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Social Relationships in Social Psychology

• Social psychology examines how individuals are influenced by people in group settings.
• Major factors researched include:
  • Persuasion: How individuals are convinced to change their beliefs or behaviors.
  • Conformity: The act of adjusting opinions or behaviors to align with group norms.
  • Obedience: Following commands from authority figures.

Key Concepts

Social Facilitation

• Definition: The presence of others can enhance or impair performance on tasks.
• Major Points:
  • Enhancement occurs when performing well-practiced skills (e.g., an athlete outperforming in front of a crowd).
  • Impairment occurs with complex or unfamiliar tasks that induce anxiety (e.g., giving an impromptu speech).
• Recommendation: To perform well in front of an audience, one should over-learn the material.

Social Loafing

• Definition: People exert less effort in a group toward a common goal than when working individually.
• Observations:
  • Common in group projects; some members contribute less.
  • Can be mitigated by:
  • Assigning individual grades instead of group grades.
  • Keeping groups small to enhance accountability.

Conformity

• Definition: Adjusting opinions and behaviors to align with the group.
  • Types of conformity include:
  • Obedience: Conforming to an authority figure's demands.
  • Compliance: Publicly agreeing with a group while privately disagreeing.
• Classic Study: Solomon Asch's Experiment
  • Purpose: Examine if individuals would conform to a clearly incorrect group opinion.
  • Results:
  • 76% conformed at least once when faced with incorrect group answers.
  • 37% provided incorrect answers on critical trials.
• Influencing Factors:
  • Normative Social Influence: The desire for acceptance leading to conformity.
  • Informational Social Influence: Going along with the group when unsure of answers.
  • Presence of an ally can decrease conformity (dissenting group member).

Obedience

• Definition: Following directions or commands from an authoritative figure.
• Key Experiment: Stanley Milgram's Shock Experiment
  • Aim: Investigate if individuals could be pressured into committing harmful acts against their conscience under authority influence.
  • Structure: Participants were assigned roles as "teacher" administering shocks to a confederate (the learner).
  • Results:
  • 65% administered the highest shock level (450 volts).
  • Participants experienced visible distress yet obeyed orders.
  • Ethical Discussion: Raised concerns about the use of deception in psychological research leading to more stringent ethical guidelines.
• Factors Increasing Obedience:
  • Proximity to authority figure.
  • Gradual escalation of task severity (foot-in-the-door technique).

Persuasion Techniques

• Foot-in-the-Door Technique: Gaining agreement to a small request increases the likelihood of agreeing to a larger request later.
• Door-in-the-Face Technique: Proposing a large request that will likely be refused, followed by a smaller, more reasonable request, increasing compliance likelihood.

Conclusion

• Social psychology explores pivotal concepts like social facilitation, loafing, conformity, and obedience, crucial for understanding interpersonal dynamics. Individuals are influenced by the presence and expectations of others, highlighting the complexities of human behavior in groups.