1. Social Psychology
Chapter 12

2. Explaining Behavior Attribution
The process of inferring the cause of someone’s behavior, including your own
The explanation you make for a particular behavior
We tend to attribute the behavior of others to internal, personal characteristics – fundamental attribution error

3. Biases in our thought Fundamental attribution error Blaming the victim
The just-world hypothesis – we have a psychological need to believe the world is just; otherwise we are not safe
What questions circulated upon the safe rescue of Elizabeth Smart…or consider the safe rescue of Sean Hornbeck and Ben Ownby?

4. Attributional Biases
Actor-observer discrepancy – we are more likely to use an external, situational attribution when we are the actor
Self-serving bias
We congratulate our efforts and claim intelligence assisted with a high score on a test
We claim …”They were trick questions…” when we do poorly on an exam

5. Individualistic vs. Collectivistic Culture and attribution
Self serving bias common in individualistic culture
Self-effacing (or modesty) bias common in collectivistic culture
One blames himself for his failure and attributes success to external, situational causes

6. Table 12.1 Hockenbury: Psychology, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2005 by Worth Publishers

7. Attitudes
A learned tendency to evaluate some object, person, or issue in a particular way
Three components
Cognitive – reflected in thoughts and conclusions
Behavioral – reflected in action
Emotional – reflected in emotional expression

8. Figure 12.1 The Components of Attitudes Hockenbury: Psychology, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2005 by Worth Publishers

9. Attitudes and Behavior
We don’t always act in accordance with our attitudes
Conditions that increase the likelihood of behaving in accordance with one’s attitude:
Attitudes are extreme or frequently expressed
Attitudes have been formed through direct experience
You are very knowledgeable about the subject
You personally stand to gain or lose something on a specific issue
You anticipate a favorable outcome or response from others

10. Prejudice
A negative attitude toward people who belong to a specific social group
Racial and ethnic groups are far more alike than they are different
Differences that may exist between members of different racial and ethnic groups are far smaller than differences among various members of the same group

11. Stereotypes
A cluster of characteristics that are attributed to members of a specific social group or category
Stereotypes simplify social information so that we can sort out, process, and remember information about other people more easily

12. Potential Problems with Stereotypes
Attributing a stereotypic cause for an outcome or event can blind us to the true causes of events
They are hard to change once they are formed
We see what we expect to see
We discount information that contradicts a stereotype

13. Stereotypes (cont.) The out-group, in-group tendency
We speak in terms of “us” and “them”
We tend to view “us” more favorably then “them”
We notice diversity within our own group, but not among the “out-group”
We tend to believe that our own ethnic group or culture is superior, ethnocentrism

14. Prejudice and Emotion
As with other attitudes, there is an emotional component
Intensely negative
Hatred
Contempt
Fear
Loathing

15. Prejudice and Behavior
Discrimination
Prejudice and intergroup hostility increases when different groups are competing for scarce resources
Emotional basis – People are often prejudiced against groups that are perceived as threatening important in-group norms and values

16. How do we overcome Prejudice?
Contact theory – as members of different groups got to know one another as individuals, negative stereotypes would be disproved
What do you think?

17. Overcoming Prejudice (cont.)
Sherif and the Robbers Cave Experiment
Hostility between groups can be created
Hostility could be overcome
Applicable to other situations?
Aronson and the Jigsaw Classroom
Displayed a greater self esteem and a greater liking for children from different ethnic groups compared to children in traditional classrooms

18. Conformity Asch Conformity Studies
The subjects followed the majority and gave the wrong answer on 37% of the trials
Those who responded alone gave the right answer 99% of the time
On almost 2/3 of the clinical trials in which the majority named the wrong line the subjects stuck to their answer, despite being the minority

19. Conformity and Culture
Generally higher in collectivistic cultures
Viewed more positively
Less in the West
Carries a negative connotation given our values of self expression, independence, and “standing out from the crowd”

20. Obedience
The performance of an action in response to the direct orders of an authority or person of higher status
Stanley Milgram
Could a person be pressured by others into committing an immoral act, some action that violated his or her own conscience, such as hurting a stranger?

21. Forces that influenced subjects
A previously well-established mental framework to obey
The situation, or context, in which the obedience occurred
The gradual repetitive escalation of the task

22. Forces that influenced subjects (cont.)
The experimenter’s behavior and reassurances
The physical an psychological separation from the learner

23. Figure 12.4 Factors That Decrease Destructive Obedience Hockenbury: Psychology, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2005 by Worth Publishers

24. Helping Behavior Kitty Genovese Why didn’t anyone help?
Apathy – “…alienation and depersonalization of life in a big city”

25. Factors That Increase the Liklihood of Bystanders Helping
The feel good, do good effect
Feeling guilty
Seeing others who are willing to help
Perceiving the other person as deserving help
Knowing how to help
A personalized relationship

26. Factors that Decrease the Liklihood of Bystanders Helping
The presence of other people – diffusion of responsibility
Being in a big city or very small town
Vague or ambiguous situations
When the personal costs for helping outweigh the benefits