© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Social Psychology Social Cognition What factors influence how people think and behave in social situations? How do people select, interpret, remember, and use social information? Social Influence How are our behaviors influenced by other individuals and groups? Social Relations How do people define themselves in terms of group membership? What factors determine aggressive and pro-social behaviors?

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Social Psychology: The Study of Thoughts, Feelings, and Behavior Influenced By the Real, or Implied Presence of Others Social Psychology studies how we think about our social world, how other people influence our behavior, and how we relate toward other people. Describe the situation… What is happening in this photo?

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Implicit Personality Theory Find a partner and sit face to face One person at a time… Follow the directions on the sheet. WHEN YOU ARE FINISHED ANSWER THE 10 FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS WITH YOUR PARTNER * Fritz Heider People appraise the behavior of others based on opinions, ideas, convictions, and feelings that they previously held. What can be the problems of this process? What can be the benefits of this process?

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Social Cognition

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Three Components of an Attitude Affective Influenced by or resulting from our emotions. Behavioral Influenced by our learned behavioral patterns. Cognitive Influenced by our perceptions (what we think about stimulus).

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Attitudes An attitude is a positive or negative evaluative reaction toward a stimulus, such as a person, action, object, or concept. Attitudes represent an important form of social thinking. They help define who we are, and they affect the way people judge one another.

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Cognitive Dissonance: When Actions Do Not Match Attitudes When two or more cognitions contradict one another, the person experiences an uncomfortable state of tension (cognitive dissonance), and becomes motivated to reduce this dissonance.

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Describe how the individual could lessen the inconsistency created by cognitive dissonance Scenario #1: A smoker views countless advertisements warning of the dangers of cigarettes. The smoker continues to smoke regardless of how many of these types of warnings she sees. Scenario #2 A young man buys a used car for $4,500. It does not have many of the options he would like, but it is all he can afford. Two weeks after his purchase, another car becomes available for the same cost but with better options. He cannot return the car he bought.

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Attitude Change Persuasion: the intersection of social thinking and social influence. Key elements of persuasion: Communicator credibility The message The audience Mere exposure effect MessageTarget + Highly Involved + Motivated + Attentive + Uninvolved + Unmotivated + Inattentive Weaker, less persistent attitude change Central route processing Peripheral route processing Stronger, lasting attitude change

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Social Influence : Compliance The adjustment of individual behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs to meet a group standard. Foot-in-the-door Door-in-the-face

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Attribution Attribution theory seeks to explain how we decide, on the basis of samples of an individual’s behavior, what the specific causes of that person’s behavior are. Person (internal) – personality traits, moods, etc. Situation (external) – task, other people, etc. Stable (constant) – always/usually/consistent Person Stable v. Situation Stable Unstable (temporary) – rarely/one time Person Unstable v. Situation Unstable

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Cognitive Bias: Ways of thinking that lead to errors in our perceptions of people and ourselves Fundamental attribution error Overestimate personal attributes while ignoring situational attributes Actor-observer bias

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Cognitive Bias: Ways of thinking that lead to errors in our perceptions of people and ourselves Self-serving bias “I am responsible for my success” “The situation is responsible for my failure” Just-world bias: people get what they deserve

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Social Influence Stanley Milgram Solomon Asch Philip Zimbardo

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Social Norms: Shared expectations about how people should think, feel, and behave Social norms are the glue that binds social systems together. Some norms are formal laws, but many are implicit and unspoken. Social norms regulate daily behavior without our conscious awareness; we take them for granted until they are violated.

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Informative Social Influence Following the behavior and opinions of others because we believe that they have accurate knowledge and that what they are doing is right. Normative Social Influence Conforming to obtain the rewards that come from being accepted by other people while at the same time avoiding their rejection.

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Social Role: How people in a given social position ought to behave Social roles of “college student”, “professor”, “police officer”, and “spouse” carry different sets of behavior expectations.

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Group dynamics can influence behavior

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Group dynamics can influence behavior Important factors considered by social psychologists include: Group polarizationDeindividuation Groupthink

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Pluralistic ignorance

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Social Relations In-group bias Out-group homogeneity

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Prejudice and Discrimination Prejudices are the negative (or positive) evaluation of a particular group and its members. Discrimination is the actual behavior directed toward individuals based on one’s prejudices.

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Aggression The intentional injury of, or harm to, another person. Types of aggression include: Instinct Approach: Aggression is an innate, or inborn, reaction due to our natural fight and survival instinct. Frustration-Aggression Approach: Feelings of frustration lead to anger which can then lead to a readiness to act aggressively. Observational Learning Approach: Social and environmental conditions can teach individuals to be aggressive.

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Factors influencing attraction Important factors considered by social psychologists include: Proximity Similarity Halo effect “What is beautiful is good” Reciprocal liking Self-disclosure

© The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Prosocial Behavior Altruism: helping behavior that is clearly beneficial to others, but often includes self-sacrifice. The Basic Steps of Helping Noticing a person, event, or situation that may require help Interpreting the event as one that requires help Assuming responsibility for helping Deciding on and implementing the form of helping