Psychology 2e - Chapter 12 Study Notes

SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

DEFINITION AND OVERVIEW

  • Social psychology: A branch of psychology that studies the interactions between individuals, diverse social situations, groups, and how these influence emotions, thoughts, and behaviors.

  • Key Aspects:

    • Intrapersonal topics: emotions, attitudes, self-concept, social cognition.

    • Interpersonal topics: helping behavior, aggression, prejudice/discrimination, attraction/relationships, group dynamics.

SITUATIONAL & DISPOSITIONAL INFLUENCES ON BEHAVIOR

  • Situationism:

    • Behavior determined by immediate environments and surroundings.

    • Utilized by social psychologists.

  • Dispositionism:

    • Behavior determined by internal factors (e.g., personality traits).

    • Favored in the U.S. by personality psychologists.

  • Modern social psychologists tend to consider both situational and individual factors when explaining behavior.

FUNDAMENTAL ATTRIBUTION ERROR

  • Definition: Tendency to overemphasize internal factors in others' behaviors while underestimating situational influences.

    • Examples from studies demonstrate this error (e.g., Quizmaster study).

  • Quizmaster Study:

    • Participants (questioners and subjects) led to underestimate situational knowledge disparity.

CULTURAL ASPECTS

  • Individualistic cultures (e.g., Western) show higher tendencies to commit fundamental attribution error compared to collectivistic cultures (e.g., some Asian societies).

  • Collectivistic cultures consider interconnected relationships, providing broader perspectives.

ACTOR-OBSERVER BIAS

  • Definition: Explaining others' behaviors as resulting from internal factors while attributing one's own behaviors to situational influences.

    • Lack of information on other people's contexts often leads to errors in judgment.

    • Studies indicate personal explanations vary significantly (e.g., reasons for liking a girlfriend).

SELF-SERVING BIAS

  • Definition: Tendency to credit oneself for positive outcomes (internal attribution) and blame external factors for negative outcomes.

  • Attribution Model (Roesch & Amirkham, 1997):

    • Three dimensions:

    1. Locus of control: Internal vs. external.

    2. Stability: Changeability of circumstances.

    3. Controllability: Extent of individual control over circumstances.

  • Reactions to team performance vary based on outcomes (wins vs. losses).

JUST WORLD HYPOTHESIS

  • Definition: The belief that individuals receive outcomes they fairly deserve; good people experience positive results, while bad individuals face negative consequences.

  • Leads to victim blaming in sociopolitical contexts; overlooks influences of situational factors on individuals (e.g., poverty).

SOCIAL ROLES

  • Definition: Expected patterns of behavior in specific contexts or groups.

    • Example: Being a student involves specific behaviors shaped by cultural expectations.

  • Variability in behavior based on differing contexts and social roles.

SOCIAL NORMS & SCRIPTS

  • Social norms: Expectations within a group regarding appropriate behaviors.

  • Script: Knowledge of expected sequences in specific situations (e.g., dining, classroom behavior).

    • Scripts vary by culture and significantly guide behavior.

PHILIP ZIMBARDO AND THE STANFORD PRISON EXPERIMENT

  • Overview:

    • Conducted in 1971, recreated prison environment where participants adopted roles of guards or prisoners.

    • Guards exhibited abusive behaviors; prisoners experienced severe psychological distress.

    • The study terminated after 6 days due to safety concerns.

    • Demonstrated the influence of social norms and roles on behavior (paralleled Abu Ghraib prison abuse).

ATTITUDES AND COMPONENTS

  • Attitude: Evaluation of entities (people, ideas, objects), which can be positive or negative.

    • Composed of:

    1. Affective component: Emotional responses.

    2. Behavioral component: Influence on actions.

    3. Cognitive component: Beliefs and knowledge related to the attitude.

COGNITIVE DISSONANCE

  • Definition: Psychological discomfort resulting from holding conflicting cognitions, beliefs, or behaviors.

  • Example: Smokers believing smoking is harmful while continuing to smoke leads to dissonance.

  • Methods to resolve cognitive dissonance:

    1. Change behavior.

    2. Adjust beliefs through rationalization.

    3. Introduce new, consonant cognitions.

  • Physiological arousal linked to self-image dissonance and triggered emotional responses.

JUSTIFICATION OF EFFORT

  • Theory: More effort in initiation leads to greater affiliation with a group.

    • Aronson and Mills Experiment (1959): Students who underwent difficult initiations reported greater liking for the group than those in easier or no initiation conditions.

PERSUASION

  • Definition: Process of altering attitudes through communication.

  • Types of Persuasion:

    • Central Route: Involves logical arguments and factual data; effective for analytical audiences.

    • Peripheral Route: Uses cues to influence attitudes; less durable results, effective for non-analytical audiences (celebrity endorsements, emotions).

  • Elaboration Likelihood Model (Petty & Cacioppo, 1986): Distinction between motivated audiences leading to central route processing versus unmotivated audiences leading to peripheral processing.

FOOT-IN-THE-DOOR TECHNIQUE

  • Definition: Persuasion method by requesting a small initial favor, leading to larger requests.

    • Based on the principle of past behavior influencing future behavior (desire for consistency).