Ch 12 Outline Social Psychology What is social psychology o Study of how a person s thoughts feelings and behavior are influenced by the real imagined or implied presence of others What are social influence conformity and group think o Social Influence the process through which the real or implied presence of others can directly or indirectly influence the thoughts feelings and behavior of an individual o Social Norms The customary rules that govern behavior in groups and societies o Conformity Changing one s own behavior to match that of other people Ex Line conformity test o Groupthink occurs when people place more importance on maintaining group cohesiveness than on assessing the facts of the problem with which the group is concerned What is compliance and what are some ways to induce it o Compliance changing one s behavior as a result of other people directing or asking for the change Ex Recycling o 4 ways to gain compliance Foot in the door technique asking for a small commitment and after gaining compliance asking for a bigger commitment Door in the face technique asking for a large commitment and being refused and then asking for a smaller commitment Lowball technique getting a commitment from a person and then raising the cost of that commitment That s not all technique the persuader makes an offer and then adds something extra to make the offer look better before the target person can make a decision Group polarization members involved in a group discussion take a more extreme positions and suggest riskier actions than individuals who have not participated in a group discussion What is obedience o Obedience Changing one s behavior at the command of an authority figure o Milgram study teacher administered what he or she thought were real shocks to a learner 2 3 of the participants were basically willing to kill the learner because an authority figure man in a white coat told them to do so This experiment is now seen as completely unethical What are social loafing and facilitation o Social facilitation the presence of other people to have a positive impact on the performance of an easy task o Social loafing people put less effort into a task when working with others on that What are attitudes what are their components and how good at they at predicting task behavior o Attitude a tendency to respond positively or negatively toward a certain person object idea or situation 1 Affective emotional component 2 Behavioral component actions 3 Cognitive component thoughts o Attitudes are often poor predictors of behavior unless the attitude is very specific or very strong How are attitudes formed o Direct contact with person situation object or idea o Direct instruction from parents or others o Interacting with other people who hold a certain attitude o Vicarious conditioning watching the actions and reactions of others to ideas people objects and situations What is persuasion o Persuasion one person tries to change the belief opinion Position or course of action of another person through argument pleading or explanation Key elements source of the message the message itself and the target audience What is cognitive dissonance o Cognitive dissonance Sense of discomfort or distress that occurs when a person s behavior does not correspond to that person s impression Lessened by changing the conflicting behavior changing the conflicting attitude or forming a new attitude to justify the behavior What are social cognition and impression formation o Social cognition the mental processes that people use to make sense of the social o Impression formation forming of the first knowledge a person has about another world around them person Primary effect the very first impression one has about a person tends to persist even in the face of evidence to the contrary What does social categorization mean and how does it relate to stereotypes o Social categorization the assignment of a person to a category based on characteristics the new person has in common with other people with whom one has had experience in the past o Stereotype a set of characteristics that people believe is shared by all members of a particular social category What is an implicit association theory A schema What are attributions o Attribution the process of explaining one s own behavior and the behavior of others o Attribution theory the theory of how people make attributions Situational cause attributed external forces such as delays the action of others or some other aspect of the situation Dispositional cause attributed to internal factors such as personality or character o Fundamental attribution error actor observer bias What are prejudice and discrimination and some of the theories as to why they exist o Prejudice negative attitude held by a person about the members of a particular o Discrimination treating people differently because of prejudice toward the social o Forms of prejudice include ageism sexism racism and prejudice against those social group group to which they belong who are too fat or too thin o In group and out group In group social groups with whom a person identifies us Out groups social groups with whom a person does not identify them o Realistic conflict theory conflict between groups increases prejudice and discrimination o Scapegoating tendency to direct prejudice and discrimination at out group members who have little social power or influence o Social cognitive theory views prejudice as an attitude acquired through direct instruction modeling and other social influences o Social identity theory the formation of a person s identity within a particular social group is explained by social categorization social identity and social comparison Social identity the part of the self concept including one s view of self as a member of a particular social category Social comparison the comparison of oneself to others in ways that raise one s self esteem o Stereotype vulnerability the effect awareness of the stereotypes associated with their social group has on their behavior o Self fulfilling prophecy the tendency of one s expectations to affect one s behavior in such a way as to make the expectation more likely to occur How can we reduce prejudice What is attraction and what is generally necessary for it to occur o Interpersonal attraction Liking or having the desire for a relationship with another person o Proximity physical or geographical nearness o People like people who are similar to themselves OR
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