Social Psychology Exam 3 Ch. 7-9

Research shows that belongingness is ________________.

- a need

Feelings of elation and prosocial behavior

-elation: feeling inspired, uplifted or optimistic about human nature -Increases likelihood of engaging in prosocial behavior •Seeing others help leads us to want to help

One of the factors associated with compliance is social validation. This is because we ________.

want to be correct, and one way to do so is to emulate the behaviors of others whom we see as similar to ourselves in some way

Kitty Genovese

•Kitty worked at a bar and when she was walking home from a late shift she was assaulted in the street over and over. The attack was extremely loud and long and there were multiple neighbors around yet no one called the police- most likely because everyone thought someone else would do something, and then no one did

Which of the following best describes pro-social behavior and aggression?

-They have overlapping features.

Two aspects of empathy are ________ and ________.

-taking another's perspective: sympathizing with another person

Which of the following compliance tactics is based on scarcity?

-The deadline technique

Gender differences in pro-social behavior

Overall, there are no gender differences but sometimes there are situational differences -Women are more communal, they are more likely to help close friends opposed to strangers -Men are more agentic, they are more likely to help strangers and are just as likely to help close friends

factors that encourage empathy

-positive affect (positive mood/emotions such as joy) -desire for affiliation -social desirability

Is empathy automatic?

-NO! it is encouraged and discouraged by some factors

When an auto dealer offers you an extra option as a "closer" for a deal, the dealer is using ________.

-the that's-not-all technique

the bystander effect

-The bystander effect is when something bad happens the people that are around to witness it often do nothing to stop it/report it to 911 because they think someone else will help. The problem with this is that everyone does this and then the people in need never get help

Which of the following types of attractiveness seem to be universal between both men and women?

-"cute" and "mature"

How do aggression and pro-social behavior overlap

-Aggression obviously hurts people, but sometimes helping can hurt people (if someone is having an allergic reaction an epi pen will hurt them, but it helps them) -Motivation •Both often to boost status -Actions •Some of both involve hurting others Effects •Sometimes both hurt others

How do mirror neurons play a role in prosocial behavior

-Allow us to feel what others are feeling -Higher capacity to experience empathy Greater activity in brain regions with mirror neurons -Our brains have a neural foundation for empathy

Which of the following explains why a positive mood can decrease the probability of responding in pro-social ways?

-Being in a good mood can lead us to interpret emergency situations as not really serious.

the altruism debate

-Big debate on this -One perspective - even when we get nothing physical in return, we still feel good -This is a benefit - not altruism -Other perspective - if you don't get anything physical in return, it's altruism -Feeling good isn't a benefit

explain why people may decide whether or not to help

-Decisions made very quickly -Might be more likely to help when others are around if can see each other directly -Hard to interpret emergency situations -Have to figure out what's going on and what to do about it

individual differences in the need to belong

-Everyone has separate views on how often they want to interact with others everyone has a basic need to affiliate, but the strength of this varies -We look for optimal amount of affiliation time

Kin selection

-Evolutionary perspective - goal is gene propagation More likely to help people we're related to than unrelated others •And depends on how closely related -More likely to help young relatives -But we do help non-relatives also

group selection

-Groups with altruistic members are more likely to survive •More evident in social insects (like ants) compared to humans •Humans teach altruism (religion, ethics) to combat our selfish impulses

Factors that increase pro-social behavior

-Helping people similar to us: •We are more likely to help someone similar to us (an in-group member) - this is because if they are similar to us and we can see ourselves in their position -Exposure to prosocial models (seeing someone else jump in and help someone will make us want to) -Playing prosocial video games -Feelings that reduce self-focus (situations that increase the feeling of "awe" - seeing the grand canyon is supposed to make people feel awe because it reminds them how small they are and how small their issues are) -Socioeconomic status •Low SES individuals are sometimes more willing to help others because they have been in low, negative situations so they know what it is like and they empathize for others

Negative state of relief

-Helping reduces our own negative emotions -Witnessing others' suffering makes us feel bad -Doesn't matter whether negative emotions were elicited by incident or something else -empathy isn't necessary in this case

correctly interpreting an emergency situation

-If you hear a noise outside of your door that kind of sounds like laughing but also sounds like crying and you're not sure, you won't do anything about hearing the noise because you are not sure

positive emotions and prosocial behavior

-In general, people are more likely to help others when they are in a good mood -But sometimes can decrease helping behavior •Less likely to interpret situations as emergencies •Helping in a serious situation reduces good mood

Defensive helping

-Ingroups vs. Outgroups -Outgroups sometimes succeed in ways that threaten the ingroup's sense of superiority -Help the outgroup to make them seem dependent (and consequently inadequate) -Goal isn't to help, but to take away status

negative emotions and pro-social behavior

-Negative moods tend to decrease helping -But can also increase pro-social behavior •Helping others can make us feel good and improve mood •Only when negative emotions aren't too intense, if the emergency is clear and not ambiguous, and if helping act is interesting and rewarding

Empathic joy

-Others feel good when we help them, we like their positive reactions -Necessary for us to know helping had a positive impact

Factors that decrease pro-social behavior

-Social exclusion: •We don't want to help people that have excluded us socially, emotionally or physically -Darkness: •When we can't see each other, we feel some deindividuation, we are more likely to act bad in the dark -Time: •People who bill their "time" by the hour, are less likely to volunteer their time (lawyers) •Law students were more likely to volunteer their time before graduation than after graduation when they had billable time jobs

what happens when our need to belong isn't met?

-Social skills deteriorate -Depression/other psychological disorders -Ostracism is very hurtful (it can even be physically hurtful, being left out can make our bodies hurt) -Loss of control, sadness, anger -Increased sensitivity, decreased cognitive functioning •Some people claim they don't need others but they psychologically do

Situational influences on the need to belong

-Stressful situations increase need to affiliate with others -Mortality salience -Disturbing situations -We seek comfort and clarity from other people -Allows us to compare perspectives

Competitive altruism

-We help because it boosts our own status and reputation •We benefit from this -Why does this boost our status? •Helping is costly •Signals that we're helpful to have around

Why do we need to belong?

-We would die if we were alone-we need support systems, love, affection, protection, etc. -Newborns prefer to stare at faces rather than other stimuli - this shows that this need to belong and for affection starts at a young age

Jenny, a 5-year-old child, may be MOST likely to exhibit helping behavior after playing ________ video game.

-a pro-social

Pro-social behavior

-behavior that helps others, usually with no immediate benefit to the helper

One of the key findings from Stanley Milgram's studies was that pressures to obey are ________.

-difficult to resist even if they involve harming another person

It has been shown that complementarities are not a good basis for attraction. What is the one pair of complementarities that is the exception to this?

-dominance; submissiveness

Three components of empathy

-emotional aspect -cognitive component -empathic concern

deciding you have the knowledge/skills to help

-first aid classes can help reduce the bystander effect, because if you feel more qualified to help someone in need you will be more likely to do so

Which component of Sternberg's Triangular Model of Love deals with the closeness two people feel and the strength of the bond that holds them together?

-intimacy

In several variations on Asch's classic experiment, a standard-setting line was first presented to small groups of people, followed by the presentation of three comparison lines of different lengths. In one condition, two of three accomplices, posing as students, chose an incorrect answer before the subject could respond. The third accomplice sometimes chose a correct response and sometimes chose a more incorrect response. Under these conditions, respondents were more likely to choose the correct response. These results suggest ________.

-it becomes easier to resist conformity pressure once unanimity of the group is broken

Noticing something unusual is happening

-it can sometimes be difficult to determine if someone is in need of help

Why do people help others?

-it feels good to help others -helping others can help reduce negative/unpleasant feelings -helping others makes us feel good

the need to belong

-just as important as biological needs

In general, we are more likely to help those whom we are closely related than others. Which of the following offers support for this?

-kin selection theory

According to balance theory, balance is achieved when two people ________.

-like each other and discover they are similar in some way

Which inherent neurological system allows most people to experience what others are experiencing automatically?

-mirror neurons

In an emergency, a helpful bystander can increase the helpfulness of others because the bystander serves as a social ________.

-model

Which of the following is a form of unintentional social influence?

-modeling

The empathy-altruism hypothesis suggests that at least some prosocial behavior is ________.

-motivated solely by the desire to help someone in need

Research shows that sexual attraction is a ________ but not ________ condition for being in love.

-necessary; sufficient

theories of motivation for prosocial behavior

-negative state of relief -empathic joy -competitive altruism -kin-selection -group selection -defensive helping

factors that discourage empathy

-others' suffering -costs of experiencing empathy

If people help in order to receive praise from others, then what would be expected under cover of darkness?

-people would be less likely to help others

One way in which symbolic social influence may work is by allowing the psychological presence of others to trigger goals with which the other persons are associated. This may, in turn, influence our ________.

-performance on tasks and our commitment to reaching these goals

In terms of desirable partner traits, men prefer ___________ in women and women prefer ____________ in men.

-physical attractiveness; ability to acquire resources

One way to help people become more resistant to commands from authorities that may lead to destructive behaviors is to _______________.

-remind people that they—not the authorities—are responsible for any harm done

Which of the following is responsible for proximity influencing our level of attraction to another person or object?

-repeated exposure effect

People who are ______________________ attached have relatively stable relationships.

-securely

Zimbardo's prison experiment demonstrates that ________ can overpower ________, and people may conform to expected roles

-situations; personalities

People who feel isolated from a particular group are experiencing ________ exclusion.

-social

crowdfunding

-soliciting money from others to use for various reasons Ex: GoFundMe, Kickstarter, fundraisers, etc.

The empathy-altruism hypothesis

-some prosocial acts are motivated solely by the desire to help someone in need

Individuals who are in stressful situations frequently experience an increase in their need to affiliate with others in a similar situation. This may be because ________.

-such affiliations provide opportunities for social comparisons

Empathy

-the ability to experience other people's emotions, feel sympathy for them, and take their perspective -we help because we feel others' negative feelings and want to reduce them (both selfish and unselfish)

One reason that people are willing to obey persons in authority who order them to engage in destructive behaviors is that ________.

-the authority figure relieves those who obey of responsibility for their actions

reciprocal altruism theory

-we help other people because helping is usually reciprocated and we want people to help us

deciding it's your responsibility to help

-when in an emergency situation and you are telling someone to call 911 you are supposed to say "you in the blue shirt call 911" so they feel it is now their responsibility

Making the decision to provide help

-when you have come to terms with everything mentioned above, you will provide help

5 decisions involved in helping

1) noticing something unusual is happening 2) correctly interpreting an emergency 3)deciding it's your responsibility to help 4) deciding you have the knowledge/skills to help 5) making the decision to provide help