psych 11C

Lecture Overview

  • Date: 4.2.26
  • Main Topics:
    • Social Influence
    • Ultra-Sociality & Situationism
    • Social Norms & Roles
    • Stanford Prison Experiment
    • Conformity
    • Two Classic Studies
      • Sherif (1936)
      • Asch (1955)
    • Normative vs. Informational Social Influence
    • Social Contagion & Disinhibition

Ultra-Sociality & Situationism

  • Definition of Social Psychology:
    • “An attempt to understand and explain how the thought, feeling, and behavior of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others.”
    • Source: Allport (1954)
  • Key Concept: Social influence significantly impacts behavior, thoughts, and emotions based on situational contexts.

Social Norms

  • Definition of Norms:
    • Situation-specific rules for accepted or expected behavior.
    • Types of Norms:
    • Prescriptive Norms (Injunctive): What people “should” or “ought” to do in given situations (e.g., taboos).
    • Descriptive Norms: What people actually do in a situation.
  • Characteristics of Norms:
    • Culture-specific
    • Automatic and habitual; often unnoticed in their influence.
  • Garfinkel’s “Breaching” Studies:
    • Ethnomethodology explores how norms are established via everyday interactions.

The Subtlety of Social Norms

  • Illustration of Norms:
    • Examples in a men’s restroom dilemmas, showcasing decision-making under social norms.
  • Middlemist et al (1976): Study on personal space invasions in lavatories and their effects on arousal:
    • Hypothesis: Personal space invasions cause emotional arousal, tested in an environment where norms of privacy were highlighted.
    • Result findings added to understanding of social norms in behavior.

Social Roles

  • Definition of Roles:
    • Sets of norms that dictate expected behavior for individuals based on their social position.
  • Role Dynamics:
    • Roles are assumed differently depending on the context and accompanying social interactions (e.g., parent-child, teacher-student).
    • Can dramatically influence behavior through expectations tied to individual identity and social responsibility.

Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE)

  • Key Details:
    • Conducted by Philip Zimbardo at Stanford University.
    • Focused on violence in prisons and the implications of situational context.
    • Participants randomly assigned as either prisoners or guards.
    • Study ended after six days due to ethical concerns regarding participant welfare.
  • Significance:
    • Raises questions about the nature of evil and personal responsibility in light of social influence.
  • Reference: The Lucifer Effect by Zimbardo explores how environments can lead to morally questionable actions, with references to historical treatment of prisoners (e.g., Abu Ghraib).

Conformity

  • Definition of Conformity:
    • Change in behavior or belief due to real or imagined group pressure.
    • Often associated with maintaining consistency with group norms.
  • Asch (1955) Study:
    • Participants in a line judgment task;
    • 37% conformity rate observed across critical trials, highlighting group influence on individual perception.

Classic Studies on Conformity

Sherif (1936) - Autokinetic Effect

  • Experiment on visual ambiguity and group influence on perceived movement:
    • Participants first judged movement alone and then in groups, with resulting estimates converging over time.

Asch (1955) - Line Judgment Studies

  • Major findings:
    • Out of 12 critical trials, average conformity was noted at 37%.
    • When alone, 99% of participants performed without error, indicating the powerful effect of social pressure.

Types of Social Influence (Deutsch & Gerard, 1955)

  • Normative Social Influence:
    • Derived from fear of rejection or desire for approval.
    • Observed in unambiguous stimuli leading to public compliance and inconsistency between public and private states.
  • Informational Social Influence:
    • Arises from the need for clarification in ambiguous situations.
    • Leads to private acceptance where public and private beliefs align.

Social Contagion

  • Definition of Social Contagion:
    • Refers to the inclination of individuals to mimic behaviors of others nearby or to whom they have been exposed.
  • The Chameleon Effect:
    • Idea proposed by William James on ideomotor action;
    • Chartrand & Bargh (1999) suggested that unconscious mimicry of behavior leads to social cohesion.

Disinhibition

  • Definition:
    • The phenomenon wherein individuals, restrained by social considerations, engage in desired behaviors after witnessing others do so.
  • Implication:
    • Observational learning can remove barriers to participation in various behaviors, thus affecting group dynamics and behavior overall.

Documented Effects of Solitary Confinement

  • Psychological and Physical Effects Observed:
    • Anxiety
    • Chronic tiredness
    • Trouble sleeping
    • Heart palpitations
    • Nightmares
    • Suicidal thoughts
    • Emotional flatness and social withdrawal
    • Increased risk of violent fantasies

Effects of Social Exclusion (Baumeister et al., 2007)

  • Methodology:
    • Simulation of social exclusion using techniques like rejection and ostracism (e.g., Cyberball).
  • Observed Effects on Participants:
    • Increase in aggression
    • Reduced helpfulness and cooperation
    • Decreased self-regulation and heightened impulsive behavior
    • Diminished empathy and social perception.