Social Psychology Exam 2
Outgroup homogeneity
"They are all alike, we are all different."
SELF-ESTEEM
Attitude we have about ourselves
MINIMAL GROUPS
Groups that are arbitrary and have no meaning
SCHMITT, SILVIA, & BRANSCOMBE (2000)
2 conditions - Compared to other person - participant liked poor performing person more than high performing person Compared to other gender - participant liked high performing same-gender person more than poor performing same-gender person
Discrepancy
A mismatch between our actual self and a self-guide
SELF-HANDICAPPING
Actions people take to handicap their own performance in order to build an excuse for anticipated failure (it's a conscious action)
3 dimensions of attitudes (ABC's of attitudes)
Affect (feelings) Behavior Cognition (thoughts)
Affect misattribution procedure
Another measure of implicit attitudes Participants are primed with pictures
SELF-SERVING BIAS
Any cognitive or perceptual process that is distorted by the need to maintain and enhance self-esteem
EFFECTIVE MESSAGES...
Are spread by word of mouth, Are subtle, Aren't based on fear
Ingratiation
Attempting to convey to others that we like them by flattering or praising them (flattering, similar to other-enhancement)
Self-promotion
Attempting to present our positive characteristics to other people (talking yourself up)
The Three Factors Of Intention
Attitudes toward behavior, Subjective norms, Perceived behavioral control
EXPLICIT ATTITUDES
Attitudes you are aware of Controllable (we can share with other people) Self-reported "Slow" thinking - deliberative
Glass ceiling
Barrier that prevents women from reaching high level positions in the workplaces
When do we self-present?
Basically all the time...
superordinate goals
Had to work together to solve problems
REDUCING DISSONANCE
Changing future behavior to be consistent with attitude
Glass cliff effect
Choosing women for leadership positions after some sort of crisis that makes the position risky or likely to result in failure (gives them a chance to blame woman or other minorities)
The Three Factors Of Persuasion Effectiveness
Communicator (person doing the persuading), Message (what's used to persuade), Audience (people being persuaded)
Intergroup comparison
Compare our group to other groups (Emphasis on what we share with our in-group members)
Intragroup comparison
Compare ourselves to other people who are members of our group(s)
Social Comparison
Compare yourself to other person as an individual - feel negatively Compare yourself to another person as social group member- feel positively
GENDER DIFFERENCES IN SELF-ESTEEM
Countries with gender disparities - women have lower self-esteem than men Countries with gender equality - women and men have equal self-esteem. Gender differences decline and eventually disappear starting at 65 years old
Cross-race identification
Difficulty identifying faces of people who are a different race than us
Ego depletion
Diminished ability to exert self-control after we have previously done so
The Two Pathways of Classical Conditioning
Direct route -Positive stimuli paired with target, transfer affect to target Indirect route -Create "memory link" by pairing target with specific stimuli (celebrities endorsing product)
Only female in a room, your gender becomes more salient
Distinctiveness in a certain context example
PERSUASION
Efforts to change attitudes by using various kinds of messages
ATTITUDES
Evaluations of the world Forms: Favorable or unfavorable Stable or unstable Certain or uncertain
Procrastination
Example of situational attribution, relating to self-handicapping
Emotional Responses of Prejudice
Fear (response to groups that threaten our safety) Anger (response to threats of resources) Guilt (response to threatening of a group's morality) Envy (a desire of resources that you do not have) Disgust (response to health and value threats. Leads to avoidance. Ex homosexuals being associated to disease) Pity (response to a threat of social coordination)
Stereotyping
Generalized beliefs about social groups and the traits or characteristics they are believed to share -Cognition
Peripheral route of persuasion
Heuristic processing Use mental shortcuts, believe experts, trust what makes you feel good Less effortful, automatic
ELABORATION LIKELIHOOD MODEL
Heuristic processing/peripheral route and Systematic processing/central route
DEPLETION STUDY: RADISHES VS. CHOCOLATES
IV: assigned to eat radishes or chocolate DV: persistence on unsolvable puzzles Participants who ate radishes gave up sooner than those who ate chocolate
Self-construal
Independent Think of selves as individuals (and our unique traits and characteristics) Interdependent Think of selves in relation to other people
SOME WAYS WE LEARN ABOUT OURSELVES
Look at our own feelings, thoughts, and behaviors and at other people.
We're biased in our self-perceptions
Knowing intentions can sometimes mislead us (ex. If we meant to help someone but then forget. We believe we are good for intending to do it while the other person does not)
Conditioning
Learning by association (Pavlov people ring a bell before eating making the dog salivate at the sound of the bell.)
OBJECTIVE VS. SUBJECTIVE RATINGS
Might rate people from different groups equally on a subjective scale, but differently on an objective scale Subjective depends on comparison to other group members Objective is the same regardless of comparison
IMPLICIT ASSOCIATION TEST (IAT)
Most common measure of implicit attitudes Categorization of words and faces Response times determine bias (and mistakes) Preference for one category over another
SOCIAL IDENTITY THEORY
Motivated to view our social groups positively Other members of our social group can make us feel positive when they perform well
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
One stimulus evokes a response (unconditioned stimulus) (food). A neutral stimulus precedes it (conditioned stimulus) (bell). Response occurs in response to just the neutral (conditioned) stimulus (salivation to the bell) .
Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale
People rate statements on how much they apply to them "I feel that I have a number of good qualities." "On the whole, I am satisfied with myself."
TO WHOM DO WE COMPARE OURSELVES?
People who are similar to ourselves (mainly because they share the same skillset, domain or group)
Self-Discrepancy Theory
People's specific emotional reaction to a discrepancy depends which self-guide they do not meet
SELF-CONTROL
Refraining from actions we like and engaging in actions we don't enjoy to attain a goal
MOST SALIENT SELF
Relevance Distinctiveness Traits important to the self Other people and the way they refer to us serve as cues
Considering yourself as a student in a classroom but an athlete on the field
Relevance in a certain context example
Identity fusion
See the self strongly as part of a group When this happens, more willing to go to extreme lengths to protect ingroup
SOCIOMETER THEORY
Self-esteem is an internal cue that monitors our social standing. Informs us whether we are included or excluded by others
ATTITUDE TO BEHAVIOR PROCESS MODEL
Something activates our attitude >That attitude influences our perception >Knowledge about what's appropriate is also activated > Attitude and what's appropriate shape definition of event >Definition influences our behavior
ASPECTS OF ATTITUDES
Strength, Extremity, Certainty (Clarity (feeling clear about what your attitude is) Correctness (believing that your attitude is the right one to hold)), Personal experience
INSTRUMENTAL CONDITIONING
Strengthening of responses that lead to positive outcomes or avoidance of negative outcomes
Subtype
Subset of stereotype-inconsistent group members (Ex. Obama, Oprah)
Central route of Persuasion
Systematic processing Carefully consider message content and ideas Effortful, deliberate
Actual Self
The person you are right now (for the most parts we present this self in social media because people know what we are actually like)
Ought Self
The self it is your duty to be (ex. Responsible person) (anxiousness is felt when not met)
Ideal Self
The self it is your goal to be (ex. Successful person) (sadness is felt when not met)
Feared Self
The self you fear becoming (ex. Lonely/hated/ unsuccessful person) (relief is felt when not met)
Introspection
Thinking about what makes us who we are.
Affective forecasting
Thinking we know how we'll feel/react to future events (often not accurate)
Discrimination
Treating others differently (usually negatively) based on group membership -Behavior
BETTER THAN AVERAGE EFFECT
View ourselves as above average on almost all traits But by definition we can't all be "above average"
PLURALISTIC IGNORANCE
We believe others have different attitudes than we do, even when they don't
Tokenism
When a few members of a marginalized group are admitted to some role
Study at Princeton
alcohol attitudes (people reported that due to the popular attitude of everyone to the drinking habits that even though they were personally against it they accepted it due to believing that everyone else had that attitude)
POST-DECISION DISSONANCE
experience a lot of dissonance after making difficult decisions
Zero-sum outcomes
if one group gets them, another group can't (leads to competition)
Negative stereotypes
intention to discriminate Can be about a number of factors Traits Physical appearance Abilities/skills Behaviors
Lapierre study
prejudice against Chinese people were strong. Lapierre brought a Chinese couple to multiple restaurants after asking whether they would refuse service to Chinese people. The majority said they would reject them in reality only one restaurant refused to serve them
Two types of attitudes
Implicit and Explicit
Social learning
Learning by interacting with or observing other people
THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOR
Rationally make a decision to engage in a behavior. Consider multiple behavioral options and the consequences/outcomes of each. Make a decision about whether or not to act. Make behavioral intentions
HOW WE RESIST BEING PERSUADED.
Reactance -Negative reactions to others telling us what to do Forewarning -Resist persuasion when we know in advance that we're going to be targeted Selective avoidance -Don't pay attention to information that challenges our attitudes Counterarguments -Come up with arguments that undermine attitudes different from our own
SHERIF- ROBBER'S CAVE STUDY
Brought boys to a summer camp and randomly assigned them to two groups Bonded with their own group (made group names, symbols and flags) Then brought together for competitions with other groups Derogated other group, praised own group Eliminating competition didn't reduce prejudice - only superordinate goals
Heuristic processing/peripheral route
Don't have time or capacity to think carefully about message Don't have motivation to process message Lack knowledge on issue Issue isn't important to us (Easier to change thinking)
SOCIAL COMPARISON THEORY
We compare ourselves to others in many domains and for many attributes. There is no objective way we can measure our success or failure. Because of this, other people are very informative in helping us evaluate ourselves.
Self-verification Perspective
We want others to agree with our views of ourselves (we surround ourselves with people who do this)
Downward social comparison
Comparing yourself with someone less capable
Upward social comparison
Comparing yourself with someone more capable
Realistic conflict theory
Competition between groups >view other group negatively View outgroup as enemies, view ingroup as morally superior, think in terms of "us" and "them", dehumanize
Subliminal Conditioning
Conditioning that occurs outside of conscious awareness (by mere exposure usually)
Systematic processing/central route
Highly motivated and have the capacity to process information Have a lot of knowledge about topic Have time to think carefully Issue is important to us Believe we need to form an accurate opinion
Self-deprecation
Implying that we're not as good as other people by building others up or bringing ourselves down (typically to make ourselves feel better and seem humble)
Prejudice
Negative emotional responses to or dislike of others based on group membership-Affect
Baumeister et al. (1988) Depletion study
Participants were told that they were doing a taste test and not to eat 3 hours before the lab. Nearby chocolate chips were being baked and put in a bowl next to radishes. The participants were told they had to taste at least one of the food. They were watched and then asked to complete an impossible puzzle (anagrams) the amnt of time spent was recorded. Participants who ate radishes gave up sooner than those who ate chocolate
Personal-versus-social identity continuum
Perceive ourselves as unique individuals at the personal level and as social group members at the social level
*NOEL, WANN, & BRANSCOMBE (1995)
Pledges changed their attitudes about other sororities/fraternities Public - Derogated other sororities/fraternities Private - Didn't derogate other sororities/fraternities
IMPLICIT ATTITUDES
Positive and negative evaluations that occur outside of our conscious awareness and/or control Often the result of past experiences, "Fast" thinking - intuitive
Self-Guides
Possible selves (i.e. Ideal self, ought self, feared self)
HOW ATTITUDES GUIDE BEHAVIOR
Reasoned thought (Theory of planned behavior) and Spontaneous behavioral responses (Attitude-to-behavior process model)
Mischel & Baker (1975) Self-control and delayed gratification
Researchers gave children a marshmallow (4 yro) they told them that if they waited to eat the marshmallow they would get more marshmallows. Most of the children showed self-control but had difficulties doing so. Others would nibble on it or just plain eat it. Following the growth of the children, scientists found out that those with better self-control had better SAT scores
INCREASING SELF-CONTROL
Rest between self-control tasks Think abstractly about goals Shorter self-control tasks Self-regulation training
Festinger & Carlsmith (1959)
Students did boring tasks. Half of the students were offered $20 to lie and say the tasks were fun to other people. The other half were offered $1. The $20 participants did not experience dissonance while lying thus, not changing their attitude and admitting the task was boring at the end. Unlike the $1 participants who did, the ones who experienced dissonance were able to change their whole entire attitude even if initially they did not believe the tasks for fun.
Social identity theory:
We perceive ourselves and identify as members of a social group ( we typically belong in multiple social groups)
SELF-EVALUATION MAINTENANCE MODEL
We distance ourselves from those who perform better than us and move closer to others who perform worse than us.
COGNITIVE DISSONANCE
We experience discomfort when we realize our attitudes and behavior don't line up We like consistency, so we don't like when our attitudes and behavior are inconsistent
BASKING IN REFLECTED GLORY
We feel good about ourselves when a member of our social group does well. We reflect their success onto ourselves.