©Prentice Hall Understanding Psychology 6 th Edition Charles G. Morris and Albert A. Maisto PowerPoint Presentation by H. Lynn Bradman Metropolitan Community College

©Prentice Hall Chapter 14 Social Psychology

©Prentice Hall What Is Social Psychology? The scientific study of the ways in which the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of an individual are influenced by the real or imagined behavior of others.

©Prentice Hall Social Cognition Impression formation Attribution Interpersonal attraction

©Prentice Hall Impression Formation Schemata Primacy effect Self-fulfilling prophecies Stereotypes

©Prentice Hall Schemata The use of schemata speeds information processing. Schematic processing aids in encoding and recall of personal information.

©Prentice Hall Primacy Effect The theory that early information about someone weighs more heavily than later information in influencing one’s impression of that person.

©Prentice Hall Self-Fulfilling Prophecies The process in which a person’s expectation about another elicits behavior from the second person that confirms the expectation.

©Prentice Hall Stereotypes A special type of schema about members of a social category. Stereotypes may contribute to self-fulfilling prophecies.

©Prentice Hall Attribution Theory The theory that addresses the question of how people make judgments about the causes of behavior. Behavior is typically explained as being the result of either internal or external factors.

©Prentice Hall Three Types of Information Used to Determine Causality Distinctiveness: –Uniqueness of circumstances Consistency: –Degree to which behavior is typical of the individual in similar circumstances Consensus: –Degree to which behavior in this circumstance is typical of most people

©Prentice Hall Biases in Attributions Fundamental attribution error Defensive attribution Just-world hypothesis

©Prentice Hall Fundamental Attribution Error The tendency of people to overemphasize personal causes for other people’s behavior and to underemphasize personal causes for their own behavior.

©Prentice Hall Defensive Attribution Sometimes referred to as the self-serving bias. Our successes are attributed to internal factors Our failures are attributed to external factors.

©Prentice Hall Just-World Hypothesis An attribution error based on the assumption that bad things happen to bad people and good things happen to good people.

©Prentice Hall Factors Involved in Interpersonal Attraction Proximity: –How close two people live to each other. Physical attractiveness: –We tend to ascribe a host of positive qualities to physically attractive individuals.

©Prentice Hall Factors Involved in Interpersonal Attraction Similarity: –We tend to be attracted to people who share our attitudes, interests, values, and beliefs. Exchange: –We are attracted to those individuals with whom we exchange rewards.

©Prentice Hall Exchange Equity: –We prefer to have equitable (equal give and take) relationships. Gain-loss theory: –We prefer increases in positive evaluation by others to steady positive evaluation.

©Prentice Hall Factors Involved in Interpersonal Attraction Intimacy: –The quality of genuine closeness and trust achieved in communication with another person. Self-disclosure: –The revealing of personal experiences and opinions.

©Prentice Hall Attitudes Attitudes are important because they often influence behavior. We cannot always tell people's attitudes from their actions.

©Prentice Hall What is an attitude? A relatively stable organization of beliefs, feelings, and behavior tendencies directed toward something or someone—the attitude object.

©Prentice Hall Three Components of an Attitude Evaluative beliefs about the attitude object Feelings toward the attitude object Behavioral tendencies toward the attitude object

©Prentice Hall Self-Monitoring The tendency for one to observe a situation for cues about how to react. High self-monitors may change their behavior to meet the demands of the situation.

©Prentice Hall How Do We Acquire Our Attitudes? From early, direct personal experiences Parents, teachers, friends, famous people The mass media

©Prentice Hall Prejudice and Discrimination Prejudice: –An unfair, intolerant, or unfavorable attitude toward a group of people. Discrimination: –An unfair act or series of acts taken toward an entire group of people or individual members of that group.

©Prentice Hall Sources of Prejudice Frustration-aggression theory Authoritarian personality

©Prentice Hall Frustration-Aggression Theory The theory that under certain circumstances people who are frustrated in their goals turn their anger away from the proper, powerful target toward another, less powerful target that is safer to attack.

©Prentice Hall Authoritarian Personality A personality pattern characterized by rigid conventionality, exaggerated respect for authority, and hostility toward people who defy society’s norms.

©Prentice Hall Two Types of Racism Modern racism: –A subtle and less extreme form of prejudice reflected by agreement with statements that civil rights groups are too extreme or that African Americans receive more respect and benefits than they deserve. Institutional racism: –Discrimination that occurs because of the overall effect of institutions and policies.

©Prentice Hall Using the Contact Hypothesis to Reduce Prejudice Members of opposing groups must have equal status. One-on-one contact is necessary. Contact improves under cooperation. The social norms should encourage contact.

©Prentice Hall The Process of Persuasion Must attend to the message, Comprehend the message, And accept it as convincing

©Prentice Hall Four Elements of Effective Persuasion The source The message The medium of communication Characteristics of the audience

©Prentice Hall The Source Must appeal to the audience Must be credible

©Prentice Hall The Message Novel arguments are more persuasive than old arguments. The message is more successful when both sides of arguments are presented. The use of fear sometimes works.

©Prentice Hall The Medium of Communication The most effective medium is face-to-face appeals or the lessons of our own experience. Writing is best suited for complex arguments. Videotape or live media is best for an audience that already grasps the basics of an argument.

©Prentice Hall Characteristics of the Audience Certain personality characteristics make some people more susceptible to attitude change: –People with low self-esteem are more easily influenced. –Highly intelligent people tend to resist persuasion because they can think of counterarguments more easily.

©Prentice Hall Characteristics of the Audience Attitudes are most resistant to change if: –The audience has a strong commitment to its present attitudes. –Those attitudes are shared by other people. –The attitudes were instilled during early childhood by such pivotal groups as the family.

©Prentice Hall Cognitive Dissonance Perceived inconsistency between two cognitions (a piece of knowledge or a belief). An unpleasant psychological tension is created and we want to alleviate this tension.

©Prentice Hall Cognitive Dissonance Attitude change can occur due to cognitive dissonance if a small reward is given for a behavior that is attitude discrepant.

©Prentice Hall Ways to Reduce Cognitive Dissonance Increase the number of thoughts that support one of the beliefs. Reduce the importance of one of the cognitions.

©Prentice Hall Social Influence The process by which others individually or collectively affect one’s perceptions, attitudes, and actions.

©Prentice Hall Social Influence and Culture Culture: –All the goods, both tangible and intangible, produced in a society. Cultural truism: –The belief that most members of a society accept as self-evidently true.

©Prentice Hall Social Influence and Culture Norm: –A shared idea or expectation about how to behave. Cultural norm: –A behavioral rule shared by an entire society.

©Prentice Hall Conformity Voluntarily yielding to social norms, even at the expense of one’s own preferences.

©Prentice Hall Asch’s Findings Overall, subjects conformed on about 35% of the trials. Two factors influence the likelihood a person will conform: –Characteristics of the situation –Characteristics of the individual

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©Prentice Hall Characteristics of the Situation Size of the group: –Likelihood of conformity increases until four confederates are present Degree of unanimity –Just one “ally” eases the pressure to conform Nature of task: –When task is difficult, poorly defined, or ambiguous there is higher conformity

©Prentice Hall Characteristics of the Individual Likelihood to conform increases when one: Is attracted to the group Expects future interaction with the group Has low status in the group Does not feel completely accepted

©Prentice Hall Compliance A change of behavior in response to an explicit request from another person or group. –Foot-in-the-door effect –Lowball procedure –Door-in-the-face effect

©Prentice Hall Foot-in-the-Door Effect Once people have granted a small request, they are more likely to comply with a larger request.

©Prentice Hall Lowball Procedure First, one must be induced to agree to do something. Then, the cost of compliance is raised.

©Prentice Hall Door-in-the-Face Effect A person initially refuses to grant a large request, but agrees to grant a smaller second request. This technique may work because people interpret the smaller request as a concession by the person asking for the request.

©Prentice Hall Obedience A change of behavior in response to a command from another person, typically an authority figure.

©Prentice Hall Milgram’s Obedience Studies Classic work by Stanley Milgram showed that many people were willing to obey orders to administer harmful shocks to other people. This obedience to an authority figure was more likely when certain situational factors were present. For example, people found it harder to disobey when the authority figure issuing the order was nearby.

©Prentice Hall Milgram’s Obedience Studies They were also more likely to obey the command when the person being given the shock was some distance from them. According to Milgram, obedience is brought on by the constraints of the situation.

©Prentice Hall Factors Influencing Obedience The amount of power vested in the person giving orders. Surveillance: –Whether or not someone is watching you Whether or not responsibility for actions is shared. –If it is, then one is more likely to obey.

©Prentice Hall Social Action Deindividuation: –The more anonymous people feel in a group, the less responsible they feel as individuals. Helping behavior Group decision making Organizational behavior

©Prentice Hall Helping Behavior Altruistic behavior: –Helping behavior that is not linked to personal gain. Bystander effect: –The tendency for an individual’s helpfulness in an emergency to decrease as the number of bystanders increase.

©Prentice Hall Factors Influencing Helping Situational variables –Presence of other people –Ambiguity of situation Personal characteristics –Amount of personal responsibility felt –Amount of empathy felt –One’s present mood

©Prentice Hall Group Decision Making Group polarization: –Group discussion leads attitudes to be more extreme Risky shift: –Greater willingness to take risks in decision in a group

©Prentice Hall Factors Affecting Group Effectiveness Nature of the task Resources of group members Interaction among members Group size Cohesiveness Social loafing: –Tendency to exert less effort on a task when working in a group

©Prentice Hall Leadership Great person theory: –Leadership is a result of personal qualities and traits that qualify one to lead others. Today this theory is rejected because it ignores social and economic factors.

©Prentice Hall Transactional View of Leadership A number of factors interact to determine who becomes a leader: –Traits of the potential leader –Aspects of the situation in which the group finds itself –Response of the group and the leader to each other

©Prentice Hall Fiedler’s Contingency Model There are two types of leaders: –Task-oriented; Mainly focuses on doing the task well –Relationship-oriented; Focuses on maintaining group harmony and cohesiveness

©Prentice Hall Effectiveness of Leadership Styles The effectiveness of leadership style depends on: –The nature of the task. –The relationship between the leader and group. –The leader’s ability to exercise the proper amount of power over the group.

©Prentice Hall Effectiveness of Leadership Styles Task-oriented leadership is more effective when conditions are either very favorable or unfavorable for the leader. Relationship-oriented leadership is more effective when conditions are moderately favorable for the leader.

©Prentice Hall Industrial/Organizational (I/O) Psychology I/O psychology is concerned with the application of psychological principles to the problems of human organizations. Hawthorne effect: –The principle that people will alter their behavior because of researcher’s attention and not necessarily because of any treatment condition.