Essentials of Understanding Psychology 9th Edition By Robert Feldman PowerPoints by Kimberly Foreman Revised for 9th Ed by Cathleen Hunt Copyright McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011

Chapter 14: Social Psychology Copyright McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011

Social Psychology Scientific study of how people’s thoughts, feelings, and actions are affected by others Copyright McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011

Module 43: Attitudes and Social Cognition What are attitudes, and how are they formed, maintained, and changed? How do people form impressions of what others are like and of the causes of their behavior? What are the biases that influence the ways in which people view others’ behavior? Copyright McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011

Persuasion: Changing Attitudes Process of changing attitudes Attitudes Evaluations of a particular person, behavior, belief, or concept Factors that affect whether we change attitude: Message source Characteristics of the message Characteristics of the target Copyright McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011

Persuasion: Changing Attitudes Routes to Persuasion Central route processing Need for cognition Peripheral route processing Copyright McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011

Persuasion: Changing Attitudes The Link Between Attitudes and Behavior Cognitive dissonance Occurs when a person holds two contradictory attitudes or thoughts (cognitions) Leon Festinger (1959) experiment Boring vs. interesting task Copyright McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011

Social Cognition: Understanding Others Understanding What Others Are Like Social cognition The way people understand and make sense of others and themselves Schemas Sets of cognitions about people and social experiences Copyright McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011

Social Cognition: Understanding Others Impression Formation Process by which an individual organizes information about another person to form an overall impression of that person Central traits Copyright McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011

Social Cognition: Understanding Others Attribution Process: Understanding the Causes of Behavior Attribution Theory Seeks to explain how we decide, on the basis of samples of an individual’s behavior, what the specific causes of that person’s behavior are Copyright McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011

Determining the Cause of Behavior Copyright McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011

Social Cognition: Understanding Others Attribution Process: Understanding the Causes of Behavior Situational Causes Those brought about by something in the environment Dispositional Causes Prompted by the person’s disposition Copyright McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011

Social Cognition: Understanding Others Attribution Biases: To Err Is Human Halo effect Phenomenon in which an initial understanding that a person has positive traits is used to infer other uniformly positive characteristics Assumed-similarity bias Thinking of people as being similar to oneself even when meeting them for the first time Copyright McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011

Social Cognition: Understanding Others Attribution Biases: To Err Is Human Self-serving bias Tendency to attribute success to personal factors and attribute failure to factors outside oneself Fundamental attribution error Tendency to exaggerate the importance of personality characteristics in producing others’ behavior, minimizing the influence of the environment Behavioral economics Copyright McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011

Attribution Biases in a Cultural Context The culture in which we are raised clearly plays a role in the way we attribute others Collectivistic orientation A worldview that promotes interdependence Individualistic orientation A worldview that emphasizes personal identity and the uniqueness of the individual Copyright McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011

MODULE 44: Social Influence and Groups What are the major sources and tactics of social influence? Copyright McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011

MODULE 44: Social Influence and Groups Process by which the actions of an individual or group affect the behavior of others Groups Consist of two or more people who: Interact with one another Perceive themselves as part of a group Are interdependent Develop and hold “norms” Copyright McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011

Conformity: Following What Others Do Change in behavior or attitudes brought about by a desire to follow the beliefs or standards of other people Copyright McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011

Conformity: Following What Others Do Solomon Asch (1951) Study Copyright McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011

Conformity: Following What Others Do Conformity Conclusions Characteristics of the group Status Situation in which the individual is responding Kind of task Unanimity of the group Social supporter Copyright McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011

Conformity: Following What Others Do Groupthink Type of thinking in which group members share such a strong motivation to achieve consensus that they lose the ability to critically evaluate alternative points of view Entrapment Copyright McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011

Conformity: Following What Others Do Conformity to Social Roles Behaviors that are associated with people in a given position Philip Zimbardo's Prison Study (1973) Guards vs. prisoners Copyright McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011

Compliance: Submitting to Direct Social Pressure Type of behavior that occurs in response to direct social pressure Attempts to gain compliance: Foot-in-the-door technique Door-in-the-face technique That’s-not-all technique Not-so-free sample Norm of reciprocity Industrial/Organizational Psychology Consider worker motivation, satisfaction, safety, and productivity Copyright McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011

Obedience: Following Direct Orders Change in behavior in response to the commands of others Stanley Milgram’s Obedience Study -1960s Copyright McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011 Figure 2 of Module 44

MODULE 45: Prejudice and Discrimination How do stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination differ? How can we reduce prejudice and discrimination? Copyright McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011

MODULE 45: Prejudice and Discrimination Stereotype Set of generalized beliefs and expectations about a specific group and its members Prejudice A negative (or positive) evaluation of a group and its members Discrimination Behavior directed toward individuals on the basis of their membership in a particular group Copyright McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011

The Foundations of Prejudice Observational Learning Approaches Mass Media Social Identity Theory Ethnocentric Viewing the world from their own perspective and judging others in terms of their group membership “ingroups” and “outgroups” Copyright McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011

The Foundations of Prejudice Social Neuroscience Seeks to identify the neural basis of social behavior Amygdala Copyright McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011

Measuring Prejudice and Discrimination: The Implicit Personality Test Implicit Association Test Ingenious measure of prejudice that permits a more accurate assessment of people’s discrimination between members of different groups Copyright McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011

Reducing Prejudice and Discrimination Strategies: Increase contact between the target of stereotyping and holder of the stereotype Make values and norms against prejudice more conspicuous Provide information about the targets of stereotyping Reduce stereotype threat Stereotype vulnerability Copyright McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011

MODULE 46: Positive & Negative Social Behavior Why are we attracted to certain people, and what progression do social relationships follow? What factors underlie aggression and prosocial behavior? Copyright McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011

Liking and Loving: Interpersonal Attraction and the Development of Relationships Addresses the factors that lead to positive feelings for others How Do I Like Thee? Let Me Count the Ways Factors: Proximity Mere exposure Similarity Reciprocity-of-liking effect Physical attractiveness Copyright McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011

Liking and Loving: Interpersonal Attraction and the Development of Relationships How Do I Love Thee? Let Me Count the Ways Passionate (romantic) love Represents a state of intense absorption in someone Companionate love Strong affection we have for those with whom our lives are deeply involved Copyright McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011

Robert Sternberg’s Three Components of Love Copyright McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011

Aggression and Prosocial Behavior: Hurting and Helping Others Hurting Others: Aggression Aggression Intentional injury of or harm to another person Instinct Approaches Aggression as a Release Catharsis Frustration-Aggression Approaches Aggression as a Reaction to Frustration The reaction to the blocking of goals Observational Learning Approaches Learning to Hurt Others Copyright McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011

Aggression and Prosocial Behavior: Hurting and Helping Others Helping Others: The Brighter Side of Human Nature Prosocial behavior Diffusion of responsibility Tendency for people to feel that responsibility for acting is shared among those present Classic Case of Kitty Genovese Copyright McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011

Aggression and Prosocial Behavior: Hurting and Helping Others Four basic steps in the helping process: Noticing a person, event, or situation that may require help Interpreting the event as one that requires help Assuming responsibility for helping Deciding on and implementing the form of helping Rewards-costs approach Altruism Helping behavior that requires self-sacrifice Copyright McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011

Dealing Effectively with Anger Strategies: Look again at the anger-provoking situation from the perspective of others Minimize the importance of the situation Fantasize about getting even – but do not act on it Relax Copyright McGraw-Hill, Inc. 2011