Download Social Psychology

Social Psychology
Attitude
Attraction
Aggression
Group Behavior
The study of how we think about,
influence, and relate to one another
What do you think?
• A very good friend gets angry with you. How
do you explain his/her behavior?
• The same friend does something nice for you.
How do you explain his/her behavior?
• Someone you have recently gotten to know
walks by you in the hall but doesn’t say hello
(even as you try to say hi to them) what would
you think? Why?
• That good friend (above) walks by you in the
hall but doesn’t say hello (even as you try to
say hi to him/her). What do you think? Why?
Attribution Theory
• The theory that we
explain someone’s
behavior crediting
either the situation or
the person’s disposition
It is either a….
• Situational Attribution
• Dispositional
Attribution
Fundamental Attribution Error
How do you view your
teacher’s behavior?
You probably
attribute it to their
personality rather
than their profession.
But do you really
know?
Self-Serving Bias
If you win it is
because you are
awesome…if you lose,
it must have been the
coach or weather
or….
• We tend to overestimate
the role of dispositional
factors & underestimate
the impact of the
situation
• Individualistic (disposition)
vs. Collectivistic Cultures
(situation)
• Remember: Our attributions
have consequences-make
them carefully
FAE in Everyday Life
• We struggle to explain
others’ actions
• Happily married couples
attributes a sassy
remark to situation (“He
had a bad day at work’)
• Unhappily married
couples attribute that
remark to mean
disposition (“Why did I
marry such a mean
husband?”)
Attitudes
• Attitude: feelings that predispose us to
respond in certain ways to people, events,
objects…
• Persuasion: when your attitude or opinion
toward something changes
• Central Route Persuasion: attitude change
path where interested people focus on the
arguments & respond w/ favorable thoughts
– The issues are at the heart (center)
• Peripheral Route Persuasion: attitude
change path where people are influenced by
cues
– Ex: endorser’s attractiveness
• Advertising is ALL based on attitude
formation
Attitude and Behavior
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.
• Do attitudes tell us about
someone’s behavior?
Cognitive Dissonance Theory
• People want to have
consistent thoughts….when
they are not they
experience dissonance
(unpleasant tension)
• When we are aware of
this, we act to reduce the
discomfort
• Usually they will change
their attitude
• We don’t want to be
hypocrites, do we?
Cognitive Dissonance Example
*Elizabeth thinks that financial security
is important but is dating a guy who is
financially irresponsible.
-to relieve the tension, she can
either leave the relationship or reduce
the importance of financial security
*Create 2 of your own examples
Compliance Strategies
• Foot-in-the-door
phenomenon: people who
have agreed to a small
request are more likely to
agree to a larger one
– Start small & build
– Behaviors escalate
– What are some examples?
• Door-in-the-face
phenomenon: excessive
request followed by a more
reasonable one
– What are some examples?
Conformity
• Adjusting one’s
behavior or thinking to
coincide with a group
standard
• Behavior is contagious!
Asch’s Conformity Results
• About 1/3 of the
participants conformed
• 70% conformed at least
once
To strengthen conformity:
•
•
•
•
•
The group is unanimous (the dissent
of just one other person greatly
increases social courage)
The group is at least three people
One admires the group’s
status/attractiveness
You are made to feel incompetent
Others in the group observe your
behavior
Reasons for Conforming
• Normative Social Influence
– Influence resulting from
a person’s desire to gain
approval or avoid
disapproval
– We want to avoid
rejection so we conform
to social norms
• Ex: you really love country
music but pretend to hate it
when your lunch group is
bashing it
• Informational Social Influence
• When we don’t know how to
behave, we copy others
• when we look to others for
information about reality
• Ex: you watch others to find
out what fork to use at a fancy
restaurant
Milgram’s Study
Of
Obedience
Results of the Milgram Study
Ordinary people can do
shocking things!
How groups affect our behavior?
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
• What yo do well, you are
likely to do better in from
of an audience
• What you find difficult may
seem impossible when you
are being watched
• If it is a difficult task or
you are not very good at
it…you will perform
WORSE in front of a
group (social impairment).
Situation: Tug-of-War
• You are in Animal House playing the Nacho
Cheese Tug-of-War. Are you putting forth
more or less effort than if you were playing by
yourself?
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.
Questions?
1. Should teachers stop using group projects?
Why or why not?
2. Does having group members evaluate each
other minimize social loafing? Why or why
not?
3. Does assigning roles help minimize social
loafing? Why or why not?
4. How can group members motivate each
other to work their hardest during group
work?
Deindividuation
• People get swept up
in a group and lose
sense of self
• Feel anonymous and
aroused
• Explains rioting
behaviors
Deindividuation
1. What types of actions does the crowd engage
in that are considered illegal?
2. Does alcohol use during sporting events
increase the effects of deindividuation?
3. Does dressing up or painting one’s face
increase or decrease the likelihood of
deindividuation?
Group Polarization
• A phenomenon where
the decisions and
opinions of people in a
group setting become
more extreme than
their actual, privately
held beliefs
– Groups tend to make
more extreme decisions
than the individual.
Groupthink
• Group members
suppress their
reservations about
the ideas supported
by the group
• They are more
concerned with
group harmony
Stereotypes, Prejudice and
Click here to find out
about an interesting
Discrimination
experiment
Prejudice:
• unjustifiable (usually negative)
attitude towards a group of
people
• Involves stereotypes,
negative feelings, &
discrimination
• Stereotype: overgeneralized
belief about a group of people
Discrimination:
• Unjustifiable negative behavior
toward a group and its members
Ethnocentrism: belief that your
own culture/ethnic group is
superior to others
• Judge others based on your own
culture
Roots of Prejudice
• Social inequalities: the “haves” develop attitudes that
justify things as they are
• We oversimplify other groups’ similarities (they all
look and act alike)
– Other-race effect: we can recall faces of our own
race more accurately than faces of other races
– The more experience, the better we are at
identifying
• Us vs. Them: we need to belong to a group (blame our
ancestors)
– Ingroup: “us” – people we share a common identity
with
• Ingroup bias: the tendency to favor our own
group
– Outgroup: “them” – those seen as different from
“us”
• We most intensely dislike outgroups rivals that
are most like us
How does prejudice occur?
• Just world Phenomenon:
people tend to believe that
the world is “just” and
people get what they
deserve
– Good is rewarded and evil is
punished…right?
• Scapegoat Theory:
prejudice offers an outlet
for anger by providing
someone to blame
– Ex: Germany 1930s, post
9/11 Arab-Americans…
Combating Prejudice
Superordinate Goals
• Contact between hostile groups will reduce
animosity if they are made to work towards a
superordinate goal
• Shared goal requiring cooperation of everyone
• Serif’ Robber’s Cave study
Aggression
• Aggression: any verbal or physical behavior
meant to hurt or destroy
• Biology & experience influence
• Frustration-aggression principle: when
achieving a goal is blocked it creates anger
which can create aggression
– When people think they are being
prevented from achieving a goal, their
frustration is likely to turn to aggression
– The closer you get to a goal, the greater
the excitement and expectation of the
pleasure. Thus the closer you are, the
more frustrated you get by being held
back.
– Ex: crowd becomes aggressive when team
is losing
– Your example?
Attraction
5 Factors of Attraction
Proximity
• Geographic nearness
– We are more likely to
like/marry someone
from the same
neighborhood, work,
school…
Mere exposure effect:
• The more we see
something the more we
like it!
• Taiwanese
Letters…poor guy
Physical Attractiveness
• Physically attractiveness
predicts dating frequency
(they date more)
• They are perceived as
healthier, happier, more
honest and successful than
less attractive
counterparts
• Culture & beauty…
Are these cultures really that different?
Similarity
• Opposites do NOT
attract
• Birds of the same
feather do flock
together
• Couples are likely to
share common
attitudes, beliefs,
interests
• We also like people
who like us
Altruism
Reciprocity Norm
• People will help (not hurt)
those that helped them
Social Responsibility Norm
• Expectation that people
help those who need it
• Ex: people who help w/
natural disasters
• Altruism: unselfish regard for the
welfare of others
Bystander Effect
• The tendency for a bystander to be less
likely to help if other bystanders are
present
• Kitty Genovese story
• People are much more likely to help if
they are the only one around/hear
screams, etc…much less likely if others
are around/think other hear…because…
• Diffusion of Responsibility
• Social Exchange Theory: behavior is an
exchange process
• If benefits outweigh costs, we go
for it
• If costs outweigh benefits, we
terminate
• Ex: any relationship!
Which person would you want to
have a long term relationship
with?
Zimbardo’s Prison Study
• Showed how we
deindividuate AND
become the roles 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?