PSYCH221 FINAL EXAM STUDY GUIDE Social psychology can help you make sense of your own world The mere presence of another person enhances performance on simple tasks Individual effort decreases as group size increases inverse relationship Behaviorism seeks to explain all of psychology in terms of learning principles such as rewards and punishments focuses on the situation Social psychology features experiments and the scientific method It studies inner states and processes as well as behavior Social psychology is concerned with the effects of other people on mainly adult human being s thoughts feelings and behaviors The ABC triad in social psychology stands for Affect How people feel inside including emotion Behavior What people do their physical observable actions Cognition What people think about how they process behavior Social Psychology focuses especially on the power of situations Psychology is the study of behavior There are many other areas of psychology that are related to social psychology Biological psychology physiological psychology and neuroscience focus on the brain nervous system and other aspects of the body Clinical psychology focuses on abnormal behavior and disorders Cognitive psychology studies thought processes Developmental psychology focuses on how people change across their lives Social Psychologists utilize the scientific method a State a problem for study b Formulate a testable hypothesis c Design a study to test the hypothesis d Conduct the study e Communicate your results Self Awareness There are two logical health the more you know your self your identity continuously over time increases confidence which improves social presentation interaction Self concept clarity self awareness a Benefits of adversity for self concept personal growth differents kinds of 1 Private self awareness looking inward on the private aspects of the self including emotions thoughts desires and traits Public self awareness looking outward on the public aspects that others can see and evaluate b The specific effect of self awareness knowing oneself improves psychoth meaning making c Rise to challenges increases self concept strengthens social ties relationships optimists benefit from tragedy trauma b c they have a different baseline of recovery d Those who make meaning out of their struggles are happier do better Self verification Seeking Consistency attempt to maintain self schema People want others to see them as they see themselves even if they don t see themselves in a positive light it reduces anxiety increases trust has smoother social interactions when they feel that they are seen as they are Easier than creating new self concept cognitive miser perspective rather than rationally and objectively evaluating new information the cognitive miser assigns new information to categories that are easy to process mentally Self serving biases a Self serving bias people claim credit for accomplishments but deny blame for failures Self handicapping protect ego by setting yourself up for failure so no one expects anything have an excuse for bad performance 1 Example Drinking before an exam Basking in reflected glory excited for something someone else did 1 Your favorite football team won So thats Obviously justification for you feeling like you re Mr Awesome Downward Comparison feel better when others do worse Overestimating contributions to groups feeling that you contributed more to the group than you actually did 1 EXAMPLE thinking you take out the trash more than the roommates when really the amount is the same 2 When group members are asked how much they think they contribute to the group they all overestimate and the percentage adds up to more than 100 Self reference endowment effect everything associated with you is worth more just because it s associated with you 1 the study with the rated pictures people rated pictures that 2 they chose as being more beautiful False consensus overestimate how many people will agree with you False uniqueness accentuate exaggerate your own uniqueness of ability more than others Self presentation esp with regards to online internet interaction we want to present ourselves in the best light but also in a way that is true to our unique identity a Self online easier to be genuine b c of anonymity Can form deep relationships online by being more genuine Self Esteem Ingredients outcomes costs of pursuit mixed benefits a Self worth high self esteem associated with self concept clarity clear understanding of self maintain eye contact less prone to social influence b High SE express opinions assertive but also cooperative in group work Better general mental health less distress buffers against c Low SE emotional distress aka affective buffering Inappropriate physical gestures excessive excuses for failures less eye contact more prone to social influence Depression suicide eating disorders d Sociometer theory e Physical appearance sense of own self worth based on how you perceive people to value you cognitive bias where our overall impression of a person influences how we feel and think about his or her character i e nice smart as well friends school work etc you re funny adolescence feedback from family largest variable because of society Halo Effect f Direct feedback g Whether you deal cope good or badly with periods of change or transition dictates how good you feel Hedonic Treadmill we return to a homeostatic state after big events we don t remain depressed or super happy all the time h Artificially induced high self esteem is bad Self esteem has to be earned and people must be motivated to improve otherwise people just become assholes less likely to take risks because you don t want failure to mess up your perfect record 3 Narcissism a high self esteem to an extreme b Self centered concerned approach towards others antisocial behaviors aggression c external factors contribute to all negative things in your life internal contributions to all positive things Healthy ways to increase self esteem a earn it increase domains of competence achievement b share it capitalize on good news c coping strategies learning to deal with defeat adversity and change transition Personality Three Levels of personality a Trait a person s enduring characteristics or dispositions which give rise to their behaviors or behavior patterns b Adaptation change with the changing environment bidirectional influence how traits evolve based on how you adapt to change c Life story
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