Social Psychology

I. Social Psychology A.The Study of how people influence and are influenced by others

II. The Self A.What we perceive ourselves to be B.Self Schemas – cognitive structures that allow people to differentiate themselves from others C.Social Comparison – we compare ourselves to others to form a view of ourselves D.Personality Identity – composed of an individual's thoughts and emotions (self- knowledge and evaluation) E.Social Identity – based on the impressions someone makes, what others think of that person within a group.

III. Perceiving Others A.Schemas – structure our perception of events, make predictions about the future, decide on goals and plans 1.Ex: First impressions B.Attribution theory – explaining the behavior of others in terms of their personality traits or other external factors. 1.Ex: Blonde hair must = lack of intelligence

IV. Attitudes A.Beliefs and feelings about people, objects or events that cause us to behave in certain ways. 1.Ex: “ That’s how those people are.” B.Social Schemas- the ideas we have formed about social groups. 1.Ex: when we meet someone new we put them into pre-existing groups (slacker, go getter, surfer, etc.)

V.Effects of Attitudes A.Stereotypes – distorted generalized beliefs B.Prejudice – unfounded, generally negative, attitude C.Discrimination – unfair treatment of individuals because of membership in a group D.Attraction – draw towards a person or group due to similarity, proximity or reciprocity.

VI. Causes of Prejudice 1.Categorization 2.Exaggeration of Differences – assuming those who are different are more different than they really are

3.Justifying Economic or Role Status – explaining status by providing reasons why an economic or role status exists. (ex: poverty = unwillingness to work) 4.Observational Learning – imitating the behaviors observed in an environment (ex: children adopting parents beliefs). 5.Scapegoating –finding someone else to blame for a problem

VII. Social Categories A.Gender B.Race C.Ethnicity D.Sexual Orientation E.Disabilities F.Economic Status G.Education Level