Social Psychology

1. Chapter 14 Social Psychology

2. What is social psychology This is a field of psychology that studies the nature and causes of people�s thoughts and behavior in social situations. Situationist perspective: The view that social influence can goad people into doing things that are inconsistent with their usual behavior.

3. Attitudes Attitude is an enduring mental representation of a person, place, or thing that evokes an emotional response and related behavior. Predicting attitudes A-B problem: the issue of how well we can predict behavior on the basis of attitudes.

4. Predicting behaviors by attitude Complications arise when trying to predict behaviors by attitudes Specificity. Specific behavior are better predicted by specific attitudes as opposed to global attitudes. Strength of attitudes. Strong attitudes are more likely to predict behavior than weak attitudes Vest interest. People are more likely to act on their attitudes when they have more invested in the outcome. Accessibility. People are more likely to behave in accord with their attitude when they are accessible, or brought to mind.

5. Forming attitudes Attitudes are formed by a variety of things Conditioning: Rewards for acting or thinking a certain way can lead to the formation of attitudes. Experience: We can develop attitudes about things by being exposed to them, either by hearing, seeing, or reading about them.

6. Persuade me to change my attitude. Persuasion can change people�s attitudes. Elaboration likelihood model states that a persuasive message evaluated based on central and peripheral (side) cues. Fear appeal is a persuasive message that changes people�s attitudes by arousing fear.

7. More attitudes Selective avoidance is when we ignore information that is inconsistent with our attitude. Selective exposure is when we seek and pay attention to information that is consistent with our attitude.

8. Make me more persuasive When people are in a good mood they are more easily persuaded. People who are more concerned about how other people will feel about them are more easily persuaded.

9. Taking it to the brain. Cognitive-dissonance theory is the view that we are motivated to make our cognitions and beliefs consistent. Attitude-discrepant behavior is behavior inconsistent with an attitude that may have the effect of modifying an attitude. Effort justification is a part of cognitive-dissonance theory that states the tendency to seek justification for strenuous effort.

10. You must be great at basketball Prejudice is the act of making judgment about someone based on little information Stereotypes: A fixed, conventional idea about a group. All Jews are thrifty. All African-Americans can dance. All Asians are good at math. All tall people are good at basketball. All fat people are lazy. All Hispanics are illegal aliens. All women can�t drive well. All people who wear glasses are geeks. All blonds are dumb. All Muslims are terrorists. All Catholic priest are child molesters. All homosexuals are fashionistas.

11. I�m not prejudice, but. . . Sources of prejudice Dissimilarity. We like people are similar to us and our attitudes toward others are based on similarity and dissimilarity. Social conflict. When we have social conflicts between different ethnicities or religions is causes prejudice. Social learning. Prejudices are learned from childhood or other people observed during early life. Information processing. Prejudices help use filter people quickly. We determine friend or foe quickly Social categorization. The us and thems. We use prejudice to decide if they are one of us or one of them.

12. We have Black History Month. . . Encourage intergroup contact and cooperation: Prejudice makes us avoid others, contact makes people more individual and less stereotyped. Present examples of admired individuals within groups that are often stigmatized: This is why different ethnicities have their own history months. Attack discriminatory behavior: It�s easier to change behaviors than alter feelings. Altering behavior is one step toward change.

13. Hey there, pretty lady Attraction is the attitude of liking or disliking someone. Physical appearance is important. Beauty is not just in the eye of the beholder. There are some universal truths to what we find beautiful. Facial symmetry is one of the key factors in physical attractiveness. Gender differences Women are more likely than men to marry someone unattractive if other positive characteristics, such as intelligence, education, and financial wellbeing, are present.

14. At Match.com Matching hypothesis states people tend to choose persons similar to themselves in attractiveness and attitudes in the formation of interpersonal relationships. Stats 94% of Caucasian men had Caucasian women as sex partners. 82% of African-American men had African-American women as sex partners. 83% of men and women chose partners within five years of their age and of a similar or same religion. Of nearly 2,000 women with college degrees, none had a partner that did not finish high school.

15. What�s love got to do with it? Reciprocity is the tendency to return feelings and attitudes that are expressed about us in interpersonal attraction. Triangle model of love (far less exciting as it sounds) is Sternberg�s theory that love involves a combination of three components: intimacy, passion, and commitment. Intimacy is a close acquaintance and familiarity or a characteristic of a relationship in which partners share their inmost thoughts. Passion: Strong romantic love and sexual feelings Commitment is the decision to maintain a relationship.

16. Tina said, �What�s love got to do, got to do with it?� Consummate love is Sternberg�s ideal form of love which combines intimacy, passion, and commitment. Romantic love is an intense, positive emotion that involves sexual attraction, feelings of caring and the belief that one is in love.

17. You only get one chance Social perception is a subfield of social psychology that studies the ways in which we form and modify impressions of others. Primacy effect is a the tendency to judge others by first impressions. Recency effect is the tendency to judge others by the most recent impression.

18. Stuck in the middle Attribution is a belief concerning why people behave the way to do. We attribute peoples actions to things we know or think we know about them. Attribution process is the process by which people draw inferences about the motives and traits of others Dispositional attribution is an assumption that a person�s behavior is determined by internal causes such as personal attitudes or goals Fundamental attribution error is the assumption that others act predominantly on the basis of their dispositions, even when there is evidence suggesting the importance of their situations. Actor-observer effect is the tendency to attribute our own behavior to situational factors but to attribute the behavior of others to dispositional factors.

19. Enough already with the attribution Self-serving bias is the tendency to view one�s successes as stemming from internal factors and one�s failures as stemming from external factors. Contributing factors to the attribution process Consensus is general agreement Consistency is the degree to which the same person acts in the same way on different occasions Distinctiveness is the extent to which the person responds differently in different situations.

20. And then of course there�s body language Body language is a form of non-verbal communication which uses eye contact, vocal tone, body posture and movements, and touching Touching. Women are far more likely to touch while communicating that men Looking. Gazing is a type of eye contact that is non-threatening and may suggest attraction to the other person Staring is often considered challenging and disturbing.

21. I was only following orders. Social influence is the area of social psychology that studies the ways in which people influence the thoughts, feelings, and behavior of others. Milgram study Conducted at Yale to look at how far people would go under social influence. Deceived participants into believing they had killed people. Had a cohort hooked up to �electrodes�. The participants were told to administer electric shock every time the cohort was wrong. They were encouraged to continue upping the voltage until they thought they had killed the cohort. Caused new standards in research ethics to be released.

22. Milgram Study: Why did they do it? Socialization. We all are taught to respect authority. Obedience to immoral acts is this respect�s ugly stepsister. (Think about Nazi Germany) Social comparison: The subjects had no one to compare their situation with. Perception of legitimate authority. This study was partially conducted at Yale. Many would have been overwhelmed by the importance of the situation. Foot-in-the-door technique. A method for inducing compliance in which a small request is followed by a larger request. Inaccessibility to values. The subjects became more aroused as the study went forward. When we are more emotionally aroused values are more difficult to access. Buffers. When we have things separating us, it is easier to comply.

23. Stepford Wives Conforming is to change one�s attitudes or overt behavior to adhere to social norms. Social norms are explicit and implicit rules that reflect social expectations and influence the ways people behave in social situations. Factors that influence conformity Belonging to a collective rather than an individualistic society The desire to be liked by other members of the group. Low self-esteem Lack of familiarity with the task. Asch Study: found that people are more likely to go against their notion of correctness when a number of people believe it is different.

24. Group Behavior Social facilitation is when a person�s performance increases when others are doing the same activity. Evaluation apprehension is the concern that others are evaluating our behavior. This can make us work more carefully and behave differently Diffusion of responsibility is the spreading or sharing of responsibility for a decision or behavior within a group. Can lead to laziness.

25. Group decision making Social decision schemes are rules for predicting the final outcome of group decision making on the basis of the members� initial positions. Examples The Majority-wins scheme. This commonly used scheme has the group arriving at a decision that was initially supported by the majority. The Truth-wins scheme. This scheme works in that as more information is provided and opinions are discussed, the group comes to recognize that one approach is objectively correct. The 2/3 majority scheme. It is the tendency to decided based on a 2/3 majority. Juries use this as does Congress when overruling a veto. The First-shift rule. The group tends to adopt the decision that reflects the first shift in opinion expressed by any group member.

26. Risque extremes Polarization in social psychology means taking a position that is at one extreme or another. Right wing/left wing. Risky shift is the idea that people are far more likely to take great risks in a group than as an individual.

27. Group think, not just for 1984 Group think is defined as a process in which group members are influenced by cohesiveness and a dynamic leader to ignore external realities as they make decisions. Great moments in group think The Spanish Inquisition, the Salem Witch Trials, The charge of the light brigade, The unsinkable Titanic, Nazi invasion of Russia, Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Bay of Pigs invasion, the Vietnam War (and it being fought as a war of attrition), the Watergate Scandal, launching both the Challenger and Columbia despite warnings from engineers.

28. Why Group Think? Feelings of invulnerability The group�s belief in its rightness Discrediting of information contrary to the group�s decision Pressure on group members to conform Stereotyping of members of the out-group.

29. The villagers are forming an angry mob. Deindividuation is the process by which group members may discontinue self-evaluation and adopt group norms and attitude. This is why otherwise mild manner people will become violent in mob behavior.

30. The Good Samaritan Altruism is unselfish concern for the welfare of others. Kitty Genovese and the 40 witnesses LaChambon, France in World War Two The Good Samaritan Oskar Schindler

31. The Levite and the priest There are several factors why people help. Observers are more likely to help when they are in a good mood. People who are empathic are more likely to help people in need Bystanders are more likely to help if an emergency is perceived. Observers must assume the responsibility to act. Observers must know what to do Observers are more likely to help people they know. Observers are more likely to help people who are similar to themselves.