Social Psychology (Unit 4)

social psychology

the study of the way in which people’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other people

conformity

changing one’s behaviors or beliefs in response to real or imagined pressure from others

reasons we conform

• normative social influence

• informational social influence

normative social influence

• influence of other people that comes from the desire to avoid disapproval and other social sanctions

• the need to be liked

• public compliance, not necessarily private acceptance

Asch’s Line Experiment

• a study that supports normative social influence

• participants are asked which lines are the same length

• IV - presence of others

• DV - number of correct responses

• 76% conformed at least once

• participants conformed to 1/3 of trials

• control - 95% correct

• when there was one dissenter, conformity dropped

informational social influence

• the influence of other people as a source of information about what is correct, proper, or effective

• the need to be right

• can be public compliance or private acceptance

• ex. I don’t know which fork to use at this fancy restaurant, so I’ll copy someone else

smoke filled room study

• a study that supports informational social influence

• a participant is taking a survey in a room

• IV - presence of others

• DV - time it takes participant to leave room

• when alone, the participant left almost immediately after noticing smoke

• when in a group, participant didn’t leave until someone came to get them - almost 20min later

obedience

• submitting to the demands of a person in authority

• typically occurs in a relationship of unequal power

• stems from desire to avoid punishment/negative consequences

Original Milgram Studies

• a study on obedience stemming from Nazi soldiers - why did they comply?

• teacher, experimenter, and learner - learner in separate room

• teacher was told to shock learner when they got an answer wrong, and the shock increased each time (shock instrument said slight—> severe)

  • as the shocks get stronger, the learner starts to scream and demand to stop, but the experimenter tells the teacher to continue

• researchers predicted that <1/10 of a percent of participants would continue to the end

  • in reality, 65% continued

Milgram’s Study Variations

• teacher and learner in same room

  • 40% delivered max shock

• teacher places learner’s hand on shock plate

  • 30% delivered max shock

Milgram Study Ethics

• unethical

• prompted the banning of this type of deception

• prompted the institution of “the common rule” - created IRBs (institutional review boards) for human research

  • 
    

Modern Milgram Study Replication

• teachers given example shock and debriefed after experiment

• no statistical differences

• 65% gave max shock

• 150v was point of no return - if teachers shocked at this level, they were very likely to continue

personality effect on Milgram study

• personality predicts behavior

• but when social cues are strong it’s a weak predictor

• Milgram’s studies revealed the power of authority

prejudice

• negative attitude or affective response toward a certain group and its members

• emotional component

discrimination

• action directed against persons of a certain group based on membership in the group

• behavioral component

stereotype

• beliefs that certain attributes are characteristic of members of certain groups

• cognitive component

old fashioned bias

• explicit

• blatant

• conscious beliefs, feelings, and behavior that people are perfectly willing to admit, are mostly hostile, and openly favor their own group

social dominance orientation

• an old fashioned bias

• degree of preference for inequality among social groups

• prejudice associated with negativity towards groups stereotyped as inferior or disadvantaged

• higher SDO - preference for hierarchy

• lower SDO - less preference for hierarchy

• positive relationship with support for military programs

• negative relationship with support for LGBT rights, women’s rights, social programs, racial policy

right wing authoritarianism

• an old fashioned bias

• social attitude characterized by a high degree of:

  • submissiveness - compliance with legitimate authority

  • aggression - towards social deviants

  • conventionalism - adherence to social ideals thought to be normative for a society

• prejudice associated with negativity towards groups stereotyped as deviant or threatening to the existing social order

• predicts more negative attitudes toward kneeling NFL players, above political ideology and ethnocentrism

  • study done on white college students

modern biases

• implicit

• subtle

• unexamined and unconscious biases with real consequences

automatic biases

• a type of modern bias

• unintended, immediate, irresistible

• can be assessed with the IAT - you have to match faces with different categories

  • race IAT - preference for white over black faces

  • gender IAT - preference for males in science and females in liberal arts

ambivalent biases

• a type of modern bias

• mixed feelings about group members

• reflected in the stereotype content model

stereotype content model

• social perception relies on the dimensions of warmth and competence

• perceived competition predicts warmth

• perceived status predicts competence

• jobs can be placed on these dimensions too - none fall into pity, and many are somewhere in the middle

	Low competence	High competence
High warmth	Pity (ambivalent bias) Ex. housewives, elderly, disabled	Pride/admiration (positive bias)  Ex. ingroup, close allies  job - teacher
Low warmth	Disgust (negative bias) Ex. welfare recipients, poor people  job - garbage collector	Envy (ambivalent bias)  Ex. asians, jews, rich people, feminists (successful minorities)  job - lawyer

realistic group conflict theory

• a theory on reducing prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination

• superordinate goals will bring people together

• researchers created conflict between two groups at a summer camp

• when superordinate goals were introduced (broken water tank, food delivery truck breaks down), conflict decreased and the groups worked togehter

intergroup conflict theory

• a theory on reducing prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination

• contact hypothesis - repeated contact with people in a group will decrease conflict

  • based on idea that lack of interaction/familiarity leads to conflict

• only works in specific circumstances

  • both groups want to achieve peace

  • meeting on neutral ground

what influences attraction?

• proximity

• familiarity

• similarity

• personality characteristics

• physical attractiveness

propinquity effect

people are more likely to be attracted to those they’re physically close to

mere exposure effect

people are more likely to be attracted to familiar people than unfamiliar

matching principle

• people are more likely to be attracted to people who are similar to themselves

• shared attitudes, values, interests, backgrounds, personalities

• caveat - similarity only needs to be perceived, not true

how personality characteristics influence attraction

• people are more likely to be attracted to people with admirable personality characteristics

• good - sincere, honest, understanding

• bad - unkind, untrustworthy, malicious

universal standards of beauty

• characteristics that just about everyone agrees are attractive/beautiful

• agreed upon across race and ethnicity

  • youthfulness

  • clear skin

  • average features - not unusual

  • bilateral symmetry

• caveat - there are cultural preferences like skin tone, or jewelry/ornamentation

average is beautiful effect

composites of faces are rated as more attractive than individual faces

what is beautiful is good/halo effect

• we attribute good qualities to attractive people

  • greater association with positive traits

  • better mating market

  • better school and job prospects

  • lighter criminal sentences

MIT Dorm Study

• MIT students were asked who their friends were and where they lived

• it was much more likely that their friends lived next door or nearby than further away

Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love

• there are three components to love

  • intimacy - feelings of closeness

  • passion - physical aspect

  • commitment - decision to stay together

types of love

• liking - just intimacy, friendship

• empty love - just commitment, early on in arranged marriage

• infatuation - just passion, physical relationship

• romantic love - passion+intimacy, movie love

• companionate love - intimacy+commitment, people who’ve been together long time

• fatuous love - passion+commitment, love at first sight

• consummate love - all aspects, the ideal love

gottman’s four horsemen

• communication styles that can predict the end of a relationship

  • criticism - attacking partner’s character

  • defensiveness - victimizing yourself, often a response to criticism

  • contempt - mocking/disdaining partner

  • stonewalling - withdrawing from partner, often a response to contempt