Exam 1 Review• Purpose: Identify Themes

• Two major sections– Defining Social Psychology and Research

Methods– Social Perception

Defining Social Psychology

• What is it?

• How does it differ from other related fields?

Research Methods

• What’s a theory? How is it evaluated• What’s a Hypothesis?• How does applied research differ from basic

research?• Conceptual vs. Operational variables?• Correlational Designs• Experimental Designs• How do correlational and experimental research

differ?

Research Methods

• In Experiments:– Random sampling vs. random assignment– Why is random assignment important?– What is an independent variable? Dependent

variable?– Be able to identify and translate conceptual

variables to operationalized variables

Theme of this section of course: Social Perception

• How do we perceive:

– Ourselves?

– Other individuals?

– Other groups?

First Topic: The Self

• Affect: How do we evaluate ourselves, enhance our self-images, and defend against threats to our self-esteem?

• Behavior: How do we regulate our actions and present ourselves according to interpersonal demands?

• Cognition: How do we come to know ourselves, develop a self-concept, and maintain a stable sense of identity?

The ABCs of the Self

• Cognition: Self-concept

• Affect: Self-esteem

• Behavior: Self-presentation

Self-concept

• Define

• Cocktail party effect

• Self-schemas

• Sources of the self-concept

• Source 1: Introspection– Does it lead to an accurate self-concept?– Affective forecasting & durability bias

• Source 2: Perceptions of our own behavior– Self-perception theory (Bem)– Self-perception of emotion– Intrinsic/Extrinsic motivation– Overjustification effect

Sources of the Self-Concept

• Source 3: Other people– Social comparison theory (Festinger)– Two-factor theory of emotion (Schacter)

• Source 4: Autobiographical memories– Flashbulb memories– Self-serving distortions of memories (e.g., high school

grades)

• Source 5: Culture– Individualistic vs. Collectivistic Orientations

Sources of the Self-Concept

Self-esteem• What function does SE serve?

– Need for social belonging/acceptance– Terror Management Theory

• Influences of Culture

• Self-discrepancy theory

Self-esteem• Self-awareness– Public vs. private self-consciousness

• Self-regulation

• Ironic processes– Trying to inhibit a thought, feeling, or behavior

sometimes backfires

Mechanisms of Self-Enhancement

• Self-serving cognitions– Misremembering SAT scores

• Self-handicapping

• BIRGing

• Social comparison

Self-presentation

• In book, focus on:– Strategic self-presentation strategies;

• Self-monitoring• Ingratiation• Self-promotion• Self-verification

Second Topic: Person Perception

• Attribution biases

• Observation

• Confirmation biases

Attribution Theories

• Internal/Person Attributionse.g., personality, ability, attitude

• External/Situational Attributionse.g., other people, luck, pressure,

Attribution Biases and Errors

• Kelley’s covariation theory

• Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE)

• FAE and culture

• Actor-observer bias

• Self-serving attribution bias

Observation

• Superficial features– E.g., baby-facedness

• Nonverbal behaviors– What functions are served?– Lie detection

Information Integration

• Priming

• Implicit Personality Theories– Central traits

– Primacy

Confirmation Bias• Belief Perseverance – believing discredited information

• Hypothesis confirmation bias• Self-fulfilling prophecy

Third Topic: Prejudice

• Stereotypes & Prejudice

• Intergroup Interactions

How stereotypes form

• Ingroups and outgroups

• Social categorization

• Outgroup homogeneity

How stereotypes survive

• Illusory correlations

• Attributions

• Subtyping and contrast effects

• Self-fulfilling prophecy

Automaticity of Stereotypes: Influencing Factors

• Amount of exposure to the stereotype.

• The kind and amount of information the perceiver encounters.

• The perceiver’s motivational goals.– e.g., Protecting one’s self-esteem or self-image.

Overcoming Stereotypes

• How much personal information do we have about someone?

• What is our cognitive ability to focus on an individual member of a stereotyped group?

• What is our motivation level to form an accurate impression of someone?

• How motivated are we to avoid applying negative stereotypes?

Prejudice: The emotional component

• Competition-based prejudice

• Explicit vs. Implicit prejudice

Competition-based prejudice

• Realistic conflict theory– Cotton prices and lynchings

Forms of Prejudice• Explicit Attitudes– Ambivalent Sexism– Modern Racism

• Implicit Attitudes

• Explicit Attitudes

– Operate at conscious level

– Best measured by traditional, self-report measures

• Implicit Attitudes

– Function in an unconscious & unintentional manner

– How do we measure??

Implicit Prejudice

• Unconscious, unintentional, automatic

• How is it measured?– IAT– Bona fide pipeline– fMRI

How Stereotypes Affect their Targets

• Stereotype Threat– How does it operate?

Reducing prejudice

• Jigsaw Classroom