Social Psychology Time-interval Exercise (p.9 IM) example of Social Influence

Social Psychology How individuals Think about… one another Influence… one another Relate to… one another

Social Thinking How do you make sense of people’s behavior? We make attributions… (explaining others’ behavior) We use our “social intelligence”, but we often make an error…. Fundamental Attribution Error tendency when analyzing another’s behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal traits Examples? (e.g., “it was a just a few bad apples responsible for the Abu Ghraib abuses”)

Attitudes and Behavior Cognitive Dissonance Theory we act to reduce the discomfort (dissonance) we feel when our thoughts are inconsistent (or when our thoughts and behavior are inconsistent). Smoking example (“Smoking is unhealthy, but I smoke”) rationalization (e.g., “sour grapes”)

Social Thinking and Social Influence Stanford Prison Study by Zimbardo – role-playing, attitudes and behavior (McGraw-Hill DVD) Situational and systemic factors must be taken into account Norms and roles Learned, socially based rules Culturally-based

Social Influence Studies of conformity and obedience Videos Candid Camera (begin w/ Segment 5) Why do people behave in these ways? Research Studies (McGraw-Hill DVD: next slide)

Social Influence Studies: Asch – conformity experiments Milgram – obedience to authority “Most people do what they are told to do as long as they perceive that the command comes from a legitimate authority.” Results: The majority of subjects continued to obey to the end – “Danger-Severe-XXX”

Social Influence Question: In what specific ways does the presence of others influence your behavior? Example: Do people in a group exert less effort compared to when they are individually accountable (e.g., work crews)? Called Social Loafing Social Facilitation improved performance of tasks in the presence of others – when? examples?

Social Influence Deindividuation loss of self-awareness and self-restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity

Social Relations Stereotypes and Prejudice How do these develop? Can they be altered? (A class divided: blue-eye, brown-eye film)

Social Relations- Attractiveness

Social Relations- Attractiveness Why do you judge someone as attractive? Blind Date (DVD Segment 30) – Social Cognition and Person Perception Factors influencing attraction? Proximity mere exposure effect – repeated exposure increases liking of them Similarity friends share common attitudes, beliefs, interests Physical Attractiveness What makes someone physically “attractive?”

What is attractive?

What is attractive?

Social Relations -- aggression Social views of aggression Modeling: bobo dolls, violent media (desensitization?) Frustration-Aggression Principle Media and Aggression Television violence Pornography Video games

Bystander Studies Kitty Genovese What would you do? (ABC Primetime video) Kitty Genovese The decision-making process for bystander intervention: Notices incident? Interprets incident as emergency? Assumes responsibility? Attempts to help No help Yes

presumed available to help Bystander Effect Percentage attempting to help 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 Number of others presumed available to help 1 2 3 4 tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present