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Dispositional vs. Situational
Chapter 18
 Fundamental Attribution Error:
social psychological theory that maintains people
explain others behavior by __________________________________ and
underestimating the impact of situational influences.
 Dispositional Example: those who took part in the Abu Ghraib abuse were sadists or
prone to _______________.
 Situational Example: external influences and the _________________________
mostly explains the abuse that took place at Abu Ghraib.
Social Thinking
 How we explain someone’s behavior affects how we react to it
Diffusion of Responsibility
 Diffusion of Responsibility is a social phenomenon which tends to occur in groups of
people above a ____________________ when responsibility is not explicitly assigned.
 Examples:
 Bystander Apathy: _______________ emergency victim when many people around.
 “Just following orders”—happens in ___________________
 Firing Squads: ________________________.
Group Pressure and Conformity
 Conformity: means to adjust your behavior to _____________________
 Solomon’s Asch’s study illustrated the power of ___________________________
Obedience to Authority
 _______________________ study is most famous for illustrating the powerful
situational influence of authority.
 Study completed in 1963. Milgram created the study in part because of his
____________________________
 “If Hitler asked you, would you execute a stranger?”
Milgram’s Obediance Study
 Participants are told they are participating in a study based on the ______________
____________________________
 3 Basic People in Study:
 Participant: _________________ who will read word pairs to the “student.”
 Student: __________________that will be shocked if answers incorrectly.
 Experimenter: ______________ in lab coat that instructs the participant what to do.
Milgram’s Experimental Design
 The range of electrical shocks had 30 variables ranging from mild shock (15 volts) to
__________________________ and XXX (450 Volts).
Milgram’s Obedience Study
 Major Question: how many people would inflict the __________________ on the
“learner?”
 Prior to the experiment, psychologists believed _________________ would inflict
maximum damage.

Actual Results:
 __________________________ gave “learner” maximum shock despite feelings
of discomfort, no participant stopped prior to 300 volt level.
 In studies compliance was as _____________________ and as low as 10%
depending on the variables used.
The Power of Obedience: How?
•
•
•
•
•
Start with an ___________---purpose is to help science find better ways of learning.
Use authority to legitimate ideology---______________________
Give people desirable roles with meaningful status--___________________
Have rules that channel behavioral options and agree to them before “game” begins--_____________________________ and purpose.
Have initial harmful act be _____________ and subsequent acts escalate gradually--moves from slight shock gradually to severe…____________________________
The Power of Obedience: How?
•
______________________ for consequences on authority---Experimenter explains
he is liable to the “teacher.”
• Put Actors in a _________________ they are not used to---laboratory
• Don’t allow usual forms of dissent to lead to disobedience---____________________
______________________. “It is absolutely essential that you continue.”
Factors which Influenced Compliance in Milgram’s Study
Obedience highest when:
-person giving orders is _____________ at hand.
-authority figure is supported by _____________________.
-victim is ______________________and in another room.
-there are _____________________ for defiance.
Deindividuation
 Deindividuation:
the loss of self-awareness and self-restraint occurring in group
situations that foster arousal and ___________________.
 Women dressed in depersonalizing outfits or masks delivered higher levels of shocks
than those who were ______________________.
 Some argue the process involved in creating soldiers in the military involves
________________________
Dehumanization
 Dehumanization:
the ability to view the victims of violence as somehow
__________________________
 Humans find it easier to inflict and rationalize violence against victims who seem
_______________________________
Bandura’s Dehumanization Experiments


•
Group of ______________________ were to help train other visiting college
students using shocks when they erred.
Participants overhear 1 of 3 statements:
Neutral: the subjects from the other school are here.
•
•
Humanized: the subjects from the other school are here and they seem ___________
Dehumanized: the subjects from the other school are here and they seem like ______.
Results: _______________________ toward dehumanized labeled individuals.
Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment
 Ordinary
college
students
were
randomly
divided
into
groups
of
“________________________”
 “Prisoners” were “arrested” in their homes by real policemen, strip searched, deloused and
put
into
a
“jail”
created
in
the
basement
of
the
______________________________.
Deindividuation and Dehumanization In Stanford Prison Experiment
 Prisoners:
 Referred to only as a _________________
 Wore ill-fitting smocks without _________________
 Wore nylon panty-hose over head to simulate _________________
 Wore small chain around ankle to remind them of their _____________________.
Deindividuation and Dehumanization in Stanford Prison Experiments
 Guards:
 Wore military style uniform, ______________________
 Given reflective sunglasses to ______________________.
 Only referred to prisoners by their ___________________
Results of Experiment
 ___________________ affected both groups attitudes.
 After a revolt on the 2nd day, “Prison Guards” became more and ________________ in
enforcing the law.
 “Prisoners” broke down and became more _______________
 “Guards” most sadistic when thought experimenters were ____________________
 Experiment eventually had to be __________________
Day 2
Social Psychology: Attitudes, Group Influences, Social Relations, Attraction, and
Altruism
Bump or Jump Illustrates:
 Social Trap: a situation in which the conflicting parties, by each rationally pursuing their
self-interest gets caught in ___________________________.
Do Attitudes Guide Our Actions?
 Attitude: ____________________ that predispose our reaction to objects, people,
and events.
 Our behavior is affected by our ______ attitudes as well as by ______________social
influences:
Attitudes are Likely to Affect Actions When:
•
•
•
Outside influences on what we say and do are ________________
The attitude is ____________________ relevant to the behavior.
We are keenly aware of our _______________.
Do Our Actions Affect Our Attitude?
Foot in the Door Phenomenon: tendency to comply with a _________________ after
agreeing to a small one.
Ex: P.O.W.’s in Korean War
Cognitive Dissonance: when our awareness of our attitudes and our actions clash, we can
reduce the discomfort (dissonance) by _____________________
Group Influences
 Reasons for Conformity:
 Normative Social
Influence:
influence from a person’s desire to
_________________________________
 Informational
Social
Influence:
influence
resulting
from
one’s
___________________________ others opinions about reality.
Conformity and Informational Influence
 Conformity with a group is a highest when the task is _____________________
Group Influences
 Social Facilitation:
improved performance of tasks in the ________________.
Occurs with simple or well-learned tasks but not with tasks that are difficult or not yet
mastered.
 Why? When others are around us we become physiologically aroused.
 Arousal _____________________ but not with difficult.
EX: Running vs. New Math Problem
Group Influences
 Social Loafing: the tendency for people in a group to _______________________
toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable.
 Especially common among men in _________________________.
 Leads to the “free-rider” problem
Effects of Group Interaction
 Group Polarization: the enhancement of a ________________________ through
discussion within the group.
Ex: non-racist vs. racist students meeting to discuss issues. Each sides attitudes will be
amplified.
 Groupthink: the mode of thinking that occurs when the desire ___________ in a
decision making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives.
Power of Individuals
 Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: occurs when one person’s belief about others leads one to act
in ways that induce the others to appear to _______________________
Man who believes woman is attracted to him; women more likely to act that way or
vice-versa.
Social Interactions
 Prejudice
 an ___________________ (and usually negative) attitude toward a group and its
members
 involves _____________________, negative feelings, and a predisposition to
discriminatory action
 Stereotype
 a ________________ (often overgeneralized) belief about a group of people
Us vs. Them
 Ingroup: “Us”---people who one shares a __________________.
 Outgroup: “Them”---those perceived as different or apart of ________________
 Ingroup bias: the tendency to _________________________
 Scapegoat theory: the theory that prejudice an outlet for anger by providing
__________________________
 Nazis scapegoat jews for economic frustration. “If the Jews did not exist, we should
have to invent him.”
Roots of Prejudice


 ______________________________: the tendency of people to believe the world
is just and that people therefore get what they deserve and deserve what they get.
 Example: social darwinism…p.666
Aggression
 Causes of Aggression:

 Neural Influences: stimulation to certain neural regions can ___________________
 Biochemical Influences:
______________________ correlate with aggressive
behavior…2-way…testosterone boosts and is boosted by aggressive behavior.
 Alcohol: 4/10 _______________…3/4 spousal abuse
Causes of Aggression
 Frustration-Aggression Principle: the principle that frustration---the blocking of an
attempt to achieve some goal---creates anger, which can _____________________.
 Aversive stimuli also increases aggression…ex: more spousal abuse in hotter years and
months.
Media and Aggression
 Average child sees _________________ and 100,000 acts of violence before finishing
elementary school on TV…desensitization?
 In the U.S. and Canada, homicide rates doubled between 1957 and 1974, coinciding with
the ____________________________
 “Rape Myth”…pornography that portrays sexual aggression as pleasurable for the victim
_________________________ of coercion in sexual relations.
Psychology of Attraction
 Importance of ______________: can’t fall in love with someone you’ve never met.
 Mere Exposure Effect: the phenomenon that repeated exposure to novel stimuli
increases the liking of them…______________________.
 Similarity also is a strong determinant of attraction: ____________________,
interests, and attitudes.
Love
 Passionate Love: an aroused state of intense positive absorption in another, usually
present at the beginning of a ______________________.
 Companionate Love: the deep _____________________ we feel for those whom
our lives are intertwined.
Making Love Last
 Equity: a condition in which people receive from a relationship in proportion to what they
give to it…decision-making, _______________, etc.
 Self Disclosure: revealing ___________________ of oneself to others breeds liking.
Altruism
 Altruism: ______________________ for the welfare of others.
 Bystander Effect: less likely to give aid if others are present..__________________
Increasing Altruism & Cooperation
 Social Exchange Theory: the theory that our social behavior is an exchange process,
the aim of which is to ______________________________. Ex: volunteer at
homeless shelter if believe benefits (good feelings, etc.) outweigh costs (time, effort, etc.)
 Superordinate Goals: shared goals that override differences among people and require
their ______________________. Ex: Remember the Titans