PSY 205 Final Exam Notes (PDF)

Group Process Fundamentals of Groups What is a Group? • A set of individuals who have at least one of the following characteristics: – Direct interactions with each other over a period of time – Joint membership in a social category based on sex, race, or other attributes – A shared common fate,...

Group Process Fundamentals of Groups What is a Group? • A set of individuals who have at least one of the following characteristics: – Direct interactions with each other over a period of time – Joint membership in a social category based on sex, race, or other attributes – A shared common fate, identity, or set of goals Group Roles • Two fundamental types of roles: – An instrumental role to help the group achieve its tasks – An expressive role to provide emotional support and maintain morale Group Norms • Groups establish norms or rules of conduct for members. • Norms may be either formal or informal. Group Cohesiveness • The forces exerted on a group that push its members closer together. • Group cohesiveness can be affected in different ways as a function of cultural differences. Individuals in Groups: Social Loafing Social Loafing: • A group-produced reduction in • individual output on easy tasks in which contributions are pooled. When Is Social Loafing Less Likely to Occur? • People believe that their own performances can be identified and thus evaluated, by themselves or by others. • The task is important or meaningful to those performing it. • People believe that their own efforts are necessary for a successful outcome. When Is Social Loafing Less Likely to Occur? (cont’d) • The group expects to be punished for poor performance. • The group is small. • The group is cohesive. Why Does Social Loafing Occur? • Collective Effort Model: Individuals try hard on a collective task when they think their efforts will help them achieve outcomes they personally value. Culture and Social Loafing • Research has found social loafing to be less prevalent among women than men, and less prevalent in collectivist cultures than in individualist cultures Group Performance: Problems and Solutions Brainstorming • A technique that attempts to increase the production of creative ideas by encouraging group members to speak freely without criticizing their own or others’ contributions. Brainstorming in Groups Preventing Groupthink • Avoid isolation by consulting widely with outsiders. • Leaders should reduce conformity pressures. • Establish a strong norm of critical review. Groupthink • Excessive tendency to seek concurrence among group members. • Emerges when the need for agreement takes priority over the motivation to obtain accurate information and make appropriate decisions. Consequences of Groupthink • Defective decision making – Incomplete survey of alternatives – Incomplete survey of objectives – Failure to reappraise initially rejected alternatives – Poor information search – Selective bias in processing information at hand – Failure to work out contingency plans • High probability of a bad decision • group polarization refers to the tendency for a group to make decisions that are more extreme than the initial inclination of its members. • These more extreme decisions are towards greater risk if individuals' initial tendencies are to be risky and towards greater caution if individuals' initial tendencies are to be cautious.[ What Creates Group Polarization? • Persuasive arguments theory • Social comparison • To differentiate from other groups Goals and Plans in Groups • In many groups for which the goal was simply to “do your best,” the research clearly shows that they are not as effective as specific goals Conditions for Team Effectiveness Conflict: Cooperation and Competition Within and Between Groups Mixed Motives and Social Dilemmas • Situations in which a self-interested choice by everyone creates the worst outcome for everyone. – What is good for one is bad for all. The Prisoner’s Dilemma • Is a type of dilemma in which one party must make either cooperative or competitive moves in relation to another party. Culture and Social Dilemmas • Collectivistic cultures may cooperate more with friends or in group members, but compete more aggressively with outgroup members Social Psychology Course Attitudes & Social Behaviour 2 • In psychology, an attitude refers to a set of emotions, beliefs, and behaviors toward a particular object, person, thing, or event. • Attitudes are often the result of experience or upbringing, and they can have a powerful influence over behavior. While attitudes are enduring, they can also change 3 Types of Attitudes • Cognitive component. • Emotional component. • Behavioral Component. • Positive Attitude. • Negative Attitude. • Neutral Attitude. 4 What are the characteristics of attitudes? Attitude has an object: An attitude has an object, which is liked or disliked, favored or disfavored; or evaluated as negative or positive. The object can be a thing, an idea, a person, or a situation. Attitudes are learnt: Attitude is not an inborn phenomenon. 5 What are the good attitudes of a person? One may have different types of positive attitude, which include the following: •Optimism. •Confidence. •Sincerity. •Happiness. •Reliability. •Ability to adapt. •Flexibility. •Sense of accountability. 6 Scientific Definitions: An attitude is "a relatively enduring organization of beliefs, feelings, and behavioral tendencies towards socially significant objects, groups, events or symbols" (Hogg & Vaughan 2005, p. 150) "..a psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favor or disfavor" (Eagly & Chaiken, 1993, p. 1) Structure of an Attitude 7 • Affective component: this involves a person’s feelings / emotions about the attitude object. For example: “I am scared of spiders”. • Behavioral (or conative) component: the way the attitude we have influences on how we act or behave. For example: “I will avoid spiders and scream if I see one”. • Cognitive component: this involves a person’s belief / knowledge about an attitude object. For example: “I believe spiders are dangerous”. 8 • Attitudes provide meaning (knowledge) for life. The knowledge function refers to our need for a world which is consistent and relatively stable. • This allows us to predict what is likely to happen, and so gives us a sense of control. Attitudes can help us organize and structure our experience. • Knowing a person’s attitude helps us predict their behavior. For example, knowing that a person is religious we can predict they will go to Mosque, Church ,… 9 Functions of an Attitude 10 Self / Ego-expressive • The attitudes we express (1) help communicate who we are • (2) may make us feel good because we have asserted our identity. Self-expression of attitudes can be non-verbal too: think bumper sticker, cap, or T-shirt slogan. • Therefore, our attitudes are part of our identify, and help us to be aware through the expression of our feelings, beliefs and values. 11 Ego-defensive The ego-defensive function refers to holding attitudes that protect our self-esteem or that justify actions that make us feel guilty. For example, one way children might defend themselves against the feelings of humiliation they have experienced in P.E. lessons is to adopt a strongly negative attitude to all sports. 12 The Common Types of Behavior • Molecular and Moral Behavior. Molecular Behavior: It is an unexpected behavior that occurs without thinking. ... • Overt & Covert Behavior. Overt Behavior: It is a visible type of behavior that can occur outside of human beings. • Voluntary and Involuntary Behavior. How Attitudes Are Measured: Self-Report Measures • Self-report measures are direct and straightforward, but sometimes attitudes are too complex for a single question. • Attitude Scale: A multiple-item questionnaire designed to measure a person’s attitude toward some object. • e.g., Likert Scale How Attitudes Are Measured: Self-Report Measures (cont’d) • Bogus Pipeline: • A phony lie-detector device that is sometimes used to get respondents to give truthful answers to sensitive questions. How Attitudes Are Measured: Covert Measures • Observable behavior • Facial Electromyograph (EMG): An electronic instrument that records facial muscle activity associated with emotions and attitudes. • Neuroscience research ongoing • Appears attitudes may be measurable by electrical brain activity How Attitudes Are Measured: The Implicit Association Test (IAT) • Implicit Association Test (IAT): Measures the speed with which one responds to pairings of concepts. The Implicit Association Test How Attitudes are Formed • Our most cherished attitudes most often form due to exposure to • Attitude objects • History of rewards and punishments • Attitudes of family, friends, enemies, etc. • Social and cultural context • Personal experiences • Clearly, attitudes are formed through basic processes of learning The Link Between Attitudes and Behavior • Kraus (1995): “Attitudes significantly and substantially predict future behavior.” Attitudes in Context • Theory of planned behavior: attitudes toward a specific behavior combine with subjective norms and perceived control to influence a person’s actions Factors That Indicate the Strength of an Attitude • The more well informed on a topic, the more consistent behavior is with attitude • Not only amount of information, but also how that information was acquired • An attitude can be strengthened by an attack against it from a persuasive message • Strong attitudes are highly accessible to awareness, how quickly and easily they are brought to mind. Changing Attitudes • The most common approach is through communication from others. • A second, less obvious means of persuasion originates within ourselves 23 Social Behavior 24 • Examples of human social behavior include: • shaking hands. • flirting. • conversation. • religious rituals. • snubbing or "putting down" another person. • exchanging nonverbal signals (like smiles or frowns) • offering reassurance or consolation. • sharing a meal. . 25 The Four Types of a behaviour • A study on human behavior has revealed that 90% of the population can be classified into four basic personality types: Optimistic, Pessimistic, Trusting and Envious PERSUASIVE MESSAGE & COMMUNICATION 2 3 PILLARS OF PERSUASIVE SKILLS • Ethos – Be Credible. By appealing to credibility, writers make their claims more believable. The writer builds on his or her ethos by writing with clarity. ... • Logos – Be Logical. By appealing to logic, writers persuade. ... • Pathos – Appeal to Emotions. By appealing to emotions, writers persuade. 5 • What is the 3 Uses of persuasive text? • A persuasive text is any text where the main purpose is to present a point of view and seeks to persuade a reader. • A persuasive text can be an argument, exposition, discussion, review or even an advertisement TWO ROUTES TO PERSUASION • Central Route: Person thinks carefully about a message. • Influenced by the strength and quality of the message • Peripheral Route: Person does not think critically about the contents of a message. • Influenced by superficial cues THE CENTRAL ROUTE • Hovland et al.: Persuaded when we attend to, comprehend, and retain an argument in memory. • McGuire: Distinguished between the reception of a message and its later acceptance. • Greenwald: Elaboration is an important, intermediate step. THE PERIPHERAL ROUTE • People are persuaded on the basis of superficial, peripheral cues. • Message is evaluated through the use of simple-minded heuristics. • People are also influenced by attitude-irrelevant factors. TWO ROUTES TO PERSUASION WHAT MAKES AN EFFECTIVE SOURCE? • Believable sources must be credible sources. • To be seen as credible, the source must have two distinct characteristics: • Competence or expertise • Trustworthiness WHAT MAKES AN EFFECTIVE SOURCE? (CONT.) • How likable is the communicator? • Two factors influence a source’s likability: • The similarity between the source and the audience • The physical attractiveness of the source WHAT MAKES AN EFFECTIVE MESSAGE? • How should the argument be presented to maximize its strength? • Are longer messages better? • If peripheral, the longer the message, the more valid it must be. • If central, message length is a two-edged sword. • Does presentation order matter? PEREPHERAL ROUTE • Instead of focusing on the facts and a product's quality, the peripheral route relies on association with positive characteristics such as positive emotions and celebrity endorsement. For example, having a popular athlete advertise athletic shoes is a common method used to encourage young adults to purchase the shoes. WHAT MAKES AN EFFECTIVE MESSAGE? (CONT.) • How discrepant should the message be to have the greatest impact? • The most change is produced at moderate amounts of discrepancy. • An “upside-down U” relationship between discrepancy and persuasion. WHAT MAKES AN EFFECTIVE MESSAGE? (CONT.) • Should the message use fear appeals or scare tactics? • How strong is the argument? • Does the message contain reassuring advice? • Are appeals to positive emotions effective? • People are “soft touches” when they are in a good mood. WHY MIGHT POSITIVE FEELINGS ACTIVATE THE PERIPHERAL ROUTE? • A positive emotional state is cognitively distracting, impairing ability to think critically. • When in a good mood, we assume all is well and become lazy processors of information. • When happy, we become motivated not to spoil the mood by thinking critically about new information. CULTURE AND PERSUASION • Culture plays a role in regard to persuasion • Collectivistic vs. individualistic • To be persuasive, message should appeal to the culturally shared values of the audience Relationships & Belongings 1 The Need to Belong The need to belong is a basic human motive. We care deeply about what others think of us. Those with a network of close social ties tend to be happier, healthier, and more satisfied with life than those who are more isolated. Why do I feel the need to belong to someone? Being connected to other people, the need to belong, may act to protect us from physical illness and emotional distress. Since we experience discomfort when this need is not being met, we seek belonging throughout our lives. Why is it important to belong? The social ties that accompany a sense of belonging are a protective factor helping manage stress and other behavioral issues. When we feel we have support and are not alone, we are more resilient, often coping more effectively with difficult times in our lives. What gives you a sense of belonging? Belonging is the feeling of security and support when there is a sense of acceptance, inclusion, and identity for a member of a certain group. It is when an individual can bring their authentic self to work. 3 What can extreme loneliness lead to? Feeling lonely can also have a negative impact on your mental health, especially if these feelings have lasted a long time. Some research suggests that loneliness is associated with an increased risk of certain mental health problems, including depression, anxiety, low selfesteem, sleep problems and increased stress. 4 Need to Belong: A Fundamental Human Motive The Thrill of Affiliation Theory Need for Affiliation: The desire to establish social contact with others. ◦ We are motivated to establish and maintain an optimum balance of social contact. Psychological Barriers of Social Relationships: Shyness Sources ◦ Inborn personality trait ◦ Learned reaction to failed interactions with others Painful consequences ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ Negative self-evaluations Expectations of failure in social encounters Self-blame for social failures Self-imposed isolation The Agony of Loneliness The pain of loneliness is a reminder that we need to be around other people. And there's evidence that suggests loneliness naturally rises and falls throughout our lifetimes. Cole says when he first started to study loneliness, he discounted its destructive power . The Initial Attraction Perspectives on Attraction We are attracted to others with whom a relationship is directly or indirectly rewarding. Physical Attractiveness: Getting Drawn In We react more favorably to others who are physically attractive than to those who are not. Bias for beauty is pervasive. Beauty and Attraction: What is Beauty? Some argue that certain faces are inherently more attractive than others. ◦ High levels of agreement for facial ratings across ages and cultures. ◦ Physical features of the face are reliably associated with judgments of attractiveness. ◦ Babies prefer faces considered attractive by adults. Is Beauty a Subjective Quality? People from different cultures enhance their beauty in very different ways. Ideal body shapes vary across cultures, as well as among racial groups within a culture. Standards of beauty change over time. Situational factors can influence judgments of beauty. Why Are We Blinded by Beauty? Inherently rewarding to be in the company of people who are aesthetically appealing. ◦ Possible intrinsic and extrinsic rewards Tendency to associate physical attractiveness with other desirable qualities. ◦ What-is-beautiful-is-good stereotype Is the Physical Attractiveness Stereotype Accurate? Good-looking people do have more friends, better social skills, and a more active in physical life. But beauty is not related to objective measures of intelligence, personality, adjustment, or self-esteem. The specific nature of the stereotype also depends on cultural conceptions of what is “good.” The Benefits and Costs of Beauty Being good-looking does not guarantee health, happiness, or high self-esteem. Attributional problems with being good-looking: ◦ Is the attention and praise one receives due to one’s talents or just one’s good looks? Other Costs of Beauty Pressure to maintain one’s appearance. ◦ In American society, pressures are particularly strong when it comes to the body. ◦ Women are more likely than men to suffer from the “modern mania for slenderness.” Overall, being beautiful is a mixed blessing. ◦ Little relationship between appearance in youth and later happiness. First Encounters: Getting Acquainted We tend to associate with others who are similar to ourselves. Four types of similarity are most relevant ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ Demographic Attitude Attractiveness Subjective Experience A Two-Stage Model of the Attraction Process Matching Hypothesis People tend to become involved romantically with others who are equivalent in their physical attractiveness. Matching is predictive of progress in a relationship. Why Don’t Opposites Attract? Is there support for the complementarity hypothesis, which holds that people seek others whose needs “oppose” their own? Research shows that complementarity does not influence attraction. First Encounters: Liking Others Who Like Us Heider (1958): People prefer relationships that are psychologically balanced. A state of balance exists when the relationship is characterized by reciprocity. ◦ Mutual exchange between what one gives and what one receives Liking is mutual, which is why we tend to like others who indicate that they like us. First Encounters: Pursuing Those Who Are Hard to Get Does the hard-to-get effect exist? ◦ We prefer people who are moderately selective to those who are nonselective or too selective. ◦ We are turned off by those who reject us. Psychological reactance can increase or decrease attraction. Mate Selection: The Evolution of Desire Men and women by nature must differ in their optimal mating behaviors. ◦ Women must be highly selective because they are biologically limited in the number of children they can bear and raise in a lifetime. ◦ Men can father an unlimited number of children and ensure their reproductive success by inseminating many women. Supporting Evidence for the Evolutionary Perspective Universal tendency in desired age for potential mate. ◦ Men tend to seek younger women. ◦ Women tend to desire older men. Men and women become jealous for different reasons. ◦ Men become most upset by Physical infidelity. ◦ Women feel more threatened by emotional infidelity. Mate Selection: Sociocultural Perspectives Women trade youth and beauty for money because they often lack direct access to economic power. Men are fearful of Physical infidelity because it represents a threat to the relationship, not fatherhood issues. The differences typically found between the sexes are small compared to the similarities. Conspicuous Consumption If women are drawn to men who have wealth or the ability to obtain it, then it stands to reason that men would flaunt their resources the way the male peacock displays his brilliantly colored tail. Expressions of Love Male and female stereotypes would suggest that while men are more likely to chase Physical appearance , women to seek love Who’s The First To Say “I Love You”? Jealousy Jealousy is a common and normal human reaction, men and women may be aroused by different triggering events Close Relationships Intimate Relationships Often involve three basic components: ◦ Feelings of attachment, affection, and love ◦ The fulfillment of psychological needs ◦ Interdependence between partners, each of whom has a meaningful influence on the other How do first encounters evolve into intimate relationships? ◦ By stages or by leaps and bounds? Stimulus-Value-Role Theory Stimulus Stage: Attraction is sparked by external attributes such as physical appearance. Value Stage: Attachment is based on similarity of values and beliefs. Role Stage: Commitment is based on the performance of such roles as husband and wife. How Do Intimate Relationships Change? Most researchers reject the idea that intimate relationships progress through a fixed sequence of stages. For reward theories of love, quantity counts. There are qualitative differences between liking and loving, as well as different forms of love. The Intimate Marketplace: Social Exchange Theory People are motivated to maximize benefits and minimize costs in their relationships with others. Relationships that provide more rewards and fewer costs will be more satisfying and endure longer. The development of an intimate relationship is associated with the overall level of rewards. Relationship Expectations Comparison Level (CL): Average expected outcome in relationships. Comparison Level for Alternatives (CLalt): Expectations of what one would receive in an alternative situation. Investments in relationship increase commitment. The Intimate Marketplace: Equity Theory Most content with a relationship when the ratio between the benefits and contributions is similar for both partners. Your Benefits Partner' s Benefits  Your Contributi ons Partner' s Contributi ons • Balance is what counts. Types of Relationships Exchange Relationships: Participants expect and desire strict reciprocity in their interactions. Communal Relationships: Participants expect and desire mutual responsiveness to each other’s needs. Secure and Insecure Attachment Styles Attachment Style: The way a person typically interacts with significant others. Is the attachment style we had with our parents related to the attachment style we exhibit in our romantic relationships? Does the attachment style you endorse today forecast potential outcomes tomorrow? How Do I Love Thee? Lee’s Love Styles Primary Love Styles ◦ Eros (erotic love) ◦ Ludus (game-playing, uncommitted love) ◦ Storge (friendship love) Secondary Love Styles ◦ Mania (demanding and possessive love) ◦ Pragma (pragmatic love) ◦ Agape (other-oriented, altruistic love) Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love Types of Love (cont.) Rubin (1973) ◦ Liking: The type of feeling one has for a platonic friend. ◦ Loving: The kind of feeling one has for a romantic partner. Hatfield et al. (1988) ◦ Passionate Love: Romantic love characterized by high arousal, intense attraction, and fear of rejection. ◦ Companionate Love: A secure, trusting, stable partnership. Passionate Love: The Thrill of It Passionate love requires: ◦ A heightened state of physiological arousal ◦ The belief that this arousal was triggered by the beloved person Sometimes can misattribute physiological arousal to passionate love. ◦ Process known as excitation transfer Is the diminishment of passionate love inevitable? Companionate Love: The Self-Disclosure in It Form of affection found between close friends as well as lovers. Less intense than passionate love. ◦ But in some respects it is deeper and more enduring. Characterized by high levels of self-disclosure. The more emotionally involved, the more self-disclosure Culture, Attraction, and Close Relationships Are people the same all over the world? Passionate love is a widespread and universal emotion Yet passionate loves does not necessarily equate to marriage around the world Cultural influence on love is complex Relationship Issues: Communication and Conflict Communication patterns in troubled relationships: ◦ Negative affect reciprocity ◦ Demand/withdrawal interaction pattern Basic approaches to reducing the negative effects of conflict: ◦ Increase rewarding behavior in other aspects of a relationship ◦ Try to understand the other’s point of view Attributions and Quality of Relationship Happy couples tend to make relationship-enhancing attributions. Unhappy couples tend to make distress-maintaining attributions. Breaking Up A relationship is likely to be long-lasting when the couple: ◦ Has incorporated each other into one’s self ◦ Has become interdependent and have invested much into the relationship But these factors also intensify stress and make coping more difficult after the relationship ends. Changes in Life Satisfaction Before and After a Divorce