Social Psychology

Chapter 13

Prepared by Dr. Melissa S. Terlecki,

Cabrini College, PA

Social Behavior: Interacting With People

• Social psychology: the study of the causes and consequences of sociality– Only four species are ultra-social (including us).

• Survival among limited or scarce resources

Aggression• Aggression: behavior whose purpose is to harm

another• Frustration-aggression hypothesis: a principle stating

that animals aggress only when their goals are thwarted

• Negative affect may also cause aggression.• Gender (being male) is the best predictor of aggression.– Socialization and testosterone may be causes– Status and/or dominance may be threatened

• Aggression varies by geographic location.– South more aggressive?– Culture affects standards of aggressive acts.

Cooperation

• Cooperation: behavior by two or more individuals that leads to mutual benefit– Cooperation is risky; the Prisoner’s Dilemma game– Trustworthiness is key.

• Minimize risk through detecting cheating and responding strongly

Figure 13.4The Prisoner’s Dilemma

Groups and Favoritism• Group: a collection of people who have something in common that

distinguishes them from others– Favoritism towards other members in the group

• Prejudice: a positive or negative evaluation of another person based on their group membership

• Discrimination: positive or negative behavior toward another person based on their group membership

• Decision making in a group can be hindered• Deindividuation: when immersion in a group causes people to

become less aware of their individual values• Diffusion of responsibility: the tendency for individuals to feel

diminished responsibility for their actions when they are surrounded by others who are acting the same way

• Inclusion in groups promotes well-being and a feeling of belonging

Brown Eyes Blue Eyes Video

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeK759FF84s

Altruism

• Altruism: behavior that benefits another without benefitting oneself– Reciprocal altruism: behavior that benefits

another with the expectation that those benefits will be returned in the future

• Kin selection: the process by which evolution selects for individuals who cooperate with their relatives

Reproduction: The Quest for Immortality

• Sexual partners are selected and women tend to be choosier.

• Sex is a greater investment for women.

• Culture propagates a bias in reputation.

• Small changes in courtship ritual can cause men to be choosier.

Attraction• Attraction (feeling of preference) to another is caused by

situational, physical, and psychological factors.• Proximity breeds fondness.• Mere exposure effect: the tendency for liking to increase

with the frequency of exposure• Arousal can be misinterpreted as attraction.• Physical attractiveness is the major factor in attraction (and

elicits all kinds of preferential treatment).– Body shape, symmetry, and age are all common factors.– These factors are also predictors of good genes and good

parenting.• We prefer mates who are psychologically (attitudes and

beliefs) similar to us for a variety of reasons.

Relationships• We form relationships to care for helpless offspring (more work than one

caretaker can normally provide).• Marriage in many cultures is the norm, and love is one of the major reasons

why.– Roughly one in two marriages end in divorce in our country.

• There are two basic kinds of love:– Passionate love: an experience involving feelings of euphoria, intimacy, and intense

sexual attraction– Companionate love: an experience involving affection, trust, and concern for a

partner’s well-being• Social exchange: the hypothesis that people remain in relationships only as

long as they perceive a favorable ratio of costs to benefits– Comparison level: the cost-benefit ratio that people believe they deserve or could

attain in another relationship– Equity: a state of affairs in which the cost-benefit ratios of the two partners are

roughly equal– Sunken-cost theories predict that following great investment, individuals will settle

for less than optimal cost-benefit ratios.

Figure 3.10Passionate and Companionate Love

Social Influence: Controlling People

• Social influence: the ability to control another person’s behavior– There are three basic motivations which make

people susceptible to social influence:• The hedonic motive, approval motive, accuracy motive

The Hedonic Motive: Pleasure Is Better Than Pain

• Pleasure-seeking is the most basic of all motives.

• Reward and punishment can influence behavior, but can also backfire.

Normative Influence

• Norm: a customary standard for behavior that is widely shared by members of a culture

• Normative influence: occurs when another person’s behavior provides information about what is appropriate

• Norm of reciprocity: the unwritten rule that people should benefit those who have benefited them

• Door-in-the-face technique: a strategy that uses reciprocating concessions to influence behavior

Figure 13.12The Perils of Connection

Conformity and Obedience

• Conformity: the tendency to do what others do simply because others are doing it– Solomon Asch’s (1907-1996) conformity study

• Obedience: the tendency to do what powerful people tell us to do– Stanley Milgram’s (1933-1984) obedience study

• Normative pressure can have a strong effect.

Figure 13.13Asch’s Conformity Study

The Accuracy Motive: Right Is Better Than Wrong

• Attitudes tell us what we should do and beliefs tell us how to do it.– Attitude: an enduring positive or negative

evaluation of an object or event– Belief: an enduring piece of knowledge about an

object or event• Informational influence: occurs when another

person’s behavior provides information about what is good or right

Persuasion and Consistency• Persuasion: a person’s attitudes or beliefs are influenced by a

communication from another person– Systematic persuasion: the process by which attitudes or beliefs are changed

by appeals to reason– Heuristic persuasion: the process by which attitudes or beliefs are changed

by appeals to habit or emotion– Strength of the argument and whether an individual analyzes the evidence

or uses heuristics matters• People evaluate the accuracy of new beliefs by assessing their

consistency with old beliefs. • Foot-in-the-door technique: a technique that involves a small request

followed by a larger request• Cognitive dissonance: an unpleasant state that arises when a person

recognizes the inconsistency of his or her actions, attitudes, or beliefs– Change to alleviate anxiety– Inconsistencies can be justified

Figure 13.17Alleviating Cognitive Dissonance

Social Cognition: Understanding People

• The medial prefrontal cortex is activated when we think about other people’s attributes.

• Social cognition: the processes by which people come to understand others

• We make inferences about others based on the categories to which they belong and the things they do and say.

Stereotyping: Drawing Inferences from Categories

• Stereotyping: the process by which people draw inferences about others based on their knowledge of the categories to which others belong

• Stereotypes can be inaccurate (acquired through hearsay or observation).– We overestimate rare events.

• Stereotypes can be overused.– We underestimate within-category variability.

• Stereotypes can be self-perpetuating.– Perpetual confirmation: when observers perceive what they expect to perceive– Self-fulfilling prophecy: the tendency for people to cause what they expect to see

• Stereotype threat– Subtyping: the tendency for people who are faced with disconfirming evidence to

modify their stereotypes rather than abandon them• Stereotyping can be automatic (occur unconsciously).

– Training against this can help.

Attribution: Drawing Inferences from Actions

• Attribution: an inference about the cause of a person’s behavior– Situational attributions attribute the external situation as cause– Dispositional attributions attribute someone’s internal disposition as

cause• The covariation model claims we rely on consistency,

distinctiveness, and consensus.• Correspondence bias: the tendency to make a dispositional

attribution even when a person’s behavior was caused by the situation (fundamental attribution error)– Situational causes may be invisible.– Situational causes may be more complex.

• Actor-observer effect: the tendency to make situational attributions for our own behaviors while making dispositional attributions for the identical behavior of others

Figure 13.22The Covariation Model of Attribution