Social Psychology Unit 14

Social Psychology Social psychology - study of how we think about, influence, and relate to others

Situational Behavior Fritz Heider - attribution theory people measure others’ behavior by either their internal disposition or the external situation that they’re in fundamental attribution error we tend to overestimate a person’s natural personality and underestimate the position that they’re in

Attitudes and actions Attitudes feelings that drive us to respond to a situation, person, or event in a certain way

Persuasion central route persuasion a change-of-attitude where people evaluate arguments and respond with favorable thoughts peripheral route persuasion a change-of-attitude where people are influenced by quick cues and make quick judgments

Persuasion foot-in-the-door phenomenon - if a person goes along with a small requests, he or she will go along with bigger requests Example - Korean War POWS

Role playing People tend to behave in a manner that they think is appropriate for whatever role they are in “Zimbardo Prison Experiment” - Philip Zimbardo at Stanford in 1972.

Attitudes matching Actions cognitive dissonance theory We try to bring our attitudes and our actions together to relieve tension we rationalize/make excuses Or we change action or attitudes

Conformity and obedience “chameleon effect” “mood linkage” Conformity - changing behavior or thinking to the group’s norm

Conformity and obedience Solomon Asch – Study Observations Insecurity. Group must have 3+ people. The group is unanimous. Someone in the group is admired. No commitment has been made yet. Others watch one another. Your culture values social standards.

Conformity and Obedience reasons we conform are… To avoid being ostracized, which can be a serious punishment. normative social influence -adjust our behavior to that of the group’s. informational social influence - go along with the group lest we be “left out of the loop.” Culture – East more than West

Conformity and Obedience Obedience - obeying the directions of an authority figure Milgram Experiment or the “Obedience to Authority Experiment.” most people (63%) went all the way to 450 volts

Group influence Social facilitation - better performance while someone is watching Physical Stimulus Social loafing - people put forth less effort while in a group as compared to being on their own. Less accountable and rely on group

Group Influence Deindividuation - giving up normal restraints and giving in to the crowd. “herd poisoning”

Group Influences Group polarization - differences between two groups will widen as time passes. Ex. - Political views “Groupthink” - everyone in the group quietly goes along with the others to keep harmony, even though the idea may be unrealistic

Cultural influence Culture impacts behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions. Different cultures have their own variations. Personal space Punctuality Culture’s change over time

Prejudice Prejudice - “prejudge”—to draw a conclusion prior to analyzing a situation. stereotypes Discriminate - to draw a distinction between two things

Prejudice “blame-the-other-guy” mentality Ex. Rich v poor – Victims or poor decisions “ingroup” vs “outgroup” scapegoat theory Ex. Nazi Germany Simplified - “us-them” mentality Other race effect – Seeing differences in own group but not another group

Prejudice just-world phenomenon - good behavior is rewarded and bad behavior is punished Hindsight bias

Aggression Aggression - any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy Aggression biological factors Genetics - ex. Male more than women Neural influences - ex. amygdala Biochemical influences – ex. hormones, drugs, etc.

Aggression frustration-aggression principle - when things go badly, we’re more inclined to get aggressive revenge More aggressive when cranky

Aggression Aggression being modeled Parents - yelling and beating their children TV and movies - aggressive and violent

Aggression Social scripts - “screenplays”, conveyed by the media and our culture, that show us how to act in situations. Example - video games “cartharsis hypothesis”- outlet to release emotions NOT supported by research

Attraction Factors for Attraction Proximity Mere exposure effect – longer we are exposed the more we like it Physical appearance Similarity – people like us Reward Theory of attraction – we like those that give us rewarding experience

Romantic Love Passionate love - usually brought on by arousal. fright, aerobic exercise, eroticism, funny or crude talk. Companionate love- steady, deep affection

Altruism Altruism put others ahead of ourselves 1964 rape and murder of Kitty Genovese if there are several people present during an emergency, we’re less likely to take action

Altruism Helping others The person seems to need help. The person seems similar to us. We’ve just observed someone else being helpful. We’re not in a hurry. We’re in a small town or rural area. We’re feeling guilty. We’re not preoccupied. We’re in a good mood. This is one of the most consistent findings. When people are happy, they’re more inclined to help.

Altruism “Why do people help others anyway?’ exchange theory - “cost-benefit analysis” or “utilitarianism” intrinsic rewards reciprocity norm - should give help (not harm) to those who’ve helped us social-responsibility norm - should help those who are in need.

Conflict and peacemaking Conflict - perceived incompatibility of actions, goals, or ideas Social traps - our self-interest leads us into lose- lose situations Jean Jacques Rousseau - Prisoners’ Dilemma

Conflict and peacemaking mirror-image perception concept - tend to view others as evil and untrustworthy and they see us the same way Self Fulfilling prophecy

Conflict and peacemaking Cooperation superordinate goals—shared goals that cancel out differences Communication is critical mediators needed

Conflict and peacemaking Conciliation - overcoming disagreements and giving in to, or appeasing, another person Charles Osgood “ GRIT” (Graduated and Reciprocated Initiatives in Tension-Reduction)

Conflict and peacemaking Announce mutual interests and plans to lessen tensions Make a small conciliatory act - opens the door to reciprocity If the enemy responds with reconciliation, that gets another conciliatory response. If the enemy responds with aggression, appropriate action is taken. In laboratories - GRIT works In real-life – GRIT doesn’t Hitler – Chamberlain Hussein Iran