1. Social Psychology
Chapter 14

2. Helping Theories Helping behavior: act intended to benefit another
Altruism: unselfish concern for another’s welfare

3. Helping Theories
Arousal Theory: sight of victim produces anxiety so you act
Cost-Reward Theory:
Cost of helping low & cost of not helping high - help
Cost of helping high & cost of not helping low - no
Empathy-Altruism Theory: feeling empathy for other increases chances of helping
Evolutionary Theory: contributed to our survival in the past

4. Kitty Genovese
Bystander effect: as number of bystanders increases, the likelihood of any one by-stander helping decreases
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

5. Bystander Intervention Problem: Latane and Darley; Best predictor of bystander intervention was group size 80 40 60
100 20
Percentage helping
2-person groups
3-person groups
6-person groups 20 80
120
160
200
240
280
Seconds from beginning of emergency

6. The Bad Samaritan – What influences helping behavior?
Bystander Effect/Diffusion of Responsibility
Fake seizure
Social Cues
Frisbee girls
Hurt worker
Smoke in room
Appearance/background
Lover’s quarrel
Drunk or old guy
Race

7. Why don’t people help??? Diffusion of Responsibility; Bystander effect
Conformity – when we don’t know what to do, we take our cues from others
More likely to help if…

8. 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
Stanford Prison Experiment
Philip Zimbardo and Craig Haney (1971)
Created a new social reality
Called off after 6 days (planned 2 weeks)
Never underestimate the power of a bad situation to overwhelm the good.

9. Social Norms
Socially based rules that prescribe what is acceptable and what is not
Taught by family, friends, teachers, culture
Often not verbalized
Reciprocity: candy = bigger tip
Examples?

10. Why do people conform???
Conformity: change behaviors or beliefs to match those of others
Asch Effect: group majority influences individual judgments
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

11. Cognitive Dissonance
A highly motivating state in which people have conflicting cognitions, especially when their voluntary actions conflict with their attitudes – Leon Festinger
Must change either behavior or thoughts

12. Inducing Compliance
Foot-in-the-door technique: get one to agree to small request and then gradually present larger ones
Drive Carefully sign & charities
Door-in-the-face technique: ask for large favor likely to be denied and then ask for something less
Political groups and labor/management
Low-ball approach: oral commitment made and then cost of fulfilling it raised
Car salesmen

13. Other Topics in Social Psychology
Social facilitation: Presence of other people or working with others can improve performance
Social loafing: People exert less effort when performing a group task than when performing the same task alone
Deindividuation: When group members lose individuality and tend to do things not normally done when alone
lose sense of personal responsibility
group “assumes” responsibility
Group polarization: tendency of people to make decisions that are more extreme when they are in a group as opposed to a decision made alone or independently.

14. Groupthink
Conform opinions to what you believe is the consensus; increases when…
Isolation of the group
High group cohesiveness
Directive leadership
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
Vietnam, Bay of Pigs, space shuttles

15. Making Cognitive Attributions
Fundamental attribution error: Tendency to emphasize internal causes and ignore external pressures (looking at others)
Focus on dispositional factors
Self-serving bias: One takes credit for success but denies responsibility for failure (looking within you)
Focus on situational factors

16. Interpersonal Attraction
Reward theory of attraction: A social learning view that says we like best those who give us maximum rewards at minimum cost – combo of
Proximity
Similarity
Self-disclosure
Physical attractiveness

17. Expectations and the Influence of Self-Esteem
Matching hypothesis: Prediction that most people will find friends/mates that are about their same level of attractiveness
Expectancy-value theory: 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

18. Loving Relationships
Romantic love: A temporary and highly emotional condition based on sexual desire and some intimacy
Americans often believe that this is the basis for long-term commitment
What do you think?

19. Robert Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love
Passion
Intimacy
Commitment

20. Triangular Theory of Love
Passion: erotic, physical attraction
Intimacy: sharing feelings & confidences; emotional, not physical
Commitment: putting the relationship first in your life
Liking/friendship:
high intimacy, zero passion, zero commitment
Romantic love:
high passion, high intimacy, low commitment
Infatuation:
high passion, low intimacy, low commitment
Complete love: balance of all three 

21. 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
Cognitive, affective, and behavioral components
Stereotyped thinking
Hatred/anger
Discrimination

22. Prejudice and Discrimination
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 – easier it is to feel differently

23. Dissimilarity and Social Distance
Causes of Prejudice
Dissimilarity and Social Distance

24. Dissimilarity and Social Distance
Causes of Prejudice
Dissimilarity and Social Distance
Economic Competition

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

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

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

28. Combating Prejudice
Research suggests that the possible tools for combating prejudice include:
Equal status contact
Legislation
New role models