PSY202 Social Psychology

week 8-9

What is the Power of Watching Eyes?

* Study that has proven subtle or real social presence increased with hygiene behaviour
* When other people are watching us, we may change our behaviours compared to when they are not

What is Social Comparison?

The study of how people influence the behaviours, beliefs, and attitudes of others.

* Upward and Downward

What us Upward Social Comparison?

Jealousy (-) and Motivation (+).

What is Downward Social Comparison?

Scorn (-) and Gratitude (+).

How are Humans Social Species?

* They gravitate toward each other
* There is a need to belong
* Social Comparison

What is the Social Comparison Theory?

* Study shows that bronze medalists are happier than silver medalists due to the Upwards and Downward comparisons
* Suggests that we determine our self-worth by comparing ourselves to others
* Helps us understand why __Social Influence__ is so powerful

What are the types of Social Influence?

* Conformity
* Obedience
* Performance in a Group
* Helping in the Presence of Others
* Social Loafing
* Deindividuation

What is Conformity?

When we change our appearances to fit in with society and group norms; sometimes due to peer pressure.

What did __Sherif__ contribute to Conformity?

Norm Formation Study.

What is __Norm Formation__?

* Participants are in a dark room, pinpoint of light appeared 15 feet in front of them, asked how far the light travelled 


* The first time they were alone to estimate, the second time they were with others
* **Autokinetic Effect** caused group judgement to become a common norm

What did __Asch__ contribute to Conformity?

Line Matching Study.

What is __Line Matching__?

In a crowd, participants were asked to judge the length of a line; the confederate group gave correct and incorrect answers which were affected by others

What were the results of the __Asch’s Line Matching Stud__y?

* About 37% of the time, participants would follow the incorrect judgements
* no one conformed 100% of trails
* 25% never conformed
* 75% conformed at least once

What are the factors that cause conformation?

* __Unamity VS Supporter__
* __Difficulty and familiarity of task__
* __Size__
* __Individual and Cultural Differences__

What impact does the Unamity VS Supporter have on conformity?

If all confederates were given the same wrong judgement, they would conform, but if a supporter gave the correct judgement, no conformation.

What impact does the Difficulty and Familiarity of Task have on conformity?

If the task is simple, the rate of conformity was lower; but difficult tasks were higher because people depend on others.

What impact does the Size of the Group have on conformity?

If the group is large (5), conformity is low; if small (2-3), conformity is high.

What impact do Individual and Cultural Differences have on conformity?

People with low self-esteem are more likely to conform; East Asians are more likely to conform than North Americans.

What are the Evaluations of __Asch’s Line Matching Stud__y?

* Results are __not consistent__ over time
* __Androcentric__; only male participants in the og study
* __Ethical Concerns__; some people may experience long-lasting anxiety and stress
* __Lacks Ecological Validity__; not very realistic to measure conformity
* Argued that it is __‘expensive‘ and time consuming__

What are __Field Experiments?__

* __Milgram et, al.__ (1969)
* Confederates would look up a window and passers would either follow along or not

Why do people Conform?

* Informational and Normative Social Influence
* Brain Imaging Studies

What is __Informational__ Social Influence?

* People believe that others are correct in their judgments
* Sherif’s Norm Formation Study

What is __Normative__ Social Influence?

* Due to pressure, people are afraid of appearing different from the group; the need to fit in
* Asch’s Line Matching Study

What are Brain Imaging Studies?

* Increased amygdala activity (__anxiety__)
* When we are in conflict, there is an increased activity that increases anxiety
* Brains desire to __reduce conflict__
* One way to get rid of the conflict is to change our beliefs to match those of others

What is Obedience?

* Following Orders
* Changing or adjusting behaviours due to direct commands from an authority figure
* Does not equal Conformity

What did __Stanley Milgram__ Contribute to Obedience?

* After WWII, there were attempts to explain the Holocaust
* Asked ‘Are Germans Different?‘
* The __Teacher and Learner Study__

What was Milgram’s Experiment?

* Teachers (participants) gave Learners (fake participants)- in another room, shocks if they answered incorrectly to questions from Experimenter- in same room
* Experimenter → urges the participant to keep going (“please go on, you are required to continue“)
* Teacher → administers the shock
* Learner → pretends to feel pain

What were the results of Milgram’s Experiment?

26 participants stopped at the highest level of shock (450V), but 5 stopped at the lowest level of shock (300V).

What are the Situational Factors that influenced Obedience in Milgram’s Study?

* Experimenter’s authority
* Did not matter the authority of the experimenter giving instructions
* (Physical) When Distance between participant and learner increased, obedience decreased
* (Non-Physical) When Distance between participant and experimenter increased, obedience increased
* Unanimity
* There was a disagreement between the authority figure and the participant

What are the Personality Factors that influenced Obedience in Milgram’s Study?

* Higher __authoritarianism__ → more likely to obey


* Higher __conscientiousness and agreeableness__ → more likely to obey
* Higher levels of __moral reasoning__ → less likely to obey

What are the Evaluations of Milgram’s Experiment?

* Foundations for understanding why people will obey extreme orders
* Ethical Concerns
* Very stressful
* Questionable Validity
* Unrealistic situations

What are some reasons people Obey?

* Legitimate Authority
* Agency Theory
* Graduated Commitment
* Peer Pressure

How does __Legitimate Authority__ influence if people Obey?

Society gives power or authority to certain people that they can exercise over others (Police, doctors, firefighters).

How does __Agency Theory__ influence if people Obey?

We are “puppets“ of others, so we should not be responsible for the consequences if someone gave us orders, the person who gave them to us is responsible.

How does __Graduated Commitment__ influence if people Obey?

Once you are persuaded to do something small you are likely to do something big (starting off with committing to something small, but then feeling like you need to commit to a bigger thing).

How does __Peer Pressure__ influence if people Obey?

People will follow orders and do the same things as others due to conformity.

What could happen to our performance in a group?

With the presence of others, our performance may be enhanced in tasks that we know very well or impaired in tasks that we may not know very well.

What did __Zajonc__ contribute to Social Facilitation and Interference?

The model of Social Facilitation.

What is Social Facilitation?

Performance enhanced in a group; simple or well-learned tasks.

What is Social Interference?

Performance impaired in a group; difficult or novel tasks.

What is the Bystander Effect/Nonintervention?

People are less likely to respond to emergencies when in group settings than when alone.

Why do partake in the Bystander Effect?

* Diffusion of Responsibility; thinking someone else will help due to your own responsibilities
* Pluralistic Ignorance; questioning if there really is an emergency if no one else is responding

What is Social Loafing?

The tendency for people to put less effort into a task when in groups than when they are alone. Some people slack off the more people there are in groups.

What did __Ringelmann__ contribute to Social Loafing?

* Rope Pulling Experiment
* Studied people in groups and alone then how much work they would do 
* People did half as much work compared to when they were alone

What did __Latene__ contribute to Social Loafing?

* Hand Clapping/Cheering Experiment
* Participants either; wearing headphones, hearing others, or could not hear themselves
* There was less effort put in by people who knew they were in the group setting

Why do some people Social Loaf?

* Diffusion of Responsibility; not only one person’s responsibility if there is a large group
* Anonymity; performance is anonymous
* No Clear Standards; no specific standards for who is responsible for what

How can we Reduce Social Loafing?

* Clear Standards; make clear what each person is responsible for
* Encourage Loyalty and Teamwork; make teamwork the number one priority
* Decrease the “Sucker Effect“/Peer Pressure; call out whoever is slacking off so no one else does

What is Deindividuation?

* The ways in which people turn to irrational and aggressive behaviours in groups due to the norms
* Zimbardo Prison Experiment

Why do people partake in Deindividuation?

* Loss of Sense of Identity
* Sense of Anonymity
* Diffusion of Responsibility

What is Attribution?

Things that cause humans to behave certain ways.

What are Dispositional Attributions?

The Internal Attribution of a person (i.e. personality).

**Fundamental Attribution Error:** Negative Behaviours

**Self-Serving Bias:** Positive Behaviours

What are Situational Attributes?

The External Attribution of a person (i.e. their situation).

**Fundamental Attribution Error:** Positive Behaviours

**Self-Serving Bias:** Negative Behaviours

What is __Fundamental Attribution Error__?

Explaining/ judging someone else’s behaviours incorrectly, we often overemphasize dispositional factors and downplay situational ones.

What are the Cultural Differences in the Fundamental Attribution Error?

* __Collectivist__ (ASIAN) cultures focus more on context/situation
* __Individualistic__ (USA) cultures focus on the individual person
* __Greenscreen Image__
* Americans paid more attention to salient objects (individual views)
* Japanese paid more attention to the relations between objects (interdependent views)

What is __Self-Serving Bias__?

Explaining/judging our own behaviours.

What are __Attitudes__?

* They predict behaviour and can include an emotional component (positive, negative, or neutral)
* They also come to mind very easily and are accessible
* Some people are __Low Self-Monitors__

What does it mean to Self-Monitor?

A person’s ability to regulate their behaviours to accommodate the social setting.

What is a __Low Self-Monitor__?

People who do not conform to the social setting and just do what it is they believe is right.

What Influences our Attitudes?

Personality, Social contexts, Recognition Heuristic, Implicic Egotism Effect.

How does Personality impact Attitudes?

Our attitudes toward topics are influenced by our personalities.

How do Social Contexts impact Attitudes?

We may experience different attitudes when we are alone compared to when we are in social groups.

How does the Recognition Heuristic impact Attitudes?

We are more likely to believe things we hear about and develop favourable attitudes toward these things.

How do Characteristics of the Messenger impact Attitudes?

The **Implicit** **Egotism Effect** states that we may form more favourable attitudes toward people/things that are more similar to us.

What did __Pelham, Mirenberg, & Jones (2002)__ contribute to the Implicit Egotism Effect?

People are more likely to live in cities where their names closely resemble.

What is the __Cognitive Dissonance Theory__?

* The feeling of discomfort or tension that stems from the conflicts of new and old information (an inconsistency between attitude/belief and action); we are motivated to get rid of this tension
* When new information conflicts with old information (i.e. smoking is bad so you might either stop smoking or justify smoking)

What are ways to __reduce__ Cognitive Dissonance?

* Change the **action** to justify *attitude* (i.e. stopping smoking to justify that smoking is bad)
* Change the **attitude** to justify *action* (i.e. searching up the research on smoking and concluding it’s not too bad to continue smoking)

What are the ways we might change our Attitudes to Justify our actions?

* Insufficient Justification
* Justifying Effort
* Justifying Difficult Decision

What is __Insufficient Justification__?

* When a person can not justify an already completed action without modifying their attitudes
* __Festinger’s & Carlsmith’s (1995) $20 or $1 experiment__;

How did Festinger’s & Carlsmith’s (1995) experiment play out?

* Participants given less money reported enjoying the boring tasks more because they had to justify the amount of money they had made off doing a boring task (**Insufficient** Justification)
* Participants given more money reported enjoying the boring tasks due to the need to justify that they made a reasonable amount of money off ding a boring task (**External** Justification)

What is __Justifying Effort__?

* The altering of attitudes to justify suffering
* If we have already suffered from something, we will feel the need to justify the suffering we have just experienced
* When we suffer to get something, we end up liking it more

What is __Justifying Difficult Decisions__?

* Justifying difficult decisions by exaggerating the positive features of the chosen item and the negative features of the unchosen item


* We go through a long process of decision-making, so it is likely that we will emphasize the good in the chosen and the bad in the unchosen

What are Stereotypes?

(COGNITION) How we think of other social groups. Neutral, Positive, or Negative; Accurate or Inaccurate.

What is Prejudice?

(AFFECT) The negative stereotypes of another social group; ingroup favouritism that is not based on reason or evidence.

What is Discrimination?

(BEHAVIOUR) When you have a prejudice against another social group and act on it. These acts are negative.

What is the relationship between Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination?

* Stereotypes are cognition, it is how we think about outgroups
* Prejudice is caused by negative stereotypes that cause us to act differently towards outgroups
* Discrimination is the actions we take on due to stereotypes and prejudice

What becomes a Stereotype?

Overgeneralized beliefs and generalizations about attitudes possessed by members of another social groups.

What mechanisms make Inaccurate Stereotypes?

* Confirmation Bias
* Illusory Correlation
* Ultimate Attribution Error

How does Confirmation Bias make Inaccurate Stereotypes?

* Only searching for and considering information that conforms to our beliefs and values, while ignoring whatever is inconsistent.
* People will only pay attention to evidence that confirms their dislike for specific social groups.

How do Illusory Correlations make Inaccurate Stereotypes?

* It is a perception of a relationship between two variables that do not exist (A is a minority group and B is negative behaviours)
* __Statistical Minority Group__ → linking a statistical minority group with infrequent behaviours (negative)

How does the Ultimate Attribution Error make Inaccurate Stereotypes?

* *Negative* behaviours of outgroup members → __Dispositional__ Attribution


* *Positive* behaviours of outgroup members → __Situational__ Attribution 

What are the levels of Stereotypes in research?

Public, Private, Implicit

What is the Public Stereotype in research?

* What we say to others about a group
* Verbal actions

What is the Private Stereotype in research?

* The things we don’t say out loud about groups of people
* We avoid saying stereotypes that we have about groups outloud and keep them to ourselves

What is the Implicit Stereotype in research?

* Unconscious mental associations that we have about group members and certain behaviours that guide our judgements and actions without our conscious awareness
* Implicit Association Test

What is the **Implicit Association Test** (Galdi, Cadinu & Tomasetto, 2013)?

* Word association test; people are asked which word fits which side based off societal-level stereotypes
* __Stereotype Congruent__ (consistent with stereotypes, fast and easy choice making)
* __Stereotype Incongruent__ (inconsistent with stereotypes, slow and hard choice making)

Are we able to Suppress Stereotypes?

* Ironic Rebound Effect says: No
* Suppressing unwanted thoughts causes us to think about them more than if we were not trying to think about them 

What is the research done on Prejudice?

* Ingroup Bias
* Outgroup Homogeneity

What is __Ingroup Bias__?

Preference for ingroup members over outgroup members.

What is __Outgroup Homogeneity__?

Tendency to overgeneralize and view outgroup members as similar in terms of negative impressions.

What are the Roots of Prejudice?

* Scapegoat Hypothesis
* Just-World Hypothesis
* Conformity
* Evolutionary Past

What is the Scapegoat Hypothesis of Prejudice?

Blaming other groups for your own misfortune.

What is the Just-World Hypothesis of Prejudice?

Believing that people get what they deserve which can lead to negative stereotypes

What does Conformity have to do with Prejudice?

If people in your group have negative attitudes towards another group, you adopt those attitudes to fit in.

What do Evolutionary Pasts have to do with Prejudice?

In the past, our ancestors travelled in groups, so people outside of our groups may be seen as threats to our groups.

What does __Jane Elliot’s (1968) Brown-Blue eye__ experiment teach?

Teaches Racism and how discrimination towards outgroups is very easily implemented if stereotypes and prejudice are involved.

How might we __Combat__ Stereotypes, Prejudice and Discrimination?

Contact Hypothesis.

What are the **conditions** of the __Contact Hypothesis__?

* Equal Status
* Personal Interaction
* Cooperative Activities
* Social Norms

What is __Equal Status__?

Contact must occur in circumstances where both groups feel that they are equal in status.

What is __Personal Interaction__?

Contact needs to be personal(1v1 intense interactions).

What are __Cooperative Activities__?

Members of both groups must cooperate and work together toward the same goal.