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Key Concepts in Social Psychology

Apr 22, 2025

Social Psychology and Personality: Unit 4 Review

Introduction

  • Presenter: Tim Stedman from "Get Psyched"
  • Focus: Social dynamics, personality, and application for the AP exam

Social Psychology

Attribution Theory

  • Definition: How we explain behavior, involving two main types:
    • Dispositional Attributions: Blame behavior on personal traits (e.g., personality, mood).
    • Situational Attributions: Consider external circumstances (e.g., emergencies).

Explanatory Style

  • Optimistic Style: Setbacks seen as temporary and specific.
  • Pessimistic Style: Setbacks seen as permanent and pervasive.
  • Importance: Influences confidence, mental health, and problem-solving.

Attribution Biases

  • Fundamental Attribution Error: Overestimate personality, underestimate situation.
  • Actor-Observer Bias: External factors for self, dispositional for others.
  • Self-Serving Bias: Credit for success, blame external for failure.

Locus of Control

  • Internal: Control over own life.
  • External: Outside forces control life.
  • Impact: Influences motivation and perception of challenges.

Person Perception

  • First Impressions: Influenced by appearance and biases.
  • Mere Exposure Effect: Repeated exposure increases likability.
  • Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: Expectations influence behavior.

Social Comparison

  • Upward Comparison: Comparing to someone better.
  • Downward Comparison: Comparing to someone worse.
  • Relative Deprivation: Feeling of missing out based on comparisons.

Attitude Formation and Change

Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination

  • Stereotypes: Generalized beliefs about groups.
  • Prejudice: Negative attitudes based on group membership.
  • Discrimination: Actions based on prejudices.

Implicit Bias

  • Definition: Unconscious stereotypes influencing behavior.

Just World Phenomenon

  • Belief: Good things to good people, victim blaming occurs.

Group Biases

  • Outgroup Homogeneity Bias: Seeing outgroup members as similar.
  • Ingroup Bias: Favoring one's own group.
  • Ethnocentrism: Judging other cultures by one's own cultural standards.

Cognitive Processes

  • Belief Perseverance: Clinging to beliefs despite contrary evidence.
  • Confirmation Bias: Seeking information that supports existing beliefs.
  • Cognitive Dissonance: Discomfort from mismatched beliefs and actions.

Social Influence

Social Norms and Influence

  • Norms: Unwritten societal rules.
  • Social Influence Theory: Normative and Informational influences.

Persuasion

  • Central Route: Logic and evidence.
  • Peripheral Route: Superficial cues.
  • Persuasion Techniques: Foot-in-the-door and door-in-the-face.

Conformity and Obedience

  • Ash's Experiment: Line length, normative vs. informational influence.
  • Milgram's Experiment: Obedience to authority.

Group Dynamics

  • Individualism vs. Collectivism: Personal goals vs. group harmony.
  • Group Polarization: Extreme opinions through discussion.
  • Groupthink: Desire for harmony leads to poor decisions.
  • Diffusion of Responsibility: Shared accountability in groups.
  • Social Loafing and Facilitation: Reduced effort vs. enhanced performance in groups.

Industrial-Organizational Psychology

Role of IO Psychologists

  • Responsibilities: Improving workplace efficiency and employee life.
  • Focus Areas: Recruitment, work-life balance, managing burnout.

Pro-Social Behavior

Altruism and Social Norms

  • Altruism: Helping without expectation of return.
  • Social Reciprocity and Responsibility Norms: Expectations in aiding others.

Bystander Effect

  • Concept: Less likely to help with more witnesses.
  • Factors: Situational and attentional variables.

Personality Theories

Psychodynamic Theory

  • Freud's Levels of Consciousness: Conscious, preconscious, unconscious.
  • Defense Mechanisms: Denial, displacement, projection, rationalization, regression, repression, sublimation.

Humanistic Psychology

  • Focus: Personal growth and self-actualization.
  • Key Figures: Carl Rogers, Abraham Maslo.

Social Cognitive Theories

  • Reciprocal Determinism: Interaction of behavior, thoughts, and environment.
  • Self-Concept, Self-Efficacy, Self-Esteem: Core components of identity.

Trait Theories

  • Big Five Model: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism.
  • Self-Report Inventories: Tools for measuring personality traits.

Motivation

Theories of Motivation

  • Drive Reduction, Arousal, Self-Determination Theories.
  • Incentive and Instinct Theories: External rewards and biological bases.

Motivational Conflicts

  • Lewin's Conflicts: Approach-approach, avoidance-avoidance, approach-avoidance.

Biological and Environmental Influences on Motivation

  • Hormones and Brain Structures: Ghrelin, leptin, hypothalamus.

Emotion

Components of Emotion

  • Physiological, Cognitive, and Labeling.
  • Facial Feedback Hypothesis: Expressions influencing emotions.

Theories of Emotion

  • Broaden and Build Theory: Positive emotions enhance growth.
  • Universal Emotions: Recognized across cultures.
  • Display Rules: Cultural variations in expressing emotions.

Conclusion

  • Key Insight: Psychology combines personal, cognitive, and social elements to shape behavior.
  • Next Focus: Unit 5 - Mental Health and Stress.

This summary provides an overview of key topics in social psychology and personality, useful for studying and reviewing the material covered in the lecture.

Full transcript