Social Psychology: Interpersonal and Group (Chapter 15)

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Social Psychology Interpersonal and Group
(Chapter 15)

• Lecture Outline
• Group dynamics
• Compliance and obedience
• Persuasion From Milgram to Waaco (146)

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(No Transcript)
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Basic principles of a group

• A number of individuals who interact
• Social facilitation joggers speed up
• Social inhibition first tee in golf
• Arousal facilitates well-learned responses but
  inhibits novel responses
• Exam stress wipes out newly learned material but
  can enhance well-learned strategies and material
• Distraction-conflict Hey Mom watch!

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Other group issues

• Social loafing Individual energy expended goes
  down as the number of people goes up
• Group polarization When in groups, views become
  extreme
• Conflict resolution Is this at the expense or
  benefit of yourself and the other side?
• Groupthink Isolated, biased leadership, and high
  stress can lead to unusual and close-minded
  decisions

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Following the crowd

• Conformity Doing what others in a group do,
  e.g., cross against red
• What norms are you conforming to right now?
• Maximized in cohesive groups
• 3-4 persons in size
• Utilize gender and other stereotypes
• Moderate social status maximizes effects
• Appearance of unanimity, e.g., votes in elections

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Would everyone in class please stand up.

• What would make you more likely to have done
  this?
• Justification, initial smaller request, initial
  larger request, reciprocity if I have done a
  favor for you first

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Compliance and Obedience

• Compliance Doing what someone has asked you to
  do
• e.g., get on protest bus what are we
  protesting?
• Obedience Following orders
• e.g., we can be cruel to others when ordered to
  be so
• Cults are examples of conformity, compliance, and
  obedience out of control

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In the early 1970's, two individuals (my task
partner and myself) from the Evolutionary Level
Above Human (the Kingdom of Heaven)
incarnated into (moved into and took over) two
human bodies that were in their forties. I moved
int a male body, and my partner, who is an Older
Member in the Level Above Human, took a female
body. (We called these bodies "vehicles," for
they simply served as physical vehicular tools
for us to wear while on a task among humans. They
had been tagged and set aside for our use since
their birth.) -- Website excert
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Certain psychological themes which recur in these
various historical contexts also arise in the
study of cults. Cults can be identified by three
characteristics 1.a charismatic leader who
increasingly becomes an object of
worship as the general principles that may have
originally sustained the group lose their
power 2.a process called coercive persuasion
or thought reform 3.economic, sexual, and
other exploitation of group members by the leader
and the ruling coterie.