The reason you have exams and quizzes…  Responses to “What is Terror Management Theory?” A blank sheet of paper with the person’s name Claims to have read the wrong articles: 2 Admitted not reading the article for various reasons (e.g., thesis proposal): 9 Other horribly incorrect responses: 6 Folks who wrote a lot about sociometer theory…and hoped that I wouldn’t notice that they didn’t mention Terror Management Theory: 2 “I don’t know what Terror Management Theory is.” “Terrorism theory is…Weren’t our readings on Health Psychology and Happiness? I don’t remember either of these from those.” “Care management theory…I can’t even guess. I’m sorry. It’s been a busy week.” “Terror Management Theory postulates that people whose self-esteem is not based on affiliations with others would need a different approach than those who are affiliated with others.” “It is more difficult for individuals with low self-esteem to manage their fears/terror.” “The other deals with anger management.” Acceptable answers: 9

Introducing Social Psychology PSY 750 Advanced Social Psychology

Questions  Is it possible for people to live together peacefully? Violence erupts at 2004 peace rally 11 days of world peace since the end of World War II What does Lynndie England’s behavior at the Abu Ghraib prison tell us about human behavior? Something about her? Something about the situation? Some combination of the two?

What is Social Psychology?  The scientific study of how people think about, influence, and relate to one another Focus is on the individual within their social environments (e.g., groups of people or social contexts)  Other definitions An attempt to understand and explain how the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others (Allport) Whatever a social psychologist wants to study (Gilbert)

 Our inner motivations interact with the outside situation  We respond to our contexts The Holocaust  German people are not inherently evil  These regular people followed orders to slaughter millions of innocents  Would you be cruel if ordered? The events of 9/11  New Yorkers are sometimes characterized as rude and uncaring  Displayed an abundance of helpfulness and generosity  When are you willing to help others? Interaction of the Person and the Situation

Themes for the Course  Power of the situation: We often fail to appreciate the power of situations in shaping behavior  Subjective construction of reality: Our beliefs and expectations determine much of what we experience  People can be irrational: We do not always choose actions that are beneficial  Group dynamics: Being around other people (or even imagining other people) often changes our behavior  Social psychology is practical: The study of social behavior can be relevant to our daily lives

How Should Social Psychology Be Characterized?  The topics it studies  The assumptions that are often made  The methods that are commonly employed

Topics of Social Psychology  Social Cognition How do we think about ourselves, other people, and our social world? What do we believe? Why? How do our beliefs change over time? Why do we possess certain attitudes? How do our attitudes influence our behavior?  Self How do we think and feel about ourselves? How do we regulate our behavior?  Conflict How do differing cultural and ethnic groups coexist? What are some of the causes of aggression?  Social Influence What makes us obey authority? Why do we conform? How can we persuade others? How do others persuade us? How do groups function?  Social Relations Why do we form relationships? Why are we attracted to certain people but not others? When do we help others and when do we fail to help?  Culture and Biology How does culture influence our behavior? How do neural mechanisms relate to behavior? What role does evolution play in psychological processes?

Assumptions of Social Psychology  People often interact with each other to achieve some goal or satisfy some inner motivation Social behavior is often goal-oriented Common Motives  Establish social ties  Understand ourselves and others in order to increase predictability and mastery  Gain and maintain status  Defend ourselves and those we value  Attract and retain mates  The person and the situation are both important  Inner processes are important for understanding people  We are not always aware of the reasons for our behavior

 Experimentation is the primary method Quasi-experiments and correlational research are also commonly used  Common procedures Behavioral observation and coding Self-report Psychophysiology Small groups Experience sampling (e.g., daily measures) Priming Semi-structured interviews Content analysis and narrative analysis Methods of Social Psychology

Major Theoretical Perspectives  Why are there so many perspectives? Complexity of social behavior History  Sociocultural Cultural environment Social norms  Evolutionary Natural selection Adaptation  Social learning Rewards and punishments Links culture and individual  Social cognition Attend to, process, store, and recall information  Categorization Phenomenological  Subjective interpretation  Basic principle of social psychology—we do not respond to the world as it actually is but as we perceive it to be  Combined perspectives

Interaction between person and situation  Kurt Lewin’s Equation: B = f (p, e) which means that Behavior is a function of the Person and the Environment Different situations activate different aspects of the self Each situation has different facets and the social motives that are active in a particular situation will depend on which facet is salient Not everyone responds in the same way to the same situation People choose their situations People change their situations Situations choose people Situations change people Basic Mechanisms of Social Psychology

A Brief History of Social Psychology  Earliest Social Psychology Experiments Norman Triplett in 1898  Noticed that cyclists who were competing performed better than those who were not  Decided to test hypothesis that the presence of others would enhance performance  Tested idea using a “Competition Machine”  Children wound fishing reel alone or side-by-side  They worked faster when working alongside other children The presence of others enhanced performance (i.e., social facilitation)

Max Ringelmann in the 1880s  Conducted rope-pulling experiments  Men pulled alone or as part of a group  Measured amount of effort  As group size increased, individual effort decreased The presence of others hurt performance (i.e., social loafing) Which is it? Do others help or hurt performance? Social psychology is full of these apparent contradictions A Brief History of Social Psychology

 Introduction of Social Psychology Textbooks in 1908 Edward Ross (sociologist) William McDougall (psychologist)  Influences in Early 20 th Century Gordon Allport  It’s all about attitudes Kurt Lewin  Behavior represents an interaction of the person with the situation A Brief History of Social Psychology

 Influences in 1950s and 1960s Behaviorism  Focus on learning  No study of inner states  Rigorous scientific methods Freudian psychoanalysis  Focus on inner processes Cognitive psychology  The way we process information  Social Psychology combined scientific methods with study of learning, inner processes, and information processing A Brief History of Social Psychology

Research Reflects the Times  1940s: Fascism in Europe led to prejudice research  1950s: Intolerance of differing views led to conformity research  1960s: Riots and crime increase led to aggression research  1970s: Feminist movement led to gender and sexism research  1980s: Arms race led to conflict and peacekeeping research  1990s: Multiculturalism led to study of diversity in culture, race, and sexual orientation  2000s: Concerns about self-regulation failures have led to renewed interest in processes concerning the self

Quote by Stanley Milgram  “The social psychology of this century reveals a major lesson: Often it is not so much the kind of person a man is as the kind of situation in which he finds himself that determines how he will act”