Social Psychology

1. Social Psychology Kimberley A. Clow kclow2@uwo.ca http://www.ssc.uwo.ca/psychology/undergraduate/psych020-003/ Login: psych20-003 Password: greentea

2. Outline • Social Psychology • Helping • Who we help • When we help • Influence of Groups • Social Facilitation • Social Loafing • Attraction • Beauty • Love

3. Social Psychology • Definition • Social psychology is the scientific study of the way in which people’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviour are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other people • Emphasizes the situational factors that affect behaviour

4. Helping

5. 80 60 % Helping 40 20 0 High Medium Low None Genetic Relatedness Who Do We Help?

6. Social Factors • Similarity • Responsibility

7. Kitty Genovese

8. The Process of Helping

9. Smoke Filled Room 80 70 60 50 % Reporting Smoke 40 30 20 10 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Minutes Passed Since Smoke Started Alone Three Person Group

10. Decision Stages  Helping

12. Do Groups Help or Hinder? • What influence do groups have? • Do you perform better in a group? • Do you perform worse in a group? • Do groups alter the way you behave?

13. Presence of Others Physiological Arousal On well-mastered or simple tasks dominant response is right On difficult or complex tasks dominant response is wrong Dominant Responses Improved Performance Impaired Performance

14. Social Loafing • Told to clap or cheer as loud as you can • Wearing headphones • Hearing others clap or cheer • Can’t hear themselves

15. Facilitation vs. Loafing

16. When Do People Join Groups? • When they believe they would fail on their own • Stereotypical male vs. female tasks • When they want information • When they don’t want to face an uneasy situation alone

17. Another Shocking Study… • Women giving shocks • KKK outfits • Nurse uniforms • Deindividuation • Losing one’s sense of personal identity • More susceptible to the cues in the situation?

18. After discussion, the group that initiallyfavored grad school would be even more strongly in favor Conversely, the group that initially disfavoredgrad school would be even more opposed Definite GO Attitude Towards Grad School Unsure Definite NO (Get A Job!) After Group Discussion Before Group Discussion

19. What About Attraction? • Influencing Factors • Similarity • Personality, attitudes, interests, physical features • Proximity • College dorm study • Familiarity • Mere exposure • Physical Attractiveness

20. Beauty Which of these three faces do you prefer? 1 2 3

21. Beauty Across Time • Beauty in the 1950s. • Recognize “her”? • Beauty in the 1980s. • Recognize “her”?

22. The Matching Principle • People tend to date others of similar attractiveness and with similar attitudes

23. Situational Determinants

24. Getting Acquainted Study • Men and women talk over intercom • Men shown pictures • Attractive or unattractive

25. Beauty Is Good Stereotype Male’s Male’s Female’sExpectations Behavior Behavior

26. Many Types of Love

27. Love Changes • People involved in serious relationships rate beautiful models as less attractive • The more committed the person, the less they reciprocate interest from another attractive other • Some people switch attachment styles in response to relationship experiences • People married to dissimilar partners change their personalities more over the years

28. Problem Factors • Too much dissimilarity • Boredom • Changes in reciprocal evaluations and attributions • Jealousy • Inequity • Temperament • Exchange Orientation

29. How to Communicate • Some helpful rules • Positive framing • Express appreciation • Avoid silent treatment • Don’t pretend to be a psychologist • Speak for yourself, not your partner • Say it directly • Nothing nice to say? Then keep quiet