PSYU3333 Social Interaction in the Modern World

Social Psychology

The scientific study of how an individual's thoughts, feelings, and actions are affected by the actual, imagined, or symbolically represented presence of other people.

ABC

A: Affect - feelings, emotions

B: Behaviour - actions (and interactions)

C: Cognition - thoughts, attitudes

Others do not need to be present to influence our own experience

Social psych does not need other real people

Real people and events

Imagined people or events

Implied or symbolically represented

social influence

The effect(s) that the words, actions, or 'presence' of others has on our own thoughts, feelings and behaviour.

Construals

Individual perceptions and interpretations of the world or events around us

hearts and minds

Hearts: The need to maintain positive self-regard & belong

Minds: The need to be accurate and know the world

Central Social Motives

fundamental needs that need to be met

Belonging

Control

Understanding Others and Predicting Accurately

Self-enhancement

Trust

Belonging

our desire for stable, meaningful connections with others.

Understanding Others and Predicting Accurately

to navigate the world safely and in a way that optimises our relationships

Control

the autonomy and competence to direct our own actions and make things happen

Knowing the world to be what you expect it to be

Self-enhancement

feel self-worth, have social status in community, and have positive reputations - want lives to matter

Feeling that you matter

Feeling like you are valued to others

Trust

cannot survive without trusting other people

Trust that the world is safe, benevolent and fair

Others have our best interests at heart

Social Cognition

Able to process a large amount of information and come to a decision quickly

How we select, interpret, remember, and use social information to make judgments and decisions

How we select, interpret, remember, and use social information to make judgments and decisions

Automatic Thinking & Controlled Thinking

Is it automatic or controlled

Controlled - sequential processing, do one thing at a time

People As Everyday Theorists

Schemas inferred knowledge structures - rely on them to guide super fast processing

Organise knowledge around

Themes

Topics

Contain basic knowledge and impressions of

Others

Ourselves

Social roles

Events

Specific schemas =

stereotypes

why do we have schemas

Free-up valuable cognitive resources

Reduce Ambiguity

Where do schemas come from?

Culture matters

Schemas are socially constructed

Cognitive Effects of Schemas

guide attention - Filters Information

are reconstructive -Harder to fill in blanks when the information provided is inconsistent with our schema

Confirmation Bias

We notice, remember, and accept information that confirms what we already believe, and tend to ignore, forget, and reject information that disconfirms what we believe.

Determining which schemas are applied

When there is ambiguous information

Accessibility - is the information at the front of our mind

Chronic due to past experience

Everyday occurrences

Temporary due to relevant goal or recent experience (priming)

Recent novel new experience

Heuristics

Mental shortcuts that guide problem solving and decision making

When do we use them?

when we don't have time to think carefully about an issue;

when we are so overloaded with information that it becomes impossible to process the information fully;

when the issues at stake are not very important to us;

when we lack the required knowledge for making a reasoned decision; and

when we let our emotions and wishful thinking get in the way.

Representativeness

classify according to how similar or typical something is

If you thought Alex was administration/secretary, you used this instead of numbers

Availability

classify according to ease with which something comes to mind

How salient is the idea

Priming can have a significant impact on this

Anchoring & Adjustment

use a number value and adjust from that value

Do it with age

You know someone is married with kids, so you pick a number of someone who would have kids and then move up or down

Unsubstantiated, just above random

Affect

our feelings can shape our evaluations of people or ideas

How we feel about a person, emotional attitude change how we feel

False-consensus effect

the tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs and behaviors

Base-rate Fallacy

using prototypical or stereotypical factors while ignoring actual numerical information

Counterfactual Thinking

mentally changing some aspect of the past as a way of imagining what might have been

If only I had done this, we wouldn't have this problem

Controlled Social Cognition

Conscious - intent, actively trying to assign meaning

Intentional

Voluntary

Effortful - requires resources, time

Ironic Processes

the more we try NOT TO think about something, are tired, or stressed, the more likely those thoughts will intrude

Causal Attribution

Answering the "Why" Question

Feel grounded through understanding other people

Attribution

process through which people seek to identify the causes of others' (and one's own) behaviour and to gain knowledge of their stable traits and dispositions

Attributions influence

how we treat others

Determines HOW we respond

Heider (1958) - People are naïve scientists

We want to be able to explain people and their behaviours

Heider

Two types of attributions:

Internal (personal/dispositional) -behaviour explained by internal characteristics such as ability, personality, mood, or effort.

External (situational) - behaviour explained factors external to the individual such as luck, other people, or circumstances

2. Jones & Harris (1967) - Correspondent Inference Theory

Does an Action reflect corresponding behaviour?

Look for internal or external justification

The true meaning "what is this about"

Use various characteristics to do this including:

Choice in Behaving

Social desirability

Non-common effects

systematically accounts for a perceiver's inferences about what an actor was trying to achieve by a particular action

3. Kelly (1970's) - People are also naïve scientists, but...

3 Types of Information Covariation model

Consensus

How other people behave toward the same stimulus

Distinctiveness

How the actor responds to other stimuli

Consistency

Frequency of the behaviour between the same actor & the same stimulus

Likely to make Internal Attribution when

Consensus low

Distinctiveness low

Consistency high

Likely to make External Attribution when

Consensus high

Distinctiveness high

Consistency high

Combination Attribution

Consensus low

Distinctiveness high

Consistency high

Prof X is very helpful to you in office hours

Consensus - how do the other professors treat you in office hours?

Distinctiveness - how does prof x treat other students in office hours?

Consistency - does prof x treat you the same way when you go to her office at other times?

Criticisms - kelly

Doesn't work well for circumstance attributions

Doesn't work when information is missing

Covariation does not mean causality

Participants are given "pre-packaged" info which they might not seek or use in everyday situations - in experiments, not reflective of real life situations

Evidence suggests people are poor at assessing covariation between events (Alloy & Tabachnik, 1984)

It may appear that the covariation principle was used, but the processing used may be completely different (e.g. Nisbett & Ross, 1980)

Requires multiple observations over time- which is not always possible to do

Causal Schemas

Preconceptions or theories built up from experience about how certain kinds of causes interact to produce a specific effect

Allows one to interpret information quickly by comparing and integrating it with a schema

Discounting & Augmenting

Model used to explain our quick attributional decision making

One potential cause, the cause has a level of weight or importance

You'll discount the cause when there are multiple causes

Assign less of a weight for different causes

multidimensional approach (Weiner, 1986)

Locus - internal or external?

Stability - is the cause a stable or unstable one (over time)

Controllability - to what extent is future task performance under the actor's control?

This is a lot of effort, not doing it automatically, doing it on purpose, not quick judgement

Sources of Error in Attribution

Fundamental attribution error

Jones & Harris (1967) - fundamental attribution error

tendency to explain others' actions as stemming from dispositions even in the presence of clear situational causes; tendency to overestimate the impact of dispositional factors, underestimate the environment

This error is more common or stronger in individualist cultures

Dual Process Model of FAE

First: Internal Attribution

Then: Consider alternative explanations

- When are we likely to make it to the 2nd step? Consider alternative explanations

Time

Energy

Motivation

Cognitive load of people who had to write a speech, less able to consider other explanations

The Actor/Observer Effect

Tendency to attribute own behaviour mainly to situational causes, but the behaviour of others mainly to internal (dispositional) causes

Others: dispositional

Ourselves: situational

Why? The Actor/Observer Effect

Perceptual Salience

Actors have more information about themselves than observers do.

Self-Serving Attributions

Success → internal, dispositional factors

Failure → external, situational factors

False Consensus

Tendency to overestimate the commonality of our own opinions, beliefs, and behaviours.

Assumption that because you choose to live/work/etc. In the same place, you must share values

Defensive Attributions

Explanations for behaviour that avoid feelings of vulnerability or mortality

Avoiding threat situation

Avoiding things that make you feel terrible

Thinking the world is a true and just place

Unrealistic Optimism

Good things more likely

Bad things less likely

Assumptions that we will return home at the end of the day safe and sound.

Only way we can go out in the world

Anxieties come from an accurate assumption

Belief in Just World

Cultural thing, plays out differently in different cultures

People who do bad things should be punished

Bad things happen to bad people

Good things happen to good people

Not actually true, disproportionate incarceration rates

How accurate are our attributions?

Not as accurate as we think -

we are often crazy good at it, but also crazy prone to bias and error

self-reflection (introspection)

Capacity for self-reflection (introspection) is necessary for people to feel as if they understand their own motives and emotions and the causes of their behaviour.

Self is heavily influenced by social factors.

Affect: How we evaluate ourselves, enhance our self-images, and defend against threats to our self-esteem

Behaviour: How we regulate our actions and present ourselves according to interpersonal demands

Cognition: How we come to know ourselves, develop a self-concept, and maintain a stable sense of identity

The Functions of the Self

Organisational Function

Emotional Function

Executive Function

Impression Management

Organisational Function

Self-knowledge

The way understand who we are and organise information, relative to the world

What is salient and stable

Emotional Function

(e.g., Higgins): Self-esteem

How we maintain positive views of the self

Actual Self, Ideal Self, Ought Self

Prevention or promotion focus?

The more disjointed the actual and the ideal self is, the harder it is

Executive Function

Self-regulation or control

How we plan and execute behaviour and choices

Decision making and planning

Impression Management

Self - presentation

How we present ourselves and get them to view us the way we wish to be seen

Isn't just making people like you

To earn the respect of others is a good thing

Managing how you are perceived by others, not just about manipulating others, sense of agency

William James (1842-1910)

father of psychology

Duality of the Self

in western cultures, most salient in individualistic cultures

Known ("Me") - what you know

Knower ("I") - does the knowing

Self-Concept

Sum total of an individual's beliefs about their own attributes

"Known"

Self-Awareness

thinking about the self and evaluate according to standards/values

"Knower"

The Self-Concept

Self-concept is made up of self-schemas.

Self is an important object of our attention and a product of consciousness.

Self-Schema

Beliefs about oneself that guide processing of self-relevant information. Self is dynamic and socially situated

Who we are, ever changing and socially situated

Social context

Sense of self may shift dramatically depending on whom we are interacting with

Distinctiveness

May highlight aspects of the self that make us feel most unique in a given context

Rudimentary self-concept

Some primates (chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans) and maybe elephants or dolphins,

children self concept

Humans at 18 to 24 months via social interaction begins to emerge

Concrete, referent to characteristics like age, sex, neighborhood, and hobbies

More complex self schema develops as they grow

Mature self-concept

Less emphasis on physical characteristics

More emphasis on psychological states and how other people judge us

Little kids knows how old they are, but showing you what there like by how they respond

Is the Self Specially Represented in the Brain?

Synaptic connections provide biological base for memory, making possible sense of continuity needed for normal identity (LeDoux)

Various self-based processes can be traced to activities occurring in certain areas (Feinberg & Keenan)

Damage parts of the brain can lead to intense personality changes

Self can be transformed or destroyed by damage to the brain and nervous system.

Hit in the head over long period of times

changes personality, leads to depression and memory problems

Repetitive concussions

Feel differently about themselves

Culture Concept:

Psychology dominated by western cultural bias which influences people's definition of social structure and coping strategies

Levels of culture

Individual level

Thoughts, feelings and behaviours

Interaction level

Family, home, workplace, school

Institution level

Government, media, sports, science, education

Ideas level

What is good, right, and natural

Individualism

One's culture values the virtues of independence, autonomy, and self-reliance

US - you are told you can put yourself first, winning is a good thing and being the best

Australia - there's a limit, goes for a balance, your ability to get there rather than the actual achievement

Collectivism

One's culture values the virtues of interdependence, cooperation, and social harmony.

Overlap with other people

Defined by other people, put family first, do people trust me

Dominant core cultural distinctions made

How we define ourselves related to important people around us

Culture promotes values

Independent view of the self

Defining oneself in terms of one's own internal thoughts, feelings, and actions and not those of other people.

Self seen as a distinct, autonomous entity, separate from others and defined by individual traits and preferences

The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

Interdependent view of the self

Defining oneself in terms of one's relationships to other people; recognizing one's behaviour is often determined by the thoughts, feelings, and actions of others.

Self seen as connected to others, defined by social duties and shared traits and preferences

The nail that stands out gets pounded down

Singelis (1994)

developed a scale to measure two senses of the self.

What do you think of yourself? description types

A. Physical Self-Descriptions: Refer to physical qualities that do not imply social interaction.

B. Social Self-Descriptions: Refer to relationships, groups memberships, social roles, and attitudes which are socially defined and validated.

C. Psychological Self-Descriptions: Refer to psychological traits (determined) or states (tired, nervous) and to attitudes which do not refer to particular social referents.

D. Holistic Self-Descriptions: Refer to characteristics so comprehensive or vague that they do not distinguish one person from another.

E. Other/Miscellaneous

When you make a women's appearance salient, they do worse on cognitive tests

Sit with a view of themselves in the mirror

Given a garment, sit in it for 10 minutes

Also given a cognitive task to do at the same time

One was a sweatshirt, one was a swimsuit

Women, not men, in swimsuit would talk about appearance related items

20 statement tasks

Only the women in the swimsuit that did worse on cognitive task

We come to know ourselves

Through introspection

By observing our own behaviour

By adopting Other people's perspective

By comparing ourselves to others

Introspection

The process whereby people look inward and examine their own thoughts, feelings, and motives.

Introspection can lead us astray.

Can be misleading

More we try to explain our feelings, the worse we get

Make misattributions

Over emphasise our causal theories, not thinking it through

Everything is subjective

Most people overestimate the positives when self-assessing.

People do not rely on introspection as often as we think.

Reasons for feelings and behaviour can be outside conscious awareness.

Not always pleasant to think about ourselves

Don't overthink it

Self-Awareness Theory

When people focus their attention on themselves, they evaluate and compare their behaviour to their internal standards and values.

Affective Forecasting & Durability Bias

We have difficulty in predicting responses to future emotional events and tend to overestimate strength and duration of our emotional reactions.

For negative events, we do not fully appreciate our psychological coping mechanisms.

We focus only on the emotional impact of a single event, overlooking the effects of other life experiences.

Why we like something and the reasons why we like something are not as accessible as we think it is

Many mental processes outside of awareness

Causal Theories

theories about the causes of one's own feelings and behaviors; often we learn such theories from our culture

Schemas and theories are not always correct. Can lead to incorrect judgments about the causes of our actions.

Reasons-Generated Attitude Change

Attitude changes resulting from thinking about the reasons for one's attitudes; people assume their attitudes match the reasons that are plausible and easy to verbalise.

Odds are your first choice will be

correct

Self-Perception Theory (Bem, 1972)

When our attitudes/feelings are uncertain or ambiguous, or internal cues are difficult to interpret, we infer these states by observing our behaviour and the situation in which it occurs.