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Review Document 9: Social Psychology
Chapter 16
Social Psychology
 Define: Study of the way people relate to others.
Attitude Formation and Change
 What is attitude? Set of beliefs / feelings
 Advertising / Marketing: Sole focus is shaping attitudes
 ___________________: More exposure / repetition, the more we come to like it…
 What’s the most effective communicator of message? Attractive, famous, expert
Attitudes and Behavior
 Is attitude a predictive model of behavior? (Generally yes not specifically dependable)
 ____________________________ Theory
 People are motivated to have consistent attitudes and behavior (creatures of habit)
 Inconsistency between thoughts, actions creates uncertainty, discomfort
 Most common reactions:
 Rationalize behavior, Change thought, or change behavior
 IOW: we need our thoughts and actions to agree
Compliance Strategies (How we get others to comply with our wishes)
 Suppose you need to borrow $20 from a friend? Which is the best way to get the money?
 “Foot in the Door” phenomenon: small to big = $5, larger follow up request of $15
 “Door in the Face” phenomenon: Start big = “no”, back down work small
 Norms of Reciprocity: compulsion to return the favor
Attribution Theory: Explanation of cause of what we observe
 Dispositional “person) attribution: explanation related to individual
 Situation attribution: explanation related to situation
 Stable or unstable: Consistent v. coincidental event
 Possibilities: person-stable attribution, person-unstable, situation-stable, situation-unstable
 _________________Prophecy: Expectations for others can influence how they behave / perform
Attributional Biases (error in explanation of cause due to bias)
 ________________________ theory: Tendency to emphasize dispositional instead of situational
(erroneously blame it on individual instead of situation)
 Is it really fundamental? Research shows that it differs between cultures: fundamental
attribution error much less likely in collectivist cultures (less emphasis on self = less
emphasis on self of others)
 _______________________: tendency to overestimate how others share our perspective, attitude
 Self-Serving Bias: too much credit for good outcomes, not enough for bad (make yourself look
good…)
 Just-world belief: bad things happen to bad people ( tendency to blame victims due to bias)
 Unemployed are lazy, rape victim should have known better…)
Stereotypes, Prejudice and Discrimination
 ____________________: generalized, often inaccurate belief about a group
 ____________________: Unjustified, negative attitude about a group and its members
 ____________________: unjustified negative behavior
 In-groups vs. Out-groups
 Tendency to view out-groups as more homogeneous (out-group homogeneity), in-groups as
more diverse
 In-group bias: Tendency to favor one’s own group
Combating Prejudice
 Contact theory: contact between hostile groups reduces animosity if working together on one goal
 must benefit all and necessitate participation of all = superordinate goal
 __________________Study: summer camp: designed competitive events between two groups =
negative feelings between them / created crises that demanded superordinate goal: result = better
relations
Aggression and Antisocial behavior:
Two types of aggression
 Instrumental: when aggression is used to secure an end (goal)
 Hostile aggression: simply angry or upset; acting out of aggression
 Frustration-Aggression theory: frustration facilitates aggression (more likely)
 Bandura’s Bobo Doll Experiment: power of aggressive modeling
Prosocial Behavior (helping behavior)
 ____________________ (intervention) : Tendency to not give help / get involved if others are
around (diffusion of responsibility)
Attraction
 Factors influencing attraction: similarity, proximity, reciprocal liking
 _____________love: aroused state of intense positive feelings for another
 _______________love: Deep affection / attachment for those with whom our lives are intertwine
The Influence of Others on Behavior
 Social facilitation: we perform better when around others
 Social impairment: others impair performance if task is difficult
 Conformity: to go along with others
 Asch experiment: class setting: questions / Confederates all gave incorrect answer / individual
would follow suit 30% of time (70% at least once during trials)
 Likelihood of conformity does not increase with increase in group size
 __________________ Experiment (1974)
 Classic obedience study
 “Teacher / student” / electric shock for each incorrect answer / buttons: 15 up to 450 volts
 Screaming and silence: 60% followed commands and administered all shocks
 Points to consider: % decreased if could see face, would never be admitted today,
experimenters were told that if real, confederates would have been killed (profoundly
disturbing)
Group Dynamics
 Norms: rules / expectations of behavior
 __________________: less effort than if working alone
 __________________: tendency to heighten, intensify views when discussing with those that
share your views
 Deindividuation: “mob mentality” swept away by group dynamic = looting, rioting
 _______________: desire for harmony within group overrides realistic assessment (false
unanimity is encouraged = bad decisions) highly cohesive groups making risky decisions most
prone (CIA!)