PBSI 315

Intro to Social Psychology

What is Social Psychology?

• The way thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by other people or the situation more badly

• The attempt to understand how psychological processes are influenced by other people

• Actual

  • actual person persuading you to change your mind about something 

  • ex: coach, professor, etc

• Imagined: 

  • someone who is not in the environment but still has an influence on you 

  • ex: your fav character on a TV show, lyrics

Relations to Other Fields

• Sociology

  • Concerns topics such as social class, social structure, and institutions

  • Same

    • Concerned with the power of social situations

  • Different

    • Social psychology focuses on the individual, whereas sociology aims to provide general laws and theories about societies.

• Personality Psychology

  • The studies personality characteristics that make people different from each other

  • Same

    • Both try to explain human (social) behavior

  • Different

    • Social psyc aims to identify universal properties of human behavior, while personal psyc focuses on individual differences

Methodological Considerations

• 3 ways to test hypothesis

  • Correlational studies

  • Experimental studies

  • field/observation studies

Correlation Studies

• What is a correlation?

  • A number that represents the strength of a relationship between 2 variables

• Positive Correlation

  • Same direction- as one goes up, the other goes up

• Negative Correlation

  • Opposite direction- as one goes up, the other goes down

Using Correlational Methods

• Advantages

  • Simple and easy

  • Currently, the best way to examine some variables (ex-conflicting beliefs)

  • Subjective experience

• Disadvantages

  • Correlation does NOT equal causation

Laboratory Experiments

• Experiment

  • A procedure used to test whether one event (manipulated) causes another event (measured)

• Random assignment

  • A key advantage of experiments

  • All subjects assigned to condition randomly

• Independent variable

• Advantages

  • Uncover causes

  • Control other variables

• Disadvantages

  • Artificial situations

Field Studies

• What is a field study?

  • Study or experiment conducted in its natural setting

  • Observe the behavior you want to examine in a natural environment

• Advantages

  • Conducted in the real world

• Disadvantages

  • Lack of experimental control (confounds)

The Social Psychology of Groups

What is a group?

• “Twp or more people who interact and are interdependent in a sense that their needs and goals cause them to influence each other”

• A collection of people, usually people who are doing or being something together

• It can be abstract, temporary, and malleable

• Ex- group project, health scare on the bus

Why are groups important?

• Ex a polar bear does not need a group but a pack of wolves thrives in a group

• Gives a sense of belonging

• Feel less vulnerable 

• Psychological protection

• Help us achieve goals 

• Make us better

Two Characteristics of Groups

• Social norms

  • Norms about acceptable and sometimes expected behavior

  • Strong determinant of behavior

  • Universal vs culturally defined

  • Ex- 

    • wearing clothes outside

    • washing your hands after using the bathroom

• Social Roles

  • Most members have well-defined roles

  • Roles specify how particular people in the group should behave

  • Ex

    • Teacher- talk about the lecture and give examples

    • Mother- taking care of children

    • Student- listen to lectures and do their work

Groups and Individual Behavior

• How do groups influence our behavior

• How does the presence of other people influence social behavior?

Social Facilitation

• Triplett: 1898

  • Avid rider of bicycles

  • Observed when people ride their bicycles with other people, they ride faster and slower when they ride alone

  • Had kids come in a wind fishing reels

    • Found that children who are with other people, wind the reel much faster

• Definition- the tendency for people to do “better” on simple tasks in the presence of others

  • Example- Zajonc et al 1969

    • When you're more aroused, you are more likely to do things in a more aggressive way

    • Took roaches and put them on a racetrack and found the single roach went much faster than the group of roaches

• Does the presence of others always “facilitate” performance?

  • Zajoncs theory

  • The presence of others causes arousal

  • Males people rigid: display dominant response

• Performance on complex tasks is inhibited by the presence of others 

• Complex means different things to different people depending on the expertise

Social Loafing

• The tendency for people to reduce effort when they are in the presence of others and their performance can be evaluated

• No evaluative concerns = no increase in arousal

• Example- tug of war

• What variables decrease social loafing?

  • Internal

    • Signing tasks individually 

    • Understanding why you are doing it

  • External

    • Progress report

Group and Decision Making

• Do more people facilitate optimal decisions?

GroupThink

• When maintaining group cohesiveness is more important than considering the facts in a realistic manner

• Less than optimal decision attributable to the group

  • For example- a friend group is drinking but you decide not to because you have work the next day

• Causes of groupthink

  • High cohesiveness

  • Wanting to be a member of the group

  • Group isolation

  • A directive leader

  • High stress

Group Polarization

• The tendency for groups to make decisions that are much more extreme than the initial beliefs of individual members

• Scared to speak out because you do not want to be rejected

• Wanting to be liked in the group

• Why does group polarization occur?

  • Persuasive account

  • Wanting to be liked by the group

Doing the Right Thing?

• Groups, or other people more generally, not only influence our ability to make competent, rational decisions, but they can also influence whether we make the “right” decisions

  • Halloween- more likely to do more bad things or wear what you normally wouldn't wear

  • People can be more nasty and ugly in a chat group rather than in person

Deindividuation

• The loosening of normal constraints when people are in a crowd leads to an increase in impulsive and deviant acts

• This leads to a reduced sense of individual identity 

• Increases obedience to group norms (remember how quickly groups can form)

  • For example- throwing stuff on the ground, you throw stuff on the ground if many other people in a crowd are doing it too

• Anonymity by blending in with large groups

• Diffusion of responsibility

• Heighten arousal

• How to remain in control?

Social Influence

Social Influence- intentional and unintentional influences other people have on our attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors

3 types of Social Influence

• Conformity- change in behavior or belief as a result of real or imagined norms in a group

  • Social norms- rules of how to act in various situations

    • Explicit norms

    • Implicit norms

  • Positive aspects- makes the group closer

    • Harmony

    • Cooperation

  • Negative aspects

    • Harmful norms?

  • Why do people conform?

    • We want to fit in

    • We need to feel like we know

    • Informational Social Influence- conforming out of the desire to be correct

      • Example- when driving we merge to the other lane when we see other people doing it

      • Especially when the situation is difficult or ambiguous

      • Often leads to private acceptance of the norm

    • Autokinetic Effect Study (Sherif, 1939)

      • Based on visual illusion

      • The task is to estimate the movement

      • First day alone, and then with others

      • He had people estimate how much the little dot was moving in a dark room. Then he had them come together and tell their responses to each other but not the professor. Their answers then became closer together when they decided in a group because they conformed to others. 

    • Normative Social Influence- conforming out of desire to be accepted

      • Conforming to avoid rejection and isolation

      • Especially likely when

        • Group is unanimous

        • Group members are admired/attractive

        • Group is large

    • Solomon Asch

      • Line-judging experiments in the 1950s

      • Wanted to show that the emphasis on conformity was overblown

      • Had people come into the lab and so this simple task. A line was on the projector and there was one line and they had to match what line out of three best matched the one line

        • When alone, almost 100% of them got it right. When in a group setting they conformed to what the first person said. 76% conformed at least once

        • Conclusion- the presence of incidental others may make us deny our own unambiguously correct judgments

  • Increasing group size (up to 4 or so) increases conformity

  • The presence of just one dissenter reduces conformity

    • Dissenter- someone who goes against conformity

  • Recap

    • Informational social influence

      • Desire to be correct

      • Private acceptance

    • Normative social influence

      • Desire to be accepted

      • Public conformity

• Obedience- following a direct order or command from someone you think has authority

  • Why do we study obedience?

  • A little history

    • Stanley Milgrim is interested in unquestioning obedience to orders (blind obedience)

  • Basic Procedure

    • Learner strapped to electric chair

    • The teacher feels shock at 15 volts

    • Teacher punishes with shock

    • Increase shock with each mistake

  • Experimenters “prods”

    • When he wanted to stop they told the person this. Then when the person said he had heart issues, they stopped saying anything at all

    • “Please continue”

    • “The experiment requires that you continue”

    • “It is absolutely essential that you continue”

    • “You have no other choice, you must go on”

  • Results

    • 65% shocked to the end (even those who protested)

  • Things to know

    • What is compliance

    • Cialdinis 6 principles (including subcategories, e.g., foot in the door)

    • What is persuasion?

    • Source Characteristics

      • Attractiveness

        • Halo effect

      • Source Credibility

        • Sleeper effect

• Compliance- acting in accord with a request

  • Cialdinis 6 principles of compliance

    • Getting people to say “yes”

      • Friendship

      • Authority

      • Social validation

      • Consistency

      • Reciprocity rule

      • Scarcity principle

  • Reciprocity rule

    • Payback

    • If someone does you a favor, you are more willing to do them a favor in return

  • Consistency

    • Once committed to a position, more willing to comply with requests consistent with this position

    • Want to be consistent

    • Foot in the door

      • Small, initial requests, then larger (real) request

      • Principle of consistency

        • If YES to a small request, the YES to a larger one

    • Lowball procedure

      • Offer a good deal, then change to a less desirable deal

      • Customer often accepts

  • Scarcity Principle

    • Things that are scarce, rare, or difficult to get are more desirable or valuable

    • Playing hard to get

Persuasion

• Change in private attitude or belief as a result of receiving a message

• A process by which a message induces a change in beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors

Persuasion Vs Compliance?

• Source characteristics

  • The messenger and persuasion

  • Characteristics of a person delivering a message including attractiveness and credibility

Attractiveness

• Source Characteristics

  • Attractiveness

    • Halo effect

      • One positive trait (e.g., attractiveness) suggests that the other traits are also “good” (trustworthiness)

• Source Credibility

  • Expertise

  • Trustworthiness

  • Sleeper effects

    • Over time people separate messages from messenger

• Message Characteristics

  • Aspects of the message itself

  • Quality of the message

    • Stronger arguments are better

  • Vivid images

    • Lead to attitude change

One-Sided vs Two-Sided Arguments

• Elaboration likelihood model

  • 2 ways that attitude change occurs

    • Deep processing (thoughtful)

    • Shallow processing (thoughtless)

What paths lead to persuasion?

• Central Route (deep)

  • Occurs when interested people focus on the arguments and respond with favorable thoughts

• Peripheral route (shallow)

  • Occurs when people are influenced by incidental cues, such as a speaker's attractiveness

    • Focuses on cues that trigger automatic acceptance without much thinking

• Different paths for different purposes

  • Central route

    • More durable and more likely to influence behavior

  • Peripheral route 

    • Superficial and temporary attitude change

Central Route (deep)

• Deliberating on relevant information

  • Strength of arguments 

  • Require thought and effort

Dual Process Models of Persuasion

• To consider something deeply, need: ability and motivation

  • What factors influence ability?

    • Time

    • Mental load

      • Have other things on our mind

  •  What factors influence motivation?

    • Personal relevance

Personal Relevance

• People focus most intently on issues that involve them directly

  • “Comprehensive Exams” experiment

    • Relevant vs. irrelevant

    • 9 weak vs. 3 strong arguments

    • DV: Do you like the exam policy?

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Peripheral Route (Shallow)

• Peripheral to communicators arguments

  • How do they work?

    • Cognitive misers

    • Heuristics

• When the ability or motivation to process is low, people over-rely on heuristics