Summary of Concepts
LO 1 Define social psychology and identify how it is different from sociology.
Social psychology is the study of human cognition, emotion, and behavior in relation to others. This includes how we perceive and react to others, are influenced by interactions with others, and behave in social settings. Social psychology focuses on studying individuals in relation to others and groups, whereas sociology studies the groups themselves—their cultures, societies, and subcultures. Using the same general research methods as other psychologists, social psychologists often conduct studies involving confederates, or people who are secretly working for them. At the end of a study, researchers debrief participants, or review aspects of the research they had previously concealed.
LO 2 Describe social cognition and how we use attributions to explain behavior.
Social cognition refers to the way we think about others, attend to social information, and use this information in our lives, both consciously and unconsciously. Attributions are the beliefs we develop to explain human behaviors and characteristics, as well as situations. Because attributions rely on whatever information happens to be available (our observations of what people say and do, for example), they are vulnerable to personal bias and inaccuracies.
LO 3 Explain how attributions lead to mistakes about the causes of behaviors.
Situational attributions are a type of external attribution in which the assumed causes of behaviors are in the environment. Dispositional attributions are a type of internal attribution in which the causes of behaviors are thought to be traits or characteristics. When people make attributions, they are often guessing about the causes of events or behaviors, leaving plenty of room for error.
The fundamental attribution error assumes the causes of behaviors are in the person (dispositional) as opposed to the environment (situational). The just-world hypothesis assumes that if someone is suffering, he must have done something to deserve it. The self-serving bias attributes one’s successes to internal characteristics and one’s failures to environmental factors.
LO 4 Describe social influence and recognize the factors associated with persuasion.
Social influence refers to the way a person is affected by another person (or other people), as apparent in behavior, emotion, and cognition. Expectations are an often overlooked form of social influence. Students in Rosenthal’s study who were expected to show surprising gains actually did as a result of the high expectations placed on them. Persuasion is intentionally trying to make people change their attitudes and beliefs, which may (or may not) lead to changes in their behavior. There are three factors that determine persuasive power: the source, the message, and the audience.
LO 5 Define compliance and explain some of the techniques used to gain it.
Compliance occurs when someone voluntarily changes her behavior at the request or direction of another person or group, who in general does not have any true authority over her. One commonly used method is the foot-in-the-door technique, which occurs when an individual initially makes a small request, followed by a larger one. Another method for gaining compliance is the door-in-the-face technique, which involves making a large request, followed by a smaller one.
LO 6 Evaluate conformity and identify the factors that influence the likelihood of someone conforming.
The urge to modify behaviors, attitudes, beliefs, and opinions to match those of others is known as conformity. There are three major reasons we conform. Most people want approval, to be liked and accepted by others. This desire, known as normative social influence, can have a significant impact on behaviors. A second reason to conform is that we want to be correct. We look to others for confirmation when we are uncertain about something, and then do as they do. This is known as informational social influence. Finally, we may conform to others because they belong to a certain reference group we respect, admire, or long to join.
LO 7 Describe obedience and explain how Stanley Milgram studied it.
Obedience occurs when we change our behavior, or act in a way that we might not normally act, because we have been ordered to do so by an authority figure. Milgram conducted a series of studies examining how far people will go when urged by an authority figure to inflict punishment on others. During an early experiment, the goal was for the confederate (learner) to memorize a set of paired words. The participant (teacher) sat at a table, which held a control panel for administering electrical “shocks.” The teacher was told to administer a shock each time the learner made a mistake, and the shock was to increase by 15 volts for every mistake. Milgram was surprised that so many people obeyed the experimenter and continued to administer “shocks” to the learner, even when they hesitated or were uncomfortable, simply because an authority figure had instructed them to do so.
LO 8 Recognize the circumstances that influence the occurrence of the bystander effect.
When a person is in trouble, bystanders have the tendency to assume that someone else will help—and therefore they stand by and do nothing, due in part to the diffusion of responsibility. This bystander effect is particularly true when there are many other people present. Individuals are more likely to aid a person in distress if no one else is present.
LO 9 Demonstrate an understanding of aggression and identify some of its causes.
Aggression is defined as intimidating or threatening behavior, or attitudes intended to hurt someone. Research on aggression suggests that it has a biological basis (for instance, high levels of testosterone and low levels of serotonin). In addition, the frustration-aggression hypothesis suggests that in a frustrating situation, we can all show aggressive behavior.
LO 10 Recognize how group affiliation influences the development of stereotypes.
Stereotypes are the conclusions or inferences we make about people who are different from us, based on their group membership (such as race, religion, age, or gender). When we hold a stereotype about a particular group, we tend to have a set of characteristics in mind that describe the members of that group, one that is often rooted in subjective observations and value judgments. A stereotype threat is a situational threat in which a person is aware of others’ negative expectations. This leads to a fear of being judged and/or treated as inferior, and it can actually undermine performance in a specific area associated with the stereotype.
When we see the world only from the perspective of our own group, this leads to ethnocentrism. This type of group identification can lead to stereotyping and discrimination, which involves showing favoritism or hostility to others because of their affiliation with a group. People who harbor stereotypes and blame scapegoats are more likely to feel prejudice, that is, hostile or negative attitudes toward individuals or groups.
LO 11 Compare prosocial behavior and altruism.
Behavior aimed at benefiting others is known as prosocial behavior. Altruism is a desire or motivation to help others with no expectation of anything in return. The ability to understand and recognize another’s emotional perspective is a major component of altruism.
LO 12 Identify the three major factors contributing to interpersonal attraction.
Interpersonal attraction, or the factors that lead us to form friendships or romantic relationships with others, plays a role in determining with whom we choose to spend our time. Three major factors are often apparent: proximity, similarity, and physical attractiveness. Many relationships begin with exhilaration and intense physical attraction, and then evolve into more intimate connections. The combination of connection, concern, care, and intimacy is romantic love. This is similar to passionate love, or love that is based on zealous emotion, leading to intense longing and sexual attraction. As a relationship grows, intimacy and commitment develop into companionate love, which consists of fondness, camaraderie, understanding, and emotional closeness. Consummate love is evident when intimacy and commitment are accompanied by passion.
aggression
altruism
attitudes
attributions
bystander effect
cognitive dissonance
companionate love
compliance
conformity
consummate love
deindividuation
diffusion of responsibility
discrimination
dispositional attribution
door-in-the-face technique
ethnocentrism
false-consensus effect
foot-in-the-door technique
frustration–aggression hypothesis
fundamental attribution error
group polarization
groupthink
in-group
interpersonal attraction
just-world hypothesis
mere-exposure effect
norms
obedience
out-group
passionate love
persuasion
prejudice
proximity
risky shift
romantic love
scapegoat
self-serving bias
situational attribution
social cognition
social facilitation
social identity
social influence
social loafing
social psychology
social roles
stereotypes
stereotype threat
1. __________ is the study of human behavior in relation to the influence of other people, our perceptions, and reactions to others.
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d. Social psychology
2. A researcher is interested in studying how students attend to social information and use it in their lives. Her general focus is
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b. social cognition.
3. __________ is an uneasy feeling that occurs with the recognition that a mismatch exists between an attitude and a behavior.
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a. Cognitive dissonance
4. One common bias we have is to more often attribute causes of behaviors to the individual rather than to the environment, thus underestimating the powerful influence of the environment on behavior. This is known as:
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d. the fundamental attribution error.
5. Hovland proposed that persuasive communication involves three important components, and we must consider factors associated with them. The three components are:
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d. the source, the message, and the audience.
6. When someone changes his behavior at the request or direction of another person who does not have authority over him, this is known as:
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c. compliance.
7. Your neighbor seems to follow the lead in terms of decorating his house. If he sees others hanging lights, he immediately does the same. His urge to modify his behaviors to match those of others in the neighborhood is known as
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a. conformity.
8. Milgram reported that 65% of the participants in his study gave shocks marked as the highest voltage level to a confederate. Researchers have found that the degree of compliance of participants in such studies is associated with the
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c. legitimacy of the authority figure.
9. __________ occurs when the sharing of duties among all members of the group leads to feelings of decreased accountability.
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b. Diffusion of responsibility
10. One study found that 80% of trick-or-treaters in a group who were anonymous took more candy or money than they were supposed to. The children’s sense of anonymity as well as inclusion in a group likely led to their sense of
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a. deindividuation.
11. A family friend of yours constantly goes on about how suburban teenagers with tongue rings are rebelling against their parents and most of them are troublemakers. These __________ are conclusions he has drawn based on his subjective observations and value judgments.
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d. stereotypes
12. Psychologists define __________ as intimidating or threatening behavior or as attitudes intended to hurt someone.
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c. aggression
13. When teachers in an elementary school in San Francisco were given a list of students who were likely to “show surprising gains in intellectual competence” during the coming year, the students on that list achieved greater increases in test scores than students not on it. This is an example of __________, a form of social influence.
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b. expectations
14. __________ suggests that the more we are exposed to people, food, jingles, or songs, the more positive a reaction we have toward them.
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a. The mere-exposure effect
15. According to Sternberg, the three elements that make up love are:
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d. passion, intimacy, and commitment.
16. You are trying to explain why a colleague of yours is frequently absent from work. Can you come up with an attribution that is external, uncontrollable, and unstable? Can you think of a different attribution that is internal, controllable, and stable?
Answers will vary, but may be based on the following information (see Infographic 15.1). The internal–external dimension refers to the location of the cause. The controllable–uncontrollable dimension refers to whether the outcome can be controlled. The stable–unstable dimension refers to whether the cause is long-lasting. As an example, the reason your colleague has recently been absent is that she is caring for her father (external) who has just been diagnosed with an illness and there is no other family member available to help him (uncontrollable). This set of circumstances, however, has only caused problems this week (unstable).
17. The findings from Milgram’s experiment on obedience seemed surprising when they were first published. The problems associated with obedience to authority still exist today. What does this tell us about the importance of paying attention to how we react when under the influence of an authority figure?
Answers will vary. Obedience occurs when we change our behavior, or act in a way that we might not normally, because we have been ordered to do so by an authority figure. An imbalance of power exists, and the person with more power generally has an advantage over a person with less power. It is important for us to pay attention to how we react when under the influence of an authority figure as we could inflict harm on others. One person can make a difference when he or she stands up for what is right.
18. Knowledge about the bystander effect provides a lesson for all of us, particularly in terms of crisis situations in a group setting. How would you describe this lesson to others?
Answers will vary. When a person is in trouble, bystanders have the tendency to assume that someone else will help—and therefore they stand by and do nothing, a phenomenon that is partly due to the diffusion of responsibility. This bystander effect is particularly common when there are many other people present. Individuals are more likely to aid a person in distress if no one else is present.
19. When you are finished reading this chapter, identify any stereotypes you might harbor about certain groups of people. How did groups impact the development of these?
Answers will vary, but can be based on the following definition. Stereotypes are the conclusions or inferences we make about people who are different from us, based on their group membership (such as race, religion, age, or gender). We tend to see the world in terms of ingroups (the group to which we belong) and outgroups (people who are outside the group to which we belong), which can impact the stereotypes we hold.
20. Think about someone you are close to and try to determine if—and how—proximity, similarity, and physical attractiveness played a role in your attraction to each other.
Answers will vary, but can be based on the following definitions. Proximity means nearness, which may play an important role in the formation of relationships. Similarity has to do with how much you have in common with someone else. We tend to prefer those who share our interests, viewpoints, ethnicity, values, and other characteristics.
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