Social Psychology

Front 1

What is Social Psychology?

Back 1

Social psychology examines the influence of social processes on people's:
- Thoughts (cognition)
- Feelings (emotions)
- Behaviours (actions)

Front 2

What is a norm?

Back 2

Norms are rules about appropriate behaviour in different situations.

Front 3

Features of a Norm

Back 3

- Powerful but hard to articulate
- Help society function effectively; uncertain reduction
- Sometimes have negative consequences

Front 4

Asch's Conformity Experiment

Back 4

Solomon Asch (1951) conducted an experiment to investigate the extent to which social pressure from a majority group could affect a person to conform.

Asch used a lab experiment to study conformity, whereby 50 male students from Swarthmore College in the USA participated in a ‘vision test’.Using a line judgment task, Asch put a naive participant in a room with seven confederates.

75% of people conformed.

Front 5

Factors affecting conformity

Back 5

- Ambiguity/uncertainty - Personality
- Unanimity/dissention - Culture
- Group size - Gender (task dependant)
- Identification with group

Front 6

The Bystander Effect

Back 6

The more people available to give help, the lower chance of receiving help.
WHY:
- Ambiguity/uncertainty
- Conformity (to non-helping behaviour)
- Diffusion of responsibilty

Front 7

Social Loafing

Back 7

Exert less effort in a group than alone; let others pick up the slack.
WHY:
- Less effort, same reward
- Larger group, individual contributions less noticed
IMPORTANT FACTORS:
- Liking/identification with the group
- Group expresses disapproval
- Culture

Front 8

Obedience

Back 8

Change behaviour to meet demand of authority figure

'... when individuals change their behaviour because of orders or commands by figures with greater designated or earned authority. Often understood decision not to obey leads to punishment, imprisonment or even death. '

Front 9

Milgram's Electric Shock Experiment

Back 9

Stanley Milgram, a psychologist at Yale University, conducted an experiment focusing on the conflict between obedience to authority and personal conscience.
The teacher is told to administer an electric shock every time the learner makes a mistake, increasing the level of shock each time. There were 30 switches on the shock generator marked from 15 volts (slight shock) to 450 (danger – severe shock).
65% (two-thirds) of participants (i.e. teachers) continued to the highest level of 450 volts. All the participants continued to 300 volts.

Front 10

Factors affecting obedience

Back 10

- Experimenter's status/prestige
- Other's behaviour;
- Peers (eg stopped vs. completed experiment)
- Experimenter (eg contradicting each other)
- Learner (request to stop vs complaint of pain)
- Personality characteristics (authoritarian, empathy)

Front 11

Social norms, relationships & sexuality
- Expectations of a romantic relationship?

Back 11

- Different norms in different cultures
- Can be hard to identify because immersed in own culture
- Our own norms seem normal and correct, but it is important to reflect and evaluate why we have the norms we do and how they might affect different people.

Front 12

Social norms, relationships & sexuality
- Relationship expectations

Back 12

- Dating rules (when is it okay to call?)
- Choosing your spouse
- Marrying for love (vs arranged marriages)
- Polygamy (multiple wives)
- Faithful monogamous relationships

Front 13

Social norms, relationships & sexuality
- Expectations about sexuality

Back 13

- We live in a hetero-normal society
- Being a heterosexual is considered normal, and not being a heterosexual is considered a deviation from the norm

Front 14

Consequences

Back 14

- Violating norms can lead to prejudice and discrimination
- Violence and threat of violence (1 in 5 gay men physically assaulted)
- Verbal abuse (61% gay people verbally abused)
- Social exclusion, marginalisation, homophobic language
- Increased risk of suicide, drug-taking, self harm
- Fear of disclosing sexuality

Front 15

Social Perception

Back 15

The process by which people make sense of themselves, others, social interaction and relationships.
- First impressions
- Schemas
- Attributions
- Stereotypes
- Prejudice

Front 16

Groupthink

Back 16

An emphasis on group unanimity at the expense of critical thinking. Groups sometimes become so intent on ensuring that everyone agrees with everyone else that they give up their capacity to evaluate issues objectively.

Front 17

Symptoms of Groupthink

Back 17

- An illusion of group invulnerability
- An illusion of group's unanimity
- Unquestionable belief in groups moral correctness
- Conformity pressure
- Stereotype of out-group
- Self-censorship
- Mindguards

Front 18

Social Perceptions
- First Impressions

Back 18

- What sort of information
- What do we infer
- Very quick
- Stable
- Self-fulfilling prophecies
- Halo effect

Front 19

The Halo Effect

Back 19

The halo effect, at the most specific level, refers to the habitual tendency of people to rate attractive individuals more favorably for their personality traits or characteristics than those who are less attractive.

Front 20

Social Perceptions
- Schemas

Back 20

Schemas are patterns of thought that organise our experiences and knowledge.
We have little cognitive resouces; we are not equipped to acces every situation from scratch.
Can be formed in relation to:
- People
- Situations
- Roles
- Relationships

Front 21

Social Perceptions
- Attribution

Back 21

Attribution is the process of understanding and explaining the causes of behaviour.
We attribute our own and others behaviours to either external (circumstance) or internal causes (personality).
WHY:
- Understand behaviour
- Predict future behaviour
- Control situation

Front 22

Social Perceptions
- Attributional Biases

Back 22

Attributional biases can distort our understanding of other people's behaviour.
Actor-Observed Effect:
- Others behaviour: internal
- Own behaviour: external
- Different information salient
- Depends on outcome (self-serving bias)
Can lead to victim blaming

Front 23

Stereotypes

Back 23

Schema about a group of people. Belief held by members of one group about members of another group.
- Chosen vs. unchosen characteristics

Front 24

Levels of Stereotypes

Back 24

Public: consciously aware and openly admit
Private: consciously aware, but wont admit
Implicit: unconscious

Front 25

Implicit Stereotypes

Back 25

Implicit stereotypes can be primed by presenting relevant stimuli. If a person is not aware that a stereotype is being activated they can not try to suppress it.
- Underlying attitudes

Front 26

Implicit Association Tests

Back 26

Implicit stereotypes can be measured using an Implicit Association Test.
IAT's measure how long it takes people to group different types of stimuli.

Front 27

Stereotypes

Back 27

Belief about a person's characteristics on basis of their group membership

Front 28

Inter-group Hostility

Back 28

Ingroup: group you belong to
Outgroup: group you do not belong to

-Tiny differences can be used as the basis of group catagorisation, and can lead to stereotype, prejudice and discrimination.
- Stereotypes can cause a self-fulfilling prophecy

Front 29

Prejudice

Back 29

Attitude towards someone on the basis of their group membership.

Front 30

Discrimination.

Back 30

Behaviour directed toward someone on the basis of their group membership.

Front 31

Adaptive Conservatism

Back 31

Evolutionary principle that creates a predisposition towards distrusting anything or anyone unfamiliar or different.

Front 32

In-group bais

Back 32

Tendency to favour individuals within our group over those from outside out group.

Front 33

Out-group homogeneity

Back 33

Tendency to view all individuals outside our group as highly similar.

Front 34

Self-fulfilling Prophecies

Back 34

When our beliefs and expectations create reality.

1. Our beliefs and expectations influence our behaviour.
2. Our behaviour affects others response/behaviour
3. Others responses reinforces our beliefs and expectations (back to 1)

Front 35

Group Membership
- Social Perception

Back 35

Outgroup members percieved as more similar than they really are.

Front 36

Group Membership
- Attributional Biases

Back 36

Positive actions of the out-group are explained as external while negative behaviours are attributed to internal causes.

Front 37

Group Membership
- Reducing Inter-group Hostility

Back 37

Reducing hostility requires contact and cooperation among group members.

Front 38

Fundamental Attribution Error

Back 38

Tendency to overestimate the impact of dispositional influences on ones behaviour.

Front 39

Social Comparison Theory

Back 39

Theory that we seek to evaluate our beliefs, attitudes and abilities by comparing our reactions with others.

Front 40

Deindividuation

Back 40

Tendency of people to engage in uncharacteristic behaviour when they are stripped of their usual identities.

Front 41

Group Polarisation

Back 41

The tendency of group discussion to strengthen the dominant positions held by individual group members.

Front 42

Inoculation Effect

Back 42

Approach to convincing people to change their minds about something by first introducing reasons why their perspective might be correct and then debunking it

Front 43

Obedience

Back 43

Adherence to instructions from those of higher authority

Front 44

Conformity

Back 44

Tendency of people to alter their behaviour as a result of group pressure.

Front 45

Alturism

Back 45

Doing thing for others for unselfish reasons

Front 46

Self-perception Theory

Back 46

Theory that we acquire our attitudes by observing our behaviours

Front 47

Impression Management Theory

Back 47

A theory that we do not really change our attitudes but report that we have so that our behaviours appear consistent with our attitude.