Unit 4 - Social Psych & Personality

Social Psychology and Personality

Unit Overview

• This unit explores essential topics in social psychology and personality.

Attribution Theory & Person Perception

Key Concepts

• Attribution Theory: Explains how individuals attribute causes to their own and others’ behaviors, encompassing:

  • Situational Attribution: External factors influencing behavior.

  • Dispositional Attribution: Internal factors, such as personality traits, influencing behavior.

What is Social Psychology?

• Definition: Social psychology examines how individuals' thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are shaped by social contexts.

Person Perception

• Person Perception: Investigates how impressions of others are formed based on biases and fallacies.

• Mere Exposure Effect:

  • Repeated exposure to new stimuli increases liking.

  • Example: Prolonged interaction often leads to liking others more.

• Note: Many impressions formed this way can be misleading due to various biases.

Attribution Theory Detailed

• Nature of Attribution:

  • Individuals explain others’ behavior causally by acknowledging either situational or dispositional influences.

• Explanatory Style:

  • Refers to how people explain the events in their lives, which can be optimistic or pessimistic.

Attribution Examples

• Receiving an A+:

  1. Situational Attribution: "I was lucky; the questions were easy."

  2. Dispositional Attribution: "I studied hard and deserve this grade."

Fundamental Attribution Error

• Definition: The tendency to attribute others' behaviors to personal traits while downplaying situational factors.

• Example: Noticing a poor driver as 'irresponsible' rather than considering possible external issues like illness.

Biases in Behavior

Actor-Observer Bias

• Individuals attribute their actions to situational factors but attribute others' actions to their disposition.

  • Example: Blaming tardiness on traffic for oneself but labeling another as irresponsible for being late.

Self-Serving Bias

• Tendency to attribute success to internal factors and failures to external ones to maintain self-esteem.

  • Example: A student may credit a good grade to their effort but blame a poor grade on difficult questions.

Perception of Control

Locus of Control

• Types:

  • Internal: Believing one controls their destiny.

  • External: Believing external forces dictate one's fate.

• Influence: Locus of control impacts perception and response to life events, influencing behavior and mental health positively or negatively.

Learned Helplessness

• Definition: Feeling of powerlessness following repeated traumatic events.

• Influences: Environments lacking control contribute to lower morale and increased stress.

Other Influences on Person Perception

• Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: A belief or expectation that influences behavior in a way to cause those beliefs to come true.

• Example: A coach assumes freshmen aren't skilled, leading to missed opportunities for improvement and proving themselves.

Social Comparison Theory

• Definition: Process of evaluating oneself comparatively to others, impacting self-esteem based on perceptions.

  • Types of Comparisons:

    • Upward Comparison: Motivates improvement but may foster inadequacies.

    • Downward Comparison: Can boost self-esteem by comparing to lesser off.

Relative Deprivation

• Definition: Feeling deprived when comparing oneself to others, leading to feelings of resentment or entitlement.

• Impacts: This can drive social unrest or behavioral issues.

Attitudes, Stereotypes, and Implicit Attitudes

Attitudes Defined

• Attitudes encompass cognitive beliefs, affective feelings, and behavioral tendencies towards objects, people, or events.

• Marketing Example: Emotional advertising, like ASPCA campaigns, influences consumer behavior.

Antisocial Behavior

• Prejudice: Negative attitudes towards a group based on stereotypes.

• Discrimination: Negative behaviors towards groups based on prejudice.

• Explicit vs. Implicit Attitude:

  • Explicit: Conscious and openly expressed.

  • Implicit: Unconscious biases that affect behaviors without awareness.

Cognitive Roots of Prejudice

• Just-World Phenomenon: Belief in a just world, influencing victim-blaming mindsets.

Social Roots of Prejudice

• In-Group vs. Out-Group Dynamics: Favoritism towards in-group members and generalization of out-group similarities.

• Scapegoat Theory: Using scapegoats to channel anger and frustration, seen in historical contexts of discrimination.

Zimbardo’s Prison Experiment

• Explored the power of roles and deindividuation; highlights how social situations can impact behavior drastically.

Behavior in the Presence of Others

Phenomena Impacting Decision Making

• Diffusion of Responsibility: The tendency for individuals to feel less responsible for actions when in groups.

• Group Polarization: Groups enhance their prevailing attitudes leading to stronger opinions.

• Groupthink: Harmony in decision-making leads to avoiding dissent, sometimes resulting in suboptimal outcomes.

Motivation Theories

Key Theories of Motivation

• Instinct Theory: Complex behaviors influenced by genetics, though less applicable to human behavior.

• Incentive Theory: Suggests motivation arises from environmental stimuli.

• Drive-Reduction Theory: Proposes our physiological needs drive behavior.

• Self-Determination Theory: Focuses on intrinsic and extrinsic motivations driving human behavior.

Conflict Management in Motivation

• Types:

  1. Approach-Approach

  2. Avoidance-Avoidance

  3. Approach-Avoidance

  4. Multiple Approach-Avoidance conflicts.

Theories of Emotion

James-Lange Theory

• Proposes that emotions result from the perception of physiological reactions to stimuli.

• Example: You see a bear, your body trembles, and then you feel fear as a result of that trembling.

Cannon-Bard Theory

• Suggests that emotions and physiological responses occur simultaneously, but independently.

• Example: You see a bear and feel fear at the same time that your body responds with increased heart rate.

Schachter-Singer Theory (Two-Factor Theory)

• Argues that emotion is based on two factors: physiological arousal and cognitive interpretation of that arousal.

• Example: You see a bear, your heart races (arousal), and you label that situation as dangerous (interpretation), leading to the emotion of fear.

Evolutionary Theory of Emotion

• Proposes that emotions are innate and have evolved to help individuals respond to their environment and improve chances of survival.

• Example: Fear of snakes and spiders helps avoid potential danger, promoting survival.