Social Psychology Studying the way people relate to others. Attitude Attraction Aggression Group Behavior

Attitudes

Attitude and Behavior Do attitudes tell us about someone’s behavior? Cognitive Dissonance Theory People want to have consistent attitudes and behaviors….when they are not they experience dissonance (unpleasant tension). Usually they will change their attitude to accomodate the behavior You have a belief that cheating on tests is bad. But you cheat on a test!!! The teacher was really bad so in that class it is OK.

Example Simon thinks he is an animal lover, and then kicks a cat in the street for getting in his way, there will be a huge level of tension in his mind. To reduce this, the mind will change his beliefs and attitude, or blame, deny or justify: – “The cat deserved it for running in front of a larger animal (me).” – “The cat must be stupid anyway for running into me.” – “Cats are my least favourite animal anyway.” Although Simon might have originally disagreed with these statements, his mind justifies his actions to reduce dissonance. Take a look at this clever comic strip which shows an example of Cognitive Dissonance (in a more humorous light!):

Compliance Strategies Foot-in-the-door phenomenon - when someone has complied with a small request it is easier to get them to take the next step Door-in-the-face phenomenon - the persuader makes an unreasonable request that the subject will absolutely refuse like “slamming” the door in the face of the persuader. It is now more likely that the subject will agree to a smaller second request.

Attribution Theory (Heider 1958) Tries to explain how people determine the cause of the behavior they observe. It is either a…. Situational Attribution (due to events or environment) Dispositional Attribution (due to the person’s character Example – Why is that driver driving so crazily???

Fundamental Attribution Error We tend to overestimate the role of dispositional factors in people’s behavior. How do you view your teacher’s behavior? You probably attribute it to their personality rather than their experience or circumstances. But do you really know?

Self-Serving Bias If you win it is because you are awesome… if you lose, it must have been the coach or weather or…. if you lose, it must have been the coach or weather or….

Just world Phenomenon We need to believe there is justice in the world. Good always conquers evil! “What goes around comes around!” Karma Except that in reality sometimes the bad guys win, sometimes cheaters prosper and sometimes nasty people never get their commuppance!

Results in 1. Victim blaming “They shouldn’t have raped her and put it on the Internet but she was wasted at the party and always acting like a Sl--. What did she expect?” “If the cops shot him they must have been afraid for their lives – they must have had a reason.” 2. Failure to speak out against human rights violations “If you don’t have anything to hide then who cares if the NSA knows about your cell phone conversations.”

Psychology of Aggression Physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy. Theories of Aggression: Bandura’s Modeling Biological risk factors genes head injury hormones

Frustration- Aggression principle Frustration is a trigger to aggression When aversive events occur over which we have no control we experience frustration (example heat wave – below) Higher levels of frustration correlate to greater instances of aggression

Altruism Unselfish regard for the well being of other – Helping behavior – Can be facilitated by pro-social learning models Social –exchange theory – idea that altruistic acts always come after an individual has weighed the benefits and costs of helping and found some kind of benefit (denies true altruism)

Prosocial Behavior Kitty Genovese case in Kew Gardens NY. Bystander Effect: Conditions in which people are more or less likely to help one another. In general…the more people around…the less chance of help….because of… Diffusion of Responsibility Pluralistic Ignorance People decide what to do by looking to others.

Attraction

Proximity Geographic nearness Mere exposure effect: Repeated exposure to something breeds liking.

How groups affect our behavior?

Social Facilitation Theory If you are really good at something….or it is an easy task…you will perform BETTER in front of a group. If it is a difficult task or you are not very good at it…you will perform WORSE in front of a group (social impairment). Deindividuation – we lose our sense of individual accountability in groups. Our inhibitions are lowered in groups. This sometimes can lead to uncharacteristically violent or reckless behavior “Men go crazy in congregations, they only get better one by one.” – Sting, All This Time

Conformity Studies Adjusting one’s behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard.

Asch’s Study of Conformity

Asch’s Results Over 1/3 of the participants conformed throughout 70% conformed at least once. To strengthen conformity: The group is unanimous The group is at least three people. One admires the group’s status One had made no prior commitment

Milgram’s Study Of Obedience

Results of the Milgram Study

What did we learn from Milgram? Ordinary people can do shocking things.

Social Loafing The tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling efforts toward a common goal than if they were individually accountable.

Group Polarization Groups tend to make more extreme decisions than the individual. Rather than the group “averaging out” the extremes the groups tends to go further to an extreme – shift to either extremely cautious or extremely risky

Groupthink Group members suppress their reservations about the ideas supported by the group. They are more concerned with group harmony. Worse in highly cohesive groups. Can explain why really bad decisions can be made by groups. Hazing in college fraternities, invasions of countries etc.

Deindividuation People get swept up in a group and lose sense of self. Feel anonymous and aroused. Explains rioting behaviors.

Zimbardo’s Prison Study Showed how we deindividuate AND become the roles we are given. Philip Zimbardo has students at Stanford U play the roles of prisoner and prison guards in the basement of psychology building. They were given uniforms and numbers for each prisoner. What do you think happened?