PSYC1004 - All cards!

What is social psychology?

the scientific study of how we think about, influence and relate to one another;
How peoples thoughts feelings, beliefs intentions and goals are constructed within a social context by the actual or imagined interactions

Triplett 1898

1st social psyc experiment: found that children performed a simple task faster in pairs, demonstrating that thinking or existing in the presence of others changes the way we think and behave

Three levels of social psychology

1. Relationship between oneself and others

self concept; social comparison

2. Social influence BETWEEN individuals

conformity, persuasion

3. between groups, or between individual and society

group norms & intergroup conflict

example of social psychology being used for subjugation?

Francis galton

• developed corellation & regression

• also founded eugenics; consider uses of eugenics

• idea that traits like intelligence, criminality and fitness are exclusively heritable

What was the replication crisis

roughly 2005+

• up to 50% of foundational psyc studies couldn’t be replicated to modern standards

Causes of replication crisis

• pea-hacking (hypothesising after results are known)

• selective reporting within studies (ie not saying something failed twice)

• WEIRD samples

what are W.E.I.R.D samples

Research in psychology disproportionately conducted on W.E.I.R.D. samples 

• Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich, Democratic —> lack of inclusivity and comprehensiveness even within WEIRD societies

Statistics on WEIRD

Represents up to 80% of participants in published literature but only around 12% of world population

• Most researchers are W.E.I.R.D too

• Eg Science journal, 93% of published studies are west europe, north america, oceania

What is the dual model of persons

MORAWSKI:  the “race of the experimenter is held to be unrelated to his or her cognitions, whereas the race of the subject is held to possibly affect his or her cognitions” 

What is social influence

the processes through which people agree or disagree about which kinds of behaviours are appropriate

• Process through which social norms are formed, maintained or changed

What are social norms

social uniformities which arise from processes of mutual influence between group members

4 qualities of social norms

1. Endorsed by group members

2. Describe appropriate behaviour

3. Expected by group members

4. Express social values

Autokinetic study - procedure

• Participants sat in a dark room and looked at a stationary point of light.

• Due to the autokinetic effect, the stationary light appeared to move.

• Participants estimated how far the light had moved.

Individual condition: participants made estimates alone

Group condition: participants made estimates in groups and heard each other’s judgements

Sherif autokinatic study: findings (3)

• When participants made estimates alone, their judgments varied.

• When participants worked in groups, their estimates gradually converged towards a shared group norm.

• When participants were later tested individually, they often continued to use the group norm they had developed.

Sherif study critiques

There is no ‘correct’ answer for the questions

What is conformity

tendency for people to change their perceptions, opinions and behaviour in ways that are consistent with group norms

Ache 1951 procedure

• recruited 123 male American undergraduate students.

• Participants were placed in groups with confederates (people working with the researcher).

• They were shown a standard line and three comparison lines, labelled A, B and C, and had to identify which line matched the standard line.

• The answer was obvious, but the confederates deliberately gave the same incorrect answer on certain trials.

• The real participant answered after hearing the confederates’ responses.

Ache 1951 findings

• Participants conformed to the incorrect majority answer on 37% of the critical trials, on average.

• Approximately 75% conformed at least once.

• Around 25% never conformed.

• In a control condition, where participants answered without group pressure, errors were very low (less than 1%).

Normative social influence

conformming to gain approval or avoid rejection rather than informational social influence (like sherif)

Factors making us conform

1. group size (the larger the group, the more conformity)

2. groupp is unanimous

3. admiration of the groups status

4. behaviour is public

5. socialised in a culture that fosters respect for social norms

The 2 conformity explanations

desire to be liked & acceptated (normative social influence) or desire to be occrect (informational social influence)

Deutsch & gerard 1955

looked at the 2 conformity explanations -

Deutsch & gerard 1955 procedure

Line judgement task like Asch’s study

conditions were varied —>

• in one option, gave answers publically, increasing social pressure potential

• In the other option, gave answers privately

• also varied availability of information from other group members to examine informational influence
  
  

Deutsch & gerard 1955 findings

• conformity was greater when participants gave their answers publically than when they responded privately

• supported the idea that people sometimes conform to gain social approcval/avoid rejection (NSI)

• particpants would be influences by others when they were uncertain about their own jdugements supporting ISI

Milgram 1963 method

• participants advised they were taking part in a study about learning/memory

• each participant was assigned the role of teacher, while an actor was th learner

• teacher instructed to give an electric shock when question incorrectly answered—> increased with each error

• experiementer asked to ‘please continue; even when actor stopped responding

Milgram 1963 results

65% continued to maximum shocks
All 40 continued to at least 300
many showed signs of stress

Stanford prison experiment 1971 method

• participants assigned either prisoner or guard

• mock prison created

• prisoners guven uniforms, numbers and rules

• guards given unforms, reflective sunglasses and authority, symbols of power eg handcuffs

Stanford prison experiment 1971 results

• Guards: Some became increasingly authoritarian, aggressive and abusive towards prisoners.

• Prisoners: Many became distressed, anxious and emotionally affected. Some experienced severe psychological distress and had to leave the experiment early.

• Zimbardo: Became increasingly involved in his role as prison superintendent rather than remaining an objective researcher.

BBC prison method

• participants randomly assigned as prisoners or guarss

• prisoners expected to follow prison rules; guards expected to maintain order

BBC prison experiment results

• Days 1–3: Prisoners initially followed the rules, while the guards struggled to establish a strong sense of authority.

• Days 4–5: Prisoners began to identify as a group and challenge the guards' authority.

• Days 6–7: Prisoners rebelled, taking control of the guards' quarters. Both groups eventually agreed to form an equal, self-governing community (a commune).

• Day 8: The commune began to break down. Some participants attempted to establish a new authoritarian system; experiment stopped

Difference bwteen SPI and BBCPI

Stanford suggested that social roles can strongly influence behaviour, whereas the BBC study suggested that group identity, leadership and social relationships are also important in determining behaviour.

Theories for sterotyping, prejudice & descrimination

realistic conflict theory (socio-cultural)
psychodynamic & personality approaches; frustration-agression theory

prejudiced personality

cognitive approaches

social identity & group approaches

WAIT THIS SEEMS SUS

Realistic conflict theory (socio-cultural)

situation + context is crucial for the development of prejudice

• prejudicial and intergroup agression are primarily caused by competition for scarce resources

• when one groups interests are in conflict with another, intergroup relations deteriorate

Boys camp studies (sheriff & woods) method

12yo middle class kids seperated into 2 groups

Phase 1:

• Overall group cohesion+usual camp activities - sports, singing etc; developed group identities, norms and friendships

Phase 2: 

• Boys were divided into 2 groups across friendship lines, forced to compete in sports for desired prizes

• hostility/competition emerged, in group favoritism increased

• Supports idea that conflict may arise due to competition over shared resources

Phase 3:

• Attempt to bring groups back together through shared movies etc

• Did not resolve issues

• Name calling emerged, food fights/battles/camp raids, physical violence

Phase 4:

• Sharing of interdependent goals; where boys had to work together for a shared goal

• Effective in reducing conflict, friendship emerged

Prejudice from ab intergroup persoective?

• “Prejudice” as an intergroup attitude is meaningful and functional, it follows people’s understanding of the intergroup relationship (co-operative or conflictual). 

• Used to reflect or validate intergroup conflict and animosity  “Prejudice” results from intergroup relations  change intergroup relations to increase or reduce “prejudice”

criqtique of realistic conflict theory

• stereotypes & prejudice emerge/shift based on context

• the approach is more descriptive than explanatory

• psychological processes underlying it are unclear

psychodynamic theory of personality

psychoanalytic origions (mboy freud)

• prejudice is related to frustration

• may also be due to authoritarianism personality trait

Frustration-agression pipeline

goal interference—> frustration—> frustration source beyond reach—> agression or scapegoating

frustration-agression Miller & bugelski