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SOCIAL BEHAVIOR
Chapter 16
Social Psych Basics:

Principles:
 People
don’t like to stand out.
 People’s attitudes are malleable.
 People would rather that someone else take
responsibility.
 Beliefs follow behavior, and not the other way around.
Social Psych Basics: The Big Chart
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YOU WILL CRY OUT IN GRATITUDE ON TEST DAY IF
YOU LASER FOCUS ON THIS CHART!
Instructions: You will be assigned a subtitle. Find and
learn the key words, summarize them in the “Notes”
column, and then create a verbal story (quickly) that
incorporates all of the key words in your category.
Explain your key words, tell someone the story, and let
them ask questions. Audience members will write down
key words in their chart. You may look in Myers, the other
textbooks, and the internet for them.
Time to prepare: 20 min
Time to teach: 25 min.
Section
“Attribution Processes: . . .”
Key Words
• attributions,
• fundamental attribution error,
• self-serving bias
•
Role-playing (see Zimbardo experiment, Myers 686-88)
“Trying to Change
Attitudes”
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source and factors (Ciccarelli 569, Weiten 665),
message and factors (Ciccarelli 569, Weiten 665),
two-sided argument,
central route to persuasion (Myers 685)
receiver and factors (Ciccarelli 569, Weiten 667)
cognitive dissonance (by Festinger)
self-perception theory (Weiten 688, Bernstein 705)
“Conformity and
Obedience”
• Asch and deindividuation (Myers, 698)
• Milgram and authority (BIG STUDIES)
“Behavior in Groups:
Joining with Others” #1
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bystander effect and diffusion of responsibility,
social loafing,
social facilitation (opposite of social loafing),
group polarization,
“Behavior in Groups:
Joining with Others” #2
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group think,
group cohesiveness (Weiten 698)
in-group/out-group (Myers 707)
Ethnocentrism (Weiten 15)
Prejudice
Notes
“Attribution Processes”
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attributions,
fundamental attribution error,
self-serving bias
Role-playing (see Zimbardo)
Person Perception:
Forming Impressions of Others
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Effects of physical appearance
People tend to attribute desirable characteristics such as
sociable, friendly, poised, warm, competent, and well adjusted
to those who are good looking.
Research on physical variables in person perception indicate
that facial features that are similar to infant features influence
perceptions of honesty (baby-faced people being viewed as
more honest).
Cognitive schemas
People use social schemas, organized clusters of ideas about
categories of social events and people, to categorize people
into types.
Figure 16.1 Examples of social schemas
Attributions
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1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Read through these comments.
“They won because all of their team members must take steroids.
Look at those muscles! They all look like East German Olympians!”
“They won only because our best two athletes on the team were out
with injuries—talk about good luck!”
“They won because they have some of the best talent in the
country”
“Anybody could win this region; the competition is far below
average in comparison to the rest of the country.”
“We only lost because our star player was dehydrated. Did you
know she couldn’t even spit she was so dehydrated?”
“They won because they get to practice with state of the art
equipment. Little rich kids!”
“Our coach is incompetent. That’s why we didn’t win.”
“They won because they put in a great deal of last-minute effort and
practice, and they were incredibly fired up for the regional
tournament after last year’s loss.”
Key to Attributions Activity
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“They won because all of their team members must take steroids. Look at those muscles!
They all look like East German Olympians!” external-stable (environmental, permanent
physical state)
“They won only because our best two athletes on the team were out with injuries—talk
about good luck!” external-unstable (environment/luck)
“They won because they have some of the best talent in the country” internal-stable (talent)
“Anybody could win this region; the competition is far below average in comparison to the
rest of the country.” External-stable (depends on comparison to others, ability)
“We only lost because our star player was dehydrated. Did you know she couldn’t even spit
she was so dehydrated?” internal-unstable (not environmental, physical state)
“They won because they get to practice with state of the art equipment. Little rich kids!”
external-stable (equipment is environmental, richness is somewhat permanent)
“Our coach is incompetent. That’s why we didn’t win.” Internal-stable
“They won because they put in a great deal of last-minute effort and practice, and they
were incredibly fired up for the regional tournament after last year’s loss.” Internalunstable (came from inside, last minute decision)
Fundamental Attribution Error vs
Self-Serving Bias
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Fundamental Attribution Error: making external
attributions about others when they best us and
internal attributions about them when they fail.
 EX.
Jessica beat me on the test because the teacher
likes her more.
 EX. Jessica failed the test because she’s an idiot.
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Self-serving bias: making attributions about
yourself that depict you as competent and right.
 EX.
I beat Jessica on the test because I’m smarter than
she is.
Role Playing and Zimbardo’s Prison
Experiment
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Adopting a role means striving to following the social
prescriptions, or social norm, which defines that role.
Zimbardo randomly assigned some students as “guards” and
others as “prisoners.”
Most guards developed disparaging attitudes, and some
devised cruel and degrading routines.
“Trying to Change Attitudes”
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source and factors,
message and factors,
two-sided argument,
central route to persuasion (Myers 685)
receiver and factors,
cognitive dissonance
self-perception theory
Social Behavior:
Attitudes?
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What determines whether or not you form an attitude on something,
how strong that attitude is, and whether or not you will change your
mind once the attitude is formed? Use the picture prompts as idea
starters.
What Are Attitudes Made Of?
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3 components
 Cognitive:
beliefs about object of thought
 Affective: feelings stimulated by object of thought
 Behavioral: predispositions to act in certain ways
toward an attitude object
Factors in changing attitudes
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Factors in changing attitudes
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Source: the origin of the information; the source has high
credibility and is trustworthy and likeable.
Message: the content of what you’re saying; two-sided
arguments that use only strong points and successfully arouse fear
are effective.
Receiver: susceptibility to persuasion not linked with personality,
but it is linked with forewarning. Receiver more receptive if the
argument does not interfere with strong attitudes and beliefs.
Receiver less receptive is he/she already knows something about
the topic, b/c sparks analysis.
Two Routes to Persuasion
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Elaboration Likelihood Model
Two routes reflect the tension between wanting to be right and wanting to be
efficient.
 Central Route: Persuasion occurs when interested people focus on the arguments
and respond with favorable thoughts.
 People who follow the central route carefully scrutinize the information
contained in a message and answer two types of questions:
 Does the message fit well with what I already know?
 How does this information affect me?
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Peripheral Route: Persuasion that results when people are influence by
incidental cues such as the speaker’s attractiveness.
People are not always going to think carefully about your message.
 Sometimes the arguments in favor of your message are also weak.
 What happens when elaboration likelihood is low? How do we change
people’s attitudes in the absence of much thought?
Theories of Attitude Change
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Theories of attitude change
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Learning theory: Attitudes may be shaped through classical
conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning.
Cognitive Dissonance theory: inconsistent attitudes cause tension
and that people alter their attitudes to reduce cognitive
dissonance. LEON FESTINGER is the theorist who explored this.
Self-perception theory: People infer their attitudes from their
behavior. We behave and then we infer our beliefs from our
behaviors. Not the other way around.

Elaboration likelihood model: Central routes (when people
carefully ponder the content and logic of persuasive messages) to
persuasion yield longer-lasting attitude change than peripheral
routes (persuasion depends on nonmessage factors such as
attractiveness of the source).
“Conformity and Obedience”
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Asch and deindividuation (Myers, 698)
Milgram and authority
Social Psychology: Conformity and
Obedience, and the Mob
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Conformity occurs when people yield to real or
imagined social pressure
Example: You maintained a well-groomed lawn to
avoid ticking off the neighbors.
Deindividuation is the loosening of self-awareness in
groups. You simply play the role because, when in a
group, you don’t feel as accountable or as
“yourself.”
Example: I’m a member of this group, and the
group says that “B” is the right answer. I disagree.
If I get the answer wrong, it’s the group’s fault.
Solomon Asch (1951, 1955, 1956)
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1955: A group of seven subjects, all male
undergraduate students, were shown a large card with
a vertical line on it and were then asked to indicate
which of the three lines on a second card matches the
original “standard line” in length.
Solomon Asch ctd.
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Everyone in the group are given a turn to match the line
lengths, and then they announce their decision in a group.
The subject the 6th chair didn’t know it, but everyone else in
the group is an accomplice of the experimenter.
All accomplices give the correct answer for the first two
trials. Beginning on the third trial, they begin to give the
wrong answer.
Out of the next 15 trials, the accomplices give the same
incorrect answer on 11 of them.
What did the person in the 6th chair do?
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This experiment was repeated with 50 different
young men.
The 50 participants in the 6th chair conformed to the
wrong answer 37% of the time.
13 never caved in to the group, and 14 conformed
on over half the trials!
Why do people conform?
Deindividuation: the loosening of self-awareness in
groups. You simply play the role because, when in a
group, you don’t feel as accountable or as “yourself.”
Stanley Milgram (1963)
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How can regular citizens be
persuaded to act in cruel ways?
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Obedience: yielding to authority.
 EX.
That man is wearing a white lab coat and sports
the title, doctor. Therefore, I am willing to take this
medication, even though I am uncertain about it.
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Deindividuation: the loosening of self-awareness in
groups. You simply play the role because, when in a
group, you don’t feel as accountable or as
“yourself.”
 EX.
The man in charge is telling me to shock the guy
when he gets the answer wrong. If the guy dies, it’s not
my fault.
Stanley Milgram ctd.
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Subjects were a diverse collection of 40 men from the local
community recruited through advertisements to participate in
a study at Yale.
The subjects were told that the purpose of the experiment
was to study the relationship between mental acuity and
stress.
Each subject would meet the experimenter and another
subject, a likeable, 47-year-old accountant. The accountant
was actually an accomplice to the experimenter, but the
subject didn’t know it.
The subject was “the teacher” and the nice accountant was
“the learner.” These assignments were made through a
rigged drawing.
Milgram ctd.
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The subject watched as the accountant was
strapped into an electrified chair through
which a shock could be delivered.
The subject was told that the shock would be
painful but “would not cause tissue damage.”
The subject was taken into a room next door
that housed the shock generator that he was
told to control.
The 30 switches varied from “Slight Shock” to
“XXX.”
Milgram ctd.
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The accountant was asked questions. When he answered
them correctly, he was not shocked. When he answered them
incorrectly, the subject was told to administer increasingly
severe shocks for each wrong answer.
THE SHOCKS WERE NOT REAL, BUT THE SUBJECT DIDN’T
KNOW IT!
As the severity of the false shocks increased, the accomplice
would begin to scream, beat on the wall, and beg for
mercy.
When the level of the false shocked was nearing its
severest, the accomplice would all silent, as if he was no
longer conscious.
Milgram ctd.
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As the shocks continued, the subject would ask the
experimenters things like, “Should I stop now?” or
“Am I hurting him?” The subjects were told by the
experimenters to continue until the end of the
experiment.
65% of the subjects delivered the entire series of
shocks.
Why?
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Obedience and deindividuation
“the essence of obedience is that a person comes to
view himself as the instrument for carrying out
another person’s wishes, and he therefore no longer
regards himself as responsible for his actions.”
—Stanley Milgram
“Behavior in Groups: Joining with
Others”
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bystander effect,
social loafing,
social facilitation (opposite of social loafing),
group polarization,
group think,
group cohesiveness
in-group/out-group (Myers, 707)
Ethnocentrism (Weiten 683),
Prejudice (Weiten 683)
The Bystander Effect
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In the famous 1964 “Kitty Genovese” incident, a
young woman named Kitty Genovese was stabbed
to death outside her home in Queens, New York.
Many of Kitty’s neighbors heard her desperate
screams for help, yet no one called the police
until too late. Report of this event shocked the city
and the nation, and became the impetus for
research on the psychological phenomenon that
became known as the “Bystander Effect” by
psychologists John Darley and Bibb Latané.
The Bystander Effect
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One reason that the bystander effect occurs is the social
influence process known as “diffusion of responsibility”.
Through numerous studies, psychologists have found that
bystanders are less likely to intervene in emergency
situations as the size of the group increases.
The presence of others makes one feel less personally
responsible for responding to events and each additional
person present lowers the chances of anyone helping at all.
People tend to assume that someone else will provide the
necessary help, especially when there are many others
around who could potentially do so.
Other Group Phenomena
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Social loafing: exerting less effort in a group, because
someone else will do it
Social facilitation: try harder and perform better in a
group to make yourself look good. Works well for
simple tasks in which you have confidence in your
performance.
Group polarization: tendency for groups to make
decisions that are more extreme than the initial
inclination of its members. EX. The hate group decided
to blow up vacant cars of people at the opposing rally
instead of just picketing with signs on the street.
Other Group Phenomena
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Group cohesiveness: group members possess bonds linking
them to one another and to the group as a whole. Group
cohesion develops from a number of binding social forces
that act on members to stay in the group.
Groupthink: group cohesiveness comes first. The mode of
thinking that happens when the desire for harmony in a
decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of
alternatives. Group members try to minimize conflict and
reach a consensus without critical evaluation of alternative
ideas or viewpoints. EX. Family Court. “We don’t really
care what you decide for your kids, as long as you both
agree.”
In and Out Groups
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In-group: the group that you’re apart of or partial
to. People favor (bias) their in-group.
Out-group: the groups containing “others.” Not your
group and not partial to it. People handicap (bias)
their out-group.
In and out group biases can lead to racial, cultural, linguistic,
gender, religious, and other kinds prejudice. It is related to
ethnocentrism.
Person Perception:
Forming Impressions of Others
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Stereotypes
A normal cognitive process involving widely held social
schemas that lead people to expect that others will have
certain characteristics because of their membership in a
specific group.
Ex. Gender, age, ethnic, and occupational
Prejudice and discrimination
Prejudice is a negative attitude toward a person because of
group membership, while discrimination is an action.
Memory biases are tilted in favor of confirming people’s
prejudices.
Transmission of prejudice across generations occurs in part
due to observational learning and may be strengthened
through operant conditioning.
Ethnocentricism
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Ethnocentrism: Ethnocentrism is a belief that your
society, group, or culture is superior to all others.
Very often this means that differences in groups
(e.g., your group has more old people than ours)
are seen as somehow bad.
Social Psych Odds and Ends
Attraction
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The matching hypothesis (Weiten, 657)
 Suggests that people are attracted to others who are of the same perceived
level of attractiveness as themselves. Initially this was based purely on looks and
physical attractiveness, but it has since been suggested that other characteristics
such as humor or intelligence can compensate for looks (Goffman (1952).
Attitude similarity (pg. 658)
 People tend to choose partners who have similarities to themselves in culture,
upbringing, religion, . . . in other words, people who end up together are similar
in their beliefs and backgrounds.
 Statistically-speaking, opposites DO NOT attract.
Attitude alignment (pg. 658)
 Inevitability, a couple knows of or discovers differences in attitude. In a long-term
relationship, partner’s beliefs/attitudes will shift in the direction of the other
person’s belief/attitude.
 EX. A conservative, gun-toting member of the NRA marries a bleeding-heart
liberal. In 20 years, the conservative may insist on putting solar panels on the
house and the liberal may enjoy going to the shooting range with his/her spouse.
Attraction: Why do people like each other?
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The important thing to remember: Opposites DO NOT attract.
Sometimes we think that opposites attract simply because
prominent features of a person’s life do not match those of their
partner. However, if we examine their overall attitudes, beliefs,
interests, and physical appearance, we find they’re very similar.
Similarity: this principle states that we are attracted to people who
are similar to us. It is the rule; not the exception.
Alignment: a social principle that says that often times our attitudes
will shift toward those of a friend, spouse, or other family member
as we get to know and respect them. EX. Bob may always be a
democrat, but once he’s been married to his republican wife for 10
years he decides that he’s okay with capital punishment and that he
can at least understand a pro-life person’s point-of-view.
Love and Liking
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Perspectives on love
 Hatfield
& Berscheid – Passionate vs. Companionate
love: Can co-exist.
 Sternberg - Intimacy and commitment are subdivisions
of “companionate love.” Intimacy= warmth, closeness,
and sharing and commitment=intent to maintain a
relationship in spite of the difficulties and costs
Altruism
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Unselfish behavior and attitude towards the welfare of others.
Intentional behaviors that benefit another person
 Behaviors which have no obvious gain for the provider
 Behaviors which have obvious costs for the provider (e.g.
time, resources)
Is there really altruism? Altruism is often for self-benefit e.g.,
power, status, reward, psychological gain.
What matters in judging the act is the actor's intended
outcomes.
Sex vs Gender
Sex
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Biological
Primary and secondary sex
characteristics
Mostly the same for all
humans. Changes b/c
evolution.
EX. Reproductive plumbing
EX. You’re a guy, and
you’re harrier than that girl
sitting next to you.
Gender
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Societal
Society’s interpretation of
how you should look, think,
and behave due to your sex
May vary significantly from
culture to culture
Ex. Men should not wear
skirts.
Ex. Women are more
emotional than men