social psychology

• Social Influence is when one person (The Source) does something to get another person (The Target) to engage in a certain behaviour.
• Social Influence can result in Attitude Change, Compliance, or both.
• The case of Patty Hearst is an example of Social Influence resulting in both Attitude Change and Compliance.
• Persuasion is defined as “changing the beliefs, attitudes, or behaviours of a target through the use of information or an argument”.
• The Communication - Persuasion Paradigm consists of The Source, The Message, The Target, and The Response.
• The Credibility of the Source in Persuasion can be based on Expertise, Likeability, Attractiveness, Trustworthiness, and is part of the Hierarchy of Credibility which includes Scientists, Politicians, Activists, and Celebrities.
• The Message in Persuasion can be based on Fact or Emotion and can be a Discrepant Message.
• The Target in Persuasion is influenced by factors such as Intelligence, Degree of Involvement, Personality, and Degree of Focus/Distraction.
• Complying with Threats and Promises is a form of Persuasion where the message is 'Do as you are told!'.
• Compliance through Threat or Promise is a type of Persuasion where the outcome is either Reward or Punishment, and the Magnitude and Credibility of the threat or promise are factors in the outcome.
• Stereotype is a belief about the personal attributes of a group of people.
• Stereotype Threat is the experience of self-confirming apprehension when entering into a situation that you will be judged based on a negative stereotype.
• Inequality, as a source of prejudice, breeds and perpetuates it.
• Social Identity Theory suggests that social identity is based on group membership and part of this process includes categorization and comparison.
• Consequences of prejudice include a self-fulfilling prophecy and victims of discrimination can internalize and blame themselves.
• Prejudice is a negative prejudgement of a group and its individual members.
• Social Dominance Orientation is when groups want to achieve and maintain a higher social position.
• Implicit prejudice is unconscious and can be measured through the Implicit Association Test.
• Discrimination is unjustifiable negative behaviour toward a group or its members.
• Scapegoat Theory suggests that competition of resources fuels prejudice and there is a tendency to blame another group for problems you face.
• Prejudice can be learned through socialization and the media.
• Ethnocentrism is the process where we judge another culture through the lens of our own, using our lens to determine what is “Right” and what is “Wrong”.
• Explicit prejudice is conscious.
• Different types of aggression include physical, social, hostile, and instrumental.
• Social Exchange Theory combines Psychology, Sociology, and Economics to understand social interactions and helping behaviour.
• Prejudice is defined as discrimination or racism based on gender, race, religion, or sexual orientation.
• Bystander Intervention involves a number of factors determining whether we intervene, including noticing the situation, interpreting it as an emergency, feeling a personal responsibility, and believing that we can provide help.
• Aggression is instinctual, essential to our species’ survival, and can be frustrating or aversive.
• Aggression in society can lead to sexual assault.
• Altruism and Empathetic Concern are characterized as people being generous, unselfish, and empathy driving our need to help.
• Reducing aggressive behaviour can involve reducing frustration, catharsis, or punishment.
• Aggression can be intentional or unintentional, and the targets of aggression can be potential rewards, modeling, norms, stress, or aggressive cues.
• Aggression is also learned through imitation or reinforcement, and can be expressed as physical or verbal aggression.
• Aggression can be directed at a specific target, such as a gender or race, or it can be untargeted.
• Aggression is motivated by instinct, frustration, aversive emotional arousal, and can be learned through imitation or reinforcement.
• The Bystander Effect states that the more people in the crowd, the less likely one is to help, due to ambiguity of the situation, what others will think, and diffusion of responsibility.
• Characteristics of those we help include knowing the person, liking the person, similarity to us, and whether they are deserving of help.
• Evolutionary Perspectives view prosocial behaviour as beneficial for survival and suggest a genetic trait passed down from generation to generation.
• Cultural Norms dictate when it is appropriate and inappropriate to help, with the Norm of Reciprocity being a common personal norm.
• A group is a social unit consisting of 2 or more people who adhere to membership, interaction among members, shared goals, and shared norms.