Social Psychology

1
Social Psychology
2
Definitions

• Study of how we think about, influence and relate
  to one another
• Study of thoughts, feelings and behavior
  influenced by the real, imagined or implied
  presence of other people.

3
First impressions

• Primacy effect
• Always accurate?

4
Attribution Theory

• Attribution process of explaining behavior
• Fritz Heider
• Attribute behavior to
• Internal disposition (trait)
• External situation

5
Fundamental Attribution Error

• When making attributions about others
• Overestimating influence of personality (internal
  disposition)
• Underestimating influence of situations
• Actor/Observer differences

6
Effects of Fundamental Attribution Error

• Toward poverty, unemployment other social
  problems... What do you think?

7
Attitudes Actions

• Attitude belief, feeling that predisposes one to
  respond in a particular way
• Attitudes guide actions when other influences are
  minimal
• Mirror effect
• Attitudes follow behavior
• Foot-in-the-door (small to big)
• Role playing (prison experiment)

8
Attitude Formation

• A, B, C Theory
• AAffect
• BBehavior
• CCognition

9
Cognitive dissonance

• We act to reduce the discomfort we feel when our
  behavior and attitudes are inconsistent
• When actions and attitudes clash, we change our
  attitudes
• Justification theory

10
Zimbardos prison experiment

• Journal assignment
• www.zimbardo.com
• Explore the information re the prison experiment
• Choose a discussion question
• Write your answer
• Prepare to lead discussion in class on your
  question.

11
Class Activity

• Judging time

12
Aschs Conformity Experiments

• Conditions that strengthen conformity
• Feeling incompetent or insecure
• Group is unanimous
• Admires groups status
• Has made no prior commitment or response
• Others in group will observe behavior
• Culture strongly encourages respect for social
  standards

13

• Normative social influence
• Being sensitive to social expectations and norms
• Often used to avoid rejection or gain social
  approval
• Informational social influence
• Being willing to accept others opinions about
  reality

14
Obedience

• Milgrams study 1964, 1974
• Estimates
• Video

15
Obedience highest when

• Person giving orders was authority figure and
  close by
• Authority figure supported by prestigious
  institution
• Victim depersonalized, or distant
• No role models for defiance

16
ABC news versionhttp//abcnews.go.com/Primetime/s
tory?id2765416page1

• Tested 18 men 65 complied
• 22 women 73 complied
• With accomplice that refused, 63 continued
• Ethnically diverse
• Highly educated group
• 22.9 some college
• 40 bachelors degree
• 20 masters degree

17
Possible explanations

• Personality?
• No traits or groups of traits found to predict
  those who obey.
• Situation?
• Foot in the door technique
• Milgram stated that ordinary people, simply
  doing their jobs, and without any particular
  hostility on their part, can become agents in a
  terrible destructive process.
• (1974) Obedience to Authority, New York Harper
  and Row p. 6

18
Group influence

• Social facilitation
• Improved performance in presence of others
• Well learned or simple tasks
• Social Loafing
• Exerting less effort in group
• Deindividuation
• Loss of self-awareness and restraint in group
  situations fostering arousal and anonymity

19
Group interaction

• Group Polarization

20
Groupthink

• Occurs when desire for harmony in decision-making
  groups overrides realistic appraisal of
  alternatives
• To avoid harmonious but unrealistic Groupthink
• Welcome various opinions
• Invite expert critique
• Assign people to identify problems
• Leader withholds opinion initially

21
Prejudice

• unjustifiable (and usually negative) attitude
  toward a group and its members.
• Stereotyped beliefs (generalizations re group)
• Negative feelings
• Predisposition to discriminatory action

22
Discrimination

• Unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group or
  its members

23
Social Roots of Prejudice

• Social inequalities
• Prejudice rationalize inequalities
• Ingroup and Outgroup
• In-group bias favoring own group, even randomly
  assigned
• Scapegoating
• Finding someone to blame

24
Cognitive Roots of Prejudice

• Categorization
• Leads to stereotypes and biases perceptions
• Vivid Cases- Illusory Correlations
• Availability heuristic
• The Just-World Phenomenon
• People get what they deserve

25
Aggression

• Biological influences
• Male
• Neural system that facilitates
• Frontal lobes to inhibit
• Biochemical
• Alcohol
• Testosterone

26
Aggression

• Psychological factors
• Aversive events Frustration Aggression principle
• Learning experiences
• Media influences
• Desensitization
• Social scripts

27
Conflict

• Perceptions
• Self-serving bias
• Fundamental attribution error
• Self-fulfilling prophecy
• Social traps
• Pursue own interests and lose
• If communicate, more cooperation

28
Attraction

• Proximity
• Mere exposure effect
• Physical Attractiveness What is beauty?
• Cultural standards
• Americans spend more on beauty supplies than on
  education...
• 8.5 million cosmetic treatments in 2001
• Similarity

29
Romantic Love

• Schacters two-factor theory of emotion
• Emotions have two ingredients
• Arousal
• Interpretation (cognitive appraisal)
• Arousal from any source can enhance emotion
  depending on how we interpret it

30
Sternbergs Triangular Theory of Love

• Three components Intimacy, passion and
  commitment
• Liking Intimacy only
• Romantic Intimacy Passion
• Infatuation Passion only
• Fatuous Passion Commitment
• Empty Commitment only
• Companionate Intimacy Commitment
• Consummate Intimacy Passion Commitment

31
Altruism

• Bystander effect less likely to give aid when
  others were around

32
Peacemaking

• Contact non competitive
• Parties have equal status
• Give groups superordinate goals
• Small conciliatory acts