Social Psychology PSY450 Instructor: Briana (Seay) Harvey Welcome! Social Psychology PSY450 Instructor: Briana (Seay) Harvey

Nature vs. Nurture Are you the way you are because of genetics? Or because of the way you were raised? Personality? IQ? Skills?

Nature vs. Nurture Twin studies Separated at birth or raised together Diseases Interests/hobbies

Nature Defined Nature – the physical world around us, including it’s laws and processes

Culture and Human Social Life Culture – an information based system that includes shared ideas and common ways of doing things In other words: what a large group of people has in common

Culture consists of shared ideas Mental representations (thoughts) that are abstract (i.e., they refer to more than a single concrete thing) and that can be expressed in language Example’s: Traffic signal Money

Culture Praxis Practical way of doing things (e.g., drive on the right side of the road)

Praxis

Nature and Culture Interacting the Social Side of Sex Rooted in Nature Men desire more partners than women Basic practices known to most cultures Reason is reproduction Cultural Differences Guam- law prohibits woman marrying if she is a virgin Turkey-woman must be a virgin and used to have to submit to exam Indonesia- masturbation penalty is beheading Lebanese- Men who have sex with male animals get death penalty but if female it’s fine

Nature and Culture Interacting Virtuous Vegetarians Eating is natural & vital Humans naturally eat meat Culture Some believe it is immoral to eat meat Religious reasons or animal rights

Culture and Food Preferences Americans eat oysters but not snails. The French eat snails but not locusts. The Zulus eat locusts but not fish. The Jews eat fish but not pork. The Hindus eat pork but not beef. The Russians eat beef but not snakes. The Chinese eat snakes but not people. The Jale of New Guinea find people delicious.

Evolutionary Psychology Examines the evolution of human behavioral tendencies Based on the idea that evolution may “select” psychological and behavioral traits that enhance the preservation and spread of one’s genes This has been helpful in understanding areas such as mating strategies (e.g., the function of jealousy) and emotions

Evolution, and Doing What’s Natural Theory of evolution Theory proposed by Darwin to explain how changes occur in nature Darwin’s finches on Galapagos

Evolution Natural selection Process whereby those members of a species that survive and reproduce most effectively are the ones that pass along their genes to future generations

Human vestigiality Vestigial: having lost all or most of their original function through evolution. Tails present for a period of 4 weeks in fetal development 23 babies born with a tail Wisdom teeth, Appendix, ear muscles Appendix?

Criteria for natural selection Survival – living longer “Survival of the fittest” Competition within species BUT…survival in order to reproduce Reproduction – producing babies that survive long enough to also reproduce Mutation – a new gene or combination of genes Can be helpful or harmful (Ex. Flu)

The Social Brain Social Brain Theory Being social can increase survival & reproduction In order to be social one needs a complex, powerful brain

Social Animal Social Animal – seek connections to others and prefer to live, work, and play with other members of their species Includes humans, but also many other animals Cultural Animal – evolution shaped human psyche to enable humans to create and take part in culture Defining trait of what makes us human

Name each color… Experiment time

Blue Green Black Red Red Black Green Blue Red Blue Black Green Name each color… Blue Green Black Red Red Black Green Blue Red Blue Black Green

Name each color (don’t read the word!)… Red Blue Green Black Black Blue Red Green Blue Black Green Red

Automatic and Conscious Thinking Stroop effect Conscious thought has difficulty overriding automatic

Review What was the IV in this experiment: Text (whether the word represented it’s color or not What was the DV in this experiment: The time scores from each classmate Was this a within or between subject design? Within: because each classmate was exposed to both conditions Was it experimental, Quasi, or correlational Quasi Because I let people volunteer instead of randomly selecting participants

Automatic Processes Effortless, unconscious, and involuntary Behaviors which are rehearsed enough to become routine: Counting 1 to 10 Spelling your name Writing your address Walking Driving

Conscious Processes Intentional setting of the goals of processing and intentional evaluation of its outputs Behaviors which require thinking/planning/override automatic processes: Stroop Effect Playing a game Going on a diet!

Selective attention Are we always aware of our surroundings or are we on autopilot?

Table 2.1 The Duplex Mind: Conscious and Automatic Systems

The Duplex Mind Automatic system Conscious system Outside of consciousness Simple operations Conscious system Complex operations

Decision making Unconscious (automatic) is better at making complex decisions (Dijksterhuis & Nordgren,2006) The conscious is better at simpler decisions (Dijksterhuis & Nordgren, 2006)

Explaining the Psyche Psyche Broad term for mind, encompassing emotions, desires, perceptions, and all other psychological processes Conscious AND unconscious mind

What is Consciousness for? Increased focus on role of automatic system Can learn, think, choose, and respond Has ideas and emotions Knows “self” and other people Consciousness focus on complex thinking and logic

Nature Says Go, Culture Says No Nature – impulses, wishes, automatic responses Culture – teaches self-control and restraint Inhibitions

Conscious Override Sometimes we need to override the unconscious Vital to life in culture because culture is full of rules about how to behave: norms, guidelines, laws, morals, expectations

The Long Road to Social Acceptance Working to gain social acceptance Inner states help humans connect to others Human brain evolved to improve interpersonal relations Think about the evolution of second order emotions: Empathy, guilt Pariah- someone who is an outcast

Humans “feel” others’ pain:

Selfish Impulse Versus Social Conscience Nature makes us selfish Preservation of self Culture helps us resist selfish impulses Consideration of what is best for society Morality

Tradeoffs: When You Can’t Have It All Tradeoffs – no choice that is clearly the best in every respect Time – Now versus Tomorrow Performance-enhancing drugs Sacrifice now – Payoff in the future Future Orientation (thinking ahead) Important aspect of cultural animal

Putting People First Conformity research! People get most of what they need from other people Culture as a “general store” of information Conscious processes rely on culture People look to each other first Conformity research!

The boy who was raised as a girl

Culture and Nature What does the case of “Little Brenda” suggest about culture and nature? Innate versus socialized ~50 minutes

Next Time… The Self.. Self-Esteem Reality vs. Illusions