Unit 3: Social Psychology

 



In this unit we learned about the psychology behind social behavior. We also talked about Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs which state that we are motivated by needs and all needs are not created equal.  We are driven to satisfy the lower level needs first. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs looks like:

 



 

This topic interested me as soon as I heard about it. In fact Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is the reason I became interested in psychology enough to take a class on it. I had previously heard of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs from one of my favorite authors John Green who is also a YouTube celebrity. There is one video in particular where Green, while playing a virtual soccer game, talks about Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and how he disagrees with it.

Said video:

I have to say I agree with John Greens point where he says he disagrees with Maslow, that our needs are not put in a perfect triangle and that we are incapable of feeling love if we are also hungry. I think that we are capable of being both hungry and in love. I think Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs try's to fit in to a box a very complicated idea, what our needs are, into a nice box, when in fact I believe that our needs are much more complicated than just the 5 "files" Maslow try's to put us in.









 

 

Unit 3: Social Psychology Notes

 

·         Social Phycology- the study of how we think about influence and relate to each other

·         Social Thinking- how we think of one another

·         Attribution Theory- the idea that we give a casual explanation foe someone’s behavior

·         Fundamental Attribution Error- the tendency to underestimate the impact of personal disposition

·         Attitudes- a belief or  feeling that predisposes one to respond in a particular way to something

·         Do our attributes guide our actions?

Only if…

-External pressure is minimal

-We are aware of our attitudes

- The attitudes is relevant to the behavior

·         Foot-in-the-door Phenomenon- the tendency for people to have first agreed to a small request comply later with a larger request  

·         Door-in-the-face Phenomenon- the tendency for people who say no to a huge request, to comply with a smaller one.

·          Cognitive Dissonance Theory- when our attitudes do not match our actions.

v  Social Influence

·         Conformity-Adjusting ones behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard

·         Conditions that strengthen conformity

-One is made to feel incompetent

- The group is at least 3 people

- The group in unanimous

-One admires the group’s status

-One had made no prior commitment

-The person is observed

·         Reasons for conforming

Ø  Normative Social Influence

-          Influence resulting from a person’s desire to gain approval or avoid disappointment.

Ø  Informal Social Influence

-          Influence resulting from ones willingness to accept others opinions about reality

·         Social Facilitation- improved performance of task in the presence of others

·         Social loafing-the tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling efforts toward a common goal than if they were individually accountable.

·         Self-Fulfilling Prophecies- when one person’s belief about other leads one to act in ways that make others appear to conform the belief.

·         Prejudice- An unjustifiable attitude towards a group of people: Usually involves a stereotyped beliefs

 

 

 

·         Social inequalities- principle reason behind prejudice

-In group- “us” people with whom one shares a common identity

-Out group- “Them” those perceived more different than one’s in group

-In group Bias- the tendency to favor one’s own group

·         Scapegoat Theory- theory that prejudice provides an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame

·         The Just World Phenomenon- those who suffer deserve their fate

·         Aggression- any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy

·         Frustration-Aggression Principle –the blocking of an  attempt to achieve some goal, creates anger which generates aggression

·         Conflict-a perceived incompatibility of actions goals or ideas

·         Mere Exposure- repeated exposure to something breeds attraction

·         Mirror Image Concept- doing like things

·         Reciprocal Liking- you are more likely to like someone who likes you

·         Similarity

-opposites to not always attract

-same people go together

-similarity breeds content

·         Liking Though Association- Liking something because of other

·         The Hot Factor-physically attractiveness predicts dating frequency, there are perceived as healthier happier more honest and successful than less attractive counterparts

·         Love

-Passionate love- an aroused state of intense positive absorption or another

- Compassionate love- the deep affectionate attachment we feel for those with whom you’re lived are intertwined

     -What makes compassionate love work? Equity, self-disclosure

·         Altruism- unselfish regard for the welfare of others

·         Bystander Effect- Less willing to help others if there are others

·         Social Exchange Theory-the idea that our social behavior is an exchange process, which we maximize benefits to minimize cost

·         Peacemaking- Compromise, give people super ordinate(Share) goals that can only be achieved through cooperation

·         Motivation-a need or desire that energizes and direct behavior

·         Instinct Theory- we are motivated by our inborn automated behaviors

·         Dive-Reduction Therapy- the idea that physiological need creates an aroused tension state (a drive) that motivates an organism to satisfy the need

·         Incentives- Positives or negative environment stimulus that motivates behavior  

·         Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs- Said we are motivated by needs and all needs are not created equal.  We are driven to satisfy the lower level needs first.

·         Hunger- both physiological and psychological

-Hunger does not come from our stomach, but form our brain (hypothalamus)

 

·         Hypothalamus

Ø  Lateral- when stimulated it makes your hungry

-when lesion (destroyed) you will never be hungry again

Ø  Ventromedial- when stimulated you feel full

-when lesion you never feel full

·         How does the hypothalamus work?

Ø  Two theories

-Lepton- a protein produced by fat cells

-Set Point- Hypothalamus acts like a thermostat, we are meant to be in a certain weight range, when we fall below weight our body will increase hunger and decrease energy.

·         Body Chemistry

-Glucose: the hormone insulin converts glucose to fat, when glucose levels drop- hunger increases

·         Psychology of Hunger

-Externals: people whose eating is triggered more by the persistence of food than internal factors

·         Eating Disorders

-          Bulimia Nervosa- Characterized by bingeing  (eating large amounts of food)  and purging (getting rid of the food)

-          Anorexia Nervosa- starve themselves to below 85% of their normal body weight, see themselves as fat, cast majority are woman.

-          Obesity- Severely over wright to the point where it causes health issues

·         Achievement Motivation

-Intrinsic Motivators- Rewards as we get internally, such as enjoyment or satisfaction

-Extrinsic Motivators- rewards that we get for accomplishing from outside ourselves

·         Management Theory

-Theory X: Managers believe that employees will work only if rewarded with benefits or threatened with punishment. Think employees are extrinsically motivated only interested in lower needs

-Theory Y: Managers believe that employees are internally motivated to do good work and policies should encourage this internal motive. Interested only in Maslow’s higher needs.

·         James-Lang Theory of Emotion experience of emotion is awareness of physiological responses to emotion arousing stimuli

-Emotion: we feel emotion because of biological charges caused by stress. The body charges and our mind recognizes the feeling

·         Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotion

-Emotion: arousing stimuli simultaneously trigger physiological responses subjective experience of emotion

·         Shachter’s Two Factor Theory of Emotion

-          To Experience emotion one must be physically aroused, cognitively label the arousal

·         Two Factor Theory of Emotion

-          Biology and cognition interact with each other to increase the experience

·         Emotion- Lie Detectors

-          Polygraph: Machine commonly used in attempts to direct lies, measures several of the physiological responded accompanying emotion

-Perspiration

-cardiovascular

-breathing changes

·         Experienced Emotion

-          Catharsis: Emotional release, catharsis hypothesis ”Releasing” aggressive energy 9though action or fantasy) releases aggressive urges

-          Feel good-do-good Phenomenon: peoples tendency to be helpful when already in a good mood

-          Adaptation-Level Phenomenon: Perception that one’s worse off relative to those with whom one compares oneself.