PSYCH CH 11 & 12

Social psych is the study of the interaction between the person and the environment (other individuals, groups) 

Social influence is the process in which the real or implied presence of others can directly or indirectly influence an individual's thoughts, feelings, and behavior. It can affect the success or failure of an individual’s task performance within a group. The positive performance is called social facilitation and the negative influence is called social impairment. In both negative and social impairment, other people's presence increases arousal. Social facilitation happens because the presence of others creates just enough increased arousal to improve performance, but when the task is difficult, it produces too high a level of arousal resulting in impaired performance  

Social influence refers to how individuals change their thoughts, feelings, or behaviors based on the presence or actions of others. It can occur through direct pressure, like peer pressure, or more subtle means, such as social norms.

Example:

Imagine you’re at a party, and everyone starts dancing. Even if you’re shy about dancing, you might join in because you see others having fun. This is social influence at work your behavior is affected by the actions of those around you.

Conformity is when people change their attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors to match a group's. This can happen because they want to fit in, be liked, or think the group knows better. It’s the change in behavior as a result of real or imagined group pressure, no one is asking you to do things (people giving you looks, the vibe, feeling strange)

Conformity is when individuals change their behavior or beliefs to match those of a group.

Example:

In a classroom, if most students raise their hands to answer a question, even if you know the answer but hesitate, you might raise your hand too just to fit in with the group. This is conformity changing your behavior to align with others

Muzafer Sherif conducted a study in which participants were shown in a darkened room and exposed to a single point of light. The point of light will move because of the tiny, involuntary movement of the eye. The participants were not told of this effect and reported the light moved anywhere from a few inches to several feet. This experiment has been criticized because the judgments beings made were ambitious 

Muzafer Sherif's experiment was the Robbers Cave Experiment, which involved two groups of boys at a summer camp. Initially kept separate, they developed strong identities. When they competed against each other, hostility arose, showing how competition can lead to conflict.

Sherif believed in Realistic Conflict Theory, which states that conflict occurs when groups compete for limited resources. He also studied how social norms form through group interaction, demonstrating that people often change their perceptions to align with others

Over all his experiment showed how competition can lead to conflict, but collaboration can promote understanding and unity among groups.

Solomon Asch conducted the classic studies on conformity by having seven participants gather in a room and were told that they were participating in an experiment on visual judgment. They were then shown a white card with an online line on it followed by another white card with 3 lines of different lengths. The task was to determine which line on the second card was the most similar to the line on the first card. He found that the number of confederates mattered and as conformity decreased if there was just one confederate (people who were part of the research or excitement, not participants) who gave the correct answer and increased with each new confederate until 4 confederates he was trying to create an environment of conformity to see how people respond to it. The line-length judging experiment 

The Solomon Asch conformity experiment was conducted in the 1950s to study how group pressure influences individual opinions. In the experiment, participants were shown a line and asked to identify which of three comparison lines matched it. Most participants were unaware that the others in the group were confederates (actors) instructed to give incorrect answers.

As a result 

• About 75% of participants conformed to the group’s incorrect answer at least once.

• On average, participants conformed to the wrong answer about one-third of the time.

• Many conformed to avoid mockery, even when they knew the group’s answer was wrong.

Normative social influence is when people conform to be liked or accepted by a group. For example, dressing like your friends to fit in

Normative social influence is when people change their behavior to fit in with a group.

Ex: If a group of friends wants fast food, one person who prefers healthy food might go along with them to avoid feeling left out

Informational social influence is when people conform (adjust their behavior) because they believe others have more accurate information. For instance, using the same fork as others at a fancy dinner because you’re unsure which one to use

Informational social influence is when people look to others for guidance on how to behave, especially in uncertain situations. They conform because they believe the group has more accurate information.

Ex:

Imagine you’re in a new city and see a long line outside a restaurant. You might decide to eat there too, thinking it must be good since so many people are waiting. This shows how we look to others for cues on what to do when we’re uncertain

Group thinking occurs when people within a group feel it is more important to maintain the group’s cohesiveness than to consider the facts realistically 

Groupthink happens when a group of people makes decisions together but doesn’t think critically about those decisions. They focus more on agreeing with each other than on considering different ideas or potential problems.

Example:

In a team meeting, everyone agrees to launch a product without discussing any issues. One person might have concerns but stays quiet to avoid conflict. This can lead to problems because the group didn’t look at all the options.

Irving Janis came up with the 8 “symptoms” of group thinking that show when a group is making bad decisions because they want to get along and fit in

1. Illusion of Invulnerability: The group feels overly confident and ignores risks.

• Example: A team believes their project will succeed without considering potential problems.

2. Collective Rationalization: Members dismiss warnings and don’t rethink their decisions.

• Example: Even when someone points out flaws in a plan, the group insists it will work anyway.

3. Belief in Inherent Morality: The group thinks their decisions are morally right, ignoring ethics.

• Example: A team believes their project is good for society, so they overlook any negative impacts.

4. Stereotyped Views of Out-Groups: They view opposing groups negatively, making it easier to ignore them.

• Example: The group thinks critics are just jealous and doesn’t consider their feedback.

5. Direct Pressure on Dissenters: Members feel pressured not to disagree.

• Example: If someone expresses doubt, others might say, “Just go along with us; it’ll be fine.”

6. Self-Censorship: Individuals keep their doubts to themselves.

• Example: A member has concerns but stays quiet because they don’t want to rock the boat.

7. Illusion of Unanimity: Silence is mistaken for agreement.

• Example: The group assumes everyone agrees because no one is speaking up.

8. Self-Appointed ‘Mindguards’: Some members protect the group from conflicting information.

• Example: A member filters out negative feedback, believing it will upset the group.
  

Group polarization is when a group’s opinions become more stronger after discussing them together. This often leads to stronger beliefs than what individuals originally thought.

Example: In this example, before watching the movie they say it’s not good and then after they watched the movie, discuss it and agree that it was the best

Task performance can be affected by social influence 

• Social loafing is when people put in less effort when working in a group compared to when they work alone. This happens because individuals feel less accountable and believe others will pick up the laziness

• Ex: In a group project, one student does most of the work while others contribute little, thinking, "Someone else will handle it."

• Deindividuation is when people lose their sense of individuality and self-awareness in a group. This can lead them to act in ways they normally wouldn’t, often because they feel anonymous and less accountable

• Ex: At a large concert, a person might join in crowd surfing or dancing wildly, feeling anonymous and less responsible for their actions.

• Soical Facilitation: This is the positive effect of being around others, which can boost performance on simple or well-practiced tasks. For example, a runner might perform better in a race with spectators cheering them on

• Ex: A runner performs better in a race with cheering spectators than when training alone, feeling energized by the crowd.

  
  

• Social Impairment: Conversely, this is the negative effect where the presence of others can hinder performance, especially on complex or new tasks. For instance, someone might feel anxious and perform poorly when presenting in front of a crowd.

• Ex: A student feels nervous presenting in front of classmates and stumbles over their words, performing worse than they would in a one-on-one setting

Consumer psychology is a branch of psych that studies the habits of consumers in the marketplace 

Compliance happens when people change their behavior because someone else asks them to

Obedience  is when the person or group commands or instructions for the change in behavior that doesn’t have any real authority or power to command a change, so that authority doesn’t exist and behavior is changed it’s called obedience 

Obedience is when a person follows commands or instructions from someone in authority, even if they don’t agree with them.

Ex: In a classroom, when a teacher asks students to complete an assignment, the students typically obey because they respect the teacher's authority.

Door in the face technique is a way to get someone to agree to a request. First, you ask for something big that they will likely refuse. Then, you follow up with a smaller request, which seems more reasonable.

Ex: A charity worker asks for a $100 donation. When you say no, they then ask for $10, making it easier for you to agree.

The foot-in-the-door technique is a persuasion method where you start by asking someone to agree to a small request. Once they agree, you then ask for a larger request because they already said yes to the smaller one

The foot-in-the-door technique is a way to get someone to agree to a big request by first asking them for a small favor.

Ex:  Imagine you ask a friend to help you with a small task, like organizing your bookshelf. After they agree and help with that, you then ask if they can help you move to a new apartment. Because they already helped once, they’re more likely to say yes again.

This technique works because people like to stay consistent with their previous commitments

The lowball technique is a persuasion method where someone offers you a great deal to get your agreement. Once you agree, they change the deal to be less favorable this includes (fees, tax, surcharge, and so on) causing the buyer to spend more money than originally intended 

The lowball technique is a persuasion strategy where someone first offers a deal that seems very attractive, but then changes the terms to make it less favorable after the person has already agreed.

Ex: Imagine a car salesperson offers you a car for a very low price. Once you agree to buy it, they suddenly say that the price doesn’t include certain fees or features, making the final cost higher than you initially thought.

This technique works because once someone commits to a decision, they are more likely to stick with it, even if the terms change.

Stanley Milgram wanted to test the effect of obedience to authority. Called this Milgram study of obedience Came up with the experiment of “teacher” and “learner” roles where the learner was a confederate already aware of the situation. When the learners gave the incorrect response the teachers were told to increase the level of shock by 15 volts and the learners were told to make fake sounds of discomfort, asking the experiment to end, scream, or even play dead. As the teacher was administering the shocks, the experimenter in his authoritative white lab coat said stuff like you must continue remaining the teacher that the experiment would take full responsibility for the safety of the learner 

Setup: Participants (teachers) were told they would be administering electric shocks to a learner (who was actually a confederate and not receiving real shocks) whenever the learner answered questions incorrectly.

Shock Levels: The shock generator had levels ranging from 15 volts to 450 volts, with labels indicating increasing severity, including "Danger: Severe Shock" and "XXX."

Results: Despite hearing the learner's pleas and apparent distress, about 65% of participants continued to administer shocks up to the maximum level, demonstrating a high level of obedience to the authority figure (the experimenter).

Conclusion: Milgram's findings suggested that people are often willing to follow orders from authority figures, even when those orders conflict with their personal morals.

Meeus and Raaijimaker examined obedience in a different culture 

Participants: People were asked to take part in a study about job interviews.

Task: They were instructed to make a job applicant feel anxious by giving them difficult questions and interrupting them during a test.

Authority Figure: The participants were told to follow the instructions from an authority figure (the experimenter).

Findings:

High Obedience: Over 90% of participants followed the orders, even though they felt the task was unfair and uncomfortable. This showed that people are very likely to obey authority figures, even in stressful situations.

Therefore, Meeus and Raaijmakers' experiment shows that obedience to authority is a strong human tendency, even in a different cultural context. Their findings indicate that people are willing to follow orders from authority figures, even when those orders lead to uncomfortable or distressing situations for others.

Attitude is a tendency to respond positively or negatively toward a certain person, object idea, or situation. This tendency develops through people’s experiences as they live and work with otters affecting the way they behave toward those ideas, people, objects, or situations and can include opinions, beliefs, and biases

Attitude refers to a person's way of thinking or feeling about something, which often influences their behavior. It can encompass beliefs, emotions, and predispositions toward certain objects, people, or situations.

Attitude influences the way people view things before they’ve been exposed to them. Attitude is not something people are born with they learn it through experiences and contact with others and even through direct instruction from parents, teachers, and other important people in a person’s life 

Attitude is made of 3 different parts

• Affect ((feelings) is the way a person feels toward an object, person, or situation 

Ex: Feeling happy when seeing a friend.

• Behavior (Actions) is the action a person takes in regard to the person, object, or situation 

Ex: If you believe that reading is important for personal growth, you might spend time each day reading books or articles.

• Cognition (thoughts) is the way a person thinks about himself or herself, an object, or a situation. These thoughts include beliefs and ideas about the focus of attitude 

Ex: Believing that exercise is important for health.

Positive Attitudes: These are good feelings or beliefs about something.

Ex: Liking a sport and enjoying playing it with friends.

Negative Attitudes: These are bad feelings or beliefs about something.

Ex: Disliking a subject in school and avoiding studying it

Therefore Positive attitudes lead to good actions, while negative attitudes can lead to avoiding or rejecting things.

Some attitudes are stronger than others and strong attitudes are more likely to predict behavior than weak ones

Attitude formation is the result of a number of different influences with only one thing in common they are all forms of learning 

Attitude Formation: The process through which attitudes are developed, influenced by experiences, social interactions, education, and media exposure.

Ex: Developing a dislike for a food after trying it and not enjoying it.

Direct attitudes: Attitude can be formed by direct contact with the person, idea, situation, or object that is the focus of the attitude 

Ex: Gaining a positive attitude toward a city after visiting and enjoying it.

Influence on Attitude: Attitudes are shaped not only by personal experiences but also by societal factors, including family, peers, education, and media. It can be learned in school or through reading books, media, networking sites, magazines, TV, and the movies 

Ex: Changing your opinion on a movie after hearing friends talk about it.

Sometimes attitudes are formed because the person is around other people with that attitude this is called interaction with others, but many attitudes are learned through the observation of other people’s actions and reactions to various objects, people, or situations

Persuasion is the process of influencing someone to change their beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors

• Source is the communicator the person delivering the message. There is a strong tendency to give weight to people who are perceived as experts as well as those who seem trustworthy, attractive, and similar to the person receiving the message

Ex: A doctor recommending a health product is trusted more than a random person because of their expertise.

• The message should be clear and well organized and the content of what is being communicated. it’s effective to present both sides of an argument to an audience that has not yet committed to one side or the other

Ex: A campaign that clearly explains the benefits of recycling and also mentions the downsides of not recycling.

• The target audience is the specific group of people the message is aimed at. Also important in determining the effectiveness of the message 

Ex: A message about college savings plans targeted at new parents focuses on their concerns about future education costs.

• Medium Is the way the message is delivered 

Ex: If you want to share important news, you could choose to deliver it via a video call for a personal touch, or through a text message for a quick and straightforward approach.

Elaboration likelihood model (ELM) is a theory about how people are persuaded. It suggests there are two main routes to persuasion:

• Central Route: Involves careful and thoughtful thinking about the message (used when people are motivated and able to think about the message) 

Ex: A student reads a research paper about climate change and decides to support environmental policies after understanding the facts.

• Peripheral Route: Involves involves less thought. People rely on superficial cues, like the attractiveness of the speaker or the number of arguments presented (used when people are not motivated or able to think deeply about the message

Ex: A person buys a drink because a famous athlete is in the ad, without thinking about the drink's benefits

In short, ELM shows that how we process information affects how our attitudes change.

Cognitive dissonance is a sense of discomfort or distress that occurs when a person’s behavior does not correspond to that person’s attitude 

Cognitive dissonance is the uncomfortable feeling you get when you have two conflicting thoughts or beliefs. To feel better, people try to change something about their thoughts or behavior 

Example: A person knows that eating junk food is unhealthy but still eats it. This creates discomfort because their actions don’t match their knowledge.

• Change behavior: Start doing what you believe.

• Example: If you think exercise is important but don’t work out, you might start going to the gym.

• Change beliefs: Adjust your thinking to justify your actions.

• Example: If you skip exercise, you might tell yourself, "I’m too busy to work out right now."

• Create new beliefs: Come up with new ideas that support your behavior.

• Example: You might think, "I can stay healthy by eating better instead of exercising."

Leon Festinger and James Carlsmith experimented to show cognitive dissonance. Paying participants to lie 

Task: Participants performed a boring task, such as turning pegs on a board, for an hour.

Lying: Afterward, they were asked to tell another participant (a confederate) that the task was enjoyable.

Payment: Some participants were paid $1 to lie, while others received $20.

In the experiment, participants who were paid $1 to lie about the boring task said it was more enjoyable than those who were paid $20.

Why? The $1 group felt uncomfortable lying for such a small amount, so they changed their minds to believe the task was fun to feel better about their choice.

Therefore this experiment shows that when people are forced to act against their beliefs without enough justification, they may change their attitudes to align with their actions.

Daryl Bem’s self-perception says that when experiencing negative tension, people look at their actions and then infer their attitude from those actions 

Daryl Bem's self-perception theory says that people figure out how they feel by looking at what they do. If someone acts a certain way, they might think, "I must feel this way." For example, if you smile a lot, you might conclude that you're happy, even if you didn't realize it before

Impression formation is the framing of the first knowledge a person has about another person. This formation includes assigning the other person to a number of categories and drawing conclusions about what that person is likely to do. When first meeting another person, the observer goes through a process of concept formation it’s another kind of social cognition 

Impression formation is the process by which we develop opinions and judgments about others based on the information we receive about them. This includes their behavior, appearance, and communication style.

Primacy effect in impression formation is the first time people meet someone, they form an impression of that person based on physical appearance alone 

Ex: When you meet someone for the first time and find them attractive, that initial impression can strongly influence how you perceive them afterward. Even if they say something awkward later, your first impression of their looks might overshadow that moment

Social categorization is one of the processes that occurs when people meet someone new is the assignment of that person to some kind of category or group. This assignment is based on characteristics the new person has in common with other people or groups. It’s automatic and occurs without conscious awareness. 

Social categorization is the process of classifying people based on shared characteristics, such as race, gender, age, or interests. This helps us make sense of the social world and influences our attitudes and behaviors toward others.

Ex: If you see someone wearing a sports jersey, you might categorize them as a sports fan, which could lead you to assume they enjoy discussing sports.

Social categorization can result in a stereotype. Social stereotypes are limiting, causing people to misjudge what others are like and often treat them differently as a result. It also has an important place in the perception of others, allowing people to access a great deal of info that can be useful about others as well as helping people to remember and organize info about the characteristics of others

Implicit personality theory are set of assumptions formed in childhood about how different types of people, personality traits, and actions are all related to each other 

Implicit personality theory is the idea that people make assumptions about others' traits based on limited information. We often believe that certain traits go together

Ex: if someone is seen as friendly, we might also assume they are trustworthy, even if you haven’t seen them act that way yet

An implicit association test or IAT is a test taken by the computer to measure people's hidden biases. It does this by seeing how quickly someone can match different groups (like races or genders) with positive or negative words. This can show biases that people might not realize they have

Ex: If someone takes the IAT and finds they link "African American" with "bad" faster than with "good," it suggests they may have an unconscious bias, even if they consciously believe in equality

Attribution is the process of explaining one’s behavior and the behavior of others. It refers to how we interpret and assign reasons for our actions and those of others. This can involve distinguishing between internal factors (like personality traits) and external factors (like situational influences)

Ex: If a student fails a test, they might attribute their failure to a lack of preparation (internal) or to the test being unfair (external).

Arrtrubtion theory was developed by Fritz Heider as a way to not only explain why things happen but also why people choose the particular explanation of behavior that they do 

Heider proposed that people try to understand the causes of behavior by attributing them to either internal factors (like personality traits) or external factors (like situational influences) 

• The situational cause is the cause of behavior attributed to external factors such as delays, the actions of others, or some other aspect of the situation 

Ex: If someone is late to a meeting, you might think it was due to traffic

• The dispositional This involves attributing behavior to internal factors like personality or character traits

Ex: If someone is rude, you might think they are just an unfriendly person

• Fundamental attribution error is the tendency to think that other people's actions are mainly due to their personality or character while ignoring the influence of the situation they are in

Ex: If someone cuts you off in traffic, you might think, "That driver is rude," instead of considering they might be in a hurry for a good reason.

Masuda and Kitaymam wondered if attribution error would occur in cultural differences, so they did the experiment of asking people to read pre-written attitudinal statements and to give their opinion on the target’s real attitude 

Masuda and Kitayama conducted experiments to explore how culture influences perception and attribution. They focused on how Japanese and American participants interpret behaviors differently.

Animated Vignettes: In one study, participants watched animated underwater scenes featuring fish. They were asked to describe the behavior of a focal fish and its context. Japanese participants tended to pay more attention to the background and context, while Americans focused more on the central fish.

Attribution Tasks: They examined how participants attributed behaviors to internal traits versus external situations. They found that Americans were more likely to attribute behaviors to personal characteristics, while Japanese participants considered situational factors more.

These findings highlight cultural differences in how people perceive and explain behaviors, suggesting that context plays a significant role in East Asian cultures compared to Western cultures

Prejudice is a negative attitude toward a person or group, often based on characteristics like race, gender, or religion. It involves preconceived opinions that are not based on reason or experience

Ex: If someone believes that a particular ethnic group is lazy without any personal experience or evidence, that belief is a form of prejudice.

Discrimination treating people differently because of prejudice toward the social group to which they belong 

Discrimination is the unfair treatment of individuals or groups based on characteristics such as race, gender, age, or disability. It involves making distinctions that lead to negative outcomes for certain people, often resulting in exclusion or disadvantage.

Ex: A restaurant refuses to serve customers based on their race. This unfair treatment is a clear case of discrimination.

Prejudice is their attitude, and discrimination is the behavior that can result from that attitude. In some cases, discrimination can be controlled and in some cases eliminated, but the prejudicial attitude that is responsible for the discrimination cannot be easily controlled or eliminated 

Prejudice is an unfair and often negative attitude toward a person or group based on characteristics like race, gender, or religion.

Ex: A person assumes that all teenagers are irresponsible just because of their age. This unfair generalization is a form of prejudice.

Types of prejudicial 

• Ageism

• Sexism

• Racism

• Prejudice toward those from different ethnic groups

• Prejudice toward those from different religions 

• Prejudice from those in different economic levels, those who are thin/overweight, and so on

In groups are social groups with whom a person identifies “us”

Out groups are social groups with whom a person does not identify “them”

Microaggression is a subtle, often unintentional, comment or action that discriminates against members of a marginalized group

Microaggression is a small, often unintentional comment or action that shows bias against a marginalized group. These can be hurtful even if they seem minor.

Ex: if someone tells an Asian American, "You speak English so well!" it suggests they didn't expect them to be good at English because of their background. This can feel disrespectful.

A scapegoat is a person or a group, typically a member of an out-group, who serves as the target for the frustrations and negative emotions of members of the in-group  

A scapegoat is a person or group that is unfairly blamed for problems or mistakes made by others

Ex: if a team loses a game and the coach blames one player for the loss, that player becomes the scapegoat

Realistic conflict theory is a theory stating that prejudice and discrimination will be increased between groups that are in conflict over a limited resource 

Realistic Conflict Theory says that conflicts happen when groups compete for limited resources, like money or power

Ex: if two teams want to win a prize, they might develop negative feelings toward each other

Jane Elliot did a brown eyes and blue eyes experiment wanting to teach the students a lesson in prejudice and discrimination. He divided children into two different groups which were blue eyes and brown eyes. Blye eyes group got more privileges compared to the brown eyes students. He told the blue eyes children that they were superior to the brown kids, and by the end of the day, the brown eye children were miserable 

Jane Elliott's Brown Eyes/Blue Eyes experiment was a classroom exercise to teach kids about discrimination. She split her third-grade class into two groups based on eye color. Blue-eyed children were treated as superior, while brown-eyed children faced unfair treatment. The next day, she switched roles.

This experiment showed how quickly people can adopt prejudiced attitudes and helped students understand the feelings of being discriminated against

Social identity theory is the 3 processes are responsible for the formation of a person’s identity within a particular social group and the attitudes, concepts, and behavior that go along with the identification with that group 

It explains how people define themselves based on their group memberships, such as nationality, religion, or social class

• The first process is social categorization, people assign categories to others to help organize info about those others, people also assign themselves to social categories to help determine how they should behave 

Social categorization is when people categorize themselves and others into groups to simplify their social world. 

For example, identifying as a student or a sports fan

• Social identity is part of the self-concept that includes the view of oneself as a member of a particular social group within the social category, typically in the group

Social Identification: Once categorized, individuals adopt the identity of their group, which influences their behavior and self-esteem

Ex: A person who joins a soccer team starts to see themselves as a "soccer player." They wear team colors and feel proud of their team's achievements.

• Social comparison Festinger’s concept in which people compare themselves favorably to others to improve their self-esteem

People compare their group (in-group) to others (out-groups), often favoring their group. This can lead to prejudice and discrimination against out-groups

Ex: After joining the soccer team, they notice how their team performs compared to a rival team. They might think, "We’re better than them!" This can lead to feeling superior and even looking down on the rival team

Stereotype vulnerability refers to the effect that a person’s knowledge of another’s stereotypical opinions can have on that person’s behavior. Related to stereotype threat in which members of a stereotyped group are made anxious and wary of any situation in which their behavior might confirm a stereotype 

Stereotype vulnerability refers to the risk individuals face of confirming negative stereotypes about their social group. This can lead to anxiety and decreased performance in various situations, such as academics or job tasks.

Ex: a student who is aware of the stereotype that boys are better at science than girls. When she takes a science test, she feels nervous and worried about proving the stereotype wrong. This anxiety can make it harder for her to focus, leading to a lower score, which reinforces the stereotype

Self-fulfilling prophecy is the tendency of one’s expectations to affect one’s behavior in such a way as to make the expectation more likely to occur

self-fulfilling prophecy is when a person's belief or expectation about something causes that expectation to come true

Ex: f a teacher believes a student will excel, they might give that student more attention and encouragement. As a result, the student performs better, confirming the teacher's original belief

Robber’s Cave experiment was a study conducted in the 1950s by Muzafer Sherif. It involved 22 boys at a summer camp who were divided into two groups. Initially, the groups developed their own identities and then competed against each other, which led to hostility. Later, the researchers introduced tasks that required cooperation between the groups, which helped reduce the conflict

Setup: Two groups of boys were brought to a summer camp in Robbers Cave, Oklahoma, without knowing about each other. They were divided into the "Eagles" and the "Rattlers."

Competition: The groups engaged in competitive activities, leading to hostility and negative stereotypes about each other. They developed strong group identities and animosity.

Cooperation: To reduce conflict, the researchers introduced situations where both groups had to work together to achieve common goals, such as fixing a water supply issue. This cooperation helped reduce hostility and foster friendships between the groups.

The experiment demonstrated how competition can lead to conflict, while shared goals can promote unity and understanding.

Equal status contact is contact between groups in which the groups have equal status with neither group having power over the other. It has been shown to reduce prejudice and discrimination 

Equal status contact refers to interactions between individuals or groups who are on the same social level, meaning they share similar backgrounds, roles, or education. This concept is important in reducing prejudice and improving relations between groups that may have previously been in conflict.

Ex: if students from two rival schools work together on a community project, they can build friendships and reduce negative feelings about each other. This kind of interaction helps break down stereotypes and promotes understanding.

A jigsaw classroom is an education technique in which each individual is given only part of the info needed to solve a problem, causing the separate individuals to be forced to work together to find the solution 

A jigsaw classroom is a cooperative learning technique developed by Elliot Aronson in the 1970s. In this approach, students are divided into small groups, and each member is assigned a different part of a topic to learn. Here’s how it works:

Group Work: Students form diverse groups and each person becomes an "expert" on their assigned segment of the lesson.

Teaching Each Other: After learning their part, they return to their original group to teach their peers about it.

Collaboration: This method encourages teamwork, as each student’s contribution is essential for the group to succeed. The jigsaw classroom promotes understanding, reduces prejudice, and makes learning more engaging.

Interpersonal attraction is liking or having the desire for a relationship with another person

Ex: when two classmates who discover they both love the same music. They start talking more, sharing playlists, and hanging out. Their shared interest creates a bond, making them more likely to become friends

Research suggests that physical beauty is one the main factors that influence individuals choice for selecting people they want to know better, although other factors may become more important in later stages of a relationship 

The closer people are physically such as working together in the same office building they’re more likely to form a relationship. Proximity refers to being physically near someone else. People choose friends, and lovers from the pool of people available to them, and availability depends heavily on proximity 

The mere exposure effect is a psychological phenomenon where people tend to develop a preference for things simply because they are familiar with them. The more often you encounter something, the more you tend to like it, the phrase “it grew on me” refers to this reaction. When people are physically proximity to each other, the exposure may increase their attraction to each other

The mere exposure effect means we tend to like things more the more we see them.

Ex: If you see a new movie trailer several times, you might start to like it more, even if you didn't care for it at first.

Similarity, not complementarity draws people together and helps them stay together. Rearacher does not support “opposites attract” people tend to like being around others who are similar to them in some way. The more people find they have common with others the more they tend to be attracted those others

Reciprocity of liking is the tendency of people to like other people more when we know they like them in return or back 

Ex: If a classmate smiles at you and shows interest in your conversations, you’re likely to feel more attracted to them. Knowing they like you makes you want to spend more time together.

Curtis and Miller studied how people’s beliefs about others’ perceptions of them can influence their behavior. Participants were told that another person either liked or disliked them. Those who believed they were liked behaved more positively and were more friendly, while those who thought they were disliked acted more negatively

Curtis and Miller conducted a study in 1969 that explored the concept of reciprocal liking. They wanted to see how knowing someone likes you affects your feelings toward them.

Setup: Participants were paired for a conversation. Some were told their partner liked them, while others were told the opposite.

Findings: Those who believed their partner liked them reported feeling more attracted to them, while those who thought their partner disliked them felt less attracted.

This experiment demonstrated that knowing someone likes you can enhance your feelings of attraction toward them.

Robert Sternberg, theory of love where determined the 3 main components of love and the different types of love that the 3 components can produce

• Intimacy refers to the feeling of closeness that one has for another person or the sense of having close emotional ties to another, feeling strong emotional ties to each other, and enjoying each other's presence 

• Passion is the physical aspect of love, it refers to the emotional and sexual arousal a person feels toward the other

• Commitment involves the decision one makes about a relationship 

Robert Sternberg's Theory of Love is known as the Triangular Theory of Love, which he developed in the 1980s. It identifies three main components of love:

Intimacy: Emotional closeness and connection.

Passion: Physical attraction and romantic feelings.

Commitment: The decision to maintain the relationship over time.

These three components can combine in different ways to create eight types of love, such as:

Romantic Love (intimacy + passion)

Companionate Love (intimacy + commitment)

Consummate Love (all three components)

Sternberg's theory helps explain how relationships can change over time based on the balance of these components.

A love triangle between 2 people can involve one, two, or all of these. The combination can produce 7 different forms of love 

When intimacy and passion are combined it creates a romantic love if we take out passion and combine commitment with intimacy it creates companionate 

Romantic love type of love constant of intimacy and passion 

Companionate love type of love consists of intimacy and commitment, they are close to each other understand one another’s motives, and are committed to living together (marriage)

Aggression is violence toward others is another form of social interaction. One common cause of aggressive behavior is frustration, which occurs when a person is prevented from reaching some desired goal this concept of aggression is known as the frustration-aggression hypothesis. Many sources of frustration can lead to aggression behavior such as pain, loud noises, excessive hear, awful smells, and so on

Many researchers including Sigmund Freud believed that aggression was a basic human instinct. Famed sociologist Konrad Lorenz saw aggression as an instinct to fight to promote the survival of our species  

The study showed that if one identical tin has a violent temper, the identical siblings will most likely also have a violent temper, this happened more often with identical twins than the fraternal twins 

The frontal lobes, amygdala, and other structures of the limbic system have been seen to trigger aggression responses when stimulated in both animals and humans 

Charles Whitman, the Texas Tower sniper who killed his mother, and wife and shot and killed 12 more people before left a note asking for an examination of his brain after he got killed by law enforcement officers. As a result, a tumor revealed that was pressing into his amygdala 

Males have high levels of testosterone and low levels of serotonin, which are chemicals found in the brain that influence aggression. Dopamine, glutamate, GABA, and serotonin, neurotransmitters found in the brain, all appear to play a part in aggressive behavior  

Human aggression is also influenced by learning., the social learning theory explains that aggression is a learned behavior through observational learning, by watching aggression models. Those models can be parents, siblings, friends, or people on television or in a computer game 

Ex: A child who plays violent video games may learn to solve problems through aggression, imitating the fighting they see. This can lead them to act aggressively in real-life conflicts.

A social role is the pattern of behavior that is expected of a person in a particular social position 

A social role is how people are expected to behave in certain situations.

Example: A teacher is expected to help students learn and be patient

Philip Zimbardo jail experiment with participants and they were assigned roles to each such as some acting like a prisoner while some acting like a guard. In conclusion, he states that social roles can change behavior it’s also based on the combination of individuals, predispositions, their situations, and the people with whom they interact in a given place

This experiment aimed to explore how people behave in roles of authority and submission.

Setup: Zimbardo created a mock prison in the basement of Stanford University. 24 male college students were randomly assigned as either "guards" or "prisoners."

Roles: The guards were given uniforms and authority, while prisoners were stripped of their identities, referred to only by numbers.

Behavior: Almost immediately, guards began to exhibit abusive behavior, while prisoners became submissive and distressed. The situation escalated quickly, with guards using psychological tactics to control prisoners.

Duration: Originally planned for two weeks, the experiment was terminated after just six days due to the extreme emotional distress experienced by participants.

Conclusion: The study highlighted how situational factors can lead ordinary people to commit acts of cruelty, demonstrating the powerful influence of social roles on behavior.

Even short-term exposure to violent media significantly increases the likelihood that children will engage in both physical and verbal aggression as well as aggressive thoughts and emotions. Playing violent video games results in increased aggression levels in children who play them

 Prosocial behavior is a socially desirable behavior that benefits others rather than brings them harm

Altruism is when someone helps others without wanting anything in return. It’s about caring for others and doing good things for them, even if it costs you something.

Ex: Acts of altruism can range from small gestures, like holding the door for someone, to significant sacrifices, like donating a kidney to a stranger.

Using the brain imagining technique, researchers have found that the region known as the temporoparietal junction (TPJ) is large in individuals who make altruistic choices, this area is also active during decision-making that involves the cost of helping the individual 

Winston Mosely rapped and stabbed Catherine to death and 38 people saw this attack and did not call the police until the attack was over. there is no evidence that 38 people saw this, according to the trial records, the 2 attacks occurred closer in time. At the first attack a man shouted in his window “Leave the girl alone!” and Moseley fled, another man called the police after the first attack, but there is no record of the call recorded. the second attack took place in a stairwell of the apartment, in which there could’ve been only one witness. One man, whose door was creaking open saw the attack and called his friend and his friend told him not to get involved, so he called Catherine's neighbor Sophia Farrar then she called the police and went to her house and held her until an ambulance arrived 

The bystander effect is when people are less likely to help someone in trouble if others are around. They think someone else will step in.

Ex: If a person collapses in a crowded park, many people might just watch instead of helping, thinking, "Someone else will call for help."

Bibb Latane and John Darley conducted a classic experiment about the bystander effect. His experiment was designed in a way where participants were alone in the room and in another condition there were 3 participants in the room. In the 3 conditions, one participant was in the room with two confederates of the experimenter, who were instructed to notice the smoke but ignored it afterward. In the “participant alone” ¾ of the participants reported the smoke, in the “3 participants” a little more than ⅓ reported the smoke 

Bibb Latané and John Darley conducted a classic experiment in 1968 to study the bystander effect. Here’s a simple summary:

Setup: Participants were placed in a room and told they would discuss college life. During the discussion, one participant (a recorded voice) pretended to have a seizure.

Groups: Participants were divided into groups of different sizes—some thought they were alone, while others believed there were several bystanders present.

Findings: Those who thought they were alone were much more likely to help quickly. In contrast, when more people were present, fewer participants intervened, showing that the presence of others can reduce the likelihood of helping.

Conclusion: The study demonstrated that as the number of bystanders increases, individual responsibility decreases, leading to inaction.

This experiment helped explain why people sometimes fail to help in emergencies. 

Diffusion of responsibility occurs when a person fails to take responsibility for action or inaction because of the presence of other people who are seen to share the responsibility. It’s a form of attribution in which people explain why they acted as they did because of others

Diffusion of responsibility is When people are in a group, they often assume that someone else will take action, which leads them to do nothing themselve

Ex: In a group project, one team member doesn’t do their share of the work. The others might think, "I’ll let someone else talk to them about it," leading to frustration and an uneven workload for the team.