1. Myers’ PSYCHOLOGY (5th Ed)
Chapter 18
Social Psychology
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. Social Thinking
How we explain someone’s behavior affects how we react to it
Situational attribution
“Maybe that driver is ill.”
Tolerant reaction
(proceed cautiously, allow
driver a wide berth)
Negative behavior
Dispositional attribution
“Crazy driver!”
Unfavorable reaction
(Speed up and race past the
other driver, craning to give
them a dirty look)

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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. Social Influence Asch’s conformity experiments Comparison lines
Standard lines 1 2 3

10. 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

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

12. 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

13. Social Influence
Testing facilitated communication

14. 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

15. Social Facilitation Home Advantage in Major Team Sports
Sport Games Home Team
Studied Winning
Percentage
Baseball , %
Football ,
Ice hockey ,
Basketball ,
Soccer ,

16. 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

17. 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

18. Social Influence Culture Personal Space
enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, and traditions shared by a large group of people
transmitted from one generation to the next
Personal Space
buffer zone we like to maintain around our bodies

19. “The activities of married women are best confined to home and family”
Social Influence
Percentage agreeing
“The activities of married women
are best confined to home and family” 70 60 50 40 30 20 10
Percentage
Gender Role
a set of expected behaviors for males and for females
Men
Women
1967 ‘ ‘75 ‘79 ‘ ‘ ‘91 ‘95
Year

20. 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

21. 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

22. 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

23. 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

24. 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

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

26. 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

27. 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

28. 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

29. Attractiveness
Worldwide, men prefer youth and health, women prefer resources and social status

30. 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

31. 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

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

33. 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

34. 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

35. 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