Social Psychology

Ch. 14 ? Social Psychology Social Psychology The study of how the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others influences the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of individuals EX: the effect of the presence of proctors/teacher aides when taking an exam Social psychology vs. personality psychology Social psychology vs. sociology Individual behavior vs. group behavior How Do We Think About One Another? Attribution An explanation for someone?s behavior Dispositional Attributions Internal causes Personality, intention Why? Because that is the type of person he/she is Situational Attributions External causes Environment, coincidence Why? Because something must have ?made? him/her do it Attributions: Errors & Biases Fundamental attribution error General tendency to underestimate situational influences But does everyone always? Say (or do) what they mean and? mean what they say (or do)? Actor-observer bias Them ( dispositional (internal) ( can you believe them? Us ( situational (external) ( let me explain? Self-serving bias My success ( dispositional ( I?ve earned/deserved it My failure ( situational ( it was too hard; I?m unlucky Attitudes A predisposition to respond evaluatively (positive or negative) to a person, object, or situation Three components Affective (emotions) ? feelings toward it Behavioral ? predisposition to act toward it Cognitive ? thoughts and beliefs about it Sources Direct experience Coincidental conditioning indirect experience Verbal transmission/adoption interaction/discussion with others How Do We Relate To One Another? Interpersonal Attraction We like people who are available to us Proximity We like people who are familiar to us The mere exposure effect We like people who are attractive to us Physical attractiveness and the halo effect Competence, with imperfectness We like people who are like us Similarity and the matching hypothesis We like people who like us Reciprocity What is ?Love?? Sternberg?s Triangular Theory of Love Altruism Factors in helping Empathy Actually understanding and feeling for person?s situation and circumstances Commitment No hesitation to help those we are committed to Social responsibility Groups Society tells us we are responsible for helping others and ourselves Kitty Genoese and bystander intervention Kitty G. was attacked, raped, and knifed over the course of 20 minutes Nothing was done The attacker left to change appearance and came back to continue his attack This was done openly and loudly Summertime, windows open, heard easily Many people ? 38 ? had 20 minutes to help, but nothing was done So many people there, each thought that someone else would do something You must? Notice that something is going on Define the emergency Assess situation and decide if intervention is needed (clear emergency?) Assume responsibility Individuals must realize and tell themselves that they must do something to help Diffusion of responsibility Less chance of someone taking responsibility and helping when there are more people around Aggression Is it nature (biology)? Genetics Animal studies of aggression in different species Dogs ? pitbulls Neurology Hormonal levels ? unusually high levels of testosterone ( more aggressive Biochemistry Or is it nurture? Frustration Obstacle to goals Has potential to lead to aggression Pain, personal space and crowding Trying to help a wounded animal Animal may lash out ? in pain and doesn?t know you are trying to help Crowded with strangers If with friends, won?t feel crowded Social learning/modeling Observation of parent/adult aggression Prejudice Prejudice is an attitude ? a predisposition to respond negatively based on group (ethnicity, race, gender, etc) membership What is the affect behind prejudice? Irrational hatred toward a group simply because of its characteristics May be due to underlying fear What is the behavior that results from prejudice? Discrimination Based on membership not on individual assessment What are the beliefs (cognitions) which underlie prejudice? Stereotypes In-groups vs. out-groups We see more richness in our own groups How Do We Influence One Another? How does being a member of a group influence our behavior? How ? and under what conditions ? do we change our behavior in order to conform to some external norm? Group Influence Social facilitation Presence of others ( individual performance Performance improves with competition Direction depends on the nature of the task Easy tasks ( others improve individual performance Difficult tasks ( others interfere with performance Social loafing Group ( reduction in individual contributions/ team effort Critical factor: lack of individual accountability Tendency to leave the responsibility for the rest of the group We Conform When? We feel incompetent or insecure The group is large (3 or more other people) The group is unanimous We admire the group Status Attractiveness We have made no prior commitment Reduces likelihood of conformity if commitment is made EX: writing answer and giving verbally ( will say the written answer to match it We are being observed by group members Evaluation by others Our culture encourages conformity Normative vs. informational social influence Normative social influence ? individual conforms to ?fit in? with group Informational social influence ? conformity due to the fact that an individual does not know what to do in situation/under the circumstances Modeling behavior of those who know (or may know) what they are doing Obedience How does obedience differ from conformity? Authority Explicit pressure Comes from difference in power/authority Milgram?s obedience study Would you deliver ?dangerous? electric shocks to someone simply because someone told you to? Majority of people obeyed up to the highest level of shock We Obey When? The authority figure is? Nearby Appears legitimate Perception of authority figure Supported or backed by a prestigious institution The victim is? Far away Depersonalized Not like us Differences There are no role models for defiance Obedience is reduced when someone else disobeys/defies the authority figure Attitude Change Compliance Foot in the door phenomenon Door in the face phenomenon Social roles ? Zimbardo?s prison study Mock prison Subjects played either prisoners or guards Subjects actually began to play the roles ?Guards? actually abused ?prisoners? both physically and mentally ?Prisoners? rebelled Behaviors changed to fit their roles Cognitive dissonance theory (Festinger) What happens when our attitudes and our behaviors are inconsistent with one another? Provokes anxiety because attitude and behavior do not match Persuasion Source Credibility Expertise Trustworthiness Attractiveness/likeability Message Clarity Nature (rational vs. emotional) Format (one- vs. two-sided) Medium Channels of communication Interactiveness Receiver/Audience Knowledge Interest Personality characersistics