Social Cognition PDF

**Social Cognition** **What is social cognition?** the ability to understand and predict the behavior of others, and to use that understanding to adapt one\'s behavior in social situations **Cognition in relationship** -Relationship Event 1\. Cognitive response: Assuimg negative intentions, Bla...

**Social Cognition** **What is social cognition?** the ability to understand and predict the behavior of others, and to use that understanding to adapt one\'s behavior in social situations **Cognition in relationship** -Relationship Event 1\. Cognitive response: Assuimg negative intentions, Blaming, guilt, Jumping to conclusions 2\. Emotional response: anger, rejection, guilt \*Behavioral response: walk over and ask who is this person. **Are first impressions easy or difficult to change? Why?** -Tend to be lasting -tend to be accurate -incorrect impressions are resistant to change -influence future interactions **How are primacy effects and confirmation bias related to first impressions?** -Primary effect: the tendency for the first information we receive about others to carry special weight (what we see first is what we will think about that person in the future) -confirmation bias-when we tend to be biased looking for information that supports our belief rather than disconfirms those beliefs **Compare and contrast "schema-driven" and "mood-congruent" memories** -will remember schema-relevant and schema-consistent information \*Schemas are like scripts for different events like Halloween (past memories) -Schema inconsistent may be memorable because it is unexpected (memorable events a man making you pay on the first date) Mood congruent memory-remember material consistent with the current mood (for example how well do you and Sally get along? Good mood-recall the good times with Sally Badmood-recall the bad times with Sally) **Be able to describe the types of attributions people make in happy relationships compared to the attributions made by those unhappy relationships** Attributions -Answers to "why" questions Prosses of trying to explain someone\'s behavior Happy Relationship- relationship enhancing Example: Why was my partner just rude to me? if I\'m in a generally good relationship with that person, the explanation I generate is likely to be one like something must have gone wrong at work today, or they had a bad day at school or something like that. It\'s external. It\'s not something inherent about the person Bad relationship -distress maintaining Example: my romantic partner is so selfish I bet they didn\'t think for a second about me, and the fact that I bought those Oreos for myself when they ate them. **What is impression management and why do we engage in it?** -the conscious or subconscious effort people make to control how others perceive them, by carefully shaping their behaviors, appearance, and self-presentation to create a desired image, often to achieve specific goals like gaining approval, building relationships, or advancing in a career **Be able to define the following: Ingratiation, self-promotion, Intimidation, supplication** Ingratiation-someone attempts to influence another person by becoming more likable to them Self-promotion-you do talk about your qualities and what you\'re good at, and so on Intimidation- is likely to occur when there\'s a status difference. Typically, it\'s when someone is of high status and they\'re interacting with someone who\'s lower status. supplication-people tend to make themselves seem vulnerable or helpless. **Be able to describe the basis of self-verification theory** Studies show that people prefer to interact with others who confirm their self-image(even when the image is negative) -feel validation -Perceive the interaction will go smoothly -anticipate acceptance -specific criticism, global acceptance Will this extend to a romantic relationship? Swann proposes that there will be a difference in dating and marriage Dating-positive Marriage-authenticity Marriage shift- satisfaction was greatest when partners were being verified, which supports for self-verification theory. Even when that verification was negative. However, it was only for married couples. **Be able to describe the key features of the positive illusions theory** relationship satisfaction is associated with more idealistic perceptions of our partner rather than realistic views -In other words, people are happy, and happier when they\'re idealized by their partner, and when they are idealizing their partner in return. Sandra Murray is the researcher who is at the forefront of this research on positive illusions so she asked 3 important questions. How do you see yourself vs how your partner sees you and what is similar between both questions 1\. To what extent do our partners view us the way we view ourselves? (how much agree?) 2\. do your partners tend to see you more favorably than you see yourself? (positive illusions) 3\. Do idealized images or realistic images predict greater satisfaction? **Do people make more or less of an effort to present themselves positively in their romantic relationships over time? Why or why not?** Over time people tend to make less of an effort because we know our partner likes us so we become less motivated for their approval and they know us now and I can be myself over time it becomes its hard to maintain an image when its different from who we are **Self-Disclosure** **Define self-disclosure** Self-disclosure occurs when we communicate information about ourselves to others**.** Example: I read this article and it was interesting, and it had an effect on me. **Know the difference between descriptive and evaluative disclosure and breadth and depth of disclosure** Descriptive- Facts about self Evaluative Disclosure-personal feelings, opinions, judgments Breadth-How much information Depth of disclosure-How intimate **What are the five functions of self-disclosure?** 1.expression off feeling(let of steam) 2.self-clarification(clarify information) 3\. Social Validation (express oneself and receive feedback) 4\. Social control (tool of social manipulation) 5\. Social Connectedness (develop close and intimate bonds) **Be able to describe the social penetration theory (and know the onion diagram)** Altman and Taylor proposed as part of social penetration Theory is that revealing your true self -from superficial to more intimate levels of communication as relationships develop -like peeling layers in an onion(superficial,intimate,very intimate) **What is an opener and what did Miller\'s study demonstrate about how openers are related to self-disclosure** An \"opener\" is a person who tends to elicit intimate self-disclosure from others, meaning they are skilled at encouraging people to open up and share personal information; Miller\'s study demonstrated that individuals categorized as \"high openers\" were significantly more successful at prompting others to self-disclose compared to \"low openers\" due to their attentive listening and ability to ask follow-up questions that encourage deeper conversation. **What is the stranger on the train/plane phenomenon and how does it seem to violate the self-disclosure findings?** we disclose personal information to people we don\'t know and probably won\'t see again. We can talk about ourselves without worrying that it will get back to the people closest to us. **What four effects were identified by the meta-analysis described in the lecture?** Effect A- we like people who disclose to us Effect B-people like those whom they disclose Effect C- people disclose more to people they initially like Effect D- people perceive that they are liked by people who have disclosed to them **Communication** **What did Noller's study indicate about couple members' effectiveness at sending and decoding messages? How were happy and unhappy couples different?** -The study indicated that spouses sent clear messages via voice tone and facial expressions. It indicated that women were good at sending messages and men were bad at sending clear messages -When decoding messages, in happy marriages both spouses were good at de-coding and unhappy marriages women were good and men were very bad **What are the "poor communication strategies" identified by Gottman? Be able to identify or provide examples of each one we talked about in class** Hidden Agenda\'s-disguising your real complaint Mind Reading-Assuming your partner knows your feelings Cross-Complaining-responding to a complaint with a complaint Kitchen Sinking-dragging in every complaint from past and present Yes butting-rejecting every solution **What are some "Tips for improving communication?"** Be specific concrete and clear Stay focused on current issues Ownership Listen to your partner Focus on negotiation, solving problems Avoid hurtful, rude, disrespectful messages **Social Exchange theory** **What do rewards and costs mean in terms of social exchange theory?** Rewards- anything of value that you gain Cost=Any negative consequences or loss **What is the Norm of Reciprocity and how is it related to social exchange theory?** \- a social expectation that people should return favors and acts of kindness that they receive from others -Because we expect others in similar situations to be experiencing the same kinds of rewards. **Define Interdependence** Interdependence Theory posits that we rely on others, and they rely on us for valuable interpersonal rewards **How is the simple standard computed?** rewards-costs=outcome Net profit or loss associated with an interaction evaluating rewards and costs and what is the outcome **Define comparison level and comparison level for alternatives and describe how they are related to satisfaction and dependence** Comparison level- your outcomes based on the simple standard compared to what you think is expected or acceptable outcomes-cl=satisfaction/dissatisfaction If your outcomes exceed your comparison level. So you\'re getting more out of your relationship than what you expected then you\'re likely to be satisfied with that relationship. But if your outcomes, what you\'re actually getting are below your expectations then you\'re likely to experience dissatisfaction.................. Comparison level for alternatives- this is your evaluation of other realistic alternatives that are currently available to your current situation. Outcomes-Cl alt=dependece/independence Ex-my choices are to pursue this amazing graduate school opportunity but that means breaking up with my partner or staying with my partner and maybe going to a program I\'m less excited about **What are the four types of relationships identified by social exchange theory? How are cl and clalt related in each** 1.Attractive stability=outcomes exceed both cl and cl alt This is when your outcomes, what you\'re getting out of a specific relationship is exceeding your expectations and you don\'t see a realistic alternative. you\'re happy. You\'re satisfied and dependent. So it\'s an attractive stable relationship. 2\. Attractive instability= This is when your outcomes are exceeding your expectations exceeding your comparison level but you think you can do better you might leave that relationship to pursue some other alternative.So it\'s an attractive relationship because it\'s satisfying. But it\'s not stable, because your outcomes are not exceeding your comparison level for alternatives, you might actually do better by pursuing some other alternative. 3\. Unatractive stability =the person is unhappy because their outcomes are falling below their comparison level, so their outcomes are not exceeding their expectations. You\'re getting less from the relationship than you\'d expect. but you feel like you\'d be worse off if you left. So it\'s unattractive because it\'s not satisfying. but it\'s stable because you\'re dependent on your current partner 4\. Unatractive instabillity=the person\'s outcomes are below their comparison level and below their comparison level for alternatives. So they\'re dissatisfied. And they\'re feeling independent. This is the type of relationship that not surprisingly typically doesn\'t last long. It might be a fling, and you get into it, and you realize is not going anywhere **Why aren\'t comparison levels always stable over time?** Relationship experiences Changing culture