QUESTION
1A
“And they are friends who have come to regards
the same things as good and he same thing as evil”
(Aristotle 1833) with appropriate
example, discuss the above statement using your knowledge of social psychology.
ANSWER
The above statement is talking about
Similarity as one of the factors of Attraction;
Attraction has been defined as an
attitude toward another person, group of people or objects that represents an
evaluation along a like or dislike. Contrary to a common belief (conventional
knowledge); attraction is not always pleasant, it could also be unpleasant. The
quotation “And they are friends who have
come to regards the same things as good and he same thing as evil” as
earlier said, it is talking about Similarity as one of the factors of
Attraction; research have shown that with all the other things being equal,
people tends to like those whose belief, values and personality characteristics
are similar to their own. In the quotation, it keeps saying we like those who
resemble us and are engaged in the same pursuit (an activity of a specified kind, especially a
recreational or sporting one); we like those
who desire the same thing as we do…
Example
is; the relationship between religious fanatics, Defendants of the
revolutionary course, members on the same political parties or champions of the
same ideology.
QUESTION
1B
List and explain three (3)
determinants of Attraction
ANSWER
The
following are the determinants of attraction:
1)
Proximity
2)
Reciprocity
3)
Similarity
4)
Physical attractiveness
5) Complement as a determinant of
attraction (e.g. the sadist & masolist)
6)
Ability or Competent.
PROXIMITY
'Functional
distance' is more important than geographical distance - how often you cross
paths with someone; generally we tends to like people who likes us and who are
closer to us than those who are far away. Function of proximity includes:
1.
It make those close to us available and provides more
opportunities of interaction;
2.
There are chances of continued interactions even when
that interaction is not necessary or desirable
3.
Proximity facilitates understanding and
predictability.
PHYSICAL ATTRACTIVENESS
Studies have shown that before other
factors which may later determine the course of relationship, the level of
admiration often determines both the physical and psychological distance
between people. “Beauty is a greater recommendation than any other letter of
introduction” (Aristotle).
QUESTION
2B
FORMS
OF ATTRIBUTION ERROR
Each of these biases describes a
specific tendency that people exhibit when reasoning about the cause of
different behaviors.
ULTIMATE ATTRIBUTION ERROR
The ultimate attribution error is a group-level attribution error
that offers an explanation for how one person views different causes of
negative and positive behavior in in-group and out-group members.
FUNDAMENTAL ATTRIBUTION ERROR
The fundamental
attribution error refers to a bias in explaining others' behaviors. According
to this error, when we make attributions about another person's actions, we are
likely to overemphasize the role of dispositional factors, while minimizing the
influence of situational factors. For example, if we see a coworker bump into
someone on his way to a meeting, we are more likely to explain this behavior in
terms of our coworker's carelessness or hastiness, rather than considering that
he was running late to a meeting
ACTOR-OBSERVER BIAS
The actor-observer
bias (also actor–observer asymmetry) can be thought of as an extension of the
fundamental attribution error. According to the actor-observer bias, in
addition to over-valuing dispositional explanations of others' behaviors, we
tend to under-value dispositional explanations and over-value situational
explanations of our own behavior. For example, a student who studies may
explain her behavior by referencing situational factors (e.g., I have an
exam coming up), whereas others will explain her studying by referencing
dispositional factors (e.g., She's ambitious and hard-working).
HOSTILE ATTRIBUTION BIAS
Hostile attribution
bias (HAB) has been defined as an interpretive bias wherein individuals exhibit
a tendency to interpret others' ambiguous behaviors as hostile, rather than
benign. For example, if a child witnesses two other children
whispering and assumes they are talking about him/her, that child makes an
attribution of hostile intent, even though the other children’s behavior was
potentially benign. Research has indicated that there is an association between
hostile attribution bias and aggression, such that people who are more likely to interpret
someone else's behavior as hostile are also more likely to engage in aggressive
behavior.
IMPRESSION
MANAGEMENT
In
sociology and social psychology, impression management is a
goal-directed conscious or subconscious process in which people attempt to
influence the perceptions of other people about a person, object or event; they
do so by regulating and controlling information in social interaction (Piwinger & Ebert 2001)
BASIC CONCEPTS
MATCHING
HYPOTHESIS
In social
psychology, the idea that people are more likely to form successful
relationships with and express liking for people whose level of physical
attractiveness roughly equals their own. (Renée Grinnell) in other word; people
are more likely to form and succeed in a committed relationship with someone
who is equally socially desirable. This is often researched in the form of physical attraction
example; Similarity in physical attractiveness
occurs in gay and lesbian couples.
PERSONAL SPACE
Personal space is the region
surrounding a person which they regard as psychologically theirs. Most people
value their personal space and feel discomfort, anger, or anxiety when their
personal space is encroached.
TERRITORIAL SPACE
Territorial Space is
a larger space within which individuals operates. It is the combination of the
individual larger social world and physical space that choose how to use it
from time to time. It is a space that is visible and one cannot contract or
expand at will like the personal space that is invisible.
SOCIAL
INFLUENCE
Social influence is the change in behavior that one person causes in
another, intentionally or unintentionally, as a result of the way the changed
person perceives themselves in relationship to the influencer, other people and
society in general. Three areas of social influence are
1.
Conformity,
2.
Compliance and
3.
Obedience.
In
other word, it is a situation where our behavior, feelings, attitude are
influenced or altered by what others say or do; it can be direct or indirect,
conscious or unconscious and also it can be formal or informal.
CONFORMITY:
This refers to the yielding to group’s
pressure or accepting group pressure when no direct request is made (i.e.
willingly give yourself to the group’s pressure) to be compiled to the group or
by the group. It is the process of imbibing new feelings, thoughts and behavior
by internalizing some of the group’s values in other not to become or seen as
an outcaste; sometimes an individual does not believe in those values andenjoys
them (values) but somehow, find himself conforming.
COMPLIANCE:
This involves the response to direct
attempt to influence the means of request by that he/she behaves in a
particular way. It is also defined as a situation in which a direct request is
made and the person agrees to behave in accord to the request (open condition
is given).
OBEDIENCE:
This is a special form of compliance
in which the request is made in form of an order (conditions are given in form
of an authority)
DE-SOCIALIZATION
De-Socialization is a way of
unlearning some of the values already imbedded during socialization. It is the
removal of the formal key values and role behaviour which formed the core of
the individual’s social function. De-Socialization is the wiping out the
previous attitude and habits and substituting with new ones i.e. changing of
belief system.
RE-SOCIALIZATION
Re-Socialization is a process whereby
the individual adopts new sets of values and role behaviour to replace those
previously learned and now abandon or discard them.
PERSONAL
SPACE
Personal Space has been defined by
Robert Baron as the imaginary or the invincible boundary we maintained between
ourselves and others. In another definition by Lawrence Serveren, he defined
Personal Space with the area an individual will like to have between themselves
and others in direct situation. There are three (3) steps to consider before a
space is to be personal, namely;
1.
There must be a boundary;
2.
The boundary must be monopolized for
the individual’s own use and;
3.
The invincible boundaries must exist
in different situations.
WHAT IS SOCIAL
PSYCHOLOGY?
Social Psychology is a discipline that
uses scientific methods to understand and explain how the thought, feelings and
behavior of individual are influenced by the actual, imagined or implied
presence of other human beings.
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