1. Module 25
Social Psychology

2. INTRODUCTION Social Psychology
broad field whose goals are to understand and explain how our thoughts, feelings, perceptions, and behaviors are influenced by the presence of, or interactions with, others
Cognitive Social Psychology
subarea of social psychology that focuses on how cognitive processes, such as perceiving, retrieving, and interpreting information about social interactions and events, affect emotions and behaviors and how emotions and behaviors affect cognitions

3. PERCEIVING OTHERS Person perception
refers to seeing someone and then forming impressions and making judgments about that person’s likeability and the kind of person he or she is, such as guessing his or her intentions, traits, and behaviors
physical appearance
initial impressions and judgments of a person are heavily influenced and biased by a person’s physical appearance
need to explain
explain why a person looks, dresses, or behaves in a certain way

4. PERCEIVING OTHERS (CONT.)
Person perception
influence on behavior
first impressions will influence how you would like or interact with a person
effects of race
members of one race generally recognize faces of other races
Physical appearance
Attractiveness
for better or for worse, a person’s looks matter, since people who are judged to be more physically attractive, generally make more favorable impressions

5. PERCEIVING OTHERS (CONT.)
Social Neourscience
an emerging area of research that examines social behaviors, such as perceiving others, by combining biological and social approaches
focuses on the understanding of how social behavior influences the brain, as well as how the brain influences social behavior

6. PERCEIVING OTHERS (CONT.)
Stereotypes
widely held beliefs that people have certain traits because they belong to a particular group
often inaccurate and frequently portray the members of less powerful, less controlling groups more negatively than members of more powerful or controlling groups
Development of stereotypes
Prejudice
refers to an unfair, biased, or intolerant attitude toward another group of people
Discrimination
refers to specific unfair behaviors exhibited toward members of a group

7. PERCEIVING OTHERS (CONT.)
Schemas
mental categories that, like computer files, contain knowledge about people, events, and concepts
Kinds of schemas:
Social cognition
studies how and what people learn about social relationships
Person schemas
include our judgments about the traits that we and others possess

8. PERCEIVING OTHERS (CONT.)
Kinds of schemas:
Role schemas
based on the jobs people perform or the social positions they hold
Event schemas, also called scripts,
contain behaviors that we associate with familiar activities, events, or procedures
Self-schemas
contain personal information about ourselves, and this information influences, modifies, and distorts what we perceive and remember and how we believe

9. PERCEIVING OTHERS (CONT.)
Schemas: advantages and disadvantages
Disadvantages
schemas may restrict, bias, or distort what we attend to and remember and thus cause us to overlook important information
are highly resistant to change because we generally select and attend to information that supports our schemas and deny any information that is inconsistent with them

10. PERCEIVING OTHERS (CONT.)
Schemas: Advantages and disadvantages
Advantages
contain information about how people think and behave
help people analyze and respond appropriately in a particular social situation
provide guidelines for how to behave in various social events (event schemas) and help us explain the social behavior of others (role schemas)

11. ATTRIBUTIONS Definition
things we point to as the cause of events, other people’s behaviors, and our own behaviors
Internal versus external
Internal attributions
explanations of behavior based on the internal characteristics or dispositions of the person performing the behavior
External attributions
explanations of behavior based on the external circumstances or situations

12. ATTRIBUTIONS (CONT.) Kelley’s model of covariation
social psychologist Harold Kelley
Covariation model
says that, in making attributions, we should look for factors that are present when the behavior occurs and factors that are absent when the behavior does not occur
Consensus
determining whether other people engage in the same behavior in the same situation
Consistency
determining whether the person engages in this behavior every time he or she is in a particular situation

13. ATTRIBUTIONS (CONT.) Kelley’s model of covariation Distinctiveness
determining how differently the person behaves in one situation when compared to other situations
Biases and errors
Fundamental attribution error
refers to our tendency, when we look for causes of a person’s disposition or personality traits and overlook how the situation influenced the person’s behavior

14. ATTRIBUTIONS (CONT.) Biases and errors Actor-observer effect
refers to the tendency, when you are behaving (or acting), to attribute your own behavior to situational factors
Self-serving bias
refers to explaining our successes by attributing them to our dispositions or personality traits and explaining our failures by attributing them to the situations

15. ATTITUDES
Definition
belief or opinion that includes an evaluation of some object, person, or event, along a continuum from negative to positive, that predisposes us to act in a certain way toward that object, person, or event
Components of attitudes
cognitive component
includes both thoughts and beliefs that are involved in evaluating some object, person, or idea
affective component
involves emotional feelings that can be weak or strong, positive or negative

16. ATTITUDES (CONT.) Components of attitudes behavioral component
involves performing or not performing some behavior
Functions of attitudes
predispose
means that they guide or influence us to behave in specific ways
interpret
means that they provide convenient guidelines for interpreting and categorizing objects and events and deciding whether to approach or avoid them

17. ATTITUDES (CONT.) Functions of attitudes evaluate
means that they help us stand up for those beliefs and values that we consider very important to ourselves
Attitude change
Cognitive dissonance
refers to a state of unpleasant psychological tension that motivates us to reduce our cognitive inconsistencies by making our beliefs more consistent with each other
Counterattitudinal behavior
involves taking a public position that runs counter to your private attitude

18. ATTITUDES (CONT.) Attitude change Self-perception theory
we first observe or perceive our own behavior and then, as a result, we change our attitudes
Persuasion
Central route for persuasion
presents information with strong arguments, analyses, facts and logic
Peripheral route for persuasion
emphasizes emotional appeal, focuses on personal traits, and generates positive feelings

19. SOCIAL & GROUP INFLUENCES
Hazing
part of a group’s initiation ritual, during which individuals are subjected to a variety of behaviors that range from:
humiliating and unpleasant
potentially dangerous
both physically and psychologically
Conformity
refers to any behaviors you perform because of group pressure, even though that pressure might not involve direct requests

20. SOCIAL & GROUP INFLUENCES (CONT.)
Compliance
kind of conformity in which we give in to social pressure in our public responses but do not change our private beliefs
Obedience
refers to performing some behavior in response to an order given by someone in a position of power or authority
Milgram’s Experiment

21. SOCIAL & GROUP INFLUENCES (CONT.)
Helping prosocial behavior
also called helping, is any behavior that benefits others or has positive social consequences
Altruism
form of helping or doing something, often at a cost or risk, for reasons other than the expectation of a material or social reward

22. SOCIAL & GROUP INFLUENCES (CONT.)
Why people help
Empathy
identify with what the victim must be going through
Personal distress
feelings of fear, alarm, or disgust from seeing a victim in need
Norms and values
feel morally bound or socially responsible to help those in need

23. SOCIAL & GROUP INFLUENCES (CONT.)
Why people help
Decision-stage model of helping
Five stages in deciding to help
notice the situation
interpret it as one in which help is needed
assume personal responsibility
choose a form of assistance
carry out that assistance
Arousal-cost-reward model of helping
make decisions to help by calculating the costs and rewards of helping

24. SOCIAL & GROUP INFLUENCES (CONT.)
Group dynamics
Groups
collections of two or more people who interact, share some common idea, goal, or purpose, and influence how their members think and behave
Group cohesion and norms
Group cohesion
group togetherness, which is determined by how much group members perceive that they share common attributes
Group norms
formal or informal rules about how group members should behave

25. SOCIAL & GROUP INFLUENCES (CONT.)
Group dynamics
Group membership
Task-oriented group
members have specific duties to complete
Socially oriented group
members are primarily concerned about fostering and maintaining social relationships among the members of the group
Behavior in crowds
Crowd
large group of persons who are usually strangers, can facilitate or inhibit certain behaviors

26. SOCIAL & GROUP INFLUENCES (CONT.)
Behavior in crowds
Facilitation and inhibition
Social facilitation
increase in performance in the presence of a crowd
Social inhibition
decrease in performance in the presence of a crowd
Deindividuation in crowds
refers to the increased tendency for subjects to behave irrationally or perform antisocial behaviors when there is less chance of being personally identified

27. SOCIAL & GROUP INFLUENCES (CONT.)
Behavior in crowds
The bystander effect
individual may feel inhibited from taking some action because of the presence of others
Informational influence theory
we use the reactions of others to judge the seriousness of the situation
Diffusion of responsibility theory
says that, in the presence of others, individuals feel less personal responsibility and are less likely to take action in a situation where help is required

28. SOCIAL & GROUP INFLUENCES (CONT.)
Group decisions
Group polarization
phenomenon in which group discussion reinforces the majority’s point of view and shifts that view to a more extreme position
Groupthink
refers to a group making bad decisions because the group is more concerned about reaching agreement and sticking together, than gathering the relevant information and considering all the alternatives

29. SOCIAL & GROUP INFLUENCES (CONT.)
Group decisions
Ingroup
includes only the immediate members of the group
Outgroup
includes everyone who is not a part of the group

30. AGGRESSION Genes and environment Aggression
is any behavior directed toward another that is intended to cause harm
Social cognitive and personality factors
Social cognitive theory
says that much of human behavior, including aggressive behavior, may be learned through watching, imitating, and modeling and does not require the observer to perform any observable behavior or receive any observable reward

31. AGGRESSION (CONT.) Sexual harassment and aggression
Characteristics and kinds of rapists
Power rapist
70% of all rapes
not to hurt physically but to possess
Sadistic rapist
fewer than 5%
most dangerous because, for him, sexuality and aggression have become fused and using physical force is arousing and exciting

32. AGGRESSION (CONT.) Sexual harassment and aggression
Characteristics and kinds of rapists
Anger rapist
impulsive, savage attack of uncontrolled physical violence
Acquaintance or date rape
knows victim and uses varying amounts of verbal or physical coercion to force his partner to engage in sexual activities