Untitled

• Three approaches exist for understanding behavior: biological, cognitive, and sociocultural.

Biological Approach

• Biological factors dictate behavior and results from biology.
• Key factors include brain function, neurotransmitters, genetics, and hormones.

Cognitive Approach

• Behavior is influenced by ways of thinking.
• This includes mental schemas, memory, and patterns of thought.

Sociocultural Approach

• Behavior is influenced by cultural and social factors.
• Key factors include social influences such as socioeconomic status, gender roles, education level, cultural norms, peers, and family.
• Culture influences behavior.
• Humans are social and need to belong.
• Behavior is influenced by others, even when acting independently.
• Social context plays a very important part in behavior.
• All humans are individuals and social beings.

Attraction

• Attraction can be explained by different perspectives

Biological Factors for Attraction:

• Neurotransmitters dopamine and oxytocin create pleasure and bonding.
• Evolutionary Psychology: Attraction is based on traits signaling health and reproductive fitness.
• Pheromones: Genetic compatibility can be influenced.
• Hormones: Testosterone and estrogen drive sexual attraction.

Cognitive Factors for Attraction:

• Schemas: Attraction is shaped by internal "ideal partner."
• Similarity & Familiarity: Being drawn to those like us or those we see often.
• Halo Effect: Perceiving positive qualities in physically attractive people.
• Confirmation bias: Positive first impressions lead to deeper attraction.

Sociocultural Factors for Attraction:

• Cultural Norms: Standards of beauty and success affect preferences.
• Social Learning: Modeled by family, peers and media.
• Proximity: Attraction increases by being near someone.
• Group Dynamics: Favoritism for in-group members.

Social identity theory (SIT)

• Created in 1979 by Tajfel
• A person has not only a personal "I" but also social "I's".
• Self-concepts are based on membership in social groups.
• Membership may include sports teams, religions, nationalities, occupations, sexual orientation, ethnic groups, and gender.
• Aims to explain why conflict and discrimination occur between groups.
• Understanding is needed on who identities are in social contexts.
• Depending on the circumstances one social identity stands out influencing behavior.
• Involves four psychological mechanisms.

Social categorization

• This is categorizing self into groups.
• These groups involve which groups being belonged to.
• "Ingroup" represents groups that are belonged to.
• "Outgroup" represents groups that are not belonged to.
• Social categorization can occur from actual sharing or being perceived to share an identity.
• Can also happen randomly.

Social identification

– Process of adopting norms and traits of a group after deciding to belong to it.

Social comparison

• Process of comparing our group to other groups:
• A tendency increases between inter-group difference.
• A tendency perceives individual differences within the in-group but not outside the out-group.
• Perception everyone in the outgroup is "the same" = out-group homogeneity.
• Method of justifying group membership.

Positive distinctiveness

• The process of comparing a group to another there’s a tendency of positively comparing the group on dimension.
• A tendency is believing the group is better (in-group favoritism) and the is worse (out-group discrimination)
• Method of achieving positive self-esteem through such group membership.

Chen et al (2005) Study

• Highlighting a social identity (cultural group) affects shopping behavior by showing that people whose American cultural values became more prominent placed a higher value on immediate consumption than Singaporean counterparts.
• Bicultural participants (Singapore and USA) were randomly assigned to viewing images or reading news of a primed culture (Singaporean culture: issues, celebration and/or American culture)
• Then they were asked to write down all elements they could remember from the primed content.
• Online shopping scenario – purchasing a book.
• There was a $2.99 Singapore dollar standard delivery cost.
• There was an offer of receiving the book in one day instead of five business days for a higher price.
• The participants were then asked to list the first three politicians came to mind as a test of how well the cultural context was successfully primed.
• Priming a specific social identity can affect online shopping.
• Participants listed politicians who were relevant to the culture for which they had been primed.
• Indicates that the identity was intended to stand out and was constant through out the study while individual group differences between groups can be negated.
• Conducted on a controlled experiment establishing cause and effect.
• Highlighting the culture participants caused differences in their behavior.
• Internal validity was high.
• Sample was unrepresentative: consisting of only students, and all bicultural.
• Lowers external validity.

Stereotypes

• Organized beliefs/ideas of characteristics associated with different social groups (physical appearance, interests, occupations, etc.).
• It's acquired indirectly from social norms and others than personal experience.
• They can come in positive and negative forms that enable people to understand the world.
• Simplifies things by using “thinking” something known about someone based on social identity, and that the person is that way until proven otherwise.
• Stereotypes have general nature with recognitions applied for every member of the group.
• Are prone to confirmation bias and tend to see examples in media/press that affirm the stereotypes, thus ignoring ones that contradict them.

Origin of Stereotypes: Grain of truth hypothesis

• Created by Campbell in 1967 Stereotypes come from:
  • Personal experiences with people or groups -
  • Gatekeepers (cultural/societal influences like media, family, peers.)
• Suggests they have a "grain of truth" but are overgeneralized from experiences with few to the entire group which leads to believe that everyone is the same.

Origin of Stereotypes: Social Identity Theory

• Tendency to categorize people into ingroups and outgroups due to wanting to compare the ingroup to the outgroup, thinking they are different and that the ingroup is better
• Tendency to think outgroup members are similar (outgroup homogeneity)
• All contributes to the formation of stereotypes about the outgroup

Origin of Stereotypes: Illusory Correlation

• Perceiving relationships shown between two variables/ groups, when there is no relationship
  • Thinking relationship is between the group membership and the characteristic or behavior being related when there is not
  • confirmation bias is using supposed relations in information that supports such supposed relations

Hamilton and Gifford Simulation:

• Show people describing two groups but not really talking about them. (group b is the minority, and group a is the majority – a test of illusory correlation). (participants read descriptions with equal amounts of positive and negative statements about groups).
• In group B, which the participants would read as a “negative" one, it was smaller so the participants could falsely see the same actions and view them in a more judgemental manner than when they read about the subjects in group A.
• They remember more negative characteristics of a minority group because minorities are distinctive, rare or different
• Concluded to remember most negative characteristics of minority group participants and the study concluded to lead to illusory correlation

Testing Stereotypes:

• Attitudes shown towards groups are hard to study and psychologists must face said difficulties.
• Participants are unwilling/unable to report their group attitudes and there are many reasons that could affect the honesty and openness of test-takers.
• Implicit association test – this tool was designed to explore unconscious beliefs and preferences, with influences affecting the taker's actions.
• Although with being unaware of beliefs, they may influence behavior.

The Effect of Stereotypes:

• Watching the "Stereotype Threat: Steele & Aronson" video and answering questions best explains the effects of stereotypes

Stereotype Threat:

• The thought of confirming and believing stereotypes about one's own group that may have effects and impact.
• Anxiety is related to this situation and even though you may not believe it, the awareness of stereotypes makes it a possible factor affecting performance.

Stereotype Threat Study: Steele & Aronson (1995)

• Shows the impact of stereotype threads affecting test performance from African Americans.
• Was conducted with a sample of 76 Stanford University students with gender balance from both white/African-American undergraduate students.
• Told they would take a "intellectual ability" based, or based on problem solving.
• One independent variable (what they were told of the test)
• And another independent variable (White/African American groups)
• And the dependent variables the results of the tests.
• Concluded the differences between genders had no significant meaning and outcome.
• African Americans did worse than White American group from test of intellectual ability, but when taking a test about their “problem solving” both did well/equal to each other.
• Conclusion stereotypes that the idea about the intellects relating to some kind of form of the ability led to a negative effect of performance.
• Test was experiments with cause and effect control to replicate
• Sampling bias leads to validity and ethical consideration (the test created for the students that may harm them).
• However it does not change one thing in the findings.

Effects of Stereotypes: Conclusion

• Effects of using stereotypes lead to prejudice/discrimination and the use/application shows that this has been tested on different forms
• Effects found that stereotypes have impact in behavior by individuals even for those not aware of stereotypes.
• Those investigations included a level of "Stereotype threat" and a low amount of reliable test performances
• And in "memory distortions".

Positive Stereotypes:

• Have negative effects that are related (despite thinking the opposite)
• Reduces people to group-based generalizations that enforce negative stereotypes with systematic inequalities.
• This crates pressure to conform with narrow or unrealistic expectations by diminishing individuality that leads to stressing individuals
• This causes harm with tension/anxiety/intergroup tension overall with lower self steem

The Effect of Stereotypes: Memory Distortions with study (Martin and Halverson/1983)

• Study study study the effect of stereotypes to children’s memories:
• Has a study of showing a selected amount of children of photos where some are set with certain "stereotype".
• These photos were of kids doing normal stuff but relating to gender roles that reinforce stereotypes like "woman = cooking”/ “Men = Construction/Outside Work"
• Some results were shown as children related what they saw to set rules, and they tried to show it that way (like men DO cook but instead children will relate said statement as "men get hurt" or "try to get hurt doing so")
• The impact is real as "stereotype threat: may create children to alter their views and try to adjust things to said stereotypes.

Social Cognitive Theory:

• States we don't need to experience what we go through with being able to watch others to perceive, judge, and act a new approach of observing
• Learning, and the influence of it

Social Cognitive Theory:

• Developed by Albert Bandura behavior learning shown from both imitation and environment
• Observation is the biggest thing, and the consequences are the observed behavior for the model (so this does what it sounds like and is mainly for observational learning)
• The other person is not aware of being watched.
• The model is being both observed and the behavior that is not necessary of that is learned through vicarious reinforcement.

Reproducing Observers Behavior:

• Attention - must pay attention to modeled behavior.
• Retention – able to remember behavior.
• Reproduction/potential – have mental capability to follow and preform action
• Motivation – must want to have behavior preformed and receive (or expect) these desired results
• Certain factors increase the likelihood of this:
  • Model stands out
  • The model’s behavior is consistent These factors increase the overall this social learning is happening for the individual.

Violence and SCT application by Bandura et al (1961):

• Used to explain different types of violence with behaviors, as well with learnings.

Bandura et al's Procedure and Aim

• Used the bobo doll in this study.
• A sample of 72 mixed children ranged from ages “3-5 years, gender ratio- “36 girls and 36 boys”
• "Aggressive conditions’ ' the model has action to aggressive action to the bobo
• (Non aggressive conditions) the model used had no aggression actions towards the bobo but peaceful act towards the doll
• “Control” they do not look any adult doing the bobo
• Had toy room available for both children
• Children would come to the toy room the toys are taken away from them
• The children have a range of toys that now exist along with the inflatable bobo with the same behavior being shown towards the children

Bandura et al's Results/Evaluation

• Higher aggression showed from seeing violence as children from the same gender are more aware of it and the boys did/imitated the same actions and they are more inclined to do the same showing violence. Limitations of Bandura.
• Artificial, with low ecological validity
• Smalls samples and students from Stanford showing that’s it to small to generalize the info + ethics for children with stress might be long Experiment establishes a cause and effect that does support violence is what is learnt with this study!

SCT and television

• Tv has both both negatives with positive influence in forms like helping positive and empathy behaviors

SCT and how teen shows (Shows 16 and pregnant) are rated -Kearney and Levine (2015

• By identify Geographic areas, the area to shows tv will be particularly shows less impact.
• Google searches the results after for this

Kearney and Levine Results: Evaluation

• Saw in the Geographic area greater pregnant in those teen girls compared with other areas from show.
• Spike in the after new shows and Google searches from the show related.
• The conclusion is its support to the studies! in some factor in society-
• Studies and supports theory, mainly reinforcement factor whether positive or negative
• By the seeing results from negative “teen” pregnancy (financial problems, less difficulty)

Social Cognitive Theory and Biology:

• Mirror Neurons support this theory!