AP PSYCH UNIT 9 - Social Psychology

Branch of psych that is concerned w/ the way individuals' thoughts, feelings, & behavior are influenced by others.

The positive or negative evaluation of social issues, institutions, products, people. etc.

Emotional feelings

a preconceived judgement or emotional feelings towards certain people based on their membership in a particular group.

Predisposition to act (or not act) in certain ways.

the unjust treatment toward a person based on what particular group they belong in.

Beliefs

an overgeneralized belief about a particular group or person.

Attitudes that we hold consciously & can readily describe.

Convert attitudes that are expressed in subtle automatic responses that people have little conscious control over.

A group that we compare ourselves to when evaluating our behavior.

perception by a person that the amt. of the desired resource (ex: money, social status) he/she has is less than comparison to ppl in their reference group

*Leads to feeling entitled or inferior.

When ppl compare themselves to those who are less proficient than they are.

*to make themselves feel better.

overestimating others’ noticing & evaluating our appearance, performance & bunders.

*As if we presume a spotlight shines on us.

Overestimating how much other ppl share our beliefs & behaviors.

People develop their attitudes by observing their own behavior & then concluding what attitudes must have caused it.

Attractive people command more attention, are assumed to have desirable personality characteristics & viewed as more competent…why?

When a general (pos.) impression of a person in one area influences the impressions formed of that person in other areas.

ex: characteristics/abilities

People estimate that they have encountered more confirmations of an association between social traits than they have seen. (i.e. think there is a correlation when there really is none).

The tendency is to view an outgroup as homogenous, or as “all the same”, whereas the ingroup is seen as more heterogenous or varies.

Own beliefs lead you to act in ways that fulfill your expectations.

Tendency to view one’s own culture as superior & apply one’s own cultural values when judging the behavior & beliefs of people raised in other cultures.

A person’s sense of who they are & evaluation of themself is based on their group memberships.

*Ingroup: a group one belongs to & identifies with.

*Outgroup: a person one doesn’t belong to or identify with.

Ingroup Bias: Tendency for humans to be more helpful & positive towards members of their own group over members of an out-group.

Outgroup Bias: Negative categorizations, feelings, or ideas about people who are not part of our ingroup.

Categorization can lead to prejudice & discrimination.

Mental discomfort is experienced by a person who holds 2 or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values.

OR when our Affect, Behavior, &/or Cognitions aren’t congruent… This dissonance drives us to change either one of our beliefs &/or our behavior so that they realign.

ex~ If you are talking to the same girl as your friend, you might feel bad, but to combat this discomfort, you tell yourself that you are the only one talking to that girl, so it is okay.

The study of the conditions under which people are most likely to change their attitudes in responses to persuasive messages.

A process where a person, brand, or other factors influence another person’s behavior or attitudes.

(1) Central Route to Persuasion

(2) Peripheral Route of Persuasion

When attitudes are formed or changed as a result of carefully scrutinizing & thinking about the central merits of attitude-relevant info.

Persuasion depends on non-message factors such as the attractiveness or credibility of the source, or emotionally conditioned response.

Getting a person to agree to a large request by 1st having them agree to a small request (setting them up).

ex~ making your roommate get you a bottle of water from the fridge 1st, then say “While you have the fridge door open, can you make me a sandwich.”

Making a large request of someone, that they will most likely turn down, so they are more likely to agree to a second, more reasonable request.

ex~ a game ticket costs $ so you 1st ask your parents for $300,  they obviously say no, then you say if you borrow $200, they are more likely to say yes.

Gain agreement & then later on the agreement is made less desirable (by revealing hidden costs or requirements)

FQ tip: multi-step response; must indicate intent.

The “rule” is that we should pay back (reciprocate) what we receive from others.

The idea is that bringing people together who are in conflict will help the conflict to subside as they get to know & understand each other.

*must be done carefully.

Tasks that get people from opposing sides to come together & work toward a common end result (can’t succeed w/o all members contributing).

Trying to answer the question “Why?”

Inferences that people draw about the causes of events, others' behavior, and their own behavior.

Believe the causes of behavior are due to dispositional factors (internal traits) (e.g. intelligence, personality, abilities, feelings, traits) *these can be un/stable.

Believe the causes of behavior are due to situational demands & environmental constraints (external factors).

Neg. behaviors: me (actor) = external you (observer) = internal.

Pos. behaviors: me (actor) =internal, you (observer) = external

ex~ You and a classmate don’t do well on a test.  You attribute your own poor performance to not having enough time to prepare because of having to work late or bc the teacher didn’t prepare you well enough, whereas you attribute your classmate’s poor performance to him/her not being that smart.

ONLY FOCUSING ON OTHERS

Neg. behaviors of others = internal

Pos. behaviors of others = external

ONLY FOCUSING ON YOURSELF

Own neg. behavior = external

Own pos. behavior = internal

ex~  a tennis player wins a match and attributes her success to the hard work she has put in at practice and her natural talent; when she loses the next match, she attributes the loss to the weather conditions or some bad calls made by the line judge.

The theory is that prejudice offers an outlet for anger & other neg. emotions by providing someone (or a group) to blame (that is usually not at fault).

Tendency to balance victims for their misfortune so that one feels less likely to be victimized in a similar way (“just-world hypothesis”).

Exerting less effort when working on a task in groups than working alone (due to diffusion of resp.).

Presence of others = improves one’s performance.

Presence of others = hinders one’s performance.

The tendency for groups to make more extreme decisions than the initial inclination of each individual member.

When the desire for harmony or conformity within a group leads to dysfunctional or irrational decision-making.

Best to have a “devil’s advocate” to reduce this tendency

When bonds link members of a social group to one another and the group as a whole (perceived unity, task relations, & emotional influence).

*Think about your own group of friends, teammates, bandmates, etc.

A pattern of behavior that is expected of a person in a given setting or group.

Only lasted 6 days; supposed to be 2 wks.

Supports the influence of social roles & power of the situation.

a situation in which an individual profits from selfishness unless everyone chooses the selfish alternative, in which case the whole group loses. (aka social trap).

cooperation v. Competition

*****Best option is always to cooperate.

People are less likely to provide needed help when they are in groups than when they are alone.

ex ~ Kitty Genovese case

When others are present, a person is less likely to feel obligated to take responsibility.

*they assume others are responsible for taking action or have already done so.

The loss of self-awareness/personal identity when in groups due to a perceived lack of accountability.

FRQ TIP (copied from AP scoring rubric): [The response must indicate that the explanation of the behavior is]….. that the presence of other people diminishes one’s sense of self-awareness OR increases feelings of anonymity OR diminishes one’s sense of individual responsibility or inhibition

Selfless concern for the well-being of others.

Any form of behavior that is intended to harm or injure another person.

*AP EXAM concept: frustration-aggression hypothesis states that we act more aggressively when frustrated (I’ve definitely seen that happen in real life!)

1) Situational influences (ex: time pressure, # of people present)

2) Dispositional/Personal Influences (ex: personality traits)

3) Interpersonal Influences (ex: the norm of reciprocity)

4) Sociocultural Influences (ex: norms/expectations, religious beliefs)

When people change their behavior due to real or imagined social pressure (explicit or implicit).

The perceived informal, mostly unwritten, rules that d__efine acceptable & appropriate actions__, within a given group or community, thus guiding human behavior.

ex ~ saying bless you when someone sneezes.

• Asked which line matches the original line (left).

• Each announces a choice to the group; all but one is an accomplice of the experimenter.

• Accomplices give incorrect answers during multiple trials.

• 37% conformity (on majority of the trials); 75% conformed at least once.

Group size & group unanimity.

When people conform to social norms for fear of negative social consequences (want to fit in).

When people conform to __ambiguous situation__s (bc they are unsure what do to).

Conform to fit in but do not change beliefs.

ex ~ laughing at a joke bc others were laughing, but you didn’t think it was funny.

When someone’s belief is diff. than others, they question if their beliefs are wrong.

Form of compliance that occurs when people follow direct commands, usually from someone in a (real or imagined) position of authority.

Summary: NO shocks were actually given; Participants were told that the study was about the impact of punishment on learning; Notice how the shock generator is set up; Script for “learner” to express distress.

Findings: of 40 participants, only 5 quit at 300 volts; only 14 participants defied the experimenter before the full series of shocks was completed; 65% gave all 30 levels of shock.

deception, trauma, didn’t allow participants to withdraw, etc.

Seem to transcend culture; however, collectivist cultures encourage more conformity.

The finding is that repeated exposure to a stimulus promotes greater liking of the stimulus (no cognition).

Males & females of approx. equal physical attractiveness are likely to select each other as partners.

(Do' “birds of a feather flock together” OR do “opposites attract?”)

Tendency to be attracted to those who have common interests & beliefs (more similar)

Tendency for individuals to form interpersonal relationships w/ those who are close by.

1. Components of Love

2. Types of Love

3. Culture & Close Relationships

4. An Evolutionary Perspective on Relationships

*Intimacy (friendship)

*Passion (sexual attraction)

*Commitment (psychological loyalty)

*Various combinations of 3 factors produce different types of love

*Consummate Love: passion + intimacy + commitment

*Companionate Love: intimacy + commitment (no passion)

*Romantic Love: passion + intimacy (no commitment)

Romantic love is not found in all cultures.

*Individualism: marriage for love, “passionate love”

Collectivism: arranged marriages

*Physical attraction = influential determinant of attraction

*Men seek youthfulness & physical attractiveness (to pass on their genes)

*Women seek ambition, social status, & financial potential (for protection)