Social Psychology Midterm 2

Front 1

Ethnocentrism

Back 1

idea that we focus in on our group as being good and others as bad

Front 2

Robber's Cave studies

Back 2

- brought a young group of boys together in a naturalistic setting
- separated the boys into 2 groups
- Phase 1: Ingroup formation - Eagles and the Rattlers
- Phase 2: Competition - pitted the 2 groups against one another; fostered an intense dislike of one another
- Phase 3: Superordinate goal - something that the boys all wanted but could not do by themselves, which forced them to cooperate

Front 3

Realistic Group Conflict theory

Back 3

- intergroup relations are driven by structures in the environment
- groups dislike each other because both want scarce resources

Front 4

When does contact between groups reduce hostility?

Back 4

- equal status: everybody needs to have equal standing to get along well with one another
- situation must involve cooperation
- situation must be informal enough to allow group members to get to know one another as individuals
- interaction must permit disconfirmation of negative stereotyped beliefs
- persons involved must view one another as typical of their respective groups

Front 5

What is Social Identity theory? How does it explain group conflict?

Back 5

- individuals strive to maintain positive social identity
- positive social identity is based on favorable comparisons between ingroups and outgroups
- when social identity is unsatisfactory, individuals will strive to leave the group and join some more positively distinct group or try to make their own group more positively distinct

Front 6

Optimal Distinctiveness Model

Back 6

- need for assimilation (belongingness, fitting in)
- need for differentiation (being unique)
- we want to stand out but we don't want to be the only one

Front 7

What are social dilemmas?

Back 7

- if everyone in a group acts in their own self-interest then the whole group suffers
- theory of the commons

Front 8

Stereotype

Back 8

BELIEFS about a certain group of people; cognitive component

Front 9

Prejudice

Back 9

ATTITUDES; having a negative attitude towards a person because they belong to a certain social group; emotional component

Front 10

Discrimination

Back 10

BEHAVIORS; putting stereotypes and prejudices to action

Front 11

What are the origins of stereotypes?

Back 11

Cognitive, motivational, social

Front 12

Cognitive origins of stereotypes

Back 12

- categorization: we very quickly pick up on race, age, gender, etc.
- stereotypes are basically cognitive shortcuts
- we're most likely to use stereotypes when we're tired, sick, busy, etc. and don't have time to get to know the person
- Bodenhausen nocturnal and diurnal collge students study

Front 13

Motivational origins of stereotypes

Back 13

- social comparison
- belief in a just world: bad things happen to bad people and good things happen to good people

Front 14

Social origins of stereotypes

Back 14

- social roles: stereotypes can develop out of the social roles that people have ben assigned
- group conflict: putting people in competition sometimes creates negative stereotypes
- media portrayal

Front 15

Social outgroup homogeneity effect

Back 15

the perception that individuals in the out-group are more similar to each other than they really are, as well as more similar than the members of the in-group are

Front 16

Social comparison

Back 16

- upward social comparison: comparing ourselves to someone who is better off than us; can motivate us to improve but can also be a blow to our self-esteem

- downward social comparison: thinking about ourselves relative to others who are worse off; makes us feel better and boosts our self-esteem (we put others down in order to make ourselves feel better)

Front 17

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

Back 17

the case whereby people 1) have an expectation about what another person is like, which 2) influences how they act towards that person, which, 3) causes that person to behave in a way consistent with people's original expectations

Front 18

Subtypes

Back 18

Having different stereotypes based on the situation; ex: having one stereotype concerning women but having a different sterotype concerning women lawyers

2 views on subtypes:
- Weber and Crocker: maintains stereotypic belief; can put exceptions into a subtype and still protect the main stereotype
- Brewer: replaces stereotypic belief; if you break a stereotype down into several subtypes then you're getting closer to individualization

Front 19

Automatic vs controlled processes

Back 19

Devine's theory that stereotypes are automatic and personal beliefs are controlled

- people grow up knowing the stereotypes of their culture (automatic)
- people might know the stereotypes but not believe them (controlled)

Front 20

How are stereotypes maintained?

Back 20

- priming: effects our attitudes more if it reinforces our stereotypes
- attribution: we make attributions that help us protect our stereotypes

Front 21

Consequences of stereotypes

Back 21

- stereotype vulnerability
- tokenism/solo effects

Front 22

Stereotype vulnerability/threat

Back 22

- fear of confirming a negative view of your social group
- might lead to: 1) distraction from task, 2) poorer performance

Front 23

Token/solo effects

Back 23

- when there's only one of your "category" in a group (ex: only 1 woman)
- can lead to cognitive deficits because people feel the extra burden of representing their group

Front 24

Models of stereotype change

Back 24

- societal reforms or historical events
- bookkeeping model: gradual change as you have more and more positive experiences with the group you have stereotyped (can also happen in the negative direction)
- conversion model: abrupt change in views

Front 25

Reduction of prejudice at the intergroup level

Back 25

- decategorization/individuation
- recategorization
- cross-cutting identities

(illustrated through Robber's Cave study)

Front 26

Basis for and effects of jigsaw classrooms

Back 26

a classroom setting designed to reduce prejudice and raise the self-esteem of children by placing them in small desegregated groups and making each child dependent on the other children in the group to learn the course material and do well in the class

Front 27

Modern prejudice

Back 27

outwardly acting unprejudiced while inwardly maintaining prejudiced attitudes

Front 28

Subtle sexism

Back 28

2 types of subtle sexism:

- hostile sexism: stereotypical views of women that suggests that women are inferior to men

- benevolent sexism: stereotypical belief that women are the weaker sex but benevolent sexists tend to idealize women romantically and want to protect them when they do not need protection

Front 29

Individualistic cultures

Back 29

- view the self as independent
- "masculine" traits: assertiveness, uniqueness, etc.
- Western cultures

Front 30

Collectivist cultures

Back 30

- interdepent self; the self is shaped by relationships
- "feminine" traits: nurturing, empathy, etc.
- Eastern and Latin American cultures

Front 31

Effects of individualism and collectivism

Back 31

- basis of self-esteem: relationships vs achievements
- interdependent selves tend to be more sensitive to context and role obligations (less likely to show fundamental attribution error)
- emotional expression: independent individuals are more likely to feel and express strong emotions (interdependent individuals are less likely to do so because they do not want to create a social disruption)
- self-presentation: self-enhancement is less acceptable to interdependent individuals

Front 32

Criticisms of the individualism/collectivism approach

Back 32

- fosters prejudice by grouping masses of people together
- ignores within-culture differences
- globalization is diluting culture somewhat
- what people really feel vs what they tell you
- value spin: idea that one way is better than another (verges on negative stereotypes)
- research issues: translation

Front 33

Culture of honor

Back 33

- cultural complex that has an extreme concern with reputation and insults; male autonomy and freedom
- comparison between Northerners and Southerners in the US
- leads to a particular type of violence: violent response to insults
- evidence: archival - higher rate of passionate acts of violence in the South, field study - "job application letter", "insult" study

Front 34

Attitude

Back 34

evaluations of people, objects, and ideas (the degree of like or dislike)

Front 35

How are attitudes measured?

Back 35

- self-report: just ask the person; bogus pipeline
- physiological measures
- behavioral measures: lost-letter technique

Front 36

How do attitudes relate to behavior? When will attitudes predict behavior?

Back 36

- principle of aggregation: a general attitude may not predict a specific behavior but it will eventually
- the more specific the attitude, the better at predicting the behavior
- strong attitudes succesfully predict behavior

Front 37

LaPiere study

Back 37

- LaPiere went to several establishments in the 1930s with a young Chinese couple (there was prevalent prejudice against the Chinese during this time period)
- only 1 establishment refused them service
- LaPiere wrote a letter to all of the establisments: "Would you accept people of the Chinese race in your establishment?"
- 92% said no yet only 1 establishment had actually refused them service

Front 38

When does behavior determine attitudes?

Back 38

if there is cognitive dissonance

Front 39

Cognitive dissonance theory

Back 39

a drive or feeling of discomfort, orignally defined as being caused by holding two or more inconsistent cognitions

- feel a motivation to reduce dissonance; uncomfortable feeling

Front 40

Dissonance effects

Back 40

- insufficient justification (Festinger and Carlsmith study with tedious tasks)
- spreading of alternatives: enhancing the attractiveness of the chosen alternative and devaluating the rejected alternatives
- severity of initiation (sex talks)

Front 41

Self-perception theory

Back 41

- people try to figure out what their attitudes are by looking at their behavior
- overjustification ("marker study")

Front 42

Dissonance theory vs self-perception theory

Back 42

Dissonance:
- clear knowledge of atttitudes from the beginning
- attitude-discrepant behavior
- production of a motivational state

Self-perception:
- vague attitude awareness
- behavior not very discrepant
- no motivational state produced

Front 43

Yale Model

Back 43

"Who says what to whom (and with what effect)?"

Attention (Source)
Comprehension (Message)
Yielding (Recipient)
Retention (Channel)

Front 44

Credibility

Back 44

Is the source trustworthy? Is the source an expert?

- if a source is credible, it's more persuasive

Front 45

Sleeper effect

Back 45

- with time, credible sources become less persuasive
- with time, low credibility sources become more persuasive

Front 46

One-sided vs two-sided arguments

Back 46

in most cases, two-sided arguments are more persuasive; if poeple are NOT going to hear opposite arguments, however, then one-sided arguments work

Front 47

When do fear appeals work?

Back 47

- danger is serious
- dangerous outcome is probable
- response recommended will work
- target is able to make the recommended response (has to be able to do what you're asking)

Front 48

Elaboration Liklihood Model

Back 48

an explanation of the two ways in which persuasive communications can cause attitude change: centrally, when people are motivated and have the ability to pay attention to the arguments in the communication, and peripherally, when people do not pay attention to the arguments and are instead swayed by surfcae characteristics (e.g., who gave the speech)

Front 49

Central route to persuasion

Back 49

focus on main arguments (naive scientist)

- produce stronger attitudes

Front 50

Peripheral route to persuasion

Back 50

focus on peripheral cues; focus on things that don't really pertain to argument, only surface factors (cognitive miser)

- produce weaker attitudes

Front 51

What determines whether a central or peripheral route to persuasion will be taken?

Back 51

based on presence of motivation and ability; if have both then central route, if missing one then peripheral route

Front 52

Resistance to attitude change

Back 52

- forewarning: can have a response ready
- reactance: can occur when we feel that our freedom is being threatened
- inoculation: cultural truisms; making people immune to attempts to change their attitudes by initially exposing them to small doses of the arguments against their position
- selective perception: we have some control over what we're exposed to

Front 53

Subliminal advertising

Back 53

words or pictures that are not consciously perceived but may nevertheless influence people's judgments, attitudes, and behaviors

Front 54

Theory of planned behavior

Back 54

the idea that the best predictors of a person's planned, deliberate behaviors are the person's attitudes toward specific behaviors, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control

Front 55

Political psychology

Back 55

interface of psychology and political science

Front 56

Sears critique of over-reliance on college samples

Back 56

compared to older adults, college students are likely to have:
- less crystallized attitudes
- less formulated senses of self
- stronger cognitive skills
- stronger tendencies to comply with authority
- more unstable peer-group relationships

implication is that a broader set of people should be used in experiments

Front 57

Accountability

Back 57

- expectation that you will have to justify your beliefs, feelings, or actions to others
- might shift our beliefs or make our argument more complex depending on the audience's beliefs

Front 58

On-line vs memory based evaluation of candidates

Back 58

- can evaluate candidates based on a running tally (running evaluation which we adjust as we encounter new information)

Front 59

Media effects: hypodermic model, minimal effects, modern approaches

Back 59

- hypodermic model: media is like a big needle that injects beliefs into its viewers
- minimal effects model: media does not tell us what to think; does not effect us at all
- modern approach: sophisticated techniques, subtle effects, agenda-setting

Front 60

Agenda-setting

Back 60

media can tell us what to think ABOUT; decides what the focus will be

Front 61

Personalities of leaders (Winter study)

Back 61

- looked at speeches and public announcements to find an underlying theme
- 3 motives: affiliation (concern for close relationships), achievement (concern for excellence), power (concern for impact and prestige)
- coded first inaugural address and matched it up with coding of cultural documents
- match of president and nation predicted popularity, electoral success
- mismatch predicted presidential greatness

Front 62

Darwinian tradition of emotion

Back 62

- emotions have adaptive functions: emotions come out of actions
- universality of emotions (at a certain level)

Front 63

Display rules

Back 63

culturally determined rules about which nonverbal behaviors are appropriate to display

Front 64

Basic emotions

Back 64

Izard criteria for basic emotions:
- specific neural substrate
- characteristic facial expression or neuromuscular expression
- distinct subjective quality

Front 65

James-Lange theory

Back 65

Perception -> bodily response -> emotion

gives a lot of support towards biological basis of emotions

Front 66

Schachter two-factor theory

Back 66

the idea that emotional experience is the result of a two-step self-perception process in which people first experience physiological arousal and then seek an appropriate explanation for it