Psy 301 Chase1 The funny things we do... Kate Niederhoffer Social and Personality Psychology University of Texas at Austin 4/06/04

Psy 301 Chase2 Introduction Classic Rocks in Social psychology  The “cool” psychology

Psy 301 Chase3 “Mood and Math” n = 6-8 “Mood & Math”  Introductions  Place of origin  Embarrassing moments Rating self vs. others questionnaire (appearance, intelligence) Mat test

Psy 301 Chase4 The very next day… ***Same group***  Favorite childhood moment  Favorite food and why Self vs. others “Someone in this room…”  Who is it?  How many people will guess right?

Psy 301 Chase5 The Spotlight Effect “People tend to believe the social spotlight shines more brightly on them than it actually does” Repeat offender study Bad hair days Embarrassing t-shirts Absenteeism

Psy 301 Chase6 Wegner: On being a bat… On seeing life from the perspective of an animal that can't see "We're all in that position with regard to other minds, generally -- we don't really know what it's like to be other people. Much of what social psychology is about is being able to think and talk about experience in a way that helps us bridge the gap from one mind to another.”

Psy 301 Chase7 Enough about me… Compared to other UT students (same year and sex), rate yourself on the following attributes…  Leadership  Creativity  Energy Level  Sincerity  Athleticism…

Psy 301 Chase8 Above Average Effect Ability% ppl “above average” Getting along with others 89% Written expression 64% Spoken expression 63% Leadership70% Athletics60%

Psy 301 Chase9 How You Rank Ability% Chase students “above average” Leadership91% Athletic Ability70% Energy Level71% Creativity90% Sincerity89% Intelligence79% Trustworthiness93%

Psy 301 Chase10 Need to feel good about ourselves  Seeing ourselves and anything connected to us in positive light. Seek connectedness Strive for mastery Fundamental Motives:

Psy 301 Chase11 Fundamental motives Need to feel good about ourselves Seek connectedness  Creating and maintaining feelings of mutual support, liking and acceptance. Strive for mastery

Psy 301 Chase12 On fitting in: Video

Imagine...

Psy 301 Chase14 Asch, 1955 Which of the comparison lines is the same as the standard line?

Psy 301 Chase15 76% went along with the clearly incorrect majority at least once In all, P’s conformed 37% of the time However, 24% NEVER conformed What did participants do?

Psy 301 Chase16 More movies…

Psy 301 Chase17 Also in the name of connectedness We want to be seen as likable (AA) To fit in (Elevator) To gain approval (Picketing) To conform to others preferences Affiliation, friendship, intimacy…

Psy 301 Chase18 Misattribution of Arousal: Dutton & Aron (1973) Capilano Canyon Suspension bridge 5 feet wide, 450 feet long Wooden boards attached to wire cables -spanning a height of 250 feet “Scenic Attractions on Creativity”

Psy 301 Chase19 The effects of “scenic attractions on creativity” Vs.

Psy 301 Chase20 Misattribution of Arousal (Dutton & Aron, 1973)

Psy 301 Chase21 Real World vs. Road Rules

Psy 301 Chase22 Fundamental motives Need to feel good about ourselves Seek connectedness Strive for mastery  Understanding ourselves and world around us. Trying to predict and control outcomes.

Psy 301 Chase23 For the next 3 minutes… Write down your thoughts. Anything that comes to mind…

Psy 301 Chase24 Emotional Expression Increases in Health Better grades Faster to find jobs Better immunological functioning Increasing causal & insight words, moderate positive and negative emotions

Psy 301 Chase25 Changes in Handwriting

Psy 301 Chase26 For the next 3 minutes… Try not to think of a white bear

Psy 301 Chase27 For the next 3 minutes… Go ahead and think of a white bear

Psy 301 Chase28 Rebound Effect GROUPPHASE 2 Rings PHASE 3 Rings Experim ental 616 Control Phase 1: 5min Verbalization. Phase 2: Don’t think of White Bear (experimental only) Phase 3: Think about White Bear

Psy 301 Chase29 Trying to control our minds Don’t think of a white bear Don’t swing the pendulum on the forbidden axis Don’t eat chocolate "They mentioned a white bear about once a minute," “Then, if I asked them to think about anything at all, they would mention white bears more often than if I had initially asked them to think about white bears on purpose.“ Irony: Easy to change our mind, get new ideas, see new perspective, but when we try NOT to think about something…

Psy 301 Chase30 Hard to tell ourselves not to do something… BUT, easy to be told what to do

Psy 301 Chase31 When to help? The greater number who see an emergency…  more/less likely to help? Where would you rather have a bike accident? 38 ppl watched Kitty Genovese and did nothing… Darley & Latané: Seizure study

Psy 301 Chase32 Helping: Darley & Latané “ I-er-um-I think I –I need-er-if-if could er-er somebody er-er-er-er-er-er give me a little-er-give me a little help here because-er-I-er-I’m-er-h-h-having a-a-a real problem –er right now and I-er-if somebody could help me out it would- it would-er-er s-s-sure be good… because-er-there-er-ag cause I er-I-uh-I’ve got one of the-er-sei—er-er-things coming on and- and-and I could really use some help so if somebody would-er give me a little h-help-uh-er-er-er-er c-ould somebody-er er-help-er-uh-uh-uh [choking sounds]… I’m gonna die-er-er… help-er-er-seizure [chokes, then quiet]”

Bystander Intervention Seconds from start of seizure % participants responding with help

Psy 301 Chase34 Social Psychology The scientific study of how people’s thoughts feelings and behaviors are influenced by the real or imagined presence of others  = The power of the situation