1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPVIXZhH4M4

2. Social Psychology How we think about, influence, and relate to one another

3. Attribution Theory: Heider noted that behavior is either based on internal disposition or external situation (attribution theory) –Teacher notices an aggressive student Is the student’s hostility reflecting an aggressive personality? Is the student’s hostility a stress response?

4. Fundamental Attribution Error: Tendency to attribute others’ behaviors to dispositional causes and our own to situational causes. Overestimates influence of personality and underestimates influence of situation

6. Fundamental attribution error Social liberals are more likely to ascribe poverty to situational attributes than social conservatives. Difference between theory and error? Errors occur when we see people in only ONE role, not both Remember: our attributions – to individuals’ dispositions or to their situations – should be made carefully. They have consequences

7. Attitudes: Beliefs and feelings that predispose our reactions to objects, people and events. Attitudes will guide our actions if: Social pressure is minimal. Attitude is specifically relevant to behavior: cheating on taxes, isn’t cheating. We are keenly aware of attitude.

9. Attitude affects Action: Persuasion and Decisions Central Route to PERSUASION: is when you think and analyze – people focus on facts/arguments and respond w/favorable thoughts Peripheral Route: people influenced by incidental cues using heuristics, famous peoples endorsements, jokes to persuade, or sound bytes. –Often times the faster route, snap judgments –Think “no child left behind”

10. Foot in the door phenomenon: tendency to comply with larger request after we have complied with a smaller one. Simple – to get people to agree, start small, end big Gateway drugs. Stealing. Racism. People can be move away from their attitudes because they begin rationalizing behavior at smaller steps. Actions affect Attitudes

11. Milgram Experiment Unethical, yet still produced http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3f6LLV 3fkXghttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3f6LLV 3fkXg

12. Milgram’s Experiment Predicts thru a survey – professionals said only 1% would go all the way and kill the person because 1% are sadists (fae) –overestimates power of individuality, underestimates situation 63-65% of subjects went to danger 19 variations on Milgram experiment with up to 90% obedience

13. Compliance was greatest when: Person giving orders was close and a legitimate authority figure from a prestigious institution. When the victim was depersonalized. There were no role models for defiance.

14. Why do actions change attitudes? We feel motivated to justify our actions. When aware of conflict between attitude and behavior we feel tension called cognitive dissonance. The more dissonance the more likely we are to change attitudes.

15. Cognitive Dissonance Theory Theory that we act to reduce the discomfort (dissonance) we feel when two of our thoughts (cognitions) are inconsistent. –For example: when our awareness of our attitudes and of our actions clash, we can reduce the resulting dissonance by changing our attitudes Conclusion: Cruel acts shape the self. But so do acts of good will. Act as though you like someone, and you soon will. Changing our behavior can change how we think about others and how we think about ourselves.

16. Lessons of obedience studies. Experiments are not designed to replicate everyday behaviors, but study underlying causes. When kindness and obedience clash, obedience wins. It’s enough to have ordinary people corrupted by an evil situation. Leadership counts, dissent!!!

17. Role-Playing Affects Attitudes Role (cluster or prescribed actions) playing can affect attitudes. –Adopting a new role feels “phony” at first, but then you start acting in the role, eventually – the role becomes you.

18. Dr. Philip Zimbardo Wanted to study evil from the inside What makes good people go wrong? –Too vague a question, but guided his study –Ex: Poverty Described as systemic evil 1/5 th children group up in poverty, ghetto – defined by Zimbardo as personal growth in absence of nature and people die young Epigenetics of poverty – growing up poor remakes genetics to be prone to disease, etc

19. Zimbardo’s Research: Evil 1.Harm (psychological) 2.Hurt (physical) 3.Destroy (morally) 4.Crimes against humanity (genocide) Most evil is done by systems

20. Expanded Evil Is it just a case of bad apples? Is it a bad barrel? Is it a bad barrel maker?

21. 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment: At first role will feel unnatural, but eventually you become the role.

22. Real world: Abu Gharib SPE – 5th night, prisoners began to simulate anal sex AG – took weeks SPE – bags over head for parole board AG – bags over head for interrogation AG – ultimate dehumanization Box picture torture – mask, stand on box until you fall, attach false electrodes until he fell and would shock, no shock, just laughter, for fun All AG torture happened at night, not day shift Night shift was told to get info by any means necessary without authority Zimbardo’s conclusion –**our soldiers were good, their barrel was bad Rumsfeld approved torture in BARREL not outside

23. The Lucifer Effect Lucifer Effect – individuals in groups who are good become situationally evil What do you think it is? Do you agree with Zimbardo? –Bad apples? Bad barrel? Bad barrel maker?

24. Why turn evil? Dehumanization Diffusion of responsibility Obedience to authority (Milgram studies) Group pressure Moral disengagement (Bandura)

25. Systemic Evil China kills 1 million annually –Encouragement of smoking –54% of men smoke, masculine culturally –Controlled media, forbids anti-smoking campaign –Women don’t smoke –Sichuan Tobacco Primary School “Ingenuity is fruit. Tobacco will help you succeed” Evils – war/genocide, poverty, slavery, sex traffic (most profitable), climate change (evil of inaction)

26. Situation Evil Milgram – 1 st research to quantify evil, electrocute a stranger –Background: Jewish kid, not far separated from Holocaust, wanted to know why there was blind obedience –Studies were done at Yale –“All evil is the cloak of semantic confusion” Israel/Palestine BOTH have moral reasons for killing each other… how does this make sense?

27. Are there circumstances that make people good? We have no idea Heroes don’t exist in psychology today, they exist in situation Without heroism, compassion is useless Heroism is the highest civic virtue Very gray area between shift of good and evil

28. Prosocial networks = positive deviancy Can one person make a difference?