UNIT 14 SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

WHAT IS SOCIALPSYCHOLOGY?

Social psychologistsStudy social forces that explain why the

same person acts differently in different situations

Personality psychologistsStudy personal traits and processes that

explain why people may act differently in the same situation

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Fundamental Attribution Error

tendency for observers, when analyzing another’s behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personality traits

How do we become more aware of our own personal

style?

What are the real world

implications of the f.a.e?

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ATTITUDES & ACTIONS

attitudes: feelings, based on our beliefs that influence our behavior

If we believe someone is mean we may feel dislike and then act unfriendly toward them

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Attitudes

Behavior

…but, there is evidence that attitudes FOLLOW behavior

Behavior

Attitudes

Attitudes follow behavior…

If someone convinced you to act against your beliefs, you’d change your belief (attitude) to match your action.

Foot-in-the-door phenomenon People agreeing to a small

request will find it easier to later agree to a larger one

Principle works for negative and positive behavior

ATTITUDES FOLLOW BEHAVIORCooperative actions, such as those

performed by people on sports teams feed mutual liking.

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After US schools desegregated in ‘54, Americans expressed lower

levels of racial prejudice.

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Role: a set of expectations about a social position, defining how those in the position should act.

Zimbardo Prison Experiment

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ACTIONS AFFECT ATTITUDES

Cognitive dissonance theory“the theory that we act to reduce the discomfort (dissonance) we feel when two of our thoughts (cognitions) are inconsistent.

If you do a behavior that is “bad” you change your attitude about the behavior.

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PRACTICE QUESTION (…ON THE TEST…)

Cognitive dissonance theory attempts to explain whya) people who act differently than their

attitudes tend to change their attitudes.

b) people who act against their attitudes tend to change their behavior

c) agreeing to a small request increases the likelihood that we will agree to a larger request

d) people talk one way and act another

SOCIAL INFLUENCE (PG. 382)

chameleon effect: Asch’s Conformity Study: define: method:

deceived: # of participants: task: What is the decision you have to make during the

3rd trial? results:

when answering alone… when in the room with confederates who

answered incorrectly… more likely to conform when…

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confederateparticipant

confederate

Asch’s Conformity Study: define: method:

deceived: # of participants: task: What is the decision you have to make during the 3rd

trial? results:

when answering alone… when in the room with confederates who answered

incorrectly… more likely to conform when…

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adjusting our thinking or behavior to go along with a group standard

a study on visual perception

you & 5 others

state, 1 by 1, which of 3 lines is the same as a standard 1. Easy.

the 5 people before you all give a wrong answer to the same easy question…do you go along or be the oddball and answer differently?

wrong less than 1% of the time

wrong 33% of the time

feel insecure group has at least THREE

everyone else agrees

admire the groups’ status

have not already committed to an

answer

know others will observe our behavior

culture

MILGRAM’S OBEDIENCE STUDY define: Method:

“fake” study – draw randomly to determine –

teacher task – learner task-

teacher after 1st wrong answer: teacher after 8th wrong answer: learner after 10th wrong answer: You want to stop hurting this person but the experimenter

says: “…” Final shock v: At what level would you stop? At what level would most people (say) stop? RESULTS: Obedience is highest when… (4)

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16QMQXIjYVUIntro to Obedience (5 min)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNo-2AXzHAs

Milgram Replication (14 min)

MILGRAM’S OBEDIENCE STUDY define: changing a behavior to follow a command Method

“fake” study – effect of punishment on learning draw randomly to determine – who will be “teacher” &

“learner” teacher task – test learner on word pairs; if wrong = shock them learner task- to learn the words….actually an actor (confederate)

teacher after 1st wrong answer: 15 volts / slight shock teacher after 8th wrong answer: 120 volts / moderate shock learner after 10th wrong answer: 150 volts / strong shock You want to stop hurting this person but the experimenter

says: “You have no choice. You must go on.” Final shock v: 450 volt At what level would you stop? your opinion At what level would most people (say) stop? After 1st hearing

“learner” in pain RESULTS Obedience is highest when…

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OBEDIENCE HIGHEST WHEN… Person giving order is close by & was an authority

figure

The authority figure was associated with a respected institution

The victim was depersonalized or far away

There was no role model of defiance

minority influence: you can sway the majority if you hold firmly to your beliefs – power of committed individual is as strong as power of the group

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social facilitation: stronger responses on a well-learned task when other people are watching you.

social loafing: tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when working toward a common goal

deindividuation:The loss of self-awareness in a group

group polarization:When a belief you hold gets stronger after discussing it with a like-minded group

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group polarization

group think:when no one in a group speaks up to voice a different opinion b/c they want the group to get along

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PREJUDICE

HOW PREJUDICED ARE PEOPLE?

Prejudice belief that includes negative stereotypes

Stereotype an overgeneralized belief about a group

Discrimination negative behavior toward a group

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PrejudiceHow Prejudiced Are People?

PrejudiceHow Prejudiced Are People?

PrejudiceHow Prejudiced Are People?

PrejudiceHow Prejudiced Are People?

PrejudiceHow Prejudiced Are People?

PrejudiceHow Prejudiced Are People?

implicit racial associations: unconscious / unaware

just-world phenomenon: believing that the world is just & therefore people get what they deserve

in-group/out-group: “us” / “them”

in-group bias: tendency to favor our own group

scapegoat theory: theory that prejudice offers an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame

other-race effect: the tendency to recall faces of one’s own race more accurately than faces of other races.

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Aggression any physical or verbal

behavior INTENDED to hurt another

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BIOLOGY of AGGRESSION

Genetics: identical twins report bad temper more in common than fraternal twins

THE BIOLOGY OF AGGRESSION

Neural Influencesfrontal lobe damage or

diminished activityfrontal lobe not fully developedamygdala stimulated

Biochemical Influenceshormones (testosterone),

alcohol,

#30. PSYCHOLOGICAL OF AGGRESSION

Frustration-aggression principleIf aggression is rewarded it continues

Observing models of aggression

Acquiring social scripts – culturally modeled guide for how to act in certain situations

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PSYCH JOURNAL

For Mon 10/19, answer the following questions in your journal: 1) What is the just-world theory? 2) How does the class data match mine? How were

our #s the same/different?

3)What was my score on the just world survey? What does a high vs low score on the just world survey mean? If someone had a high survey score (70+) who did

they probably blame the most in the scenario? Why?

Husband Wife Lover 1 Lover 2 Ferryboat Highwayman

5.4 1.2 3.5 4.3 4.8 2.2

Thurs 10/22: Love Attitude Scale : Take survey & score

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ATTRACTION

WHY DO WE FALL IN LOVE WITH SOME PEOPLE BUT NOT OTHERS?

3 ingredients to liking someone: Proximity

Geographic nearnessMere exposure effect

Just being around someone makes you like them

Similarity friends & couples are far more likely to share things in common

attitudes, beliefs, interests, age, religion, race, education, intelligence, smoking behavior, economic status

Physical attractiveness its what initially draws us symmetric / youthful / average

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ROMANTIC LOVEHOW DOES LOVE CHANGE OVER TIME?

passionate loveall-consuming

companionate love Deep affection Equity

Getting out of the relationship what you put in

self-disclosureTelling secrets about yourself to your loved one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjLDomII6No Rules of Attraction

Bystander EffectThe tendency for people to not get help when more people view an emergency.

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