Chapter 18: Social Psychology Definition : Sub-field of psychology that studies of how others influence our thoughts, feelings and actions Focuses on… - How large social forces such as groups, social roles and norms bring out the best and worst in all of us - Explaining why people act differently in the same situation, and why the same person may act differently in different situations.

Chapter 16: Social Psychology Our Thoughts About Others - Attribution - Attitude Our Feelings about Others - Prejudice & Discrimination - Interpersonal Attraction Our Actions Toward Others - Social Influence - Group Processes - Aggression - Altruism Applying Social Psych. to Social Problems - Reducing Prejudice & Discrimination TOPICS

Attribution Theory Definition: Inferences that people draw about the causes of events, others’ behavior, and their own behavior Dispositional Attribution: we attribute a person’s behavior to an internal state (personality, abilities, etc.) Situational Attribution: attributing a person’s behavior to an external state (stress, abuse, hardship, wealth, etc.) w Function: People like to explain and understand behavior and the events that impact their lives w Attributions are made when an event is unusual and personal

Covariation Model of Attribution

Attribution Example

Bias in Attribution w Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE): Observer’s bias in favor of internal attributions in explaining others’ behavior but external attributions in explaining their own (Ex: Someone else drops out of college because “they couldn’t handle the pressure or work load” – internal. You drop out of college because “tuition was raised and you had to help support your family” – external) w Defensive Attribution: Tendency to blame the victim for their misfortune, so that one feels less likely to be victimized in a similar way w Self-Serving Bias: Tendency to attribute one’s successes to personal factors and one’s failures to situational factors w In-group bias- tendency to favor your own group over the out-group

Attitudes & Attitude Formation - When we observe & respond to the world around us, it is never without the influence of our attitudes (even if we don’t realize it). - Advertisers spend millions because they know that attitudes can be shaped & changed….to their benefit $$ w Definition Positive, negative, or mixed feelings, based on our beliefs, that predispose us to respond in a particular way to objects, people, and events. Ex: A friend tells you that they believe Coach Stove is a mean teacher. You may feel dislike for Coach Stove, and act unfriendly. w Components of Attitudes Cognitive: What you believe Affective: How you feel about it Behavioral: What you are willing to do about it

Components of Attitudes

Attitudes can Affect Action  Example: You believe working out is good for you, but you dislike getting sweaty so you avoid working out -Your attitude toward exercise will guide your physical fitness program  Foot-in-the-door phenomenon: peoples’ willingness to agree to a large request after having agreed to a related small request.  Role-playing: people who behaved in certain ways in scripted scenarios have adopted attitudes in keeping with those roles. (Philip Zimbardo’s prison experiment)

Cognitive Dissonance & Social Facilitation Cognitive Dissonance Theory: When we act in a way not consistent with our beliefs we feel tension. We then revise our beliefs to align with our behavior. Example:  Asked to do hour long boring task  Offered $1 or $20 to say it’s fun  Results: Larger payment led to less dissonance b/c high payment could account for ‘lying’. $1 was not enough to justify lying so those people changed their attitude to saying they enjoyed the task Social Facilitation Being watched while doing task vs. being alone when doing task  better on simple tasks  worse on complex tasks Example: After you go to all the trouble of buying a new house you start to like it more

Person Perception w Definition: The process of forming impressions of others w Impressions are influenced by: Physical appearance good looking people are seen as intelligent, friendly, and confident Schemas: Organized clusters of ideas about categories of social events and people 1 st Impressions: self fulfilling prophecy, primacy Stereotypes: gender, race, job

Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination w Stereotype: Thoughts and beliefs held about people strictly because of their membership in a group w Prejudice: A negative attitude held toward members of a group w Discrimination: Negative actions towards a group These often arise from learning, personal experience, mental shortcuts, economic & political competition, & displaced aggression w Scapegoat: Blame other groups without as much power w Social Identity (in-group bias): Favor own group w Outgroup Homogeneity: Judge members of outgroup as more alike w Learning Theory: Classical or operant conditioning w Cognitive: Easier to organize our world if we ‘categorize’ Explanations

Stereotype CartoonStereotype Cartoon

Articles Showing BiasArticles Showing Bias

Attraction w Contributors to Attraction Proximity: Physical closeness (mere exposure) Physical Attractiveness: Pleasant physical appearance (often different depending on culture), signs of health such as symmetry (universal) Similarity: Commonalities between two people Reciprocity: The tendency to like those who like you Matching Hypothesis: “opposites do not attract”

Results of Attraction w Friendship: An attraction driven by a set of rules that must be followed for the relationship to continue Examples of rules: help when needed trust and confide in each other w Romantic Love: Intense feeling of attraction to another within an erotic context with future expectations w Compassionate Love: Strong and lasting attraction characterized by trust, caring, tolerance, and friendship w Triangular Theory of Love: (see next slide)

Triangular Conception of Love

Social Influence w Chameleon Effect: our tendency to unconsciously mimic those around us Yawning when others yawn Picking up the mood of a happy or sad person Dress like your friends This automatic mimicry is an ingredient in our ability to empathize with others

Persuasion w Source: credible, trustworthy, likable, attractive, similarity w Message: Fear vs. logic, one or two sided, repetition w Channel: TV, radio, in person w Receiver: Personality, expectations, preexisting attitudes, intelligence

Persuasion Techniques w Limited time offer w Everyone is buying!!! w DEAL!!! w Reciprocation w Foot in the door w Door in the face w Low-balling

Conformity and Obedience w Conformity - yielding to social pressure Asch’s Conclusions 1) subjects often conform to a group, even when the group states clearly inaccurate conclusions 2) conformity to a group increases with the size of the group, up to five or six, but only when the group is unanimous in its beliefs w Obedience Milgram’s Conclusions 1) situational pressures can make people obey instructions that go against their belief systems

Obedience Experiment

Behavior in Groups w Bystander Effect: less likely to help others when in groups than when alone w Social Loafing: individuals produce less work (reduced efficiency & effort) when working in groups than by themselves w Decision Making Group Polarization - when group discussion leads to a more “polarized” point of view by the group Groupthink - when feel pressure to conform to the group, stops critical thinking to avoid dissention in the group Ex: Kennedy and the Bay of Pigs

Percentage of Bystanders Helping Victims & Time Taken

Group Polarization

Aggression & Altruism Aggression: Any form of behavior intended to harm or injure another living being Where does aggression come from? - Instincts - Genes - Brain & Nervous System - Substance Abuse - Mental Disorders - Hormones & NTs - Aversive Stimuli (e.g. noise, heat, pain, bullying, frustration), culture & learning, Violent media/video games Altruism: Actions designed to help others with no obvious benefit to the helper Why are we altruistic? Evolutionary Perspective: favors survival of genes Egoistic Model: motivated by anticipated gain Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis: sometimes for selfish gains, other times truly selfless & motivated by concern for others Kitty Genovese Story…diffusion of responsibility…