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Social Psychology
The study of how the actual, imagined, or implied
presence of others influences the thoughts,
feelings, and behavior of individuals (G. Allport)
• Major topics
– Social perception including stereotyping and
prejudice, and inter-group relations
– Sexual attraction, friendship, love
– Group influence, conformity, obedience, compliance
– Interdependence, community, teamwork, civic duty
– Attitude formation and attitude change
– Prosocial behavior, altruism
– Individualism versus collectivism
– Social identity and the emergence of the self
Social Psychology
is a subfield of both
psychology or sociology.
Emphasis on the location of
individuals in the social
order, their social roles
and interaction, and how
personality and identity
relate to social structure.
Sociology
By imagined or implied
presence, Allport meant
that the effects of social
influence are felt even
when there are no
others are around.
Psychology
According to Gordon Allport's classic
definition, social psychology is an attempt to
understand and explain how the thoughts,
feelings, and behaviors of individuals are
influenced by the actual, imagined, or
implied presence of others.
Emphasis on individuals’
mental processes, dispositions,
and experiences as influenced
by others
The Self-Concept
• The self-concept is the total of a person’s
beliefs (i.e., cognitions) about their own
personal attributes including assets and
deficits.
• These beliefs can be about affect, behavior,
cognitions, skills, physical characteristics,
motives, etc.
• Sometimes evaluations of these beliefs
(i.e., self-esteem) are considered part of the
self-concept.
The self can be thought of as
having several major features:
• Self-Concept: thoughts about the
self
• Self-Esteem: feelings about the self
• Self-Consciousness: awareness of
the
self
• Self-Worth: valuing of the self
• Self-Efficacy: belief and confidence
What Is the Self?
• Theories are based on the • The self is the total of
insights of sociologist and
one’s thoughts and
philosopher George
feelings about self.
Herbert Mead, and the
insights of psychologist and
philosopher William James.
• Both theories refer to the
subjective self as the “I”
and the objective self as
the “me.”
• We do not have a “self”;
rather, we become a “self.”
James vs. Mead
William James
George Herbert Mead
Current
Outlined the dimensions of
the mature self and stated
that things become part of
the self through emotional
identification
Outlined how the self develops
and stated that it is largely a
cognitive process brought
about through symbolic
interaction and role-taking
Have expanded
on the insights
of Mead and
James
The “me” of the self is an
object of awareness
consisting of three regions:
spiritual, social, material.
The “me” of the self is seen
from the perceived and
imagined perspective that
others have of oneself.
Self-concept is
the sum of
thoughts about
self as object.
George Herbert Mead
(American • 1863-1961)
• Symbolic-Interaction theorist
• Believed that the self was a
social product acquired by
observing and assimilating the
roles of others
• Key concepts: “I” and “me,”
significant other, role-taking,
generalized other, preparatory
stage, play stage, game stage
The "I" and "me" of self derive from social interaction. The "I" is the response of
the individual to the attitudes others convey toward him or her; the "me" is the
organized set of others’ attitudes about oneself that one assumes, accepts, or
internalizes. One reacts subjectively as “I” toward this “me” component, or this
awareness of self as an object derived from interaction with significant others.
Types of concepts about the self (Higgins)
Self-concept
Definition
Example
Actual
The beliefs about I am a caring and
the attributes
sensitive person;
one actually has
I am athletic
Ideal
The beliefs about
I would love to be
the attributes
successful and
one would like to
popular
have ideally
Ought
The beliefs about
the attributes
one is obligated
to have
I should be more
ambitious and
tough
Erving Goffman
(American • 1922-1982)
The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life
uses the theatrical stage as a metaphor to
explain how we "stage manage" the images
we try to convey about ourselves to those
around us. For this management of others’
impressions, Goffman coined the term
"dramaturgy." We essentially negotiate who
we are with each person we know and with
each person we interact.
• Symbolic-Interaction theorist
•
•
Believed we play roles and present a “face” or somewhat different self
for each person with whom we interact
Key concepts: dramaturgy, front-stage and backstage selves,
presentation of self
Albert Bandura
(American • 1925 - )
• Social (cognitive) psychologist who performed
classic study of imitation and aggressive behaviors
in children.
• Key concepts: social learning theory, imitation,
models, vicarious reinforcement, self efficacy,
self-regulation, and reciprocal determinism.
What is an attitude?
• An evaluation, either positive or
negative, of a person, object, or event
that is exhibited in thoughts, feelings,
and behaviors.
• Three parts:
– 1. Cognition (thoughts)
– 2. Affect (feelings)
– 3. Behavior (intentions)
Children’s book by Barb Hogan
Attitudes Vary Along a Number of Dimensions
THE LINGO
SAY WHAT??
• Favorability
“I like it a lot.”
• Salience
“I can remember my attitude
toward it.”
• Strength/confidence
“I’m sure I like it.”
• Persistence
“I’ve liked it for a long time
and will continue to like it.”
• Resistance to attack
“I’ll like it no matter what
anyone says about it.”
Types of Attitudes
Instrumental attitudes:
Attitudes based on benefits and costs
associated with the attitude object.
Symbolic attitudes:
Attitudes that are formed through the
influence of long-standing values.
Values:
Enduring beliefs about important life
goals that transcend situations.
Why do Attitudes Exist?
Attitude Formation
•
•
•
•
Mere exposure
Classical conditioning
Operant conditioning
Self-Perception:
Self-Perception Theory proposes that we
often infer our internal states, such as
our attitudes, by observing our behavior.
It contends that behavior causes
attitudes.
Attitude Formation
Antecedents for Attitudes:
Attitudes: are believed to
be formed through
behavioral, affective, and
cognitive processes.
Behavioral: instrumental
conditioning, selfperception theory, facial
feedback theory.
Affective: classical
conditioning, and the mere
exposure hypothesis.
Cognitive: dissonance
theory, attribution theories,
planned behavior theory.
Behavioral
Processes
Affective
Processes
Cognitive
Processes
Attitudes
Didn’t They Run This Ad 5 Minutes Ago?
Discovered by Robert Zajonc in 1968, the Mere Exposure Effect
relies on the power of repetition. This effect reflects the finding that the
more exposure we have to a stimulus, the more apt we are to like it.
Many companies take
advantage of this
effect. Advertisements
can be seen
everywhere (t.v.,
radio, billboard).
Sometimes
commercials are
repeated so many
times, we know them
off by heart.
According to the mere
exposure effect, we
will probably like the
product/service that is
repeatedly advertised.
Artwork entitled Overexposure by SjG is used here with written permission
Two-Step Theory
Introduced by Daniel Berlyne, this theory provides a
plausible explanation for the “mere exposure effect.”
This theory suggests that people’s reactions to stimuli go
through two phases.
– Positive Habituation: Initially perceiving a stimulus is a difficult
and complex perceptual task. After repeated exposure, a person
develops a sense of perceptual mastery. It is no longer as
difficult to perceive the same stimulus. This mastery creates a
positive feeling and this feeling is transferred onto the stimulus.
– Boredom: After many repeated exposures a person has already
achieved perceptual mastery and becomes bored with the
stimulus. Favorability eventually increases less and less with
every additional exposure. A prediction about the onset of
boredom can be made:
Classical Conditioning of Attitudes
CS (Wallonian)  R (orientation)
UCS (stupid)  UCR (implicit negative evaluative
response)
In this example, a boy who has a neutral
opinion about the Wallonians eventually
develops a negative attitude towards them
because each time he sees one, his mother
says that they’re stupid thereby giving the boy
a predisposition to feel negatively about them.
Instrumental Conditioning of Attitudes
The case whereby natural behaviors increase or
decrease in frequency, depending on whether they
are followed by positive or negative reinforcement
or positive or negative punishment.
In the case of attitudes, it simply implies that those
attitudes that are reinforced remain and those
attitudes that are punished or not reinforced usually
change (or are hidden).
Primary reinforcers are biological (e.g. food, water,
and sex). Secondary reinforcers are things that are
repeatedly associated with primary reinforcers and
elicit the same types of responses (e.g. money,
praise, grades).
Heritability of Attitudes?
Do we inherit our attitudes?
Studies using identical twins that were
reared apart show that they have similar
attitudes despite growing up in different
environments. Apparently, attitudes are
influenced by genetics.
For instance, identical twins’ (reared
apart) concordance rate for thinking that
“people who commit sex crimes deserve
more than imprisonment” is a lot higher
than between people who are not
genetically related.
Genetic Factors Influencing Attitudes
Tesser (1993) suggests that while genes do not
determine attitudes, the genetic influence on the
following factors can in turn have an impact on attitudes:
• Sensory structures
• Body chemistry
• Intelligence
• Temperamental
characteristics including
activity level
• Conditionability
Cognitive Dissonance
One other route to attitude
change can occur when
we act in ways that are
counter to an attitude we
hold. According to
Festinger’s cognitive
dissonance theory, when
one cognition is
inconsistent with another
cognition, the resulting discomfort motivates us
to find a way to restore cognitive balance or
consistency.
Cognitive Dissonance
If our behavior does
not match our
attitudes, what can we
do since often we
cannot take back our
behavior. We can only
1. Change cognitions
2. Add new
cognitions
3. Change the
importance of
relevant cognitions
Photograph entitled Cognitive Dissonance by Charles Neenan
http://%20www.picturemanstudios.com/
Dissonance Assumptions
• People have many pre-existing attitudes.
• People need consistency among thoughts,
attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors to guard
self-esteem.
• Inconsistency creates an aversive state of
arousal or tension.
• People may resolve the dissonance (i.e.,
get rid of the arousal) by changing their
attitudes. Doing so may suggest hypocrisy.
Non-dissonance
explanations
• Self-perception theory: Bem (1972): We
do not change our attitudes in
response to our behavior; instead, we
infer our attitudes from our behavior.
– Do I like Chinese food?
– I eat it fairly frequently, even when I have
the choice of other food.
– Therefore, I must like it.
• Self-perception is a theory of attitude
formation; cognitive dissonance is a
theory of attitude change and thus
motivation as well.
Cognitive dissonance and boring task
• Rating of enjoyment of experiment (+5 - -5)
$ amounts show what subjects were paid.
1.5
1
0.5
0
-0.5
$1.00
$20.00
Control
(no Lie)
Summary of Attitude Theories
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Cognitive Dissonance: people have a driven by the tension of inconsistency
to be consistent and change attitudes to maintain consistency and a positive
self-image (attitude change).
Self-Perception: people infer their attitudes from their behavior (attitude
formation).
Self-Presentation: people do not have a true drive to be consistent, but they
want to present themselves as consistent because they and others see this
as good or virtuous (attitude change).
Mere Exposure: the more exposure we have to a stimulus, the more apt we
are to like it; lack of exposure precludes a favorable attitude (attitude
formation and change).
Instrumental Conditioning: attitudes that are reinforced remain, and attitudes
that are punished or not reinforced change (attitude formation and change).
Classical Conditioning: pairing a neutral thing or person with negatives will
result in the thing or person eliciting a negative attitude (attitude formation).
Genetics: while genes do not determine attitudes, the genetic influence on
things like temperament, intelligence, and conditionability can have an
impact on attitude formation (attitude formation)
Dislike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Like
List 2 things you believe about this person
Would it be all right if your brother or sister
married one of these people?
Schemas and Stereotypes
A schema is an organized structure of knowledge
about a stimulus that is built up from experience and
that contains causal relations; it is a theory about how
the social world operates. (e.g., gender schema)
A script is a schema that describes how a series of
events is likely to occur in a well known situation, and
which is used as a guide for behavior and problem
solving. (e.g., student script)
When applied to the members of social groups,
schemas are often called stereotypes.
Social & Person Perception
1. Social Schemas: these are organized
clusters of ideas about a group of
people (e.g. gender occupation, race,
age, religion).
2. Stereotypes: belief that people have
certain characteristics because of their
membership in a particular group.
3. Subjectivity: top-down perception via
expectations; asymmetrical insight bias
likely.
Biases in Attributions
• The Fundamental Attribution Error: to make
internal attributions over external attributions
in explaining the behavior of others.
• Actor-Observer Effect: the tendency for
people to attribute their own behavior to
external causes but that of others to internal
factors. (e.g., blaming the victim).
• Self-Serving Bias: the tendency to assign an
internal locus of causality for our positive
outcomes and an external locus for our negative
outcomes.
AFFECT
(Prejudice)
BEHAVIOR
COGNITION
(Discrimination)
(Stereotype)
PREJUDICE
Generalized attitude
towards members of
a group
STEREOTYPE
Generalized belief
about members of a
group
Behaviors directed
DISCRIMINATION
at people on the basis
of group membership
What Are Stereotypes?
◘
Mental representations of social groups and their
members that contain enough detail to allow us to know
what group members are like without meeting them
(Augoustinos & Reynolds 2001, p108)
◘ Original definition of stereotype came from Lippmann
(1922) based on printing press image: set in rigid form
without much depth or detail but has sufficient likeness
for easy reproduction.
◘ Rigid mental images we hold about the social world
such as (a) terrorists, (b) missionaries, (C ) gypsies.
◘ Stereotypes have negative or positive aspects that are
used to enhance our understanding of the group
◘ The attributes ascribed to a particular group often
sustain prejudices associated with that particular group
(Locke & Johnston 2001).
Functions of Stereotypes
 Direct expressions of inner beliefs and values
 Endorse related actions based on cultural
endorsement (social reflection theory)
 Offer easy perceptions of others and automatic
explanations of their behavior.
 Nourish attribution biases in popular culture
and the media
 Are sources of humor and derogation of outgroups
Attraction and Forming Relationships
Relationship formation is related to:
–
Physical attractiveness
–
Reinforcement/Affect – we are drawn to those who
compliment, laugh, smile, listen, entertain, inform,
agree, support, etc.
–
Proximity – geographic closeness is a major factor
in attraction along with propinquity.
–
Similarity – race, age, beliefs, values, status,
education; we see more similarity with our friends
than actually exists
Picture from New
Thot Art used here
with permission.
–
Reciprocity – we tend to like those who like us
Propinquity (exposure)
Proximity (nearby)
Similarity
Physical appearance
Interpersonal
Attraction
Inferences about
personality
Reinforcement and
related affect
Reciprocity Effects
Romantic Attraction
Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love
includes three components: intimacy,
passion, and commitment. Singularly and in
combinations these produce seven different
kinds of love:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Liking
Infatuated love
Empty love
Romantic love
Fatuous love
Companionate love
Consummate love
What are the cues for physical
attractiveness?
• Women: large eyes, small nose, small chin,
prominent cheekbones, narrow cheeks, high
eyebrows, large pupils, big smile
• Men: large eyes, prominent cheekbones,
large chin, big smile
• Overlap: people like “baby-like” features in
the opposite sex (e.g. large eyes). This is
especially pronounced with female beauty
• Culture: surprisingly these findings do
generalize cross culturally.
Yielding to Others: Definitions
• Conformity: a change in attitude or
behavior due to the real or imagined
presence of others.
• Compliance: a change in behavior, but
not attitude, due to the results of social
pressure.
• Acceptance: a change in both behavior
and attitude.
• Obedience: a form of compliance where
commands from authority are followed
What Increases & Decreases Conformity?
• Decrease: feeling of security within a group
• Decrease: inducement to make commitment to
initial independent judgment
• Decrease: high-self esteem
• Decrease: individualistic rather than collectivist
cultural influence
• Increase: group cohesiveness
• Increase: expert power within the group
• Increase: similarity of group to the individual
• Increase: group size – increases up to four and
then levels off
• Increase: individual awareness of group norms
• Increase: presence of at least one dissenter who
breaks unanimity – one is all it takes
Factors that Influence Conformity
Unanimity: People are less likely to conform when there
is another person who supports their idea or opinion.
A break in unanimity is the cause for the reduction
and not the support given by another person who
dissents.
Commitment: The more a person has to commit to their
opinion, the less likely that person is to conform. For
example, if subjects have to write their opinion down
on paper, sign it and give it in to the researcher, they
will usually give their honest opinion instead of the
majority’s opinion.
Group Cohesiveness: The more close-knit a group is,
the more conforming a subject will be in order to be
accepted by that group.
“Groupthink”
Irving Janis coined the term “groupthink”
When concurrence-seeking overrides
realistic individual appraisal
Factors that lead to groupthink
– Self-censorship
– Illusion of unanimity
– Direct pressure on
dissenters
– Illusion of invulnerability
– Illusion of morality
– Stereotype and dismiss
competitors
What Breeds
Obedience?
•
Emotional distance of the victim
•
Closeness and legitimacy of the authority
•
Institutional authority
•
The liberating effects of group influence
Moderating Factors in Obedience
1. Participant authoritarianism.
– An individual difference (personality)
characteristic.
– Is positively associated with obedience
to authority.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Degree of authority.
Immediacy.
Accountability.
Social defiance.
Contributory Factors in Obedience
• Agentic State: The loss of autonomy individuals
experience when they become the agent of a higher
authority.
– Information and guidance accepted passively from
authority.
– Personal responsibility only as a ‘conduit’.
• Participants felt “responsibility to the authority” but
“no responsibility for the content of the actions that
the authority prescribes” (Milgram, 1974).
– Obedience is easy and relatively effortless.
– Disobedience is difficult and costly.
• Roles: e.g., ‘teacher’ and ‘subordinate’ (cf. Zimbardo’s
prison study)
• Incremental Commitment: cf. foot-in-the-door.
Some
people are
better than
others at
deception.
Why?
When detecting
deception, what
tips us off?
• microexpressions
• interchannel
inconsistency
• voice pitch,
sentence repairs,
pace
• shifts in pattern of
eye contact
• exaggerated facial
expressions