Chapter 16: Social Behavior

1. Chapter 16: Social Behavior

2. What is Social Psychology? Some Definitions • Social Psychology: Scientific study of how individuals behave, think, and feel in social situations; how people act in the presence (actual or implied) of others • Culture: Ongoing pattern of life that is passed from one generation to another

3. Affiliation • Need to Affiliate: Desire to associate with other people; appears to be a basic human trait • Social Comparison: Making judgments about ourselves by comparing us to others; e.g., comparing our feelings and abilities to those of other people

4. Interpersonal Attraction • Social attraction to another person • Physical Proximity: Physical nearness to another person in terms of housing, school, work, and so on • Physical Attractiveness: Person’s degree of physical beauty as defined by his or her culture • Halo Effect: Tendency to generalize a favorable impression to unrelated personal characteristics

5. Similarity • Similarity: Extent to which two people are alike in terms of age, education, attitudes, and so on • Similar people are attracted to each other • Homogamy: Tendency to marry someone who is like us in almost every way

6. Figure 16.2

7. Self-Disclosure • Process of revealing private thoughts, attitudes, feelings, and one’s personal history to others • Should be used cautiously and sparingly when you are the therapist performing therapy • May lead to countertransference in therapy (When the therapist makes an unhealthy connection to the client)

8. More on Self-Disclosure • Reciprocity: Return in kind; reciprocal exchange • Overdisclosure: Self-disclosure that exceeds what is appropriate for a relationship or social situation

9. Love and Attachment • Romantic Love: Marked by high levels of interpersonal attraction, sexual desire, and heightened arousal • Liking: Relationship based on intimacy and affection but lacking passion or deep commitment • Mutual Absorption: When two lovers almost always attend only to each other • Evolutionary Psychology: Study of the evolutionary origins of human behavior patterns

10. Social Roles • Patterns of behavior expected of people in various social positions (e.g., daughter, mother, teacher, President) • Ascribed Role: Assigned to a person or not under personal control • Achieved Role: Attained voluntarily or by special effort: teacher, mayor, President • Role Conflict: When two or more roles make conflicting demands on behavior and on people

11. Groups • Group Structure: Network of roles, communication, pathways, and power in a group • Group Cohesiveness: Degree of attraction among group members or their commitment to remaining in the group • Cohesive groups work better together • What kind of groups did you see on “Survivor,” “Road Rules,” and “Real World”?

12. Group Concepts • In-Group: A group with which one identifies • Out-Group: A group with which one does not identify • Status: Level of social power and importance • Norm: Widely accepted but usually unspoken standard of conduct for appropriate behavior

13. Figure 16.3

14. Attribution • Process of making inferences about the causes of one’s own behavior, and that of others

15. Social Perception • Attribution Theory: Making inferences about the causes of one’s own behavior and others’ behavior; can attribute behavior to: • External Causes: Ones that lie outside of a person • Internal Causes: Ones that lie within a person

16. Facial Analysis

17. More on Social Perception • Fundamental Attribution Error: Tendency to attribute behavior of others to internal causes (personality, likes, and so on); we believe this even if they really have external causes! • Actor-Observer Bias: Tendency to attribute behavior of others to internal causes, while attributing the behavior of ourselves to external causes (situations and circumstances)

18. Social Influence • Changes in a person’s behavior induced by the presence or actions of another person • Someone else influences your decision: husband, wife, mother, peer, etc. • Peer pressure: Rudy is swayed by Fanny to go see “Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith” when he really wanted to see “War of the Worlds.”

19. Conformity • Bringing one’s behavior into agreement with norms or the behavior of others in a group

20. Solomon Asch’s Experiment on Conformity • You must select (from a group of three) the line that most closely matches the standard line; all lines are shown to a group of seven people (including you) • Other six were accomplices and at times all would select the wrong line • In 33% of the trials, the real subject conformed to group pressure even when the group’s answers were obviously incorrect!

21. Figure 16.4

22. Group Factors in Conformity • Groupthink: Compulsion by decision makers to maintain each other’s approval, even at the cost of critical thinking • Group Sanctions: Rewards and punishments administered by groups to enforce conformity • Unanimity: Unanimous agreement

23. Obedience (Milgram) • Conformity to the demands of an authority • Would you shock a man with a known heart condition who is screaming and asking to be released? • Milgram studied this; the man with a heart condition was an accomplice and the “teacher” was a real volunteer; the goal was to teach the learner word pairs

24. Milgram’s Shocking Results • 65% obeyed by going all the way to 450 volts on the “shock machine” even though the learner eventually could not answer any more questions • The learner screamed and provided no further answers once 300 volts (“Severe Shock”) was reached • Group support can reduce destructive obedience

25. More on Obedience • Distance between the teacher and the learner was important • Distance from the authority also had an effect

26. Figure 16.6

27. Figure 16.7

28. Compliance • Bending to the requests of one person who has little or no authority or other form of social power

29. Foot-in-the-Door Effect • A person who has agreed to a small request is more likely later to agree to a larger demand • Once you get a foot in the door, then a sale is almost a sure thing

30. Door-in-the-Face Technique • A person who has refused a major request will be more likely later on to comply with a smaller request • After the door has been slammed in your face (major request refused), person may be more likely to agree to a smaller request

31. Low-Ball Technique • Commitment is gained first to reasonable or desirable terms, which are then made less reasonable or desirable • Henry accepts the price he states for a new car; then later Tillie the saleswoman tells Henry, “The business would lose too much money on that price; can’t you take a bit less and add all these options?” • Passive Compliance: Overtly bending to unreasonable demands or circumstances

32. Assertiveness Training • Instruction in how to be self-assertive • Self-Assertion: Standing up for your rights by speaking out on your behalf; direct, honest expression of feelings and desires

33. Aggression • Hurting another person or achieving one’s goals at the expense of another person • Attempt to get one’s way no matter what • No regard for others’ feelings

34. Broken Record • Self-assertion technique that involves repeating a request until it is acknowledged • Good way to be assertive without being aggressive

35. Table 16.2

36. Attitudes and Beliefs • Attitude: Mixture of belief and emotion that predisposes a person to respond to other people, objects, or institutions in a positive or negative way • Summarize your evaluation of objects

37. Attitude Components • Belief Component: What a person believes about an object or issue • Emotional Component: Feelings toward the attitudinal object • Action Component: One’s actions toward various people, objects, or institutions

38. Figure 16.8

39. Figure 16.9

40. Attitude Formation • Direct Contact: Effects of direct experience with the object of the attitude • Interaction with Others: Influence of discussions with people holding a particular attitude • Child Rearing: Effects of parental values, beliefs, and practices

41. More on Attitude Formation • Group Membership: Social influences from belonging to certain groups • Mass Media: All media that reach large audiences (magazines, television) • Mean Worldview: Viewing the world and other people as dangerous and threatening

42. Attitude Measurement and Change • Reference Group: Any group a person identifies with and uses as a standard for social comparison • Persuasion: Deliberate attempt to change attitudes or beliefs with information and arguments • Communicator: Person presenting arguments or information • Message: Content of communicator’s arguments • Audience: Person or group to whom a persuasive message is directed

43. Implicit Association

44. Cognitive Dissonance (Festinger) • Contradicting or clashing thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, or perceptions that cause discomfort • We need to have consistency in our thoughts, perceptions, and images of ourselves • Underlies attempts to convince ourselves we did the right thing • Justification: Degree to which one’s actions are explained by rewards or other circumstances

45. Brainwashing • Brainwashing: Engineered or forced attitude change requiring a captive audience • Generally three steps to brainwash someone: • Unfreezing: Loosening of former values and convictions • Change: When the brainwashed person abandons former beliefs • Refreezing: Rewarding and solidifying new attitudes and beliefs

46. Cults • Authoritarian group in which the leader’s personality is more important than the beliefs s/he preaches • Group professes great devotion to a person or people and follows that person/people almost without question

47. More About Cults • Cult members usually victimized by the leader(s) • Will try to recruit potential converts at a time of need, especially when a sense of belonging is most attractive to potential converts

48. Some Final Words About Cults • Look for college students and young adults • Some examples of cults: People’s Temple and Jim Jones, Heaven’s Gate, Branch Davidians, Osama bin laden and Al Qaeda • Where does “Scientology” fit?

49. Prejudice • Negative emotional attitude held toward members of a specific social group • Discrimination: Unequal treatment of people who should have the same rights as others • Scapegoating: Blaming a person or group for the actions of others or for conditions not of their making

50. More on Prejudice • Personal Prejudice: When members of another racial or ethnic group are perceived as a threat to one’s own interests • Group Prejudice: Occurs when a person conforms to group norms