1. SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY: GROUP BEHAVIOR, PREJUDICE, & AGGRESSION UNIT 14 MODULES 76-78

2. SOCIAL FACILITATION GROUP INFLUENCE-> SOCIAL FACILITATION: SOCIAL LOAFING:

3. DEINDIVIDUALIZATION What is it? Process of loss of self-awareness and self-restraint when in a group situation. Group participation makes people both aroused and anonymous. Example:

4. GROUP POLARIZATION VS GROUPTHINK Group Polarization: When beliefs and attitudes we bring to a group grow stronger as we discuss them with like-minded others -> Can have beneficial or negative consequences. ->Beneficial (self-help group helps others develop spiritual awareness) -> Negative (can feed extremism or terrorism, when high-prejudice people in a group, breeds more racism) Groupthink:

5. CULTURAL INFLUENCES Culture- Beneath our differences is a great similarity- our capacity for culture. Culture transmits the customs and beliefs that enable us to communicate, play, eat, etc. Humans in different cultures share some basic moral ideas, yet each cultural group also evolves its own norms- rules for accepted and expected behavior.

6. HOW PEOPLE PERCEIVE ONE ANOTHER A. FIRST IMPRESSIONS ARE LASTING! B. IMPLICIT PERSONALITY THEORY – WE TEND TO EVALUATE OTHERS ACCORDING TO HOW WE VIEW OURSELVES – WARM/COLD, PUSHY, ETC. C. STEREOTYPING – GENERALIZED BELIEF ABOUT A GROUP OF PEOPLE: MOST PEOPLE HAVE A HARD TIME CHANGING THEIR OPINION BECAUSE THAT WOULD MEAN WE WERE WRONG AND NO ONE WANTS TO BE WRONG

7. PREJUDICE VS DISCRIMINATION “ATTITUDE V ACTION” PREJUDICE MEANS “PREJUDGMENT” – DISCRIMINATION MEANS- ->STUDENTS TODAY LESS LIKELY TO STEREOTYPE RACIAL GROUPS HOWEVER SHIFT TO NON- ETHNIC I.E. JOCKS, GOTHS, PREP ->INTEGRATION CHANGES ATTITUDE ONLY WHEN PEOPLE ARE FORCED TO DEPEND ON ANOTHER AND COOPERATE! I.E. GROUP PROJECTS -> OVERT PREJUDICE WANING BUT SUBTLE PREJUDICE LINGERS

8. ROOTS OF PREJUDICE SOCIAL: We teach our children the “Just-World Phenomenon” that in the world the good are rewarded and get what they deserve and that the bad are punished. Just a short leap to assume that all those who succeed are good, and those who suffer are bad. Can cause prejudice. -> We separate our group (the ingroup) from them (outgroup). It is us vs. them feelings. We tend to favor members of our own group. (ingroup bias) -> We have the evolutionary urge to distinguish enemies from friends- produces prejudice among strangers EMOTIONAL: Consider the Scapegoat Theory of Prejudice- COGNITIVE: We tend to categorize to simplify our world.

9. AGGRESSION DEFINITION: BIOLOGICAL GENES (SOME ANIMALS BRED TO BE AGGRESSIVE) HORMONES = TESTOSTERONE (WIDER FACED MALE= MORE TESTOSTERONE AND TEN TO BE MORE AGGRESSIVE). -AMYGDALA- STIMULATION OF AND AGGRESSION OCCURS. -FRONTAL LOBE DAMAGE= MORE AGGRESSION. SOCIAL-CULTURAL FACTOR: -FRUSTRATION – AGGRESSION PRINCIPLE –

10. IMPLICATIONS -> Aggression may be a natural response to aversive events, but learning can alter natural reactions -> Parents are not the only aggression models. TV, film, video games, etc. play a role in future aggression. -> Observing media violence tends to desensitize people to cruelty and primes them to respond aggressively when provoked.