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Chapter 14
Social Psychology
Copyright © 2004 by Allyn & Bacon
Social Psychology
The area of study that attempts to explain how
the actual, imagined, or implied presence of
others influences the thoughts, feelings, and
behaviors of individuals.
Copyright © 2004 by Allyn & Bacon
Attributions
 Situational attributions: the person attributes behavior
to some external cause or factor operating with the
situation.
 Dispositional attributions: the person attributes the
behavior to some internal cause or personal trait.
 Actor-Observer Bias: the tendency to attribute our own
shortcomings primarily to situational factors and those of
others to internal or dispositional factors.
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Factors Influencing Attraction
Proximity or geographic closeness
Reciprocity or reciprocal liking
Similarity
Physical Attractiveness
Matching hypothesis
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Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love
 Components of Love
 Intimacy
 Passion
 Commitment
 Liking (Intimacy only)
 Infatuated love (Passion only)
 Empty Love (Commitment
only)
 Romantic Love (Intimacy and
passion)
 Fatuous Love (Passion and
commitment)
 Companionate Love (Intimacy
and commitment)
 Consummate Love (Intimacy,
passion & commitment)
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Social Influence
Conformity (Solomon Asch study)
Asch’s Conformity Experiment
Obedience (Stanley Milgram study)
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Asch’s Conformity Experiment
Social Influence
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Compliance
Foot-in-the door technique: first make a small
request and follow it with a larger request.
Door-in-the-face technique: first make a large
unreasonable request and follow it with a small
request.
Low-ball technique: get person to agree to
attractive terms and then the terms are changed
to be less favorable.
Copyright © 2004 by Allyn & Bacon
Group Influence
 Social facilitation: refers to any effect on performance,
whether positive or negative, that can be attributed to the
presence of others.
 Social loafing: the tendency to exert less effort when
working with others than when working alone.
 Group polarization: group discussion often causes
persons to shift to more extreme positions.
 Groupthink: tight-knit groups often make poor decisions
because they are more interested in maintaining group
cohesion than getting the right answer.
Copyright © 2004 by Allyn & Bacon
Components of Attitudes
Cognitive component – Thoughts and beliefs
about attitudinal object
Emotional component – Feelings toward
attitudinal object
Behavioral component – Predisposition to act
toward attitudinal object
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Cognitive Dissonance
Dissonance is what we feel when there is
incompatibility between our belief and our
actions or attitudes. We generally reduce
dissonance by changing the behavior or attitude
or by somehow explaining away the
inconsistency or reducing its importance.
Methods of Reducing Cognitive Dissonance
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Methods of Reducing Cognitive
Dissonance
Explain Away Inconsistency
“Ill quit before it can hurt me.”
“I really don’t smoke that much.”
Change Behavior
Quit Smoking
Source of Cognitive Dissonance
Behavior: “I smoke”
Attitude: “Smoking Causes Cancer.”
Change Attitude
Smoking isn’t that
dangerous
Reduce Importance of Inconsistency
“I have good gene, my family lives to ripe old age.”
“I exercise and have a better diet than most people.”
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Cognitive Dissonance
Elements of Persuasion
Source of the Communication
Audience
Message
Medium
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The Bystander Effect
Bystander Effect: as the number of bystanders
at an emergency increases, the probability that
the victim will receive help from them decreases.
Diffusion of responsibility: the tendency to feel
less responsible in the presence of other people.
Copyright © 2004 by Allyn & Bacon
Aggression
 Biological Factors in Aggression
 Genetics
 Level of arousal
 Testosterone
 Frustration-aggression hypothesis
 Aggression in response to pain
 Aggression resulting from invasion of personal space
 Aggression resulting from crowding
 Social Learning Theory of Aggression
 The Media and Aggression
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Prejudice and Discrimination
Realistic conflict theory
In-group/out-group conflict
Social cognition
Stereotypes
Discrimination in the workplace
Copyright © 2004 by Allyn & Bacon
Figure 19.2
Typical spatial zones (in feet) for face-to-face interactions in North America. Often, we must
stand within intimate distance of others in crowds, buses, subways, elevators, and other public
places. At such times, privacy is maintained by avoiding eye contact, by standing shoulder to
shoulder or back to back, and by positioning a purse, bag, package, or coat as a barrier to
Copyright © 2004 by Allyn & Bacon
spatial intrusions.
Copyright © 2004 by Allyn & Bacon
Copyright © 2004 by Allyn & Bacon
Figure 19.7
Results of Milgram’s obedience experiment. Only a minority of subjects refused to provide
shocks, even at the most extreme intensities. The first substantial drop in obedience occurred
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at the 300-volt level (Milgram, 1963).
Figure 19.8
Physical distance from the “learner” had a significant effect on the percentage of subjects
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obeying orders.
Copyright © 2004 by Allyn & Bacon
Copyright © 2004 by Allyn & Bacon
Activity
 Assess the Violence in Children’s Cartoons
 Violent Act Tally
 Name of Cartoon:
____________________________________ Length:
____________
 Characters: ________________________
________________________
 ________________________ ________________________
 Implicit Acts Explicit Acts
 Total: ____________ Total: ____________
 Acts Per Minute: ____________ Acts Per Minute:
____________
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THE END…
You made it! You still have your last test to take.
I hope you gained personal insight…and an
appreciation of your fellow humans.
I had fun teaching this class…I hope you had fun
learning from all of the resources…including
each other!
Copyright © 2004 by Allyn & Bacon