1. Social Psychology

2. What’s Social Psychology?
How we form our beliefs and attitudes about the world around us.
How the world around us influences our beliefs and attitudes.
Often unconscious & influenced by our environment

3. Imagine This… You walk into an elevator full of people what do you do?
Why do you take this action

4. Attribution Theory
How we explain human behavior based on an assumption that their actions are driven by either:
a. an internal disposition or b. the situation.
Internal Disposition: this is how the person is (inner trait)
Situational: behavior is dictated by the current circumstance
We often tend to attribute behaviors to disposition rather than situation.
Inaccurate labeling can be referred to as: fundamental attribution error

5. Attribution or Situational?

6. Fundamental Attribution Error
Culture affects attribution
Based on our set of cultural norms when people deviate from them we think they’re mean, weird, different, etc.
I reach out to shake a woman’s hand wearing an abaya…she refuses. I think to myself “man that was rude.”
What just happened?

7. Attitudes & Actions
Attitude: a belief or feeling that makes you respond in a particular way to people, events, & objects
Internal Attitude + External Influences = Behavior
Behaviors do not always match attitudes…Why?
Outside influences can be stronger i.e. peer pressure
We aren’t keenly aware of our attitudes i.e. women aren’t as smart as men
The attitude and behavior are incompatible i.e. I don’t like running

8. What does this mean?

9. Behavior & Attitude
Sometimes behavior influences attitude. Consider the following examples below:
Foot in the Door Phenomenon: tendency for people who have agreed with small things to agree with later larger requests.
Role Playing: After you perform a certain role long enough it becomes normal. Ex. Zimbardo experiment and brown eye/blue eye experiment

10. Cognitive Dissonance Readjusting or Repositioning
The way we behave in order to reduce discomfort(dissonance) when our beliefs are inconsistent/compromised
Cognitive Dissonance = attitude and actions clash; so we change the attitude
For Example:
Attitude: It is important to take care of the environment
Dissonance: I drive an SUV, which is not eco friendly
Adjustment: I can’t save the world OR I recycle

11. Conformity
Conformity: adjusting behavior or thinking in order to fit in with a group idea or standard
Conformity increases when:
You feel incompetent on insecure
You’re in a group of 3 or more
There is uniformity in the rest of the group
You’re impressed by the status of the group members & they’re watching
You have made no prior commitments to a response
Asch Conformity Experiment

12. Your Thoughts Are Not Your Own?
Are Your thoughts wholly yours?
If not, why aren’t they?

13. Obedience
Obedience: the tendency to comply with orders from someone perceived as authority.
Why do we follow rules?
Milgram's Experiment

14. Group Influence
Group Influence: how behavior changes when an individual is in/observed by group(s).
Social Facilitation: improved performance when in the presence of others; we do better when someone’s watching b/c more aroused. Arousal increases performance of tasks we’ve mastered.
When the task is not mastered…then we perform worse.

15. Other Ways Groups Impact Behavior
Social loafing: the tendency of individuals within a group to do less work than when held individually accountable. My work isn’t needed…someone else will do it.
Deindividuation: Loss of self-restraint and self- awareness when in a group. An individual does things in a group they’d never do individually. i.e. sports
Mob Attacks News Crew

16. Other Ways Groups Impact Behavior
Group Polarization: the enhancing of ones already present attitudes by exposure to others who share same views. i.e. political, religious, racist groups
Pushes moderates toward extremist beliefs/actions
Racism In America
Group Think: Go along with the group in order to maintain peace.
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: You believe something to be true so you behave in that way causing the belief to become actuality.
Minority Influence: Influence of minority groups is rare but possible when they are unyielding. i.e. civil rights or women’s movments

17. Stop Here