PSY 154: Chap. 12; social psychology

social psychology

scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another; deals with social interactions, their origins, and effects on individuals

social psychologists

• use scientific methods to study how people think about, influence, and relate to one another

• study social influences that explain why the same person will act differently in different situations

attribution theory (Fritz Heider)

the theory that we explain someone’s behavior by crediting either the situation or the person’s dispositions

dispositional attribution

attributing an individual’s behavior to their stable, enduring traits

situational attribution

attributing an individuals’ behavior to the situation

fundamental attribution error

tendency for observers, when analyzing others’ behavior, to underestimate impact of the situation and to overestimate impact of personal disposition

culture

westerners (personal traits) versus people in China and Japan (situation)

viewpoint

adopting another’s viewpoint tends to increase situational attributions for their behavior

how honorable our actions are

we tend to attribute admirable actions to out traits and bad behavior to the situation

age

with age, we tend to attribute the behavior of our younger selves to traits

how do our attributions matter

• explaining others’ actions and attributing them to the person or the situation can have important real-life effects

• different attributions affect how we view another person’s qualities, intentions, and culpability

attitude

feelings, often influenced by our beliefs, the predispose us to respond in a particular way to objects, people, and events

attitudes are especially likely to affect behavior

• when external influences are minimal

• when attitude is stable, specific to the behavior, and easily recalled

• situational factors (social pressures) can override attitude-behavior connection

  • politicians voting as supporters demand, despite privately disagreeing

actions can modify attitudes

foot-in-the-door phenomenon: tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request

persuasion

often people try to influence our actions by persuading us to change our attitudes

peripheral route persuasion

occurs when people are influenced by incidental cues, such as a speaker’s attractiveness

central route persuasion

occurs when interested people focus on the arguments and respond with careful thoughts

effective persuasion strategies

identify your shared values or goals; appeal to other’s admirable motives; make your message vivid; repeat your message; engage your audience in restating your message

conformity

involves adjusting our behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard

• reduces the risk of rejection by the group

Asch (1951) conformity study

• procedure

  • participants were asked to state which comparison line (1,2, or 3) was most similar to a standard line

  • the answer was always obvious

  • the real participant was often seated at the end of the row and gave their answer last

  • the other participants were confederates who had agreed on an incorrect answer in advance

• results

  • 75% of participants conformed at least once to the incorrect answer given by the confederates; around 37% across all critical trials

what did solomon asch find in her study?

• found that people are most likely to adjust their behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard in the following circumstances

  • they are made to feel incompetent or insecure

  • their group has at least three people

  • everyone else in their group agrees

  • they admire the group’s status and attractiveness

  • they have not already committed to any response

  • they know they are being observed by others in group

  • their culture strongly encourages respect for social standards

obedience

compliance with a request from an authority figure

milgram (1974) obedience study

• procedure

  • a “teacher” (participant) at the prompting of an authority figure (experimenter) appeared to give escalating shocks to a “learner” (confederate) for errors on a memory task

  • as shocks increased, the learner appeared increasingly distressed

• results

  • 65% of participants continued to the highest level of shock intensity (450 volts)

  • no shocks were actually given, but the teacher did not know this

obedience was highest when?

• person giving orders was nearby and was perceived as a legitimate authority figure

• powerful or prestigious institution supported the authority figure

• victim was depersonalized or at a distance

• there was no role models for defiance

social facilitation

presence of others arouses people, improving performance on easy or well-learned tasks but decreasing performance on difficult tasks

social loafing

tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable

when people act as part of a group, they may?

• feel less accountable

• view individual contributions as dispensable

• overestimate their own contributions

• free ride on others’ efforts

deindividuation

• the loss of self-awareness and self-restraint that occurs in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity

• thrives in many different settings; internet anonymity

group polarization

• group discussions with like-minded others strengthen members’ prevailing beliefs and attitudes

  • talking over racial issues increased prejudice in a high-prejudice group of high school students and decreased it in a low-prejudice group

• internet communication magnifies this effect, for better or for worse

group think

people are driven by desire for harmony within a decision-making group, with this desire overriding realistic appraisal of alternatives

prejudice

an unjustifiable and usually negative attitude toward a group and its members

prejudice includes:

• negative emotions projected toward another group without justification

• stereotypes or generalized beliefs about group of people; often overgeneralize or exaggerate group traits and behaviors

• predisposition to discriminate or act in harmful and unjustifiable ways toward members of the group

explicit prejudice or bias

negative attitude, aversion, or belief toward a specific social group that is consciously held

implicit prejudice or bias

automatic associations that can influence individual judgements of or behavior toward people of a particular race, gender, or other group

just-world phenomenon

good is rewarded and evil is punished

stereotypes

rationalize inequalities

ingroup

“us” - people with whom we share a common identity

outgroup

“them” - those perceived as different or apart from our ingroup

ingroup bias

tendency to favor our own group

scapegoat theory

prejudice offers an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame

evidence for the scapegoat theory comes in two forms:

• social trends: economically frustrated people often express heightened prejudice, and during economic downturns, racial prejudice intensifies

• experiments: temporarily frustrating people intensifies their prejudice

cognitive shortcuts

• humans categorize people by gender, ethnicity, race, age, and many other characteristics

• group categorization often results in stereotypes

heuristics

mental shortcuts that enable snap judgements

availability

tendency to estimate the frequency of an event by how readily it comes to mind

aggression

• includes any physical or verbal behavior intended to harm someone physically or emotionally

• emerges from the interaction of biology and experience

frustration-aggression principle

frustration creates anger, which can spark aggression

reinforcement and modeling

aggressive behaviors can be acquired via basic process of learning

media models for violence

• television, films, video games, and the internet depict numerous instances of violence

• media violence can teach social scripts

social script

culturally modeled guide for how to act in various situations

proximity

provides opportunity for aggression or friendship; powerful predictor of friendship because of mere exposure effect, geographic nearness

mere exposure effect

tendency for repeated exposure to novel stimuli to increase our liking of them

physical attractiveness

affects first impression; predicts the frequency of dating and popularity; is influenced by cultural ideals and personal feelings

similarity

includes shared attitudes, beliefs, interests, age, religion, race, education, intelligence, smoking behavior, and economic status

altruism

is an unselfish concern for welfare of others

bystander effect

• tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present

• occurs when there is a diffusion of responsibility

diffusion of responsibility

when a person takes less responsibility for something, or less likely to act in a situation, due to the presence of others

the odds of helping are highest when:

• the person appears to need and deserve help

• the person is in some way similar to us

• the person is a woman

• we have just observed someone else being helpful

• we are not in a hurry

• we are in a small town or rural area

• we are feeling guilty

• we are focused on others and not preoccupied

• we are in a good mood

social exchange theory

social behavior is an exchange process, the aim of which is to maximize benefits and minimize costs

reciprocity norm

expectation that people will respond favorably to each other by returning benefits for benefits (social exchange theory)

social responsibility norm

expectation that people will help those needing their help