Social Psychology test 2
ATTITUDES AS WE AGE
*Life cycle explanation*: Attitudes change as people grow older. *Generational explanation*: Attitudes do not change; older people largely hold onto the attitudes they adopted when they were young. -More evidence supports this explanation. -Attitudes are changeable during the formidable teens and early twenties. -Once attitudes are stabilized throughout middle adulthood, they are resistant to change; however, change is still possible.
Leader's personalities
-intelligent -extraverted -Confident -charismatic -socially skilled -driven by desire for power -open to new experiences -less neurotic
Reasons why deindividuation occurs
1.Deindividuation makes people feel less accountable for their actions because it reduces the likelihood that any individual will be singled out and blamed. 2. Deindividuation increases adherence to group norms. Deindividuation does not always lead to aggressive or antisocial behavior. It depends on what the norm of the group is. 3.The larger the group, the more its members lose self-awareness and become willing to commit atrocities. People's attention is focused on the situation, not on themselves 4.When the activity is arousing and distracting. When we act in an impulsive way as a group, we are not thinking about our values; we are reacting to the immediate situation because impulsive group action absorbs our attention.
What happens if you don't conform to the group?
1.Group would try to bring you "back into the fold" -Long discussions, teasing comments 2.If discussions do not work -Friends may say negative things to you and about you, -Start to withdraw from you
Why the prexence of others causes arousal
1.Other people cause us to become particularly alert and vigilant. -Because other people can be unpredictable, we are in a state of greater alertness in their presence, which causes mild arousal. 2.They make us apprehensive about how we are being evaluated. -When other people can see how you are doing, you feel like they are evaluating you, which causes mild arousal. 3.They distract us from the task at hand. -Divided attention produces arousal. Even nonsocial sources of distraction, such as a flashing light, cause the same kinds of social facilitation effects as the presence of other people.
The effectiveness of persuasive communication depends on
1.Who: The source of the communication. The power of the speaker 2.What: The nature of the communication. The message 3.To Whom: The nature of the audience. The audience's willingness to listen or change.
McDonald's strip search
A 16 year old girl was strip searched because a "police officer" called and told the manager a girl was stealing money and convinced Summers' to search the girl and then left her with men. expert power, legitimate power, coercive power
Conformity
A change in one's behavior or belief due to the real or imagined influence other people. the act of matching attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors to group norms. Ex. Taking off your shoes at the door because your friend takes of their shoes.
Pluralistic ignorance
A false impression of what most other people are thinking or feeling, or how they are responding False assumption that other people think or feel a certain way Ex. We think someone else will know what to do but they are thinking the same thing.
Groupthink
A kind of thinking in which maintaining group cohesiveness and solidarity is more important than considering the facts in a realistic manner. Being one with the group is more important than the facts.
Task-Oriented Leader
A leader concerned more with getting the job done than with workers' feelings and relationships. These leaders do well in: -High-control work situations: Leader-subordinate relationship are excellent; the work is structured and well defined. -Low-control work situations: Leader-subordinate relationships are poor; the work needing to be done is not clearly defined.
Relationship-Oriented Leader
A leader who is concerned primarily with workers' feelings and relationships.These leaders do well in: -Moderate-control work situations: The wheels are turning fairly smoothly, but some attention to the squeakiness caused by poor relationships and hurt feelings is needed.
Social power
A person's capacity to alter the actions of others. Can take many forms: coercive power legitimate power reward power expert power referent power informational power
Need for Cognition
A personality variable reflecting the extent to which people engage in and enjoy effortful cognitive activities. People who need to learn. They enjoy it.
Prejudice
A preconceived negative judgment of a group and its individual members affective because it is the feeling A hostile or negative attitude toward a distinguishable group of people, based solely on their membership in that group. •Prejudiced people direct their prejudice towards members of the group as a whole, ignoring distinguishing characteristics.
Jane Elliot's Eye of the Storm
A teacher decided to teach her students about discrimination. She split her students into brown eyed and blue eyed groups and for a day told the blue eyed group that they were better and smarter and they had special privileges. The next day she switched and the brown eyed children were the privileged ones. It showed that what we tell people effects how they see themselves and that discrimination and prejudice are taught by those around us.
Groups that avoid groupthink
A wise leader can take several steps to avoid Groupthink: -Remain impartial, -Seek outside opinions, -Create subgroups, -Seek anonymous opinions.
ABC's of Prejudice
Affective (Prejudice) Behavioral (Discrimination) Cognitive (Stereotype)
Elaboration Likelihood Model
An explanation of the two ways in which persuasive communications can cause attitude change. central and periphereal How the audience needs to be set up to absorb the message. What route people take ultimately depends on their motivation and their ability to pay attention to the facts.
Process Loss
Any aspect of group interaction that inhibits good problem solving. Process loss can occur for a number of reasons: -Groups might not try hard enough to find out who the most competent member is. -The most competent member might find it difficult to disagree with everyone else. -Communication problems can arise.
situational factors of deindividuation
Any time a person can become an amorphous part of the group or can be anonymous they are at risk for deindividuation. Ex. cyerspace, riots, concerts
Effect of task difficulty in social facilitation
Arousal enhances performance on simple tasks, but impairs performance on complex tasks
Effect of task difficulty in social loafing
Becoming relaxed impairs performance on simple tasks, but improves performance on complex tasks
Compliance
Conformity that involves "publicly" acting in accord with an implied or explicit request while privately disagreeing. you go along with what everyone is doing but you do not really believe in it. When the group is gone you stop. Ex. you friend convinces you to dance because everyone is dancing. Obedience: A type of compliance involving acting in accord with a direct order or command. (authority)
Acceptance
Conformity that involves both acting and believing, in accord with social pressure. "private" you do something that others want you to do because you believe in it. Ex.
Sleeper effect
Delayed impact of a message that occurs when an initially discounted message becomes effective, as we remember the message but forget the reason for discounting it. Ex.
Asch Study
Effects of group pressure upon the modification and distortion of judgments. participants chose which line they believed was closest in size to a set line. When alone the participants did well. When placed with a group who was told to chose the wrong answer, the participants conformed to the group answer. social norm, referent power?
Look smart
Eye gaze may be the best predictor of intelligence.
sex-role stereotyping in advertising
Gender stereotypes are particularly pervasive in advertising imagery. Men are depicted as doers, women as observers. This can restrain women academically and professionally. If they watch a commercial that stereotypes them, they tend to conform to it.
Group Polarization
Group-produced enhancement of members' preexisting tendencies; a strengthening of the members' average tendency, not a split within the group Tendency for a group to make decisions that are more extreme than the initial inclination of its members.
Effect of an audience and/or evaluation
If a task is difficult, the arousal from other's presence will lower performance. This is because being evaluated when unprepared makes the performer nervous. If a task is easy, the arousal from other people's presence will increase performance. This is because the performer is prepared and the arousal energizes them. They can use dominant response to have an A1 performance.
Avoid reactance theory
If you want people to listen do not try to force them. Give them options and let them choose. Try to persuade them by being a role model for what you want
Persuasive arguments interpretation
In a group, people are likely to hear arguments in support of their position that they had not thought of before—these arguments push them even more strongly in the direction of their original beliefs We hear things that agree with what we formerly thought. -Informational influence and active participation long lasting
Social comparison interpretation
In a group, people compare themselves to others to see who takes the more extreme points of view. -In our culture, people value the more risky, more extreme position, so after hearing others' views, they fall prey to normative influence and become more extreme in their beliefs
Discrimination
Is the behavior An unjustified negative or harmful action towards a member of a group, simply because of his or her membership in that group.
Attitude Inoculation
Making people immune to attempts to change their attitudes by initially exposing them to small doses of the arguments against their position. Preparing people for attacks against their beliefs by talking over the arguments they may have. Ex. talking to your children about their peers pressuring them to smoke Use this to prepare your children for the pressures that are sure to come by role playing.
The effect of number of members in the group
Most groups have two (a dyad) to six members. •If a group becomes too large, the members cannot interact with everyone in the group.
Groups that succumb to groupthink
Most likely to occur when the group is: -Highly cohesive, -Isolated from contrary opinions, and -Ruled by a directive leader who makes his or her wishes known.
Ability vs. Motivation
Motivation- One thing that determines whether people are motivated to pay attention to a communication is the personal relevance of the topic. -People high in the need for cognition are more likely to form their attitudes by paying close attention to relevant arguments -People low in the need for cognition are more likely to rely on peripheral cues, such as how attractive or credible a speaker is.(centrally run) Ability- When people are unable to pay close attention to the arguments, they are swayed more by peripheral cues: -Status of communicator -Attractiveness and liking 1.Physical attractiveness 2.Similarity -Perceived trustworthiness 1.Eye contact 2.Arguing against own self-interest Speaking quickly (peripherally run)
Sherif Study
Participants gauge the movement of a light. Then they are put in a group and gauge the light. Each day the groups estimated movement conforms a little more. Once again the participants judge alone but they continue to give the groups answer. public compliance turned into private acceptance. Social norm, group compliance informational power
Normative influence (private acceptance vs. public compliance)
People do not want to feel peculiar People do not want to feel like a fool Believe that what others think is important, even if they are strangers This type of conformity usually results in public compliance with the group's beliefs and behaviors but not necessarily private acceptance of those beliefs and behaviors.
"Risky Shift" Phenomenon:
People make more daring decisions when they are in groups than when they are alone. -Occurs not only when a group decides by consensus; after a brief discussion, individuals, too, can alter their decisions Ex: •Juries •Business committees •Military organizations •Teen drivers
Fear-Arousing Communications
Persuasive messages that attempt to change people's attitudes by arousing their fears. Fail: if they are so strong they overwhelm people. When scared people become defensive and deny the threat. Success- If a moderate amount of fear is created and people believe that listening to the message will teach them how to reduce this fear, they will be motivated to analyze the message carefully and will likely change their attitudes via the central route
Prejudice from biology
Prejudice and discrimination can come into play even when the characteristics of the outgroup are biologically unimportant. It is clear that prejudice occurs between biologically similar people who hold different beliefs.
Prejudice from learning
Prejudices are easy to learn, although childhood prejudices are not necessarily maintained. Value transmission in families (Rohan & Zanna, 1996). •There greatest similarity of beliefs was between parents and their children with egalitarian values.
Persuasion
Process by which a message induces change in beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors.
Leadership
Process by which certain group members motivate and guide the group -Formal and informal group leaders exert disproportionate influence over groups
Group cohesiveness pros and cons
Pros: If a task requires close cooperation between the group members, such as a football team executing a difficult play, cohesiveness helps performance. Cons: If maintaining good relations among group members seems more important than finding good solutions to a problem, however, cohesiveness can get in the way of optimal performance.
Group Cohesiveness
Qualities of a group that bind members together and promote liking between members. you bond with a group because you have underlying feelings for the people in the group. The more cohesive is the group, the more its members are likely to: -Stay in the group -Take part in group activities -Try to recruit new like-minded members.
Door-in-the-face Technique
Strategy for gaining a concession. After someone first turns down a large request, the same requester counteroffers with a more reasonable request. Ex. ask for $100 when told no ask for the $20 you actually wanted.
Low-ball Technique:
Tactic for getting people to agree to something. Start out with a small request but raise it once they agree because they wont want to back out. Ex. car dealers
Foot-in-the-Door Phenomenon
Tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request Ex. Milgrams shock studies
Social cognition approach to prejudice
The Social Cognition approach suggests that prejudice comes from the way we think. •One explanation for prejudice is that it is the inevitable byproduct of categorization, schemas, heuristics, and faulty memory processes in processing information. •We can examine five aspects of the social cognition approach: o Social Categorization o In-Group Bias o Affective attitudes and the failure of logic o Stereotypes o Stereotypes turning into social norms o Automatic vs. controlled processing to reduce misinformation
Stereotype Threat
The apprehension experienced by members of a group that their behavior might confirm a cultural stereotype Because of stereotypes people believe they should act a certain way and they conform to that behavior.
Stereotypes
The belief A generalization about a group of people in which identical characteristics are assigned to virtually all members of the group, regardless of actual variation among the members. involve positive as well as negative characteristics
Minority Influence
The case where a minority of group members influence the behavior or beliefs of the majority. •The key is consistency: -People with minority views must express the same view over time. -Different members of the minority must agree with one another. •The minority person who defects from the majority is more persuasive than a consistent minority voice
social categorization
The first step in prejudice is the creation of groups—putting some people into one group based on certain characteristics and others into another group based on their different characteristics. •This kind of categorization is the underlying theme of human social cognition.
Great Person Theory
The idea that certain key personality traits make a person a good leader, regardless of the situation. People have a genetic predisposition to be a great leader.
Contingency Theory of Leadership
The idea that leadership effectiveness depends both on how task-oriented or relationship-oriented the leader is and on the amount of control and influence the leader has over the group. A leaders effectiveness is determined by the groups willingness to follow.
Reactance Theory
The idea that when people feel their freedom to perform a certain behavior is threatened, an unpleasant state of reactance is aroused, which they can reduce by performing the threatened behavior. When people feel their freedom is being taken, they rebel against your advice. Ex. children not eating their greens because you told them to.
Social Norms
The implicit or explicit rules a group has for the acceptable behaviors, values, and beliefs of its members. How society expects you to act. Ex. wearing clothes in public.
Informational Influence
The influence of other people that leads us to conform because we see them as a source of information to guide our behavior. Looking to someone else because you believe they know what they are doing. Ex. The doctor says to stop smoking or die and you believe them and stop smoking because they are a doctor and they know what they are talking about.
Normative Influence
The influence of other people that leads us to conform in order to be liked and accepted by them. One goes along with the group even if he or she do not believe in the group's actions or think the group's actions are wrong because they want to fit in. Ex.
Deindividuation
The loosening of normal constraints on behavior when people cannot be identified (such as when they are in a crowd), leading to an increase in impulsive and deviant acts. when hidden in a group we are more likely to conform to the actions of the group because we can not be identified. Ex. rampaging mob
what works in advertising
The more lifelike the medium, the more persuasive its message with the order of persuasiveness being: 1.Live (face-to-face) 2.Videotaped 3.Audiotaped 4.Written - these messages are best comprehended and recalled, especially when the message is difficult to comprehend
Two-step flow of communication
The process by which media influence often occurs through opinion leaders, who in turn influence others. media influences people and those people influence others.
Social Facilitation
The tendency for people to do better on simple (easy) tasks and worse on complex (difficult) tasks when they are in the presence of others and their individual performance can be evaluated - a highly arousing situation. how being evaluated by other people influences our performance. Ex. Riding at home vs. riding in an event.
Social Loafing
The tendency for people to do worse on simple tasks but better on complex tasks when they are in the presence of others and their individual performance cannot be evaluated. Only when we are not being evaluated individually but as a group. Ex. tug of war
Idiosyncrasy credits
The tolerance a person earns, over time, by conforming to group norms. -If enough idiosyncrasy credits are earned, the person can, on occasion, behave defiantly without retribution from the group. Ex. Dr. Blake
Group
Three or more people who interact and are interdependent in the sense that their needs and goals cause them to influence each other. dyad- two people
Reason for conforming to social norms
To be accepted by others. -People do not want to feel peculiar -People do not want to feel like a fool -Believe that what others think is important, even if they are strangers usually results in public compliance with the group's beliefs and behaviors but not necessarily private acceptance of those beliefs and behaviors
Cult Formation
Uses all of the powers to recruit and hold people. They start out as an appeasing group so they can gain control little by little reward power
Effect of an audience on social loafing
We do not try as hard when we are in a group, even if there is an audience because we are not being evaluated. This is especially evident in simple tasks. In complex tasks, performance is enhanced by the group because we are not aroused and distracted by our fears of being evaluated.
How does social facilitation work in other species?
When other species, such as cockroaches, have an audience they also fall to social facilitation. Ex. cockroach maze
Situational factors for Milgram study
While the baseline experiment resulted in obedience in 65% of the participants, there were many different paradigms that provided different results: -Experiment #3: If the learner (shockee) was in the same room as the teacher (shocker), obedience dropped to 40%. -Experiment #4: When the teacher had to hold the learner's hand down on an electric plate, obedience dropped to about 30%. -Experiment #14: If the experimenter was not a scientist but just an ordinary man (i.e. not wearing a white coat), obedience dropped to 20%. -Experiment #17: If you (the teacher) are with two other participants (both confederates) and they refuse to obey, only 10% of the teachers obey. -Experiment #15: If there were two experimenters and they started disagreeing with each other, obedience dropped to 0%.
Subliminal Messages
Words or pictures that are not consciously perceived but may nevertheless influence people's judgments, attitudes, and behaviors. There is no evidence that the types of subliminal messages encountered in everyday life have any influence on people's behavior.
Product placement
advertisers look for ways of displaying their wares during the show itself. •With this technique called product placement, companies pay the makers of a TV show or movie to incorporate their product into the script. •When people are forewarned, they analyze what they see and hear more carefully and as a result are likely to avoid attitude change.
Effects of prejudice on self-esteem
generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely ever to be undone Women are prejudice against other women Seeds of low self-esteem are sown early
Milgram study
have a learner and teacher. the teacher is always the participant and they must ask questions and "shock" the learner for wrong answers. Tested to see the effect of authority and conforming slowly. It showed that people listen to those with authority and are likely to harm someone more if they start out little. Also if they wont be held accountable. legitimate power
Legitimate power
is power derived from being in a particular role or position. have a position of power and can use it to control someone. Ex. everyone listens to the President because they are the president.
Reward power
is power gained by giving positive reinforcements such as money, praise, or prestige to others. getting someone to do something by promising them a reward. Ex. boss has power over employee because they write the pay check.
Informational power
is power that exists when an individual has information that others do not have. someone holds the information so others must follow them. Ex. Captain holds the map so the crew must go along with what he says.
Expert power
is power that is derived from specialized knowledge that one has. someone who holds knowledge can convince someone because they should know what to do. Ex. doctors have power when there is medical need.
Referent power
is power that is derived from the degree to which one is admired and liked. those who are liked can influence more easily. Ex. following a celebrity because you like them.
Coercive power
is the ability to force another person to change his or her behavior by threats or punishments. can get someone to do something because you threaten them. Ex. parents have power over children because they don't want to be punished.
Central Route
occurs when a person is persuaded by the content of the message. Ex.
Peripheral route
occurs when the listener decides whether to agree with the message based on other cues besides the strength of the arguments or ideas in the message. Ex. listener may decide to agree with a message because the source appears to be an expert, or is attractive.
Gender differences in normative influence
on average, men are less prone to being influenced than women. -Gender differences were very small •Only slightly more than half of men are less influenceable than the average woman. -Gender of the person conducting conformity studies makes a difference •Male researchers were more likely than female researchers to find that men were less influenceable
Informational influence (Public compliance vs. Private acceptance)
public compliance- a person conforms to the will of the group even though they do not agree. private acceptance- the person does because they believe. public compliance can turn into private acceptance if the person starts to believe in what they are doing. Informational influence often results in private acceptance.
The Dominant Response
reacting without having to think about it. 1.The presence of of others increases physiological arousal (i.e., our bodies become more energized). 2.When such arousal exists, it is easier to do something that is simple but harder to do something complex or learn something new.
Yale attitude change approach
study of the conditions under which people are most likely to change their attitudes in response to persuasive messages. "who said what to whom"
Social Impact Theory
suggests that conforming to normative pressures of a group depends on: 1.Strength (personal importance) •More conformity if the group is more important 2.Immediacy (physical proximity) •More conformity if the group is more immediate 3.Number of other people •Conformity increases as the number of people in the group increases; however, once the group reaches 4 or 5 other people, conformity does not increase much.
Clark & Clark doll study
•African American children were offered a choice between playing with a white doll and playing with a black doll. •Results demonstrated that children as young as three already thought it was not particularly desirable to be black, choosing to play with white rather than black dolls. •Seeds of low self-esteem are sown early.
Qualities of members of groups
•Group members tend to be homogenous in qualities such as age, sex, beliefs, and opinions, for two reasons: 1.Many groups tend to attract people who are already similar before they join. 2.Groups tend to operate in ways that encourage similarity in the members.
Gender differences in leadership
•If women leaders conform to societal expectations about how they ought to behave, by being warm and communal, they are often perceived as having low leadership potential. •If women leaders succeed in attaining a leadership position and act in ways that leaders are expected to act—namely, in agentic, forceful ways—they are often perceived negatively for not "acting like a woman should." Men gain stature by expressing anger but women lose stature by expressing anger. Sadness has the opposite effect.
Group benefits
•Other people can be an important source of information, helping us resolve ambiguity about the nature of the social world. •Groups become an important part of our identity, helping us define who we are. •Groups also help establish social norms.
Gender and cultural differences in social loafing
•The tendency to loaf is stronger than men than in women. -Women tend to be higher than men in relational interdependence - focusing on and caring about personal relationships with other individuals - which may make them less likely to social loaf. •The tendency to loaf is stronger in Western cultures than Asian cultures. -Members of Asian cultures are more likely to have an interdependent view of the self - defining oneself in terms of relationships to others - which may reduce the tendency to social loaf.
Informational conformity backfires when
•When one's personal safety is involved, the need for information is acute—and the behavior of others is very informative. Ex. person staying in a room with smoke •If other people are misinformed, we will adopt their mistakes and misinterpretations. Depending on others to help us define the situation can therefore sometimes lead us into serious inaccuracies. Ex. Believing someone who says the sky is blue because of the ocean. Contagion: The rapid spread of emotions or behaviors through a crowd. Ex. One person thinks they smell gas, others start to thing the same and panic. Mass Psychogenic Illness: The occurrence, in a group of people, of similar physical symptoms with no known physical cause.
