SOP 3004 Final Exam Study Guide
Subtyping
"Fencing off" those who don't fit stereotype by creating a more specific subtype of the original stereotype
Egoism vs. Altruism 3 perspectives
1. Evolutionary Psychology 2. Social Exchange Theory 3. Empathy Altruism
Two main theoretical backgrounds suggesting aggression is partially innate
1. Evolutionary and 2. Biological
Sometimes, it's 'Feel Bad, Do Good'
1. Feeling guilty, helping cancels out bad deeds 2. Sadness, lift your mood
Being in a good mood can increase helping because
1. Good moods help us look on the bright side of life 2. Helping others can prolong out good mood 3. Good moods increase self-attention
Frustration-Aggression link depends on
1. Size/strength of the person responsible for frustration 2. Person's ability to retaliate 3. Proximity of the person
Stereotype - Cognitive Component
A generalized belief 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. We all do it to some extent.
Prejudice - Affective/Emotional Component
A hostile or negative attitude toward people in a distinguishable group, based solely on their membership in that group
Frustration increases the probability of an aggressive response but does not inevitably lead to such a response. A number of situational factors work to heighten frustration, further increasing the odds of aggression. For example, frustration is heightened when: A. Do not expect the frustration B. Perceive the frustrating act as unintentional C. Are far away from achieving our intended goal D. Are capable of retaliating the frustrating act
A. Do not expect the frustration
People help their in-group members because of _______ and out-group members because of _________ A. Empathy, personal rewards B. Empathy, instinct C. Instinct, empathy D. Personal rewards, instinct
A. Empathy, personal rewards
Empathy
Ability to put oneself in another's shoes and feel what they are feeling
Discrimination - Behavioral Component
An unjustified negative or harmful action toward the members of a group simply because of their membership in that group
Prosocial behavior
Any act performed with the goal of benefiting another person
Aggression
Any action intended to harm another person
Diffusion of Responsibility
As the number of bystanders increases, each bystander's individual sense of responsibility decreases
lStep 3 in the Bystander Intervention Mode
Assume Responsibility to Help (Problem: Diffusion of Responsibility)
Automatic vs. Controlled Expression of Bias
Automatic- Don't have control over and stereotypes are automatically processed. Controlled- Have control over and may refute automatically activated stereotypes. "Prejudiced" people let stereotypes influence behavior while "Non-prejudiced" people prevent themselves from stereotyping through controlled processes
Egoism
Behavior is based on how it serves the self
Kin Selection
Behaviors that help a genetic relative are favored by natural selection since genetic relatives help ensure genes get passed on
Social Exchange Theory explanation are based on
Benefits received by the self for helping
Old-fashioned prejudice
Blatant, outwardly prejudiced, relatively rare
Pluralistic ignoring is an example of the power of ______ to inhibit helping. A. Urban overload (idea that people help more in rural contexts compared to urban contexts) B. Diffusion of responsibility (not going to be this in the bystander intervention model) C. Informational social influence D. A lack of empathy (nothing to do with this)
C. Informational social influence
Which of the following is the best example of hostile aggression? A. A linebacker his drop tackles a quarterback to put him out of the game so his team can win (wasn't for aggression; was to help team win) B. Jess threatens her younger brother to force him to give up a toy which belongs to her (wasn't to hurt little brother, but to get toy) C. John is angry at his father and screams at him, "I hate you!" D. An angry driver loses control and runs his car into a ditch
C. John is angry at his father and screams at him, "I hate you!"
Although Jorge wants to help a man who just fell off his bicycle who he passed on the sidewalk, he passes by because he knows it would take too much time out of his busy schedule. What theory best offers the best explanation as to why Jorge did not help? A. Empathy-altruism B. Evolutionary C. Social exchange D. Negative-state relief
C. Social exchange (weighed the costs vs. the rewards)
Instrumental Aggression
Causes harm or pain, but as a means to another end
Goal proximity, unexpectedness, and unintentional in relation to aggression
Closer to goal = more frustration, more frustration = more aggression, more unexpected = more aggression, if legitimate or understandable = less aggression
Realistic Group Conflict Theory (Sherif, 1961)
Competition over resources (e.g. land, jobs, oil, etc.) promotes cohesiveness and loyalty toward one's own group (ingroup) and hostility toward other groups (outgroup).
Research on the effects of violent media on aggression demonstrates that the effects of such media on aggression are: A. Significant, but the effects are due to the correlation of the aggression with age B. Much less than the comparable effects of aggressive television, since the game itself gives children an outlet for their aggressive urges C. Only significant for those children who were shown to be more prone to violence beforehand, not for other children. D. Significant, and a causal as well as a correlational relationship has been demonstrated
D. Significant, and a causal as well as a correlational relationship has been demonstrated
Step 5 in the Bystander Intervention Model
Decide to implement help (i.e. have the motivation to help) (Problem: Costs to helping- ex.) Danger to self? Legal fears? Performance fears?)
Altruism
Desire to help someone solely to benefit that person
Social Exchange Theory
Desire to maximize benefits and minimize costs We help only when predicted benefits > predicted costs
Implicit measures of attitudes
Do not require direct responses. Aims to assess attitudes that respondents may not be willing to report directly, or of which they may not even be aware.
How can we increase prosocial behavior?
Educate people about this research and single out individuals (clearly define an event as an emergency)
Interpretations of why we engage in prosocial behavior
Egoism and Altruism
An Evolutionary Perspective seems to suggest mostly
Egoistic Prosociality
The Social Exchange Theory seems to suggest mostly
Egoistic Prosociality
Empathy-Altruism explanations are based on
Emotional dedication to others that prompts helping
Participants in the Empathy-Altruism Study were more likely to help Carol when they were told to
Empathize with Carol
Norm of reciprocity
Expectation that helping others increases the likelihood they will help us in the future
Group Selection
Favors groups with an optimal balance of selfish and selflessness
Stereotype threat
Fear and apprehension experienced by members of a group that their behavior might confirm a cultural stereotype
The Role of Mood in Prosociality
Feel good (do well on test, thinking happy thoughts, listening to pleasant music), Do Good (donate to charity, donate blood, help find lost contact lens)
Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis
Feeling empathy for a person prompts altruistic behavior, regardless of personal gains
Evolutionary Perspective
Genes that foster survival or reproduction get passed on
Minimal groups
Group formation based on trivial features/criteria
Bogus pipeline
If participants believe a "lie detector" can detect true attitudes = are more likely to express racist attitudes
Two types of discrimination
Institutional (e.g. hiring, lending, and sentencing) and Everyday (e.g. not serving a gay couple)
Hostile Aggression
Intent is to cause harm or pain
Step 2 in the Bystander Intervention Model
Interpret the Event as an Emergency (Problem: Emergencies are often ambiguous; informational social influence)
Evolutionary explanations for helping are based on
Kin selection, reciprocity, and group selection
Step 4 in the Bystander Intervention Model
Know how to help (i.e. have the ability to help) (Problem: Lack of knowledge of competence will prevent helping)
Implicit Association Test (IAT)
Measures speed of positive and negative associations with target groups
Darley & Batson, 1973
Non-rushed participants were more likely to help (63%) in comparison to rushed participants (10%), regardless of the topic of the speech that they were giving
Step 1 in the Bystander Intervention Model
Notice the event (Problem: We often lack motivation/ability to help, or simply do not perceive help as being needed; pluralistic ignorance)
Aggressive Stimulus
Object associated with aggressive responses and whose mere presence can increase the probability of aggression
Personality factor underlying prosociality- Gender
On AVERAGE women do more emotional and long-term helping; men do more emergency helping
Modern prejudice
Outwardly unprejudiced, inwardly prejudiced
Social identity
Part of self-concept based on identification with a group
Toi & Batson, 1982
Participant's were more likely to agree to help Carol when they empathized with her, regardless of whether or not they were going to see her in class
Latane & Darley, 1970
Participants who completed the study alone were more likely (50%) to get help in comparison to those who completed the study with three others (12%)
Urban Overload Hypothesis
People living in cities are constantly bombarded with stimulation and they keep to themselves to avoid being overwhelmed by it
Pluralistic Influence
People think that everyone else is interpreting a situation in a certain way, when in fact they are not
Pluralistic ignoring
People think that everyone else is interpreting a situation in a certain way, when in fact they are not.
Out-group
Perceived as anyone who does not belong to your group
Frustration-Aggression Theory
Perception that you are being prevented from attaining a goal produces anger, which increases aggression
Gratitude
Positive feelings from perception that another has helped you. Functional in that it facilitates reciprocal altruism
In-groups
Positive views of each other; a group to whom you belong, and anyone else who is perceived as belonging to that group
Institutional discrimination
Practice that discriminate (legally or illegally) against a minority group
In-group Favoritism
Preferential treatment of in-groups
ABCs of bias
Prejudice = Affective/Emotional component, Discrimination = Behavioral component, Stereotypes = Cognitive component
The 3 elements of bias
Prejudice, Discrimination, and Stereotypes
Institutional racism
Racist attitudes that are held by the vast majority of people in a society (also applies to sexism and homophobia)
Priming
Recent experiences increase the accessibility of related concepts
Desensitizing Effects
Repeated exposure to media violence associated with: 1. Decreased sensitivity to violence 2. Less reactivity to real-life aggression 3. Reduced sensitivity to the needs of others
Culture of Honor
Social norm of defending one's reputation in the face of perceived threats
Catharsis
Supposedly relieving built-up aggressive energies and hence reducing the likelihood of further aggression by: 1. Performing an aggressive act 2. Watching others engage in aggressive behaviors 3. Engaging in a fantasy of aggression
Categorization
The act of placing objects into meaningful groups
Bystander Effect
The greater the number of bystanders, the less likely any one of them is to help
Illusory Correlation
The perception of a relationship where none exist, or perception of a stronger relationship than actually exists. Another way to think of it - a false impression that two variables correlate. Example: Football team wins when you wear your thrifted FSU hat. Why? Joint occurrence of two distinctive events more memorable.
Self-fulfilling prophecy
The phenomenon whereby a person or group's expectation for the behavior of another person or group serves actually to bring about the prophesied or expected behavior (example: If a society believes that a particular group is stupid, uneducable, it will act in accordance with beliefs: educational beliefs will not be provided to that group. The consequence- The group will not attain adequate education. The Result- The society's original belief will be confirmed)
Personality factor underlying prosociality- Altruistic Personality
The qualities that cause an individual to help others in a wide variety of situations
Confirmation Bias
The tendency to count stereotype consistent info, and ignore inconsistent info
We tend to help out-group members when
There is something in it for us (Social-Exchange Theory)
Automatic attitudes
Those which are expressed via "processes that occurred without intention, effort, awareness, and without interfering with other concurrent cognitive processes"
True or false- Any negative effect, such as pain or discomfort, can cause aggression
True
True or false- Expressing anger may allow you to gain insight into yourself and dynamics of your relationship if anger is non-violent and non-demeaning
True
True or false- Moods often elicit action-oriented behavior, which can include helping
True
Social Scripts
Ways of behaving socially that we learn implicitly from our culture
We tend to help in-group members when
We feel empathy towards them (Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis)
Social learning
We learn aggression by observing and imitating them Examples: 1. Abusive parents → Abusive children 2. "Bobo Doll" Study (Bandura)
Scapegoating
When frustrated or unhappy people tend to displace aggression onto groups that are disliked, visible, and relatively powerless
The Role of Mood in Prosociality- Phone Booth Study (Isen and Levin, 1972)
When people were in a good mood, they helped more often (84% helped) in comparison to people in a bad mood (4% helped)
Maladaptive
When we become blind to individual differences, ex.) "men can't be nurses"
One of the empirical studies showed that people are more likely to get help when they were in the room
alone
Research has shown that _________ can increase the probability of aggression a) self-interest b) frustration c) Thanksgiving with the family d) assertiveness
b) frustration
Which form of apology is most likely to be accepted and believed? a) "If I hurt your feelings, I'm really sorry." b) "I'm sorry I hurt your feelings, but look, we were both to blame here." c) "I'm really sorry, and I understand what I did wrong; it won't happen again" d) "I'm sorry"
c) "I'm really sorry, and I understand what I did wrong; it won't happen again"
What does research find about the validity of the catharsis theory? a) Supported: It is usually beneficial to ventilate anger and get it out of your system. b) Supported: Playing or watching violent sports reduces aggression. c) Disconfirmed: Expressing anger often makes people angrier. d) Disconfirmed: Acting out anger is healthy for physical but not psychological reasons. e) a and b.
c) Disconfirmed: Expressing anger often makes people angrier
The influence of television violence is greatest on: a) children who watched a lot of tv. b) children who had never seen violence before. c) children who were already prone to violence. d) adults.
c) children who were already prone to violence
A good example of an aggressive stimulus is the proximity of __________. a) An insult b) A threat c) A grenade d) An argument:
d) An argument
Wanting to get something out of the aggression aside from just causing physical or psychological pain
instrumental