Psych 350 Exam 2 short answer

Define the relational and collective self beliefs. What is the difference? Give examples

- relational- beliefs about our identities in specific relationships (brother, father, etc.) - collective self- beliefs about our identity as members of important social categories (cough, gender, religion)

Social Comparison, when will one engage in upward vs. downward comparison

argues that people compare themselves to others in order to obtain an accurate assessment of their own opinions, abilities, and internal states. - when people want to feel good about themselves they are likely to engage in downward comparison, comparing themselves to others that are slightly inferior or worse off - when people want to improve, they are likely to engage in upward comparison, comparing themselves to others that are slightly superior or better off

Who Are You: independent

characteristics should be context-free and refer to personality and personal preferences

Who Are You: Interdependent

characteristics of someone should be context-dependent and refer to relationships

Give 2 examples of how order and framing effects influence specific types of judgments

framing effects are influences on judgment resulting from the way information is presented. - order effects are a type of framing effects in which the order of info is influential. - primary effect occurs when there is a disproportionate influence of information presented first. - recency effect is when there is a disproportionate influence of information presented last

Impression management

refers to our attempts to control the impressions other people form about us. - self-monitoring is the tendency to monitor one's behavior to fit the current situation - self-handicapping is the tendency to engage in self-defeating behavior in order to have an excuse ready in case of poor performance or failure.

Amber and Courtney are sisters. Amber is the oldest and Courtney is the youngest. According to Frank Sullowary research on birth order, how might Amber's and Courtney's personalities differ? Describe the evolutionary principle that underlies these differences

sibling conflict is common, particularly when resources are scarce. - evolutionary perspective: one way to reduce this conflict is through diversification, the tendency for siblings to develop different personalities and, therefore, fill different niches within the family. - older siblings typically asset a more powerful role in the family and are invested in the status quo. Amber is likely to be assertive and dominant, and achievement oriented - younger siblings must find ways to peacefully coexist and to search out their own places within the family and the world, likely to be more agreeable and more open to new experiences and ideas

Describe the confirmation bias and explain how it can affect people's decision making. Make sure to indicate when people will make good decisions

tendency to test a proposition by searching for evidence that supports it rather than information that negates it - to make a good decision, you need to look for evidence both in support of the decision and evidence against it

Explain self-discrepancy theory. Explain at least 2 kinds of comparisons and their expected emotional impact

we compare our actual/current self to possible selves and that the discrepancies between our actual self and these self guides have emotional impact - actual - ideal comparison= sadness - actual - ought comparison= anxiety - actual - feared comparison= relief

Define pluralistic ignorance and explain how it can undermine learning in the classroom or the development of friendship across ethnic groups

- misperception of a group norm that results from observing people who are acting at variance with their private beliefs out of a concern for the social consequences. - ex. students may not express their confusion for fear of appearing stupid since no one else raised their hand to ask for clarification - in intergroup situations, individuals may not see anyone trying to befriend others of different ethnicities and therefore assume that those others are not interested in being friends. as a result they may be afraid that they will be rejected based on their ethnic background, and therefore final to to reach out to others across ethnic lines

Explain how schemas can influence: attention, inferences about other people, and behavior

- people are more likely to attend to information in their environment that is consistent with their existing schemas - people are likely to fill in the gaps about others based on schemas for what is known about them - activating a particular schema may unconsciously encourage people to behave in ways consistent with that schema