Chapter 15 Social Psychology

1. Chapter 15Social Psychology “Hey, hey, hey! Are you folks nuts? I’m telling you, this is the car for you.” Chapter 15 - Social Psychology

2. Social Influence • Social influence refers to changes in our behaviour that occur as a result of direct or indirect intervention by others. • Social influence can be used in very clever ways. Sales people often have to rely on creative (and not always very honest) techniques. • Con artists persuade people to give them money by using techniques which involve “a tale”, modeling, reinforcement and trust (remember the con artist I met in Wildwood?) Chapter 15 - Social Psychology

3. The Low Ball Technique • The salesperson quotes an unusually low price. You agree to buy it at that price. • The salesperson then comes up with a reason to change the price, thus removing the reason you decided to buy. • Option not included. • Manager says we would be losing money. • Calculation error. • Trade in re-appraised lower. • Do you still go through with the purchase? Evidence shows that you tend to. Chapter 15 - Social Psychology

4. Chapter 15 - Social Psychology

5. Reliability Information One more reason to get Consumer Reports. Chapter 15 - Social Psychology

6. Conformity And now apparently we have to listen to some sort of dissent. Chapter 15 - Social Psychology

7. Video on Conformity Chapter 15 - Social Psychology

8. Factors that Affect Conformity • Size of majority: as the number of people in the majority increases, the more likely one is to conform. The relationship is not linear though. There is a point (4 or 5 people) where adding more people to the majority no longer increases the conformity rate. Chapter 15 - Social Psychology

9. Two Other Factors • Unanimity: We are less likely to conform when there is another person who deviates from the majority (whether or not the deviant agrees with our opinion). • Commitment: The more committed we are to our opinion, the less likely we are to conform. Chapter 15 - Social Psychology

10. Why do people conform? • Outcome Dependence (the desire to be liked): • People want to “fit in” and avoid the negative aspect of being rejected or ridiculed. • Information Dependence (the desire to be right): • People turn to others for guidance, especially when they are uncertain. Chapter 15 - Social Psychology

11. Obedience “Sit. Roll over. Play dead. Good dog!” Chapter 15 - Social Psychology

12. Obedience • History offers many examples of atrocities: • Systematic killing of millions by Nazis in WWII. • U.S. soldiers massacre in My Lai during Vietnam War. • Were these people different from us? Were they cold-blooded • killers? Was their personality the cause of their behaviour? • Social psychologists say that the situation often exerts strong • pressures on the individual. Orders given by people in authority • create such pressures. • Let’s look at Milgram’s research on obedience to authority. Chapter 15 - Social Psychology

13. Video on Obedience Chapter 15 - Social Psychology

14. Milgram found a surprising level of obedience - much more than experts like psychiatrists had predicted before the study. Chapter 15 - Social Psychology

15. Factors that Influence Obedience • Variations in the experimental situation had an effect on the level of obedience : • The psychological proximity to the learner. • The psychological proximity of the authority. • Personal responsibility for administering the shock. Chapter 15 - Social Psychology

16. Fields of Force STOP GO Chapter 15 - Social Psychology

17. Video on Factors that Affect Obedience Chapter 15 - Social Psychology

18. Autonomy vs. Agency • Autonomy: when we operate in full knowledge that we are responsible for our actions. Our moral principles guide our behaviour. • Agency:when we perceive ourselves as agents of someone else’s authority. Chapter 15 - Social Psychology

19. Bystander Apathy Chapter 15 - Social Psychology

20. Video on Bystander Apathy Chapter 15 - Social Psychology

21. Chapter 15 - Social Psychology

22. Explanations • Three factors that contribute to bystander apathy have been suggested: • Diffusion of Responsibility • Pluralistic Ignorance • Cost Chapter 15 - Social Psychology

23. The Self • The Self Concept: • The way we perceive ourselves and feel we are perceived by • others. • Our sense of self provides the glue that holds our past and • present together and forms the basis of our future aspirations. • Many aspects of our personality, such as our self-esteem, and • sense of efficacy and control are based in our self-concept. • Can you imagine what it would be like to have a sense of self • if one had no memory? Chapter 15 - Social Psychology

24. Video on K.C. Chapter 15 - Social Psychology

25. Does K.C. know his personality? • There has been research to test if K.C. knows his personality, • especially the way he has become since his accident. • K.C. was given a list of personality traits and was asked to indicate how they applied to him. • K.C.’s mother and others familiar with him were given these traits and were asked how they applied to him. • Do you think that K.C. knows his personality? In fact, his self ratings agreed with the ratings by his mom and others. Chapter 15 - Social Psychology

26. Nonverbal Communication Chapter 15 - Social Psychology

27. Dyadic Conversations • Dyadic conversations are conversations which involve two people. They normally have a structure that follows an • A-B-A-B form. That is, each person takes a turn at speaking and then listening. • Where are the speaker and the listener looking when taking their turns? Chapter 15 - Social Psychology

28. Gaze Direction During Conversation Chapter 15 - Social Psychology

29. Things People do When Communicating • Emblems:nonverbal gestures that have specific definitions within a given culture such as the “OK” sign, head nods, shrugs, winks, and finger wags. • Illustrators:nonverbal gestures which do not have any meaning, but are used to supplement and emphasize speech. • Illustrators include hand waving and finger snapping while speaking. • Backchannel Communication:While listening, people usually make comments like ‘yes’ and ‘right’ at appropriate moments in the conversation. Chapter 15 - Social Psychology

30. Affiliative Conflict Theory • According to Argyle, every dyadic interaction has an appropriate level of intimacy. • Many behaviours influence the level of intimacy expressed in an interaction: • distance between people • topic of the conversation • amount of smiling • amount of eye contact Chapter 15 - Social Psychology

31. Intimacy Equilibrium • People will adjust all the intimacy behaviours to attain the right level of intimacy for an interaction. • For example, if the person you are talking to is pushed towards you in a crowded situation, the intimacy of the interaction increases. This may make you uncomfortable, so you may engage in a behaviour to decrease the intimacy (reduce eye contact or stop smiling). • When equilibrium is disrupted, we feel discomfort and are motivated to reestablish it. Chapter 15 - Social Psychology

32. The Stare as a Threat Display • Many animal species use staring as a form of threat. Does the same apply to humans? • An experiment was conducted in which a confederate driving a scooter stared at another driver at a red light. Did the driver cross the intersection faster when the light turned green? • Time to Cross • Stared at: 5.3 sec. • No Stare: 6.5 sec. • BUT, what if staring was interpreted as a challenge to drag race? Chapter 15 - Social Psychology

33. Eliminating Alternative Explanations • Experiment was replicated with experimenter standing on the sidewalk at the intersection. • Time to Cross • Stared at: 5.3 sec. • No Stare: 6.5 sec. • BUT, maybe driver wanted to show off to the pedestrian. So in another experiment pedestrians were stared at while waiting to cross the street at a “Don’t Walk” sign. • Time to Cross • Stared at: 11.1 sec. • No Stare: 12.2 sec. Chapter 15 - Social Psychology

34. Video on Nonverbal Communication Chapter 15 - Social Psychology

35. CrowdBehaviour Chapter 15 - Social Psychology

36. Lynchings During the period between 1890-1930, over 4,000 people in the south of the United States were murdered by mob action without a lawful trial. Eighty percent of these cases involved Black Americans. What contributes to excesses of crowd behaviour? Chapter 15 - Social Psychology

37. Frustration Primes Aggression Chapter 15 - Social Psychology

38. Gustave LeBon on “The Crowd” • In 1895, a French physician by the name of Gustave LeBon • wrote a book on crowd behaviour. • He argued that, when in a crowd, people “descend several rungs of the ladder of civilization”. • When individuals are isolated, they are rational and sensible. When they are part of a crowd, they become primitive. • A number of factors contribute to crowd behaviour according to LeBon... Chapter 15 - Social Psychology

39. Contagion in the Crowd • Contagion: • Opinions and behaviours can be transmitted like germs. • A study by University of Toronto researchers was conducted a • at the Ontario Science Centre. • After the presentation of a film, a confederate started clapping. • A greater percentage of people joined in and clapped when the • theatre was densely packed than when few people were in the • audience. Chapter 15 - Social Psychology

40. Deindividuation in the Crowd • Deindividuation: • A state of mind where the individual does not feel identified as an • individual. The individual becomes less concerned with social • evaluation and accountability. • Study on deindividuation at Halloween. • Study on deindividuation and baiting a suicide. • The darkness of night. • The size of the crowd. • Distance between the crowd and the suicidal person. Chapter 15 - Social Psychology

41. The Eight Symptoms of Groupthink • Irving Janis looked at historical situations where groups made terrible decisions. He proposed the notion of Groupthink to account for what happens in cohesive (tight) groups. • Illusion of invulnerability. • Belief in the inherent morality of the group. • Rationalization. • Stereotypes of outsiders. • Self-censorship. • Direct pressure. • Mind guarding. • Illusion of unanimity. Chapter 15 - Social Psychology

42. Video on Groupthink Chapter 15 - Social Psychology

43. Prejudice Chapter 15 - Social Psychology

44. Some Definitions • Prejudice: a negative attitude towards a distinguishable group. • Discrimination: a harmful negative behaviour toward members of a group. • Stereotype: beliefs about members of a group. Chapter 15 - Social Psychology

45. Studying Stereotypes • The first scientific study of stereotypes was conducted by Katz and Braly in 1933. • They found the following stereotypes: • Japanese: Intelligent, Hard Working, Progressive • Chinese: Superstitious, Sly, Conservative • Italians: Artistic, Impulsive, Passionate • British: Sporstmanlike, Intelligent, Conventional • Blacks: Superstitious, Lazy, Happy-Go-Lucky Chapter 15 - Social Psychology

46. Stereotype Accuracy • Are stereotypes accurate? • Quick Answer: “yes” and “no” • Yes: Research comparing stereotypes with known statistics about groups has shown stereotypes to be relatively accurate. • No: There are many misconceptions about minorities. Immigrants are thought to be less educated than native Canadians, but this is false. Stats Can data shows that they are better educated (and in better health!) Chapter 15 - Social Psychology

47. Causes of Prejudice • What causes negative attitudes towards groups? • Answer: The causes of prejudice are varied • Learning from prejudiced models. • Competition for scarce resources (jobs, health care). • Using vulnerable groups as scapegoats. • Personality (Authoritarian Personality; Social Dominance). • Conforming to social norms. Chapter 15 - Social Psychology

48. The Two Faces of Prejudice and Racism • Institutional Prejudice: Refers to discriminatory practices and policies in large institutions (e.g. legal system, universities). • Individual Prejudice: Prejudiced feelings and discriminatory behaviours exhibited by an individual. Chapter 15 - Social Psychology

49. Institutional Prejudice Still Here? • I claim: Institutional prejudice is no longer a major problem in Canada (please show me wrong if you don’t agree). • Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms Section 15(1): Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination and, in particular, without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability. http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/charter Chapter 15 - Social Psychology

50. How About Homophobia? • Discrimination based on sexual orientation is not mentioned in the Charter. There was a lot of controversy about this when the Charter was drafted. One might interpret this omission as institutional discrimination. • The courts have interpreted 15(1) to include sexual orientation. • Still, as a society, Canada has more prejudicial hang ups about sexual orientation than about any other basis of institutional prejudice (e.g., legalizing gay marriages). Chapter 15 - Social Psychology