1.

Stereotypes are schemas, the so-called mental representations which show us what
we can accept in a certain situation. They can be either positive, negative, or
neutral, and are general in nature. When an individual forms a stereotype, they
acknowledge that they cannot be applied to all members of the group. They
serve as heuristics, meaning they help us come to a conclusion about a situation
faster, and we believe that the person, about whom the stereotype is, is like this, until
proven otherwise. With them, we are prone to confirmation bias – the tendency to
only process, look for, interpret information in a way that supports one’s existing
beliefs. Their origins can be explained by social identity theory (people have
social identities – individual self-concepts based on being part of different groups –
one part can become salient, and we start to act in accordance with that part),
conformity research (a change of behaviour because of real or imagined group
pressure norms) and illusory correlation (the phenomenon of perceiving a
relationship between two variables even when no such relationship exists).
Stereotypes’ effects on behaviour are stereotype threat (a person starts to
unconsciously act in a way that they confirm the stereotype about themselves),
stereotype promise (a person starts to work towards achieving a positive stereotype
about themselves) and memory distortion. Memory distortion is a phenomenon that
states that people will better remember things or situations that align with their
stereotypes - it is usually present with gender stereotypes.

2. Social cognitive theory is a theory in the sociocultural approach and can be

described with the Bandura study.
Social cognitive theory states that behaviour is learned through observation and
imitation of behaviour from other members of the group. These behaviours are
maintained and changed in a social context. Social cognitive theory is based on the
studies related to observational learning and explains human psychology in terms of
triadic reciprocal causation, which means that individual factors, such as cognition,
emotion and biology, interact with behavioural patterns and environmental factors to
shape one’s behaviour. It suggests that individuals are agents of their own
interactions with the social world: social groups affect individuals, but individuals also
affect social groups - they are in a relationship of reciprocal determinism.
Individuals create social systems to guide behaviour and these social systems
provide resources for individual behaviour. This results in emergent properties: new
societal and cultural norms. Social cognitive theory has various components that
indicate some interaction between individuals and the social situation. Identification
is important because individuals are more likely to learn from people they identify
with. Individuals learn behaviours through observation of role models - this is called
modeling. Expectancies regarding outcomes can influence behaviours, as certain
behaviours can be associated with certain consequences. Self-efficacy is also
important - this refers to how able the individual feels to learn a certain behaviour.

3. One influence of culture on behaviour is cultural dimensions and their effect on

conformity, shown in the Berry study.

Firstly, culture is a set of common rules or norms, which define how we should
behave. They are usually not written, but we learn them from our parents.
Furthermore, they are often internalized, meaning they are only visible when
interacting with other cultures. A culture also consists of several shared values and
attitudes. Culture can be separated into surface culture, which is everything visible,
like traditions, customs etc., and deep culture, which is non-visible, but still
influential, like beliefs, attitudes, etc. Secondly, one component of culture are
cultural dimensions, which are values within a culture that influence behaviour and
cognition. Each dimension describes the trends of behaviour in a certain culture.
There are 6 cultural dimensions: power distance, uncertainty avoidance,
collectivism vs. individualism, femininity vs. masculinity, short-term vs. long-
term, and restraint vs. indulgent. In the Berry study, individualism vs. collectivism
was observed. Individualism means that uniqueness, privacy, speaking one’s mind,
freedom and autonomy are valued, self is defined by individual achievement, the goal
is self-actualization, and rule-breaking leads to guilt and loss of self-respect.
Collectivism means that social harmony, modesty, non-privacy, shared
responsibility and independence are valued, self is defined by group membership,
common goals lead one’s decision making, the goal is advancing group interests,
and rule breaking leads to shame and loss of face. Thirdly, conformity is a change
of behaviour because of real or imagined group pressure or norms. There are two
types: normative (conform because you want to be accepted and fit in) and
informational (the group helps us figure out how to behave in an ambiguous
situation) conformity.