Answers to Concept Checks

• 8.1
  1. Social facilitation describes the tendency of people to perform at a different level based on the fact that others are around. Deindividuation is the idea that people will lose a sense of self-awareness and can act dramatically different because of the influence of a group. The bystander effect describes the observation that individuals are less likely to respond to a person in need when in a group. Social loafing refers to a decrease in effort seen when individuals are in a group. Peer pressure refers to the social influence placed on individuals by others they consider their equals.
  2. Group polarization and groupthink are both social processes that occur when groups make decisions. Group polarization is the tendency toward extreme decisions in a group. Groupthink is the tendency for groups to make decisions based on ideas and solutions that arise within the group without considering outside ideas, given the pressure to conform and remain loyal to the group.
  3. Societies that contain multiple cultures can exhibit multiculturalism or assimilation. Assimilation is the process by which multiple cultures begin to merge into one, typically with an unequal blending of ideas and beliefs. Multiculturalism refers to the idea that multiple cultures should be encouraged and respected without one culture becoming dominant overall.
• 8.2
  1. Primary socialization refers to the initial learning of acceptable behaviors and societal norms during childhood, which is facilitated mostly by parents and other trusted adults. Secondary socialization refers to learning the norms of specific subgroups or situations during adolescence and adulthood.
  2. Conformity is changing beliefs or behaviors in order to fit into a group or society. Compliance occurs when individuals change their behavior based on the request of others who do not wield authority over the individual. Obedience is a change in behavior because of a request from an authority figure.
  3. The foot-in-the-door technique refers to asking for favors that increase in size with each subsequent request. The door-in-the-face technique refers to making a large request and then, if refused, making a smaller request. The lowball technique refers to gaining compliance without revealing the full cost (money, effort, or time) of the favor. The that’s-not-all technique refers to increasing the reward for a request before an individual has the chance to make a decision.
• 8.3
  1. The three components of attitude are affective, behavioral, and cognitive.
  2. The four functional areas of the functional attitudes theory are knowledge, ego expression, adaptation, and ego defense.
  3. The routes of processing used to explain the elaboration likelihood model are central route processing and peripheral route processing. Central route processing is associated with high elaboration.
  4. The three interactive factors of Bandura’s triadic reciprocal causation are behavior, personal factors, and environment.