PSY130 – Social Psychology (Chapter 11)

Definition & Scope of Social Psychology

Social psychology = scientific study of how we feel about, think about, and behave toward other people AND how those people shape our own thoughts, feelings, behaviors.
- Emphasizes that much influence is implicit; we often overlook situational power.
Key constructs
- Social cognition: mental processes for understanding & predicting our own and others’ actions.
- Attitudes: relatively enduring evaluations of people/things that guide and are guided by behavior.
- Social norms: accepted beliefs about what we do/should do in given situations.

Stereotyping: attributing personality traits based solely on external appearance or group membership.
Prejudice: disliking others because of their group membership.
Discrimination: negative behaviors driven by prejudice.
Self-fulfilling prophecy: expectations about others evoke behaviors that make those expectations come true.
Social identity: positive emotions derived from group memberships.

Physical distance permitted depends on relationship type (see figure, p. 356).
Interpersonal attraction hinges on:
- Similarity (shared traits, values, interests).
- Self-disclosure (reciprocal sharing of personal info → trust/intimacy).
- Proximity – often operates via mere-exposure effect: preference for stimuli encountered more frequently.
Mere-Exposure Effect: simple repeated exposure ↑ liking.
Inclusion-of-Other-in-the-Self Scale: overlapping-circles measure of closeness; predictive of satisfaction & stability.

Attribution = inference about behavior causes.
- Personal/dispositional attribution → traits, abilities.
- Situational attribution → external contexts.
Common biases
- Self-serving attributions: successes → internal causes; failures → external.
- Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE): overweight personal factors, underweight situation when judging others – “don’t be so quick to judge!”.

Two-way influence: behavior ⇄ attitudes.
Self-monitoring: adjusting behavior to meet situational demands.
Self-perception theory: we infer own attitudes from observing our behavior (esp. when attitudes ambiguous).
Foot-in-the-door technique: secure small request → escalate to larger request (persuasion via consistency norm).
Cognitive dissonance: discomfort from mismatch between behavior & beliefs; motivates attitude/behavior change.
- Sunk-cost fallacy: persisting with failing course because of prior investments (time, money, effort).
Persuasion toolbox – see Table 11.1 for additional methods.

Prosocial behavior: any act intended to benefit others.
Facilitators of helping:
- Positive mood
- Perceived similarity
- Guilt
- Empathy & gratitude
- Expected benefits (material or social)
- Self-preservation motives (avoid guilt/shame)
Altruism: helping that appears to provide no direct reward to helper.
Reciprocal altruism / Reciprocity norm: help others now → they help us later.
Social responsibility norm: help those in need even without expected return.

Latané & Darley model: helping = multi-step decision; each stage influenced by situational cues.
Bystander effect: with others present, people less likely to notice, interpret, OR act.
- Diffusion of responsibility: assume others will act.
Overcoming bystander effect: (1) attract attention – “Emergency!” (2) single out a bystander – “You in yellow jacket!” (3) assign specific task – “Call 911!”

Aggression = intentional behavior aimed at harming another (physical or psychological).
- Reactive (angry response to threat)
- Proactive (premeditated, goal-oriented)
Dual origins: genetic endowment + social learning.
Alcohol ↑ aggressive responses; testosterone plays regulatory role.

Negative emotions (frustration, pain, heat) ↑ aggression likelihood.
Displaced aggression: redirecting aggression onto non-causal target.
Catharsis myth: engaging in mild aggression does NOT reduce later, more extreme aggression.
Violent media/games show small positive correlation with aggression; effect size modest.
Desensitization: decreased emotional responsiveness after repeated exposure to violent stimuli.
Culture of honor: social norm endorsing retaliation to insults.

Conformity: changing beliefs/behaviors due to real or imagined group pressure.
- Increased by larger n in majority, unanimity, high status/authority models.
- Asch line study results: 76\% of participants conformed at least once; overall 37\% of responses were conforming.
Obedience: compliance with authority’s requests/demands.
- Milgram experiment: participants believed they delivered shocks up to 450\,\text{V}; 65\% reached maximum.
- Ethical replication (Burger, 2006): stopped at 150\,\text{V}, yet similar obedience trend.
- Conclusion: situational factors > dispositional evil.
Non-conformity factors: high self-esteem, low need for approval, psychological reactance (resisting threats to freedom).
Minority influence: small, consistent subgroup can shift majority opinion.

Social facilitation: presence of others → better/faster performance on easy or well-practiced tasks.
Social inhibition: presence of others → poorer performance on difficult or novel tasks.

Group process: dynamics unfolding while group works.
Social loafing: reduced individual effort when contributions pooled (e.g., rope-pull study – more men pulled but total force < expected).
Groupthink: striving for consensus overrides realistic appraisal → defective decisions.
- Likely when: (1) strong group identity (2) directive leader (3) time pressure/importance.
- Historical examples: 2002 Iraq invasion, 1986 & 2003 Space Shuttle disasters, Enron 2001 collapse (see Fig. 11.3).