Social Psychology Help – The Beatles Chapter 14 Social Psychology Help – The Beatles This multimedia product and its contents are protected under copyright law. The following are prohibited by law: Any public performance or display, including transmission of any image over a network; Preparation of any derivative work, including the extraction, in whole or in part, of any images Any rental, lease or lending of the program. ISBN: 0-131-73180-7 Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Social Psychology Social psychology – The branch of psychology that studies the effects of social variables and cognitions on individual behavior and social interactions Social context – The combination of People The activities and interactions among people The setting in which behavior occurs, and The expectations and social norms governing behavior in that setting Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

How Does the Social Situation Affect our Behavior? We usually adapt our behavior to the demands of the social situation, and in ambiguous situations we take our cues from the behavior of others in that setting Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

How Does the Social Situation Affect our Behavior? Situationism – The view that environmental conditions influence people’s behavior as much or more than their personal dispositions do Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Social Standards of Behavior Social role – One of several socially defined patterns of behavior that are expected of persons in a given setting or group Script – Knowledge about the sequence of events and actions that is expected in a particular setting Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Social Standards of Behavior Social norms – A group’s expectations regarding what is appropriate and acceptable for its members’ attitudes and behavior Social norms influence students’ political views Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Group Characteristics That Produce Conformity Solomon Asch identifies three factors that influence whether a person will yield to pressure and conform: The size of the majority The presence of a partner who dissented from the majority The size of the discrepancy between the correct answer and the majority position Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Groupthink – Irving Janis In “groupthink,” members of the group attempt to conform their opinions to what each believes to be the consensus of the group Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Conditions Likely to Promote Groupthink Conditions likely to promote groupthink include what? Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Obedience to Authority Stanley Milgram (student of Asch) was curious about what led people to obey a person that appeared to be an authority figure. His controversial experiment demonstrated how powerful the effects of obedience to authority are – remember, 2/3 of the people delivered the maximum 450 volts to the “learner.” He said, situational factors, and not personality variables, appeared to affect people’s levels of obedience. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Ten Steps Toward Evil- Getting Good People to Harm Others Provide people with an ideology to justify beliefs for actions Make people take a small first step toward a harmful act with a minor, trivial action and then gradually increase those small actions Make those in charge seem like a “just authority” What is number 4? Provide people with vague and ever changing rules Relabel the situation’s actors and their actions to legitimize the ideology Provide people with social models of compliance Allow verbal dissent but only if people continue to comply behaviorally with orders. What is #9? What is #10? Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 The Bystander Problem Diffusion of responsibility – Dilution or weakening of each group member’s obligation to act when responsibility is perceived to be shared with all group members Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Constructing Social Reality: What Influences Our Judgments of Others? The judgments we make about others depend not only on their behavior but also on our interpretation of their actions within a social context Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Constructing Social Reality: What Influences Our Judgments of Others? Social reality – An individual’s subjective interpretation of other people and of relationships with them Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Interpersonal Attraction Reward theory of attraction (Elliot Aronson)– A social learning view that says we like best those who give us maximum rewards at minimum cost Proximity Similarity Self-Disclosure Physical Attractiveness Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Proximity What is proximity? Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Similarity Sharing of attitudes, interests, values, and experiences increases likelihood that people will develop a relationship. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Self-Disclosure What is self-disclosure? This also leads to a sense of intimacy and is a sign of a relationship between a couple. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Physical Attractiveness Good looks are a social asset (be it fair or not!) Attractive children are judged as happier and more competent. Babies judge people by their appearances. Studies have shown that physical attractiveness overwhelmed everything else as the best predictor of how well a person would be liked after a first meeting. Don’t despair – who is it that we actually like the best? Extreme attractiveness can be a liability – especially if you are gorgeous or handsome and also shy! Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Exceptions to the Reward Theory of Attraction Matching hypothesis – Prediction that most people will find friends and mates that are about their same level of attractiveness Expectancy-value theory – Theory that people decide whether or not to pursue a relationship by weighing the potential value of the relationship against their expectations of success in establishing the relationship Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Attitudes and Behaviors – do ours match? Cognitive dissonance – (Carl Rogers) A highly motivating state in which people have conflicting attitudes and behaviors(e.g., Voluntarily signing up for an AP course and then realizing it is a tough course). Dissonance causes discomfort, so we either change our behavior or attitudes. (Have to justify taking the course, so you rationalize it and say, “This is going to make me a better student in the end and I want to be the best so I will do my work.” Or, you decide to give up and rationalize it by saying, “I didn’t necessarily want this course, and it’s someone else’s fault I got put here.”) Either way, we reduce the discomfort we are feeling through a change of attitude or a change of behavior Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Making Cognitive Attributions Fundamental attribution error – Tendency to emphasize internal causes and ignore external pressures Self-serving bias – Attributional pattern in which one takes credit for success but denies responsibility for failure (what serves me best?) Klutz or Cabinet? Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Prejudice and Discrimination Prejudice – A negative attitude toward an individual based solely on his or her membership in a particular group Discrimination – A negative action taken against an individual as a result of his or her group membership Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Prejudice and Discrimination In-group – The group with which an individual identifies Out-group – Those outside the group with which an individual treats differently Social distance – The perceived difference or similarity between oneself and another person – in-group is closer; out-group is placed further away. Ethnocentrism – The belief that one’s culture is superior to others – they are so used to their own culture that it becomes the norm on which to judge other cultures. Prejudice and Discrimination Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Dissimilarity and Social Distance Causes of Prejudice Dissimilarity and Social Distance Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Dissimilarity and Social Distance Causes of Prejudice Dissimilarity and Social Distance Economic Competition Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Dissimilarity and Social Distance Causes of Prejudice Dissimilarity and Social Distance Economic Competition Scapegoating Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Dissimilarity and Social Distance Conformity to Social Norms Causes of Prejudice Dissimilarity and Social Distance Economic Competition Scapegoating Conformity to Social Norms a.k.a. The Just-World Phenomenon Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Dissimilarity and Social Distance Conformity to Social Norms Causes of Prejudice Dissimilarity and Social Distance Economic Competition Scapegoating Conformity to Social Norms Media Stereotypes Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Combating Prejudice Research suggests that the possible tools for combating prejudice include: New role models (e.g., sports figures, politicians) Equal status contact – when people are placed together under equal status, where neither wields power over the other, then understanding increases. Legislation – Can we legislate morality? Studies show that it could be harmful to do so and to do so may increase prejudicial attitudes. “When the law requires people to act in a less discriminatory fashion, people have to justify their new behavior by softening their prejudiced attitudes (lessens the dissonance.)” Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Other Topics in Social Psychology – group dynamics Social facilitation – An increase in an individual’s performance because of being in a group Social loafing – An decrease in performance because of being in a group (happens when groups are too large). Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Other Topics in Social Psychology – Group Dynamics Deindividuation – Occurs when group members lose their sense of personal identity and responsibility and the group “assumes” responsibility for their behavior (e.g. riots). Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Other Topics in Social Psychology - Compliance Compliance Strategies When people use certain strategies to get others to comply with their wishes. Norms of Reciprocity: People tend to think that when someone does something nice for them, that they ought to do something nice in return. Foot-In-The-Door: A compliance strategy in which you get people to agree to a small request and then they will more likely to agree to a follow-up request that is larger. Door-In-The-Face: A compliance strategy that states that after people refuse a large request, they will look more favorably on a follow-up request that seems more reasonable. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Other Topics in Social Psychology: Group Polarization A group’s shared attitudes tend to grow stronger with discussion. In one study involving high school students, a discussion of racial issues increased prejudice in the high- prejudice groups and decreased it in the low-prejudice groups. Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Loving Relationships – How Do We Know When Attraction Becomes Love? Romantic love – A temporary and highly emotional condition based on infatuation and sexual desire Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Robert Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love Romantic Love = High on passion and intimacy, low on commitment. Friendship = intimacy but no passion and commitment. Infatuation = High passion but no intimacy or commitment Complete love = all three Passion (attraction) Intimacy (sharing feelings) Commitment (putting the other person first) Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

What Are the Roots of Violence and Terrorism? The power of the situation can help us understand violence and terrorism, but the broader understanding requires multiple perspectives that go beyond the boundaries of traditional psychology Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007 Terrorism Terrorism – The use of violent, unpredictable acts by a small group against a larger group for political, economic, or religious goals – every culture can breed violent people who terrorize others (not just limited to an outside threat from foreigners!) Taking multiple perspectives can provide important insights on the problems of aggression, violence, and terrorism. Herbert Kellman’s Approach (Israelis and Palestinians). Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007

End of Chapter 14 – and the end of the book!!!! Woohooo! Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2007