1. Social Psychology

2. Introduction
Social psychology examines how other persons influence our thoughts, feelings and actions
Thoughts include attitudes and attributions
Feelings include attraction and dislike
Actions include social influence, aggression, and altruism

3. Attributions
Attributions are statements that explain why people do what they do
Dispositional: the actions of a person are related to their internal character
l “John hit me because he is a mean person”
Situational: the actions of a person are related to the external characteristics of their situation
l “John robbed the bank in order to avoid losing his family home to a bankruptcy”

4. Attributional Errors
Fundamental attribution error (FAE) occurs when we judge the behavior of others as due to dispositional factors
Self-serving bias: we tend to take undue credit for positive outcomes and blame negative outcomes to external causes
The self-serving bias maintains our self-esteem
These attribution errors are a function of the culture that a person lives in

5. Attitudes
Attitudes are learned predispositions to respond to a particular object, person or situation in a particular way
Attitudes involve:
Cognitions: thoughts and beliefs
Emotions: feelings about the object
Behaviors: how we act toward the object

6. Attitudes Attitudes are learned during interactions with others
Attitudes can be modified by the person
Cognitive Dissonance (an uncomfortable feeling caused by holding two contradictory ideas simultaneously) can prompt attitude change
Foot-in-the-door phenomenon is tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to complylater with a larger request

7. Cognitive Dissonance

8. Prejudice
Prejudice involves a negative attitude toward specific people based on their membership in an identified group
Three components of prejudice:
Stereotypes are thoughts and beliefs about people based on their group membership
Strong emotional feelings about the object of prejudice
Predispositions to act in certain negative ways toward the group (discrimination)

9. Scapegoat Theory Scapegoat Theory
When something goes wrong people tend to try and find someone to blame the situation on.
Ingroup and Outgroup
Mentally drawing a circle that defines "us" (the ingroup) and "them" (the outgroup).
This leads to Ingroup Bias - the favoring of ones own group over others.

10. The Just World Phenomenon
A mistake that people make in assuming that the world is just, "people get what they deserve."
They believe that the good are rewarded and the bad are punished.
This can lead to blaming the victim in certain types of crimes.

11. Interpersonal Attraction
Interpersonal Attraction refers to our degree of liking of another person
Three factors that contribute to attraction:
1) Physical attractiveness includes size, shape, facial features, and manner of dress
2) Proximity refers to geographical nearness
3) Similarity is the preference for people who share our ethnic background, social class, and attitudes

12. Evolutionary Attraction
The evolutionary view of attraction is that men and women are attracted to different characteristics
Men are attracted to beautiful, youthful women
Females are attracted to men have resources and social status
These types of attraction are meant to further the chances producing a child and passing on ones genes.

13. Love Liking is derived from friendship and simple attraction
Love involves an extended intensive relationship characterized by caring, attachment, and intimacy

14. Types of Love
Passionate love is an intense attraction that involves the idealization of the other person and that is expected to endure over time
Yet, romantic love may be short-lived
Companionate love is based on admiration and respect
Companionate love may last a lifetime

15. Keys to Succes
A successful relationship will have the following two qualities
Equity: Both partners receive and give in the relationship.
Self Disclosure: Both partners need to reveal intimate details of their lives to deepen the relationship.

16. Asch’s Study of Conformity
Conformity is a type of social influence in which persons change their behavior as a result of real or imagined group pressure.
Arsh gave people a choice of three lines and asked which was the longest. He found that people would go along with the group answer even if it was not the longest line.

17. Norms
A social norm is an expected behavior that is adhered to by members of a group
Explicit norms: speed limits posted on a highway
Implicit norms: table manners at a formal dinner party

18. Personal Space Personal space is a norm that varies by group
Friends are closer than strangers
Children tend to stand closer (until they are socialized to maintain a greater personal distance)
Women tend to stand closer than men
Violent offenders require a personal space that is three times larger then most people's.

19. Obedience to Authority
Obedience involves going along with a direct command from an authority figure
Factors that change obedience:
1) Power of the authority makes a difference
2) Distance between the teacher and the learner makes a difference
3) Assignment of responsibility: We are less likely to be obedient if we think we will be held responsible for our actions this is called ______________________

20. The Study of Obedience
In Milgram’s study, subjects were asked to deliver different voltages (0-450 volts) as a punishment to the “learner”
Milgram’s question was at what point would subjects refuse to deliver shock to another person? His study showed that people were generally willing to shock another person when told to do so by an authority figure.

21. Group Processes
A group is two or more persons interacting with one another in such a way that each person influences and is influenced by each other person
Group mental processes:
1) Group polarization: the group decision is more risky than that of an individual
2) Groupthink: a mode of thinking that people engage in when part of a cohesive in-group. The group fails to note inconsistent information.

22. Brainwashing
Brainwashing is a process of breaking down the individual in order to make them conform to a group idea.
This is done through a process of isolating the individual and systematically breaking down their sense of self
Cults use brainwashing to make new inductees conform to group expectations.

23. Aggression
Aggression is any form of behavior that is intended to harm another living being
Factors that change aggression:
1) Instincts: notion that humans are naturally aggressive; notion that aggression kills off less fit organisms
2) Genes: twins show similar levels and types of aggression
3) Brain: aggression can be created by electrical stimulation of the brain

24. Aggression – Potential Causes
Substance abuse: alcohol intoxication is associated with most forms of aggression
Hormones: testosterone is linked to male aggression
Frustration: blocking a goal leads to anger, which leads to aggression
Culture and learning: children who view violent television programming and who view violent video games may become aggressive

25. Altruism Altruism refers to actions designed to help others
Evolutionary theory suggests we are altruistic toward persons who share our genes --> fosters survival of our genes
Egoistic model: altruism is motivated by some anticipated gain
Empathy-altruism model: empathy leads to altruism

26. The Bystander Effect:
People are more likely to help a person in need when there are less people around. When there are many people present, an individual may feel less responsible for helping the person in need.