1. Unit 7: Social Psychology
Thomas Parsons
West Auburn High School

2. Social Psychology
social psychology - the study of how people think about, influence, and relate to other people
social cognitions
social influences
social relations

3. Social Cognition
How do people select, interpret, remember, and use social information?
Person Perception
physical attractiveness
stereotype – a generalization about a group’s characteristics that does not consider any variations from one individual to another
natural = cognitive processing limitations
“Beautiful is good” stereotype
self-fulfilling prophecy – expectations cause individuals to act in ways that serve to make the expectations come true
teacher expectations of “late bloomers”  expectations met
composite faces, symmetry, and youthfulness
first impressions
100 milliseconds  form first impression
attribution – the process by which we come to understand the cause of others’ behavior and form an impression of them as individuals

4. Social Cognition: Attribution Theory
attributions - explanations for why people behave the way they do
attribution theory - attempt to discover underlying causes of behavior as part of their effort to make sense of the behavior
internal/external causes
internal: traits and abilities
external: social pressure, aspects of situation
stable/unstable causes
hostile or bad mood?
controllable/uncontrollable causes
should we hold it against you?

5. Social Cognition: Attribution
attribution errors
actor – person who produces the behavior
observer – person who offers a causal explanation for actor’s behavior
observers often explain actors’ behaviors incorrectly
fundamental attribution error
overestimate the importance of internal traits
underestimate the importance of external causes
actors often explain own behavior in terms of external causes

6. Social Cognition
heuristics - cognitive shortcuts that speed decision making
stereotypes = type of heuristic
false consensus effect
overestimating the degree to which everyone else thinks or acts the way we do
use our outlook to predict that of others

7. The Self as a Social Object
self-esteem – the degree to which we have positive or negative feelings about ourselves
positive illusions – views of ourselves that are not necessarily rooted in reality
self-serving bias – tendency to take credit for success and deny responsibility for failure
internal attributions
external attributions
self-objectification – tendency to see oneself primarily as an object in the eyes of others

8. Social Cognition: The Self as Object
stereotype threat - a self-fulfilling fear about being judged on the basis of a negative stereotype about our group
living “down” to expectations
African American males = work academically by checking box
White males = worse at sports when reminded
Asian women = better at math by checking box “Asian” box, worse by checking “female” box
social comparison - process by which we evaluate our thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and abilities in relation to other people
social comparison theory – when no objective means are available to evaluate our opinions and abilities, we compare ourselves with others

9. Attitudes attitudes - beliefs about people, places, and ideas
Can attitudes predict behavior?
when attitudes are strong
when attitudes are rehearsed
when person has vested interest
Can behavior predict attitudes?
cognitive dissonance – an individuals psychological discomfort (dissonance) caused by two inconsistent thoughts
uneasy when behavior ≠beliefs
effort justification – type of dissonance reduction, means rationalizing the amount of effort we put into something
low money
hazing
self perception theory – Daryl Bem’s (1967) theory on how behaviors influence attitudes, stating that individuals make inferences about their attitudes by perceiving their behavior
I do something; therefore, I must like it.

10. Self-Perception Theory
self-perception theory - individuals make inferences about their own attitudes by perceiving their own behavior, especially if their attitudes are unclear
cognitive dissonance and self-perception theory  explain the connection between attitudes and behavior

11. Prosocial Behavior
altruism (prosocial behavior) - an unselfish interest in helping someone else
random acts of kindness
debate: is it possible to be completely altruistic?
Ayn Rand: opposed to altruism… why?
egoism – giving to another person to ensure reciprocity; to gain self-esteem; to present one-self as powerful, competent, or caring; or to avoid censure from ones self and others for failing to live up to society’s expectations
reciprocity

12. Prosocial Behavior explanations of altruism
evolutionary – promoting survival of family’s genes
research: humans not necessarily self-centered
animals: demonstrate altruism
psychological factors
mood
happy people = more helpful
feelings of elevation (self-positivity)
empathy – a person’s feelings of oneness with the emotional state of another
sociocultural factors
market economies – more prosocial behavior (trust = requirement)
investment in established religion – emphasis on golden rule
gender
women: more helpful in nurturing situations
men: more helpful in dangerous situations and when feel competent to help

13. Prosocial Behavior The Bystander Effect Media Influence
Darley and Latané (1968)
individuals are less likely to help in an emergency when others are present then when the observer is alone
diffusion of responsibility
Media Influence
listening to music with prosocial lyrics  increases kindness
TV shows with positive content  increase prosocial behavior
Lemmings video game  prosocial behavior

14. Aggression
aggression – social behavior whose objective is to harm someone, either physically or verbally
biological influences
evolutionary views – more likely to survive
genetic basis
breeding docile animals and vicious animals
physical aggression – more linked to genes
social aggression – more linked to environmental
neurobiological factors
limbic system - active
frontal lobes of brain – smaller / less functioning
low levels of serotonin
high levels of testosterone
results = less consistent with humans than animals
operational definitions of aggression  external validity criticism

15. Aggression psychological influences
aversive circumstances  triggers aggression
frustration – the blocking of an individual’s attempts to reach a goal  triggers aggression
frustration-aggression hypothesis – frustration always leads to aggression
weather, physical pain, crowding  triggers aggression
cognitive determinants
priming (seeing a weapon  prime hostile thoughts)
perception of unfairness  triggers aggression
observational learning
Bobo doll study, Bandura, Ch. 6
violence on TV
violence at home

16. Aggression media violence television violent video games
increases aggression
changes attitudes towards violence
violence in home = more significant
violent video games
“rational though is suspended and highly arousing aggressive scripts are increasingly likely to be learned”
CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH:
more aggressive
less sensitive to real-life violence
more likely to engage in delinquent acts
lower grades

17. Aggression reducing aggression decrease rewards lessen exposure
encourage empathy
monitor adolescents’ activity

18. Social Influence: Conformity
conformity – a change in a person’s behavior to coincide more closely with a group standard
can lead to enhanced cooperation among group members
Asch’s Experiment (1951)
factors that contribute to conformity
informational social influence – the influence other people have on us because we want to be right
normative social influence – the influence others have on us because we want them to like us
volunteer participant conformed to incorrect answers 35% of time
demonstrates power of conformity (breaking social norms)
cognitive neuroscience
fMRI images - when women found others disagreed, they responded as mistakes

19. Social Influence: Obedience
obedience – behavior the complies with the explicit demands of the individual in authority
obedient: authority figure demands  we do
Stanley Milgram’s Experiments (1965, 1974)
factors that contribute to disobedience
disobedient models
authority figure not legitimate or not close by
victim made to seem more human

20. Group Influence Deindividuation Social Contagion Group Performance
erosion of personal identity and responsibility
anonymity
example: KKK
group, darkness, wearing white
Social Contagion
imitative behavior
spread of behavior, emotions, and ideas
examples: social fads, the popularity of dog breeds, the spread of unhealthy behaviors (smoking and drinking in adolescents), symptoms of eating disorders among young women
observations: misbehaviors in school (talking, packing up early, etc.)
Group Performance
social facilitation: arousal with well-learned tasks
social loafing: reduced accountability

21. Group Decision Making: Groupthink
group harmony valued over “right” or “correct”
impaired decision making and avoidance of realistic appraisal
symptoms of groupthink
overestimating the power and morality of one’s group
close-mindedness
lack of willingness to hear all sides of an argument
pressure for uniformity  “get with the program”
dissent meets with very strong disapproval
avoiding groupthink
avoid isolation
allow the airing of all sides of an argument
have an impartial leader
include outside experts in the debate
encourage group members who are strongly identified with the group to speak out in defense

22. Group Decision Making: Majority-Minority Influence
majority: normative and informational pressure
informational – greater opportunity to share
normative – set group norms  those who do not go along may be ignored or given the boot
minority: informational pressure
cannot win with normative pressure
must use informational pressure
consistency and confidence = key
must win over majority members

23. Prejudice
an unjustified negative attitude toward a group and its members
explicit versus implicit racism
explicit racism – a persons conscious and openly shared attitude, which might be measured using a questionnaire
implicit racism – attitudes that exist on a deeper, hidden level… must be measure with a method that does not require awareness
Implicit Associations Test (IAT) – a computerized survey that assesses the ease with which a person can associate a Black or White person with good things
THE DOLL TEST: VIDEO!! If you find it—the original vide, I will drop the lowest grade from every person in your class period for the fourth quarter AND I will buy your class donuts and coffee from the place of your choice
explanations for prejudice
competition between groups
cultural learning
motivation to enhance self-esteem
limitations in cognitive processes

24. Prejudice “ethnic cleansing” i.e. Jews during WWII
U.S. racial prejudice
Jim Crow Segregation Laws
Immigration Restrictions (Chinese Exclusion Act)
Are you racist?
88% of Americans say no
Yet, racial tension is a key topic in the media.

25. Stereotyping and Prejudice
stereotype - a generalization about a group
discrimination - unjustified negative or harmful action
Civil Rights Act of 1964 (revised 1991)
unlawful to deny someone employment on the basis of gender or ethnicity

26. Stereotyping and Prejudice
How can relationships between ethnic groups be improved?
contact does not lead to tolerance / warm relations
Gordon Allport (1954)
think that they are equal status
feel that an authority figure sanctions the positive relationships
believe that friendship might emerge from the interaction
engage in cooperative tasks in which everyone has to contribute

27. Stereotyping and Prejudice
Improving Interethnic Relations
Contact Only is Not Effective
Works best if groups:
think they are of equal status
feel an authority figure approves positive relations
anticipate emergent friendship
engage in cooperative tasks

28. Close Relationships Attraction
proximity (physical closeness) – strong predictor of attraction
mere exposure effect – the phenomenon that the more we encounter someone or something (a person, a word, and image), the more probable it is that we will start liking the person or thing even if we do not realize we have seen it before
promise of acquaintanceship
we like those who like us
similar attitudes, behavior patterns, taste in clothes, intelligence, personality other friends, values, lifestyle, physical attractiveness
similarity
consensual validation – our own attitudes and behavior are supported when someone else’s attitudes and behavior are similar to ours and that behavior validate ours
tend to shy away from the unknown

29. Close Relationships: Love
Romantic Love
passionate love (romantic love) – love with strong components of sexuality and infatuation, often dominant in the early part of a love relationship
“in-love”
sexuality and infatuation
Affectionate Love
companionate love (affectionate love) – love that occurs when individuals desire to have another person near and have a deep, caring affection for the person
deep caring affection
passion gives way to affection

30. Close Relationships: Love
Social Exchange Theory
fair exchange of “goods”
minimize costs, maximize benefits
equity – a feeling on the part of the individuals in the relationship that each is doing his or her fair share
most important predictor of relationship success
fades over time in a relationship (becomes distasteful)
Investment Model
factors in stability of relationship – predicts satisfaction and stability
commitment to partner – predicts willingness to sacrifice
investment in relationship – brings out the best in each other
lack of attractive alternatives

31. Social Psychology and Health and Wellness
Social Ties and Health
isolation and mortality
loneliness linked with impaired physical health
social support and coping
Fighting Loneliness
join activities with others
diverse social network  live longer
narrow social network  live shorter
act pleasant
get help