psych ch 11: social psychology

social psychology

def - the study of how people think about, influence, and relate to other people ________ psychologists are interested in studying how a person's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual (imagined) presence of others

although we often think of attitudes as causing behavior, behavior can change our attitudes through either ________ or __________

dissonance reduction or self perception

social psychological research is often _________

experimental this means that social psychologists are likely to manipulate the IV (such as an aspect of a social context) to draw conclusions about its effects on some outcome (the DV) these experiments are often inspired by observations in the social world

cognitive dissonance

1 of the 2 explanations as to why behavior influences attitudes an individual's psychological discomfort (dissonance) caused by two inconsistent thoughts ex- if you have a positive attitude about treating farm animals humanely but bought the cheap inhumanely raised eggs, you may feel dissonance (discomfort) and relieve that dissonance by rationalizing ... well everyone is gonna buy the cheap eggs anyways. Through cognitive dissonance, your behavior changed your attitude

self perception theory

1 of the 2 explanations as to why behavior influences our attitudes Daryl Bem's theory on how behaviors influence our attitudes stating that individuals make inferences about their attitudes by perceiving their behavior ex - if someone asked about your attitude toward sushi, you might think well i rarely eat it (behavior) so I must not like it. (attitude) according to Bem, we are especially likely to look to our behavior to determine our attitudes when those attitudes are unclear

when the person shows a strong awareness of his or her attitudes and when the person rehearses and practices them

1 of the 3 conditions in which attitudes are likely to guide behavior a person who has been asked to give a speech about the benefits of recycling is more likely to recycle than someone with the same attitude about recycling who has not put the ideas into words and defined it in public (given the speech)

when the person's attitudes are strong

1 of the 3 conditions in which attitudes are likely to guide behavior ex- senators whose attitudes toward the president are highly favorable are more likely to vote for the president's policies than the senators who have only moderately favorable attitudes toward the president

when the person has a vested interest

1 of the 3 conditions in which attitudes are likely to guide behavior people are more likely to act on attitudes when the issue at stake will affect them personally ex- most students at a rally for raising the drinking age would be for it. but, those under the age of 21 would likely not to be for raising the legal drinking age (such as myself)

personality - which personality trait is most strongly associated with prosocial behavior?

1 of the 3 psychological factors that play a role in prosocial behavior agreeableness is the personality trait most strongly associated with helping behavior !! ex - Rebecca agreeableness is related to greater volume in the posterior cingulate cortex - a brain area associated with understanding other people's beliefs and with empathy

empathy - and how it plays a role in prosocial behavior

1 of the 3 psychological factors that play a role in prosocial behavior def: the feeling of oneness with the emotional state of another person - allows us to put ourselves in another person's shoes and feel what they're feeling when we are feeling empathy for someone else's difficult situation, we are moved to action - not to make ourselves feel better but out of genuine concern for the other person

mood - how it plays a role in prosocial behavior

1 of the 3 psychological factors that play a role in prosocial behavior our mood can determine whether or not we engage in kind behaviors - happy people are more likely to help others than unhappy people BUT does being in a bad mood make people less helpful? No. because adults understand that doing good for others is a mood booster. They may be more likely to help if in a bad mood if they think that by doing so, their mood will improve

socioeconomic status - and how it plays a role in prosocial behavior

1 of the 3 sociocultural factors in prosocial behavior low socioeconomic status people are more likely to help compared to those who have more - why? possibly bc those from poorer backgrounds tend to be more aware to the suffering of others another reason may be that wealth promotes a focus on maintaining one's standing in the world and not reaching out to help those in need

media - and how it plays a role in pro social behavior

1 of the 3 sociocultural factors that play a role in prosocial behavior listening to music with helpful lyrics can promote kindness watching TV shows with prosocial content predicts prosocial behavior those who play video games involving helping aspects are more likely to apply that to a situation in real life compared to a neutral or violent video game

comparing cognitive dissonance theory and self perception theory

in cognitive dissonance, we are motivated toward consistency between attitudes and behavior and away from inconsistency ex - i hate my job. I need to develop a better attitude toward it or else quit self perception theory ex - I am spending all of my time thinking about how much I hate my job. I really must not like it

positive illusions

individuals with high self esteem often possess a variety of _________________ def: favorable views of the self that are not necessarily rooted in reality most of us think of ourselves as above average those who possess this are psychologically healthier and more likely to be judged positively by others

self fulfilling prophecy

social expectations that cause an individual to act in such a way that the expectations are realized social expectations cause individuals to act in ways that make the expectations actually come true ex- if we expect attractive people to have positive characteristics, we may give them special treatment which in turn, may make them indeed positive. known as the "beautiful is good stereotype" same goes for negative!!

evolutionary perspectives of altruism

they question, how can a behavior that rewards others and not oneself be adaptive? evolutionary psychologists note that helping is more likely to occur among family members because helping a relative also means promoting the survival of the family genes most acts of animal altruism involve kin they believe that reciprocity in non family member relationships is the mistaken application of heuristic that once made sense in evolutionary history - to engage in selfish acts of kindness to one's own family

gender - and how it plays a role in prosocial behavior

1 of the 3 sociocultural factors that play a role in prosocial behavior women are NOT more likely to help others in general than men. it depends on the context of what that help entails women are more likely to help when the context involves existing interpersonal relationships of nurturing such as volunteer time to help a child with a personal problem ex - me helping dillan with a problem men are more likely to help in situations where a perceived danger is present and in which they feel competent to help ex - picking up a hitchhiker, assisting someone with a flat tire

controllable and uncontrollable causes

1 of the 3 types of attribution theory controllable - causes that we have power over such as preparing yummy food for a picnic uncontrollable - causes that we cannot control such as it raining that day

internal and external causes

1 of the 3 types of attribution theory internal attributions include causes inside and specific to the person such as her traits and abilities (intelligence) external attributions include causes outside the person such as situational factors ex- did Beth get an A on the test because she is smart (internal) or because the test was easy (external) ?

stable and unstable causes

1 of the 3 types of attribution theory stable - relatively enduring and permanent unstable - temporary ex - did dalton blow up on me today because he is a bad guy or because he was having a bad day?

what are the 2 behaviors that represent the extremes of human social activity?

1) altruism 2) aggression

what 3 psychological factors play a role in prosocial/helping behavior?

1) empathy 2) personality 3) mood

what are the 3 sociocultural factors that influence prosocial behavior?

1) socioeconomic status 2) gender 3) media

What 2 ways make social psychology distinctive from the other areas of psychology?

1. its connection to real life 2. its reliance on experimental methods

stereotype threat

An individual's fast-acting, self-fulfilling fear of being judged based on a negative stereotype about his or her group mostly occurring in minorities example- a test is presented a white male student vs black male student where they must check a box indicating their ethnicity before beginning. the black student under performs when they're forced to check the box. when there is no ethnicity question, there were no differences in performance recorded

attitudes

An individual's opinions and beliefs about people, objects, and ideas—how the person feels about the world

true or false? altruism within a group may be linked to aggression

True! some evolutionary scientists believe that altruism, especially when directed at the members of one's own group, may coexist with hostile actions towards others outside one's group ex - a soldier may perform selfless acts of altruism for their own country but act harmful towards a person on the other side of the conflict (a different country or foreign person). think of the episode of this is us when jack's brother acts this way toward the viet little boy *a series capable of incredible acts of kindness can also perpetrate horrifying acts of violence

inoculation

William McGuire's method of resisting persuasive appeals such as ads and salespeople he proposed that just as administering a vaccine inoculates people from a virus by introducing a weakened version of that virus to the immune system, giving people a weak version of a persuasive message allows them time to argue against and avoid it ex - helps college students resist plagiarism and credit card companies by warning them against it

stereotype

a generalization about a group's characteristics that does not consider any variations from one individual to another why do we do this? we save time and effort by lumping people into groups but we also miss out on their unique characteristics in doing so ________ are a natural extension of the limits on human cognitive processing

reciprocity

a selfish altruistic motive meaning that we help another person to increase the chances that the person will return the favor "paying it forward"

egoism

a selfish altruistic motive means helping another person for personal gain, such as to feel good, or avoid guilt

effort justification

a type of dissonance (discomfort) reduction refers to rationalizing the amount of effort we put into getting something by increasing its value working hard (behavior) to get into a profession or group can change our attitudes about it ex - since medicine is so hard to get into, it must be worth it in the end

attribution theory: actor and observer

actor - the person who produces the behavior observer- the person who offers a casual explanation of the actors behavior actors often explain their own behavior in terms of external (or situational) causes. In contrast, observers tend to explain the actors behavior in terms of internal causes (personality traits) example - actor says "i'm late with my report because other people kept asking me to help them with theirs" vs. observer "she's late with her report because she cant prioritize her responsibilities

does the fact behaving prosocially leads to feelings of pleasure mean that such behavior is always selfish? feelings of pleasure are linked with ___________

adaptive behaviors - those things we need to do to survive and reproduce possibly the strong link between pleasure and kindness demonstrates that engaging in prosocial behavior is an important adaptation for humans who are so dependent on one another for survival

the link between attitudes and behavior

attitudes influence behavior + behavior influences attitude changes in behavior can precede changes in attitudes social psychologists offer 2 main explanations of why behavior influences attitudes: 1) cognitive dissonance theory 2) self perception theory

we do not just think socially, we also __________ in social ways

behave

prosocial behavior

behaviors that involve helping another person prosocial spending or spending money on others rather than oneself, is linked to greater well being helping others strongly and consistently leads to increased positive mood older adults who engaged in volunteering had a lower mortality risk than those who did not

which neurotransmitters are associated with prosocial behavior? what factor of prosocial behavior does this represent?

biological factors in prosocial behavior - high levels of serotonin - dopamine receptors in the brain - neurohormone oxytocin, which plays a role in social bonding, is associated with enhanced helping behavior experiments with humans show that administering oxytocin increases trust, cooperation, and generosity

which brain structures are used when engaging in prosocial behviors? what factor of prosocial behavior does this represent?

biological factors in prosocial behavior when we feel compassion for another person, areas of the midbrain associated with perception of pain are likely to be active these same areas are associated with nurturing parental behaviors, suggesting that... neural factors associated with the parent child relationship are involved in kindness towards others

what are the factors that predict prosocial behavior?

biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors

what are the 2 explanations as to why behavior influences attitudes

cognitive dissonance self perception theory

attribution

explanations of the causes of behavior ex - once you get to know a person, you have a lot more info than simply physical appearance that helps you form an opinion of him/her we observe a person's actions and then make inferences about who they are what they're likely to do. the results of those inferences are our attributions

what are two examples of errors or bias in attributional theory?

fundamental attribution error and self serving bias

biological factors in pro social behavior

genetics play a role in prosocial behavior genetic factors explain between 30 and 53 % of differences we see in the tendency to engage in kind acts these genetics are related to neurotransmitters in the brain

persuasion

involves trying to change someones attitude and often his or her behavior as well the quality of an argument is only one aspect of persuasion after all, advertisers spend huge amounts of money for celebrity endorsements. If an argument is good, why should it matter if Lebron James endorses it?

altruism

means giving aid to another person with the goal of benefiting that person, even if it incurs a cost to oneself psychologists debate whether human behavior is ever truly altruistic - altruistic motives contrast with selfish and egoistic motives such as egoism, reciprocity = 2 examples of selfish behaviors

false consensus effect

observer's over estimation of the degree to which everybody else thinks or acts the way they do ex - everybody must think parking in someone else's driveway is common sense bc i think it is common sense... apparently not shows that we sometimes use ourselves as our best guess about the social world in the false consensus effect, we are using ourselves as a heuristic !!

social psychology is most closely aligned with ___________ psychology. How do they differ?

personality psychology why? bc they're both interested in why people do the things that they do *what distinguishes them from the other is how they look for the answer to why people do the things that they do ex- personality psychologists look within the person (traits, motives) whereas social psychologists instead focus on the situational factors that lead to behavior

what is another powerful social cue aside from the face?

physical attractiveness research shows that even infants (3-6 mos) prefer attractive faces over ugly ones very attractive faces are actually average. individual/ different faces are less attractive attractive = averageness, youthfulness, and symmetry attractive individuals are assumed to have positive characteristics such as friendly, likeable, etc. this is the "beautiful is good stereotype"

what is one way that stereotypes can influence individuals?

self fulfilling prophecy

social psychology's connection to real life

social psychology is inspired by real life events such as the past ww2 nazis, civil war (slavery) and racism today still social psychologists were interested in the ways that changing situational factors might alter a person's life for the better social psychology research includes topics like leadership, organizational behavior, marketing, persuasion

how is social psychology similar and different compared to sociology?

sociology= the study of human societies, organizations, and institutions similar - they both examine human social behavior different - sociologists focus on group level vs. social psychologists which are interested in how individuals influence groups and how groups influence individuals (one person)

attitudes do predict behavior but only ....

sometimes attitudes are likely to guide behavior under the following conditions: 1) when the person's attitudes are strong 2) when the person shows a strong awareness of his/her attitude and rehearses and practices them 3) when the person has a vested interest

an example of experimental research in social psychology

study involved randomly assigning participants to be either alone or with other people (IV) and staging various emergencies for example a woman in distress in a hallway where smoke is filling the room. the experiment is to see whether people helped the woman in the emergency or did not help (DV) studies concluded that when a person was alone they are likely to help 75% of the time vs. another bystander being present which drops to only 50% of the time these results demonstrate the bystander effect

social cognition

the area of social psychology exploring how people select, interpret, remember, and use social information it is the way in which individuals think in social situations

"the self" in social cognition

the mental representation of who we are and what we are like different from other social objects bc we know much more about ourselves than we do about others one of the most important self related variables is self esteem (the degree to which we have positive or negative feelings about ourselves)

social comparison

the process by which individuals evaluate their thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and abilities in relation to others comparing ourselves to other people is one way we come to understand our own behavior tells us what our distinctive characteristics are and aids us in building an identity

person perception

the processes by which an individual uses social stimuli to form impressions of others first impressions - which are pretty accurate judgements about personality traits bc the way we dress, do our hair, facial expressions gives away a lot of information about us one very important social cue is the FACE

bystander effect

the tendency for an individual who observes an emergency to help less when other people are present than when the observer is alone what explains this effect? 1. maybe people look to cues from others on how to behave 2. deindividuation - a process in which people feel anonymous and lose a sense of personal responsibility

self serving bias

the tendency to take credit for one's successes and to deny responsibility for one's failures ex - psychology exam. if you do well, you are likely to take credit for that success saying "i'm so smart or I knew that stuff" but if you do poorly, you are likely to blame situational factors like "that test was too hard" to make external attributions (external explanations)

elaboration likelihood model

theory identifying two ways to persuade: a central route + peripheral route central route- works by engaging the audience with sound logical argument * this route is more persuasive when when people have the ability to pay close attention peripheral route - involves factors such as attractiveness of the person giving the message or emotional power of an appeal * TV ads often use this route bc during commercials most people are not paying full attention.

attribution theory

what factors play a role in the attributions we make about behaviors? the question is addressed in _______________________ the view that people are motivated to discover the underlying causes of behavior as part of their effort to make sense of the behavior 3 types: 1) internal and external causes 2) stable and unstable causes 3) controllable + uncontrollable causes

fundamental attribution error

when observers make attributions (explanations) about behavior, they often overestimate the importance of internal traits and underestimate the importance of external situations when they seek explanations of another person's behavior

heuristics in social information processing

when we make attributions, we are engaging in social information processing. Heuristics play a role in social info processing Heuristics can be helpful tools but can also lead to mistakes type of heuristic = stereotypes because they allow us to make quick judgements using very little info but, relying on stereotypes can lead to serious errors in social info processing one common heuristic = false consensus effect