Chapter 16: Social Psychology Definition: Sub-field of psychology that studies of how others influence our thoughts, feelings and actions Focuses on… - How large social forces such as groups, social roles and norms bring out the best and worst in all of us - Explaining why people act differently in the same situation, and why the same person may act differently in different situations.

Chapter 16: Social Psychology TOPICS Our Thoughts About Others Attribution Attitudes Our Feelings about Others - Prejudice & Discrimination - Interpersonal Attraction Our Actions Toward Others - Social Influence - Group Processes - Aggression - Altruism Applying Social Psych. to Social Problems - Reducing Prejudice & Discrimination

Asch - Line test Conformity - yielding to social pressure Asch’s Line Conclusions (60%) 1) subjects often conform to a group, even when the group states clearly inaccurate conclusions 2) conformity to a group increases with the size of the group, up to five or six, but only when the group is unanimous in its beliefs

Milgram- Shock Test Obedience (60% finished) Milgram’s Shock Conclusions 1) situational pressures can make people obey instructions that go against their belief systems

Obedience Experiment

Attribution Theory Definition: Inferences that people draw about the causes of events, others’ behavior, and their own behavior Dispositional Attribution: we attribute a person’s behavior to an internal state (personality, abilities, etc.) Situational Attribution: attributing a person’s behavior to an external state (stress, abuse, hardship, wealth, etc.) Function: People like to explain and understand behavior and the events that impact their lives Attributions are made when an event is unusual and personal

Covariation Model of Attribution

Attribution Example

Bias in Attribution Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE): Observer’s bias in favor of internal attributions in explaining others’ behavior instead of external (Ex: Someone else drops out of college because “they couldn’t handle the pressure or work load” – internal. You may ignore that tuition went up and their family cannot afford it) Defensive Attribution: Tendency to blame the victim for their misfortune, so that one feels less likely to be victimized in a similar way “JUST WORLD” Self-Serving Bias: Tendency to attribute one’s successes to dispositional factors and one’s failures to situational factors In-group bias- tendency to favor your own group over the out-group

Attitudes & Attitude Formation Components of Attitudes Cognitive: What you believe Affective: How you feel about it Behavioral: What you are willing to do about it - When we observe & respond to the world around us, it is never without the influence of our attitudes (even if we don’t realize it). - Advertisers spend millions because they know that attitudes can be shaped & changed….to their benefit $$ Definition Positive, negative, or mixed feelings, based on our beliefs, that predispose us to respond in a particular way to objects, people, and events (self-fulfilling prophecy) Ex: A friend tells you that they believe Coach Stove is a mean teacher. You may feel dislike for Coach Stove, and act unfriendly.

Attitudes can Affect Action Deindividuation- Losing your individuality in a group Role-playing: people who behaved in certain ways in scripted scenarios have adopted attitudes in keeping with those roles-

Behavior in Groups Bystander Effect: less likely to help others when in groups than when alone Social Loafing: individuals produce less work (reduced efficiency & effort) when working in groups than by themselves Diffusion of responsibility helps explain both. Decision Making Group Polarization - when group discussion leads to a more “polarized” point of view by the group Groupthink - when feel pressure to conform to the group, stops critical thinking to avoid dissention in the group Ex: Kennedy and the Bay of Pigs

Group Polarization

Percentage of Bystanders Helping Victims & Time Taken

Cognitive Dissonance & Social Facilitation Cognitive Dissonance Theory: When we act in a way not consistent with our beliefs we feel tension. We then revise our beliefs to align with our behavior. Social Facilitation Being watched while doing task makes you do better Example:  Asked to do hour long boring task  Offered $1 or $20 to say it’s fun  Results: Larger payment led to less dissonance b/c high payment could account for ‘lying’. $1 was not enough to justify lying so those people changed their attitude to saying they enjoyed the task Example: After you go to all the trouble of buying a new house you start to like it more

Tolerant vs Intolerant Is basic human nature tolerant or intolerant? Write a couple points in your notes It does not mean you are born one way or another, but what behavior is typically shown throughout history. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Tolerant Intolerant

Stereotype Cartoon

Articles Showing Bias

Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination Stereotype: Thoughts and beliefs held about people strictly because of their membership in a group (race, gender, occupation…) Prejudice: A negative attitude held toward members of a group Discrimination: Negative actions towards a group

Explanations These often arise from learning, personal experience, mental shortcuts, economic & political competition, & displaced aggression Outgroup Homogeneity: Judge members of outgroup as more alike Scapegoat: Blame other groups without as much power Social Identity (in-group bias): Favor own group Learning Theory: Classical or operant conditioning Cognitive: Easier to organize our world if we ‘categorize’

Person Perception Definition: The process of forming impressions of others Impressions are influenced by: Physical appearance good looking people are seen as intelligent, friendly, and confident Schemas: Organized clusters of ideas about categories of social events and people 1st Impressions: self fulfilling prophecy, primacy

Social Influence Chameleon Effect: our tendency to unconsciously mimic those around us Yawning when others yawn Picking up the mood of a happy or sad person Dress like your friends This automatic mimicry is an ingredient in our ability to empathize with others

Altruism Altruism: Actions designed to help others with no obvious benefit to the helper Why are we altruistic? Evolutionary Perspective: favors survival of genes Egoistic Model: motivated by anticipated gain Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis: sometimes for selfish gains, other times truly selfless & motivated by concern for others Kitty Genovese Story…diffusion of responsibility…

Persuasion- changing someone’s attitude Source: credible, trustworthy, likable, attractive, similarity Message: Fear vs. logic, one or two sided, repetition Channel: TV, radio, internet, or in person Receiver: Personality, expectations, preexisting attitudes, intelligence, needs

Persuasion Techniques Limited time offer Everyone is buying!!! DEAL!!! Reciprocation Foot in the door Door in the face Low-balling

Results of Attraction Friendship: An attraction driven by a set of rules that must be followed for the relationship to continue Examples of rules: help when needed trust and confide in each other Romantic Love: Intense feeling of attraction to another within an erotic context with future expectations Compassionate Love: Strong and lasting attraction characterized by trust, caring, tolerance, and friendship Triangular Theory of Love: (see next slide)

Extra Credit I have 175 points to give to your class. You will write your name on a paper with the number of points requested (10 pts max, 10 raises about 3% ) You are not allowed to show anyone how many points you asked for, or look to see how much a classmate is requesting. Only Mr. Reed will know. If students ask for more than 175 points, no one will get any points.

Extra Credit You may ask for 5 or 10 points. I will randomly pair your choice with another student in the class. No one will know who has been paired together besides me. If both people ask for 5 points, both get 5 points If one asks for 5 and the other 10, the 10 gets ten and the 5 gets nothing. If both ask for 10, both get nothing.

Quickymart Robbery Confess 1 year, maybe probation Don’t confess- 15 years

Social Traps Definition- People do what is in their own self interest, even though it may hurt the group. Short term benefits instead of long term. Examples- Overfishing, logging industry, health care (I have mine), union membership, interrogation of suspects), PHX area gas crisis, PED, NFL lawsuit, ball hog

Friends Write down a list of your friends in your notes (try to limit to 10 or less) Write down two of your strongest values/traits

Attraction Contributors to Attraction Proximity: Physical closeness (mere exposure effect) Similarity: Commonalities between two people Reciprocity: The tendency to like those who like you Physical Attractiveness: Pleasant physical appearance (often different depending on culture), signs of health such as symmetry (universal) Matching Hypothesis: equally attractive people date

Triangular Conception of Love

Components of Attitudes