Chapter 14 Social Psychology

Chapter 14: Social Psychology

Overview of Social Psychology

  • Focuses on development and expression of:

    • Attitudes

    • Attributions

    • Influence between individuals

    • Interaction dynamics

Importance of Studying Social Psychology

  • Social Loafing:

    • Tendency for individuals in a group to exert less effort due to the presence of many group members.

Social Cognition

  • Involves:

    • Attitude formation

    • Attribution theory

  • People behave like scientists by:

    • Collecting data

    • Making predictions about outcomes

    • Acting accordingly

Attitudes

  • Defined as a set of beliefs and feelings.

Attitude-Behavior Relationship

  • Richard LaPiere's study (1930s):

    • Travelled with an Asian couple; received mixed treatment despite prevalent prejudices.

    • Later, establishments claimed they would not serve Asians, showing a disconnect between stated attitudes and actual behavior.

Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination

  • Stereotypes: Generalized beliefs about groups.

  • Prejudice: Negative, undeserved attitudes towards a group.

  • Discrimination: Unequal treatment of individuals based on their group characteristics (race, age, sex).

  • Ethnocentrism: Belief in the superiority of one’s culture over others.

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

  • Proposes:

    • People strive for consistency between attitudes and behaviors.

    • Cognitive dissonance occurs when there's a discrepancy, causing mental tension.

  • Example: A heavy smoker desiring a long, healthy life experiences dissonance.

Festinger & Carlsmith Experiment

  • Participants lied about a boring task:

    • Group paid $1 reported more positive feelings about the task than those paid $20.

    • Small reward prompted attitude change, while larger reward did not.

Attribution Theory

  • Explains how we determine behavior causes:

    • Dispositional Attribution: Internal characteristics (personality, skills).

    • Situational Attribution: External situations (contextual pressures/factors).

  • Example: Traffic situation interpretation (bad driving vs. emergency situation).

Types of Attributions

  • Stable vs. Unstable

    • Stable: Characteristics consistent over time (e.g., Robert does well in math).

    • Unstable: Temporary circumstances affecting performance (e.g., easy test given by Mr. Smith).

Harold Kelly's Attribution Information

  • Consistency: Does the individual behave similarly over time?

  • Distinctiveness: How does the individual behave in different situations?

  • Consensus: How do others behave in the same situation?

Fundamental Attribution Error

  • Tendency to overemphasize dispositional factors when evaluating others' behavior, while attributing personal behavior to situational factors.

  • Cultural influences: Individualistic cultures exhibit this error more than collectivist cultures.

Additional Terms

  • False-consensus Effect: Overestimating agreement with personal beliefs.

  • Self-Serving Bias: Attributing successes to personal factors and failures to external factors.

  • Just-world Bias: Belief that good things happen to good people and vice versa.

Persuasion

  • Central vs. Peripheral Routes to Persuasion:

    • Central Route: Focus on data and logical arguments.

    • Peripheral Route: Uses superficial tactics, such as attractiveness or authority.

Making Arguments Persuasive

  • Higher education may reduce influence from peripheral cues.

  • One-sided messages work better for uniform audiences, while mixed messages are better for diverse audiences.

  • Mere Exposure Effect: Increased positive attitude towards familiar ideas, even from limited exposure.

Compliance Strategies

  • Foot-in-the-Door Phenomenon: Agreeing to small requests increases the likelihood of agreeing to larger requests.

  • Door-in-the-Face Technique: Starting with a large request followed by a smaller, more reasonable one.

  • Norms of Reciprocity: Expectation of mutual benefit; doing something nice prompts return kindness.

Expectations and Performance

  • Rosenthal & Jacobson's study on teacher expectations:

    • Teachers were informed that certain students were expected to perform better, resulting in those students actually improving more than others without such expectations.

Self-fulfilling Prophecy

  • The effect whereby expectations shape behavior; the opposite is the Golem effect.

Performance in Groups

  • Social Facilitation: Enhanced performance on simple tasks in front of an audience.

  • Social Impairment: Decreased performance on difficult tasks when being watched.

Psychology of Aggression & Prosocial Behavior

  • Instrumental Aggression: Aggression to achieve a specific goal.

  • Hostile Aggression: Uncontrolled aggression without a clear purpose.

  • Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis: Frustration increases likelihood of aggression.

Group Dynamics and Conflict Resolution

  • Robbers Cave Study: Investigated how competition leads to hostility between groups.

  • Contact Theory: Collaboration towards common goals can reduce animosity.

Prosocial Behavior

  • Actions that benefit others, yet the Bystander Effect leads to decreased likelihood of individual intervention in emergencies due to group size (Diffusion of Responsibility & Pluralistic Ignorance).

Liking and Attraction

  • People are generally more inclined to like:

    • Individuals similar to them.

    • Those with whom they interact frequently.

    • Individuals who reciprocate positive feelings.

Psychology of Attraction

  • Attractive individuals are often perceived favorably regarding characteristics unrelated to appearance.

  • Attractiveness factors: Symmetrical features are commonly deemed more attractive.

Psychology of Love

  • Love is complex and multidimensional.

  • Self-Disclosure: Sharing personal information fosters intimacy and close relationships.

Conformity & Obedience

  • Solomon Asch's Studies: Examined conformity in groups when making perceptual judgments.

  • Stanley Milgram's Obedience Study: Showed a high compliance level to authority figures, leading to moral dilemmas for participants.

Group Behavior

  • Groups operate under norms (expected behaviors) and roles (actions specific to individuals).

In-group vs. Out-group Dynamics

  • In-group Bias: Preference for members of one's own group while perceiving out-group members as homogenous.

Group Polarization

  • Groups often make more extreme decisions collectively than individuals would alone, influenced by exposure to new arguments.

Groupthink

  • Poor decision-making in groups due to suppression of dissenting opinions and a false sense of consensus, leading to poor outcomes.

Deindividuation

  • Individuals may engage in actions (like rioting) not typical of their behavior in anonymity within groups.

Stanford Prison Experiment

  • Conducted by Philip Zimbardo examining the interplay of situational forces and inherent nature regarding a person's conduct under perceived power.