Social Psych 3

Final exam

Prejudice

evaluative or affective component (A)

• Most prejudice is more subtle and complex than before 

• Conscious and unconscious levels

discrimination

behavioral component (B) Not permitting people certain jobs or opportunities

stereotypes

cognitive component (C) belief about members of a group based upon their group membership

• A group belief about a group

Stereotypes vs attitudes

Stereotype- A group belief about a group 

• Ex. Jew are cheap 

• Asians are good at math 

Typical attitudes- an individual belief about a group based on experience

Descriptive

what one believes about a group 

• Women are weaker than men 

Prescriptive

what we think they should or should not do 

• Women should keep to the house

Prejudice today 

• Open prejudice is generally frowned upon 

• Reduction in overt prejudice  

• Open racial prejudice is generally discouraged, but: There are still active hate groups nationwide, Some antagonism had grown acceptable 

Why do we call it ambivalent sexism? What are the two parts

-hostile and benevolent 

Social identity theory

Three processes: 

• We categorize  

• We identify and associate ourselves with an ingroup 

• We compare ourselves with an outgroup 

Identity biases and categorization effects 

• Ingroup bias- we favor our own group 

• Outgroup Homogeneity Bias- Members of other group appear similar to us (other race effect) 

• Accentuation effects (Corneille, 2004)- we recall members of a group as more stereotypical than they are 

Social psychological sources of prejudice

cognitive, emotional, and social processes, including social identity theory (favoring in-groups, derogating out-groups), realistic group conflict (competition for resources), and social learning through socialization

Dehumanization/infrahumanization 

• we see members of outgroup as less human than ourselves 

Stereotype content model 

We sort outgroups in terms of 

• Warmth 

• Competence 

High in warmth but low in competence are the disabled, housewives and elderly 

High competence low warmth are black professionals, Asians, northerners, feminists, and jews 

priming

exposure to one stimulus influences how a person responds to a subsequent, related stimulus. These stimuli are often conceptually related words or images.

• we associate African Americans with guns

The implicit association task

Indicates that whites tend to have a basic preference for white over black faces 

Situational Ambiguity

a lack of clarity, certainty, or information in a social context, making it difficult for individuals to interpret events, predict outcomes, or determine the appropriate course of action

People exhibit discrimination when it can be blamed on another situation

Implicit prejudice

unintentional, hard to control, conditioned early on 

• Crutches movie study 

Explicit prejudice

intentional, reflective, with awareness

effects on victims of prejudice

Self-fulfilling prophesy (Allport, 1958) 

• Blaming oneself: Withdrawal, self-hate, aggression against one’s own group 

• Blaming others: striking out, being suspicious 

Self-loathing 

• Clark & Clark’s (1947) doll studies 

Negatively performance effects 

• Stereotype threat (Steele, 1990s)- self-fulfilling belief that one will conform to a negative stereotype 

Stereotypes of people with disabilities

• Asexual 

• Unappealing 

• Dependent 

• Entitled 

• Isolated 

• Unemployable 

Roots of prejudice

Illusory correlation- the intersections of unlikely events 

Just world beliefs 

Selective pressure (evolutionary) to avoid 

• Outsiders 

• Non-reciprocators 

• Potentially diseased or hazardous 

Media effects 

Frustration (scapegoat theory) 

Personality 

• Religion 

• Empathy 

• Authoritarianism  

Aggression

Physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt someone 

• Harm 

• Intentionality 

• In the eye of the beholder (or receiver) 

• A social act 

Hostile Aggression

Aggression driven by anger and performed as an end in itself

Instrumental Aggression

Aggression that is a means to some other end 

Hobbes

• Life is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short 

• We develop a social contract to live cooperatively 

• Develop a set of rules

Freud

• We are all born with nothing but id 

• We do the social contract in our heads 

• Internalize a set of rules 

• We are born like animals with sexual and aggressive drives 

• By age 5 ego and super ego have developed 

• So we all are still animals, but we work out acceptable, cathartic ways of releasing aggressive and sexual impulses 

roots of aggression

• Friends, media, upbringing 

• Is aggression learned? 

• Social learning- imitation  

• Albert bandura’s bobo doll study- social learning theory 

• What predicts aggression- peers delinquency, media violence, peer victimization, sex, neighborhood crime, abusive parenting 

Aggressive cues 

• Heat, crowd, pain (aversive events)  

• Weapons effect (Berkowitz, 1970s, 1980s) 

• Pornography and aggression 

The frustration aggression theory

• Frustration-> aggression 

• Frustration<- aggression 

• Frustration- the blocking of goal directed behavior 

• Aggression is always a consequence of frustration 

• Frustration invariably leads to aggression 

• Displacement- directing aggression a safer, more socially acceptable target 

Aggression as a learned social behavior

learned through observation, imitation, and reinforcement

Aggression as a cultural norm

Is it normal for some cultures to fight more than others

Is gunplay normal in some cultures

• southerners more angry than northerners when bumped

Upbringing and aggression 

. High-level, persistent aggression is often linked to factors like harsh physical punishment, inconsistent discipline, and poor parental monitoring

How does aggressive gaming link to aggressive personality 

Repeated violent game playing 

• Aggressive beliefs and attitudes 

• Aggressive perceptions 

• Aggressive expectations 

• Aggressive behavior scripts 

• Aggressive desensitization 

Increased aggressive personality  

Aggression and catharsis  

• People came out of watching violent completions more aggressive 

• People who came out of high stakes competitions did not get more aggressive 

Pornography and aggression

• Excitation transfer theory- people are becoming excited in one way, but expressing it in another  

• Rape myth acceptance 

• Social scripts and altered perceptions 

Affiliation 

• Social comparison- we are brought together, in part, from our need for comparison 

• seek company from others, form positive relationships, join social groups

• We are social animals 

• We are shaped that way by the past (evolution) 

• We are healthier with others than we are alone 

Misery and company 

Misery, in many cases loves company 

individuals facing distress or sadness often seek out others in similar situations to normalize their feelings, reduce isolation, and gain emotional validation

Affiliation in our modern world 

Older 2000 theories 

• Computers isolate people and they do weird things (maladaptive things) 

• The internet can bring otherwise lonely people out of isolation 

• Beware of internet addiction 

More refined theories

• Internet can deepen preexisting relationships  

• Or replace offline interaction with superficial online interaction 

• Or provide interaction for those who lack 

• Depends upon the use 

Physical and Genetic explanations of attraction 

• Traits that suggest fertility/health (the environmental security hypothesis) 

• Traits that Suggest Fertility/health 

• Symmetry and averageness: Symmetry of features as a predictor of attraction  

Inherited mechanism for avoiding incest 

Did I see my mom repeatedly care for this person as a newborn 

• Kin- intense sexual aversion 

Have I co-resided with this person since my birth 

• Kin- duration dependent sexual aversion 

If neither- fair game 

Chemicals 

• Neuropeptide oxytocin 

• “the love hormone” or “liquid trust” 

• Strengthens maternal/protective bonds in female rats. Human results mixed 

• Release in humans triggered by: Breast feeding, Sexual stimulation, Empathy  

• In lab, nasal spray can result in increased trust and generosity 

Why do people have sex 

Physical 

• Stress reduction, pleasure, experience seeking, physical desirability 

Goal attainment 

• Resources, status, revenge 

Emotional  

• Love and commitment, expression 

Insecurity  

• Self-esteem boost, duty/pressure, mate guarding  

Proximity  

Who did people list as their closest friends in a dorm at MIT- people who were more likely to be encountered were liked more  

Familiarity  

The mere exposure effect 

Similarity 

Couples are similar in terms of 

• Physical attractiveness 

• Demographic characteristics 

• Psychological characteristic

Explanations 

• Assortative mating (choose similar partner) 

• Social homogamy (choose partner from same group/social class) 

• Convergence (become more like partner over time) 

The two factor theory 

• An encounter on a bridge with Dutton and Aron (1974) 

• Interviewer male or female, all participants male 

• At end of questions interviewer gives phone number 

• Experiment repeated on a less scary bridge  

primary colors of love

Eros (passionate/romantic), Ludus (playful/game-playing), and Storge (friendship/familial). These styles are intended to be mixed, forming secondary styles like Agape (selfless), Pragma (practical), and Mania (obsessive) to explain complex romantic behaviors

Love in the age of the internet 

• As the internet changes, concerns regarding the internet change 

• The internet makes certain things more possible, Good and bad things 

• Different people will use the internet and social media differently 

• People show off accomplishments: Stoke jealousy, Invade privacy, Meet strangers 

Ostracism

We are evolutionary primed to be adverse to ostracism 

4 needs that ostracism threatens: 

• Need to belong 

• Need for control 

• Need for self esteem 

• Need for a meaningful existence

Rejection

• We feel bad when someone values us less than we wish they would 

• Many forms: Romantic rejection, Social ostracism, Job termination, Stigmatization  

• Reactions vary: Anti-social, Pro-social, Withdrawal 

• Depending upon how we construe the situation: Relationship value, Perceived fairness, Can relationship be repaired, Are there alternatives  

Altruism

a motive to increase another’s welfare without regard for one’s self interests  

• Some argue that there is no such thing as true altruism 

Egoism

a motive to increase one’s own welfare 

• Looking for your name in the back of a program after you donated 

Egoism vs altruism 

Emotion	Motive	Behavior
Distress (upset, anxious, disturbed)	Egoistic motivation to reduce own stress	Behavior (possibly helping) to achieve reduction of own distress
Empathy (sympathy and compassion for others)	Altruistic motivation to reduce others stress	Behavior (helping) to achieve reduction of other’s distress

Why do people volunteer? 

• Career (job experience)  

• Understanding (hands on experience) 

• Enhancement (grow psychologically/ raise self-esteem) 

• Social (meet people) 

• Protective (get away from things/ troubles) 

• Values (concern for others, humanitarianism) 

Disguised self interest  

We do things, both helpful and not, that help ourselves 

Social exchange theory

• Human interactions are transactions that aim to maximize rewards and minimize costs  

Empathy 

• We suffer at the thought of other people suffering  

Social norms 

• Reciprocity norm- an expectation that people will help those who have helped them 

• Social responsibility norm- an expectation that people will help those dependent upon them 

Evolutionary bases 

• Kin- altruism toward close relatives enhances survival of shared genes 

• Reciprocity- evolution has selected behaviors that lead others to help us when our lives are in danger 

Bystander effect

We are less likely to help when there are other bystanders

Pluralistic ignorance

when others are present, we are less likely to notice/interpret an emergency 

Diffusion of responsibility

when others are present, we are less likely to take responsibility

Stages of needing help supermarket example 

• Did they notice- have an employee routinely walk around the store, camera, staff meetings 

• Interpret as an emergency- have employee training about falls 

• Did they feel responsible- include helping customers in the job description, see something say something 

• Try to help- hold trainings 

Who helps?

The Altruistic personality: Jew rescuers in Nazi occupied territories  

• Extensive moral orientation  

• Feelings of responsibility for those outside their families and community  

• Attachment and empathy, justice and caring for others  

• Belief in personal principles over laws and threats  

Religion and helping 

Extrinsic vs intrinsic  

• (extrinsic) Church attendee- observing rules, rituals, practices 

• (intrinsic) High power/ afterlife/ faith- sense of duty, responsibility 

• Intrinsic better for helping 

Religious obligation 

• Karma in Hinduism and Buddhism  

• Charity in Islam 

East vs west

• Receiving help can trigger a loss of face  

• Eastern cultures tend to have stronger obligation to help family  

• Voluntary helping is valued in western cultures 

• Latin American cultures emphasize simpatica- an emphasis on social harmony and friendliness  

Mood and helping

• Dime planted in payphone  

• Confederate drops papers 

• People who found dime were more likely to help 

• Lost letter 

• People who found dime were more likely to put letter in mailbox 

Who gets help? 

• Women over men 

• Those of similar race 

• People older than 60 

• Attractive people