PSYS 130 Fenstermacher Exam 3

catharsis

"letting off steam"/"venting anger"; Bushman's (2002) "Does Venting Anger Feed or Extinguish the Flame?" found that those who were made to ruminate about a person they were angry with (by being asked to think about the person who's angering them while looking at a picture of them) and were found, in the end, to be the most aggressive, as the prolonged thought of the person who angered them coupled with aggressive behavior

aggression

2 main classifications of this behavior: hostile ("HOT"; driven by anger/emotion with an end goal/aim to inflict harm) and instrumental ("COOL"; an intent to cause harms as a means to some other goal; more detached; for example, killing enemies because one is a soldier)

group

2+ people, a shared interest/reason for being somewhere, proximity to/interaction with one another in some way (physical, digital, etc.); two or more people who, for longer than a few moments, interact with an influence one another and perceive one another as "us"; includes their own social norms and roles and can lead to social facilitation, loafing, and/or deindividuation

stereotype

a belief about the personal attributes of a group of people; the cognitive component of prejudice (no negative emotions attached)

alcohol

a biochemical influence on aggression; when people consume alcohol, it leads to deindividuation and disinhibition, lowers inhibitions and self-awareness (can lead especially to hostile aggression), less tuned into the subtleties of the environment

jigsaw classroom

a classroom setting designed to reduce prejudice and raise the self-esteem of children by placing them in small, multiethnic groups and making each child dependent upon the other children in the group to learn the course material; created to calm the unrest between children when American schools were initially desegregated; children begin to pay more attention to each other and to show more respect for one another - in addition, found to be, over time, less prejudiced towards one another, tended to like their groupmates more (both within and across ethnic boundaries), do better on exams, have higher self-esteem, and begin to like school better than children in traditional classrooms

social dilemma

a conflict in which the most beneficial action for an individual will, if chosen by most people, have harmful effects on everyone

MAOA-L

a gene that alters neurotransmitter balance and, when combined with childhood maltreatment, often results in a person with higher levels of aggression (when compared to peers)

minimal group

a group formed through entirely trivial criteria; Tajfel (1982 and 1986) studied these and found that once in their arbitrary groupings, participants would give more pleasurable/attractive activities to those in their own group, give higher ratings of likeability to those in their own group, and, when competing, would choose to keep the other team from scoring points even if it meant not scoring points for one's own team/group

ingroup

a group with which one identifies, a part of one's social identity

prejudice

a hostile/negative attitude toward people in a distinguishable group based solely on their membership in that group; containing affective (negative/hostile emotions), behavioral (discrimination stemming from one's emotions), and cognitive (stereotypes, often with a negative tone but no attached emotion) components

stigma consciousness

a part of self-fulfilling prophecies, feeling as though one is part of a group that's the target of negative stereotypes; very aware of and carry that knowledge all the time (hyperaware constantly)

stereotype threat

a part of self-fulfilling prophecies, when one reminds someone of a negative stereotype associated with their group that has something to do with an activity they're about to engage in has the effect of making their performance on the activity worse (the distraction messes with people's focus upon the activity)

persuasive argument

a reason for the occurrence of group polarization, due to members bringing in information about a topic everyone agree upon that one hadn't yet discovered/thought of, leading to one further supporting one's group's argument/stance with this "new" evidence

social comparison

a reason for the occurrence of group polarization, due to members supporting the group's values and also presenting oneself in a positive light (as a "good" group member worthy of praise and support) through taking a slightly more extreme position than most others' in the group

implicit association test

a test that measures the speed of positive and negative reactions to target groups (ex. racial groups, gender groups, trans and cisgendered people, etc.)

groupthink

a type of thinking in which maintaining group cohesiveness/solidarity is more important than considering the facts in a realistic manner; coming up with just 1 decision often leads a group to push a decision to be made (often to the detriment of other pieces of information - leading to ignoring some of the most important points); most likely to occurs when the group is highly cohesive, protected/isolated from opposing views, the leader is directive, there is time pressure/stress to get a decision made, and there is no allowance for consideration of alternative views within the group

indirect (passive)

aggression such as purposefully not waking your roommate up for class because you're angry with them (hostile) or withholding information from a classmate before a test because it's a competitive test/class/program/school (instrumental)

overt (direct)

aggression that is physical/verbal

social (relational)

aggression that is trying harm someone's reputation/social standing/social group/friendships (for example, embarrassing someone, spreading rumors, encouraging others not to go to gatherings - creating social exclusion) because one is trying to make oneself look better/get rid of other social competition/doesn't like a specific person; more heavily favored by girls

dominant response

an action that one is familiar with/good at; can become more difficult to perform under social facilitation

bogus pipeline

an aspect of measuring prejudice, when researchers use some type of technical-looking apparatus (said to be a lie detector) and tell participants they'll be asked some sensitive questions - there differences in people's responses when they think they're hooked up to to a "lie detector" than in a normal setting (for example, college males tend to be more negative towards "sensitive" topics, showing their explicit prejudice)

subtyping

an aspect of the subgrouping model of revising stereotypical beliefs, the idea that individuals who deviate from one's stereotype about their group are "exceptions to the rule"

subgrouping

an aspect of the subgrouping model of revising stereotypical beliefs, the process that, when individuals deviate from the stereotype, one creates a new "subset" of the stereotyped group

culture of honor

an cultural/subcultural environmental influence on aggression; the idea that men in these areas (predominantly in the South) are violent/ aggressive in circumstances where one feels that his honor is being threatened; started by the herding economy in the American West and Southwest, the idea that even small disputes put a man's reputation for toughness on the line, requiring him to respond aggressively to restore his status; the legacy of this philosophy has remained (though the herding economy has dwindled) - regions in the South and West have rates of honor-related homicides (ex. murder to avenge a perceived insult to one's family) 5x higher than in other regions of the country, high school students in these states are far more likely than those from other states to bring a weapon to school (and use it), these states have more than 2x as many school shooting per capita than do other states, men in these areas tend to distrust governments and believe they are the ones who have the obligation to retaliate personally (and sometimes violently), these areas have higher rates of domestic violence, and a large population of both sexes in these areas believe it is appropriate for a man to physically assault a woman if he believes she is threatening his honor and reputation by being unfaithful/leaving him

self fulfilling prophecy

an expectation of one's own/another person's behavior that comes true because of the tendency of the person holding it to act in ways that bring the behavior about; when one has an idea about how something will be, and because of how one thinks something will go, one subconsciously acts in a way which creates the outcome one expects

process loss

any aspect of group interaction that inhibits good problem solving; occurs due to conformity pressure, groups not seeking out the most competent members' input(s), communication problems within the group (failure to share unique information); for example, groupthink and group polarization

outgroup

anyone who isn't considered to be a part of the group(s) one is a part of; including those who one is prejudiced against or who one has stereotypes about

hostile sexism

apparent in these who hold negative stereotypes of women - such as that they are inferior to men because they're inherently less intelligent, less competent, less brave, less capable of math/science, etc., legitimizes discrimination against women and can be used to justify relegating them to traditional stereotyped roles

benevolent sexism

apparent in those who hold more positive stereotypes of women - such as that they're kinder than men, more empathetic, more nurturing, etc.; tends to idealize women romantically (perhaps admiring them as wonderful cooks/mothers) and want to protect them when they don't need protection - this is affectionate but patronizing and conveys the attitude that women are so wonderful, good, kind, and moral that they should stay at home, away from the aggressiveness/corruption (and power/income) of public life; legitimizes discrimination against women and can be used to justify relegating them to traditional stereotyped roles

important takeaways (from Change in Attitudes towards War and Violence After 9/11)

big events can change attitudes, attitudes must be related to the event in order for them to be impacted by it, and aggressive events can change aggression-related attitudes

deindividuation

can lead to effects such as increased greediness (Diener et al [1976] found children who are left anonymous and trick-or-treating in a group were most likely to take more than 1 piece of candy when told to just take one), increased disobedience (children more likely to disobey an experimenter's request when their identity is obscured [Miller & Rowald, 1979; Ross, Anderson, & Campbell, 2011]), and increased aggressiveness towards or harm inflicted upon others (adults more willing to harm others when told to [aggression facilitated] when wearing identity-obscuring costumes [Zimbardo, 1971] and those in convertibles with the tops up are more likely to drive and act aggressively on the road [Ellison et al, 1995])

social facilitation

can occur even in the presence of other people who one is not in a group with; strengthening of the dominant response when in the presence of others and individual performance can be evaluated; arousal due to evaluation apprehension, alertness/vigilance, and distraction; for example, when one messes up parallel parking because there's someone watching/around one versus not being nervous and not messing up one's parking when one is alone

covert aggression

examples include backbiting, spreading false rumors about the target person, shunning/excluding that person, even slut-shaming; more likely to be indulged in by women than men

explicit prejudice

explicitly expressed negative emotions towards a specific group, often blamed upon a certain characteristic of the group

risky shift

groups tend to make decisions that are more extreme in the same direction as the initial predispositions of their members (so if the individual members of a group are already leaning towards a risky decision, group discussion will often exaggerate that risky tendency; however, when people are initially inclined to be conservative, groups tend to make even more conservative decisions than individuals do

mindguard

in a group (particularly when groupthink is being engaged in), when a person within the group shields the rest of the group from outside information

reduction

in order to succeed in this with one's anger/aggression, one ought to distract oneself from thinking about the person/situation that angered one in initially

implicit prejudice

measured through the implicit association test and a study by Correll, Park, Judd, and Wittenbrink called "Errors made 'shooting' people in a video game" where participants in the roles of law enforcement officers "shot" at characters (of all races and genders, some carrying objects [ex. a shoe, a gun, a phone, etc.]) in a video game - participants erred most (shoot at) on black, unarmed characters (that were, however, holding an object, just not a weapon), showing that participants were more likely to shoot just because a character was black

deindividuation

occurs frequently on the internet, when one feels as though one is anonymous (ex. when one's identity is obscured by costume), and when one feels as though he/she can't be seen

relative deprivation

occurs when people see a discrepancy between what they have and what they expect to have; the perception that one (or one's *group*) has less than one deserves, less than one had been led to expect, or less than what others similar to one have

group polarization

once people are together in a group, they collectively push one another to a more extreme; the tendency for groups to make decisions that are more extreme than the initial inclinations of their members

conversion model

one of 3 theoretical models of revising stereotypical beliefs through when one experiences a situation with a member of a group one had a stereotype about that wholly changes their stereotypical belief about the group (they realize they were wrong to expect what they did); long-term giving up of the stereotype and realizing it's wrong

aversive (unpleasant) experiences

one of the environmental influences on aggression, being put in a situation where you are uncomfortable/stressed/overheated/provoked can lead to responding aggressively

testosterone

one of the hormonal biochemical influences on aggression - elevated levels are associated with elevated levels of aggressive behavior (especially hostile aggression)

serotonin

one of the hormonal biochemical influences on aggression - low levels of serotonin are associated with higher levels of aggression (especially hostile aggression)

prefrontal cortex (frontal lobes)

one of the neural influences on aggression; an area of the brain that's activated when one is put into a situation that aggression is an option for response - if this area is easily accessible for use, it can put a stop to an aggressive impulse

amygdala

one of the neural influences on aggression; an area of the brain that, when stimulated, tends to produce an aggressive response (associated with emotional, aggressive, and self-protective responses)

scapegoating

one of the sociocultural roots of explicit prejudice; blaming - when no clear/logical competitor exists in times of hardship and resources are scarce, people lash out at outgroup members who are easy targets (often lower-status); exemplified in a study by Hovland and Sears (1940) on the number of black lynch victims and the price of cotton in the deep south - during years when cotton profits were low (low selling price of cotton), there were more black lynch victims; vice versa for when the price of cotton was high

unequal status

one of the sociocultural roots of explicit prejudice; justification of unequal status through negative/condescending perceptions of outgroup

realistic conflict theory

one of the sociocultural roots of explicit prejudice; when scarce resources lead to members of an ingroup feeling directly threatened by members of an outgroup

confirmation bias

people may have expectations about people that are confirmed when those people act slightly in the way they expect them to; for example, others' behaviors are exaggerated in one's memories; exemplified in Darley & Gross' 1983 "Hannah" study where participants watched a video of a girl taking a test and were then asked to estimate how well she did - those who were told she was from an impoverished area assumed she did worse than those who were told she was from a wealthy area

ingroup bias

positive feelings and special treatment for those in one's ingroup, even those we've just met/joined

institutional discrimination

practices that discriminate, il/legally, against a minority group by virtue of its ethnicity, gender, culture, age, sexual orientation, or other target of society/company prejudice - can normalize prejudice and encourage development of negative attitudes towards the discriminated-against group; these social barriers create a lack of opportunity for the stereotyped-against group to succeed

attitude change

seen positively (an increase) in War and PCV (Penal Code Violence - attitudes endorsing violence against criminals) themes during 2001 (and lesser, but still increased, in 2002), but no changes in attitudes towards corporal punishment of children and aggression against intimate partners (control measures)

controlled processing

stereotypes processed this way are often explicit, conscious prejudices

automatic processing

stereotypes processed this way are often implicit (unconscious negative feelings between groups), meaning they're intentional and reflect lingering negative feelings that keep prejudice alive just below the surface

groupthink

symptoms of this type of process loss include the illusion of invulnerability, the belief in the moral correctness of the group, the rationalization.justification of group decisions, stereotyped/simplistic views of "outgroups," conformity pressures, and mindguards

social identity

the "we" aspect of one's self-concept that comes from one's group membership(s); for example, being part of a family, a sorority, a student at UVM, etc.; one can be made to feel more strongly connected to one's group through distinctiveness (feeling as though one is the only member of one's group in a specific population)

ABCs of prejudive

the affective component of this is prejudice (a negative/hostile emotion), the behavioral component is discrimination (often stemming from prejudice), and the cognitive component is stereotyping (creating schemas/beliefs often with a negative tone but no emotion attached)

outgroup homogeneity

the assumption that anyone/everyone (who isn't a part of one's ingroup) is all the same

discrimination

the behavioral component of prejudice; unjustified negative/harmful action(s) towards a member of a group solely because of his/her membership in that specific group

ethnocentrism

the belief that one's own ethnic group, nation, or religion is superior to all others; universal and may aid survival by increasing people's attachment to their own group/their willingness to work on its behalf

social categorization

the creation of groups by grouping stimuli (people) according to perceived similarities (often physical)

evaluation apprehension

the fear of being judged by others onlooking; apparent in social facilitation as one of the reasons that others' presences can lead to our own arousal

change in attitudes towards war and violence after 911

the first of these study's results found a significantly more positive attitude towards aggression post-9/11, as opposed to pre-9/11; the second of the study's results found attitudes towards aggression immediately after 9/11 were significantly more positive than attitudes towards aggression 2 months after (particularly in women)

contact hypothesis

the idea that increasing contact between two opposing groups will end the prejudice between the two groups (for example, when desegregating schools, it was thought that minority children's self-esteem would increase along with increased contact with white children in school); exemplified in groups such as minority versus majority races, young people's attitudes towards the elderly, healthy people's attitudes towards the mentally ill, nondisabled children's attitudes towards the disabled, and straight people's prejudices towards gay men/lesbians; contact can only reduce prejudice under 6 conditions (the first 3 proposed by Allport, 1954): when both groups are of equal status, both share a common goal that generates awareness of their shared interests/common humanity, their contact is supported by law/local custom (social norms), as well as both sides getting to know each other in a friendly/informal setting, both sides being exposed to multiple members of the other group (not just one token), and both sides must depend upon each other to accomplish their goal(s) (interdependence)

deindividuation

the loosening of normal constraints on behavior when people can't be identified (such as when in a large group/crowd); a loss of self-awareness and evaluation apprehension that leads to loosening of normal constraints on behavior when people are in a crowd/anonymous

bookkeeping model

the more gradual (controlled processing) one of 3 theoretical models of revising one's stereotypical beliefs; one gradually has experiences which build up that are contradictory to one's stereotype; long-term giving up of the stereotype and realizing it's wrong; for example, if there is a stereotype that members of a particular group are snobby/unfriendly, but one has a class with many people of this group, and as one has interactions throughout the year with the group, one rethinks one's stereotypical belief

subgrouping model

the most commonly used of the 3 theoretical models for revising stereotypical beliefs; allows one to hold onto one's stereotypes through subtyping and subgrouping

group cohesiveness

the qualities of a group that binds members together and promotes liking between them

microaggressions

the slights, indignities, and put-downs that many minorities routinely encounter due to discrimination stemming from prejudice; for example, a white professor complimenting an Asian American graduate student on his "excellent English," despite him having lived his entire life in the US

social roles

the specific roles assumed by each person within the group; for example, a leader, a secretary, a treasurer, etc.

social norms

the standards for conduct within a particular group, what's appropriate when we're all together; for example, a special handshake, what everyone wears at the meetings, when one person is talking everyone else is quiet, etc.

social loafing

the tendency for people to do worse on simple tasks (than they would if they were alone) when they are in the presence of others and individual performance cannot be evaluated; always refers to a negative results, evaluation apprehension does not occur, and this effect is less likely to occur when a group is especially important to one, is highly cohesive, the task is important, and there is a challenge, appeal, or high involvement on the task

illusory correlation

this can lend itself as a basis for stereotyping, if those stereotyping believe that there is a link between the group they're stereotyping and a negative aspect/characterization/outcome; one of the reasons that stereotypes persist

hydraulic theory

this instinct theory (proposing that the aggressive drive is instinctive in all humans) of aggression states that, if one doesn't let out one's aggression, one will explode (develop serious mental health/emotional/behavioral problems); cites catharsis as a way of "letting off steam"/"venting" one's anger

failure to share unique information

this reason for process loss was exemplified in Stasser & Titus' 1985 study: participants were put into 2 separate groups (shared and non-shared), given all the same information about each other, and told they were to be evaluated as candidates to be elected; those in the non-shared group only had 2 pieces of positive information each (differing from person to person) about Candidate A (and everyone had the same negative information), as opposed to those in the shared group who all received the same pieces of information (positive and negative); as a result, only 24% of those in the non-shared group voted for Candidate A, as compared with 83% of those in the shared group - highlighting the importance of ensuring every group member shares his/her information/opinions with the group to avoid process loss

social cognitive learning

this theory holds that we learn social behavior (from aggression to altruism) in large part thorough observational learning (observing others and imitating them), which cannot be fully understood without taking into account the thought processes/perceptions of the learner (his/her cognitions)

evolutionary

this theory of aggression argues that physical aggression is genetically programmed into men because it enables them to defend their group (establish dominance over other males) and perpetuate their genes (aggression out of sexual jealousy to ensure that their mate is not having sex with other men); in many cultures around the world, male aggressiveness starts in childhood, with little boys being far more likely than their female counterparts to engage in "nonplayful" pushing, shoving, and hitting; when females behave aggressively, from this viewpoint, it is generally to protect their offspring

frustration aggression

this theory states that frustration (blocking a goal-directed behavior) increases the probability of an aggressive response (usually toward the cause of one's frustration); Berkowitz proposed that people are most likely to lash out with hostile aggression in presence of aggressive cues/stimuli (ex. weapons (i.e. guns, swords, etc.), and a study has shown that angered participants with guns in the same room as them gave a higher average number of shocks to the other participant than those with badminton racquets in the room

groupthink

to avoid this type of process loss one should specifically ask people in the group about their opinion (attempting to alleviate some conformity pressure), ask people to write things down and share them with the group after (through a "secret ballot" or anonymous system instead of direct opinion-giving), solicit opinions from outside the group, divide the group into subgroups, and group leaders should take less of a directive role as well as remain impartial

displacement

when people attempt to point their anger/aggression at something else so as to "vent," etc., their blood pressure shoots up, they often feel angrier, and they behave even more aggressively later than if they had just let their feelings of anger subside

transactive memory

when the combined memory of a group that is more efficient than the memory of the group's individual members; can help to overcome process loss if the group develops a system whereby different people are responsible for remembering different kinds of information/parts of a task/etc.

media violence

when viewed, most evidence points towards an increase in the frequency of one's aggressive behavior, angry emotions, and hostile thoughts; games that directly reward violence (ex. by awarding points/moving the player to the next level after a [or a number of] kill[s]) are especially likely to increase feelings of hostility, aggressive thoughts, and aggressive acts; in addition, this phenomenon may numb people to difficult, violent, or unpleasant events (which may increase our indifference to real victims of violence/others who need help; all of the above effects may be due to an increase in physiological arousal and excitement, a triggering of automatic tendency to imitate hostile/violent characters, and priming of existing aggressive ideas/expectations (making people more likely to act upon them)