Chapters 18 & 19: Social Psychology NOTES

What is social psychology? The area of psychological study that focuses on human-to-human interaction, relationships, and social phenomenon

Three (3) Main Foci of Social Psychology: 1.How we think about one another 2.How we influence one another 3.How we relate to one another

Social Cognition… The methods we use to process, store, and retrieve information about social interactions Example #1: You may memorize details about the group dynamics of your friends during elementary school, but not process as much information about indoor recess days.

Why You Need Friends:  Reduces uncertainty  To compare our feelings and experiences to others’  For support during personal crises

How Do You Choose Friends? 1.Proximity – people who are close by and are more likely to interact with them on a frequent basis 2.Rewards a)Stimulation – people who are interesting, imaginative, or adventuresome b)Utility – people who are willing to give their time and resources to assist you in achieving your goals c)Ego-support value – people who are sympathetic, gives encouragement, and approval 3.Physical Appearance – people who we consider to be of a similar level of attractiveness as ourselves 4.Approval – people who tend to agree with and support us 5.Similarity – people of similar backgrounds, attitudes, and interests similar to your own 6.Complementarity – opposites attract; ying-yang variable

First Impressions… Primacy effect: the tendency to form opinions on others based on first impressions Stereotype: over-simplified categorization of a group of people (SEED) Prejudice: Preconceived attitudes toward a person or group that have been formed without sufficient evidence and are not easily changed (THOUGHT) Discrimination: the ill-treatment of someone different that others based on prejudice (BEHAVIOR)

Attitudes…  3 Components:  Cognitive  Emotional  Behavioral  Do our attitudes guide our behaviors?  Foot-in-the-door phenomenon… s s  Door-in-the-face phenomenon…  Cognitive Dissonance theory…

Prejudice leads to…  Perpetuating stereotypes of others  Ingroup vs. Outgroup:  Scapegoating:  Bullying:  Blame-the-Victim Phenomenon:  Just-World Phenomenon:

Romantic Relationships

Attraction:  Proximity and mere exposure effect  Appearance and attractiveness  Similarity

Romantic Love Passionate Love vs. Companionate Love

Influences…

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: The tendency to believe, predict or expect something that initiates action to bring about its own fulfillment Pair Partner Discussion: 1.Share with your pair partner an incident of self-fulfilling prophecy within your life experience. 2.Discuss how this technique could be either positive or negative for you.

Persuasion: A direct attempt to influence attitudes 1.The Source 2.The Message 3.The Channel 4.The Audience

Models of Persuasion 1.The Sleeper Effect - delayed impact on attitude change of a persuasive communication (aka SEED EFFECT) 2.The Inoculation Effect – causes a person to defend their stance on an issue by challenging his/her beliefs 3.Brainwashing – involves psychological games and/or physical torture to cause change in attitude/belief system

Conformity  Reasons for conforming  To be social accepted  To avoid the spotlight  To maintain a sense of calm or normalcy  Group Pressure – Solomon Asch’s experiment (with lines)  Informational vs. Normative Social Influence

Obedience:  Watch the re-enactment of Stanley Milgram’s famous “obedience to authority” study…  What are the implications of the studies in conformity and obedience???

Individual Behavior When Others are Present Social thinking:  Deindividuation (mob mentality)  Social facilitation  Hawthorne Effect  Social loafing  Group polarization  Group think  Minority Influence  Cultural Influences  Collectivism  Individualism  Gender Roles

Dealing with Conflict

Aggression  Define “Aggression” (activity)  Biological Influences on aggression  Genetic  Neural  Biochemical  Psychological Influences on aggression  Aversive events  Frustration-aggression principle  Sociocultural Influences  Learning and modeling (Bandura’s Experiment)

Social Conflict  Self-serving bias  Fundamental attribution error  Polarization