Social Psychology and Personality Theories

Social Psychology Overview

• Definition: Study of how the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others influences our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

Social Thinking

Attributions

• Attribution: An explanation for the cause of behavior.

  • Situational Attribution: External causes (e.g., bad traffic).

  • Personal Attribution: Internal traits (e.g., laziness, intelligence).

Errors in Attribution

• Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE):

  • Overestimate internal traits and underestimate situational factors in others.

  • Example: Assuming someone missed class because they’re lazy rather than due to an emergency.

• Self-Serving Bias:

  • Credit internal factors for successes and external factors for failures.

  • Example: "I aced the test because I studied hard" vs. "I failed because the test was unfair."

Attitudes and Actions

Attitudes

• Feelings shaped by beliefs that influence our behavior toward objects, people, and events.

  • Example: Belief that a governor doesn’t care about poor people (belief), feel angry (emotion), refuse to vote for them (action).

How Actions Affect Attitudes

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

• Role-Playing: Adopting attitudes that align with the roles we play (e.g., Zimbardo’s Prison Study).

• Cognitive Dissonance Theory:

  • Tension from holding inconsistent attitudes or actions; reduced by changing beliefs or justifying behavior.

Social Influence

Conformity

• Definition: Adjusting behavior or thinking to match a group standard.

• Reasons for Conformity:

  • Normative Influence: Desire to fit in.

  • Informational Influence: Believing others have accurate information.

• Asch’s Conformity Experiments: Showed group pressure can lead to incorrect answers.

• Conformity more likely when:

  • Group is unanimous.

  • Person feels insecure.

  • Group has high status.

  • No prior commitment made.

Obedience

• Milgram’s Experiments: Demonstrated willingness to obey authority even to the point of harming others.

• Obedience increases when:

  • Authority is close and legitimate.

  • Authority is associated with a prestigious institution.

  • Victim is not visible or depersonalized.

  • No role models for defiance.

Group Influence

Social Facilitation

• Performance improves on easy tasks and worsens on hard tasks in front of others.

  • Mechanism: Audience presence = physiological arousal = stronger dominant response.

Group Polarization

• Discussion with like-minded individuals strengthens shared opinions, potentially leading to extreme views.

  • Example: Online echo chambers.

Groupthink

• Group harmony prioritized over rational decision-making.

  • Symptoms:

    • Ignoring alternatives.

    • Withholding criticism.

    • Illusion of unanimity.

  • Example: The Challenger disaster.

Helping Behavior

Altruism

• Helping others with no expectation of personal gain.

Bystander Effect

• People less likely to help when others are present (diffusion of responsibility).

  • Example Case: Kitty Genovese case inspired research.

Bystander Intervention Model

1. Notice the incident.

2. Interpret as an emergency.

3. Assume responsibility.

4. Know how to help.

5. Decide to help.

Factors that Increase Helping

• Good mood.

• Feeling guilty.

• Observing others help.

• Similarity to the victim.

• Not being in a rush.

• Knowing how to help.

Personality Theories and Perspectives

Definition of Personality

• Characteristics: Patterns of behavior, thinking, and feeling.

Psychoanalytic Perspective

• Key Theorist: Sigmund Freud.

• Core Concepts:

  1. Unconscious Mind: Drives behavior; contains hidden thoughts and memories.

  2. Personality Structures:

     • Id: Completely unconscious; operates on the pleasure principle (immediate satisfaction).

     • Ego: Logical and rational; mediates between Id and Superego.

     • Superego: Moral component; enforces ethical standards and ideals.

Defense Mechanisms

1. Repression: Pushing anxiety-producing thoughts into the unconscious.

2. Regression: Reverting to earlier behaviors to cope with anxiety.

3. Displacement: Redirecting feelings to a less threatening target.

4. Rationalization: Justifying actions to avoid blame.

5. Projection: Attributing undesirable traits to others.

6. Reaction Formation: Expressing opposite of disturbing impulses.

7. Denial: Refusing to accept painful realities.

Assessing Unconscious Processes

• Projective Tests:

  • Rorschach Inkblot Test: Analyzes responses to ambiguous images.

  • Thematic Apperception Test (TAT): Reveals inner thoughts through storytelling.

Humanistic Perspective

• Key Theorists: Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers.

• Core Concepts:

  • Inherent Goodness: Focus on self-awareness and free will.

  • Self-Actualization: Realization of one’s potential and true self.

  • Person-Centered Perspective (Carl Rogers): Importance of genuineness, unconditional positive regard, and empathy.

    • Real Self vs. Ideal Self:

      • Real Self: How we perceive ourselves.

      • Ideal Self: The person we aspire to be.

      • Congruence: Alignment between real and ideal self leads to psychological health.

Trait Theories

• Focus: Identifying clusters of behaviors (traits) that occur together.

• Big Five Personality Traits:

  • Openness.

  • Conscientiousness.

  • Extraversion.

  • Agreeableness.

  • Neuroticism.

• Stability of Traits: Some traits remain stable, while others may change over time.

Social-Cognitive Perspective

• Core Concept: Personality as a collection of learned behaviors influenced by the environment.

• Reciprocal Determinism: Interaction between behavior, personal factors, and environment.

  • Components:

    • Environment/Situations: Social influences and consequences of behavior.

    • Person/Internal Factors: Beliefs, expectations, and personality traits.

    • Behavior: Actual actions taken.

Exploring the Self

• Self-Esteem: Feelings of self-worth.

  • Types of Self-Esteem:

    • Defensive Self-Esteem: Fragile, reliant on external validation.

    • Secure Self-Esteem: Stable, based on self-acceptance.

• Self-Serving Bias: Tendency to perceive oneself favorably; attributing successes to internal factors and failures to external factors.

Key Takeaways

• Understanding personality involves multiple perspectives, including psychoanalytic, humanistic, trait, and social-cognitive theories.

• Each perspective offers unique insights into human behavior and the development of personality.

• Self-awareness and acceptance are crucial for psychological well-being.