Term
| What is the difference b/w prosocial behavior and altruism? Give examples |
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Definition
prosocial behavior is any act performed with the goal of benefiting another individual but does not necessarily involve a cost to the self
ex: advocating for rights of a group that the helper belongs to such as women's or gay rights
altruism is an act performed that benefits another person, but does not benefit the helper
ex: saving a stranger's child from drowning |
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Term
| What are the causes of prosocial behavior (why do people engage in prosocial behavior)? |
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Definition
| motives, personal determinants, and situational variables |
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Term
| The evolutionary perspective argues that one of the most fundamental motives behind prosocial behavior is to ensure survival. Why is there an inherent contradiction in this statement? What are some explanations offered to resolve the contradiction? |
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Definition
| there is a contradiction due to the cost to one's self, this doesn't fit with the motive to survive, but it has been countered by saying that the goal is to save your genes, so you help similar others or relatives (kin selection) or for the expectation that if you help others they will help you in the future (reciprocity norm) |
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Term
| Describe the social exchange perspective of altruism. |
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Definition
the motivation to maximize benefits and minimize costs:
true altruism does not exist, helping behavior is based on self interest, people help to reduce their own distress of watching someone else suffer, people help because helping behavior is socially rewarding, people help only if benefits outweigh costs |
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Term
| Describe “pure motive” perspective of altruism. |
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Definition
| people help due to empathy and altruism |
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Term
| Define empathy-altruism hypothesis (Batson, 1991). |
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Definition
| people help due to the goodness of their hearts; they experience empathy and help regardless of rewards and gains or personal costs |
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Term
| Does an altruistic personality exist? Explain |
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Definition
| it depends on the person's individual characteristics, whether they will help others in a variety of situations and circumstances |
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Term
| Are there gender differences in altruistic behavior (Eagly & Crowly, 1986)? |
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Definition
| men are more likely to help in fearless, heroic ways, women are more likely to help in nurturing ways involving long-term commitment |
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Term
| Are there cultural differences in altruistic behavior? |
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Definition
| people are more likely to help their ingroup than outgroup, people from collectivist cultures are more likely to help ingroup and not outgroup than are individualist cultures |
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Term
| Outline “negative state relief’ hypothesis |
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Definition
| exemplifies a social exchange approach, people help in order to alleviate their own sadness, guilt, and distress |
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Term
| What did Milgram (1970s) mean by urban overload? |
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Definition
| the idea that people living in cities are over stimulated and overwhelmed and tend to keep to themselves |
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Term
| What is bystander Effect? |
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Definition
| the greater number of people who witness an emergency, the less likely any one of them is to help |
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Term
| What is the difference between diffusion of responsibility and pluralistic ignorance? |
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Definition
| the first is assuming others will do something, the second is not doing anything because no one else is |
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Term
| Diffusion of responsibility |
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Definition
| the reduction in feeling responsible that occurs when others are present. |
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Term
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Definition
| looking to others for cues about how to behave, while they are looking to you; collective misinterpretation |
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Term
| Describe hostile, instrumental, and sanctioned forms of aggression. Give examples |
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Definition
hostile: an act of aggression stemming from feelings of anger and aimed at inflicting pain
ex: insult, hitting someone
instrumental: serves as a means to some goal other than causing pain
ex: a coach pushing to work harder
sanctioned: within the bounds of social norms
ex: courtroom, sports, politics, self defense |
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Term
| Is aggression inborn or learned? Know about existing evidence related to this area |
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Definition
| there is debate over this, Rousseau says we are born nice, Hobbes says we are natural brutes tamed by societal rules, Freud says we have innate tendencies toward life and others toward death and aggression |
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Term
| Is there a relationship between culture and aggression? Know about existing evidence related to this area (i.e., Nisbett, 1993) |
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Definition
yes, Nisbett: white southern men are more aggressive than northern male base on homicide rates
pattern suggests culture of honor - characteristic of a particular economic era in which violence was a response to an insult or as a way of protecting one's property |
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Term
| What is the relationship between hormones and aggression? Know about existing evidence related to this area |
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Definition
amygdala: forms part of the limbic system linked to fear and pleasure responses; stimulating causes violence, blocking causes docility
serotonin: chemical in the brain that inhibits aggressive impulses
testosterone: male sex hormone associated with aggression |
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Term
| What is the relationship between gender and aggression? Know about existing evidence related to this area |
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Definition
when observing children, boys are more aggressive
women are more covert in their aggression
Bettencourt&Miller: men are far more aggressive than women under ordinary circumstances, women can be as aggressive when provoked |
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Term
| What is the relationship between alcohol/drugs and aggression? Know about existing evidence related to this area |
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Definition
alcohol lowers inhibitions against socially unacceptable behaviors including aggression
cocaine and other stimulants also increase aggression by disrupting information processing
the effect of weed on aggression in humans has not been adequately studied, but there is evidence from animals studies that weed can reduce aggressive behavior in response to challenge |
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Term
| Describe Berkowitz and Le Page’s study. What is the take home message? |
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Definition
they made college students angry in the presence of a gun or neutral object, then gave them the opportunity to administer shocks to fellow students, those who were made angry in the presence of a gun were more likely to administer shock
message: the mere presence of a negative object can amplify aggression |
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Term
| Describe Bandura’s experiment. What is the take home message? |
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Definition
adults kick bobo doll, children either observe or don't, given the opportunity to play with bobo doll, those who observed aggressive adults behaved just like the models.
message: social learning theory, aggression can be learned by observing others' actions |
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Term
| What is the relationship between media and violent behavior in children and adults (Liebert & Baron, 1972; Johnson, 2002)? |
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Definition
Liebert & Baron: children were either exposed to violent TV or neutral, then allowed to play with a group of children, children who watched violent TV were more aggressive in play group
Johnson: significant association between the amount of time watching violent TV in adolescence and likelihood of violence against others |
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Term
| Can exposure to media violence produce a numbing effect (Cline & Associates, 1973)? |
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Definition
yes, it can have a desensitizing effect
Cline: measured physiological responses of men who watched brutal boxing match, those who watched violent TV showed little response, those who didn't watch much TV became physically agitated |
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Term
| Does punishment reduce aggression? |
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Definition
it can with a certain amount, but if too much is used it can backfire.
in order to work it must be immediate and inevitable; two conditions that are almost never present in real life |
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Term
| Can acting aggressively have a cathartic effect? |
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Definition
| no, research shows that catharsis does not work, ex: football players are more aggressive during their season, and watching aggressive acts increases aggression |
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Term
| Cognitive dissonance theory posits that when people act aggressively, their tendency toward future aggression actually increases. Explain. |
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Definition
| when a person acts aggressively, cognitive dissonance occurs because the person does not think of themselves as bad, they end up blaming the victim and believing they deserved it to reduce the dissonance |
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Term
| List the strategies that can be used to deal with one’s anger. |
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Definition
communicate anger through nonviolent manner
talk to someone about feelings associated with the event
diffuse anger through apology and responsibility
model non aggressive behavior to children
training individuals in communication and problem solving skills
building empathy |
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Term
| . In a 1947 study, Clark & Clark demonstrated the influence of prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination on children’s self esteem. Describe this study. |
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Definition
| black kids rated a white doll vs. black doll as more desirable, they chose the white, they may have convinced themselves that it was not desirable to be black |
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Term
| Goldberg (1968) also demonstrated the negative effect of prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination on women’s self esteem. Describe his study. |
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Definition
| women rated a scholarly article as superior when the author was a man opposed to a woman, women learned to consider themselves intellectually inferior to men |
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Term
| Even though the terms prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination are often used interchangeably, they are not the same. How so? Explain |
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Definition
prejudice: affective, negative attitude toward people based on their group membership, individual traits ignored
stereotypes: cognitive, generalization about a group, characteristics assigned to all members of the group despite individual differences, can be positive and negative
discrimination: behavioral, harmful actions toward a person just because of group membership |
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Term
| How did Tajfel & colleagues (1982) create minimal groups in the laboratory? |
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Definition
| created groups by tossing a coin, participants never met or interacted during the study, but rated their ingroup as having nicer personalities and allocated them more money |
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Term
| Describe Jane Elliot’s (1977) creation of minimal groups. |
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Definition
| created groups based on brown eyes vs blue eyes in children, blue eyes were better, children immediately favor their own group, switched the next day so brown eyes were better, kids took revenge against blue eyed kids |
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Term
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Definition
| favoring people who are in our ingroup vs. people who belong to the outgroup even if the group membership is based on arbitrary characteristics |
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Term
| Explain SEMM (Tajfel, 1982). |
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Definition
| maintenance and enhancement of self-esteem, individuals' self esteem is enhanced if the person can identify with a certain social group if that group is superior |
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Term
| What is out-group homogeneity? |
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Definition
| the perception that those in the outgroup are more similar to each other than they really are |
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Term
| What is Ultimate Attribution Error (Thomas Pettigrew, 1979)? |
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Definition
the tendency to make dispositional attributions about an entire group of people, emphasizing personality characteristics
ex: "they" are poor because they are lazy, not due to situational factors |
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Term
| Describe the Realistic Conflict Theory |
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Definition
| limited resources lead to conflict and increased prejudice |
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Term
| What is institutionalized racism? Give examples |
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Definition
when prejudice and discrimination is the norm in a society, racism becomes part of the fabric of that society
ex: women having lower wages for the same job |
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Term
| What is modern racism? Give examples |
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Definition
when prejudice is revealed in subtle, indirect ways because people have learned to hide their prejudiced attitudes in order to avoid the label racist
ex: allocation of resources to the elderly |
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Term
| Can mere contact with out-groups reduce prejudice? Why? |
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Definition
not necessarily, people will still stick together with their ingroup
ex: initial desegregation efforts failed due to the black children and white children sitting with their own race, not intermingling |
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Term
| Gordon Allport (1954) outlined conditions under which intergroup contact can reduce prejudice. What are those conditions? |
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Definition
mutual interdependence
a common goal
equal status of group members
having informal interpersonal contact
having multiple contacts with several members of the outgroup
when social norms are in place that promote equality |
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