social psych
Social Psychology
3/6/24
groups
social psychology: the branch of psychology that studies how people think feel and behave in social situations
social cognition
social influence
social cognition
social cognition: the study of the mental processes people use to make sense out of their social environment
person perception
person perception: the mental processes we use to form judgments and draw conclusions about the characteristics and motives of others
in some type of interpersonal context
every interpersonal context has 3 key components
the characteristics of the individual you are attempting to size up
your own characteristics as the perceiver
the specific situation in which the process occurs
is it social, academic, work
follows some basic principles
your reactions to others are determined by your perceptions of them, not by who or what they really are
your goals in a particular situation determine the amount and kind of information you collect about others
in every situation, you evaluate people partly in terms of how you expect them to behave in that situation
are they following the social norms you think are appropriate
social norms: the rules or expectations for appropriate behavior in a particular social situation
your self-perception also influences how you perceive others and how you act on your own perceptions
social-categorization: the mental process of categorizing people into groups or categories based on their shared characteristics
not really conscious of or try to do it
implicit personality theory: a network of assumptions or beliefs about the relationships among various types of people's traits and behaviors
attribution: the mental process of inferring the causes of people’s behavior including one’s own, also refers to the explanation made for a particular behavior
fundamental attribution error: the tendency to attribute the behavior of others to internal personal characteristics while ignoring or underestimating the effects of external situational factors
common type of bias in an individualistic culture (U.S)
biases with attribution:
blaming the victim (dynamic): the tendency to blame an innocent victim of misfortune for having somehow caused the problem or for not having taken steps to avoid or prevent it
the just world hypothesis/phenomenon: the assumption that the world is fair and that therefore, people get what they deserve and deserve what they get
actor-observer discrepancy: the tendency to attribute one’s own behavior to external situational causes while attributing the behavior of others to internal personal causes especially likely to occur with regard to behaviors that lead to negative outcomes
a possible explanation for this we have more information about the potential causes of our own behavior than we do about the causes of other people’s behavior
the self-serving bias: the tendency to attribute successful outcomes of one’s own behavior to internal causes and unsuccessful outcomes to external situational causes/factors
self-effacing (modesty bias): we tend to blame ourselves for our failures attributing them to internal personal causes while downplaying our successes by attributing them to external situational causes
not normal compared to others, more common in Asian cultures (collectivist cultures)
.
3/7/24
attitude
attitude: a learned tendency to evaluate some object, person, or issue in a particular way
evaluations may be positive, negative, or ambivalent
3 components of attitude: cognitive component, affective component, behavioral component
cognitive component: your thoughts and conclusions about a given topic or object
ex. strongly favoring gun control
affective component: emotional component
ex. scared and upset about all of the guns
behavioral component: where your attitudes are reflected in your actions
ex. started a petition about gun control in the state
social psychologists have consistently found that people don’t always act in accordance with their attitudes
they have found that we are more likely to behave in accordance with our attitudes when:
our attitudes are extreme or frequently expressed
attitudes have been formed through direct experience
very knowledgeable about the subject
having a vested interest in the subject
having something to gain or lose
because you anticipate a favorable outcome/response from others for doing so
the effect of behavior on attitudes
The foot-in-the-door phenomenon: the tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request
role: a set of expectations about a social position defining how those in the position ought to behave
set mostly by parents
Philip Zimbardo: Stanford Prison Experiment
It had to end after 6 days
Used college students
Study the psychological and behavioral consequences of being a prisoner and a guard
3 cells
15 dollars a day
They took a test to see if they were mentally abnormal and healthy
How can your behavior affect your attitude
cognitive dissonance: an unpleasant state of psychological tension or arousal (dissonance) that occurs when two thoughts or perceptions (cognitions) are inconsistent, typically results from the awareness that attitudes and behavior are in conflict
resolution: people change their attitude
ex. saying you won’t drink in college
3/8/24
social influence
social influence: the study of the effects of situational factors and other people on an individual's behavior
conformity: the tendency to adjust one’s behavior, attitudes, or beliefs to group norms in response to real or imagined group pressure
Studied: Solomon Asch, line experiment
factors that promote conformity:
facing a unanimous majority of four or five people
you must give your response in front of the group
you have not already expressed commitment to a different idea or opinion
you find the task to ambiguous or difficult
you doubt your abilities/knowledge in a situation
you are strongly attracted to a group and want to be a member of it
normative social influence: behavior that is motivated by the desire to gain social acceptance and approval
informational social influence: behavior that is motivated by the desire to be right
obedience: the performance of an action in response to the direct orders of an authority or a person of higher status
Studies: Stanley Milgram, shocking experiment
3/11/24
Milgrams experiment
2/3 of Miligram’s subjects (26/40) went to the full 450-volt level, of those who defied the experimenter not one stopped before the 300-volt level
when he replicated it no group had as high a score as the original group ^
conclusions: these are some of the forces that influence the subjects to be obedient, a previously
well-established mental framework to obey
they went in ready to follow directions
the situation or context in which the obedience occurs
they believed what they were doing was contributing to research
the gradual repetitive escalation of the task
started from low volt to high
the experimenter's behavior and reassurance
telling them it was necessary to keep going and that all the responsibility was on the experimenter
the physical and psychological separation from the learner
they weren’t seeing what was happening to the other person
prejudice: a negative attitude toward people who belong to a specific social group
3/12/24
what are some of the contributing factors to prejudice occurring?:
stereotype: a cluster of characteristics that are associated with all members of a specific social group often including qualities that are unrelated to the objective criteria that define the group
in-group: a social group to which one belongs
the in-group bias: the tendency to judge the behavior of in-group members favorably and out-group members unfavorably
ethnocentrism: the belief that one's own culture or ethnic group is superior to all others and the related tendency to use one's own culture as a standard by which to judge other cultures
out-group: a social group to which one doesn’t belong
the out-group homogeneity effect: the tendency to see members of out-groups as very similar to one another
not on test but might be on APMufizer Sherif: the Robbers Cave experiment
summer camp, boys were randomly assigned to 2 groups, one was the eagles and one the raplors
competitive games, fierce rivalry developed
they did some hostile things
they wanted to create harmony, they created situations where they would both need to cooperate, they came together
conclusion: cooperation helped the subjects overcome their difference
Elliot Erinson:
conducted in elementary school that contained different racial groups
he used what is known as the jigsaw classroom technique
he brought together students in small ethnically diverse groups to work on a project
interdependence and cooperation can replace competition
conclusion: cooperation changes our tendency to categorize the out-group from those people to us people
Patricia Divine: studied that prejudice reduction at the individual level is a three-step process
first: individuals must decide that prejudiced responses are wrong and consciously reject prejudice and stereotyped thinking
second: they must internalize their non-prejudice beliefs so that those beliefs become an intrical part of their personal self-concept
third: individuals must learn to inhibit automatic prejudicial reactions and deliberately replace them with non-prejudiced responses that are based on their personal standards
Kitty Geneves
Altruism/helping behavior: the unselfish regard for the welfare of others
The bystander effect: the phenomenon in which the greater the number of people present the less likely each individual is to help someone in distress
decrease the likelihood for them to act
diffusion of responsibility: the phenomenon in which the presence of other people makes it less likely that any individual will help someone in distress because the obligation to intervene is shared among all the onlookers
decrease
increase the likelihood that bystanders will help
the feel-good, do-good effect: when you are in a good mood you are more likely to help
feeling guilty: when we feel bad about something we did so we try to help someone else, subconsciously righting a wrong
seeing others who are willing to help:
perceiving the other person as deserving of help
knowing how to help
a personalized relationship
does not mean you know them personally, like could have just made eye contact
3/13/24
social relations
aggression
aggression: any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy
it’s the most destructive force in our social relations
frustration-aggression principle: the idea that frustration due to the blocking of an attempt to achieve some goal creates anger which can generate aggression
behind someone who is going less than the speed limit when you are late
aggressive behavior is learned through direct rewards and observation
conflict: a perceived incompatibility of actions goals or ideas
most destructive process that is caused by conflict is called social traps
social traps: situations in which conflicting parties by each rationally perusing their self-interest become caught in mutually destructive behavior
two girls fighting over the same boy
attraction: in friends, in family, in significant other, in coworkers
several factors that contribute to out liking of one another
proximity: nearness
the closer you are physically to someone, the more likely you are to like them
will like the neighbors closer to you
mere exposure effect: the phenomenon that repeated exposure to novel stimuli increases our liking of them
seeing them a lot, the more you are around them the more you grow to like them
physical attractiveness:
similarity: things you need to have in common
two kinds of love:
passionate love: an aroused state of intense positive absorption in another, usually present at the beginning of a love relationship
they see their name pop up on the phone or see them in person and you get the butterflies, when they compliment them
companionate love: the deep affectionate attachment we feel for those with whom our lives are intertwined
will put yourself in harm's way for them, may go away when you have children
peacemaking:
superordinate goals: shared goals that override differences among people and require their cooperation
third part mediator to help facilitate communications
GRIT: graduated, and reciprocated initiatives, tension reduction, a strategy designed to decrease international tensions
the two sides express their mutual interest in getting along, one offers a concession hoping the other side will reciprocate
group influence: individual behavior in the presence of others
groups can benefit us + and -
social facilitation: improved performance of tasks in the presence of others this occurs with well-learned tasks but not with tasks that are difficult or not yet mastered
things that you do well, you are likely to do better in front of an audience
things you don’t do well, you are likely to mess up
social loafing: the tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pulling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable
deindividuation: the loss of self-awareness and self-restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity
sporting events, rock concerts, at a dance, or in worship
group polarization: the enhancement of a group's prevailing attitudes through discussion within the group
group with a shared interest
groupthink: the mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives
wanting to eat somewhere else in the group but going along because most people want to go