SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

1. SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY • Fast Track Chapter 13 • Bernstein Chapters 17 & 18

2. SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGYis the study of how our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the real or imagined presence and influence of others • Social psychologists are interested in: • how others affect what an individual does and how he/she thinks and feels • how the individual can influence others

3. SOCIAL INFLUENCES ON THE SELF • SELF-CONCEPT one’s perception of who one is • SELF-ESTEEM how valuable one feels oneself to be • SOCIAL COMPARISON comparing ourselves to those around us as a way of judging/evaluating ourselves • REFERENCE GROUP people we use as a comparison to ourselves and with whom we identify most strongly • RELATIVE DEPRIVATION being denied access to what we feel we are entitled to have • TEMPORAL COMPARISON using our past experiences to judge/evaluate ourselves in the current moment • IN-GROUP a group for which the individual has strong feelings of loyalty, respect, and togetherness due to a common feature • IN-GROUP BIAS showing favoritism toward other members of the in-group based on shared feelings and admiration • OUT-GROUP a group of people who hold beliefs different from those of the individual and toward whom he/she feels animosity • SELF -SCHEMAS mental frameworks/blueprints that people have about themselves • SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECY when a person unknowingly behaves in a manner that helps to justify or fulfill an expected outcome

4. PYGMALION EFFECT (TEACHER-EXPECTANCY EFFECT) • Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson experiment on the self-fulfilling prophecy

5. EXPLAINING BEHAVIOR • Social psychologists studyATTRIBUTES(attempts to explain why a person behaves a certain way) as a way of understanding how and why individuals explain their own behaviors as well as the behaviors of others. • Attribution theories tend to explain behavior as a result of either: • INTERNAL (DISPOSITIONAL) FACTORS behavior that is explained as the result of personal (dispositional) characteristics • EXTERNAL (SITUATIONAL) FACTORS behavior that is explained as a result of unavoidable factors or factors out of one’s control • We ALL use attributes to explain the behaviors of others as well as our own. • Errors in Attribution • fundamental attribution error (FAE) the tendency to explain the behavior of others as the result of an internal or dispositional factor • actor-observer biasthe tendency to explain the behavior of others as the result of internal or dispositional factors while attributing your behavior to external or situational factors • self-serving bias tendency to attribute success to internal or dispositional factors while blaming any failure on external or situational factors • unrealistic optimismthe belief that favorable events are more likely to occur to you than to others • self-handicappinglimiting one’s potential for success by offering explanations for failure before an event takes place

6. ATTITUDES • ATTITUDES are reactions to situations, events, or objects based on previous experiences with them. • affect our everyday lives • include beliefs (cognitions), feelings (emotions/affect), and behaviors that are relatively unchanging • correlation between attitudes and behavior is weak to moderate; knowns as the A-B PROBLEM (one’s attitudes do not necessarily predict future behavior) • Forming Attitudes • explained through behaviorism • formed through conditioning (classical or operant) and modeling • mere exposure effect the more a person is subjected to novel stimulus, the more he or she will grow to enjoy the stimulus; shaping attitudes by repeated exposure

7. ATTITUDES • Changing Attitudes • ELABORATION LIKELIHOOD MODEL OF PERSUASION • central route to persuasion involves a careful examination of the message to determine the validity of the argument • peripheral route to persuasion involves the use of outside factors to influence the validity of the argument • SEE VIDEO • COGNITIVE DISSONANCE discomfort resulting from conflicting cognitions and behaviors; tension between what we THINK and what we DO • ways to reduce the discomfort of cognitive dissonance; • change attitude • justify behavior • change behavior • SEE VIDEO

8. PREJUDICE AND STEREOTYPES • PREJUDICE a positive or negative belief about a category of people; refers to prejudging a person because or she belongs to a specific group; making a judgment before knowing all the facts • STEREOTYPING the generalization of a particular group of people based on a pre-existing concept or image; involves generalizing an attitude toward a larger segment of the population • DISCRIMINATION differing treatment toward a category of people, typically people of a different ethnicity, religion, or gender; may involve preferential treatment of some good or service to a group of people • Factors influencing prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination... SEE HANDOUT • Philip Zimbardo on Social Reality, Prejudice, and Discrimination

9. PREJUDICE AND STEREOTYPES • PREJUDICE a positive or negative belief about a category of people; refers to prejudging a person because or she belongs to a specific group; making a judgment before knowing all the facts • STEREOTYPING the generalization of a particular group of people based on a pre-existing concept or image; involves generalizing an attitude toward a larger segment of the population • DISCRIMINATION differing treatment toward a category of people, typically people of a different ethnicity, religion, or gender; may involve preferential treatment of some good or service to a group of people • Factors influencing prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination... SEE HANDOUT • Philip Zimbardo on Social Reality, Prejudice, and Discrimination • Muzafer Sherif and the Robbers Cave Experiment (1954) on prejudice • increased competition between the two groups led to increased feelings of ill will, prejudice, and discrimination • prejudiced reduced when difficult challenges requiring cooperation between the groups were successfully completed

10. CONFORMITY AND COMPLIANCE • CONFORMITY a change in behavior due to real or imagined group pressure • COMPLIANCE changing behavior due to a direct request • What’s the difference between conformity and compliance? • Conformity occurs when people simply go along with the crowd. Compliance involves a specific request for behavior change. • Most of us conform daily by following along with society’s SOCIAL NORMS (implicit and explicit rules that guide daily behavior and are based on societal expectancies). • e.g., facing forward and not talking on an elevator • To maintain social norms, RECIPROCITY (responding to a behavior with the same behavior) is often used. This also helps maintain social order • e.g., someone holds the door for you, you hold the door for the person behind you • Solomon Asch and the Conformity Study (1950s) • CONFEDERATESsubjects unknown to the actual participants in an experiment assigned by the researched to influence the experiment

11. OBEDIENCE AND THE POWER OF THE SITUATION • OBEDIENCE agreeing to an explicit or implicit request because it came from a person of perceived authority; one of the ways society functions smoothly • 3 main factors affecting obedience: • status or prestige of the person giving the order • the behavior of others in the same situation • the personal characteristics of the individual • Stanley Milgram’s Obedience to Authority Experiment (1963) • found participants would follow instructions when reassured by a perceived authority figure they would not be held responsible for the results of the actions being ordered (65% of Milgram’s participants followed orders completely) • THE POWER OF THE SITUATION • Philip Zimbardo’s Prison Experiment (1971) • proved that context, or situation, can and will influence behavior of the individual

12. AGGRESSION • AGGRESSION any act that is intended to cause harm to another; found in every species • PSYCHODYNAMIC PERSPECTIVE aggression is instinctive, the unconscious impulse of the id; to redirect these impulses and achieve CATHARSIS (the release of these instinctual aggressive impulses), we engage in socially acceptable alternatives such as football, boxing, NASCAR, etc... • BIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE aggressions results from an innate drive; frontal lobe plays role important role in inhibiting our behavior and damage to it can result in bouts of anger and aggression; limbic system damage may lead to aggressive behavior; higher levels of testosterone increase aggressiveness • EVOLUTIONARY PERSPECTIVE aggression is innate and serves to further the survival of the species; the more aggressive an organism is, the greater its chances for long-term survival • BEHAVIORAL-COGNITIVE PERSPECTIVE aggression is learned/nurtured; caused by reinforcement as well as through observation and imitation • ENVIRONMENTAL PERSPECTIVE aggression stems from outside factors such as temperature, pollution, and proximity of living arrangements to those of others; increased temperature and pollution as well as more dense living conditions increase aggressive behavior

13. ALTRUISM AND NON-HELPING BEHAVIOR • ALTRUISM a genuine concern for the safety and well-being of another • Why would a person commit an altruistic act? • arousal cost-reward theory weighing several options in order to reduce the unpleasant feeling associated with seeing a person in distress; the individual weighs the cost associated with helping the other person (cost to other person in need, cost to self) • reciprocal altruism assisting another person with the expectation that person will repay the deed in the future; also known as “tit-for-tat” or summarized by the saying, “If you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.” • BYSTANDER EFFECT (BYSTANDER APATHY) when the presence of others inhibits the helping behavior of an individual • diffusion of responsibility not intervening in the presence of others because the person thinks that others are going to intervene in the situation; people feel they cannot personally be held responsible because there are others around • e.g., The Kitty Genovese Murder

14. ALTRUISM AND NON-HELPING BEHAVIOR • ALTRUISM a genuine concern for the safety and well-being of another • Why would a person commit an altruistic act? • arousal cost-reward theory weighing several options in order to reduce the unpleasant feeling associated with seeing a person in distress; the individual weighs the cost associated with helping the other person (cost to other person in need, cost to self) • reciprocal altruism assisting another person with the expectation that person will repay the deed in the future; also known as “tit-for-tat” or summarized by the saying, “If you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.” • BYSTANDER EFFECT (BYSTANDER APATHY) when the presence of others inhibits the helping behavior of an individual • diffusion of responsibility not intervening in the presence of others because the person thinks that others are going to intervene in the situation; people feel they cannot personally be held responsible because there are others around • e.g., The Kitty Genovese Murder

15. ALTRUISM AND NON-HELPING BEHAVIOR • What factors contribute to the bystander effect and diffusion of responsibility? • feelings of incompetence in front of others • may be having a bad day • unfamiliar environment • doesn’t realize the situation is truly an emergency • doesn’t want to be singled out by getting involved • How can the bystander effect be countered? • individuals must take charge and assign roles • pointing directly at individuals and assigning specific tasks ensures others will help

16. COOPERATION, COMPETITION, AND CONFLICT • COOPERATION working with another to obtain a desired goal; when a person decides to help another • COMPETITION pursuit of a desired outcome while refuting the same outcome to others; when two groups are vying for the same goal • CONFLICT opposing members of a group being in direct opposition to another group in accomplishing a similar goal SEE HANDOUT

17. GROUP PROCESSES • How group members interact is often the result of leadership style within the group. • A charismatic leader can be motivating whereas a disorganized or reserved leader can be uninspiring. • The group itself may encourage or discourage certain behavior in its members. • LEADERSHIP STYLES • task-oriented leader strongly direct and are driven by goals and production; usually discourage discussion within the group as this is seen as a distraction to productivity • person-oriented leader concerned more with group harmony than production; typically seek advice from their workers • INFLUENCES OF THE GROUP ON BEHAVIOR • social-facilitation, social inhibition (evaluation apprehension), social loafing, group polarization, groupthink, deindividuation... SEE HANDOUT