Social Psychology

1. Social Psychology

3. How does society affect our thinking and actions?

4. How do people explain behavior? • Fundamental attribution error • Overestimating the influence of personality • Underestimating the influence of situation

5. How do our actions affect our attitudes? • The “foot-in-the-door” phenomenon • People who agree to a small action, will comply with a larger one later.

6. How does the role we play affect our attitudes and actions? • Philip Zimbardo’s prison study • Students randomly assigned to be guards or prisoners • Guards acted like guards • Prisoners acted like prisoners • Study called off after only six days because participants were endangered by their role playing. • Result: Roles call for certain behavior if we play that role long enough we may become that type of person.

7. How do our actions affect our attitudes? • Cognitive dissonance theory • Leon Festenger • Cognitive = thinking • Dissonance = Unresolved differences • When we act differently than we believe, we experience cognitive dissonance.

8. Cognitive dissonance (cont.) • To reduce dissonance, we will change our attitudes (or behavior) to produce agreement. • We change our attitudes to justify past behavior.

9. Cognitive dissonance (cont.)

10. How do we influence each other? • Will you conform to group pressure?

11. Solomon Asch conformity study • Comparing lengths of lines • People rejected what they could see, to conform with the group

12. Obedience - Will you do what you are told even if it would hurt someone?

13. Stanley Milgram’s shock experiments • Teachers - gave shock (15 - 450 volts) • Learners - received shock • Results: The majority of “teachers” ordered to shock the “learners” complied fully, and gave the highest level of shock.

14. Stanley Milgram’s shock experiments (Cont.)

15. What causes prejudice? • Scapegoat Theory • Frustration & feeling disadvantaged creates prejudice • “They caused my problems.” • The Cultural Theory of prejudice • Emery Borgardus • People well adjusted to a “culture of prejudice” become prejudiced.

16. What causes aggression? • Frustration - aggression hypothesis • Frustration - anger - aggression • E.g. Hurting someone that frustrated you (not always physical)

17. Have you ever been “In love”? Sternberg’s theory of love Intimacy Passion Commitment

18. Have you ever been “In love”? • Passionate love • Fully absorbed with the other • “Walking on clouds” • Companionate love • A deep affectionate attachment to the other • Based on equity and self disclosure

19. Will you help someone in an emergency? • The bystander effect • Kitty Genovese • Before helping, people must: • Notice the situation • Interpret it as an emergency • Assume responsibility

20. Bystander effect (cont.) • The more people are available to help, the less chance any one person will help. • “Diffusion of responsibility”

21. Why do we help? • Self interest • The “Social Exchange” theory • Cost - benefit analysis • Will the cost (money, time, discomfort) be less than the benefit (reduced guilt, social approval, good feelings). • Reciprocity norm • I give you something, I expect something back • Name stamps in contribution envelopes