Social Psychology

The study of how a person’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are

influenced by other people.

Social Psychology

• Attitudes– Cognitive dissonance

– Persuasion

• Social perception– Impression formation

– Stereotypes

• Social influence– Conformity

– Obedience

• Social relations– Aggression

– Altruism

• Relationships– Friendship

– Love

– Marriage

Attitudes (Opinions)

• Attitudes (opinions) have a cognitive component (called a belief), an emotional component (often called an evaluation), and a behavioral component.

• Learning can shape attitudes.– Learned associations between objects (an attractive

salesperson and a product) can affect attitudes towards the product.

– The mere exposure effect. • Being exposed multiple times to the same stimulus tends to

create a positive attitude toward that object.

• Socialization can shape attitudes.

“Drinking alcohol leads to personal problems.”

Some other aspects of attitudes

• Attitudes differ in strength (durability and impact).

• General attitudes do not predict behavior in specific situations because behavior is determined by so many factors.– Specific attitudes are much better predictors of specific

behaviors.

• Explicit vs. implicit attitudes– Explicit attitudes are those we are aware of. – Implicit attitudes are those we are not aware of (see the

Implicit Attitudes Test at the beginning of Chapter 1).

Other aspects of attitudes

• Attitudes are often complex, ambivalent or incoherent.– I have strong negative feelings and strong positive

feeling about giving blood– I know Bill Clinton was responsible for good economic

times, but I dislike his womanizing.

• Attitudes are interconnected– If a person has the attitude that women should stay at

home, that person probably is also against a woman’s right to choose.

• Attitudes are constructed “on-line” and can differ from situation to situation.

Attitude change: Cognitive Dissonance

• Cognitive dissonance: a perceived discrepancy between an attitude and a behavior or between an attitude and a new piece of information

– You’ve always thought of yourself as someone that cares about the environment but, when your friends litter, you don’t say anything about it

– This discrepancy causes tension (anxiety, distress) in the person and leads them toa) change the attitude

b) change the behavior

c) add some other information that reestablishes the status quo (rationalize)

d) trivialize the discrepancy

Cognitive Dissonance• Subjects did a boring task.• Subjects were then paid

either $1 or $20 to tell the next subject that the task was enjoyable.

• Subjects receiving $1 rated the task as more enjoyable than those receiving $20.

• Why? They were less able to justify their action (lying to the next subject) than those receiving $20, so they had to change their attitude about the task.

Attitude change: Justification of effort

• Justification of effort– When we join a group, and entrance to the group is

difficult, we tend to like the group more (than if entrance to the group was easy) because we don’t want to waste the sacrifice that we have already expended.

• One explanation for the prevalence of hazing rituals

Attitude change: Persuasion• The central route

– When the audience has the time and motivation to think carefully, then a well reasoned argument is the most persuasive

• However, the message should be only moderately discrepant from the audience’s point of view

• The peripheral route– When the audience does not have the ability or interest to think

carefully, then more superficial cues are the most persuasive• Attractive and credible speakers are the most persuasive

• Perceived similarity between the speaker and audience is also important

• Use of humor so that the consumer will associate the product with a good feeling; conditioned emotional response

• Repetition

• Fear arousal (“This is your brain on drugs.”)– But should include instructions on how to cope with the threat

Social Perception: Impressions and attributions

• First impressions are very important.– Nonverbal behavior

• To some extent, facial expression and body language is used in forming first impressions

• Often, just a few seconds spent observing someone can lead to accurate judgments of that person

• Making attributions– People like to think that things happen for a reason and that,

therefore, they can anticipate future events.• The “just world hypothesis” makes violent mistreatment seem more

understandable (i.e., the victim must have done something to deserve it) and, therefore, makes the world seem safer and saner.

– In trying to understand someone else’s behavior, we often draw conclusions about the causes of their behavior.

• Personal attributions vs. situational attributions

Fundamental Attribution Error

• A simulated quiz show gave questioners an advantage over contestants

• Observers still judged questioners as more knowledgeable

• Contestants also rated questioners higher

The tendency to overestimate the role of personal factors and underestimate the role of situational factors.

The consequences of impressions and attributions

• Cognitive-confirmation bias– People interpret information that is ambiguous or that conflicts

with the first impression in a manner that is consistent with (or confirms) the first impression. See next slide.

• Intelligent, industrious, impulsive, critical, stubborn, envious.

• Envious, stubborn, critical, impulsive, industrious, intelligent.– Change of meaning hypothesis.

» How did you interpret the terms industrious and intelligent in the two lists?

• Behavioral-confirmation bias– People also alter their behavior towards someone they’ve formed

an impression of, which in turn can lead the target to act in a manner that is consistent with (or confirms) that impression.

• This is similar to the idea of self-fulfilling prophecy.

Cognitive-Confirmation Bias

• Participants were asked to evaluate the academic potential of “Hannah”– High or low expectations

– Half watched videotape of Hannah taking achievement test

• Without viewing tape, expectations influenced evaluations

• Viewing the videotape magnified this bias

Social Categorization

• Social Categorization: The classification of persons into groups based on their common attributes.– In general, forming categories for objects (animate and inanimate) that we

encounter in our world is a basic, automatic information processing component in both human and animal brains/minds.

• When our minds form categories (e.g., tame animals vs. wild animals), the features that all the objects in those categories have in common are stored with those categories.

– At first, it takes a tremendous amount of energy and experience to learn the categories » The categories, the objects in them, and the features of those objects are determined

through experience, trial and error, hypothesis testing, observation, and information received from other sources.

• After the categories are formed, the features of a particular newly-encountered object do not have to be rediscovered.

– Instead, all it takes to know the features of the newly-encountered object is to place it in the correct category and then retrieve all the features that we already know that the objects in that category have.

• Thus, the formation of categories (or concepts) is a tremendous time-saving and energy-saving mental processing component and is surely one of the reasons that relatively complex nervous systems have been evolutionarily favored.

Stereotypes

• Social categorization has some unfortunate side effects.– Objects are in a particular category because of the similarities they share, not

the differences.– And, when we place a particular person in a particular category, we retrieve all

the ways in which that person is similar to the other category members. • Outgroup-Homogeneity Bias

– The tendency to assume that “they” (members of groups other than our own) are all alike.– That is, we tend to automatically retrieve the stereotype of that group.

• Stereotype– A belief that associates a group of people (and each of it’s individual members)

with certain traits.• However, not all people in a particular group are the same and this may lead to

misperception in individual cases. – Stereotypes (like attributions and impressions) also lead to cognitive- and

behavioral-confirmation biases, similar to self-fulfilling prophecy.– Stereotype threat

• When the negative stereotype of an individual’s ingroup leads an individual to perform poorly and thereby confirm the negative stereotype

– Physiological stress affecting prefrontal functioning– Distracted into thinking about their performance, rather than the task at hand– Attempts to suppress negative thoughts and emotions sap limited pool of resources

Prejudice and Discrimination

• Prejudice– Negative feelings toward others based solely on their membership in a certain

group.

• Discrimination– Behavior directed against persons because of their affiliation with a social group

• Outgroup-Homogeneity Bias– The tendency to assume that “they” (members of groups other than our own) are

all alike.

• Ingroup Favoritism– The tendency to discriminate in favor of ingroups over outgroups.

• Implicit attitudes can affect basic perceptual processes– When a black face (rather than a white face) is presented prior to the

classification of an object as a tool or a weapon, white participants more often incorrectly classify a tool as a weapon.

– When a weapon (rather than a tool) is presented prior to faces, white participants spend more time processing black faces than white faces.

Reducing the influence of stereotypes

• Computerized training can eliminate racial bias in the shooting of blacks in virtual reality experiments

• Even though categorizing and stereotyping occurs automatically, we can override these activated concepts through– Education

– Awareness

– Self-regulation

• Cooperation between groups on a shared, superordinate goal can reduce tensions between groups – Sherif’s Robber’s Cave experiment

• Jigsaw classrooms

Why do we experience prejudice and discriminate against outgroups?

• Social identity theory– We tend to have not only a personal identity but also a

social identity– How the social identity is viewed affects our self esteem

• Negative social identities decrease self-esteem

• Positive social identities increase self-esteem

– Social self-esteem can be increased in two different ways• Directly, as when your ingroup succeeds

• Indirectly, as when an outgroup fails– Or when you make it look bad or make it fail

– When this happens, by comparison, your ingroup looks good

– See next slide

Social Identity Theory

• Personal Identity and Social Identity both contribute to self esteem.

• Viewing and treating ingroups more favorably than outgroups can boost self-image.

Social influence

• Group processes– The changes that take place in individual behavior

when those individuals are part of a group

• Conformity– The tendency for people to bring their behavior in line

with social (group) norms

Group processes: Social Facilitation in Individual Tasks

Group Processes: Social Loafing in Group Tasks

• People tend to exert less effort in a group task where everyone’s performance is pooled– The more people in the

group, the more each individual’s amount of effort decreases

Deindividuation

• Deindividuation– People feel less accountable and have less self-awareness

when they are in large groups• Being less self-aware means losing one’s own sense of values

and internal standards of conduct

• When self-awareness disappears, so do the restraints on one’s behavior that go along with those standards

• As a result, deindividuated people (in a crowd) do things that they would not normally do when alone

– Rioting by sports fans

– Looting after disasters

– Gambling in crowded casinos

Groupthink

• A group may over-emphasize unity– Members may suppress

their own doubts– Open dissent is stifled

by other group members

• Can lead to lower-quality decisions by the group

Social Norms

• The implicit or explicit rules a group has for the acceptable behaviors, values, and beliefs of its members– Values: What is the relevance of something to one’s

goals?– Beliefs: Cognitive component of an attitude; the “fact”

w/o regard to how one feels about it

• Social norms are helpful because people know what to expect

The Chameleon Effect

• Participants worked with a “partner” who was really one of the experimenters

• Hidden cameras recorded behavior

• Participants mimicked their partner without realizing it

Conformity

Informational influence

• Subjects in dark room were shown a light– While alone

(Pregroup), each estimated how far the light moved

– In three sessions, estimated light movement in a group

• Subjects’ estimates converged on a common value– The group established

its norm

A B CSample

Normative influence

• Subjects in a group were asked to match line lengths. Subjects were second-last to pick.

• In the first couple of trials, confederates in the group picked the right line.

• On the 3rd trial, confederates picked the wrong line.

• 37% of the subjects went along with the wrong answer.

Group Size and Conformity

• Conformity increases with group size up to about 4-7 people– Adding additional

persons has little effect

• One dissenter can reduce conformity by up to 80 percent

Compliance

• Compliance– The act of doing something that is requested by another

person.– Often we comply automatically, to avoid conflict

• Strategies to get others to comply– Foot-in-the-door technique– Door in the face– Low balling– Bait and switch

Obedience• Compliance to the orders of authority• Many scary historical examples

– Jewish Holocaust– My Lai, Vietnam (1968)

• Three platoons of American soldiers massacred several hundred unarmed civilians after being ordered to do so by their CO, Lt. William Calley

– Reverend Jim Jones (1978)• 900 Americans in the People’s Temple cult (in

Jonestown, Guyana) drank Kool-Aid laced with cyanide after being ordered to do so by Jones

Milgram’s (1963) study of obedience

• Subject’s task is to test a learner’s memory and administer a shock whenever the learner makes a mistake.

• The shock increases by 15 volts every time the learner makes an error, to a maximum of 450 volts.– At 75 volts, the learner grunts in pain– At 120 volts, the learner shouts– At 150 volts, the learner complains vehemently about his

heart and demands to be released.– At 330 volts, the learner falls silent

What do you predict?

• How many subjects will apply the maximum voltage?

• Results: 26 of 40 men (65%) administered the maximum 450 volt shock.

• The same result was obtained with women.

• If not ordered, most subjects stopped at 75 volts.

• Conclusion: The men in the original experiment acted out of obedience, not cruelty.

What variables reduced the level of obedience Milgram observed?

• Reductions in the “prestige” or “presence” of the authority figure.

• Closing the physical gap between the subject and the learner.

• The experimenter does not assume responsibility.

• The increments in voltage are not as gradual.

Social Relations

• Aggression– Verbal or physical behavior aimed at harming another

person or living being• In the USA, 24,000 people are murdered every year

• Altruism– Helping behavior that is motivated primarily by a desire

to benefit others, not oneself• Study of altruism has been motivated by trying to understand

why people don’t help

The Aggression Instinct?

• Freud, Lorenz: An instinctual drive that builds over time if not discharged – War

– Pleasure in violence• Aggressive sex in movies

• People are attracted to boxing matches and hockey games

– Sublimation• People channel their violent urges into socially acceptable outlets

• If so, there should be some catharsis (a reduction in the need to be aggressive) when aggression is released– But the evidence does not support this hypothesis

• Bottom line: Aggression is no longer thought of as instinctual

Biological Basis of Aggression

• If not instinctual, how do we characterize aggression?• Aggression

– An evolutionarily determined inborn (innate) behavioral potential that is activated by certain environmental events (especially those that threaten reproductive success?).

• Across all species and human cultures, males are more aggressive than females.

• Aggression is correlated with testosterone levels.• Hypothalamus and amygdala play a clear role in aggression.• Low levels of serotonin are associated with increased

aggression

Environmental influences on aggression• Berkowitz model

– Any situation that induces negative affect can trigger physical aggression

• Aversive stimulation sparks aggression• Frustration-aggression hypothesis

– When an individual is blocked from achieving a goal, he/she may become aggressive.

• Temperature and violence are positively correlated• Population density and violence are positively correlated

• Culture of honor– Men from Southern US are more likely to respond with violence to

insults• Presence of weapons

– The presence of weapons activates (“primes”) concepts related to aggression and/or violence

• Activated concepts influence our behavior by inspiring courses of action that we might not otherwise have thought of

Media Violence and Aggression I

• Two types of studies– Experimental

• Randomly assign subjects either to watch violent TV or to watch nonviolent TV

• Short-term increases in aggression for the violent TV group are almost always reported

Media Violence and Aggression II• Correlational

– What is the relationship between amount of violent TV watched and amount of violent behavior used to solve interpersonal conflicts?

– Positive correlation does not demonstrate causation• Individuals already high in aggression like violent TV• Low SES causes both

– Eron et al (1972) longitudinal study• 800 8-9 year olds show positive correlation• Positive correlation also obtained between the amount of

violent TV these children watched and peer ratings of aggression in these individuals when they were 19

• This was true even when the initial level of aggression was held constant (controlled for)

Altruism

• Altruism: Helping behavior that is motivated primarily by a desire to benefit others, not oneself.

• Is there really something like pure altruism or is all helping somewhat selfishly motivated?

Altruism: Two Pathways to Helping

• People have two reactions to someone in need:– Personal distress (guilt, anxiety, and discomfort)

– Empathy (sympathy and compassion for the person)

• Helping can satisfy both selfish and noble motives

Evolutionary Psychology

• Natural selection– Individuals, whose inherited characteristics are adapted

to their environment, survive and reproduce while others die.

• As a result, aspects of our behavioral and mental lives must have helped individuals survive and reproduce in the past– Or are by-products of other aspects that have helped

individuals survive and reproduce

• Selfish gene– Reproductive strategies and territorial aggression

Evolutionary Psychology and Altruism

• But why do we help others? Why does altruism exist?• Inclusive fitness

– One’s genes are preserved through your own children

– One’s genes are also preserved through the offspring of genetic relatives

• Kinship selection– Helping behavior (altruism) came about because it increases the

survival of genetic relatives

– Organisms are more apt to survive if their parents (or relatives) help them survive. Since they are more likely to have the genes that their parents (or relatives) have, this “helping kin characteristic” will be retained and they too will help their own offspring survive.

Certainty of genetic relatedness

Dashed lines represent relative uncertaintySolid lines represent certaintyPaternity uncertainty refers to the fact that men are more uncertain than women that “their” offspring are really their’s

DeKay (1998)

• Took the ideas of – inclusive fitness (we share genes with our relatives)– kinship selection (we help those with whom we share

genes) and – paternity uncertainty (men are less certain about their

genetic relation to offspring than are women)

• And made a prediction– The most uncertain grandparent (father’s father) should

help their grandchildren the least and the most certain grandparent (mother’s mother) should help their grandparent the most

• The results are on the next slide

Rankings of grandparent investment

The Bystander Effect

• Kitty Genovese– In 1964, a young New York

woman was attacked for ½ hr, stabbed, raped, and murdered in the middle of the night while 38 neighbors watched, but did nothing

• In experiments, the more potential helpers there are, the less likely that a participant in the experiment – who is one of the potential helpers – would actually help

• Diffusion of responsibility– How to disrupt this?

A Model of Bystander Intervention

Notice, at each of the steps, that a larger number of people could make someone more likely to decide not to help.

Relationships: Friendship

• What determines who you become friends with?– Proximity– Similarity– Having desirable personal characteristics

• And not having undesirable personal characteristics

– Physical attractiveness• The halo effect (what is beautiful is good)

– The assumption that, because someone is physically attractive, they have other positive (especially social) qualities.

• Symmetrical faces are attractive

• Averaged faces are attractive

Romantic Relationships• In Robert Sternberg’s

triangular theory of love, there are three independent dimensions that make up romantic relationships– Intimacy

– Passion

– Commitment

• As a result, there a seven different forms of love– These are formed when a

particular dimension is taken alone or is taken in combination with one or more of the other dimensions

Sternberg’s Seven Forms of Love

• This table shows the same seven forms of love (plus nonlove) that are displayed in the triangle on the preceding slide

  Intimacy Passion Commitment

Nonlove      

Liking or friendship x    

Infatuation or limerence   x  

Empty love     x

Romantic love x x  

Companionate love x   x

Fatuous love   x x

Consummate love x x x

Love is fragile• Over half of all marriages end in divorce and only ¼ are

identified as happy– Passionate love fades and often is not replaced by the other

dimensions of a loving relationship– Infidelity

• 25% of husbands and 10% of wives

– Poor strategies for dealing with conflict• Overly critical• Holding partner in contempt• Being defensive• Mental withdrawal• Attributional style

– Unhappy couples tend to make person attributions for “bad” behavior or outcomes

– Happy couples tend to make situational attributions

Making Marriage Last• Agreeing on the frequency of sex• Resolving conflict in a positive way

– Compromise– Demonstrate mutual respect– Fights do not devolve into name calling, contempt, or one partner

fleeing the conflict

• There should be five times more positive interactions than negative interactions– Show interest.– Be affectionate.– Show you care.– Spend quality time.– Maintain loyalty and fidelity.– Handle conflict.