Psy 352AB Social Psychology

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Psy 352A/BSocial Psychology
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social psychology
what is social psychology?
scientific
The study of how peoples

• thoughts,
• feelings,
• and behaviors
• are influenced by the
• actual,
• implied,
• or imagined presence of others

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social psychology
theoretical frameworks
methods
self
prejudice
Personal
Intra-personal
perception
aggression
social psychology
Inter-personal
attitudes
altruism
persuasion
relation- ships
group influence
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social psychology
two shared assumptions about behavior
socio- cultural
social cognitive
evolutionary
phenomenological
social learning
inherited tendencies
attention, memory, interpretation
subjective interpretations
group forces
rewards punishments
human behavior is

• goal driven

• due to the person-situation interaction

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social psychology
behavior is goal driven
socio- cultural
social cognitive
evolutionary
phenomenological
social learning
inherited tendencies
attention, memory, interpretation
subjective interpretations
group forces
rewards punishments
ensure survival
perpetuate society
to pursue conscious goals stimulated by the
current situation
to obtain rewards avoid punishments
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social psychology
fundamental motives/functions/goals of social
behavior
To establish social ties To understand ourselves
and others To gain and maintain social
status To defend ourselves and those we
value To attract and retain mates
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social psychology
behavior is due to the person-situation
interaction
socio- cultural
social cognitive
evolutionary
phenomenological
social learning
inherited tendencies
attention, memory, interpretation
subjective interpretations
group forces
rewards punishments
environment triggers internal states
cultural demands on the individual
connection between mental representations and
the environment
rewards punishments in the environment
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social psychology
manifestations of the mutual person-situation
interaction process
Different situations activate different parts of
the self Situations have different facets -
elicit different motives Individuals respond
differently to similar situations People change
their situations choose their
situations Situations change people choose
people
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social psychology
topics to be covered
self
social psychology
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defining the self
I am a Notre Dame student and people like me
I
Me

• differentiates us from other objects
• understand control and volitional functions
• sense of continuity
• self as actor

• influences information processing/interpretation
• guides immediate behaviors
• motivation
• self as object

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defining the self
Jamess taxonomy of selves
Me
empirical self
material self
social self
spiritual self
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defining the self
making Jamess selves work?
empirical self
material self
social self
spiritual self
pack rats
social life
happiness

• How do these aspects of self factor into your
  everyday lives -- what do they explain?
• How do these classifications fit your lists?

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defining the self
self beyond James?
your self
material self
spiritual self
?? self
social self
?? self
?? self

• implicit categorizations in your lists?
• number of dimensions?

self evaluations
interests
social identity
ideological beliefs
other
ambitions
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defining the self
multidimensional selves
our intuitive theory of how we relate,
experience, function within a vast range of
significant experiences contexts (Epstein, 1973)
self concept
self representations
working self concept
mental representations characteristic of ones
self with regard to various contexts or
experiences
self representations that we are aware of at any
given moment in time
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defining the self
self concept versus self esteem
our intuitive theory of how we relate,
experience, function within a vast range of
significant experiences contexts
self representations working self concept
self evaluation
how you feel about yourself valenced evaluation
mental representations characteristic of ones
self with regard to various contexts or
experiences
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defining the self
self-esteem models
top-down
I feel good because I look good
I look good because I feel good
bottom-up
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defining the self
what to make of all this..?
Think about your self-representations
What self representations do you have? How do
you define these selves? How do these change in
different environments? Where/how do they
develop? How do they affect/influence your life?
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developing the self
what factors influence who we become/are?
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developing the self
what factors influence who we become/are?
reflected appraisal
self perception
self
culture
others/ surroundings
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developing the self
cultural influences
Do We reflect what our culture is?
culture
self
Does our culture reflect who We are?
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developing the self
television reality versus actual reality?
What of American kids live with both biological
parents? a. 21 b. 44 c. 60
d. 83
What percent of the US population dies each year?
a. 1 b. 5 c. 10 d.
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What is the US homicide rate per 100,000
population? a. 11 b. 21 c.
42 d. 61
What percentage of births are to unmarried women
in US? a. 10 b. 20 c. 30
d. 40
What percentage of the US population is Latino?
a. 2 b. 8 c. 16 d.
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developing the self
cultural differences in self development
interdependent self
independent self
defined by relationships with others eastern/colle
ctivist
contained in/defined by the individual western/ind
ividualistic
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developing the self
reflected appraisals
reflected appraisal
self
Looking-glass self reality versus
perception perception is reality
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developing the self
influence of others
others, surroundings
self
you are who you are not! social identity and
social roles
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developing the self
influence of self - an open book?
self perception
self
self perception theory infer own
beliefs/attitudes by observing behavior intended
to address attitude change limited to ambiguous
situations generalizing it to the self what
does it mean?
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social psychology
an honest mistake?
an intentional act?
July 3, 1988 Iran Air 655 290 people
8/31/83 KAL 007 269 people (61 Americans)
NY Times editorial while horrifying, still an
accident Dan Rather ...
NY Times editorial Murder in the Air
wanton killing reckless aerial
murder Dan Rather (CBS) barbaric act
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self research results
whose reality is real?

• Dartmouth vs Princeton (Hastorf Cantril, 1951)
• Pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian groups
• Basking in reflected glory (Cialdini et al ,
  1976) we won, but they lost!!!
• Actor-observer attributions Im unlucky,
  you must be stupid!!!!
• the fundamental attribution error

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what does this mean?

• Perception is related to perspective
• We like to identify with positive others
• Attributions are based on what we see
• Attributions are affected by our social roles
• Self-awareness influences our behaviors
• We compare ourselves to others for different
  reasons
• look to LESSERS to self-enhance
• look to GREATERS to self-improve

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where does this lead us?

• Self is implicated in many different behaviors.
  related by underlying goals
• To establish social ties
• To understand ourselves and others
• To gain and maintain social status
• To defend ourselves and those we value
• To attract and retain mates
• Try to find patterns between behaviors goals.

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what to make of these facts?

• Is the concept of Self necessary to study
  understand humankind?
• (Based on these findings) ...
• How reliable is anyones view of the world?
• What do you think the Self does?

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why Bask in Reflected Glory?

• To manage ones self-image
• To feel good about ones self
• gain positive esteem from association
• To form social ties
• To gain social status
• Is BiRGing good? healthy? fair?
• To what other behaviors does Self-interest lead?

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social psychology
the self goals in self related actions

• To feel good /protect self
• To manage self-image
• To achieve status and goods
• could be multiple goals in single acts
• could be other goals in all acts