Download Social psychology? Study of how we act differently in groups than

Social psychology?
Mere exposure effect?
Cognitive dissonance
theory?
Cognitive dissonance?
Compliance strategies?
In-group vs out-group?
Out-group
homogeneity?
In-group bias?
Social schemas?
Attribution theory?
Fundamental attribution
error?
Self-serving bias?
Defensive attribution?
False consensus
effect?
Kitty Genovese story?
Bystander effect?
Group polarization?
Groupthink?
Social facilitation?
Deindividuation?
Individualist countries?
Collectivist countries?
Stanley Milgram?
Phillip Zimbardo?
Jane Elliot?
Solomon Asch?
Study of how we act differently in groups than we do alone.
The more we are exposed to something (a person or a product) the more we
like it.
When our attitude and behavior doesn’t match, we feel uncomfortable. So we
change one so they match each other.
The uncomfortable feeling we get when our attitudes don’t match our behavior.
Foot in the door: get people to agree to a small request then ask them for a
larger favor.
Door in the face: ask for something big (a car) then ask for something small (a
cell phone).
Reciprocity: give them something small, then ask for a favor (charities giving
you self-addressed return labels)
Your in-group is who you hang with. Out-groups are classes of people you
don’t hang with (freshmen).
Our tendency to think all members of an out group are the same. (All Asians are
the same)
We view our in-group in terms of positive stereotypes. Out-groups – negative
stereotypes.
Schemas we have about people. We expect mechanics to act differently than
college professors. Stereotypes are an example of social schemas.
Fritz Heider’s theory about what we think causes people to do things.
Situational or external disposition – we attribute our’s or other people’s
behavior to the particular situation of that time. (He’s having an emergency).
Personal or internal disposition - cause of behavior is WHO the person is
(He’s a jerk. He’s a LOSER)
We mistakenly attribute someone’s bad behavior to internal dispositions instead
of situational dispositions.
We take credit for our successes but blame others for our failures. I aced the
test because I’m smart. I failed it because that teacher’s a jerk.
Blame victim so you don’t feel it will happen to you. Helps you believe that the
world is a just place.
Our tendency to think more people agree with us than really do. (Everyone
loves the Dallas Cowboys!)
Famous case how 38 New Yorkers witnessed her being murdered but no one
came to help her. Case study in bystander intervention.
People are less likely to help someone when they are in groups than when they
are alone. This is because of diffusion of responsibility and social loafing.
“Someone else will help.”
Occurs when group discussion strengthens a group’s dominant point of view
and shifts it to more extreme views. Ex: Democrats and Republicans argue and
leave room with more solidified, extreme views. (Think “polar opposites”)
Occurs when members of a cohesive group want to all agree with one another.
(ex: the President’s “yes” men in JFK’s Bay of Pigs invasion)
Our performance improves in the presence of others. Explains why home field
has advantage. Cheerleaders do help!
Person gets caught up in the moment and joins the soccer riot (or gang rape) or
Jew hating. No longer an individual.
USA, Australia – value individual over community and family.
China, Japan, Guatemala – value family, community over individual
Famous for shock experiment studying obedience to authority.
Famous for Prison Experiment at Stanford University. Studied how role playing
affected our attitudes.
Blue eyes/Brown eyes experiment studying racism
Studied how people will conform their answers even when correct.
Social Psychology
* the scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another
I. Social Thinking
A. Attributing Behavior to Persons or to Situations
1. attribution theory – the theory that we tend to give a causal explanation for someone’s behavior,
often by crediting either the situation or the person’s disposition (personality).
2. fundamental attribution error – the tendency for observers, when analyzing another’s behavior,
to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate
the impact of personal disposition.
a. self-serving bias – our tendency to attribute our successes to self and failures to
situational pressures
B. Attitudes and Actions – a belief and feeling that predisposes one to respond in a particular way to people,
events, and objects.
1. foot-in-the-door phenomenon – the tendency for people who have first agreed to a small
request to comply later with a larger request.
2. cognitive dissonance theory – the theory that we act to reduce the discomfort (dissonance) we
feel when our thoughts (cognitions) and behaviors are
inconsistent.
- when our awareness of our attitudes and of our actions clash, we can reduce the resulting
dissonance by changing our attitudes.
- Festinger (1959)
II. Social Influence
A. Conformity – adjusting one’s behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard; Asch (1955)
1. Reasons for Conforming
a. normative social influence – influence resulting from a person’s desire to gain approval
or avoid disapproval
b. informational social influence – influence resulting from one’s willingness to accept
others’ opinions about reality; Sherif (1936)
2. Conditions that Strengthen Conformity
a. group has at least three people
b. group is unanimous (the support of a dissenting ally greatly reduces conformity)
c. one admires the group’s status and attractiveness
d. others in the group observe one’s behavior
e. one is made to feel incompetent or insecure
f. perception that group members are acting independently
B. Obedience – compliance with a direct order or request.
* Milgram (1964) – conducted social psychology’s most famous and controversial experiments
“The most fundamental lesson of our study is that ordinary people, simply doing their jobs, and
without any particular hostility on their part, can become agents in a terrible destructive process.”
C. Group Influence
1. Individual Behavior in the Presence of Others
a. social facilitation – improved performance of tasks in the presence of others; occurs with
simple or well-learned tasks but not with tasks that are difficult or not
yet mastered.
b. social loafing – the tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their
efforts toward attaining a common goal then when individually
accountable
c. deindividuation – the loss of self-awareness and self-restraint occurring in group
situations that foster arousal and anonymity; increases situational
power over behavior; Zimbardo (1973) Stanford Prison Experiment
2. Effects of Group Interaction
a. group polarization – the enhancement of a group’s prevailing attitudes through
discussion within the group; example: prejudice, terrorists
b. groupthink – the mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a
decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives
- coined by Janis (1982) after studying Kennedy’s failed Bay of Pigs invasion
- is fed by overconfidence, conformity, self-justification, and group polarization
III. Social Relations
A. Prejudice - an unjustifiable (and usually negative) attitude toward a group and its members. Prejudice
generally involves stereotyped beliefs, negative feelings, and a predisposition to
discriminatory action; stereotype - a generalized belief about a group of people
1. Social Roots of Prejudice
a. social inequalities - haves vs. have-nots
b. us and them: ingroup and outgroup
i. ingroup - “Us” - people with whom one shares a common identity
ii. outgroup - “Them” - those perceived as different or apart from one’s ingroup
iii. ingroup bias - the tendency to favor one’s own group; cliques
c. scapegoat theory - prejudice offers an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame
2. Cognitive Roots of Prejudice
a. categorization - may bias our perceptions
b. just-world phenomenon - the tendency of people to believe the world is just and that
people therefore get what they deserve and deserve what
they get.
B. Aggression - any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy.
1. The Biology of Aggression
a. genetic influences - twin studies
b. neural influences - frontal lobe inhibits aggression
c. biochemical influences - aggression correlates with high testosterone levels
2. The Psychology of Aggression
a. aversive events
i. frustration-aggression principle - the blocking of an attempt to achieve some
goal creates anger, which can generate
aggression
b. learning to express and inhibit
C. Attraction
1. The Psychology of Attraction
a. proximity - physical nearness - the most powerful predictor of friendship
i. mere-exposure effect - repeated exposure to novel stimuli increases liking of
them.
b. physical attractiveness
c. similarity & reciprocity
2. Romantic Love
a. passionate love - an aroused state of intense, positive absorption in another, usually
present at the beginning of a relationship.
b. companionate love - the deep affectionate attachment we feel for those with whom our
lives are intimately intertwined.
i. equity - people receive from a relationship in proportion to what they give to it.
ii. self-disclosure - revealing intimate aspects of oneself to others.