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.