The reason you have exams and quizzes…

1. The reason you have exams and quizzes… • Responses to “What is Terror Management Theory?” • A blank sheet of paper with the person’s name • Claims to have read the wrong articles: 2 • Admitted not reading the article for various reasons (e.g., thesis proposal): 9 • Other horribly incorrect responses: 6 • Folks who wrote a lot about sociometer theory…and hoped that I wouldn’t notice that they didn’t mention Terror Management Theory: 2 • “I don’t know what Terror Management Theory is.” • “Terrorism theory is…Weren’t our readings on Health Psychology and Happiness? I don’t remember either of these from those.” • “Care management theory…I can’t even guess. I’m sorry. It’s been a busy week.” • “Terror Management Theory postulates that people whose self-esteem is not based on affiliations with others would need a different approach than those who are affiliated with others.” • “It is more difficult for individuals with low self-esteem to manage their fears/terror.” • “The other deals with anger management.” • Acceptable answers: 9

2. Introducing Social Psychology PSY 750 Advanced Social Psychology

3. Questions • Is it possible for people to live together peacefully? • Violence erupts at 2004 peace rally • 11 days of world peace since the end of World War II • What does Lynndie England’s behavior at the Abu Ghraib prison tell us about human behavior? • Something about her? • Something about the situation? • Some combination of the two?

4. What is Social Psychology? • The scientific study of how people think about, influence, and relate to one another • Focus is on the individual within their social environments (e.g., groups of people or social contexts) • Other definitions • An attempt to understand and explain how the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others (Allport) • Whatever a social psychologist wants to study (Gilbert)

5. Interaction of the Person and the Situation • Our inner motivations interact with the outside situation • We respond to our contexts • The Holocaust • German people are not inherently evil • These regular people followed orders to slaughter millions of innocents • Would you be cruel if ordered? • The events of 9/11 • New Yorkers are sometimes characterized as rude and uncaring • Displayed an abundance of helpfulness and generosity • When are you willing to help others?

6. Themes for the Course • Power of the situation: We often fail to appreciate the power of situations in shaping behavior • Subjective construction of reality: Our beliefs and expectations determine much of what we experience • People can be irrational: We do not always choose actions that are beneficial • Group dynamics: Being around other people (or even imagining other people) often changes our behavior • Social psychology is practical: The study of social behavior can be relevant to our daily lives

7. How Should Social Psychology Be Characterized? • The topics it studies • The assumptions that are often made • The methods that are commonly employed

8. Topics of Social Psychology • Social Cognition • How do we think about ourselves, other people, and our social world? • What do we believe? Why? How do our beliefs change over time? • Why do we possess certain attitudes? How do our attitudes influence our behavior? • Self • How do we think and feel about ourselves? • How do we regulate our behavior? • Conflict • How do differing cultural and ethnic groups coexist? • What are some of the causes of aggression? • Social Influence • What makes us obey authority? • Why do we conform? • How can we persuade others? How do others persuade us? • How do groups function? • Social Relations • Why do we form relationships? • Why are we attracted to certain people but not others? • When do we help others and when do we fail to help? • Culture and Biology • How does culture influence our behavior? • How do neural mechanisms relate to behavior? • What role does evolution play in psychological processes?

9. Assumptions of Social Psychology • People often interact with each other to achieve some goal or satisfy some inner motivation • Social behavior is often goal-oriented • Common Motives • Establish social ties • Understand ourselves and others in order to increase predictability and mastery • Gain and maintain status • Defend ourselves and those we value • Attract and retain mates • The person and the situation are both important • Inner processes are important for understanding people • We are not always aware of the reasons for our behavior

10. Methods of Social Psychology • Experimentation is the primary method • Quasi-experiments and correlational research are also commonly used • Common procedures • Behavioral observation and coding • Self-report • Psychophysiology • Small groups • Experience sampling (e.g., daily measures) • Priming • Semi-structured interviews • Content analysis and narrative analysis

11. Major Theoretical Perspectives • Why are there so many perspectives? • Complexity of social behavior • History • Sociocultural • Cultural environment • Social norms • Evolutionary • Natural selection • Adaptation • Social learning • Rewards and punishments • Links culture and individual • Social cognition • Attend to, process, store, and recall information • Categorization • Phenomenological • Subjective interpretation • Basic principle of social psychology—we do not respond to the world as it actually is but as we perceive it to be • Combined perspectives

12. Basic Mechanisms of Social Psychology • Interaction between person and situation • Kurt Lewin’s Equation: B = f (p, e) which means that Behavior is a function of the Person and the Environment • Different situations activate different aspects of the self • Each situation has different facets and the social motives that are active in a particular situation will depend on which facet is salient • Not everyone responds in the same way to the same situation • People choose their situations • People change their situations • Situations choose people • Situations change people

13. A Brief History of Social Psychology • Earliest Social Psychology Experiments • Norman Triplett in 1898 • Noticed that cyclists who were competing performed better than those who were not • Decided to test hypothesis that the presence of others would enhance performance • Tested idea using a “Competition Machine” • Children wound fishing reel alone or side-by-side • They worked faster when working alongside other children • The presence of others enhanced performance (i.e., social facilitation)

14. A Brief History of Social Psychology • Max Ringelmann in the 1880s • Conducted rope-pulling experiments • Men pulled alone or as part of a group • Measured amount of effort • As group size increased, individual effort decreased • The presence of others hurt performance (i.e., social loafing) • Which is it? Do others help or hurt performance? • Social psychology is full of these apparent contradictions

15. A Brief History of Social Psychology • Introduction of Social Psychology Textbooks in 1908 • Edward Ross (sociologist) • William McDougall (psychologist) • Influences in Early 20th Century • Gordon Allport • It’s all about attitudes • Kurt Lewin • Behavior represents an interaction of the person with the situation

16. A Brief History of Social Psychology • Influences in 1950s and 1960s • Behaviorism • Focus on learning • No study of inner states • Rigorous scientific methods • Freudian psychoanalysis • Focus on inner processes • Cognitive psychology • The way we process information • Social Psychology combined scientific methods with study of learning, inner processes, and information processing

17. Research Reflects the Times • 1940s: Fascism in Europe led to prejudice research • 1950s: Intolerance of differing views led to conformity research • 1960s: Riots and crime increase led to aggression research • 1970s: Feminist movement led to gender and sexism research • 1980s: Arms race led to conflict and peacekeeping research • 1990s: Multiculturalism led to study of diversity in culture, race, and sexual orientation • 2000s: Concerns about self-regulation failures have led to renewed interest in processes concerning the self

18. Quote by Stanley Milgram • “The social psychology of this century reveals a major lesson: Often it is not so much the kind of person a man is as the kind of situation in which he finds himself that determines how he will act”