Psychology: An Introduction Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto © 2005 Prentice Hall Social Psychology Chapter 15

Psychology: An Introduction Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto © 2005 Prentice Hall Social Psychology The scientific study of the ways in which the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of one individual are influenced by the real, imagined, or inferred behavior or characteristics of other people

Psychology: An Introduction Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto © 2005 Prentice Hall Social Cognition

Psychology: An Introduction Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto © 2005 Prentice Hall Impression Formation Schemata Ready-made categories Allow us to make inferences about others Also plays a major role in how we interpret and remember information Primacy effect Early information about someone weighs more than later information in forming impressions

Psychology: An Introduction Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto © 2005 Prentice Hall Impression Formation Self-fulfilling prophecy A person’s expectations about another elicits behavior from the other person that confirms the expectations Stereotypes A set of characteristics believed to be shared by all members of a social category Can become the basis for self-fulfilling prophecies

Psychology: An Introduction Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto © 2005 Prentice Hall Attribution Theory that addresses the question of how people make judgments about the causes of behavior Three criteria used to judge behavior Distinctiveness Consistency Consensus

Psychology: An Introduction Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto © 2005 Prentice Hall Biases in Attribution Fundamental attribution error Tendency to overemphasize personal causes for others’ behavior and underemphasize personal causes for our own behavior Defensive attribution Tendency to attribute our successes to our own efforts and our failures to external factors Just-world hypothesis Assumption bad things happen to bad people and good things happen to good people Attribution across cultures varies dramatically

Psychology: An Introduction Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto © 2005 Prentice Hall Interpersonal Attraction Attraction is closely linked to Proximity Physical attractiveness Similarity In attitudes, interests, values, and background Exchange We like people who appreciate us Intimacy Self disclosure

Psychology: An Introduction Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto © 2005 Prentice Hall Attitudes The Nature of Attitudes Relatively stable beliefs, feelings, and behaviors Self-monitoring High self-monitors look for cues about how they are expected to behave Makes using attitudes to predict behavior difficult Low self-monitors express and act on their attitudes consistently making prediction easier

Psychology: An Introduction Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto © 2005 Prentice Hall Attitude Development Many factors contribute to the development of attitudes Imitation Reward Teachers Peers Mass media

Psychology: An Introduction Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto © 2005 Prentice Hall Prejudice and Discrimination Prejudice An intolerant, unfavorable, and rigid attitude toward a group of people Discrimination An act or series of acts that denies opportunities and social esteem to an entire group of people or individual members of that group

Psychology: An Introduction Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto © 2005 Prentice Hall Sources of Prejudice Frustration-aggression theory People who are frustrated in their goals may turn their anger away from the proper target toward another, less powerful target Authoritarian personality Personality pattern characterized by rigid conventionality, exaggerated respect for authority, and hostility toward those who defy social norms Racism Prejudice and discrimination directed at particular racial group

Psychology: An Introduction Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto © 2005 Prentice Hall Reducing Prejudice Recategorization Try to expand our schema for a particular group Controlled processing Train ourselves to be more mindful of people who differ from us Improving contact between groups Group members must have equal status Need one-on-one contact with other group Relations are improved when groups come together to cooperate Social norms should encourage contact

Psychology: An Introduction Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto © 2005 Prentice Hall Attitude Change Process of persuasion Must pay attention to the message Must comprehend the message Comprehension leads to acceptance Communication model Source Message Medium Audience

Psychology: An Introduction Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto © 2005 Prentice Hall Attitude Change Cognitive Dissonance Perceived inconsistency between two cognitions Dissonance can be reduced through attitude change An alternative is to increase the number thoughts that support one or the other dissonant cognitions

Psychology: An Introduction Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto © 2005 Prentice Hall Social Influence

Psychology: An Introduction Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto © 2005 Prentice Hall Cultural Influence Culture greatly influences attitudes and behaviors Cultural truism Beliefs that most members of a society accept as self-evidently true

Psychology: An Introduction Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto © 2005 Prentice Hall Cultural Assimilators Technique of asking why people behave a certain way Encourages maintaining an open mind about other cultures’ norms and values

Psychology: An Introduction Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto © 2005 Prentice Hall Conformity Voluntarily yielding to social norms, even at the expense of one’s own preferences Conformity across cultures Tends to be higher in collectivist cultures

Psychology: An Introduction Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto © 2005 Prentice Hall Compliance Change in behavior in response to an explicit request from another person or group Foot-in-the-door effect Get them to say yes to a small request first Lowball procedure Get compliance then raise price of compliance Door-in-the-face effect Get them to decline large request then ask something smaller

Psychology: An Introduction Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto © 2005 Prentice Hall Obedience Change in behavior in response to a command from another person, typically an authority figure Milgram’s studies on obedience show willingness to follow commands

Psychology: An Introduction Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto © 2005 Prentice Hall Social Action Deindividuation Loss of personal sense of responsibility in a group Helping Behavior Altruistic behavior Helping behavior that is not linked to personal gain Bystander effect Helpfulness decreases as bystanders increase Mood can affect willingness to help Cultures differ in amount of help offered in response to requests for minor help

Psychology: An Introduction Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto © 2005 Prentice Hall Group Decision Making Polarization in group decision making Shift toward more extreme position following group discussion The effectiveness of groups Social loafing Tendency to expend less effort when part of a large group Groupthink Pressure to conform to group Leadership Great person theory Personal qualities qualify one to lead

Psychology: An Introduction Charles A. Morris & Albert A. Maisto © 2005 Prentice Hall Organizational Behavior Productivity can be influenced by psychological and social factors Hawthorne effect Just the attention of the experimenter changed behavior Communication and responsibility Centralized communication is effective for simple problems Complex problems require decentralized structure