pluralistic ignorance
-a false impression of what most other people are thinking or feeling, or how they are responding
-Sally has a crush on Billy but is afraid to ask him out because she does not think he is interested in her, Billy has a crush on Sally but is scared to ask for her phone number because he thinks she will say no
-Pluralistic ignorance posits that in certain circumstances most people will falsely believe that others conform to certain ideas or standards, and will uphold them, too, while privately disagreeing with them
social comparison
-evaluating one's opinions and abilities by comparing oneself with others
-According to Festinger, it is human nature to want to evaluate our opinions by comparing ourselves to others
-we are most persuaded by people in our reference groups
-an explantation for polarization
-wanting people to like us, we may express stronger opinions after discovering that others share our views
leadership
-individuals who motivate and guide groups
-the process by which certain group members motivate and guide the group
task leadership
-goals and standards based on production
-outcome based
-leadership that organizes work, sets standards, and focuses on goals
-generally have a directive style that can work well if the leader is bright enough to give good orders
-keep groups attention and effort focused on the mission
social leadership
-leadership that builds teamwork, mediates conflict, and offers support
-women are more likely to display this type of leadership than men
-"democratic" style leadership where leaders delegate authority and welcomes input of team members
-group members often more motivated to achieve and social leadership is good for morale
transformational leadership
-lead by vision
-"give 'em something to believe in"
-foster common goal of greatness
-leadership that, enabled by a leader's vision and inspiration, exerts significant influence
-motivates others to identify with and commit themselves to the group's mission
-leaders are often charismatic and energetic
-transcend their own interests for the sake of the collective
Group Polarization
-group-produced enhancement of members' preexisting tendencies, a strengthening of the members' average tendency not a split within the group
-risky choices become more favorable when consistent with the group's natural inclination
-the group polarization hypothesis predicts that discussion will strengthen an attitude shared by group members
-group discussion leads to more risk than the average individual would take
-Republican judge sitting with two other Republican judges is more likely to vote MORE CONSERVATIVELY than with sitting with one democratic judge
-joining a club and after a few meetings you are suddenly feeling more passionate about the clause
-Beliebers and the like become more passionate about the celebrity after becoming members of fan clubs and online chat rooms
Informational Influence
-an explanation for polarization
-openly accept information from reference group(to whom we look for answers) as correct
-impactful with active participation(active particpation produces more attitude change than passive listening)
-most common
-when people hear relevant arguments without learning the specific stands other people assume, they still shift their positions
-actions for the purpose of accuracy
-when uncertain we act as others act
-we assume we know the appropriate norms
Normative Influence
-an explanation for polarization
-rejection is unpleasant
-rejection avoidance offers negative reinforcement
-actions for purpose of social acceptance
-social comparison
-pluralist ignorance
consequences of group polarization
-increased likelihood to discriminate
-strong attitude= greater likelihood of acting on it
-slight bigots become stronger in their bigoted attitudes when in groups with other bigots
-Pro-Obama folks will be MORE pro-Obama after discussing attitudes in groups
-risky choices can become more favorable when consistent with the group's natural inclination
-cross group tensions
social fragmentation
-attitudes attract people toward groups of similar others
-similarity breeds liking
-like-minded attitudes serve to create greater group cohesion, creating a stronger identification with ingroup
-as groups become more similar, other groups become different
-develops an "us" and a "them
self awareness
-a self-conscious state in which attention focuses on oneself
-makes people more sensitive to their own attitudes and dispositions
-diminished by deindividuation
-people made self aware are less likely to cheat
-group experiences that diminish self-consciousness tend to disconnect behavior from attitudes making one less restrained and less self regulated and more responsive to stimuli
deindividuation
-loss of self awareness and evaluation apprehension,occurs in group situations that foster resonsiveness to group norms(good or bad)
-explains why people do stupid things when they are lost in a social moment
-when high levels of social arousal combine with diffused responsibility, people may abandon their normal restraints and lose their sense of individuality
-likely when people are in a large group, are physically anonymous, and are aroused and distracted
-diminishes self awareness and self restraint (tending to increase people's responsiveness to the immediate situation be it negative or positive)
-less likely to occur when self-awareness is high
example: looting mob, depersonalized warriors are more likely to brutalize their victims
Ways of deindividualizing self
-adding masks or uniforms (unless the person views the uniform as assoicated with social responsibility)
-put the person behind the computer screen(how shy, nice people are bitches on Facebook)
-present the likelihood of being caught for bad behavior as low(feeling anonymous releases the self from responsibility, promoting conformity)
-being in a large group (we feel a greater sense of invincibility when the ingroup members are behind them=power in numbers)
-being physically anonymous
-being involved in arousing, distracting activities (doing bad feels good, self control is minimized by the high desire for maintained and increased arousal)
evaluation apprehension
-concern of how others are evaluating us
-the self-consciousness we feel when being evaluated can interfere with behaviors that we perform best automatically
-presence of others spikes self-presentational concerns
-performance can be undermined when overly self-conscious
example: if basketball players analyze their body movement while shooting due to self consciousness, they are more likely to miss
Social loafing
-the tendency for people to exert less effort when they pool their efforts toward a common goal than when they are individually accountable
-even though people exert less effort, they do not tend to be conscious of doing so
example: Sam tends to contribute less effort to group assignments, as he is sure that others will pick up the slack in an effort to get a good grade
-people are more likely to exhibit self loafing if rewards are divided equally regardless of individual effort
-however, some people put forth more effort when the goal is important and rewards are significant and team spirit exists
Social facilation effect
-people's performance in tasks is evaluated individually
-will increase people's effort in groups
- original meaning: the tendency of people to perform simple or well-learned tasks better when others are present
current meaning: the strengthening of dominant(prevelant/likely) responses in the presence of others
-increased arousal enhances performance on dominant responses
example: Triplett's experiment where children wound a string on a fishing reel faster when other children where in the room(positive relationship between the speed and the presence of children in the room)
when groups become teams
-individuals contribute great effort to the group when tasks are personally challenging and appealing
-when members feel motivated to equally or out-produce others within the group
-competitive
-members of the group will become interpersonally close
Free Riders
-when people exert low effort, letting the rest of the group compensate for their lack of effort
-groups allow the free rider to blend in, decreasing the person's sense of responsibility
-allows the person to bask in the reflected glory of group success and dismiss the self from the blame of group failure
crowding
-increases attention to others, as well as reactions
-simply being closer to others arouses our attention
-more likely to go with the flow when in a crowded situation
-good or bad feelings become especially contagious
-difficult behavior can become impaired but easy behavior becomes enhanced
Groups
-two or more people who interact and influence each other
-we want to be a part of groups so we can belong, have goals, and have social identity
-can bring out the best and worst in people
central route
-route of persuasion
-attitude formation through effortful thought, arrives from deliberation over evidence
-these opinions are enduring, resistant to change
-occurs when people focus on arguments and respond with favorable thoughts
.-advertisers for computers tend to adpot marketing strategies that use the central route of persuasion
-more thoughtful and less superficial
peripheral route to persuasion
-occurs when people are influenced by incidental cues, such as a speaker's attractiveness
-attitude formation through automatic acceptance
-qualities of the situation create easy access to attitude implantation
-triggers or cues evoke low message scrutiny
-generally affective
-can be superficial
-want people to make snap judgements
central route processing
-often swiftly changes explicit attitudes
peripheral route processing
-slowly builds implicit attitudes, through repeated associations between an attitude object and an emotion
evaluative processing
-pair an object or idea with something positive or negative and attitude implantation has begun
-in advertising, products are associated with sex, fun, humor, and acceptance
-this kind of advertisement but not elicit direct behavior but it influences choice
The communicator
-one of the four elements to persuasion
-more likely to communicate a message effectively if the communicator appears to have expertise and trustworthiness(the communicator needs to be credible)
-communicator will be percieved as sincere when the communicator argues against their own self-interest
credibility
-believability, a credible communicator is perceived as both expert and trustworthy
Sleeper Effect
-if a person remembers the message better than the reason for discounting it, the impact of a noncredible person may INCREASE over time
-when the source of the message is forgotten, attitudes from high-credible speakers fade but strengthen from low-credible speakers
Successful communicators
-cultivate expertise(believeablity, seems knowledgeable, speak with authority/confidence)
-cultivate trustworthiness(look audience in the eyes, don't push their message, talk fast, and argues against self interest)
Perceived trustworthiness
-the communicator uses direct eye contact
-the communicator argues against his or her own self interest
-the communicator talks fast
-the communicator does not act like they are persuading, the don't push their message
natural selection
the evolutionary process by which heritable traits that best enable organisms to survive and reproduce in particular environments are passed to ensuing generations
evolutionary psychology
the study of the evolution of cognition and behavior using principles of natural selection
having grandchildren
the definition of success from evolutionary psychologists
culture
the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, and traditions shared by a large group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next
norms
standards for accepted and expected behavior. norms prescribe proper behavior. also describe what most others do.
rules
common behavior is reinforced and uncommon behavior is punished
change over time
norms ____ behavior
prescribe
universal norm
incest
personal space
the buffer zone we like to maintain around our bodies. its size depends on our familiarity with whoever is near us
gender
the characteristics, whether biological or socially influenced, by which people define male and female
social status
Brown (1987) reported that in many languages, forms of address, such as the distinction between formal and informal varieties of "you," communicate not only social distance, but also
empathy
the vicarious experience of another's feelings; putting oneself in another's shoes
aggression
physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt someone.
roney 2003 reported that when men are left alone in a room with women, the most important thing about them is
having a lot of money
androgynous
mixing both masculine and feminine characteristics
gender role
set of behavior expectations (norms) for males and females
interaction
a relationship in which the effect of one factor (such as biology) depends on another factor (such as environment)
conformity
a change in behavior or belief as the result of real or imagined group pressure
3 types: compliance, obedience, and acceptance
conformity pushes people toward being better people (someone holding the door open, a stranger listening to someone when they are distressed)
compliance
conformity that involves publicly acting in accord with an implied or explicit request while privately disagreeing
obedience
acting in accord with a direct order or command
acceptance
conformity that involves both acting and believing in accord with social pressure
when social-based actions are in accord with personal agreement
autokinectic phenomenon
self(auto) motion(kinetic). the apparent movement of a stationary point of light in the dark
cohesiveness
a "we feeling"; the extent to which members of a group are bound together, such as by attraction to one another
reactance
a motive to protect or restore one's sense of freedom. it arises when someone threatens our freedom of action
In physiological and subjective responses to sexual stimuli
men and women are more similar than different.
Evolutionary explanations of gender differences have been criticized because they
do not explain cultural changes in behavior that occur over relatively short periods of time
If we expect someone to be hostile, our actions toward that person may induce hostility. This is an example of how
people create their social situations
Anthropologists argue that if we could trace our ancestors back 100,000 years or more, we would see that we are all
africans
In which of the following situations are women likely to be more aggressive than men?
spreading of malicious gossip
In Western individualistic societies, the word "conformity" carries
a negative value judgment
Sherif is to the study of _______ as Asch is to the study of _______.
norm formation; conformity
When Milgram conducted his first series of experiments with a sample of 20- to 50-year-old men, he found that over 60 percent of them
went all the way to 450 volts
Lydon and Dunkel-Schetter (1994) found that expectant women expressed more _______ to their pregnancies after seeing an ultrasound photo of the fetus.
commitment
the legitimacy of authority
Several restaurant managers complied with orders from a telephone caller, posing as a police officer, to strip search a customer or employee. This is an example of the power of _______ on compliance
According to conformity research, a group's social power is deflated when
just one other person also differs from the majority.
The relationship between the degree to which a group is cohesive and the degree to which the group has power over its members is a _______ one.
positive
After President Bush announced his position regarding a possible war with Iraq, he was unlikely to change his mind. This most likely reflects the
fact that public commitment reduces susceptibility to social influence.
According to the text, personality predicts behavior when social influences are
weak
4 factors leading to harmful obedience
1. Victim's emotional distance (dehumanize, limit empathy, limit accountability of participant)
2. Authority closeness, legitimacy-experiments work best when authority member is present, people must believe the authority member is present)
3. Institutionalization of Authority- sometimes it matters where the authority is located (Yale vs. commercial business)
4. Liberating effects of groups- isolation increases the desire to comply, people can establish what is right and wrong about the situation if another person is present
elements of chaos theory
in a large running system, small deviations usually are eliminated in order to maintain order (in the way that evolution does)
norms
promote pro-social behavior (unselfish behavior) and pro-social behavior is contagious, this is a positive element to conformity, someone is more likely to pay if forward after seeing someone do something pro-social