1. Social Psychology

2. Social Psychology is a broad field devoted to studying:

3. how people relate to each other how people relate to each other the development and expression of attitudes the development and expression of attitudes people’s attributions about their own behavior and that of others people’s attributions about their own behavior and that of others the reasons why people engage in both prosocial and antisocial behavior the reasons why people engage in both prosocial and antisocial behavior how the presence and actions of others influences the way people behave how the presence and actions of others influences the way people behave

4.  An attitude is a set of beliefs and feelings  One reason that attitudes are difficult to change is due to the Cognitive Dissonance Theory.  People are motivated to have consistent attitudes and behaviors, and when they do not, they experience unpleasant mental tension (dissonance).

5. Social Thinking Attribution Theory Attribution Theory –tendency to give a causal explanation for someone’s behavior, often by crediting either the situation or… the person’s disposition

6. Social Thinking Fundamental Attribution Error Fundamental Attribution Error –when explaining another’s behavior, we tend to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition

7. Social Thinking How we explain someone’s behavior affects how we react to it How we explain someone’s behavior affects how we react to it Situational attribution “Maybe that driver is ill.” Tolerant reaction (proceed cautiously, allow driver a wide berth) Negative behavior Dispositional attribution “Crazy driver!” Unfavorable reaction (Speed up and race past the other driver, craning to give them a dirty look)

8. Attribution Interestingly, people do more the opposite when attributing successes or failures to themselves (we blame the situation more than ourselves). Interestingly, people do more the opposite when attributing successes or failures to themselves (we blame the situation more than ourselves).

9. Social Thinking Our behavior is affected by our inner attitudes as well as by external social influences Our behavior is affected by our inner attitudes as well as by external social influences Internal attitudes External influences Behavior

10. Jesse tells you that he got a perfect score on his psychology test …… Because Jesse is very good at psychology Because Jesse is very good at psychology Because the psychology test was easy Because the psychology test was easy Jesse has always been good at psychology Jesse has always been good at psychology Jesse just studied a lot for this particular psychology test Jesse just studied a lot for this particular psychology test Mr. Baker is an easy psychology teacher Mr. Baker is an easy psychology teacher Mr. Baker is a tough psychology teacher who just happened to give one easy test Mr. Baker is a tough psychology teacher who just happened to give one easy test

11. Social Thinking – Some Concepts –Our Attitudes often direct our behavior but sometimes behavior shapes our attitudes Foot-in-the-Door Phenomenon Foot-in-the-Door Phenomenon –tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request –“Doing Becomes Believing”

12. Group Pressure Social Influence.. Social Influence..

13. Social Influence Normative Social Influence Normative Social Influence –influence resulting from a person’s desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval Leads to…… Conformity Leads to…… Conformity –adjusting one’s behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard

14. Social Influence - concepts Informational Social Influence Informational Social Influence –influence resulting from one’s willingness to accept others’ opinions about reality …Leads To Norms …Leads To Norms –an understood rule for accepted and expected behavior –prescribes “proper” behavior

15. Social Influence Comparison linesStandard lines 1 2 3 Asch Conformity Experiment click above for a clip!

16. Social Influence  Participants judged which person in Slide 2 was the same as the person in Slide 1 Percentage of conformity to confederates’ wrong answers 50 40 30 20 10 0 Low High Importance Slide 1Slide 2 Difficult judgments Easy judgments

17. Obedience  Stanley Milgram: People conform, but will they simply obey others? 65% of Milgram’s “teachers” did!

18. A “Shocking Experiment”  Over 400 volts!!

20. Social Influence Milgram’s experiment Milgram’s experiment XXX (435-450) Percentage of subjects who obeyed experimenter 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Slight (15-60) Moderate (75-120) Strong (135-180) Very strong (195-240) Intense (255-300) Extreme intensity (315-360) Danger severe (375-420) Shock levels in volts The majority of subjects continued to obey to the end That’s Almost 70%!

21. Obedience is higher when… Person giving the orders is perceived as a legit Authority figure. (prof., cop, etc) Person giving the orders is perceived as a legit Authority figure. (prof., cop, etc) “orderer” supported by a prestigious institute (Yale, Government, etc) “orderer” supported by a prestigious institute (Yale, Government, etc) Victim is “depersonalized” or distant (no name, in another room, etc) Victim is “depersonalized” or distant (no name, in another room, etc) No role models for defiance No role models for defiance

22. Who’s Fault Is it? Who is MOST responsible for the murder? Who is MOST responsible for the murder? Note that the murderer does the exact same thing in BOTH scenarios! Note that the murderer does the exact same thing in BOTH scenarios! Did you blame the woman? The boss? Did you blame the woman? The boss? Did the character of the victim influence your decision? Did the character of the victim influence your decision? Did you make an “attribution error”? Did you make an “attribution error”?

23. DO NOT WRITE YOUR NAME ON THIS SHEET – ANSWER COMPLETELY ANONOMOUSLY! If you could be totally invisible for 24 hours and were completely assured that you would not be detected or held responsible for your actions, what would you do? If you could be totally invisible for 24 hours and were completely assured that you would not be detected or held responsible for your actions, what would you do?

24. Group Interaction

25. Social Influence: somebody’s watching me… Social Facilitation Social Facilitation –People tend to perform simple/well-learned tasks BETTER in the presence of others –Social Impairment –People tend to perform WORSE on difficult or new tasks in the presence of others

26. Social Facilitation Home Advantage in Major Team Sports Sport Games Home Team Studied Winning Percentage Baseball 23,034 53.5% Football 2,592 57.3 Ice hockey 4,322 61.1 Basketball 13,596 64.4 Soccer 37,202 69.0

27. Social Influence: somebody’s helping me… Social Loafing Social Loafing –tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable

28. Deindividuation –The loss of self awareness and self restrain occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity

29. Social Relations Bystander Effect Bystander Effect –tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present Percentage attempting to help 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Number of others presumed available to help 1 2 3 4

30. Social Influence Group Polarization enhancement of a group’s prevailing attitudes through discussion within the group (like AA or KKK) – Yeah! I Agree! enhancement of a group’s prevailing attitudes through discussion within the group (like AA or KKK) – Yeah! I Agree!

31. Social Influence If a group is like-minded, discussion strengthens its prevailing opinions If a group is like-minded, discussion strengthens its prevailing opinions High Prejudice Low +4 +3 +2 +1 0 -2 -3 -4 Before discussionAfter discussion Low-prejudice groups High-prejudice groups

32. Groupthink Groupthink –the desire for harmony in a decision- making group overrides realistic appraisal of alternatives (like shuttle disaster or bay of pigs) – Who am I to “rock the boat”? I just want to get out of this meeting…

33. The tendency for people to overestimate the number of people who agree with them is called the false consensus effect. I thought everyone was against the death penalty… The tendency for people to overestimate the number of people who agree with them is called the false consensus effect. I thought everyone was against the death penalty…

34. IE. If Brianna hates Psychology, she assumes that most people also find it boring, tedious, and utterly useless as well. If Shavanna likes pizza, she assumes that because it’s so good that everyone must like it too. She’s shocked to find people who don’t like it as much as she does. IE. If Brianna hates Psychology, she assumes that most people also find it boring, tedious, and utterly useless as well. If Shavanna likes pizza, she assumes that because it’s so good that everyone must like it too. She’s shocked to find people who don’t like it as much as she does.

35. Social Influence Gender Role Gender Role –a set of expected behaviors for males and for females Percentage agreeing “The activities of married women are best confined to home and family” Percentage 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 1967 ‘71 ‘75 ‘79 ‘83 ‘87 ‘91 ‘95 Year Men Women

36. Social Relations – why do we treat each other differently? Prejudice Prejudice –an unjustifiable (and usually negative) attitude toward a group and its members –involves stereotyped beliefs, negative feelings, and a predisposition to discriminatory action Stereotype Stereotype –a generalized (often overgeneralized) belief about a group of people

37. Social Influences Culture Culture –enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, and traditions shared by a large group of people –transmitted from one generation to the next Personal Space Personal Space –buffer zone we like to maintain around our bodies

38. Social Relations – why prejudice & social bias? In-group Bias In-group Bias –tendency to favor one’s own group and dislike or blame things on another “out- group”

39. Scapegoat Theory Scapegoat Theory –Taking responsibility often causes people too much “dissonance” –Better to blame others (maybe even an “out-group”) –prejudice provides an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame

40. Just-World Phenomenon Just-World Phenomenon –tendency of people to believe the world is “just” –people get what they deserve and deserve what they get

41. Social Relations Americans today express much less racial and gender prejudice Americans today express much less racial and gender prejudice Percentage answering yes Would you vote for a woman president? 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Year 1936 1945 1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 Do whites have a right to keep minorities out of their neighborhoods?

42.  Preconceived ideas can affect the way someone acts towards another person.  Our expectations of behavior can be influenced as well. This is called the self-fulfilling prophecy.

43. Social Relations Aggression Aggression –any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy Frustration-Aggression Principle Frustration-Aggression Principle –principle that frustration – the blocking of an attempt to achieve some goal – creates anger, which can generate aggression

44. Why are we aggressive? Genetics – Some people are born to be aggressive Genetics – Some people are born to be aggressive Neural and Biological – Your neural system facilitates aggression – chemicals in your blood stream can change aggression.. Neural and Biological – Your neural system facilitates aggression – chemicals in your blood stream can change aggression.. What happens if the frontal lobes get damaged? What happens if the frontal lobes get damaged?

45. Social Relations Is there a CORRELATION BETWEEN WEATHER AND AGGRESSION? Is there a CORRELATION BETWEEN WEATHER AND AGGRESSION? Murders and rapes per day in Houston, Texas 8.0 7.5 7.0 6.5 6.0 40-68 69-78 79-85 86-91 92-99 Temperature in degrees Fahrenheit

46. Social Relations Conflict Conflict –perceived incompatibility of actions, goals, or ideas Social Trap Social Trap –a situation in which a group of people act to obtain short- term individual gains, which in the long run leads to a loss for the group as a whole. –(overfishing, near destruction of the buffalo, rainforest logging)

47. Social Relations – conflict reduction Social Exchange Theory Social Exchange Theory –the theory that our social behavior is an exchange process, the aim of which is to maximize benefits and minimize costs Superordinate Goals Superordinate Goals –shared goals that override differences among people and require their cooperation

48. Social Relations – conflict reduction among nations Graduated and Reciprocated Initiatives in Tension-reduction (GRIT) Graduated and Reciprocated Initiatives in Tension-reduction (GRIT) –a strategy designed to decrease international tensions one side announces recognition of mutual interests and initiates a small conciliatory act one side announces recognition of mutual interests and initiates a small conciliatory act opens door for reciprocation by other party opens door for reciprocation by other party

49. Social Relations- What attracts us to others? Proximity Proximity –mere exposure effect- repeated exposure to novel stimuli increases liking of them Physical Attractiveness Physical Attractiveness –youthfulness may be associated with health and fertility Similarity Similarity –friends share common attitudes, beliefs, interests

50. Attractiveness Worldwide, men prefer youth and health, women prefer resources and social status Worldwide, men prefer youth and health, women prefer resources and social status

51. Social Relations Passionate Love Passionate Love –an aroused state of intense positive absorption in another –usually present at the beginning of a love relationship Companionate Love Companionate Love –deep affectionate attachment we feel for those with whom our lives are intertwined

52. The key to lasting and satisfying relationships Equity Equity –a condition in which people receive from a relationship in proportion to what they give to it Self-disclosure Self-disclosure –revealing intimate aspects of oneself to others Altruism Altruism –unselfish regard for the welfare of others