Download Social Psychology * Ch 18 - Lincoln Park High School

Social Psychology – Ch 18
Social Cognition
Review of Ch 17 – Key Ideas
 Social Psychology – scientific study of the ways that people’s behavior
and mental processes are shaped by the presence of others.
 Social Facilitation – simple tasks; social inhibition – complex tasks
 Deindividuation – group situations minimize recognition of personal
identity
 Bystander Effect – reduced responsibility in the presence of others
 Compliance - *important*
 Obedience – Milgram study – 65% obey all the way
 Stanford Prison Experiment (Zimbardo) – institutional norms
 Group Polarization and Risky Shift – Stoner and hypothetical dilemmas
 Groupthink – group consensus is paramount
Stereotypes
 We think and remember through schemas to increase the
efficiency of cognition (preview to cognitive unit). This leads us
to categorize people into groups as well.
 A stereotype is a schema for a group of people
 Activation of a stereotype can cause it to become
automatic.
 Do you hold stereotypes? Are you prejudiced?
 http://www.understandingprejudice.org/iat/
 Primacy effect plays a role in the development of stereotypes.
 Self-fulfilling prophesies can reaffirm stereotypes.
 Stereotype threat – the impact of stereotypes on a
stereotyped individual; standardized testing research
Individuation
 Assessing an individual’s qualities on a person-to-person
basis.
 Categorization happens immediately – why?
 It increases efficiency in our thinking.
 We think in ways that are influenced by culture.
 We have a tendency to try to confirm our initial thinking.
 Structured, cooperative contact fosters individuation.
Attribution
 Trying to understand the cause of others’ behavior.
 Dispositional vs. Situational Attribution
 Fundamental Attribution Error – attribute behavior of others
to dispositional factors
 Steps of Attribution
 1. Dispositional Inference
 2. Situational Correction – cognitive resources to carefully
think about the automatic processing.
Culture and Cognition
 Does the Fundamental Attribution Error exist everywhere?
 Is it an emic?
 Individualist vs. Collectivist cultures – people in both
cultures can commit the error, however role playing the
situation caused those in a collectivist culture to be more
in tune with situational constraints.
 Challenges the notion of universality in cognition and
social cognition.
Attitudes
 Favorable or unfavorable evaluations of and reactions to
the things around us.
 There is a COGNITIVE, AFFECTIVE, and BEHAVIORAL
component to them.
Persuasive Communication
 Elaboration Likelihood model – persuasion depends on
the likelihood we will pay attention/think
 If we’re focused – persuasion follows a central route
 If we’re not – persuasion follows a peripheral route
 Central route: individual responds to the content of an
argument; ends as a sort of self-persuasion
 Peripheral route: individual responds to non-content cues
of an argument
Problems with Attitudes and Behavior
 LaPiere study showing that people did not follow up on
their stated prejudices.
 Behavior is also constrained by the situation.
 Peer pressure can influence behavior.
 However, strong and consistent attitudes are much more
likely to predict behavior.
 Specific attitudes are better predictors of behavior than
general attitudes.
Interpersonal Attraction
 Physical attractiveness plays a large role in our attitudes
about others…why?
 Evolutionary explanation – what is a beautiful face, voice,
body, etc?
 Cultural explanation – culture values a specific kind of
beauty, we are a part of that culture.
 Why are you friends with your friends?
 Mere Exposure Effect – familiarity means liking
 Similar cultural characteristics lead to relationships
 We also seek others we perceive to be at our level of
physical attractiveness
Sternberg’s Triangle of Love
 Why do we love?
 Self-expansion as exhilarating
 In close relationships we view the other as very close to our
self.
 Passionate, Companionate, and Intimate Love
 Emotions tend to run high early in relationships, but feelings
of affection are what make relationships last.