Social Psychology Chapter 12 Flashcards

Social Psychology Fundamentals

• Social psychology examines how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are shaped by the presence of others, whether real, imagined, or implied.
• Social influence reflects how the presence of others can directly or indirectly change an individual's feelings and actions.

Key Concepts in Social Behavior

• Conformity involves aligning one's behavior to match that of a group.
• Groupthink prioritizes group harmony over critical evaluation of information and facts.
• Compliance refers to behavior change prompted by requests or directives from others.

Persuasion Techniques

• The foot-in-the-door technique starts with a small request and escalates to a larger one after initial compliance.
• Door-in-the-face technique begins with a large request that is likely to be rejected, followed by a smaller request.
• Norm of reciprocity is the expectation to return favors or positive actions.
• Lowball technique obtains a commitment and then increases the cost of the commitment.
• That’s-not-all technique enhances an offer by adding bonuses to persuade the target person.

Authority and Obedience

• Obedience is a change in behavior in response to an authority figure's command.
• The Milgram study demonstrated the extent of obedience where participants administered perceived shocks to others.

Group Dynamics

• Group polarization leads to more extreme positions after group discussions compared to individual viewpoints.
• Social facilitation indicates improved performance on simple tasks in the presence of others.
• Social loafing suggests individuals exert less effort in group tasks than when working alone.

Attitudes and Social Cognition

• Attitudes consist of cognitive (thought), affective (feelings), and behavioral (actions) components regarding people, ideas, or situations.
• Vicarious conditioning occurs through observing others' interactions with various stimuli.

Impression Formation and Stereotypes

• Impression formation establishes first knowledge about a person, influenced by primary effect, where initial impressions are strong and persistent.
• Social categorization involves assigning individuals to groups based on shared characteristics, leading to stereotyping.

Attribution and Social Identity

• Attribution explains the reasons behind one's own and others' behaviors.
• Attribution theory analyzes how we determine the causes of actions, distinguishing between situational (external) and dispositional (internal) causes.
• Prejudice is a negative attitude towards a group, while discrimination involves differential treatment based on prejudices.

In-group and Out-group Dynamics

• In-group members share social identification, while out-group members are those not identified with.
• Realistic conflict theory posits that intergroup conflicts escalate prejudice and discrimination.
• Scapegoating occurs when out-group members are unjustly blamed for problems faced by an in-group.

Interpersonal Relationships

• Social cognitive theory sees prejudice as learned through societal influences and interactions.
• Interpersonal attraction is influenced by factors like proximity and reciprocity of liking, where mutual attraction leads to stronger connections.

Types of Love

• Varied forms of love include:
  • Liking: emotional intimacy.
  • Companionate love: emotional intimacy plus commitment.
  • Romantic love: emotional intimacy plus passion.
  • Infatuation: purely passion-driven.
  • Fatuous love: passion and commitment without intimacy.
  • Empty love: commitment without intimacy or passion.
  • Consummate love: the ideal combining intimacy, passion, and commitment.

Aggression and Prosocial Behavior

• Aggression encompasses behaviors aimed at harming others.
• Biological factors influencing aggression include genetics, brain structure (amygdala and limbic system), and neurochemicals (testosterone and serotonin).
• Prosocial behavior signifies actions intended to benefit others, countered by the bystander effect, where individuals are less likely to help in the presence of other witnesses.
• Diffusion of responsibility occurs when people fail to act due to perceived shared responsibility among bystanders.