4.3 Psychology of Social Situations

Social norms

unwritten rules and expectations that guide people in a society

define expectations and roles a society may have for its members in individual and social situations.

Social influence theory

examines how and why people are persuaded by others

proposes that social pressure to behave or think in certain ways can be normative or informational

normative influences- a person’s desire to be liked and accepted by a group

informational influences- when people conform because they believe others have more accurate information

Persuasion

the techniques applied to convince the self or others of particular ideas, actions, or beliefs

Elaboration likelihood model

explains how people are persuaded, stating that people are either persuaded through the central route to persuasion or the peripheral route to persuasion

Central route- uses facts to persuade someone, often taking more time and elaboration

Peripheral route- uses emotions to persuade someone ex halo effect

Halo effect- a cognitive bias where our overall impression of a person influences how we feel and think about them, doesn’t focus on logic so it’s a peripheral route example

Foot-in-the-door technique

when a small request is first made, generally people will agree with this request, once they agree, another request is then made and this one is a larger request

ex. someone asks you to sign a petition (small request) and you do it, now when they email you to donate later(larger request), you are more likely to say yes because doing the small request made you feel more committed to the topic at hand

a persuasion technique

Door-in-the-face technique

starting with a large, unreasonable request that is likely to be refused, then presenting another request that is less extreme, which makes the second request seem much more reasonable and acceptable, increasing the chance that an individual will accept it

ex. a charity asks for $100 donation, you refuse, than they ask for a smaller donation of $5, you are more likely to agree since it feels reasonable

stores do this with sale price vs original high price

a persuasion technique

Conformity

tendency of a person to alight their behaviors, beliefs, or attitudes with the norms or standards of a group

Research on conformity clarifies the conditions that strengthen the likelihood of people adhering to unspoken rules, norms, or expectations

Obedience

how individuals respond to authority figures

Research on obedience clarifies the conditions that strengthen the likelihood of people complying with the directives of an authority figure

Cultural phenomena

Individualism, collectivism, and multiculturalism

Individualism- emphasizes the individual identity of a person, focusing on individual accomplishments and achievements, the individual will be more likely to resist conformity

Collectivism- if the individual comes from a collectivist culture, which emphasizes supporting and prompting the group , family, or society over the individual

Multiculturalism- where multiple cultural groups coexist within a society, focus on diversity, individuals identifying with multiple cultural background resulting in a great openness for other ideas

Cultural phenomena such as individualism, collectivism, and multiculturalism can influence how one perceives and behaves towards oneself and others

Group polarization

the tendency for individuals opinions, thoughts, and/or actions to become more extreme in a group setting

ex. you have a certain political view, you talk with friends with the same view, at the end of the hangout your views are stronger and you have a harder time seeing opposing views

Groupthink

a phenomenon where the group prioritizes consensus over critical evaluation, often leading to poor decision-making to occur

the desire for harmony within the group overrides members of the group to vocalize dissenting opinions

Diffusion of responsibility

when an individual feels less personally accountable and responsible for taking action or helping in situations where others are present

Social loafing

when individuals are in groups, they end up trying less, since they can rely on others to carry the workload

Deindividuation

when an individual is in a group and loses their sense of self-awareness or personal accountability, often due to the individual feeling more anonymous in the group

ex. people who go to concerts will sing, scream, and jump, but these people wouldn’t act this way on their own but they end up getting swept up in the moment forgetting their own agency and conforming to the group

Social facilitation

the opposite of social loafing

when a group of people are together they start to perform better due to being observed by others

ex. runners run faster in competition/teams because other runners/presence of other people motivates them to go faster

False consensus effect

a cognitive bias that leads an individual to overestimate how others think and act, causing the individual to think that more people must have the same thoughts as them

People often overestimate the levels to which others agree with them, known as the false consensus effect

Superordinate goals

require cooperation between individuals or groups, these goals often help reduce conflict by encouraging collaborative efforts towards one common goal

Superordinate goals serve to unite disparate groups under a common goal and help reduce negative affect and stereotyping among groups

Social traps

a situation where individuals or groups act in their own short term interest, disregarding the long-term negative consequences

Social traps occur when individuals do not unite and act in their own self-interest to the detriment of the group

Industrial-organizational(I/O) psychologists

study how people perform in the workplace

I/O psychologists study best practices in management of work, relationships among people working together or for a common company or program, and how people feel about work (burnout)

Altruism

selfless behavior

when an individual does a selfless act for the well being of others, without expecting any personal gain or reward

Altruism refers to selfless behavior, but some researchers suggest that people act in prosocial ways due to incurring social debt. The social reciprocity norm and the social responsibility norm explain this type of behavior.

Social reciprocity norm

an expectation that people have when doing something for someone else, think of this as every action has a reaction

if someone does something positive for someone, they should do something positive in return

Social responsibility norm

expectations that people will help those who are dependent or in need of assistance

ex. you are expected to help elders

Bystander effect

shows how different situational factors can impact a person’s likelihood to help others

individuals less likely to offer help in a situation where there are other people present