Download Unit 9 - Social Psychology

Social Psychology
Attitudes
Attraction
Aggression
Group Behavior
The study of how we think about, influence, and
relate to one another.
Attribution Theory
• Tries to explain how we
determine the cause of
other people’s behavior.
It is either a….
• Situational Attribution
(external factors)
• Dispositional Attribution
(internal/personal factors)
And
• Stable Attribution
(unchanging factors)
• Unstable Attribution
(temporary factors)
Fundamental Attribution Error
How do you view your
teacher’s behavior?
You probably
attribute it to his
personality rather
than his profession.
But do you really
know?
• Is when we tend to
overestimate the role of
dispositional factors and
underestimate the
impact of the situation.
Self-Serving Bias –
readiness to perceive
oneself favorably.
If you win it is because you are
awesome…if you lose, it must have
been the coach or the weather.
The Effects of Attribution
• Social Effects
• Political Effects
• Workplace Effects
Attitudes & Actions
• Attitudes are a set of
beliefs and feelings
we have.
• Advertising is ALL
based on attitude
formation.
When Do Attitudes Predict Behavior?
• When outside influences on what we do are
minimal.
• When we are keenly aware of our attitudes.
• When are attitudes are relevant to our
behavior.
Behavior (Actions) Can Also Affect Attitudes
• Foot-in-the-door
phenomenon (agreeing
w/ small request and
later w/ a large one).
Behavior (Actions) Can Also Affect Attitudes
• Philip Zimbardo’s prison study
showed how we can often become
the role (a set of expectations in a
social setting that define how
should behave) we are given.
• Philip Zimbardo has students at
Stanford U. play the roles of
prisoner and prison guards in the
basement of psychology building.
• They were given uniforms and
numbers for each prisoner.
• What do you think happened?
• Do you remember the Abu Ghraib
Prison photos from Iraq?
Abu Ghraib Prison Photos
Behavior (Actions) Can Also Affect Attitudes
Cognitive Dissonance Theory
• People want to have consistent attitudes and
behaviors….when they are not consistent with each
other they experience dissonance (unpleasant
tension).
• Usually they will change their attitude.
You have a belief
that cheating on
tests is bad.
But you cheat
on a test!!!
The teacher was
really bad so in
that class it is OK.
The Power of the Situation:
Conformity and Obedience
Conformity Studies
• Adjusting one’s
behavior or thinking
to coincide with a
group standard.
Soloman Asch’s Study of Conformity
Asch’s Results
• About 33% of the participants conformed
when in a group.
• When alone they erred less than 1% of the
time.
Conformity strengthens when:
• The group is unanimous.
• The group is at least three people.
• One admires the group’s status.
• One has made no prior commitment.
• One is made to feel incompetent or insecure.
• One is being observed by others in the
group.
Stanley Milgram’s Study on Obedience
Obedience – tendency to comply with orders from
someone perceived as an authority.
Results of the Milgram Study:
2/3rds of the participants obeyed the experimenter to the
fullest extent.
What did we learn from Milgram?
• Ordinary people can do
shocking things!
• His experiment had real
ethical issues…
• Would not have received
approval from today’s IRB
(Internal Review Board).
What did we learn from Milgram?
• People were more obedient when:
• 1. The authority figure was in the room.
• 2. When they felt the experiment was
part of a prestigious institution.
• 3. The learner was not in sight.
How groups affect our behavior?
Group Dynamics
Social Facilitation Theory
• If you are really good at
something….or it is an easy
task…you will perform
BETTER in front of a group.
• If it is a difficult task or
you are not very good at
it…you will perform WORSE
in front of a group.
Social Loafing
• The tendency for people in
a group to exert less
effort when pooling
efforts toward a common
goal than if they were
individually accountable.
Deindividuation
• The loss of self-awareness
and self-restraint occurring
in group situations.
• Feel anonymous and aroused.
• Explains rioting behaviors.
Group Polarization
• Enhancement of a group’s
already-existing attitudes
through discussion within the
group. The more you are around
people who think like you … the
stronger your beliefs get.
Groupthink
• The mode of thinking that
occurs when the desire for
harmony in a decision-making
group overrides a realistic
appraisal of the alternatives.
• We go along with a decision
to get along with others.
The Power of Individuals
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy:
• When we believe
something to be true
about others (or
ourselves) and act in
ways that cause this
belief to come true.
The Power of Individuals
• Minority Influence – the
power of one or two
individuals to sway the
majority (like Rosa Parks).
• They are most successful
when they express their
views firmly & consistently.
Social Relations
Attraction
Conflict and Prejudice
Altruism and Peacemaking
How do we relate to others?
Aggression
Attraction
3 Factors of Attraction:
1.) Proximity
• Geographic nearness
Mere exposure effect:
• Repeated exposure to
something breeds
liking.
• Taiwanese Letters.
2.) Similarity
• Paula Abdul was
wrong - opposites do
NOT attract.
• Birds of the same
feather do flock
together.
• Similarity breeds
content.
3.) Physical Attractiveness
The Hotty Factor
• Physical attractiveness
predicts dating frequency
(hotties date more).
• They are perceived as
healthier, happier, more
sensitive and successful
than less attractive
counterparts.
What is beauty?
• Some people say beauty is facial symmetry.
Beauty and Culture
• Obesity is so revered
among Mauritania's white
Moor Arab population that
the young girls are
sometimes force-fed to
obtain a weight the
government has described
as "life-threatening."
• Of course, here in the
U.S. we prefer hard, thin
bodies.
Are these cultures really that different?
LOVE
• Passionate Love: an
aroused state of
INTENSE positive
absorption of another.
• Companionate Love: the
deep affectionate
attachment we feel for
those with whom our
lives are intertwined.
What makes companionate love work?
• Equity
• Self-disclosure
Altruism: Unselfish regard for the welfare of others.
• Kitty Genovese case in N.Y.
showed none of this. Why?
Bystander Effect:
• Tendency for any given bystander
to be less likely to give aid if
other bystanders are present. In
general…the more people
around…the less chance of help…
because of a …
• We are more likely to help when…
We are more likely to help when we…
•
•
•
•
•
•
1. are in a good mood.
2. believe the victim deserves the help.
3. are in a good mood.
4. believe the victim is similar to us.
5. are not in a hurry.
6. are feeling guilty.
Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Discrimination
Stereotype:
• Overgeneralized idea
about a group of people.
Prejudice:
• Undeserved (usually
negative) attitude
towards a group of
people. Ethnocentrism
is an example of a
prejudice.
Discrimination:
• An action based on a
prejudice (Individual vs.
Institutional).
Is it just race?
NO!
• Palestinians and Jews
• N. Cal vs. S. Cal
• Men and Women
How does prejudice occur?
Just World Phenomenon
•
•
In one popular study female and male
subjects were told two versions of a
story about an interaction between a
woman and a man. Both variations were
exactly the same, except at the very
end the man raped the woman in one
and in the other he proposed marriage.
In both conditions, both female and
male subjects viewed the woman's
(identical) actions as inevitably leading
to the (very different) results.
In-Group versus Out-Groups.
• In-Group Bias
Scapegoat Theory – outlet for
anger by blaming others.
Combating Prejudice
Contact Theory
• Contact between hostile groups will reduce
animosity if they are made to work towards a
superordinate goal (common shared goal).
• Sherif’s camp study
• Election of Obama?
Aggression
• Any physical or verbal
behavior intended to
hurt or destroy.
• In the U.S. we are
MUCH more likely (5
times) to be murdered
compared to most other
developed nations.
The Biology of Aggression
• Genetic and Neural Influences
(breeding / amygdala).
• Biochemical (low serotonin /
testosterone).
• Alcohol (seems to have both
biological and psychological
effects).
Psychology of Aggression
Two types of aggression:
1. Instrumental Aggression
2. Hostile Aggression
Theories of Aggression:
Bandura’s Modeling
Frustration-Aggression
Hypothesis
Learning Aggression
It can be learned but…
Once learned it’s difficult to change.
Aggression and TV
Watches
=
• By the time you are 18, you spend more time in front of TV than in school.
•2/3 of all homes have 3 or more sets and an average 51 hours a week of TV.
•By the time a child finishes elementary school they have witnessed 8000
murders and 100,000 other acts of violence on TV.
•Over half of all deaths do NOT show the victim's pain.
•As TV watching has grown exponentially, so has violent behavior - a strong
positive correlation.