Chapter 6: Social Influence and Group Behavior

Person Perception Person perception – Construct that attempts to describe the mental processes we use to form judgments and draw conclusions about others The conclusions we draw about others are contingent on three things: 1. The characteristics of the individual we are attempting to size up 2. Our own characteristics as the perceivers 3. The specific situation in which the process occurs

Basic Principles of Person Perception 1. Your reactions to others are determined by your perceptions of them, not by who they really are 2. Your goals in a particular situation determine the amount and kinds of information you look for about others 3. You evaluate people partly in terms of how you expect them to act in a given situation 4. Your self-perception influences how you perceive others and how you act on your perceptions

Social Categorization Social categorization – Construct that describes the mental process of classifying people into groups on the basis of common characteristics Related to person perception Groups may include age, race, gender, and clothing

Attributions Attributions – Inferences that people draw about the causes of their own behavior, others’ behavior, and events Internal attributions – Personal dispositions, traits, abilities and feelings External attributions – Situational and environmental constraints Fundamental attribution error – Observers’ bias in favor of internal attributions in explaining others’ behavior

Group Influence Group polarization effect – An individual’s beliefs and reactions become more extreme from working in a group than they would be if the person thought through the issue by himself or herself Groupthink – Occurs when there is such excessive concern for reaching group consensus that information contrary to a decision is withheld, or when members’ opinions become so uniform that all dissent becomes impossible

Indicators of Groupthink 1. An illusion of invulnerability – When group members believe that nothing can happen to them, they are less reserved in their actions 2. Rationalization – Members disregard information that weakens their beliefs 3. Stereotyped view of the “enemy” – The group believes that they are on the side of what is right and everyone else is wrong 4. Conformity pressures – Any member who disagrees with the group experiences pressure to change and begins to censor themselves 5. Illusion of unanimity – The group believes everyone agreed on all decisions

Conformity Normative social influence – Desire for others’ approval and our longing to be part of a group. The desire to be liked can influence our behavior Informational social influence – Occurs when we are in doubt about something or question our own judgment and look to others as a source of information; may change opinions based on the opinions of others

Milgram’s Experiment Participants assumed the role of a “teacher” and were asked to deliver shocks to “learners” if they answered questions wrong While no shocks were actually administered, participants did not realize that. They truly believed they were shocking another person and continued to do so, simply because an authority figure told them to continue. Even though most people believe they would never shock someone to obey an authority figure, 65% of participants used the highest shock on the generator.

Bystander Effect Bystander effect – Unwillingness of bystanders to help in an emergency situation Consistent and powerful phenomenon Kitty Genovese - murdered in front of her apartment building in New York City; at least 38 people were aware of the attack and did not respond or try to help her. People often report that they believe someone else will step in and take care of the problem, so they do nothing.

Thought Question Have you ever personally observed or been part of any of the following? Conforming to others’ opinion when your own senses disagreed (Asch) Obedience to authority (Milgram) The bystander effect What happened? What did you decide to do? Why? Do you wish now you had made a different decision? How did your decision affect your later behavior?

Prejudice Prejudice – Negative, learned attitude toward people or things. Examples: Racism, Sexism, Ageism In-group – Our own group positions and members Out-group – Those outside our group Humans tend to be prejudiced in favor of our own group and prejudiced against members of other groups

Stereotypes Stereotype – General belief about a group of people Stereotype threat – Those who are subject to stereotyping may not perform as well on tasks they normally would because they have knowledge that they must work against a negative stereotype. Explicit stereotype – Consciously adhering to a set of beliefs about a group of people Implicit stereotype – Unconscious set of beliefs that guide behavior

Chapter 6: Big Ideas Social influences are powerful; they can cause normal, rational people to do crazy things, and we are all susceptible to it. We filter our reactions to others through our own stereotypes, prejudices, and explanations, which we make up to explain their behavior. Sometimes we’re right, but other times we’re wrong.

Chapter 6: Big Ideas (cont.) Our reactions to others have more to say about us and our background than about others. We tend to explain our behavior in the most positive way, yet when we don’t understand why another person acted as they did, we tend to explain it in the most negative way.