Social Psycolgy

Social psychology

The study of how individuals think and behave in social situations

Culture in Social Groups

Evolving values, expectations, and behavior patterns

Ingroup Social groups

Any group to which you feel a sense of belonging

Ingroup

Behavior that will improve the circumstances of our ingroup

Outgroup

any group yu dont belong in

Characteristics of Groups (2)

Structure and Cohesion and Norms

Structure and Cohesion

-Group structure

- Cohesiveness:

- Basis for the power that groups exert over members

Group structure:

Network of roles, communication, and power in a group

Cohesiveness

The extent to which group members want to remain in the group

Norms

-Widely accepted standard for appropriate behavior within the group

- Often unspoken

Understanding Affiliation and Attraction

(just rember it)

Need to affiliate

A need to associate with other people, rooted in at least three basic human motives
1. Engage in comparison
2. Alleviate fear or anxiety
3. Get and give approval, support, friendship, and love

Interpersonal attraction

An affinity for another person

Social Exchange is………?

a theroy

Social exchanges

Transfers of attention, information, affection, and favors, in addition to personal information

More on soical exchanges

- We unconsciously weigh social rewards and costs

- Relationship must be profitable for both parties

Comparison level

A personal standard a person uses to evaluate rewards and costs

Characteristics of Individuals Within Groups (2)

• Social Role

• Social Status and power

Social Role (4)

- Pattern of behavior expected by one in a particular position within the group

- Ascribed roles are assigned

-Achieved roles are voluntarily attained by effort

-Role Conflicts

Role Conflicts

Two or more roles make conflicting demands

Social Status and Powe

• Status

• Power

• In general, men prefer social power, women prefer status over power

Status

The degree to which group members respect and admire a person

Power

Degree to which person can control the behavior of others

Social Cognition

Thinking About Group Members

What is Social Cognition-Thinking About Group Members

Process of thinking about ourselves and others in a social contex

Social comparison

Evaluating actions, feelings, opinions, or abilities against those of others

More on Social comparison (4)

- Measure against those with a similar background, abilities, and circumstances

- Provides information

- Self-improvement (upward comparison)

- Meets the need for self-protection or self-enhancement (downward comparison)

Attributions

The act of identifying the cause, source, or origin of an event, behavior, or work

Attruibutions is Important part of social cognition by

Determining why people act as they do

Internal causes of behavio

Needs or personality trait lie within the person; stable over time

External cause

Lies outside a person and reflects something about the environment

Consider

The actor (person of interest), the object that the action is directed toward, and the setting

More on Attributions

We make attributions based on:
- Consistency
- Distinctiveness
- Consensus

and Situational demands

Situational demands

Pressures or norms that influence behavior in particular settings and social situations

Differences in Attributions About Ourselves and Others

( just rember it)

Fundamental attribution error

Over-attributing the actions of others to internal causes

• 
  Assume actions are based on internal causes, and underestimate external forces or circumstances.

Actor–observer bias

More likely to ascribe the behavior of others to internal causes, and our own behavior to external cause

Self-handicapping

Arranging to perform under conditions that impair performance

- Creates plausible excuses for poor performance

How Motives are in Prosocial Behavior?

3

What are the 3 motives of Prosoical Behaviors ?

1) Prosocial behavior

2) Evolutionary forces

3) Evolutionary forces

• There can also be Other-oriented

Prosocial behavior

Any action that benefits another person

Evolutionary forces

Chances of survival increased when individuals lived in groups

Self-oriented

Improve own circumstances

- Stems from egoism

Other-oriented

Do good for others with no self-gain
- Stems from altruism

Factors That Influence Helping (2)

1) Persone needing help

2) The helper

Person needing help

- We are most likely to help people we perceive to be “like us”

-More help provided to people we are close to

- More likely to help if person in need is not responsible for their difficulties

The Helper

- Type of help often based on gender

- Beliefs about competence

- Personality characteristics such asagreeableness, honesty/humility, and empathy

Forming Attitudes

( just reamber it)

Forming Attuides

A positive or negative perception of people, objects, or issues

Atuides are formed by (4)

1) Direct contact
2) Chance conditioning
3) Interaction with others
4) Media

Beilfe Component Postive

• Restores Justice

• Provides equal opptuintys

• 
  

Beilfe Component Negative

• Unfair Majority

• Reverse discriminations

Emotional Competent Positive

Optimism

Emotional Competent Negtive

Anger

Action compenent postive

• Vote for affirmation action

• Donate to groups that support

Action compent negative

• votting againts them

• Donationg to groups that oppose them

Measuring attitudes (3)

-Open-ended interview
- Social distance scale
- Attitude scales

Attitude changes

- Presence of a reference group
- Face-to-face contact is not necessary to be a reference group

17

Cognitive Dissonance

When our attitudes contradict one another, or when cognitive and behavioral aspects of an attitude are inconsistent

More on Cognitive Dissoance

- We need consistency in thoughts and behaviors.
- Inconsistency can motivate changes in attitudes

Dissonance-promoting behaviors:

- Choosing between two options
- What we believe vs. what we do

Cognitive Adjustment (6)

- Change behavior to match beliefs

- Change beliefs to match behavior

- Diminish the importance of dissonant thoughts

- Focus on consonant thoughts

- Reduce the amount of perceived choice

- Attribute belief–behavior mismatch to external causes

Defining Social Influence

When people interact, they almost always affect one another’s behavior.

-Social facilitation

-Mere presence

-Social loafing

Social facilitation

Presence of others has ability to improve others

Social interference

-Presence of others impairs one’s performance

Mere presence

People change behavior because others are nearby

Social loafing

Tendency to exert less effort when part of a group than when alone

Conformity

Bringing behaviors into agreement with perceived social norms

1. Others can serve as a useful source of information.

2. We have a strong need to be accepted by our ingroups.

Asch’s Line Judgment Studies

People conform even when they don’t agree with the group.

- Actors purposely gave incorrect answers to see if group pressure would cause agreement from participants of the study

- About 75 percent yielded and provided wrong answer

Who Conforms? And Why? (6)

1. Some personality traits are associated with conformity
2. Some cultures emphasize group cooperation
3. Group membership is important
4. Group size
5. Size of majority
6. Unanimity of group

Nonconformity leads to group sanctions——-

social disapproval to complete rejection or formal exclusion

Conformity and groupthink leads to

acceptance and approval at the cost of critical thinking

Coercion

Forced to change beliefs or behavior against your will

Brainwashing

Forced attitude change that requires a captive audience; requires complete control over the environment

Brainwashing happens by-

-Lack of sleep, humiliation, isolation, physical abuse
-People will often do dissonant things to make it stop
-Preys on the in-group/out-group dichotomy

Antisocial Behavior

Aggression, Conflict, and Prejudice

Antisocial acts tha

directly harm another person

Antisocial behavior

Violates social norms and rights of other

Bullying

Behavior that deliberately and repeatedly exposes a person to negative experiences

Causes of Aggression (3)

• Biology

• Frustruation

• Social Learning

Biology

Instinct

As a relationship between

• Physical factors

• Brain areas

• Testosterone

• Alcohol and drugs

Frustration (4)

- Frustration–- aggression hypothesis

- Aversive stimuli

- Aggression cues

- Internal and external

Social Learning

- Learn through observation

- Cognitive, socialization, and modeling to explain behavior

Can we Prevent Aggresion?

Yes

Preventing aggression at the societal level

- Reduce society’s exposure to violence
- Increase exposure to prosocial behaviors

Preventing agression at a individual leve

1. Learn self-regulation strategies
2. Problem-focused coping strategies
3. Changing attributions for frustrating events

Is prejeduice Neutral?

Yes. It can be postive or negative

Prejudice

Product of feelings and beliefs about the group to which an individual belongs

More on Prejudice

• Affective component

• Cognitive component

• Behavioral component

Affective component

Emotions toward the group in question

Cognitive component

Consists of social stereotypes, or oversimplified perceptions, of group

Behavioral component

Discrimination (biased actions) directed toward a particular group

Factors Associated with Prejudice

1) Frustration

2) Social Learning

Frustration

1) Prejudice as a form of scapegoating

2) Displaced aggression

3) Authoritarian Beliefs

4) Dehumaniztion

scapegoating

blaming a person or group for actions of others or conditions not of their making

Displaced aggression

Hostilities triggered by frustration and redirected at “safer” targets

Authoritarian Beliefs

• Differences in personality traits

• Authoritarian personality are marked by ethnocentrism, rigidity, inhibition, and oversimplification

Dehumanization

Belief that members of outgroups are less than human and deserve hatred, discrimination, aggression, and even death