SOCIAL BEHAVIOR Social psychologists are interested in 2 extremes of human behavior: altruism and aggression.

SOCIAL BEHAVIOR Altruism Aggression Evolutionary view Psychological factors Sociocultural factors Aggression Biological influences Gender differences Psychological influences Sociocultural influences Reducing aggression

ALTRUISM VS. EGOISM Altruism Egoism Unselfish interest in helping another person. Prosocial Behavior Giving to another person to ensure reciprocity; to gain self-esteem; to present oneself as powerful, competent, or caring; or to avoid censure from self and others for failing to live up to society's expectations. Antisocial behavior

RECIPROCITY Involves an expression of trust for another person, as well as feeling of obligation and guilt. Helping another person because you want to increase the chances that the person will return the favor someday Golden Rule

ALTRUISM Evolutionary view Psychological factors Sociocultural factors Family members Psychological factors Mood Empathy: A feeling of oneness with the emotional state of another person. Sociocultural factors Market economies Religion Gender Bystander effect Media influences

BYSTANDER EFFECT The tendency of an individual who observes an emergency to help less when other people are present than when the observer is alone. Kitty Genovese (1964) John Darley and Bibb Latane Bystander Apathy (1968) 75% alone; 50% with bystander Diffusion of responsibility

AGGRESSION Biological influences Gender differences Evolutionary views Genetics Neurobiological factors Gender differences Overt aggression Relational aggression Psychological influences Frustration and aversive circumstances Cognitive determinants Observational learning Sociocultural influences Cultural variations Media violence Reducing aggression

TYPES OF AGGRESSION Instrumental Hostile The purpose is the satisfaction of some goal behavior or benefit. A means to an end An attempt to strike out against someone or something seen as the cause of discomfort. No clear purpose

GENDER DIFFERENCES Overt Aggression Relational Aggression Physically or verbally harming another person directly. Males Behavior that is meant to harm the social standing of another person. Females

FRUSTRATION-AGGRESSION HYPOTHESIS States that frustration triggers aggression. Frustration: The blocking of an individual’s attempts to reach a goal. Aggression: Behaviors that are intended to harm another person. John Dollard (1939)

SOCIAL INFLUENCE Social psychologists are interested in compliance through conformity, obedience, and group influence.

SOCIAL INFLUENCE Compliance Group Influence Conformity Obedience Deindividuation Social contagion Group performance Group decision making

CONFORMITY A change in a person's behavior to coincide more closely with a group standard. Solomon Asch Line Experiment (1951) Conformed 35% of the time

SOCIAL INFLUENCE Informational Normative The influence others have on us because we want to be right. Informed The influence others have on us because we want them to like us. Normal

OBEDIENCE Behavior that complies with the explicit demands of the individual in authority. Stanley Milgram Shock Experiment (1965) 2/3 delivered the full 450 volts

GROUP INFLUENCES Deindividuation: The reduction in personal identity and erosion of the sense of personal responsibility when one is part of a group. Social contagion: Imitative behavior involving the spread of actions, emotions, and ideas. Social loafing: Each person's tendency to exert less effort in a group because of reduced accountability for individual effort.

GROUP PERFORMANCE Social Facilitation Social Impairment Improvement in an individual's performance because of the presence of others. Well-learned or easy tasks Decline in an individual's performance because of the presence of others. New or difficult tasks

GROUP DECISION MAKING Group Polarization: The solidification and further strengthening of an individual's position as a consequence of a group discussion or interaction. Groupthink: The impaired group decision making that occurs when making the right decision is less important than maintaining group harmony. Irving Janis (1972) Majority and minority influences