1. Social Psychology AP PSYCHOLOGY Adapted from James A. McCubbin, PhD
Clemson University
Worth Publishers

2. Social Thinking Social Psychology Attribution Theory
scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another
Attribution Theory
tendency to give a causal explanation for someone’s behavior, often by crediting either the situation or the person’s disposition

3. Social Thinking Fundamental Attribution Error Attitude
tendency for observers, when analyzing another’s behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition
Attitude
belief and feeling that predisposes one to respond in a particular way to objects, people and events

4. Leyla had an accident on the way to school
Leyla had an accident on the way to school. She hit the car in front of her when approaching a traffic signal. The road was slippery because of a light rain falling. Although no one was hurt, the accident caused hundreds of dollars worth of damage to her car and the car in front of her.

5. Antecedent – Leyla obtained her license only three weeks before
Antecedent – Leyla obtained her license only three weeks before. This was her second accident. It was a rainy day.

6. Attribution – Leyla’s inexperience led her to misjudge the distance between her car and the one in front of her.

7. Consequences – Leyla’s insurance rates will most likely climb
Consequences – Leyla’s insurance rates will most likely climb. Her parents will restrict her driving privileges, and her friends will make sarcastic remarks about her driving.

8. Person Attribution – Leyla was at fault because she is not a very good driver.

9. Situation Attribution – The weather conditions caused Leyla’s car to hit the car in front of hers.

10. Fundamental Attribution Error – Leyla believed the weather was responsible for her accident, while others believed her poor driving and inattention were to blame.

11. Social Thinking
How we explain someone’s behavior affects how we react to it
Negative behavior
Situational attribution
“Maybe that driver is ill.”
Dispositional attribution
“Crazy driver!”
Tolerant reaction
(proceed cautiously, allow
driver a wide berth)
Unfavorable reaction
(speed up and race past the
other driver, give a dirty look)

12. Social Thinking
Our behavior is affected by our inner attitudes as well as by external social influences
Internal
attitudes
External
influences
Behavior

13. Social Thinking Foot-in-the-Door Phenomenon Role
tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request
Role
set of expectations about a social position
defines how those in the position ought to behave

14. Social Thinking Cognitive Dissonance Theory
we act to reduce the discomfort (dissonance) we feel when two of our thoughts (cognitions) are inconsistent
example- when we become aware that our attitudes and our actions clash, we can reduce the resulting dissonance by changing our attitudes

15. Social Thinking
Cognitive dissonance

16. Adolescents drive fast, knowing that doing so is dangerous and illegal.

17. A student who hates psychology class is asked by her teacher to encourage a group of students to take psychology next year. She agrees and speaks to the other students.

18. A young man is involved in drugs and belongs to a gang that espouses violence. He falls in love with a girl who is a social worker trying to stop drugs and violence.

19. Social Influence Conformity Normative Social Influence
adjusting one’s behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard
Normative Social Influence
influence resulting from a person’s desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval

20. Social Influence The chameleon effect Participant Participant
rubs face shakes foot
Confederate rubs face
Confederate shakes foot
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
Number
of times

21. Social Influence
Asch’s conformity experiments

22. Social Influence Norm Informational Social Influence
an understood rule for accepted and expected behavior
prescribes “proper” behavior
Informational Social Influence
influence resulting from one’s willingness to accept others’ opinions about reality

23. Social Influence
Difficult judgments
Easy judgments
Conformity highest
on important
judgments
Low High
Importance
50% 40 30 20 10
Percentage of
conformity to
confederates’
wrong answers
Participants judged which person in Slide 2 was the same as the person in Slide 1

24. Social Influence Milgram’s follow-up obedience experiment Percentage
XXX
( )
Percentage
of subjects
who obeyed
experimenter
100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10
Slight
(15-60)
Moderate
(75-120)
Strong
( )
Very
strong
( )
Intense
( )
Extreme
intensity
( )
Danger
severe
( )
Shock levels in volts
The majority of
subjects continued
to obey to the end

25. Social Influence
Testing facilitated communication

26. Social Influence Social Facilitation Social Loafing
improved performance of tasks in the presence of others
occurs with simple or well-learned tasks but not with tasks that are difficult or not yet mastered
Social Loafing
tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable

27. Social Facilitation Home Advantage in Major Team Sports Games Winning
Home Team
Games Winning
Sport Studied Percentage
Baseball 23, %
Football 2,
Ice hockey 4,
Basketball 13,
Soccer 37,

28. Social Influence Deindividuation
loss of self-awareness and self-restraint in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity

29. Social Influence Group Polarization Groupthink
enhancement of a group’s prevailing attitudes through discussion within the group
Groupthink
mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides realistic appraisal of alternatives

30. Social Influence
High
Prejudice
Low +4 +3 +2 +1 -1 -2 -3 -4
Before discussion
After discussion
Low-prejudice
groups
High-prejudice
If a group is like-minded, discussion strengthens its prevailing opinions

31. Social Influence Self-fulfilling Prophecy
occurs when one person’s belief about others leads one to act in ways that induce the others to appear to confirm the belief

32. Social Relations Prejudice Stereotype
an unjustifiable (and usually negative) attitude toward a group and its members
involves stereotyped beliefs, negative feelings, and a predisposition to discriminatory action
Stereotype
a generalized (often overgeneralized) belief about a group of people

33. to keep minorities out of
Social Relations
Americans today express much less racial and gender prejudice
Would you vote for
a woman president? 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10
Year
Do whites have a right
to keep minorities out of
their neighborhoods?
Percentage
answering
yes

34. Social Relations Ingroup
“Us”- people with whom one shares a common identity
Outgroup
“Them”- those perceived as different or apart from one’s ingroup

35. Social Relations Ingroup Bias Scapegoat Theory Just-World Phenomenon
tendency to favor one’s own group
Scapegoat Theory
theory that prejudice provides an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame
Just-World Phenomenon
tendency of people to believe the world is just
people get what they deserve and deserve what they get

36. Social Relations Aggression Frustration-Aggression Principle
any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy
Frustration-Aggression Principle
principle that frustration – the blocking of an attempt to achieve some goal – creates anger, which can generate aggression

37. Social Relations Uncomfortably hot weather and aggression Murders
and rapes
per day in
Houston, Texas
8.0
7.5
7.0
6.5
6.0
Temperature in degrees Fahrenheit

38. Social Relations Juvenile violent crime arrest rates Arrest per 1,000
1,000
900
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
Arrest per
100,000
15- to 17-
year-olds

39. Social Relations Men who sexually coerce women Sexual promiscuity
Hostile
masculinity
Coerciveness
against
women

40. Social Relations Conflict Social Trap
perceived incompatibility of actions, goals, or ideas
Social Trap
a situation in which the conflicting parties, by each rationally pursuing their self-interest, become caught in mutually destructive behavior

41. Social Relations Social trap
Optimal
outcome
Probable
Person 1
Choose A Choose B
Choose B Choose A
Person 2
Social trap
by pursuing our self-interest and not trusting others, we can end up losers

42. Social Relations- Attractiveness
Proximity
mere exposure effect- repeated exposure to novel stimuli increases liking of them
Physical Attractiveness
youthfulness may be associated with health and fertility
Similarity
friends share common attitudes, beliefs, interests

43. Social Relations Passionate Love Companionate Love
an aroused state of intense positive absorption in another
usually present at the beginning of a love relationship
Companionate Love
deep affectionate attachment we feel for those with whom our lives are intertwined

44. Social Relations Equity Self-disclosure Altruism
a condition in which people receive from a relationship in proportion to what they give to it
Self-disclosure
revealing intimate aspects of oneself to others
Altruism
unselfish regard for the welfare of others

45. Social Relations
The decision-making process for bystander intervention
Notices
incident?
Interprets
incident as
emergency?
Assumes
responsibility?
Attempts
to help No
help
Yes

46. presumed available to help
Social Relations
Percentage
attempting
to help 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10
Number of others
presumed available to help
Bystander Effect
tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present

47. Social Relations Social Exchange Theory Superordinate Goals
the theory that our social behavior is an exchange process, the aim of which is to maximize benefits and minimize costs
Superordinate Goals
shared goals that override differences among people and require their cooperation

48. Social Relations
Graduated and Reciprocated Initiatives in Tension-reduction (GRIT)
a strategy designed to decrease international tensions
one side announces recognition of mutual interests and initiates a small conciliatory act
opens door for reciprocation by other party