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Social Psychology
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Branch of psychology concerned with the way
individuals’ thoughts, feelings, and behaviors
are influenced by others.
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Effect of physical appearance
◦ We should know better than to judge on this, but do
we?
◦ What do studies reveal?
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Why might people do this?
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Attractiveness even influences perceptions of
competence:
Research related to jobs:
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People have a tendency to make snap
judgments about people
We tend to weigh initial perception much
more heavily than later information
◦ Examples
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These are especially hard to overcome
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Every person is unique, yet we tend to
categorize people
◦ Why?
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Stereotype- Widely held belief that people
have certain characteristics because of
membership to a particular group
Discussion of common stereotypes:
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Why do we stereotype people? Is there some
truth to them? Are all stereotypes negative?
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It is normal to stereotype people
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We have cognitive schemas for how we
expect certain people to behave:
◦ Cognitive schema – Organized cluster of ideas
about categories of social events and people
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People are likely to interpret what they see in a
way that is consistent with expectations
Illusory Correlation- People estimate they have
encountered more confirmations of an
association between social traits than they
have actually
◦ What does this mean
◦ Examples
◦ Research studies
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According to evolutionary perspective,
humans are programmed to immediately
classify people as members of ingroup or
outgroup
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Ingroup-
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Outgroup –
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Discussion: is there truth to this?
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Attributions- Inferences people draw about
causes of events, others behavior and own
behavior
◦ Why do we need to make these?
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People tend to explain their behavior as result
of personal or environmental factors:
◦ 1.) Internal Attributions
◦ 2.) External Attributions

Causes of behavior due to personal
dispositions, traits, abilities, and feelings.
◦ Examples
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Causes of behavior due to situational
demands and environment
◦ Examples
◦ Examples from class
 Give internal and external explanation
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1.) Fundamental Attribution Error- People
tend to explain other people’s behavior as a
result of internal attributions
◦ In other words….
 Examples
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2.) Self-Serving Bias- People tend to attribute
their success to personal (internal) factors
and their failures to situational (external)
factors
◦ Examples
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Physical Attraction
◦ What is the first thing most people notice?
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“Get acquainted” study:
◦ What was done

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Other studies back up the prominence of
physical attractiveness in the initial dating
stage
“Friend Zone” Discussion

Matching Hypothesis- Proposes males and
females of approximate equal physical
attractiveness are likely to select each other
as partners
◦ Class discussion: Is this true? Why or Why not?

Similarity Effects
◦ Far more support for people being attracted to those
who are similar
 Married and dating couples tend to be similar in age,
race, religion, social class, education, attractiveness, and
attitude.
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Class thoughts
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Attitude Similarity- Similarity seems to cause
liking
◦ Study Findings
◦ Discussion
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Hazan and Shaver believe relationships in
adulthood follow same forms as attachment
during infancy
Think back to attachments: what would children
with these attachment styles look for in adult
relationships:
◦ Secure
◦ Anxious-Ambivalent
◦ Avoidant

Learning theory
◦ Classical Conditioning
 How might attitudes form (about products for
example)
◦ Operant Conditioning
 Agreement from others can serve to shape
behavior/attitudes
◦ Observational Learning
 Observe others attitude and reinforcement

Cognitive Dissonance – State of tension created
when something we say or do contradicts actual
beliefs
◦ We thus alter beliefs to reduce tension

Festinger and Carlsmith Study:
◦ Male college students performed excruciating dull tasks
for one hour
◦ Afterwards, offered money to tell subjects in waiting room
that the study was fun
◦ Wanted participants to do something inconsistent with
beliefs (to create dissonance)
◦ Some subjects given $1; some given $20
 Which group rated task as more enjoyable?
 Other examples
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Conformity- Occurs when people yield to real
or imagined social pressure.
◦ Examples

Solomon Asch Line Study- 1951
◦ http://video.google.com/videosearch?sourceid=nav
client&rlz=1T4TSHB_enUS304US304&q=milgram&u
m=1&ie=UTF8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wv#q=conformity+experimen
t&hl=en&emb=0
◦ Young men conformed on 37% of trials
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Variations on Asch Study
◦ What happened if the group size was lower (one
person)?
◦ What happened if group size was larger (more
people)?
◦ Discussion: What factors make us conform

Obedience – Form of Compliance that occurs
when people follow direct commands, usually
from someone in authority
Participants told study concerned with effects of
punishment on learning
◦ Randomly assigned to either be “teacher” or “learner”
 Participant was always “teacher”; Research accomplice was
“learner”
◦ “learner” was strapped to electrified chair and told they
would be answering questions from “teacher”
◦ “teacher” taken to adjacent room and given shock
generator
 Told to shock “learner” for each mistake, increasing voltage
each time
 Apparatus was fake (although participant did not know)
 http://video.google.com/videosearch?sourceid=navclient&rlz=
1T4TSHB_enUS304US304&q=milgram&um=1&ie=UTF8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wv#
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DV- level of shock participants willing to administer
15V- slight shock
135V- strong shock
375V- Danger: Severe shock
450 V- XXX (last stage)
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How many do you think went all the way to final
voltage?
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Controversy of study
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Class Discussion
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Philip Zimbardo wanted to investigate why prisons
tend to become abusive environments
He recruited college aged males for study of
prison life through newspaper ads
Coin flip determined who would be “guards” and
who would be “prisoners”
“Prisoners” arrested at homes and brought to
simulated prison at Stanford U.
◦ There they were stripped, deloused, given uniform, given
ID, and put in cell

“Guards” given uniforms, billy clubs, glasses
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What happened in study?
◦ Told to run prison any way they saw fit, without physical
punishment
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http://video.google.com/videosearch?sourcei
d=navclient&rlz=1T4TSHB_enUS304US304&q
=milgram&um=1&ie=UTF8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wv#q=zimbardo+priso
n&hl=en&emb=0&start=0
Possible explanations:
◦ Social Roles
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Bystander Effect- People are less likely to
provide needed help when they are in groups
than when they are alone
◦ Diffusion of responsibility