Social Psychology Unit Review
Terms to Review
social psychology
attribution theory
fundamental attribution error
attitude
central route persuasion
peripheral route persuasion
foot-in-the-door phenomenon
face-in-the-door phenomenon
role
cognitive dissonance theory
conformity
normative social influence
informational social influence
social facilitation
social loafing
deindividuation
group polarization
groupthink
culture
norm
prejudice
stereotype
discrimination
ingroup
outgroup
ingroup bias
scapegoat theory
just-world phenomenon
aggression
frustration-aggression principle
mere exposure effect
passionate love
companionate love
equity
self-disclosure
altruism
bystander effect
social exchange theory
reciprocity norm
social-responsibility norm
conflict
mirror-image perceptions
self-fulfilling prophecy
superordinate goals
Review Questions
1) How do we tend to explain others’ behavior and our own?
2) Does what we think affect what we do, or does what we do affect what we
think?
3) What do experiments on conformity and compliance reveal about the
power of social influence?
4) How is our behavior affected by the presence of others or by being part of
a group?
5) What are group polarization and groupthink?
6) How do cultural norms affect our behavior?
7) How much power do we have as individuals? Can a minority sway a
majority?
8) What is prejudice?
9) What are the social and emotional roots of prejudice?
10) What are the cognitive roots of prejudice?
11) What biological factors make us more prone to hurt one another?
12) What psychological factors may trigger aggressive behavior?
13) Why do we befriend or fall in love with some people but not with others?
14) How does romantic love typically change as time passes?
15) When are we most—and least—likely to help?
16) How do social traps and mirror-image perceptions fuel social conflict?
17) How can we transform feelings of prejudice, aggression, and conflict
into attitudes that promote peace?
Review Questions with Answers
1) How do we tend to explain others’ behavior and our own?
We generally explain people’s behavior by attributing it to internal
dispositions and/or to external situations. In committing the fundamental
attribution error, we underestimate the influence of the situation on others’
actions. When explaining our own behavior, we more often point to the
situation. Our attributions influence our personal, legal, political, and
workplace judgments.
2) Does what we think affect what we do, or does what we do affect
what we think?
Attitudes influence behavior when other influences are minimal, and when
the attitude is stable, specific to the behavior, and easily recalled.
Studies of the foot-in-the-door phenomenon and of role-playing reveal that
our actions (especially those we feel responsible for) can also modify our
attitudes. Cognitive dissonance theory proposes that behavior shapes
attitudes because we feel discomfort when our actions and attitudes differ.
We reduce the discomfort by bringing our attitudes more into line with what
we have done.
3) What do experiments on conformity and compliance reveal about
the power of social influence?
Asch’s conformity studies demonstrated that under certain conditions people
will conform to a group’s judgment even when it is clearly incorrect. We may
conform either to gain social approval (normative social influence) or
because we welcome the information that others provide (informational
social influence). In Milgram’s famous experiments, people torn between
obeying an experimenter and responding to another’s pleas to stop the
apparent shocks usually chose to obey orders. People most often obeyed
when the person giving orders was nearby and was perceived as a legitimate
authority figure; when the person giving orders was supported by a
prestigious institution; when the victim was depersonalized or at a distance;
and when no other person modeled defiance by disobeying.
4) How is our behavior affected by the presence of others or by
being part of a group?
Social facilitation experiments reveal that the presence of either observers or
co-actors can arouse individuals, boosting their performance on easy tasks
but hindering it on difficult ones. When people pool their efforts toward a
group goal, social loafing may occur as individuals free ride on others’
efforts. Deindividuation—becoming less self-aware and self-restrained—may
happen when people are both aroused and made to feel anonymous.
5) What are group polarization and groupthink?
Discussions among like-minded members often produce group polarization,
as prevailing attitudes are intensified. This is one cause of groupthink, the
tendency to suppress unwelcome information and make unrealistic decisions
for the sake of group harmony. To prevent groupthink, leaders can welcome
a variety of opinions, invite experts’ critiques, and assign people to identify
possible problems in developing plans.
6) How do cultural norms affect our behavior?
Cultural norms are rules for accepted and expected behaviors, ideas,
attitudes, and values. Across places and over time cultures differ in their
norms. Humans share a capacity for culture, and that shared capacity
enables our striking human diversity by influencing our everyday attitudes
and behaviors.
7) How much power do we have as individuals? Can a minority sway
a majority?
The power of the group is great, but even a small minority may sway group
opinion, especially when the minority expresses its views consistently.
8) What is prejudice?
Prejudice is a mixture of beliefs (often stereotypes), negative emotions, and
predispositions to action. Prejudice may be overt (such as openly and
consciously denying a particular ethnic group the right to vote) or subtle
(such as feeling fearful when alone in an elevator with a stranger from a
different racial or ethnic group).
9) What are the social and emotional roots of prejudice?
Social and economic inequalities may trigger prejudice as people in power
attempt to justify the status quo or develop an ingroup bias. Fear and anger
feed prejudice, and, when frustrated, we may focus our anger on a
scapegoat.
10) What are the cognitive roots of prejudice?
In processing information, we tend to recognize diversity in our own groups
but to overestimate similarities in other groups, as in the other-race effect.
We also notice and remember vivid cases. These trends help create
stereotypes. Favored social groups often rationalize their higher status with
the just-world phenomenon.
11) What biological factors make us more prone to hurt one
another?
Aggression is a complex behavior that results from an interaction between
biology and experience. For example, genes influence our temperament,
making us more or less likely to respond aggressively when frustrated in
specific situations. Experiments stimulating portions of the brain (such as the
amygdala and frontal lobes) have revealed neural systems in the brain that
facilitate or inhibit aggression. Biochemical influences, such as testosterone
and other hormones; alcohol (which disinhibits); and other substances also
contribute to aggression.
12) What psychological factors may trigger aggressive behavior?
Frustration and other aversive events (such as heat, crowding, and
provocation) can evoke hostility, especially in those rewarded for aggression,
those who have learned aggression from role models, and those who have
been influenced by media violence. Enacting violence in video games or
viewing it in the media can desensitize people to cruelty and prime them to
behave aggressively when provoked, or to view sexual aggression as more
acceptable.
13) Why do we befriend or fall in love with some people but not with
others?
Three factors are known to affect our liking for one another. Proximity—
geographical nearness—is conducive to attraction, partly because mere
exposure to novel stimuli enhances liking. Physical attractiveness increases
social opportunities and influences the way we are perceived. As
acquaintanceship moves toward friendship, similarity of attitudes and
interests greatly increases liking.
14) How does romantic love typically change as time passes?
Passionate love is an aroused state that we cognitively label as love. The
strong affection of companionate love, which often emerges as passionate
love subsides, is enhanced by an equitable relationship and by intimate selfdisclosure.
15) When are we most—and least—likely to help?
Altruism is unselfish regard for the well-being of others. We are less likely to
help if others are present. This bystander effect is especially apparent in
situations where the presence of others inhibits our noticing the event,
interpreting it as an emergency, or assuming responsibility for offering help.
Explanations of our willingness to help others focus on social exchange
theory (the costs and benefits of helping); the intrinsic rewards of helping
others; the reciprocity norm (we help those who help us); and the socialresponsibility norm (we help those who need our help).
16) How do social traps and mirror-image perceptions fuel social
conflict?
Social conflicts are situations in which people perceive their actions, goals, or
ideas to be incompatible. In social traps, two or more individuals engage in
mutually destructive behavior by rationally pursuing their own self-interests.
People in conflict tend to expect the worst of each other, producing mirrorimage perceptions that can become self-fulfilling prophecies.
17) How can we transform feelings of prejudice, aggression, and
conflict into attitudes that promote peace?
Enemies sometimes become friends, especially when the circumstances
favor equal-status contact, cooperation to achieve superordinate goals,
understanding through communication, and reciprocated conciliatory
gestures.