Download Introduction to Psychology

Social Thinking
Social Psychology
scientific study of how we think about,
influence, and relate to one another
Attribution Theory
tendency to give a causal explanation for
someone’s behavior using the situation or the
person’s disposition
Social Thinking
Situationism
judging behavior overestimate environmental
conditions and underestimate personal
disposition
Fundamental Attribution Error
judging behavior underestimate environment
and overestimate personal disposition
Attitude
Predisposed feeling affecting response
Social Thinking
 Our behavior is affected by our inner attitudes as well
as by external social influences
Internal
attitudes
External
influences
Behavior
Social Thinking
 How we explain someone’s behavior affects how we react
to it
Tolerant reaction
Situational attribution
(proceed cautiously, allow
driver a wide berth)
Dispositional attribution
“Crazy driver!”
Unfavorable reaction
“Maybe that driver is ill.”
Negative behavior
(Speed up and race past the
other driver, craning to give
them a dirty look)
Kelley’s Attribution Logic
(1) Does Susan
regularly get
angry in traffic
jams?
NO
No personality
or situational
attribution
YES
(2) Do many
other people
get angry in
traffic jams?
YES
Situational
attribution:
traffic jams
make people
mad
NO
(3) Does Susan
get angry in
many other
situations?
YES
NO
Personality
attribution,
general
Personality
attribution,
particular
Two-stage Model of
Attributions
Book example: Joe laughs hysterically while watching a TV
comedy. What can we conclude?
Observer’s goal
Automatic
Attribution
Controlled
Attribution
What kind of
person is Joe?
Person: Joe
laughs
easily
Revision:
could be a
funny show
How funny is the
TV comedy?
Situation:
the TV show
is funny
Revision:
maybe Joe
laughs easily
Social Thinking
Foot-in-the-Door Phenomenon
Once you agree to a small request,
more likely to complete a large request
Role
Rules set that dictate situational or
personal behavior
Norms
Expectations of what is appropriate
Social Thinking
Cognitive Dissonance Theory
we act to reduce the discomfort
(dissonance) we feel when two of our
thoughts (cognitions) are inconsistent
example- why smokers rationalize the
habit; why after buying a Prius you
listen to the Prius pros in commercials
rather than the news of faulty
manufacturing practices
Social Influence
Conformity
adjusting one’s behavior or thinking to
coincide with a group standard
Group Influences for Conformity
 Size of the majority
 Size of the discrepancy
 Presence of a partner who dissented
More likely to Conform
Judgment task is difficult or ambiguous
Responses are public
Group members perceived as competent
When majority is unanimous
video: Asch ex, adolescent conform, psych experiment, today solomon
Social Influence
Informational Social Influence
influence resulting from one’s willingness to
accept others’ opinions about reality
Normative Social Influence
influence resulting from a person’s desire to
gain approval or avoid disapproval
Asch Effect
A group majority influences individual
judgments
1
Standard lines
3
2
Comparison lines
Social Influence
Percentage of 50
conformity
to confederates’ 40
wrong answers
Difficult judgments
30
20
10
Easy judgments
0
High
Low
Importance
Slide 1
Slide 2
Participants
judged which
person in Slide
2 was the
same as the
person in Slide
1
Obedience to Authority
 Milgram’s experiment
 Getting Good people to do Bad things
Percentage
of subjects
who obeyed
experimenter
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
The majority of
subjects continued
to obey to the end
20
10
Very
Intense Extreme Danger
XXX
0 Slight Moderate Strong
(15-60)(75-120) (135-180) strong (255-300) intensity severe (435-450)
(195-240)
(315-360) (375-420)
Shock levels in volts
Social Influence
Testing facilitated communication
Social Influence
Social Facilitation
improved performance when in small groups
than alone
occurs with simple or well-learned tasks
Social Loafing
people in a group exert less effort than when
individually accountable
Deindividuation
Loss of sense of responsibility when in a group
Social Facilitation
Home Advantage in Major Team Sports
Sport
Games
Studied
Home Team
Winning
Percentage
Baseball
23,034
53.5%
Football
2,592
57.3
Ice hockey
4,322
61.1
Basketball
13,596
64.4
Soccer
37,202
69.0
Social Influence
Group Polarization
Within a group not similar ideas get more
extreme and pronounced…politics
Social Reality
Subjective reality determined by what we
find attractive, threatening, whom we
seek/avoid
Social Influence
High +4
+3
+2
High-prejudice
groups
+1
Prejudice 0
Low-prejudice
groups
-1
-2
-3
Low -4
Before discussion
After discussion
If a group is
like-minded,
discussion
strengthens its
prevailing
opinions
Social Influence
Culture
behaviors, ideas, attitudes, and
traditions shared by a large group
Passed on by generations
Personal Space
buffer zone we like to maintain around
our bodies
Social Influence
Percentage agreeing
“The activities of married women
are best confined to home and family”
Percentage 70
Gender Role
60
a set of
expected
behaviors for
males and for
females
Men
50
40
30
20
10
0
1967 ‘71
Women
‘75
‘79
‘83
Year
‘87
‘91
‘95
Social Relations
Prejudice
an unjustifiable (and usually negative)
attitude toward a group and its members
involves stereotyped beliefs, negative
feelings, and a predisposition to discriminatory
action
Stereotype
a generalized (often overgeneralized) belief
about a group of people
Social Relations
Americans today express much less racial and
gender prejudice
Percentage 90
answering yes 80
70
60
Would you vote for
a woman president?
50
40
30
Do whites have a right
to keep minorities out of
their neighborhoods?
20
10
0
1936 1945 1950
1955
1960
1965
1970
Year
1975
1980
1985
1990
1995
Social Relations
In-group Bias
favor one’s own group
Scapegoat Theory
outlet for anger by providing blaming
someone else; often based on
stereotype/prejudice
Just-World Phenomenon
to believe the world is just
You get what you deserve and deserve what
you get
Social Relations
Aggression
any physical or verbal behavior
intended to hurt or destroy
Frustration-Aggression Principle
principle that frustration – the blocking
of an attempt to achieve some goal –
creates anger, which can generate
aggression (Road Rage) attempt to get
to somewhere
Social Relations
Uncomfortably hot weather and aggression
Murders
and rapes
per day in
Houston, Texas
8.0
7.5
7.0
6.5
6.0
40-68
69-78
79-85
86-91
Temperature in degrees Fahrenheit
92-99
Social Relations
Men who sexually coerce women
Sexual
promiscuity
Coerciveness
against
women
Hostile
masculinity
Social Relations
Conflict
perceived incompatibility of actions, goals, or
ideas
Social Trap
a situation in which the conflicting parties, by
each rationally pursuing their self-interest,
become caught in mutually destructive
behavior (Cold War, parent/child fight)
Social Relations
Person 1
Person 2
Choose B
Choose A
Choose A
Choose B
Optimal
outcome
Probable
outcome
Social trap
by pursuing
our selfinterest and
not trusting
others, we can
end up losers
Social RelationsAttractiveness
Proximity
mere exposure effect- repeated exposure to
novel stimuli increases liking of them
Physical Attractiveness
youthfulness may be associated with health
and fertility
Similarity
friends share common attitudes, beliefs,
interests
Attractiveness
Worldwide, men prefer youth and health,
women prefer resources and social status
Social Relations
Passionate Love
an aroused state of intense positive
absorption in another
usually present at the beginning of a
love relationship
Companionate Love
deep affectionate attachment we feel
for those with whom our lives are
intertwined
Social Relations
Equity
a condition in which people receive from a
relationship in proportion to what they give to
it
Self-disclosure
revealing intimate aspects of oneself to
others
Altruism
unselfish regard for the welfare of others
Social Relations
The decision-making process for bystander
intervention
Notices
incident?
No
No
help
Yes
Interprets
incident as
emergency?
No
No
help
Yes
Assumes
responsibility?
No
No
help
Yes
Attempts
to help
Social Relations
100
Bystander Effect
90
Percentage 90
attempting
80
to help 80
tendency for any
given bystander to
be less likely to
give aid if other
bystanders are
present
70
70
60
60
50
50
40
40
30
30
20
20
10
10
00
1
1
2
2
3
3
Number of others
presumed available to help
4
4
Social Relations
Social Exchange Theory
social behavior is an exchange;
maximize benefits and minimize costs
Superordinate Goal
Goal that supercedes individual goals
causing cooperation
Social Relations
Graduated and Reciprocated Initiatives in
Tension-reduction (GRIT)
Psych. strategy to decrease international
disputes
one group recognizes of mutual interests and gives
a conciliation opening door for other group to
reciprocate