Download Social Psychology - Ed W. Clark High School

SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
• The scientific study of how we think about,
influence, and relate to one another
• Attribution Theory – we explain behavior either by
crediting the situation or the person’s disposition
• Fundamental Attribution Error - When observing
others, we underestimate the situation and
overestimate personal disposition/traits
• When reflecting on our own behavior, we are more
sensitive to the situation
• Effects of attribution
ATTITUDES AND ACTIONS
• Attitudes influence actions…duh…
• Do actions influence attitudes?…hmm…
• You say what you believe, but you also believe
what you say!
• Car dealerships and the “low-ball” technique
• 7:00 am study – 24% and 53%
• “50 words or less” contests
• The looking glass effect
• Cognitive Dissonance – a difference between our
beliefs and actions creates a tension (dissonance)
that causes us to resolve it by changing our
attitudes
• Foot-in-the-door phenomenon
• When people who have engaged in immoral, unethical, or
otherwise questionable behavior are interviewed, what they
describe is almost always a gradual process that led them
to that behavior
• Foot-in-the-door can lead to good or bad outcomes
• Role-playing
• Zimbardo and the Stanford Prison experiment
• Suppose you had volunteered to participate in a
psychology experiment on campus. Upon arrival, you
were seated at a table and asked to undertake a series
of dull, meaningless tasks for about an hour. Afterward,
the experimenter convinced you to extol the virtues of
the tasks you had performed by describing them to
other potential participants as highly worthwhile,
interesting, and educational. You were paid either $1 or
$20 to do this. Suppose you were then asked to privately
rate your enjoyment of the tasks on a questionnaire.
After which amount do you believe your actual
enjoyment rating of the tasks would be higher—$1 or
$20?
CONFORMITY AND OBEDIENCE
• Chameleon Affect – we are natural imitators
• Mimicry and dropped pens experiment
• Conformity – adjusting our behavior/thinking to be
in line with a group standard
• Solomon Asch line experiment
CONDITIONS THAT STRENGTHEN
CONFORMITY
One is made to feel incompetent or insecure
The group has at least three people
The group is unanimous
One admires the group’s status or attractiveness
One has made no prior commitment to any
response
• Others in the group observe one’s behavior
• One’s culture strongly encourages respect for social
standards
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REASONS FOR CONFORMITY
• Normative Social Influence – we are sensitive to
accepted rules of behavior, because we can pay a
big price for being different
• Remember, we are pain-averse. Would you rather
think you’re being stupid, but have positive social
interactions, or know that you’re right, but be
ostracized? Most people, in most situations, prefer
the security of the group to the purity of their
conscience.
• Informational Social Influence – sometimes it’s good
to assume others are right
• Culture – In individualist countries, conformity rates
are lower
• Movies, songs – we value rebels. In school,
especially in college, students are encouraged to
question and challenge long-held beliefs
• Alex Lasky of Opower ran an experiment to see
which type of messaging would best encourage
others to save energy:
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You can save $54 this month
You can save the planet
You can be a good citizen
Your neighbors are doing better than you
• The first three led to no increase in energy saving.
The fourth message worked, leading to a 2 percent
reduction in household energy usage.
• Assignment: Violate a social norm
OBEDIENCE
• Stanley Milgram experiment
• What do you think happened when the teachers chose
their own shock levels?
• Wolves or sheep? Are people evil?
• Nurses obeying doctors -95%
• French Resistors
• Like so many situations in life (underage drinking,
bullying) if you wait until the situation arises to
decide what to do, you will almost certainly
conform. Your best chance is to commit to doing
the right thing before you find yourself in a
precarious circumstance. “Evil does not require
monstrous characters; all it takes is ordinary people
corrupted by an evil situation.” – your book
GROUP INFLUENCE
• Social Facilitation – When a task is simple or easy,
we do better in the presence of others
• Sports teams winning %
• Washing hands
• Attitudes are magnified in presence of a crowd.
Jokes are funnier, nice people nicer, annoying
people more annoying
• Social Loafing – people in a group exert less effort
than when individually responsible
• Group work?
• Deindividuation – loss of self-awareness and control
in high arousal group situations
• If you could do anything humanly possible with
complete assurance that you would not be
detected or held responsible, what would you do?
• Light and dark experiment – anonymity led to
intimacy
EFFECTS OF GROUP INTERACTION
• Group polarization – widening of prevailing group
differences because of discussion within a group
• Can have good and bad effects
• Prejudice
• Terrorists
• Internet
• Groupthink – when a desire for group harmony
overrides critical thinking and a realistic appraisal
for alternatives
HOW TO PREVENT GROUPTHINK
• 1. One or more members should be assigned the role
of devil’s advocate.
• 2. Occasionally, the group should be subdivided. Have
the subgroups meet separately and then come
together to discuss differences.
• 3. After the group seems to have reached consensus,
have a “last-chance” meeting in which each member
is encouraged to express any remaining doubts.
• 4. Call in outside experts to challenge the group’s
views.
• 5. Have each group member air the group’s deliberations
with trusted associates and report their
reactions.
GROUP WISDOM
• Assertion is to disproved as action is to:
a. hindered
b. opposed
c. illegal
d. precipitate
e. thwarted
HOW TO MAKE GROUPS WISE
• 1. They should be diverse
• 2. They should be decentralized, so that no one has
too much influence
• 3. It should have a way of summarizing people’s
opinions (google)
• 4. Group members should be independent, and not
have to worry about what others think
INDIVIDUALS
• A small number of people can influence large
numbers if they (the small group) are consistent and
unwavering in their opinion
PREJUDICE
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Prejudice = Prejudgment
Prejudice is a negative attitude
Discrimination is negative behavior
Subtle prejudice
• Interracial marriage
• Immigration
• Police
• studies
• Racial Prejudice
• Sexual orientation prejudice
• Gender prejudice
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Fathers perceived as more intelligent
Saudi Arabia – women not allowed to drive
China/India – boy/girl ratio
The glass ceiling
SOCIAL ROOTS OF PREJUDICE
• Prejudice justifies existing inequalities
• Blame-the-victim dynamic
• Us and Them – in-group bias
EMOTION AND PREJUDICE
• Anger
• Scapegoating
COGNITIVE ROOTS OF PREJUDICE
• We have a tendency to categorize, which often
leads to bias
• We see people from different groups as more similar
in appearance and attitudes than they really are
• Which of the following words does not belong with the
others?: Anger, happiness, shame
• Culture leads us to have certain views, but we can easily
understand differing cultural views
• Vivid cases feed stereotypes – terrorists
• Just-world phenomenon – idea that people get
what they deserve; allows those in power to justify
their position
AGGRESSION
• Physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or
destroy
• Genes – twins, once again
• Neural Influence – monkey experiment
• Biochemical – testosterone
• Characteristics of violent criminals
• Alcohol is highly correlated with aggression
• Frustration-aggression principle
Frustration
Anger
Aggression
• Miserable people often make others miserable
• Crime and accidents go up when it is very hot
• People who feel rejected or isolated are more likely to act
aggressively (vicious cycle)
OPERANT CONDITIONING
• When aggression is rewarded, it is likely to continue
• Scot-Irish “manly honor”
OBSERVATION
• TV and internet
• “Kill Bill” and “Mean Girls” aggression study
• Incidents of rape have risen over the last 50 years
• Violence and video games
CONFLICT
• Social Trap
• A and B matrix
• Global Warming – my contribution isn’t significant,
so why should I change my behavior?
• Enemy Perceptions – we demonize our enemies,
and they demonize us (mirror image)
• Ultimatum Game
ATTRACTION
• Proximity
• Opportunity
• Repeated exposure makes us like something more (mere
exposure effect); songs; other people’s faces; our own
face; the letters in our name
• Physical Attractiveness
• We perceive attractive people to be happier, healthier and
more successful; they have higher income levels
• Even babies and the blind can be influenced by physical
attractiveness
• However…
• Physical attractiveness doesn’t influence our selfesteem
• Most people see themselves as fairly attractive
• Really attractive people are sometimes suspicious of other
people’s motives
• Beauty is influenced by culture
• Average is attractive – symmetrical
• We are attracted to people like us. People with
similar: attitudes, beliefs, interests, age, religion,
race, education, intelligence, and economic status
• We also like people who like us
• Romantic Love
• Passionate love – adrenaline and excitement make people
more attractive – bungee jump experiment
• Companionate love – deep, affectionate attachment
• Evolutionary explanation
• Equity
• Self-disclosure
• The matching effect
• But remember…we overestimate the extent to which our
partner’s attractiveness, talents etc. will bring us happiness, and
underestimate the benefits of someone who is honest,
supportive etc.
ALTRUISM
• Unselfish regard for the welfare of others
• Kitty Genovese murder
• Bystander Effect (diffusion of responsibility )
• N.Y. Bike experiment
• Genovese
• Seizure experiment
WHY DO WE HELP?
• Social Exchange theory – cost/benefit analysis
• Reciprocity Norm – How to get teachers to cover
classes…
• Social Responsibility Norm
FACTORS THAT ENCOURAGE HELPING
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The victim appears to need and deserve help
The victim is in some way similar to us
We have just observed someone else being helpful
We are not in a hurry (Seminarians)
We are in a small town or rural area
We are feeling guilty
We are focused on others and not preoccupied
We are in a good mood
PEACEMAKING
• Cooperation – sometimes contact helps, but
people of different groups often feel the other
group doesn’t want contact
• A shared problem can help (what if the world was
attacked by aliens?)
• “superordinate goals”
• Communication
• Mediators
• Understanding each other’s needs and motives
• Conciliation
• GRIT “Graduated and Reciprocated Initiatives in TensionReduction”
• Gradual reduction in tension and increase in conciliatory
behavior
• Effective
• Human societies advance by openness to new ideas, not
close-mindedness