Psychology 11



Psychology 11

Social Psychology (Notes Part 1)

Introduction

Social psychology examines how other persons ______________________ our thoughts, feelings and actions

Thoughts include attitudes and ______________________

Feelings include attraction and dislike

Actions include social influence, _______________________, and altruism

Attributions

Attributions are statements that _______________ why people do what they do

Dispositional: the actions of a person are related to their internal __________

• “John hit me because he is a mean person”

Situational: the actions of a person are related to the ___________________ characteristics of their situation

• “John robbed the bank in order to avoid losing his family home to a bankruptcy”

Attributional Errors

Fundamental attribution error (FAE) occurs when we judge the behavior of others as due to _____________________________ factors

Self-serving bias: we tend to take undue credit for positive _________________ and attribute negative outcomes to external causes

• The self-serving bias maintains our self-esteem

These attribution ________ are a function of the culture that a person lives in

Attitudes

Attitudes are learned predispositions to respond to a particular ____________ in a particular way

Attitudes involve:

• Cognitions: ______________________ and beliefs

• Emotions: ___________________ about the object

• Behaviors: how we _______________ toward the object

Attitudes are ______________________ during interactions with others

Attitudes can be modified by the person

• Cognitive ________________________ (an uncomfortable feeling caused by holding two contradictory ideas simultaneously) can prompt attitude change

• Foot-in-the-door phenomenon is tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to ________________ later with a larger request

Cognitive Dissonance

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Prejudice

Prejudice involves a negative ____________________ toward specific people based on their membership in an identified group

Three components of prejudice:

• ____________________________ are thoughts and beliefs about people based on their group membership

• Strong ________________________ feelings about the object of prejudice

• Predispositions to act in certain negative ways toward the __________________ (discrimination)

Scapegoat Theory

When something goes wrong people tend to try and find someone to blame the situation on.

Ingroup and Outgroup

Mentally drawing a circle that defines "us" (the ingroup) and "them" the outgroup.

This leads to an ingroup bias - the favoring of ones own group over others.

The Just World Phenomenon

A mistake that people make in assuming that the world is just, "people get what they deserve."

They believe that the good are rewarded and the bad are punished.

This can lead to blaming the victim in certain types of crimes.

Interpersonal Attraction

Interpersonal _______________ refers to our degree of liking of another person

Three factors that contribute to attraction:

1) Physical attractiveness includes ______________, shape, facial features, and manner of dress

2) Proximity refers to _____________________ nearness

3) Similarity is the preference for people who share our __________________ background, social class, and attitudes

The evolutionary view of attraction is that men and women are attracted to _________________________ characteristics

• Men are attracted to ____________________, youthful women

• Females are attracted to men have _______________________ and social status

Love

Liking is derived from _______________________ and simple attraction

Love involves an extended intensive relationship characterized by caring, ___________________________, and intimacy

• Passionate love is an __________________ attraction that involves the idealization of the other person and that is expected to endure over time

• Yet, romantic love may be short-lived

• Companionate love is based on ____________________ and respect

• Companionate love may last a lifetime

Keys to Succes

A successful relationship will have the following two qualities

• ______________: Both partners receive and give in the relationship.

• ___________________: Both partners need to reveal intimate details of their lives to deepen the relationship.

Asch’s Study of Conformity

Conformity is a type of social influence in which persons change their behavior as a result of ______________ or imagined group pressure. Arsh gave people a choice of three lines and asked which was the longest. He found that people would go along with the ______________ answer even if it was not the longest line.

Norms

A social norm is an ________________________ behavior that is adhered to by members of a group

• _________________ norms: speed limits posted on a highway

• Implicit ________________: table manners at a formal dinner party

Personal space is a norm that varies by group

• Friends are closer than strangers

• Children tend to stand closer (until they are socialized to maintain a greater personal distance)

• Women tend to stand closer than men

• Violent offenders require a personal space that is three times larger then most people's.

Obedience to Authority

Obedience involves going along with a _______________ command from an authority figure

Factors that change obedience:

1) Power of the authority makes a _________________

2) Distance between the teacher and the learner makes a difference

3) Assignment of responsibility: We are less likely to be obedient if we think we will be held responsible for our actions this is called ______________________

The Study of Obedience

In Milgram’s study, subjects were asked to deliver different voltages (0-450 volts) as a punishment to the “learner”

Milgram’s question was at what point would subjects refuse to deliver shock to another person? His study showed that people were generally willing to shock another person when told to do so by an authority figure.

Group Processes

A group is two or more persons ________________________ with one another in such a way that each person influences and is influenced by each other person

Group mental processes:

1) Group polarization: the group _________________ is more risky than that of an individual

2) Groupthink: a mode of _______________________ that people engage in when part of a cohesive in-group. The group fails to note inconsistent information.

Brainwashing

Brainwashing is a process of breaking down the ______________ in order to make them conform to a group idea.

This is done through a process of isolating the individual and systematically breaking down their sense of self

Cults use ______________________ to make new inductees conform to group expectations.

Aggression

Aggression is any form of behavior that is ______________________ to harm another living being

Factors that change aggression:

1) Instincts: notion that humans are ______________________ aggressive; notion that aggression kills off less fit organisms

2) Genes: twins show similar levels and types of ___________________

3) Brain: aggression can be ___________________ by electrical stimulation of the brain

Aggression – Potential Causes

Substance abuse: alcohol intoxication is associated with most forms of _________________________

Hormones: ____________________ is linked to male aggression

Frustration: blocking a goal leads to ______________, which leads to aggression

Culture and learning: children who view _______________ television programming and who view violent video games may become aggressive

Altruism

Altruism refers to ____________________ designed to help others

• Evolutionary theory suggests we are ___________________ toward persons who share our genes --> fosters survival of our genes

• Egoistic model: altruism is motivated by some ______________________ gain

• Empathy-altruism model: ______________________ leads to altruism

The Bystander Effect:

People are more likely to help a person in need when there are _____________ people around. When there are many people present, an individual may feel less ___________________ for helping the person in need.

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