Download Are You suprised

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Directions: Use the following outline to guide you in your readings of the unit on social psychology. Text
that appears like this is information that does not appear in your book. Page numbers of readings are
highlighted as are some vocabulary words which are also bold and italicized. Where there is a triple space is
where you should take notes. This outline will also be downloaded to the website (found on the date the first
homework assignment is due) so you can take notes right into this outline.
Chapter 18 – 20: Social Psychology
I. Social Thinking
A. Introduction
1. Our social behavior arises from our social cognition
a. Especially when the unexpected occurs, we analyze why people act as they do
b. Does her warmth reflect romantic interest, or is that how she relates to
everyone?
c. Does his absenteeism signify illness, laziness, a stressful work atmosphere?
d. Was the horror of 9/11 the work of crazed people, or of ordinary people
corrupted by life events?
B. Attribution Theory (530 – 531)
C. Attitude Formation (577 – 580)
1. Introduction
a. An attitude is a predisposition to respond in particular ways toward specific things
b. It has three main elements
1. A belief or opinion about something
2. Feelings about that thing
3. A tendency to act toward that thing in certain ways
2. Where Attitudes Come From
3. Persuasion is a direct attempt to influence attitudes (590 – 594)
4. Role Playing Affects Attitudes – The Zimbardo Experiment (561 – 562)
5. More About How Actions Can Affect Attitudes – Cognitive Consistency (584 – 585)
II. Social Influence
A. Group Pressure to Conform (556 – 557)
B. Obedience to Authority (558 – 560)
1. The influence other people have on your attitudes and actions is considerable
a. Sometimes this influence is indirect and subtle, other times it’s quite direct
b. Everyone in this society has had experiences with various authorities such as
parents, teachers, police officers, managers, judges, clergy, and military officers
1. Obedience, or behavior in response to orders given by these authorities, can be
either useful or destructive
c. Psychologists are more interested in the negative aspects of obedience
d. They know that individuals frequently obey irrational commands (e.g. the Nazis)
e. People often obey authority even when obedience goes against their conscience
and their whole system of morality
2. The Milgram Experiment
C. Group Influence
1. Introduction
a. How do groups affect our behavior?
b. To find out, social psychologists study the various influences that operate in
1. the simplest of groups...one person in the presence of another
2. those that operate in more complex groups…families, teams and committees
2. One Person Affecting Another
a. Social Facilitation Versus Social Inhibition (549 – 550)
b. Social Loafing (569 – 570)
c. Deindividuation (570)
3. Interactions Within Groups (550 – 552)
III. Social Relations
A. Introduction
1. We have seen how we think about each other
2. We have also seen how we influence one another
3. The third focus of social psychology is how e relate to one another
a. What causes us to harm or to help, or to fall in love?
b. How can we move a destructive conflict toward a just peace?
c. We will ponder the bad and the good: from prejudice and aggression to
attraction and altruism and peacemaking
B. Prejudice (587 – 588)
1. Introduction
a. Prejudice means, literally, prejudgment
b. Means deciding beforehand what a person will be like instead of withholding
judgment until it can be based on his or her individual qualities
c. To hold stereotypes about a group of people is to be prejudiced about them
d. Prejudice is not necessarily negative – men who are prejudiced against women are
often equally prejudiced in favor of men
2. Stereotypes and Roles
3. Prejudice and Discrimination
4. Types of Groups (549)
C. Aggression (565 – 566)
1. Introduction
a. Any behavior that is intended to cause physical or psychological harm is called
aggression
b. It seems that our society is being torn apart by increasing violence and aggression
c. Psychologists have proposed several theories to explain aggression
2. Biological Influences
3. Cognitive Factors
4. Personality Factors
5. Environmental Factors
D. Attraction (522 – 524)
1. The Psychology of Attraction
a. We endlessly wonder how we can win others’ affection and what makes our own
affections flourish or fade
1. Does familiarity breed contempt, or does it intensify our affection
2. Do birds of a feather flock together, or do opposites attract?
3. Is beauty only skin deep, or does attractiveness matter greatly?
4. Three ingredients of our liking for one another…proximity, physical
attractiveness, similarity
2. Proximity
3. Physical Appearance
4. Similarity
E. Altruism (568 – 569)
1. Introduction
a. Altruism means helping another, often with a risk to oneself, for reasons other
than the expectation of a reward
b. Example: Man tries to steal a purse. Do you watch, or do you try to help the
woman?
2. Diffusion of Responsibility
F. Group Conflict Versus Cooperation (566 – 568)