Myers

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Myers EXPLORING PSYCHOLOGY (6th Ed)

• Chapter 15
• Social Psychology
• Modified from
• James A. McCubbin, PhD
• Clemson University
• Worth Publishers

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Social Psychology

• Scientific study of how we think about,
  influence, relate to one another
• Attribution Theory
• Tendency to give causal explanation for someones
  behavior, often by crediting either situation or
  persons disposition

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Attribution, Attitudes Actions

• Fundamental Attribution Error
• Tendency for observers, when analyzing anothers
  behavior, to underestimate impact of situation
  overestimate impact of personal disposition
• Attitude
• Belief feeling that predisposes one to respond
  in particular way to objects, people events

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Social Thinking

• Our behavior is affected by our inner attitudes
  as well as by external social influences

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Social Thinking

• Attitudes follow behavior
• Cooperative actions feed mutual liking

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Actions Attitudes

• Foot-in-the-Door Phenomenon
• Tendency for people who have first agreed to
  small request to comply later with larger request
• Role
• Set of expectations about social position
• Defines how those in position ought to behave

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Actions Attitudes

• Cognitive Dissonance Theory
• When attitudes actions do not coincide,
  experience tension
• Act to reduce discomfort (dissonance) we feel
  when two of thoughts (cognitions) inconsistent

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Aschs Conformity Experiments

• Informational Social Influence
• Influence resulting from willingness to accept
  others opinions about reality

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Social Influence

• Conformity
• Adjusting ones behavior or thinking to coincide
  with group standard
• Conditions that strengthen (p547)
• Normative Social Influence
• Influence resulting from persons desire to gain
  approval or avoid disapproval

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Milgrams Obedience Experiments

• Social influences can make people conform to
  falsehoods or do destructive things

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Group Influence

• Social Facilitation
• Improved performance of tasks in presence of
  others
• Occurs with simple or well-learned tasks but not
  with difficult or not yet mastered tasks
• Social Loafing
• Tendency for people in group to exert less effort
  when pooling efforts toward common goal than when
  individually accountable

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Group Influence Effects

• Deindividuation
• Loss of self-awareness self-restraint in group
  situations that foster arousal anonymity
• Group Polarization
• Enhancement of groups prevailing attitudes
  through discussion within group
• Groupthink
• Occurs when desire for harmony in decision-making
  group overrides realistic appraisal of
  alternatives

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Social Relations

• Prejudice
• Unjustifiable ( usually negative) attitude
  toward group members
• Involves stereotyped beliefs, negative feelings,
  predisposition to discriminatory action
• Aggression
• Any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt
  or destroy

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Altruism

• Bystander effect
• Decision-making process for bystander intervention

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THE END