Social Psychology: The power of groups zTh z The study of the manner in which the personality, attitudes, motivations, and behavior of the individual influence and are influenced by social groups.

Cultural influence zCulture dictates how you dress. zCulture specifies what you eat and do not eat. zPeople from different cultures seek different amounts of personal space. zCultural truisms: zNorms:

Chameleon Effect zhttp:// /199911/were-all-copycatshttp:// /199911/were-all-copycats

Conformity  Conformity: voluntarily yielding to social norms, even at the expense of one’s preferences.

Conformity: The Asch Experiment

The more difficult the decision, the greater the conformity. Difficult judgments Easy judgments Conformity highest on important judgments Low High Importance 50%

Obedience zObedience: change of behavior in response to a command from another person, typically an authority figure. zFactors that increase obedience:

Obedience: The Milgram Experiment

A good impact of being in a group: social facilitation  At times, people will improve their performance of tasks in the presence of others  Occurs with simple or well-learned tasks but not with tasks that are difficult or not yet mastered  Expert pool players who made 71% of shots by themselves make 80% when 4 people are watching; poor pool players who made 36% alone made 25% when watched.  Laughter: comedy CDs that are mildly amusing in an uncrowded room seem funnier in a densely packed room (i.e. laugh tracks on TVs): “a good house is a full house”  Driving: After a light turns green, drivers take 15% less time to travel the first 100 yards than when alone  Can you think of activities that you do better when others are watching?

Social Facilitation in sports

The bad: social loafing  The tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when working individually.  Ingham’s 1974 “tug of war” experiment:

The bad: bystander effect zWe only help when a situation enables us to notice a situation, interpret it as an emergency, and assume responsibility zDiffusion of responsibility: zhttp:// e/serial_killers/predators/kitty_ge novese/1.htmlhttp:// e/serial_killers/predators/kitty_ge novese/1.html zHave you ever seen a car accident or other bad event and hesitated before getting involved, or decided not to get involved at all?

The bad: deindividuation  Loss of self-awareness and self-restraint in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity.  srv/national/daily/july99/woodstock29.ht m srv/national/daily/july99/woodstock29.ht m  What other kinds of things will people do when they are in a crowd or a mob?

The bad: group polarization  Over time, initial differences between different groups tends to grow  Do you spend most of your time with people who have the same opinions, or do you seek out differences?

Group polarization

The bad: groupthink zWhen the desire for harmony in a decision- making group overrides realistic appraisal of alternatives: Challenger, Bay of Pigs, Iraq War, etc. zCan you think of other examples?