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+:
Situational Attribution: "I was lucky; the questions were easy."
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:
Approach-Approach
Avoidance-Avoidance
Approach-Avoidance
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.