Social Psychology

social psychology

the scientific study of how we think about/influence/relate to one another

Heider’s attribution theory

dispositional attribution: stable, enduring traits

situational attribution: due to the situation

fundamental attribution error (FAE)

overestimate others’ behaviors as being due to their personality versus the situation they are in

attribute causation to focus our attention

actor/observer bias (when observing → focuses on that person (others); when acting → focuses on environment (self))

factors that may influence us to make the fundamental attribution error (FAE)

less likely to commit the FAE when it’s someone we know well and have observed their behavior across contexts

more likely to commit FAE when observing a stranger’s behavior

individualist cultures also more likely to commit FAE vs. collectivist cultures

2 types of persuasion

peripheral route persuasion & central route persuasion

peripheral route persuasion

does not use facts, rather tries to sway with more superficial things like celebrity endorsements and attractive people to get you to buy in to whatever is being presented; fast response; snap judgements

central route persuasion

use evidence and arguments; more durable

foot-in-door phenomenon

get people to agree with a small request and then work up to getting their compliance on a larger request

door-in-the-face technique

ask large request, then scale back and ask for smaller request

the Stanford Prison Study

a group of students were chosen to a part of the study - half of them were randomly assigned to be the prisoners and the other half the guards

the students started to take on their role seriously and the levels of abuse/aggresion towards prisoners started to escalate - some prisoners started to have mental breakdowns/became mindless zombies and the study had to be cut short because things started getting out of hand

Zimbardo’s find on whether it’s the situation or one’s disposition is the more important factor in our behaviors (prison study)

situations can affect us more than we think; situations can override personality

power of the situation → cognition, behavior, and emotions influenced by situation

Carnahan & McFarland’s 2007 study findings compared to the Stanford Prison Study findings

those who volunteered for study of prison life were significantly higher on aggressiveness, authoritarianism, Machiavellianism, narcissism, and social dominance

these volunteers then scored lower on empathy and altruism

Solomon Asch’s conformity study (matching lines study)

social influence can strongly affect our behavior: we can conform because we see others doing it, we obey because they are an authority figure, and we act a certain way because of being in the presence of others

people tried to match the length of the original line with the line on the other side that was the same length, but people purposefully gave wrong answers to conform

75% of participants conformed at least 1 time (gave wrong answer) during the 12 trials Asch’s study showed that even if we do know better, we’re more likely to go along wit the crowd because we want to fit in

conformity

adjusting our behavior or thinking towards some group standard (normative influence)

Stanley Milgram’s obedience experiment (teacher and learner)

there was a teacher and a learner - every time a learner gave the wrong answer, the teacher would press a button that shocked the learner and the voltage of the shock increased with every wrong answer

most people listened to the person running the experiment and were willing to even give fatal shocks

most participants complied fully - the fact that the instructor of a higher position told them to continue had an impact on the participant’s compliance

(he used the foot-in-the-door technique which resulted in his participants slowly working their way up to severe shocks)

things to take away from Milgram’s studies (teacher and learner)

ordinary people can be swayed to do things they typically wouldn’t do

highlights how atrocities can start with compliance to small evils and then escalation can occur (Nazis)

the 3 factors that determines who we befriend and fall in love with

proximity: more likely to like and marry those near to you; mere exposure effect

physical attractiveness: this is key in first impressions; it’s is associated with amount of dates someone goes on and how we perceive other’s personalities (beautiful people are related as happier, healthier, more sensitive, successful, and socially skilled)

similarity (having things in common with another tends to be the case in our friendships and romantic relationships; “opposites attract” may not be true; homogamy

homogamy

we tend to marry people in similar social class, ethnicity, etc.

exposure effect

repeated exposure to novel stimuli increases liking of them

Moreland & Beach (1992) study

4 equally attractive women attended a lecture to 100+ students either 0,5,10, or 15 times

students rated the women who attended class more frequently as more attractive

(mere exposure effect)

Walter et al. (1966) study

university of Minnesota freshman matched up with a partner for a dance

halfway through the dance, they rated their dates (physical attractiveness seemed to determine if they liked their dates or not)

according to Moes & Tellinghuisen who do we usually blame for sins and failures?:

Christians tend to focus on individuals when it comes to blame for sins and failures

it’s not appropriate to blame individuals for sins and failures:

we are part of families, churches, cultures, etc. that can also contribute to our failings

actions and attitudes can influence one another

according to Moes & Tellinghuisen, Christian can act more Christ-like:

we have the Holy Spirit to help us

use the Bible to determine if your behavior and beliefs are not matching up

the church community is also a good resource for accountability of our action