1. 10
social psychology

2. why study social psychology
why study social psychology? If people lived in total isolation from other people, there would be no reason to study the effect that other people have on the behavior of individuals and groups. But human beings are social creatures—we live with others, work with others, and play with others. The people who surround us all of our lives have an impact on our beliefs and values, decisions and assumptions, and the way we think about other people in general. Why are some people prejudiced toward certain other people? Why do we obey some people but not others? What causes us to like, to love, or to hate others? The answers to all these questions and many more can be found in the study of social psychology.

3. Learning Objectives LO 10.1 Factors affecting conformity
LO 10.2 Four ways to gain compliance
LO 10.3 Obedience
LO 10.4 Components, formation and change of an attitude
LO 10.5 When attitudes do not match actions
LO 10.6 Social categorization and implicit personality theories
LO 10.7 How people explain others’ actions
LO 10.8 Prejudice and discrimination
LO 10.9 Why people are prejudiced and how to stop it
LO Factors that govern attraction and the different forms of love
LO Biology and learning influences on aggression
LO Altruism and deciding to help others
LO Why people join cults

4. Three Factors of Social Psychology
LO 10.1 Factors affecting conformity
Social psychology
Scientific study of how thoughts, feelings, and behavior are influenced by others
Social influence
The ways behavior can be affected by other people

5. Three Factors of Social Psychology
LO 10.1 Factors affecting conformity
Social psychology
Social cognition
The ways people think about other people
Social interaction
The positive and negative aspects of people relating to others

6. Social Influcence: Conformity
LO 10.1 Factors affecting conformity
Conformity:
Changing one’s own behavior to more closely match the actions of others

7. Social Influcence: Conformity
LO 10.1 Factors affecting conformity
Conformity:
Solomon Asch Study (1951)
Would participant change response in order to fit in with group response?
Participants conformed to group answer over one-third of time
Conformity decreased if there was just one confederate who gave the correct answer
Greater conformity in collectivist cultures

8. Figure Stimuli Used in Asch’s Study Participants in Asch’s famous study on conformity were first shown the standard line. They were then shown the three comparison lines and asked to determine to which of the three was the standard line most similar. Which line would you pick? What if you were one of several people, and everyone who answered ahead of you chose line 3? How would that affect your answer? Source: Adapted from Asch (1956).

9. LO 10.1 Factors affecting conformity
Hazards of Groupthink
LO 10.1 Factors affecting conformity
Groupthink
Emphasis on maintaining group cohesiveness
Less focus on assessing facts of problem
Examples: decision to bomb Iraq, Titanic lifeboat numbers
Can minimize groupthink by seeking opinions outside of group

10. On April 20, 2010, an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico. Oil flowed into the Gulf for three months, but the environmental impact will no doubt be felt for years. How might groupthink apply in this situation?

11. Table 10.1 Characteristics of Groupthink

12. LO 10.2 Four ways to gain compliance
Consumer psychology
Figuring out how to get people to buy items
Compliance
People change behavior as a result of another person or group asking or directing them to change
Person asking other to change has no authority over other

13. Four Ways to Gain Compliance
LO 10.2 Four ways to gain compliance
Foot-in-the-door technique
Asking for a small commitment
After gaining compliance, asking for a bigger commitment
Door-in-the-face technique
Asking for a large commitment and being refused
Next ask for a smaller commitment

14. Four Ways to Gain Compliance
LO 10.2 Four ways to gain compliance
Lowball technique
Getting a commitment from a person
Then raise the cost of that commitment

15. Four Ways to Gain Compliance
LO 10.2 Four ways to gain compliance
That’s-not-all technique
Sales technique where persuader makes offer
Adds something extra to make offer look better
Done before the target person can make a decision

16. Four Ways to Gain Compliance
LO 10.2 Four ways to gain compliance
That’s-not-all technique
Technique relies on Norm of reciprocity
Assumes if someone does something for a person, that person should do something for the other in return.

17. Obedience Obedience Milgram study
LO 10.3 Obedience
Obedience
Changing one’s behavior at the command of an authority figure
Milgram study
“Teacher” administered shocks to “learner”
In first experiments, 65% of “teachers” went all the way to experiment’s 450-volt shock level

18. Milgram’s Experiment In Stanley Milgram’s classic study on obedience, the participants were presented with a control panel like this one. Each participant (“teacher”) was instructed to give electric shocks to another person (the “learner,” who only pretended to be shocked). At what point do you think you would have refused to continue the experiment?

19. Social Cognition: Attitudes
LO 10.3 Obedience
Attitude
Tendency to respond positively or negatively toward person, object, idea, or situation

20. Social Cognition: Attitudes
LO 10.3 Obedience
Three components of attitude:
Affective component
Emotional
Behavioral component
Action taken
Cognitive component
Thoughts about person, object or situation
Attitudes tend to be poor predictors of actual behavior

21. Figure Three Components of an Attitude Attitudes consist of the way a person feels and thinks about something, as well as the way the person chooses to behave. If you like country music, you are also likely to think that country music is good music. You are also more likely to listen to this style of music, buy this type of music, and even go to a performance. Each of the three components influences the other two.

22. Formation of Attitudes
LO Components formation and change of an attitude
Three ways to form attitudes:
Direct contact
With the person, situation, object, or idea
Direct instruction
From parents or others
Interaction with others
Around other people who hold a certain attitude

23. Formation of Attitudes
LO Components formation and change of an attitude
Vicarious Conditioning
Observation of others’ actions and reactions

24. LO 10.4 Components formation and change of an attitude
Persuasion
LO Components formation and change of an attitude
Persuasion
Attempt to change the belief, opinion, position, or course of action of another person
Done through argument, pleading, or explanation

25. How the jurors in this courtroom interpret and process the information they are given will determine the outcome of the trial. Those who listen carefully to what is said by persons involved in the trial are using central-route processing. There may be some jurors, however, who are more affected by the appearance, dress, attractiveness, or tone of voice of the lawyers, defendant, and witnesses. When people are persuaded by factors other than the message itself, it is called peripheral-route processing.

26. LO 10.4 Components formation and change of an attitude
Persuasion
LO Components formation and change of an attitude
Factors in persuasion:
Source of the message
Message itself
Target audience

27. Attitude Change: Persuasion
LO Components formation and change of an attitude
Elaboration likelihood model
People elaborate on the persuasive message or fail to elaborate on it
Future actions of those who do elaborate are more predictable than those who do not
Central-route processing
Attending to the content of the message itself

28. Attitude Change: Persuasion
LO Components formation and change of an attitude
Peripheral-route processing
Attending to factors not involved in the message
Such as: appearance of the source, length of the message, and other non-content factors

29. LO 10.5 When attitudes do not match actions
Cognitive Dissonance
LO 10.5 When attitudes do not match actions
Discomfort or distress that occurs when one’s behavior does not correspond to one’s attitudes
Creates unpleasant tension and arousal

30. LO 10.5 When attitudes do not match actions
Cognitive Dissonance
LO 10.5 When attitudes do not match actions
Three choices for reducing dissonance:
Change conflicting behavior to match attitude
Change current conflicting cognition to justify behavior
Form new cognitions to justify behavior

31. Figure Cognitive Dissonance: Attitude Toward a Task After completing a boring task, some participants were paid $1 and some $20 to convince others waiting to do the same task that the task was interesting and fun. Surprisingly, the participants who were paid only $1 seemed to change their own attitude toward the task, rating it as interesting, whereas those who were paid $20 rated the task no differently than a control group did. Source: Adapted from Festinger and Carlsmith (1959).

32. Social Cognition and Impressions
LO 10.6 Social categorization and implicit personality theories
Impression formation
First knowledge a person has about another person
Primacy effect
First impression one has about a person
Tends to persist even in the face of evidence to the contrary

33. At this job fair in Shanghai, China, thousands of applicants wait hopefully in line for an opportunity to get a job interview. Making a good first impression is important in any job interview situation, but when the competition numbers in the thousands, the people who will most likely get interviews are those who are neatly dressed and well-groomed.

34. Social Cognition and Social Categorization
LO 10.6 Social categorization and implicit personality theories
Social categorization
Automatic, occurs without conscious awareness
Is assignment of a person one has just met to a category
Based on characteristics person has in common with other people experienced in past

35. Social Cognition and Social Categorization
LO 10.6 Social categorization and implicit personality theories
Stereotype
Set of characteristics believed to be shared by all members of a particular social category

36. Social Cognition and Social Categorization
LO 10.6 Social categorization and implicit personality theories
Implicit personality theory
Assumptions about how different types of people, personality traits, and actions are related
Formed in childhood
Not necessarily true but form schemas
Patterns representing believes about types of people
Can become stereotypes

37. LO 10.7 How people explain others’ actions
Attributions
LO How people explain others’ actions
Attribution
Explaining one’s own behavior and the behavior of others
Looks are why certain explanations are chosen

38. LO 10.7 How people explain others’ actions
Attributions
LO How people explain others’ actions
Attribution theory
Situational cause
Behavior attributed to external factors
Such as: delays, the action of others
Dispositional cause
Behavior attributed to internal factors
Such as: personality or character

39. LO 10.7 How people explain others’ actions
Attributions
LO How people explain others’ actions
Fundamental attribution error
actor-observer bias
Tendency to overestimate influence of internal factors in determining behavior of others
Explain behavior by “What kind of person he/she is”
Underestimate situational factors in determining behavior of others

40. Prejudice and Discrimination
LO Prejudice and discrimination
Prejudice
Negative, unsupported attitude
About members of a particular group
The attitude

41. Prejudice and Discrimination
LO Prejudice and discrimination
Discrimination
Treating people differently due to prejudice toward their social group
The behavior
Forms of prejudice include:
Ageism, sexism, racism

42. On September 6, 1957, this high school in Little Rock, Arkansas, became integrated, allowing African American students to attend school with white students. The practice of segregating black and white school children was discrimination, and the desegregation laws were aimed at stopping that discrimination. But the attitudes of prejudice persisted even after the legal discrimination was stopped and to some degree still exist today. The courts can make laws against discrimination, but changing prejudicial attitudes is much more difficult.

43. Types of Prejudice and Discrimination
LO Prejudice and discrimination
In-groups
Social groups a person identifies with
“Us”
Out-groups
Social groups a person does not identify with
“They”

44. Types of Prejudice and Discrimination
LO Prejudice and discrimination
Realistic conflict theory
Prejudice and discrimination increase between groups in conflict over a limited resource
Examples: land, jobs

45. These Korean demonstrators were protesting the riots that followed the 1992 not guilty verdict of the four police officers who were videotaped beating Rodney King. The riots lasted six days, killing 42 people and damaging 700 buildings in mainly Korean and other Asian American neighborhoods. As the most recent immigrants to the area, the Asian American population of Los Angeles, California, became the scapegoats for aggression.

46. How People Learn Prejudice
LO Prejudice and discrimination
Social cognitive theory
Prejudice is acquired through:
Direct instruction
Modeling
Social influences

47. How People Learn Prejudice
LO Prejudice and discrimination
Social identity theory
Formation of identity within social group is explained by:
Social categorization
Social identity
Social comparison

48. Social Identity Theory
LO Why people are prejudiced and how to stop it
Social categorization
Assign selves to social categories to help determine behavior
Social Identity
Self concept
View of self as a member of a social group within the social category

49. Social Identity Theory
LO Why people are prejudiced and how to stop it
Social comparison
Compare self favorably to others to improve own self-esteem

50. Stereotype Vulnerability
LO Why people are prejudiced and how to stop it
The effect that awareness of stereotypes associated with social group has on behavior
Often anxious that behavior might support the stereotype

51. Stereotype Vulnerability
LO Why people are prejudiced and how to stop it
Self-fulfilling prophecy
Expectations affect behavior and make the stereotype expectation more likely
Stereotype threat
Group member anxious about behavior that might support stereotype

52. LO 10.9 Why people are prejudiced and how to stop it
Overcoming Prejudice
LO Why people are prejudiced and how to stop it
Equal status contact
Groups have equal status
Neither group has power over the other
“Jigsaw classroom”
Educational technique
Each individual is given only part of the information needed to solve a problem
Individuals must work together to find solution

53. The Rules of Attraction
LO Factors that govern attraction and the different forms of love
Interpersonal attraction
Desire for a relationship with identified person
Factors involved in attraction:
Physical Attractiveness
More important early in a relationship

54. The Rules of Attraction
LO Factors that govern attraction and the different forms of love
Factors involved in attraction:
Proximity
Physical or geographical nearness
Repeated exposure may increase attraction
Similarity
We prefer being with those who are similar

55. Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love
LO Factors that govern attraction and the different forms of love
Three components of love:
Intimacy
Close emotional ties
Psychological, not physical
Passion
Physical aspect of love, not just sex
Commitment
Decisions one makes about the relationship

56. Figure Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love This diagram represents the seven different kinds of love that can result from combining the three components of love: intimacy, passion, and commitment. Notice that some of these types of love sound less desirable or positive than others. What is the one key element missing from the less positive types of love? Source: Adapted from Sternberg (1986).

57. Aggression and Prosocial Behavior
LO Biology and learning influences on aggression
Aggression
Behavior intended to hurt or destroy another person
Frustration, pain can lead to aggression toward available target
Freud – felt aggression was a basic human instinct

58. Aggression and Biology
LO Biology and learning influences on aggression
Human aggression has at least partially a genetic basis
Amygdala and limbic system trigger aggressive responses when stimulated
Testosterone
Linked to higher levels of aggression in humans

59. The Power of Social Roles
LO Biology and learning influences on aggression
Social role
Pattern of behavior expected of in a particular social position
Zimbardo Prison Experiment
College students simulated prison
Experiment terminated after five days
Students in guard role became aggressive
Social roles have a strong influence on behavior

60. This photograph shows a “guard” searching a “prisoner” in Zimbardo’s famous Stanford prison experiment. The students in the experiment became so deeply involved in their assigned roles that Zimbardo had to cancel the experiment after only five days—less than half the time originally scheduled for the study.

61. Violence in the Media and Aggression
LO Biology and learning influences on aggression
Methodological problems present in media violence research
Earlier studies failed to consider the type of video games:
Difficulty level, pace, and competitive level
Measures of aggression in studies could be measuring competitiveness
Problem with operational definitions

62. Violence in the Media and Aggression
LO Biology and learning influences on aggression
Presence of depression and depressive symptoms
More relevant predictor of violent aggression than playing violent video games

63. LO 10.12 Altruism and deciding to help others
Pro-social behavior
Socially desirable behavior that benefits others
Altruism
Prosocial behavior done with no expectation of reward
May involve the risk of harm to oneself

64. LO 10.12 Altruism and deciding to help others
Bystander Effect
LO Altruism and deciding to help others
Bystander effect
Effect the presence of other people has on the decision to help or not help
Help becomes less likely as the number of bystanders increases

65. LO 10.12 Altruism and deciding to help others
Bystander Effect
LO Altruism and deciding to help others
Diffusion of responsibility
Individual fails to take responsibility for actions or inaction
Presence of other people are seen as sharing the responsibility

66. Figure Elements Involved in Bystander Response In a classic experiment, participants were filling out surveys as the room began to fill with smoke. As you can see in the accompanying graph, the time taken to report smoke and the percentage of people reporting smoke both depended on how many people were in the room at the time the smoke was observed. If a person was alone, he or she was far more likely to report the smoke and report it more quickly than when there were three people. Source: Latané & Darle (1969).

67. Five Steps in Making a Decision to Help
LO Altruism and deciding to help others
Noticing
Defining an emergency
Taking responsibility
Planning a course of action
Taking action

68. Table 10.2 Help or Don't Help: Five Decision Points

69. LO 10.13 Why people join cults
Who joins?
Those under stress, dissatisfied with life, unassertive, gullible, dependent, and idealistic
Young people are likelier to join cults than are older people
Techniques of persuasion used
Leaving is difficult, often requires “deprogramming”

70. In 1978, the Reverend Jim Jones, leader of the People’s Temple in Jonestown, Guyana, ordered his followers to drink poisoned drinks or shoot each other. Of the cult members, 640 adults died and 274 children were either killed by their own hands or those of their parents.