Chapter 13
SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
What is Social Psychology?
Definition: Study of how people think about, relate to, and influence others; also includes how others influence us.
It is related to several other fields of psychology:
Cognition
Personality
Culture
Social psychology can be counterintuitive and is often studied experimentally.
Key Concepts in Social Psychology
Social Cognition
Concerned with how we apply information from social sources.
Person Perception: How we form impressions of others.
Influencing factors:
Physical attractiveness
Facial symmetry
Youthfulness
The Attractiveness Stereotype: Belief that attractive individuals are typically kind, warm, and smart, but may be viewed as less honest or concerned.
First Impressions
Impression Formation: Process of forming opinions of others, which includes both immediate and delayed evaluations.
Form an initial impression.
Revise that impression based on more information.
Impressions can be shaped by stereotypes, leading to a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Example: Research by Clifford and Hatfield (1973) where teachers rated unattractive children as less successful/intelligent, adversely affecting educational outcomes.
Speed of Impression Formation
Fast impressions are formed using:
System 1: Operates automatically and quickly.
System 2: Consciously controlled and slower.
Impressions can be made in as little as 100 milliseconds and can be surprisingly accurate, as shown in studies (Fowler et al., 2009; Stillman et al., 2010; Carney et al., 2007).
Attributions
Attribution Theory
Involves understanding why events or behaviors happen.
Attributions: Explanations for the causes of a behavior or outcome.
Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE)
The tendency to attribute others' behaviors to dispositional factors rather than situational influences:
Situational causes: External conditions influencing behavior.
Dispositional causes: Internal characteristics of a person.
FAE is influenced by:
A) Outcome positivity or negativity
B) Whether the behavior relates to oneself or others.
Examples of FAE:
Negative outcome: “He failed because he lacks intelligence.” (dispositional)
Positive outcome: “He won the award because of luck.” (situational)
Self-Attributions
Attributions for one's own behavior differ:
Negative outcomes are often attributed to situational factors (e.g., "I failed because the exam was unfair").
Positive outcomes are often attributed to dispositional factors (e.g., "I got an A because I’m smart").
This creates a self-serving bias, which serves to protect self-esteem.
General Patterns of FAE
**For Others: **
Negative Behavior → Dispositional Attribution.
Positive Behavior → Situational Attribution.
**For Self: **
Negative Behavior → Situational Attribution.
Positive Behavior → Dispositional Attribution.
Cultural Differences in FAE
Individualistic cultures tend to make more dispositional attributions.
Collectivistic cultures tend to make more situational attributions.
However, all cultures display some level of FAE.
Self-Serving Bias
Represents our tendency to view ourselves positively:
Better-than-average effect: Most individuals believe they are above average in various domains (Cross, 1977), such as professors rating their teaching and research skills.
Social Heuristics
Use of heuristics to quickly process social information:
False Consensus Effect: Overestimating how much others think or act like oneself.
Stereotype Threat
Stereotypes can have positive or negative implications for each social group.
Example of Stereotype Threat: Older adults stereotype as wise or senile; negative stereotypes may affect performance outcomes.
Experiments Related to Stereotype Threat
Steele & Aronson (1995) demonstrated how fear of confirming negative stereotypes increases anxiety and disrupts performance in tasks.
Found across multiple comparisons (e.g., men vs. women in math).
Stereotype Lift: Involves exposing one group to a stereotype about another which can heighten performance expectations.
Social Comparison
Concept of using others as a benchmark:
Downward Comparisons: Comparing oneself to those perceived as inferior.
Attitudes
Definitions and Implications
Attitudes: Opinions and beliefs regarding people, objects, or ideas.
Do attitudes predict behavior? Not always, but more likely under certain conditions:
When attitudes are strong.
When individuals are aware of their attitudes and actively rehearse them.
When individuals have a vested interest in the attitude.
Behavior's Impact on Attitudes
Irrelevant: No relationship between behavior and attitude.
Consistent: Behaviors and attitudes align in the same direction.
Dissonant: Behaviors conflict with attitudes; causes discomfort.
We can change our attitudes to align with behaviors rather than changing the behaviors.
Cognitive Dissonance Theory
Festinger and Carlsmith (1959): Study involved participants performing a boring task and then convincing others to join the experiment.
Manipulation: Participants were paid either $1 or $20 to say they enjoyed the activity.
Results showed that those paid $1 rated their enjoyment higher than those paid $20. Why? The smaller incentive led them to change their attitudes toward the task.
Examples of Dissonance
Situations affecting perceptions of value based on the effort required to obtain them (e.g., hazing in fraternities/sororities).
Self-Perception Theory (Bem, 1967)
Individuals infer their attitudes based on observations of their behavior and how others perceive them.
Changing Another's Attitude
Persuasion Techniques
Four important aspects:
The Communicator: Credibility of the source.
The Medium: The method of communication.
The Target: The audience.
The Message: Content of the message itself, using either logical or emotional appeals.
Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM)
Two pathways for message processing:
Central Route: Engages logical arguments (higher knowledge leads to this route).
Peripheral Route: Engages emotional arguments (lower knowledge leads to this route).
Successful Persuasion Methods
Foot-in-the-Door Technique: Agreement to a small request increases likelihood of agreeing to a larger request later.
Freedman & Fraser (1966) showcased this by first asking subjects to place a small sticker on their cars before requesting that they place a larger and more unsightly sign.
Door-in-the-Face Technique: Begins with a large request before a reasonable request.
Social Behavior
Definitions
Social behavior operates on a continuum from altruism (unselfishness) to egotism (self-serving assistance), with aggression in between.
Altruism vs. Egoism
Considerations on whether true altruism exists and motivations behind helping others (e.g., for recognition).
Prosocial Behavior
Example: The Kitty Genovese murder incident (1964); highlights bystander apathy with many witnesses failing to intervene.
Latane and Darley Experiments (1968)
Research on how group versus solitary environments affect percentage of people who report emergencies (e.g., smoke filling a room).
Steps to Intervention in Emergencies
Notice the incident.
Interpret it as an emergency.
Assume personal responsibility.
Decide on an action to take.
Aggression
Theories of Aggression
Innate responses.
Responses to frustration.
Cognitive perspectives.
Learned behaviors.
Investigating Aggression
Rushton (2000): Research on monozygotic vs. dizygotic twins regarding self-reported temper shows stronger correlations for monozygotic twins supporting the innate perspective.
Frustration/Aggression Hypothesis (Dollard et al., 1939): Aggression arises from sources of displeasure or fear.
Cognitive Perspective of Aggression
Priming and Aggression: Berkowitz & LaPage's research showed that the presence of a gun increased recommended jail sentences after participants read a legal case.
Observational Learning of Aggression
Bandura et al. (1961) Bobo doll experiment: Demonstrated that children learn aggression through observing violent models.
Conformity and Obedience
Conformity (Asch, 1951)
Defined as yielding to social pressure.
Obedience (Milgram, 1965; 1974)
Defined as yielding to direct social pressure, such as authority figures.
Factors reducing obedience:
Authority figure perceived as illegitimate.
Authority figure is not present or does not observe actions.
Victim is humanized, increasing empathy.
Group Influences
Key Concepts
Deindividuation: Diminished personal identity and responsibility within a group, often leading to “mob mentality.”
Social Contagion: Behavior, emotions, and ideas are shared among group members.
Group Performance
Social Facilitation: Groups can enhance individual performance; presence of others improves tasks.
Social Loafing: Group contexts can decrease individual accountability and performance.
Decision Making in Groups
Risky Shift Phenomenon: Groups tend to make riskier decisions than individuals.
Group Polarization: Group discussions can lead to more extreme positions than initial attitudes.
Groupthink (Janis, 1971): Impaired decision-making due to group cohesion, resulting in closed-mindedness and conformity pressure.
Minority Influence in Groups
Factors in minority influence:
Consistency (drawing on Asch's study).
Confidence of minority members.
Defections from the majority garnering attention.
Intergroup Relations
Social Identity Theory
People often identify themselves based on group memberships leading to “us” versus “them” mentality; influences in-group and out-group biases.
Ethnocentrism: Favoring one’s own group over others, leading to prejudices.
Prejudice
Definition: An unjustified negative attitude towards an out-group, manifesting in beliefs without action.
Can occur across diverse group types.
Stereotypes
Mental representations of groups that can be positive or negative.
Allport (1954): Categorizing people is necessary for adaptive function.
Hamilton (1982): Recognizing every individual as unique would overwhelm cognitive capacity.
Discrimination
Behavior directed toward a group based on prejudice; can manifest as positive or negative actions.
Differentiates belief (prejudice) from action (discrimination).
Reducing Prejudice and Discrimination
Allport’s (1945) Contact Hypothesis: Contact between hostile groups can reduce prejudice through cooperative tasks emphasizing shared goals.
Studies by Gaertner et al. (1989; 1994) promote understanding of shared identity across divided groups.
Sherif et al. (1961) Study
Showcased how competition between groups formed prejudices, which were later reduced through cooperative efforts.
Attraction
Factors Influencing Attraction
Averageness: Averageness can be more appealing than extreme features.
Proximity: We prefer people who are geographically closer.
Familiarity: The more we see someone, the more we tend to like them, demonstrated by the Mere Exposure Effect (Zajonc, 1968).
Similarity: Like-mindedness increases attraction.
Reciprocity of Attraction: If we believe someone likes us, we tend to rate them more positively as well, evidenced by Curtis & Miller (1986) in a blind date study.
Love
Types of Love
Passionate Love: Early-phase infatuation characterized by sexual attraction and intense feelings.
Companionate Love: Deep bond that develops over time, emphasizing caring and understanding.
Affectionate Love: Reflects the emotional ties observed in long-term relationships.
Theories on Relationships
Relationships are perceived as exchanges; Social Exchange Theory posits that relationships sustain when both partners contribute equally.
Investment Model: Emphasizes that individuals are less likely to maintain a relationship if perceived contributions are unequal, leading to instability.