SUNY College at Buffalo
Sociology 330: Social Psychology
Study Guide for Exam #2
Instructor: Dr. Zhang Jie

Chapter Five: Self

• The nature of the self

William James (1842-1910)
The knower (I, self-awareness)
The known (me, self-concept)

• Sense of self

the gradual development of the sense of self
around the age of two
from physical to psychological states
experiments on great apes
the effect of culture: individualism vs. collectivism

• Knowing self by introspection

the beeper study
self-awareness theory
discrepancies between behavior and value
the experiments with the mirrors (trick-or-treating and test)
reluctance to see oneself in the mirror after failure

• Knowing self by observation of selves

self-perception theory (Daryl Bem, 1972)
reading cartoons with a pen between teeth or lips
self-perception theory vs. cognitive dissonance theory in
     explaining attitude change
the two factor theory of emotion (Schachter, 1964)
     physical arousal and explanation and labeling
misattribution of arousal
     robin Akert's friend and the suspension bridge experiment

• Knowing self by social interaction

the Looking-Glass Self (Charles Horton Cooley, 1902)
experiments on isolation and interaction
social comparison theory (Leon Festinger, 1954)
          similar comparison
          upward social comparison
          downward social comparison

• Impression management (Irving Goffman, 1955)

metaphor
frontstage and backstage
self-presentational strategies
          ingratiation
          self-promotion
          basking in reflected glory
     self-handicapping

Chapter Eight: Conformity and Obedience

• Conformity

definition and nature
Americans in conformity
basic reasons for conformity: information and self-esteem
illustrations of conformity behaviors

• Conformity as a result of informational social influence

three conditions
          ambiguity
          crisis
          experts

• Conformity as a result of normative social influence

social norms, social expectations, and self-esteem
Solomon Asch's study of conformity
examples of normative social influence
internalization of norms and mindless conformity
reciprocity norms and mindless conformity

• The law of social impact (Bibb Latane, 1981)

conformity intensity = f(SIN)
the effect of number

• Effects on conformity

an ally
culture
self-esteem
gender

• Obedience

Milgram's experiments (1974)

Chapter Seven: Attitudes and Attitude Change

• The nature of attitude

definition
three components of attitude
          cognitive
          affective
          behavioral
attitudes/attitude change and social influence
attitude change: cognitive dissonance theory and persuasive
communications

• Yale attitude change approach (Hovland, 1951)

Who Said What to Whom?
the source of communication
the communication itself
the nature of the audience

• Elaboration likelihood model (Petty and Cacioppo, 1986)

central route to persuasion (long-lasting attitude change)
peripheral route to persuasion (short term attitude change)

• Factors that influence persuasion

experts, attractive people, credible sources
personal relevance
the length of the argument
one-sided vs. two-sided presentation
distraction (noise, boredom, tiredness, hunger)

• Affectively based attitudes and attitude change

personal values
classical conditioning
instrumental conditioning

• Resistance to attitude change

two ways: reinforcing values and attitude inoculation
attitude inoculation
cultural truism
adolescent immunization

• Reactance theory (Brehm, 1966)

severe prohibition vs. mild prohibition
the experiment with restroom graffiti

• Attitudes and behaviors

Richard LaPiere field experiment in 1934