Ch 8
Norm Rules that regulate human life, including social conventions, explicit laws, and implicit cultural standards
Role A given social position that is governed by a set of norms for proper behavior
Culture A program of shared rules that governs the behavior of members of a community or society, and a set of values, beliefs, and attitudes shared by most members of that community
The obedience study Stanley Milgram and coworkers investigated whether people would follow orders, even when the order violated their ethical standards.
Entrapment A process in which individuals escalate their commitment to a course of action to justify their investment of time, money, or effort
Social cognition An area of social psychology concerned with social influences on thought, memory, perception, and other cognitive processes.
Attribution theory Theory that people are motivated to explain own and others’ behavior by attributing causes of behavior to situation or disposition
Fundamental attribution error Tendency to overestimate personality factors and underestimate situational influence
Just world hypothesis The bias to believe that the world is fair
Attitudes A relatively stable opinion containing beliefs and emotional feelings about a topic
Explicit: Attitudes we are aware of and that shape our conscious decisions
Implicit: Attitudes about which we are unaware and that influence our behavior in ways we do not recognize
Cognitive Dissonance
A state of tension that occurs when a person simultaneously holds two cognitions that are psychologically inconsistent or when a person’s belief is incongruent with his or her behavior
Familiarity effect The tendency of people to feel more positive toward a person, item, product, or other stimulus the more familiar they are with it
Validity effect The tendency of people to believe that a statement is true or valid simply because it has been repeated many times
Diffusion of responsibility The tendency of group members to avoid taking responsibility for actions or decisions because they assume others will do so
Deindividuation People lose awareness of their individuality and seem to hand themselves over to the mood and actions of the crowd.
Bystander apathy People fail to call for help when others are near.
Social loafing When people work less in the presence of others, forcing others to work harder
Altruism and dissent
Situational factors in nonconformity
You perceive the need for intervention or help -Cultural norms encourage you to take action -You have an ally -You become entrapped.
Ethnic identity A person’s identification with a racial or ethnic group
Acculturation The process by which members of minority groups come to identify with and feel part of the mainstream culture
Ethnocentrism The belief that one’s own ethnic group, nation, or religion is superior to all others
Stereotypes Cognitive schemas of a group in which a person believes that all members of a group share common traits
Traits may be positive, negative, or neutral.
Allow us to process quickly new information and retrieve memories
Distort reality
Exaggerate differences between groups -Produce selective perception -Underestimate differences within groups
Psychological causes People inflate own self-worth by disliking groups they see as inferior.
Social causes By disliking others we feel closer to others who are like us.
Economic causes Legitimizes unequal economic treatment
Cultural and national causes Bonds people to their own ethnic or national group and its ways
Measuring Prejudice
Social distance -What people do when they are stressed or angry -Brain activity -Implicit attitudes
Implicit (unconscious) prejudice
Measures of social distance -Measures of what people do when they are stressed or angry -Measures of brain activity -Measures of implicit attitudes
Human Nature
Human nature contains the potential