1. Unit 14: Social Psychology

2. Social Psychology Social Psychology – The branch of psychology that studies the effects of social variables and cognitions on individual behavior and social interactions Social Context – The combination of (a)People (b)The activities and interactions among people (c)The setting in which behavior occurs, and (d)The expectations and social norms governing behavior in that setting

3. Social Psychology Person Perception Attribution Processes Interpersonal Attraction Attitudes Conformity and Obedience Behavior in Groups

4. How Does the Social Situation Affect our Behavior? We usually adapt our behavior to the demands of the social situation, and in ambiguous situations we take our cues from the behavior of others in that setting

5. How Does the Social Situation Affect our Behavior? Situationism – The view that environmental conditions influence people’s behavior as much or more than their personal dispositions do

6. Social Standards of Behavior Social Role – One of several socially defined patterns of behavior that are expected of persons in a given setting or group Script – Knowledge about the sequence of events and actions that is expected in a particular setting

7. Social Standards of Behavior Social Norms – A group’s expectations regarding what is appropriate and acceptable for its members’ attitudes and behavior Social norms influence students’ political views

9. Person Perception: Forming Impressions of Others Effects of physical appearance Cognitive schemas Stereotypes Prejudice and discrimination Subjectivity in person perception Evolutionary perspectives

10. Prejudice and Discrimination Prejudice – A negative attitude toward an individual based solely on his or her membership in a particular group Discrimination – A negative action taken against an individual as a result of his or her group membership

11. Figure 16.20 Relationship between prejudice and discrimination

12. Prejudice Social Categorization – People organize the social environment by categorizing themselves and others into groups In-groups Out-groups In-group bias

13. Prejudice In-group – The group with which an individual identifies Out-group – Those outside the group with which an individual identifies Social Distance – The perceived difference or similarity between oneself and another person

14. Prejudice Racism – Discrimination against people based on skin color or ethnic heritage Sexism – Discrimination because of sex Stereotypes – Generalizations in which the same characteristics are assigned to all members of a group

15. Causes of Prejudice Dissimilarity and Social Distance

16. Causes of Prejudice Dissimilarity and Social Distance Economic Competition

17. Causes of Prejudice Dissimilarity and Social Distance Economic Competition Scapegoating

18. Causes of Prejudice Dissimilarity and Social Distance Economic Competition Scapegoating Conformity to Social Norms

19. Causes of Prejudice Dissimilarity and Social Distance Economic Competition Scapegoating Conformity to Social Norms Media Stereotypes

20. Figure 16.19 The three potential components of prejudice as an attitude

21. Combating Prejudice Research suggests that the possible tools for combating prejudice include: – New role models – Equal status contact – Legislation Contact Hypothesis Jigsaw Classrooms

23. Constructing Social Reality: What Influences Our Judgments of Others? The judgments we make about others depend not only on their behavior but also on our interpretation of their actions within a social context

24. Constructing Social Reality: What Influences Our Judgments of Others? Social Reality – – An individual’s subjective interpretation of other people and of relationships with them Social Perception – – Process by which people come to understand & categorize the behaviors of others

25. Attribution Processes: Explaining Behavior Attributions – Internal vs. External – Kelley’s Covariation Model Biases in Attributions – Fundamental Attribution Error – Defensive Attribution – Self-serving Bias Cultural Influences

26. Figure 16.21 Bias in the attributions used to explain success and failure by men and women

27. Making Cognitive Attributions Fundamental Attribution Error – Tendency to emphasize internal causes and ignore external pressures Self-serving Bias – Attributional pattern in which one takes credit for success but denies responsibility for failure

28. Figure 16.4 An alternative view of the fundamental attribution error

30. Attitudes 3 Components: Cognitive Affective Behavioral

31. Figure 16.8 The possible components of attitudes

32. Attitude Change Factors in Changing Attitudes – Source, Message, and Receiver Theories of Attitude Change – Learning Theory – Dissonance Theory – Self-perception Theory – Elaboration Likelihood Model

33. Figure 16.13 Bem’s self-perception theory

34. Attraction and Self-Justification Cognitive Dissonance – A highly motivating state in which people have conflicting cognitions, especially when their voluntary actions conflict with their attitudes

35. Figure 16.11 Design of the Festinger and Carlsmith (1959) study

36. Figure 16.9 Overview of the persuasion process

38. Interpersonal Attraction Key Factors of Attraction: Proximity Similarity Reciprocity Physical Attractiveness

39. Expectations and the Influence of Self-Esteem Matching Hypothesis – Prediction that most people will find friends and mates that are about their same level of attractiveness Expectancy-value Theory – Theory that people decide whether or not to pursue a relationship by weighing the potential value of the relationship against their expectations of success in establishing the relationship

40. Loving Relationships Romantic Love – A temporary and highly emotional condition based on infatuation and sexual desire

41. Perspectives on Love – Hatfield & Berscheid – Passionate vs. Companionate love – Sternberg - Intimacy and commitment – Hazen & Shaver – Love as attachment Evolutionary Perspectives – Mating priorities Close Relationships: Liking and Loving

42. Dependence Model – the likelihood to remain together is based on these judgments: 1.The degree to which intimacy, sex, emotional involvement, companionship, and intellectual involvement are important in the individual’s relationship 2. The degree to which each of those needs is satisfied in the relationship 3.For each need, whether there is anyone other than the current partner with whom the individual has an important relationship 4.The degree to which each need is satisfied by the alternative relationship Factors That Allow a Relationship to Last

43. Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love Passion IntimacyCommitment

44. Figure 16.5 Infant attachment and romantic relationships

46. Yielding to Others: Conformity Conformity – Solomon Asch (1950s) – Classic Experiment Group Size Group Unanimity

47. A123 Standard line Comparison lines Conformity: The Asch Studies Which line matches the line on the left?

48. Conformity: The Asch studies What would you say if you were in a room full of people who all picked line number three? A123 Standard line Comparison lines

49. Conformity No opposition (control) Alone against majority With partner Critical trials 12345678 9 101112 Correct estimated (percent) 100 80 60 40 20 0

50. Group Characteristics That Produce Conformity Asch identifies three factors that influence whether a person will yield to pressure: The size of the majority The presence of a partner who dissented from the majority The size of the discrepancy between the correct answer and the majority position

51. Yielding to Others: Obedience Obedience – Stanley Milgram (1960s) – Controversial landmark experiment – “I was just following orders” Presence of a Dissenter

52. Obedience to Authority Imagine if an experimenter studying “the effects of punishment on memory” asked you to deliver painful electric shocks to a middle-aged man who had been treated for a heart condition Each time the man missed an answer, you would be instructed to deliver an increasingly powerful shock

53. Shock Generator Caution Amps On Intensity Resistance Amp Meter Slight Shock ModerateShock Strong Shock Very Strong Shock Intense Shock Extreme Shock Danger XXX Milgram’s Shock Generator Would you deliver a “Moderate Shock?”

54. Shock Generator Caution Amps On Intensity Resistance Amp Meter Slight Shock Moderate Shock Strong Shock Very Strong Shock Intense Shock ExtremeShock Danger XXX Milgram’s Shock Generator Would you refuse the experimenter’s instruction to deliver an “Extreme Shock?”

55. Shock Generator Caution Amps On Intensity Resistance Amp Meter Slight Shock Moderate Shock Strong Shock Very Strong Shock Intense Shock ExtremeShock Danger XXX Milgram’s Shock Generator What if the victim was screaming in agony?

56. Shock Generator Caution Amps On Intensity Resistance Amp Meter Slight Shock Moderate Shock Strong Shock Very Strong Shock Intense Shock Extreme Shock Danger XXX Milgram’s Shock Generator Two thirds of participants delivered the maximum 450 volts to the learner

57. Obedience to Authority In Milgram’s experiment – The victim was an actor – The victim received no actual shocks Nevertheless, this controversial experiment demonstrated the powerful effects of obedience to authority Situational factors, and not personality variables, appeared to affect people’s levels of obedience

58. Obedience in Milgram’s Experiments

59. Ten Steps Toward Evil- Getting Good People to Harm Others 1.Provide people with an ideology to justify beliefs for actions 2.Make people take a small first step toward a harmful act with a minor, trivial action and then gradually increase those small actions 3.Make those in charge seem like a “just authority” 4.Slowly transform a once compassionate leader into a dictatorial figure 5.Provide people with vague and ever changing rules

60. Ten Steps Toward Evil- Getting Good People to Harm Others 6.Relabel the situation’s actors and their actions to legitimize the ideology 7.Provide people with social models of compliance 8.Allow verbal dissent but only if people continue to comply behaviorally with orders 9.Encourage dehumanizing the victim 10.Make exiting the situation difficult

62. Behavior in Groups: The Influence of Other People The Bystander Effect - Darley and Latane (1968) – Diffusion of Responsibility Group productivity and Social Loafing Decision making in groups Polarization Groupthink

63. The Bystander Problem Diffusion of Responsibility – Dilution or weakening of each group member’s obligation to act when responsibility is perceived to be shared with all group members

64. The Bystander Problem In one experiment, a student was led to believe that the he or she was taking part in an experiment with between one and five other students (over an intercom) The student then heard what sounded like another student having a seizure and gasping for help The researchers timed how long it would take the students to ask for help

65. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Bystander Intervention in an Emergency 2-person groups 3-person groups 6-person groups 2080120 160 200 240280 Seconds from beginning of emergency 80 40 60 100 20 0 Percentage helping

66. Group Behavior Social Facilitation – An increase in an individual’s performance because of being in a group Social Loafing – An decrease in performance because of being in a group

67. Figure 16.17 The effect of loss of coordination and social loafing on group productivity

68. Group Behavior Deindividuation – Occurs when group members lose their sense of personal identity and responsibility and the group “assumes” responsibility for their behavior

69. Group Behavior Group Polarization – When individuals in a group have similar, though not identical, views, their opinions become more extreme Groupthink – An excessive tendency to seek recurrence among group members

70. Groupthink In “groupthink,” members of the group attempt to conform their opinions to what each believes to be the consensus of the group

71. Conditions Likely to Promote Groupthink Conditions likely to promote groupthink include: Isolation of the group High group cohesiveness Directive leadership Lack of norms requiring methodical procedures Homogeneity of members’ social background and ideology High stress from external threats with low hope of a better solution than that of the group leader

73. Altruism and Prosocial Behavior Prosocial Behavior – Carried out with the goal of helping people Altruism – Prosocial behaviors without consideration for self safety or interests Reciprocal Altruism

74. Altruism and Prosocial Behavior Motives for Prosocial Behavior – Altruism – Egoism – Collectivism – Principlism

75. Effects of the Situation on Prosocial Behavior Bystander Intervention – Willingness to assist a person in need Diffusion of Responsibility – The larger the number of bystanders, the less responsibility any one bystander feels to help

76. Effects of the Situation on Prosocial Behavior Bystander must notice the emergency Bystander must label events as an emergency Bystander must feel responsibility

78. The power of the situation can help us understand violence and terrorism, but the broader understanding requires multiple perspectives that go beyond the boundaries of traditional psychology What Are the Roots of Violence and Terrorism?

79. Aggression Evolutionary perspectives Individual differences – Impulsive aggression – Instrumental aggression

80. Aggression Situational influences – Frustration-aggression hypothesis – Temperature and aggression – Direct provocation and escalation

81. Aggression Cultural Constraints – Construals of the self and aggressive behavior – Norms of aggressive behavior

82. The Robbers Cave: An Experiment in Conflict In the Robber’s Cave experiment, conflict between groups arose from an intensely competitive situation Cooperation, however, replaced conflict when the experimenters contrived situations that fostered mutual interdependence and common goals for the groups

83. The Robbers Cave: An Experiment in Conflict Violence and aggression – Terms that refer to behavior that is intended to cause harm Cohesiveness – Solidarity, loyalty, and a sense of group membership

84. The Robbers Cave: An Experiment in Conflict Mutual interdependence – Shared sense that individuals or groups need each other in order to achieve common goals

85. Terrorism Terrorism – The use of violent, unpredictable acts by a small group against a larger group for political, economic, or religious goals Taking multiple perspectives can provide important insights on the problems of aggression, violence, and terrorism

86. Psychology of Conflict and Peace Obedience to authority – Milgram’s study – Obedience paradigm – Test situation – To shock or not to shock? – Why do people obey authority?

87. Psychology of Conflict and Peace

88. Psychology of Genocide and War Genocide Concepts and images of the “enemy” Why will people go to war?

89. Peace Psychology – Interdisciplinary approach to prevention of nuclear war and maintenance of peace Analyzing forms of leadership and government Fostering contact to facilitate conflict resolution