Chapter 14: Sociocultural Dimensions of Behavior

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Module 32 Social Thinking and Social Influence
I. Social Thinking

• Chapter 14 Sociocultural Dimensions of Behavior

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A. Attribution Theory

• Tendency to explain the behavior of others in
  terms of the situation or the persons disposition

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1. Fundamental Attribution Error

• The tendency to blame (or credit) the person more
  than the situation
• EX When Fred gets a 42 on the test, you
  conclude that he is unmotivated to do well in
  school.

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B. Attitude

• A belief that predisposes one to respond in a
  particular way to objects, people, and events

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1. Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

• Occurs when a belief about others leads us to act
  in ways that cause the others to behave in such a
  way that the belief is confirmed
• EX Teachers who believe boys are better at math
  may show them preferential treatment that leads
  them to outperform the girls.

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a. Foot-in-the-Door Phenomenon The tendency
for people who have first agreed to a small
request to comply later with a larger request
2. Actions Affecting Attitudes

• EX After Mary Kay gives you a free makeover,
  you are more likely to purchase an assortment of
  expensive products.

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b. Role Playing Playing a role can influence
or change ones attitude

• EX Zimbardos Prison Study
• College students played the role of guard or
  prisoner in a simulated prison.
• The study was ended when the guards became too
  aggressive and cruel.

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c. Cognitive Dissonance

• The theory that people act to reduce the
  discomfort they feel when their thoughts are
  inconsistent with their actions
• People will change thoughts or actions in order
  to be consistent
• EX Fern became less favorable of abortion after
  she had to argue against it in a government
  debate.

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II. Social Influence

• Module 32 Social Thinking and Social Influence

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A. Conformity

• Adjusting ones behavior or thinking to match a
  unanimous group standard
• 1. Solomon Aschs Line Study individuals went
  along with the majority opinion, even when the
  group was clearly incorrect

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Aschs Conformity Study
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Aschs Conformity Study
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a. Factors Increasing Conformity

• The person feels incompetent or insecure.
• The group has 3 people.
• The rest of the group is unanimous.
• The person is impressed by the status of the
  group.
• Ones culture encourages conformity.

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B. Obedience

• The tendency to comply with orders, implied or
  real, from someone perceived as an authority
• 1. Stanley Milgrams Obedience Study 65 of
  participants continued to obey despite the
  possibility of serious injury to a fellow
  participant.

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Milgrams Obedience to Authority
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Milgrams Obedience to Authority
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Milgrams Obedience to Authority(Data from
Milgram, 1974)
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Milgrams Obedience to Authority
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C. Group Influence

• Social Facilitation Improved performance of
  simple or well-learned tasks in the presence of
  others
• EX Expert pool players made 71 of shots while
  alone, and 80 when a group was observing.

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2. Social Loafing

• The tendency for people in a group to exert less
  effort when working on a common goal than when
  individually accountable
• EX Pulling harder on a tug-of-war rope when
  alone than when in a group

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3. Deindividuation

• The loss of self-awareness, self-restraint, and
  sense of responsibility that comes with the
  anonymity of a group
• EX Crowd of fans throws bottles and tears up
  the field after their team loses by one point

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4. Group Polarization The enhancement of a
groups attitudes through discussion within the
group

• 5. Groupthink Occurs when the desire for
  harmony overrides good decision-making in a group

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Module 33

• III. Social Relations
• A. Attraction
• 3 key ingredients Proximity, Physical
  attractiveness, Similarity

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1. Mere Exposure Effect

• The phenomenon that repeated exposure to novel
  stimuli increases liking of them
• EX The bus driver seems old and gruff at first,
  but by the end of the school year she doesnt
  seem so bad anymore.

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2. Self-Disclosure

• Revealing intimate aspects of ourselves to
  another person.
• Can increase feelings of attraction.

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B. Altruism Unselfish regard for the welfare of
others

• 1. Bystander Effect Failure to take personal
  responsibility for helping a victim when others
  are present
• EX Kitty Genovese Case - 38 people heard her cry
  for help but didnt help. She was raped and
  stabbed to death.

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Prejudice an unjustifiable attitude toward a
group1. Stereotype A generalized belief
about a group of people

• Module 33 Social Relations

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2. Discrimination Taking action against a
group of people because of stereotypes and
prejudice 3. Ingroup Bias The tendency to
favor ones own group, usually at the expense of
the outgroup (those perceived as different from
us)
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4. Just-World Phenomenon

• The tendency to believe that people get what they
  deserve and deserve what they get
• Good is rewarded and evil is punished
• EX Victims of a natural disaster are being
  punished by God for their sin.

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D. Cooperation

• 1. Superordinate Goals shared goals that
  override differences among people and require
  cooperation
• EX Sherifs Robbers Cave Study A planned
  disruption in the water supply at a Boy Scout
  camp created a superordinate goal, which led to
  increased cooperation.

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The End