1. Chapter 15: Social Psychology

2. What is Social Psychology?  Social psychology is the study of…

3. What causes people’s behavior?  Who they are or what type of person they are?  Their circumstances?  Both?  What about your behavior??

4. The Fundamental Attribution Error  This is a tenet of attribution theory that says we tend to see the behavior of others in a certain way and our own behavior differently  What does that mean?

5. The relationship between Attitude and Action 1. What is an attitude exactly? 2. What influences them? 3. How can attitudes be changed?: 1. Foot-in-the-door 2. Role playing

6. Why is ‘doing is believing’ True? 1. If we do something that we don’t believe in, we experience cognitive dissonance 2. Because the action is already done…

7. When do attitudes lead behavior?  In order for attitude and behavior to match up, these circumstances must be met: 1. Outside influence is low 2. The attitude is specific to a certain behavior 3. We are aware of the attitude

8. Social Influence 1. How many of you believe you are highly influenced by social situations?  Peers  Advertising  Culture at large 2. If so, you may actually be a more empathetic person

9. Conformity 1. What are your ideas about conformity?  What does it mean?  Is it a negative concept? 2. Normative social influence

10. A Famous Experiment on Conformity 1. Asch & line length 2. This and other studies have shown that people are more likely to conform if the circumstances are just right

11. Group Influence 1. Social facilitation 2. Social loafing 3. Deindividuation

12. Social relations  The study of how we relate to one another

13. Attraction  What do you guys think causes attraction?  Three Factors important to attraction  Love – there are two kinds of romantic love:  Passionate love  Companionate love

14. Altruism 1. What is altruism? 2. How common is altruism in our society? 3. What gets in the way of altruistic behavior?

15. What is the difference between Prejudice & Discrimination?  Attitude vs. Action

16. Social and Cognitive Influences on Prejudice  Social factors: 1. Inequality 2. In-group/ out-group thinking 3. Scapegoating 1. Cognitive factors: 1. Categorization 2. Vivid cases (availability heuristic) 3. Just-world phenomenon

17. Aggression & Conflict 1. Biological factors 2. Psychological factors 3. Conflict is simply a perceived incompatibility

18. Obedience 1. Obedience is a special type of conformity 2. Stanley Milgram performed the landmark experiment on obedience at Yale in the 1960’s 3. Philip Zimbardo & the prison experiment

19. Do Milgram’s & Zimbardo’s experiments remind you of anything? 1. First, let’s cover the best conditions for obedience:  Authority figure  Institution  De-personalization of victim  No model of disobedience 2. What historical condition does this list remind you of?