PSYCH 230 TEST 1

the scientific study of how our social environment affects our AFFECT, BEHAVIOR, and COGNITION

social cognition

social influence

social relations

how others influence our self-concept; what we think of others and objects in our environment

how others impact our behavior

interactions we have with others

situational factors and cognitive reactions to them

correlational and experimental; correlational studies more common in Soc. Psych.

Reverse Causality Problem

Third Variable Problem

the ability to apply findings of a study to real world settings

the extend to which the research setting resembles the real world setting of interest

the degree to which the experimental setting and procedures are engaging to the participant

• 1. MANIPULATE the independent variable
• 2. OBSERVE the behavior on the dependent variable
• 3. RANDOMLY ASSIGN people to experimental and control groups

• self-concept
• self-efficacy
• self-knowledge
• social-self

total of an individual's beliefs about their own personal attributes

beliefs about the self that organize and guide the processing of self-relevant information; make up self concept

when information is relevant to our self-concept we process and remember it much more quickly

belief that others are paying more attention to one's appearance and behavior than they really are

procedure: college students put on embarrassing t-shirts before entering a room with other students

results: 50% of paricipants thought their shirts would be noticed; only 23% did

illusion that our cancelled emotions leak out and can be easily read by others

emphasizes personal attributes and traits (ex. I am kind and athletic)

deemphasize personal attributes and emphasizes social affiliations (ex. I am Catholic and a father)

explaining and prediction our behavior and emotions

• explaining our behavior
• prediction our behavior - others are often better
• explaining our emotions
• predicting our emotions

overestimating how long positive or negative emotions will last until the future

failure to recognize that we have a defense mechanism that protects us from negative events

cognitive mechanism, often acting unconsciously, that protects us from really bad events; reframes bad events in a more positive light

a sense that one is competent and effective with regard to a particular behavior or set of behaviors

act of expressing oneself and behaving in ways designed to create a favorable impression, both to others and the self

being attuned to the way one presents oneself in social situations and adjusting one's performance to create desired presentation

"social chameleons"; self they present is often NOT their real self

"own person"; self portrayal is the REAL self

the process by which we seek to control or alter our feelings, thoughts, and behaviors

when people continually experience bad events, they learn that their behavior can't control their outcomes so they stop trying

extent to which people perceive life events as internally or externally controlled

people get what they deserve; what happens to me is my doing; the average person can influence decisions

no one gets recognition for what they do; sometimes I feel I don't have control over what happens to me; conspiracy theories

tendency to perceive oneself in a positive light

the inclination to see events that have already occurred as being more predictable than they were before they took place

tendency to attribute successes to oneself and failures to external factors

exception - we attribute failures in the past with our PAST self

tendency to see oneself (and one's belongings) as better than other's or the average person on subjective and socially desirable dimensions

see your own group as better than another

tendency to see one's future as exceptionally positive, partly because of tendencies to be pessimistic about others fates

tendency to overestimate the degree to which others agree with us

when we do succeed or act morally, we tend to underestimate the extent to which others act the same way we do

an AFFECTIVE component of the self, consisting of a persons positive and negative self-evaluations

• self-handicapping (protecting one's self image by engaging in behaviors that create handy excuses for future failures)
• basking in the glory of others
• downward social comparison

rooted within the self; feeling good about the self no matter what

rooted within environmental success

the process by which people come to understand one another

how people explain the causes of events or behavior

explanation in terms of dispositional or person-centered

explanation in situational or environmental causes

when explaining others behavior, one often attributes it to internal factors; no distinctions between successes and failure when talking about others

moderated by time and culture

negative traits are more influential than positive

first traits we observe are more influential than later traits

certain traits (ex. attractiveness) that exert a powerful influence on overall impressions

unintentional, impulsive, quick, effortless, unconscious

deliberate, systematic, slow, effortful, conscious

mental templates that intuitively guide our interpretations and perceptions of our experiences

people's subjective confidence in their judgement is greater than their actual accuracy

tendency to seek our evidence and notice evidence to confirm original beliefs

tendency to integrate "misinformation" into one's memory after witnessing an event or receiving false information

tend to remember event more positively because forget negative aspects

simple, efficient rules people use when making decisions or judgements about things

people estimate the odds that an event will occur by how easily instances of it pop into mind (ex. shark attacks)

tendency to assume, sometimes despite contrary odds, that someone belongs to the group if they resemble a typical member

if people believe a relationship between two things, then hey see evidence of it

we think we have control over random events

the process by which one person's expectations about a target person eventually leads that target person to behave in ways that confirm the perceiver's expectations

a type of self-fulfulling prophecy whereby other's social expectations (stereotypes) lead individuals to behave in ways that confirm those expectations