PSYC 308 Study Guide - Final Guide: Prosocial Behavior, Pluralistic Ignorance, Terror Management Theory
Document Summary
Thursday, march 9 (the power of social norms) Distinction between descriptive norms and injunctive norms : injunctive norms: involving perceptions of which behaviors are typically approved or disapproved, descriptive norms: involving perceptions of which behaviors are typically performed. What sorts of things make norms salient, and what the implications are: cultural differences, threats (diseases) Terror management theory and its implications: the awareness of our own mortality and insignificance, implication: when one"s own mortality is salient, greater attempts to defend cultural worldviews and maintain cultural norms. Effects of vulnerability-to-danger and vulnerability-to-disease on conformity: when people feel more vulnerable to threats, they are most likely to conform, conformity is especially likely when the threat is infectious diseases. Cultural differences in conformity (and the origins of those differences: conformity is higher in collectivistic cultures, disease prevalence is an explanation for the origins of cultural differences in conformity and individualism/collectivism.
