Social psychology
Contrast primary vs secondary socialisation
Primary Socialisation
•First learning of values & norms
•Comes from family (language, manners, beliefs)
Secondary Socialisation
•Later learning from wider society
•From school, peers, media, religion, workplace
Name one prosocial personal characteristic
•Empathy: Ability to understand feelings → motivates helping.
•Mood: Good mood = more likely to help.
•Competence: More likely to help if you feel capable.
•Altruism: Helping for no personal gain.
What is the difference between explicit and implicit attitudes
•Explicit Attitudes: Conscious, deliberate, easy to report. (e.g., Saying “I support recycling.”)
•Implicit Attitudes: Unconscious, automatic, may not match explicit beliefs. (e.g., Feeling uneasy near someone from a different group despite saying you value diversity.)
Name and explain 1 Psychological Challenges of Immigration
•Culture Shock: Stress/confusion when adjusting to a new culture.
•Acculturation: Adopting aspects of the host culture.
•Assimilation: Replacing original culture with host culture.
Describe Darley & LAtAne (1968)
Method
•Investigated why people sometimes do not help those in need (bystander effect)
•Participants placed in a booth with headphones and a microphone, waiting for their turn to speak
•A “victim” (confederate) faked a seizure and asked for help
•Independent variable (IV): number of people present (2, 3, or 6 conditions)
•Dependent variable (DV): time taken to report the seizure to the experimenter
Results
•Presence of bystanders reduced individuals’ sense of personal responsibility
•Increased number of bystanders led to slower reporting of the emergency
•Supports concept of diffusion of responsibility
What are the three types of gender theories
1. Social learning theory
2. Cognitive developmental theory
3. Biological theories
Define 2 of the following terms that relate to social and cognitive origins of attraction
- proximity
- reciprocity
- similarity
•Proximity: Closeness = more likely relationships.
•Reciprocity: We like those who like us back.
•Similarity: Shared values, beliefs, interests strengthen attraction.
What is 1 attribution that explains behaviour
•Situational Attribution: Behaviour explained by environment (late to class because of traffic).
•Dispositional Attribution: Behaviour explained by personality (late to class because they’re lazy).
•Fundamental Attribution Error (Ross et al., 1977): Tendency to overestimate dispositional and underestimate situational causes.
What is the difference between explicit and implicit racism
•Racism (explicit): Openly discriminatory actions or language.
•Racism (implicit): Unconscious negative attitudes or biases.
What are the results of the Cialdini et al (2006) experiment
•Descriptive normative (longer) information more likely to increase theft
•Injunctive normative (shorter) information most likely to reduce theft
When looking at group influence pick 2 of the following to describe
1. Compliance
2. Identification
3. Internalisation
•Compliance – go along publicly, but don’t agree privately (e.g., laugh at a joke you don’t find funny).
•Identification – adopt behaviour to fit a group you value (e.g., dressing like your favourite sports team).
•Internalisation – take on beliefs as your own (e.g., adopting religious or political values after being exposed to them).
What is a perspective within Biological Theories of Attraction
•Evolutionary perspective: attraction linked to survival & reproduction.
•Men value youth & physical attractiveness (fertility cues).
•Women value resources, stability, and protection.
What is self-serving bias
•Attribute successes to self, failures to situation.
“I passed because I studied hard; I failed because the test was unfair.”
What is this definition: Different groups keep cultural identities but also actively participate in society’s institutions.
Pluralism
What are the results for the Milgrim (1963)
Results
•All participants obeyed up to 300 volts
•65% administered shocks up to 450 volts
•Provides evidence that situational factors influence behaviour and obedience
What is social loafing
This is the tendency of an individual to put less effort into a group than they would individually. When a task requires effort, the participant may conform with others to avoid putting in their own effort.
Define 3 antisocial behaviours that reduce helping behaviour
•Groupthink: Pressure to conform = poor decisions.
•Diffusion of Responsibility: “Someone else will help.”
•Audience Inhibition: Fear of embarrassment if wrong.
•Social Influence: Look to others → if they don’t act, you don’t either.
•Cost–Benefit Analysis: Weigh risks (danger, time, effort) vs rewards.
Explain the components within the Stereotypes & Tri-Component Model of Attitudes
•Affective (feelings): Prejudice (“I don’t like older people”).
•Behavioural (actions): Discrimination (not hiring older workers).
•Cognitive (thoughts): Stereotypes (believing older people are bad with technology).
What are McMillian and Chavis 4 elements of community?
1.Membership – feeling of belonging & acceptance (e.g., being part of a sports team).
2.Influence – members feel they matter & can make a difference.
3.Integration & Fulfilment of Needs – group meets members’ needs (e.g., safety, friendship).
4.Shared Emotional Connection – common history, experiences, celebrations.
What were the results of Buss et all (1990)
Results
•Largest cultural difference: views on chastity
⚬Most valued in Asian and Middle Eastern countries
•Home, children, and good housekeeping varied in importance:
⚬Western cultures – traits seen as irrelevant
⚬African cultures – traits seen as invaluable
•Many common characteristics were important to both sexes across all culture
What is informational influence (conformity)
Conformity will increase when an individual does not believe that they have the same ability as others to respond correctly. For example, students are more likely to conform with their teacher’s knowledge because they may feel that they don’t have the same ability.
1. intrapsychic stage
2. dyadic stage
3. social stage
4. Grave-dressing stage
5. Resurrection stage
What is the difference between prejudice and discrimination
Prejudice: Negative attitude towards a group (thoughts/feelings).
Discrimination: Negative behaviour/action towards a group
Give 3 strategies to reduce prejudice
•Intergroup Contact: Interaction between groups reduces stereotypes.
•Sustained Contact: Ongoing, repeated contact builds trust.
•Superordinate Goals: Groups work together on shared goals.
•Mutual Interdependence: Success depends on cooperation (e.g., team projects).
•Equality / Equal-Status Contact: Groups must interact as equals, not hierarchically.
Who conducted this experiment:
Method
•18 males and 18 females participated in a quiz game
•Randomly assigned to either:
⚬Questioner – created 10 challenging questions and quizzed the contestant
⚬Contestant – answered the questions
•Experimenter recorded number of correct answers
Ross et al (1977)