits, abilities, preferences, tastes, talents and so forth. Relational self: Beliefs about our identities in specific relationships Collective self: Beliefs about our identities as members of social groups to which we belong. More in the background. Ex: work groups

Describe the planning fallacy and impact bias.

Underestimating the amount of time necessary to complete a task.

What are goal-driven motives influenced by type of social comparison?

We are motivated to be accurate: social comparison to similar to others ex: comparing exam scores to others. Motivated to feel good about ourselves: Downward social comparison ex: comparing your score on a test to those who did worse than you Motivated to achieve a future advance goal: Upward social comparison ex: comparing to those who those who did better.

Why do we fall pray to the planning fallacy; strong self esteem component?

We believe that we are able to get things done even though this may be inaccurate. We do not account for the fact that things can go wrong when completing a task. We do not develop contingencies (plans when something goes wrong) impact bias.

Ben Franklin Effect

We come to better like individuals after doing a favor for them

Why is introspection error prone?

We have a need to maintain high self-esteem. Self-serving bias. Confirmation bias- looking for consistent information and outside of us contributing to the way we are acting. Lots of factors that are less accessible to our mind that influence our feelings, thoughts, and actions: lack of perceptual salience of these other factors. Availability heuristic.

What is the spotlight effect within impression management?

We think that everyone is paying attention to us and impacts our behavior. If we are constantly taking in what other people are saying can be negative if we are continually trying to change our behavior. Need to have some sort of consistent identity. But this is functional to an extent but can become impulsive, overwhelming

Describe cultural differences between societies in defining the self.

Western cultures: independent view of self: defining oneself more in terms of ones own internal thoughts, feelings, and actions. Asian and non-Western cultures: Interdependent view of self: defining oneself more in terms of relationships to other people

Motivation

What drives a decison or behavior.

When do we compare ourselves to other people?

When we are uncertain about performance and objective standards. Motivated in a particular domain. When we are good at a task it gives us a self esteem boost if others do worse

ought self-concept

Where should or where ought to be when it comes to my behaviors. Which stems from culture and social norms

ideal self-concept

Where would I ideally like to be on a behavior or trait

Describe gender differences in self handicapping

Women: Relational interdependence: Focus more on close relationships (spouse, child, or close friend) in defining self Men: Collective interdependent focus more on membership to larger groups. *Has to do with gender norms and what we are associated to believe. Important milestones and what we are taught to value.

Describe reasons-generated attitude change. This concept most closely relates to which two concepts discussed last unit? Justify your response.

You have reasons why you like X. When someone asks why, you generate different (easily verbalized) reasons. Your attitude toward X may temporarily change due to the reasons that were (or were not) easily generated. Closely related to the availability heuristic

In Dutton and Aron's (1974) bridge study, the researchers found that _____. a. those participants approached on an emotionally-arousing bridge called their female experimenter more frequently.: related to misattribution of arousal. b. those participants approached on an emotionally-arousing bridge called their female experimenter less frequently. c. the bridge level of arousal had no effect on the frequency with which participants called back their female experimenter. d. participants' explanations for their arousal were correct.

a. those participants approached on an emotionally-arousing bridge called their female experimenter more frequently.: related to misattribution of arousal.

Which of the following people is engaging in an upward social comparison? a. Jasmine, who laughs at her classmates whom she outperformed on an exam. b. Jermaine, who reads famous authors to improve his own writing skills. c. Chet, who checks his stopwatch after running a slow 5K and vows to run faster next time. d. Sam, who copes with negative exam performance by withdrawing from and avoiding school.

b. Jermaine, who reads famous authors to improve his own writing skills.

Three sources of attitudes within Balance theory; Affectively-based attitude

based on emotions towards an attitude object

upward social comparison

better than we are with regard to a particular trait or ability. Motivates us to make positive changes. Gives us insight to increase our behavior. Allows us to achieve a future advanced goal- look to the best to see what they are doing. Causes a momentary reduction in self esteem but primes us to seek out strategies to improve. Can lead to frustration, anger, rumination, or obsession if you are unable to complete this.

Sam and Bob are fourth grade elementary students. Sam personally enjoys to read, whereas Bob gets no personal enjoyment out of reading. Their school introduces a BOOK IT! program, in which students receive an award of a pizza for reading a designated number of books. According to research on the overjustification effect, which of the following is MOST likely to result based on the new BOOK IT! Program, if both Sam and Bob participate in it? a. Sam will come to personally-enjoy reading more b. Bob will come to personally-enjoy reading more c. Sam will come to personally-enjoy reading less: Being rewarded for it intrinsic motivation would be diminished. d. Bob will come to personally-enjoy reading less

c. Sam will come to personally-enjoy reading less: Being rewarded for it intrinsic motivation would be diminished.

According to sociometer theory, self-esteem is important due to _____. a. allowing humans to maintain an internal locus of control. b. helping humans persevere when extreme setbacks and negative events occur. c. being a useful gauge for human ancestors to utilize in navigating interpersonal relationships. d. its ability to help humans cope with awareness of their inevitable mortality.

c. being a useful gauge for human ancestors to utilize in navigating interpersonal relationships.

downward social comparison

comparing ourselves to people who are worse than we are with regard to a particular trait or ability. I may not be the best but I'm better than someone else. Downside; we may not improve. Postive: gives us a self-esteem boost and allows us to feel more capable.

What is impression management?

comprised of the various strategies we use to make others perceive us in the way we wish to be seen (usually in a positive light)

actual self-concept

current state or behavior (starting point)

3. According to the strength model of self-control, self-control is like a muscle in that _____. a. exertions of self-control deplete self-control resources available for subsequent tasks that directly follow in the short-run. b. self-control developed in one domain (e.g., sports) can have positive spillover effects in other domains (e.g., school). c. frequent exertions of self-control lead to deteriorated or reduced self-control in the long-run. d. Both A and B are correct e. A, B, and C are correct

d. Both A and B are correct

Sally is asked to explain why she is feeling sad. When she reflects on why she is feeling sad, she mistakenly labels her feelings as being due to stress at school when really it is due to problems at work and stress in her relationships with her significant other and family. This best illustrates how errors can occur in _____ because _____. a. social comparison; individuals tend to underestimate cultural differences in behavior. b. introspection; individuals tend to underestimate cultural differences in behavior. c. social comparison; the most apparent or explanations for behavior are not always correct. d. introspection; the most apparent explanations for behavior are not always correct.

d. introspection; the most apparent explanations for behavior are not always correct.

What is extrinsic motication

desire to engage in activity due to external rewards of pressures

Behavioral self-handicapping

doing anything but the task that we are worried about. Engaging in behaviors that become obstacles to good performance. That are self-reported. Avoid other people attributing failures to internal behavior.

Self-reported handicapping

excuses for oneself prior to starting a task, so that if you fail, you can still feel good about yourself. Individuals engage in self-handicapping when they are self-conscious about something because failing would personally impact self esteem in a negative way. Excuses help maintain high levels of self-esteem. Have excuses to fall back on in the event that we do not perform well

Describe self-esteem.

feeling good about oneself; the extent to which individuals view themselves as good, competent, and decent.

What is the term self-handicapping similar to?

impact bias. Both protect self esteem regardless of the outcome. Similar to impact bias: We overestimate how long negative or positive emotions are going to last. We engage in this so we can think about worst case scenario because if things to not improve we are already prepared and can cope with this. Or when things do get better, we are impressed with how well things have turned around. Impact set up worst case scenario when you are worried about something.

What is self-control?

is being able to change/monitor our behavior in order to maintain social norms, values, morals and for future goals. Contol impulses.

What is misattribution of arousal within emotions?

mistakenly identifying the cause of what is making one feel the way they are. -especially likely to happen when dealing with emotion. Sources of emotion influence our behavior.

Self-knowledge

our beliefs about who we are.

impact bias

overestimating the enduring impact of emotion-causing events (especially negative events)

When do we engage in social comparison?

people socially compare when there is no objective standard to measure themselves aginst and when they are uncertain about themselves in a particular area. Allows us to take action. Functional for our survival. Can allow for self-insight.

What is the planning fallacy?

underestimating the amount of time necessary to complete a task.

What are the types of social comparisons.

upward and downward comparison

How is the impact of attitudes demonstrated in Wells&Petty 1980 nonverbal cues study?

wanted to determine if participants nonverbal behavior. Participants read opinion statements about stuff they did not have a strong opinion on while either: Some people would shake their heads (condition 1) or nodding (condition 2) Participants who nodded agreed with opinion statements more People using nonverbal behavior as information about what they agreed with.

Four realms of dissonance; bad deeds

we tend to hate victims. Blame them for your actions. Dissonant cognitions: "I am a decent, fair minded person". I just hurt bob (whether it be physically, emotionally). Bob deserved it.