1. Social Psychology The study of how we think about, influence and relate to one another.

2. Social Thinking How do we think about one another?

3. Attribution Theory Whenever we are in a situation with another person, we interpret the reasons for their behavior. Think about the following... You are driving on the highway and somebody cuts you off, how do you interpret that? What about when you ask for an extension on a homework assignment, and the teacher chews you out? Or, when you ask your friend’s new girlfriend if you can have some of her fries, and she gives you a death stare. (Well, they are FRIES!) You will actually decide to attribute each of those behaviors to SOMETHING.

4. Attribution theory says that you will attribute the behavior either to the 1. Person’s disposition (personality, characteristics, etc) The guy who cut you off in traffic doesn’t know how to drive! The teacher doesn’t care about students. Your friend’s new girlfriend is super selfish. In other words, you assume this is how the person IS. 2. Or to the situation. Perhaps the guy who cut you off is trying to get to the hospital to see his wife, or maybe he is sick, or maybe he is distracted by the fact that he just got fired. Perhaps you are the tenth kid who has some reason why you can’t turn in your assignment on time, or maybe your teacher just received bad news. Perhaps your friend’s new girlfriend just REALLY LOVES FRIES, or maybe she hasn’t eaten in a long time, maybe the fries have been passed down in her family for generations.

5. Fundamental Attribution Error The tendency to underestimate the impact of a situation and overestimate the impact of personal disposition.

6. Attribution At Work

7. The Effects of Attribution Social Effects: –is the rude waiter a bad person, or is he having a bad night? Political Effects –Is poverty due to laziness or to the economy? Workplace Effects –Perceptions of workers/bosses/administra- tion, etc

8. Attitude A belief or feeling that predisposes one to respond in a particular way to something. How might your attitude impact your response to this picture?

9. ... Or these

10. Do our attitudes guide our actions? We tend to act on our attitudes if... Opposing external pressure is minimal. (We don’t necessarily stand up for our beliefs in the face of dissention) We are aware of our attitudes. The attitude is relevant to the behavior.

11. How do attitudes CHANGE? Central Route Persuasion: a change in attitude which results from the arguments presented. You should buy this car because of the interest rate, the engine, the body, etc. Peripheral Route Persuasion: a change in attitude resulting from incidental cues, such as the speaker’s attractiveness. You decide to buy the car because the salesperson is charming.

12. Attitudes

13. Believe it or not, more often, our actions affect our attitudes.

14. Foot-in-the-door phenomenon If you get somebody to go against their beliefs on something small, the tendency would then be for them to comply later with a larger request. In other words, their actions changed their attitude! If I agree to let you go get food during class, what might come next?? This is key to sales strategy. Radicalization?

15. Door-in-face Phenomenon The tendency for people who say no to a huge request, to comply with a smaller one. So, their actions (saying no to a large request) effects their attitude about the request. If you ask your parents for a 2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee, they may say no. But they may then agree to a 2010 Toyota Corolla.

16. Role Playing Effects Attitudes Ever hear the expression “Fake it ‘til you make it”? Or, “Act as if...” Sometimes when we behave a certain way (take on a role) we begin to believe it ourselves! That can be a good thing (acting like an adult, or a college student) or a bad thing (bullying, hazing). Radicalization?

17. Zimbardo Prison Study What do you think happened when college students were made to take on the roles of prison guards and inmates.

18. Phil Zimbardo One of the leading social psychologist of the century Still alive and teaching at Stanford Famous for the Stanford Prison Study https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZwfNs1pqG0https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZwfNs1pqG0 14 min, start at 4 min

19. Stanford Prison Study Mostly college-age volunteers from the area signed up to be part of the study. Randomly assigned “prisoner” or “guard”

20. Stanford Prison Study Within a day or so, the “guards” were very abusive to the “prisoners.” Prisoners quickly became depressed and despondent. Why?

21. What happens when we become aware that our attitudes don’t match or actions? COGNITIVE DISSONANCE

22. Cognitive Dissonance Theory We are uncomfortable when we have either conflicting attitudes or when our attitudes do not match our actions. When they clash, we will change our attitude to create balance. Radicalization?

23. Cognitive Dissonance Theory

25. So we know we “think about” other humans, but how do we influence others? How do they influence us? Social Influence

26. Conformity Adjusting one’s behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard. When was the last time you “went along with the group?”

27. Asch’s Study 1955

28. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyDDyT1lDhA# t=187 Asche study, 6 minutes

29. Conditions that Strengthen Conformity One is made to feel incompetent The group is at least three people The group is unanimous One admires the group’s status One had made no prior commitment The subject is observed Think about this next time you are working on a group project for school!

30. Reasons for Conforming Normative Social Influence Influence resulting from a person’s desire to gain approval or avoid disappointment Informational Social Influence Influence resulting from one’s willingness to accept others’ opinions about reality https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRW8v goHOWghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRW8v goHOWg (12 Angry Men 3 min)

31. Obedience: Shocking stuff at Yale! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTX42lVDwA4https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTX42lVDwA4 10 min, start at 1:39 Stanley Milgram, 1960’s Participants were told to “shock” other participants. Did they? They did. Why? Would you?

32. Social Facilitation: the tendency for the presence of other people to have a positive effect on performance... But only on a task we find easy. Social Impairment: the tendency for the presence of others to have a NEGATIVE effect on performance... But only on a task we find difficult. Why? Having others around increases our arousal, which enhances performance on things we do well, but not on things we have to really concentrate on. Performance on a task might be enhanced or diminished based on the presence of others.

33. Social Loafing The tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling efforts toward a common goal than if they were individually accountable.

34. Deindividuation The loss of self-awareness and self-restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity.

35. Anonymity, “So, I cannot be found out?” Diffused responsibility, “So, I am not responsible for the outcome?” Group size, as a larger group increases so to do the above two factors.

36. Think: crowd behavior at a sporting event!

37. Group Polarization The tendency for a group’s attitudes and decisions to be more extreme than the initial inclination of its members. As a group, both the Black Panthers and the Ku Klux Klan are more extreme than the average individual in the group.

38. Group Polarization Radicalization?

39. Groupthink The mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides common sense.

40. CULTURE AND CULTURAL INFLUENCES Culture: The enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, traditions shared by a group of people and passed down from generation to generation. Norms: Rules of accepted and expected behavior, generally unwritten. Examples... Personal space Dress Rules of communication Rules relating to dating/mating and opposite sex Rules regarding status