Thinking About Psychology: The Science of Mind and Behavior 2e

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Thinking About Psychology The Science of Mind
and Behavior 2e

• Charles T. Blair-Broeker
• Randal M. Ernst

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Variations in Individual and Group Behavior Domain
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Social Psychology Chapter
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Social Relations

• Module 35

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Attraction

• Module 35 Social Relations

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Attraction

• Three key ingredients to attraction
• Proximity
• Physical attractiveness
• Similarity

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AttractionProximity

• Module 35 Social Relations

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Mere Exposure Effect

• Phenomenon that repeated exposure to novel
  stimuli increases liking of them
• Our ancestors benefited from the mere exposure
  effect. Familiar faces were less likely to be
  dangerous or threatening than unfamiliar faces.
  Some researchers think we are born with a
  tendency to bond with those who are familiar to
  us and to be leery of those we dont know

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Familiarity Breeds Fondness

• Several years ago, a student began attending a
  class at Oregon State University enveloped in a
  big, black bag. Only his bare feet showed. Each
  Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 11am, the black
  bag sat on a small table near the back of the
  classroom. The professor knew the identity of
  the person inside, but none of the students did.
  The professor said the students attitudes
  changed from hostility toward the bag to
  curiosity to friendship.

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AttractionPhysical Attractiveness

• Module 35 Social Relations

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Physical Attractiveness

• Positive first impressions are correlated with
  the attractiveness of the person
• Attractive people are judged to be happier,
  healthier, more successful, etc.
• Physical attractiveness is highly determined by
  culture

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Villains and Heroes

• Are people who are villainous or less than heroic
  physically attractive? Think of favorite movies
  and television shows.
• How are the heroes physically different from the
  villains?

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Physical Attractiveness
1950s
Today
1920s
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The Halo Effect

• http//abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id5773839
  
• The Privilege of Being Beautiful
• Two readings

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What Is Beautiful Is Good

• College students judged an essay written by an
  attractive author to be of higher quality than
  one by an unattractive author.
• Simulated juries conferred less guilt and
  punishment on physically attractive defendants
  than on unattractive defendants
• The average salary of more than 17,000
  middle-aged men was positively related to their
  height (Keyes study)

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• Every inch over 5 3 was worth an extra 370/yr
  in salary also, a good looking guy will rack
  up 250,000 more than his least attractive peer
• In one study, more than 400 fifth-grader teachers
  evaluated attractive children as having greater
  intelligence and scholastic potential than
  unattractive children.

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Yikes

• Children as young as 4 are responsive to the
  physical attractiveness of their peers. It has
  been suggested that parents may implicitly teach
  the physical attractiveness stereotype through
  the bedtime stories they read their kids.

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Other Interesting Study Results

• University of Tennessee
• Relationships in which the wife was objectively
  better-looking than the husband were more
  supportive than other match-ups
• The worst combination, in terms of warm, positive
  interactions, were women paired with
  better-looking men

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What Does This Mean?

• "Perhaps the husbands with better-looking wives
  wanted to hold on to them, because they were 'out
  of their league.' That meant they were more
  willing to provide support, whereas more
  attractive men didn't feel they were getting as
  much out of their relationships. They may have
  even felt resentful about missing out on other
  opportunities."

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Other Findings

• Whereas the brightest, most compassionate women
  have many times been reduced to looks-based punch
  lines (recent Supreme Court nominations jump to
  mind), menespecially accomplished onesare
  essentially shielded from such objectification.
  Bald men, even you have little to fret about A
  British survey found that only one percent of
  female respondents agreed that a full head of
  hair is necessary for someone to be handsome.

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• Physical deformities and chronic illness often
  symbolize inner defects (Captain Hook and
  Cinderellas mean stepsisters Hansel and Gretel
  are the victims of an arthritic witch
  Pinocchios nose lengthened as his integrity
  slipped).
• Will Cookie Monster make up for this, in all his
  ugly and loveable glory?

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AttractionSimilarity

• Module 35 Social Relations

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Golden Proportions

• The width of an ideal face is 2/3 its length
• The nose is no longer than the distance between
  the eyes
• Similarity between the left and right sides of
  the face
• Babies spend more time looking at symmetrical
  faces
• Face Prints / rate and then pictures merged
  together each trial ends when the viewer deems
  picture the perfect 10
• All the perfect 10s are super-symmetric

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Symmetry

• The rationale behind symmetry preference in both
  humans and animals is that symmetric individuals
  have a higher mate-value scientists believe that
  this symmetry is equated with a strong immune
  system. Thus, beauty is indicative of more robust
  genes, improving the likelihood that an
  individual's offspring will survive. This
  evolutionary theory is supported by research
  showing that standards of attractiveness are
  similar across cultures (Feng).

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What Men Like

• Aside from symmetry, males in Western cultures
  generally prefer females with a small jaw, a
  small nose, large eyes, and defined cheekbones -
  features often described as "baby faced", that
  resemble an infant's.
• In general, men have a preference for women with
  low waist-to-hip ratios (WHRs), that is, more fat
  is deposited on the hips and buttocks than on the
  waist.

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• Research shows that women with high WHRs (whose
  bodies are more tube-shaped) are more likely to
  suffer from health maladies, including
  infertility and diabetes.
• Bees are attracted to symmetrical flowers as they
  produce more nectar and are therefore sweeter.
• Men with symmetrical faces are less prone to
  mental decline (
• http//www.jyi.org/volumes/volume6/issue6/features
  /feng.html
• FACEPRINTS

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What Women Like

• Females, however, have a preference for males who
  look more mature -- generally heart-shaped,
  small-chinned faces with full lips and fair skin.
  But during menstruation, females prefer a
  soft-featured male to a masculine one. Indeed,
  researchers found that female perceptions of
  beauty actually change throughout the month.

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Symmetrical Faces
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Similarity

• People are reluctant to include dissimilar people
  in their group of friends.
• Close friends usually share interests, attitudes,
  age, intelligence level, and economic status.

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Romantic LovePassionate Love

• Module 35 Social Relations

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Passionate Love

• Aroused state of intense positive absorption in
  another, usually present at the beginning of a
  love relationship
• Page 35-9
• PsychQuest 35-5

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Romantic LoveCompanionate Love

• Module 35 Social Relations

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Companionate Love

• Deep affectionate attachment we feel for those
  with whom our lives are intertwined
• Two important factors
• Equity
• Self-disclosure

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Equity

• Condition in which people contribute to and
  receive from a relationship at a similar rate
• Couples share in decision making and possessions
• Freely give and receive emotional support

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Self-Disclosure

• Revealing intimate aspects of oneself to others
• Include likes, dislikes, fears, accomplishments,
  failures, shameful moments, goals, etc.

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How Do We Pick Our Mates?

• Proximity Filter helps us narrow down our
  potential mates to those we come in contact with.
  Will the internet change this?
• Stimulus Filter All people we meet are potential
  mates, but we are not attracted to all of them.
  The stimulus filter narrows potential mates to
  those whom we find attractive those who
  stimulate us, physically at first, but also
  intellectually and emotionally.

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• Value Filter People who share our values are
  more likely to be potential mate. It is
  difficult for people with widely different
  beliefs to maintain a lasting partnership.
• Role Filter The role filter involves weeding out
  those who are not compatible with us. If those
  we are choosing from do not fit a particular role
  that is compatible with our own, we filter them
  out. Ex if a man wants a stay-at-home woman to
  stay home with kids.
• Marriage If a relationship lasts long enough, a
  long-term commitment must be made usually in
  Canada, that involves marriage. If one person
  wants to marry and the other doesnt, they are
  not likely to last.

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AltruismWorth Do Adolescents Lack Empathy?

• Module 35 Social Relations

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Altruism

• Unselfish regard for the welfare of others

Dave Sanders Teacher at Columbine High School
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Which Brings More Happiness

• Brainstorming 35-11
• 35-12 Case Studies in Helping
• 35-13 Legislating Helping

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AltruismBystander Intervention

• Module 35 Social Relations

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Bystander Effect

• Tendency for a person to be less likely to give
  aid if other people are present

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Bystander Effect - Kitty Genovese

• Famous case of Kitty Genovese--38 people heard
  her cry for help but didnt help. She was raped
  and stabbed to death.

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Factors Increasing Bystander Intervention

• not in a hurry
• believe the victim deserves help
• in a good mood
• feeling guilty
• live in a small town or rural area
• just saw someone being helpful

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Factors Increasing Bystander Intervention
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Top 10 Notorious Cases of the Bystander Effect

• http//listverse.com/2009/11/02/10-notorious-cases
  -of-the-bystander-effect/

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Examples on You Tube

• http//www.dailymotion.com/video/x8oxx9_the-bystan
  der-effect-kitty-genovese_tech
• Why do people help? Worth
• http//bcs.worthpublishers.com/pvtk/player/pages/h
  ome.aspx?TabHomeVtkID1pageIndex1NumRows52
• Does Self-Confidence Intimidate Others?
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vtGaJrgi_SpE The
  Bystander Effect No one Cares, Global National

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Altruism
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Altruism
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Altruism
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Altruism
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Altruism
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Altruism
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Altruism
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Prejudicehttp//www.youtube.com/watch?vYyL5EcAwB
9cTrue Colors, ABChttp//www.youtube.com/watch?v
FSdKy2q6pEYThe Doll Test

• Module 35 Social Relations

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Be a Hero

• http//heroicimagination.org/take-action/take-the-
  hero-challenge/
• http//jfmueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/crow/activitie
  s.htmattitudes

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Prejudice

• Unjustifiable attitude toward a group and its
  members
• Usually involves a negative attitude
• Usually involves stereotyped beliefs, negative
  feelings, and a predisposition to discriminatory
  action
• The Blue-Eyed Children Experiment

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My Kid Would Never Do That

• http//www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/my-kid-woul
  d-never-do-that-discrimination-part-3/6qdooqx?cci
  lcpkeyc2506697-eb3f-4ebb-8f14-ff17d49b6f8d7c7c
  7c7cadltstrict

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What Would You Do?

• http//abcnews.go.com/WhatWouldYouDo/video/stop-mu
  slim-discrimination-11347387

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Stereotype

• Generalized belief about a group of people
• Stereotypes are sometimes accurate but often
  over-generalized.

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Gender Stereotypes

• Play Gender Role Stereotypes (524) Segment 24
  from Psychology The Human Experience.
• Youtube 20/20 What would you do (vandals)

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Discrimination

• In social relations, taking action against a
  group of people because of stereotyped beliefs
  and feelings of prejudice

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PrejudiceIngroup and Outgroup

• Module 35 Social Relations

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Ingroup Us

• People with whom we share a common identity

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Outgroup Them

• Those perceived as different or apart from us
  (the ingroup)

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Ingroup Bias

• Tendency to favor ones own group
• Usually at the expense of the outgroup
• Blue-Eyed
• Children

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Videos

• http//www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Oprahs-Social-Exper
  iment-on-Her-Audience-Video
• http//www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/divi
  ded/
• Frontline A Class Divided

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Scapegoat Theory

• Theory that prejudice provides an outlet for
  anger by providing someone to blame

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Group Activity

• Make an animal
• Make a party hat, name tag
• Institutional advantages (responsible for your
  unfortunate circumstances?)

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PrejudiceThought Processes and Prejudice

• Module 35 Social Relations

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Categorization

• The tendency to group similar objects
• May be a means to explain stereotypes

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Just-World Phenomenon

• Tendency to believe that people get what they
  deserve and deserve what they get
• Reflects childs attitude that good is rewarded
  and evil is punished

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Belief in a Just World

• People get what they deserve and deserve what
  they get.
• This belief contributes to prejudice in which we
  blame victims for their own fate.
• Try the scale
• Initially tested in relation to the 1971 national
  draft lottery (US) of 19 year olds, which
  determined the order of induction into the armed
  forces. Although most students expressed
  sympathy for the losers, those who scored high on
  the scale ran counter to this pattern. They
  resented the losers more than the winners.
  Others studies have also suggested that high
  scorers may have a tendency to derogate innocent
  victims

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Classic Test

• Students come to a lab to participate in a study
  presumably on the perception of emotional cues.
  By what appears to be random choice, one of the
  participants, actually an accomplice of the
  researchers, is selected to perform a memory
  task. She is to receive a painful shock for each
  error she makes the other participants are to
  observe and note her emotional response.

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• After watching her receive a number of painful
  shocks, they are asked to evaluate her along
  several dimensions. How do they respond? With
  compassion and sympathy? No. The results indicate
  that when the observers are powerless to alter
  her fate, they tend to reject and devalue her.
  Subsequent research has suggested that this is
  particularly true of those who have a strong
  belief in a just world.

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• Raman and Winer reported that some adults believe
  physical illness can be payback for bad behavior.
  In their study, 239 college students were
  presented with a case study in which a person
  contracted a mysterious, deadly illness. The
  patient was described as having lied, cheated and
  engaged in other immoral behavior. Depending on
  precisely how the story was presented, between 19
  and 44 of participants agreed that the person
  deserved to be ill because s/he was bad.

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Double-Edged Sword

• Desire for justice can be a double-edged sword.
  Under certain circumstances, it may make one more
  sensitive to the reality of injustice and more
  likely to correct it. When victims have been
  portrayed as having finite, manageable needs so
  that providing help will successfully restore
  justice, his JWS scorers have been more willing
  to help than low JWS scorers. If help is easy to
  give, and when helping doesnt run counter to
  firmly entrenched social attributes such as
  preexisting prejudice against blacks or women,
  and when the altruistic behavior is sanctioned by
  authority.

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My Kid Would Never BullyDatelinehttp//www.msnbc
.msn.com/id/3032600/vp/4192809041928090Dateline
Down Syndrome, What Would You Do?
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What Would You Do?

• 20/20 What would you do You Tube (bystander)
  http//il.youtube.com/watch?veNu-WZdHzaAfeature
  pEE9376B3F4FCD1C3index0playnext1
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vbd4Gpi9ksXw Not
  Pretty, Really Sundance
• http//abcnews.go.com/2020/

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Videos

• What Would You Do Down Syndrome
• My Kid Would Never Do That Muslim singers
  (discrimination part 3)
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?v0yLqZanguJc
• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vVMnY5578YQ0