Download Unit 1: Approaches to Psychology

Unit 7: Social
Psychology
Ch 18: Individual Interaction
Ch 19: Group Interaction
Ch 20: Attitudes and Social
Influence
Ch 21: Psychology: Present
and Future
Ch 18 – Individual Interaction
• Why we need friends • Social psychology seeks to explain
how our thoughts, feelings,
perceptions, + behaviors are
influenced by interactions w/
others.
• Social cognition is a subfield of
social psych. that focuses
specifically on how we perceive,
store, + retrieve information about
social interactions.
• As infants we learn to associate
close personal contact w/ the
satisfaction of basic needs.
• Being around other humans becomes
a habit that is difficult to break.
We develop needs for praise,
respect, love, affection, + other
rewarding experiences that can
only be satisfied by others.
• Anxiety +
• We seem to need company most when we’re afraid
companionship or anxious. We also need it when we’re unsure of
ourselves + want to compare our feelings w/ others.
• We like to compare our experiences w/ others.
(How many of you asked one or more of your
classmates how they did on your last psychology
test when you got them back?) 
• This helps us to understand our own
situation.
• This is how we learn our strengths +
weaknesses.
• When we are uncertain, we want to socialize w/
people who are in a similar situation.
• Friends offer support in trying times b/c they can
serve as mediators + can react to our problems.
• Friends tend to help
high stress, be of no
significant help w/ average amounts of stress, +
hinder people’s ability to deal w/ low levels of
stress.
• By repeatedly going over low stressful
events, you might
your sensitivity to
them.
• How we
choose
friends
• Although modern methods of transportation +
communication make it easier to be friends w/ all
kinds of people, we rarely go beyond the most
convenient methods in making friends.
• Proximity – physical proximity refers to the
distance of one person to another person. The
closer 2 individuals are geographically (home,
school, work, etc…), the more likely they are to
form a relationship. We tend to form
relationships w/ people we see regularly.
• Reward values – what are you getting out of the
friendship?
• Stimulation value is the ability of a person
to interest you in or to expose you to new
ideas + experiences.
• Utility value is the ability of a person to
help another achieve his/her goals.
• Ego-support value is the ability of a person
to provide another person w/ sympathy,
encouragement, + approval.
• Physical appearance – our appearance greatly
influences others’ impressions of us. People feel
better about themselves when they associate w/
people whom others consider attractive.
• We often consider those w/ physical beauty
to be more responsive, interesting, sociable,
intelligent, kind, outgoing, + poised.
• This is true of same-sex + oppositesex relationships.
• One study showed that the only
positive characteristic attractive
people displayed more was that they
tend to be more comfortable in social
settings.
• We usually seek out others whom we
consider to be our equals in attractiveness.
• Approval – we tend to like people who agree w/ +
support us b/c they make us feel better about
ourselves (ego-support value).
• Similarity – we tend to choose friends whose
backgrounds, attitudes, + interests are similar
to our own. Why?
• Agreement on what is worthwhile + fun,
which provides the basis for shared
activities.
• Most of us feel uneasy around people who
are constantly challenging our views.
• Most of us are self-centered enough to
assume that people who share our values
are basically decent + intelligent.
• People who agree about things usually find
it easier to communicate w/ each other.
• Complementarity – the attraction that often
develops b/w opposite types of people b/c of
the ability of one to supply what the other
lacks.
• Helps in some relationships, but most
psychologists agree that similarity is a
much more important factor.
End Section 1
• 1st
impressions
• Your expectations of a person are
often based on your 1st impression of
him/her.
• Your 1st impression is usually based on
a person’s physical appearance.
• The primacy effect is the
tendency to form opinions of
others based on 1st impressions.
• These initial judgments often
influence us more than later
information does.
• These impressions sometimes become
a self-fulfilling prophecy b/c the way
you act toward someone changes
depending on your impression of
him/her which influences how that
person interacts w/ you.
• Schemas
• Forming impressions helps us place these
people into categories or schemas.
• Schemas are different for each individual.
• When you meet someone who exhibits a
particular characteristic, you might assume
he/she possesses other characteristics
based on your past experience.
• Ex. You meet someone who is intelligent
+ assume she is also interesting.
Another person meets her, but assumes
she must also be boring.
• We also develop schemas about people we’ve
never met but only heard of.
• Schemas allow us to explain a person’s past
behavior + to predict his/her future
behavior. They also allow us to organize
information so that we can respond
appropriately in social situations.
• Stereotypes
• Are a set of assumptions about
people in a given category often
based on half-truths + non-truths.
• Occur when we develop schemas for
entire groups of people.
• May contain positive or negative
information.
• Attribution
theory
• A collection of principles based on our
explanations of the causes of events, other
people’s behavior, + our own behaviors.
• Internal (or dispositional) attributions
refers to a person’s personal
characteristics.
• External (or situational) attributions refers
to outside influences on their behavior.
• The fundamental attribution error is the tendency
to attribute others’ behavior to internal
attributions + ignore the external factors
contributing to their behavior.
• The actor-observer bias is our tendency to focus
on internal factors when explaining the behavior
of others, but more on external factors when
explaining our own.
• We realize our own behavior changes from
situation to situation, but when we observe
people we don’t take that into account.
• The self-serving bias is our tendency to claim
success is due to our efforts, while failure is due
to circumstances beyond our control.
• Nonverbal
communication
• Is the process through which messages are
conveyed using space, body language, + facial
expressions.
• People are often unaware of their nonverbal
communication.
• We are more aware of nonverbal
communication when we’re on the
receiving end of the messages.
• Body language refers specifically to our use
of space, posture, + gestures.
• Although the use of body language is
often unconscious, many of the
postures we adopt + gestures we make
are governed by social rules.
End Section 2
• Parent-child • Many psychologists believe that early + persistent
relationships
patterns of parent-child interaction can influence
people’s later adult expectations about their
relationships w/ the significant people in their lives.
• If our caregivers are loving, responsive +
consistent, we will trust other people to meet
our needs.
• If our caregivers are unaffectionate,
unresponsive, + inconsistent, we will most likely
be more mistrustful of other people.
• As we form relationships w/ people outside our
families, we apply what we’ve learned from our families.
• Our parents (may) provide us w/ the 1st example of a
marital relationship.
• Many people tend to duplicate this model (for
better or worse).
• In our society, parent-child conflict may develop during
adolescence.
• Generational identity is the theory that people of
different ages tend to think differently about certain
issues b/c of different formative experiences.
• Romantic
love
• While love w/o marriage is becoming more common in
our society, marriage w/o love is still unpopular.
• Marrying for convenience, companionship,
financial security, or any reason that doesn’t
include love strikes most of us as impossible or
at least unfortunate.
• Some believe that one of the main reasons it’s difficult
for many people to adjust to love + marriage is b/c we
have exaggerated ideas about love. This could also
explain the
#s of divorce.
• There are 2 types of love:
• Passionate love: intense, sensual, + all-consuming.
• Feelings of great excitement, intense
sexuality, + the threat that it might go
away. When it subsides, it MIGHT grow
into the 2nd type.
• Companionate love: friendship, liking someone,
mutual trust, + wanting to be w/ them.
• More stable, includes commitment +
intimacy.
•
Like vs.
(romantic) love
•
•
•
•
•
•
Liking is based primarily on respect for another person
+ the feeling that he/she is similar to you.
Loving has 3 major components:
• Need (attachment)
• Caring (the desire to give)
• Intimacy (a special knowledge of each other
derived from uncensored self-disclosure)
People in love feel strong desires to be w/ each other,
to touch, to be praised + cared for, to fulfill, + be
fulfilled.
W/o caring, need becomes self-centered, but w/o
need, caring becomes charity or plain kindness.
Men + women tend to express the same degree of love
for each other, but women tend to like their
boyfriends more than their boyfriends like them.
• Women also tend to love + share intimacies w/
their same-sex friends more than men do.
When both partners express their interest in each
other, the relationship is likely to progress.
• So love isn’t something that happens to you, it’s
something you seek + create.
• The triangular
theory of love
• Another psychologist proposed the
triangular theory of love which
contends that love is made up of 3
parts:
• Intimacy
• Passion
• Commitment
• The various combinations of these
parts account for the many
different ways love is experienced.
• Early love is heavy on passion
+ light on commitment,
whereas a couple celebrating
their 50th anniversary is
heavy on intimacy +
commitment, but probably
light on passion.
• Marriage
• A couple’s formal + public commitment to
each other.
• Odds for a successful marriage improve if
they have similar cultural, economic, +
educational backgrounds + practice the
same religion.
• Odds are even better if their parents were
happily married, they had happy
childhoods, + maintain good relationships
w/ their families.
• 2 principles tend to govern behavior
leading to successful marriages:
• Endogamy – The tendency to marry
someone who is from one’s own social
group.
• Homogamy – The tendency to marry
someone who has similar attributes –
such as physical attractiveness, age,
+ physique.
• Marital
problems +
divorce
• In general, healthy adjustment to marriage depends
on 3 factors:
1. Whether their needs are compatible.
2. Whether their images of themselves + each
other are compatible.
3. Whether they agree on what their roles in
the marriage are.
• External factors may make it impossible for either
to live up to their own role expectations, but often
the couple just grows apart.
• In many ways, divorce is like adjusting to death. A
person often feels angry even if he/she wanted the
divorce. Other common emotions are resentment,
fear, loneliness, anxiety, + mostly the feeling of
failure.
• Separation shock often occurs – this is when
divorced people go through a period of mourning that
lasts until they suddenly realize they have survived.
• They then begin to construct new identities as
single people.
• Children
+ divorce
• A divorce is usually far more difficult for the
children than the parents. This is b/c:
• Children usually don’t want the divorce.
• Children usually don’t understand the
reasons for the divorce.
• Children rarely have any control over
the outcome of a divorce.
• Children aren’t as emotionally mature +
able to cope w/ the experience.
• A child whose parents divorce may exhibit
behaviors like emotional outbursts,
depression, +/or rebellion.
• How long these behaviors last may be
determined by the harmony of the
parents’ relationship, the stability of
the child’s life, + the adequacy of the
caregiving arrangement.
• Most children do eventually come to terms w/
the divorce.
• It helps if the parents explain the
divorce + allow the child to express
his/her feelings.
End Section 3
Ch 19 – Group Interaction
• Groups
• A collection of people who have a degree of
interdependence, + some amount of
communication, + shared goals.
• People who congregate but don’t interact
aren’t considered a group but an aggregate.
So interaction is the key factor in forming
a group.
• Interdependence occurs when any action by
1 member will affect or influence the other
members.
• In small groups, members usually have
a direct influence on each other. But
in large groups, the influence may be
indirect.
• Communication is crucial to the functions of a
group. It may be directed outwards toward
nonmembers or internal for group members to
discuss group activities + share common goals.
It also aids members’ feelings of belonging.
• Shared goals – 2 kinds:
• Task functions – activities directed
toward getting a job done.
• Social functions – responses directed
toward satisfying the emotional needs of
members.
• Usually groups meet both types of
goals, but 1 type is dominant.
• A centralized organization seems
more useful for task-oriented
groups, whereas a decentralized
network is more useful in socially
oriented groups.
• Why do we
• They satisfy our need to belong.
join groups? • We use group members as standards
against which to evaluate ourselves + our
experiences.
• Groups
our uncertainty.
• Group members may offer us support in
trying times.
• Groups provide us w/ companionship.
• Groups help us accomplish things that we
couldn’t do alone.
• How are groups • Factors that
a group’s cohesiveness are:
held together?
• Norms: unwritten rules that govern the
behavior + attitudes of group members.
• Includes rules, tendencies, + habits.
• Group members are punished for
breaking them – may only be
criticism.
• Ideology: the set of principles, attitudes, +
defined objectives for which a group
stands – their values.
• Commitment: demonstration of personal
sacrifice + participation.
• If a person is willing to pay $,
endure hardship, or undergo
humiliation to join a group, he/she is
likely to continue w/ that group.
• When people actively participate in
group decisions + share the rewards
of a group’s accomplishments, their
feelings of belonging
.
• Types of
groups
• When a group’s members identify w/ their
group, they are known as the in-group.
• The out-group includes everyone who isn’t a
member of the in-group.
• A primary group is a group of people who
interact daily face-to-face.
• Tend to be more personal.
• A secondary group is a larger group of
people w/ whom you might have a more
impersonal relationship.
• Social
facilitation
vs. social
inhibition
• Social facilitation refers to the tendency to
perform better in the presence of a group.
• Ex. “Home team advantage”.
• Seems to occur when participants
perform simple or well-learned tasks.
• Social inhibition refers to the tendency to
perform worse in the presence of a group.
• Ex. Stuttering when giving a speech.
• Seems to occur when participants
perform complex tasks or tasks that
involve unfamiliar factors.
• The effect of a crowd on your behavior may
also be a reflection of your concern about
being evaluated.
• It’s about confidence!
• Interactions
w/in groups
• The particular role(s) we play w/in groups is
important. Each group member has certain
unique abilities + interests, + the group has a
# of different tasks that need to be
performed.
• There are many aspects to group structure:
• The personal relationships b/w
individual members
• The rank of each member on a
particular dimension (ex. Popularity or
power, amount of resources).
• The roles (behaviors expected of
individuals) the members are expected
to play.
• Sometimes the roles a person
plays may conflict.
• Decision making
• Group polarization is the theory that group
discussion reinforces the majority’s point of
view + shifts group members’ opinions to a
more extreme position.
• The repetition of the same arguments
results in stronger attitudes in
support of the majority’s view.
• BUT if opinions of a group are equally
split on an issue before a discussion,
the group discussion usually results in
compromise.
• Groupthink refers to poor group decision
making that occurs as a result of a group
emphasizing unity over critical thinking.
• Group members refrain from
criticizing each other + may not
discuss opposing viewpoints.
• Decision making can be improved by
encouraging group discussion, hearing ALL
viewpoints, + challenging each other’s views.
Also, focus on the task.
• Leadership
• A leader embodies the norms + ideals of the group +
represents the group to outsiders. W/in the group,
the leader initiates action, gives orders, makes
decisions, + settles disputes.
• An effective leader has a great deal of influence on
the other members.
• Leaders tend to be better adjusted, more selfconfident, more energetic + outgoing, + slightly more
intelligent than other members of their group.
• When a leader is charismatic, followers trust the
correctness of his/her views, obey him/her willingly,
feel affection for the leader, + are more motivated
to perform at peak levels.
• Styles of leadership:
• Authoritarian – makes all the decisions +
assigns tasks.
• Laissez-faire – only minimally involved in
group decision making, he/she encourages the
group to make its own decisions.
• Democratic – encourages the group to make
End Section 1
decisions through consensus.
• Group
• Conformity is acting in accord w/ group norms
pressure
or customs usually b/c of direct or indirect
to conform
group pressure.
• Many people sometimes conform to other
people’s ideas of the truth, even when
they disagree.
• Why do we conform?
• Most children are taught the overriding
importance of being liked + accepted.
• Conformity is the standard means
of gaining this approval.
• We learn to follow orders throughout our
lives.
• We are more likely to follow rules
when an authority figure is present.
• We usually only need 1 person disagreeing w/
the majority in order to be willing to go against
a smaller group. It seems that it’s hardest to
stand alone.
• Even when we conform, we might not actually
change our beliefs. This contradiction of public
behavior + private belief is known as compliance.
• Factors that
• Belonging to a group that emphasizes
conforming
the role of groups rather than
behavior in people
individuals.
• The desire to be liked by other
members of the group.
• Low self-esteem.
• Social shyness.
• Lack of familiarity w/ a task.
• Group size (conformity
as the
size of the group grows to 5-6 people.
After that conformity levels off).
• Cultural influences.
• Obedience
to authority
• The influence other people have on your
attitudes + behavior is considerable.
Sometimes this influence is direct + obvious,
other times it’s indirect + subtle.
• Obedience is a change in attitude or behavior
brought about by social pressure to comply
w/ people perceived to be authorities.
• It can be useful or destructive.
• The abuses of German Nazis + American
soldiers in Vietnam show that individuals
often obey irrational commands, even when
obedience goes against their conscience.
• The Milgram
experiment
• P.558-560.
• During 1960s, Stanley Milgram wanted to
determine whether participants would
administer painful shocks to others just b/c an
authority figure told them to.
• It was a study on people’s
responsiveness to authority.
• Almost 1,000 male participants were told the
study was on how punishment effected learning.
• Participants, the “teachers”, were told to
administer an electric shock to the “learners”
when they answered incorrectly.
• Shocks weren’t real – but learners acted as if
in severe pain.
• 65% of the “teachers” administered the full
shock possible b/c they were told to.
• The teachers often showed signs of extreme
discomfort + many wanted to quit but continued
as instructed.
• People assume that authorities know
what they are doing, even when their
instructions seem to be immoral.
• The experiment has been repeated w/ similar
results.
• P. 561-562.
• The Stanford
prison experiment • In 1971, Philip Zimbardo wanted to determine
how participants of similar backgrounds would
respond to being placed in a simulated prison
environment w/ ½ acting as guards + ½ as
prisoners. The experiment was planned to last
2 weeks.
• He created a “prison” in the basement of a
building at Stanford Univ. Male volunteers
were questioned + then randomly assigned the
role of guard or prisoner.
• W/in 2 days, the guards began behaving very
harshly w/ the prisoners (excessively punishing
+ humiliating them) + the prisoners, whom at 1st
rebelled, eventually became angry + depressed.
• The experiment was called off after 6 days.
• Participants, although drastically affected at
the time, reported no lasting effects.
• Showed the power of a situation in affecting
people’s actions + personalities.
• Led to new, tougher ethical standards for
psychology experiments.
End Section 2
• Aggression • Any behavior intended to do physical or psychological
harm to others.
• There are several theories about what causes people to
act in aggressive ways:
• Biological factors – Humans have innate biological
factors that cause aggression (like some wild
animals). Neurotransmitters also influence a
person’s aggressive behavior.
• Cognitive factors – Children learn aggressive
behavior by observing + imitating adults. The
media also teaches aggressive behavior to children
+ they can become immune to violence.
• Personality factors – Certain personality traits
(like impulsiveness, little empathy, w/ a dominating
nature) can turn a person into a bully. Aggressive
people may also be arrogant + often strike out at
others to affirm their sense of superiority.
• Environmental factors –The frustration-aggression
hypothesis states that frustration or a failure to
obtain something expected leads to aggression in
certain situations.
• Controlling
aggression
• So aggression is a combination of biological,
cognitive, personality, + environmental factors.
• How do we limit + control aggression?
• Catharsis is releasing anger or aggression
by letting out powerful negative emotions.
• This can be done by talking it out
w/ someone, doing something
active, etc…
• But some believe that expressing
aggression may lead to more
aggression b/c you focus on the
problem.
• Punish children for violent behavior (but
the punishment must not be excessive) +
limit the amount of violence they’re
exposed to.
• Can be controlled by teaching people to
react to disappointments in ways other
than violence.
• Group conflict
vs. cooperation
• Conflicts b/w groups are a fact of life, but
why do they occur + persist?
• Studies have found that competition
(even if it starts out friendly) can
lead to conflict.
• However, when 2 opposing groups
have to work together + cooperate
for the good of all, gradually
intergroup tensions lessen + may go
away.
• So the key to ending conflict is
cooperation.
• A social trap is when individuals in a group
decide not to cooperate, but to act
selfishly + create a bad situation for all.
• Helping
others
(or not)
• Altruism is the helping of others, often at a cost
or risk, for reasons other than expectation of a
reward.
• Diffusion of responsibility occurs when the
presence of others lessens an individual’s feelings
of responsibility for his/her actions or failure to
act.
• We assume that someone else will/should
act.
• The bystander effect occurs when an individual
doesn’t take action b/c of the presence of others.
• People may even encourage each other not
to act.
• The larger the crowd, the less likely we are to
act.
• We also have a tendency to minimize the need for
any response. We may hear screams + wait to
make sure it’s a real emergency rather than
embarrass ourselves by acting immediately.
• It’s easier to believe nothing is wrong if
others are behaving calmly + may even make
you think that not doing anything is the
proper thing to do.
• We are more likely to act if a leader is present, we
know the person who needs help, know what kind of
help is needed, have seen the correct response
modeled before, +/or expect future interactions w/
the person needing help.
• Social loafing refers to the tendency to put less
effort into work when sharing the workload w/
others.
• We realize that our individual contributions
are not as apparent + easily measured in a
group setting + may also experience a
sense of accountability.
• When people act as individuals, obey their
consciences, + are concerned w/ self-evaluation, we
think of them as individualistic. But when
deindividuation occurs, people lose their sense of
self + follow group behaviors. They may behave
irrationally when there is less chance of being
personally identified.
• May
feelings of guilt or self-awareness
causing normally pleasant people to commit
violence.
• But social pressure can also lead people to do
good things as well – or just refrain from
doing bad things.
End Section 3
Ch 20 and 21 Quiz
Ch 20 – Attitudes and Social
Influence
• Attitude
• A predisposition to act, think, + feel in
particular ways towards a class of
people, objects, or an idea.
• Where do attitudes come from?
• Conditioning – classical + operant.
• Cognitive evaluation – we form
opinions after thinking about
something or sometimes w/ very
little thought.
• Other sources – culture, parents,
peers, experiences, etc…
• Functions of
attitudes
• Help us make up our self-concept (how we see
or describe ourselves; our total perception of
ourselves).
• Social groups have attitudes as well.
• People in the same conditions tend to
have the same attitudes b/c they are
exposed to the same information.
• Serve as guidelines for interpreting +
categorizing people, objects, + events, as well
as guide us to behave in certain ways.
• So they tell us what to approach + what
to avoid.
• Sometimes our attitudes aren’t consistent w/
our behavior. Your behavior may reflect your
attitudes more/less strongly depending on why
you formed a certain attitude.
• Many psychologists believe that the
attitudes that most strongly predict
behavior are those acquired through
direct experience.
End Section 1
• Attitude • There are 3 main processes involved in forming or
change
changing attitudes:
• Compliance – a change of behavior to avoid
discomfort or rejection + to gain approval.
• We often give in to social pressure, but
this is usually only temporary + the
attitude doesn’t really change.
• Identification – seeing oneself as similar to
another person/group + accepting the
attitudes of another person/group as one’s
own.
• It’s different from compliance b/c the
person believes the newly adopted
views.
• But these attitudes are weak, b/c if a
person stops identifying w/ the other
person/group, the attitude may change.
• Internalization – incorporating the values,
ideas, + standards of others as part of
oneself.
• The attitude becomes an integral
part of the person.
• It’s most likely to occur when an
attitude is consistent w/ a person’s
basic beliefs + supports his/her selfimage.
• This is the most lasting of the 3
types of attitude formation/change.
• Compliance or identification may lead to the
internalization of an attitude.
• Often the 3 overlap.
• Cognitive
consistency
• Our attitudes change b/c we’re always trying to
get things to fit together logically inside our
heads.
• Holding 2 opposing attitudes can create
internal conflict.
• Cognitive dissonance is the uncomfortable
feeling when a person experiences conflicting
thoughts, attitudes, beliefs, or feelings.
• To reduce dissonance, it’s necessary to
change either the behavior or the
conflicting attitudes.
• How do we reduce dissonance?
• By denying it exists.
• Avoiding situations or exposure to
information that would create
conflict.
• By changing the attitude +/or
reevaluating the event.
• The process of dissonance reduction
doesn’t always take place consciously.
• Attitudes
+ actions
• Actions can affect attitudes – if you act + speak as
though you have certain beliefs + feelings, you may
begin to really believe + feel that way. That is known as
counterattitudinal behavior.
• This is also a method of reducing cognitive
dissonance.
• People have a need for self-justification (the
need to rationalize one’s attitude + behavior).
• Studies have shown that if people are led
to believe they’ve hurt someone, they will
convince themselves they didn’t like the
victim + so the victim deserved the injury.
• A self-fulfilling prophecy occurs when a person acts in
such a way as to make a belief, prediction, or
expectation come true.
• Ex. You think people are basically nice + so you
are very friendly – making people like you, or you
think people are basically rude + so you are very
unfriendly – making people avoid you.
• Prejudice
• A preconceived attitude toward a person or group
that has been formed w/o sufficient evidence +
isn’t easily changed.
• PREJUDGEMENT.
• It’s not always negative.
• Can be based on social, economic, or physical
factors.
• A stereotype is an oversimplified, hard to change
way of seeing people who belong to some group.
• A role is an oversimplified, hard to change way
acting.
• What causes prejudice?
• People tend to be prejudice in favor of
those they see as similar to themselves +
against those they see as different.
• May acquire it through social learning.
• Other causes as well.
• Discrimination is the unequal treatment of
members of certain groups.
• Prejudice is an attitude + discrimination is an
action.
• A person may be prejudice, but not discriminate.
Also, a person may discriminate (due to something
like social pressure) but not be prejudice.
End Section 2
• Persuasion • A direct attempt to influence attitudes.
• The persuader’s main hope is that by changing the
other person’s attitudes, he/she can change that
person’s behavior as well.
• Persuasive communication can be broken into 4 parts:
1. The source of the message.
• Is it trustworthy + sincere?
• Is he/she knowledgeable about the
subject?
• Is he/she likeable?
- If the answer to all these
questions is yes, the message is
more likely to be accepted.
- The boomerang effect is when a
change in attitude or behavior
opposite of the one desired by the
persuader occurs.
- Ex. You don’t like the
sports player trying to get
you to buy a particular pair
of shoes.
2. The message itself.
• The persuasiveness of a message depends on
its content + how it is composed + organized.
• The central route for persuasion relies on
presenting information logically.
• The peripheral route for persuasion relies on
emotional appeals.
3. The channel through which it’s delivered.
• When, where, + how the message is delivered.
• Personal contact is usually the most effective.
• Movies, tv, + the internet are more effective
media of persuasion than printed ads b/c
we’re more likely to believe what we see +
hear.
4. The audience that receives it.
• Persuading people to alter their views
depends on knowing who they are + why they
hold the attitudes they do.
• You need to know what motivates them.
• People tend to ignore information that doesn’t
support their beliefs.
• Heuristics
• Rules of thumb or shortcuts that may lead to
but doesn’t guarantee a solution.
• If an individual isn’t interested in an
issue, he/she is likely to rely on
heuristic processing (a very casual, lowattention form of analyzing evidence).
• Advertisers use heuristics to get us to
buy their products by using key words,
stressing their product’s popularity,
having it endorsed by a celebrity, etc…
• The sleeper • The delayed impact on attitude change of a
effect
persuasive communication.
• Changes in attitude aren’t always permanent
+ usually have their greatest impact
immediately + then fade away.
• So why might the persuasion be delayed?
• The tendency to retain the message
but forget the source (this is
significant if the source was viewed
negatively).
• It can take time for the message to
sink in + people to change their minds.
• The inoculation • Is developing a resistance to persuasion by
effect
exposing a person to arguments that
challenge his/her beliefs so that he/she
can practice defending them.
• A person who has resisted a mild attack on
his/her beliefs is ready to defend them
against a stronger attack that might
otherwise have been overwhelming.
• It motivates individuals to defend their
beliefs more strongly + gives them practice
in defending their beliefs.
• The most vulnerable attitudes you have are
the ones that you’ve never had to defend.
• Brainwashing
• An extreme form of attitude change
involving physical torture +
psychological manipulation by use of
peer pressure, threats, rewards, guilt,
+/or intensive indoctrination.
• People’s convictions are broken down +
they accept new patterns of belief,
feeling, +/or behavior.
• Brainwashing is done by:
• Stripping away all identity +
subjecting him/her to intense
social pressure + physical stress.
• Rewarding every act of
compliance to his/her capturers.
• Eventually, the person begins to believe
what his/her capturers wish.
End Section 3
Ch 21 – Psychology: Present and
Future
• Careers in • Psychology is a logical undergraduate major for
psychology
people planning graduate work in fields like
sociology, social work, law, medicine, or
education.
• These are all fields in which human
behavior plays a key role.
• Some career options are:
• Crisis hot line advisor. A crisis
intervention program is a short-term
psychological first aid that helps
individuals + families deal w/ emergencies
or highly stressful situations.
• Certain types of salesmen – good salesmen
tend to be sensitive to others.
• Mental health assistant.
• Personnel director – involves getting
the right people hired for jobs +
keeping them motivated + efficient.
• School psychologist.
• Clinical psychologist – provides therapy.
Often self-employed.
• Consulting psychologist – often provides
short-term services for businesses
regarding human behavior + how it
relates to the services/product the
business provides.
End Section 1
• Fields of
psychology
• Psychology is among the fastest growing
fields according to the US Bureau of Labor.
• Forensic psychology deals w/ diagnosis,
evaluation, treatment, + testimony
regarding the law + criminal behavior.
• Industrial/organizational psychology deals
w/ the psychology of the workplace.
• They help businesses operate more
efficiently + humanely.
• Sports psychology studies athletics +
athletic performance.
• They focus on maximizing
performance through techniques like
visualization (mentally rehearsing the
steps involved in a successful
performance or process).
• Psychology’s
contributions
to society
• Mental health
• The mentally ill are no longer seen as being
“possessed” + needing to be put in chains,
but as needing care + understanding.
• Testing
• Psychologists have played a leading role in
devising + updating many tests (IQ, career
interest inventories, etc…) including the
SAT (a standardized test that measures
verbal, written, + mathematical reasoning
abilities) + the ACT (a standardized test
that consists of 4 assessment tests that
measure academic development).
• Everyday living
• Educational programs (daycare, tv, etc…)
• Childrearing
• Learning/behavior modification
• Much, much more…
• Experimental • Experimental psych uses a variety of
vs. applied
scientific methods to study human + animal
psychology
behavior.
• Applied psych puts the knowledge of psych
to work solving human problems.
• Both gather the available evidence + offer
the best explanation they can find.
• Both study behavior + use similar
processes.
• Applied psychologists search for
immediate solutions + experimental
psychologists for long-range answers.
• The challenges
of psychology
• Social change, urban problems, early
learning, the biological bases for
behavior, reduction of violence, etc… are
all among the challenges facing
psychologists today.
• Gerontology is the study of aging. It’s
becoming increasingly important as
people are living longer.
• The top 3 killers of children +
adolescents in our society are accidents,
violence, + drugs – mostly psychological
problems.
• Many of the dangers facing
society today are caused by social
problems, so they can only be
solved by changing the behavior +
attitudes of individuals +
communities.
End Section 2