Social Influence

• Acculturation: adapting to a new culture
• Acculturative stress: The stress that comes from the process of becoming a member of a new culture.
• Collectivism: A society in which the individual is subordinate to the group.
• Conformity: shift their behavior or beliefs to fit in with a larger group
• Individualism: A society in which individuals are independent, self-reliant, and free to pursue their own goals without interference from others.
• Contact hypothesis:  intergroup contact under appropriate conditions can effectively reduce prejudice between majority and minority group members.
• Cultural dimension: the extent to which cultural groups are found empirically to differ from one another in terms of psychological attributes such as values, beliefs, self- construals, personality, and behaviors.
• Cultural value:  a culture's core beliefs about what's good or bad. 
• Discrimination: The act of treating someone differently because of their race, gender, or sexual orientation.
• Enculturation: the process of learning the cultural values & norms of one’s “home” culture
• Individualism: The belief that people should be free to make their own decisions and live their own lives.
• In-groups: People who are part of the group
• out-groups: People who are not part of the group.
• Jigsaw classroom: A teaching method developed by Elliot Aronson designed to to break down stereotypes and prejudice among classmates, and fosters student cooperation rather than competition. The technique employs groups to work on small problems (a piece of the ‘puzzle’) to be collaborated into a final product (the complete ‘jigsaw’).
• Minimal group paradigm studies: A procedure that researchers use to create new social groups in the laboratory. The goal is to categorize individuals into groups based on minimal criteria that are relatively trivial or arbitrary
• Normative social influence: The tendency to conform to the opinion of others in order to be accepted.
• Prejudice: a preconceived opinion or feeling of dislike or hostility toward a person or a group of people
• Realistic group conflict theory: whenever there are two or more groups that are seeking the same limited resources, this will lead to conflict, negative stereotypes and beliefs, and discrimination between the groups.
• Social identity theory: People are more likely to conform to the group if they identify with it
• Meta Analysis: a study of past studies
• Cultural Norm: rules or expectations of behavior and thoughts based on shared beliefs within a specific cultural or social group
• Cultural Transmission: process through which cultural elements, in the form of attitudes, values, beliefs, and behavioral scripts, are passed onto and taught to individuals and groups.
• Subsistence Economy: moneyless and relies on natural resources to provide for basic needs through hunting, gathering, and agriculture
• Hostfede’s cultural dimensions:

  1. Power distance index
  2. Individualism vs collectivismx
  3. Uncertainty avoidance index
  4. Masculinity vs femininity 
  5. Long term vs short term orientation
  6. Indulgence vs restraint
• Individualistic cultures

  • Identity comes from individuality 
  • Loose ties between individuals 
  • Competition is encouraged and exists between individuals
  • Task comes first, relationship after
  • Confrontations can be seen as OK and healthy
• Collectivist cultures 

  • Identity defined by relationships with others and belonging in groups 
  • Form strong “in-groups” (family, tribes, villages)
  • Competition is between groups 
  • Relationship comes first, task after 
  • Value harmony in the “in-group”, even if some members disagree
• Agricultural cultures

  • High food accumulation cultures 
  • Focus on compliance in parenting 
  • High risk when trying something new
  • Obedience is valued
• Subsistence economy

  • Herding (individualistic) 
  • Low food accumulation cultures 
  • May value initiative and innovation 
  • Less risk when trying new ideas