Social Thinking, Influence, and Intergroup Relations

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CHAPTER 6

• Social Thinking, Influence, and Intergroup
  Relations

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What is social cognition?

• The area of social psychology that involves how
  people select, interpret, remember, and use
  social information

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What are attributions?

• Thoughts about why people behave the way they do
• Attribution Errors
• Fundamental attribution error (attributions made
  of others--overestimate traits, underestimate
  situations)
• Self-serving bias (attributions about
  selfoverestimate situations, use
  self-enhancement, exaggerate positive beliefs,
  attribute success to own characteristics and
  failures to external factors)

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Forming Impressions

• First impressions
• Stereotypes (generalizations) and attitudes
  (evaluations)
• Impression management (self-presentation)
• Process of acting in a way that presents a
  desired image.
• Key elements of self-presentation (facial
  expressions, patterns of eye contact, body
  posture, gestures)
• Self-monitoring
• Paying attention to impressions you make on
  others and fine-tuning your performance to
  optimize those impressions (knowing how to read
  and understand others).

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Factors That Effect Attitude Change

• The communicator/source (expertise/credibility)
• The message (emotional peripheral route vs.
  rational central route appeals elaboration
  likelihood model)
• The medium (television, radio, newspaper)
• The target (age-younger, attitude-weak)

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What is conformity?

• A change in behavior that coincides more closely
  with a group standard
• Solomon Aschs conformity experiment (1951)
• Factors that contribute to conformity
• Normative social influence (seek approval)
• Informal social influence (seek to be right)
• Unanimity of the group (divided groups yield less
  pressure)
• Prior commitment (prior commitments yield less
  pressure)
• Personal characteristics (low self-esteem, more
  likely)
• Group members characteristics (experts,
  attractive, similar)
• Cultural values (collectivists more likely)

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What is obedience?

• Behavior that complies with the explicit demands
  of the individual in authority
• Stanley Milgrams classic study of obedience
  (1965)
• Was Milgrams study ethical?

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What is compliance?

• A change in behavior in response to a direct
  request
• Robert Cialdinis six conditions of compliance
• Reciprocation (repay what has been providedI
  scratch your back, you scratch mine.)
• Door-in-the-face-strategy (rejected extreme
  request ? smaller request)
• Commitment and consistency
• Foot-in-the-door-strategy (small request ?larger
  request)
• Social proof (monkey see, monkey do)
• Bystander effect (help is offered less when
  others are present and not helping)
• Liking (saying yes to people you know and like)
• Authority (saying yes to people in authority)
• Scarcity (cabbage patch kids)

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Groups

• Functions
• Satisfy personal needs (companionship), reward
  us, provide information, raise self-esteem,
  provide an identity)
• Types of groups
• Family, college, religious organizations, ethnic
  group, etc.)

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What is social identity?

• The way you define yourself in terms of your
  group membership
• Five types of social identity (Kay Deax)
• Ethnic and religious
• Political affiliation
• Vocations and avocations
• Personal relationships
• Stigmatized groups
• Social identity theory we can improve our
  self-image by enhancing our social identity
  (favor our in-group and disfavor the
  out-group)Henry Tajfel

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Social Identity (cont.)

• Ethnocentrism the tendency to favor ones own
  ethnic group and believe it is superior to others
• Prejudice (attitude) and discrimination
  (action/behavior)
• Demonstrated in the U.S.
• outside the U.S.
• Sources of prejudice
• Modern vs. old-fashion racism
• Improving interethnic relations
• Initiate task-oriented cooperation.
• Engage in intimate contact.
• Acknowledge diversity.