Unit 7: Social Psychology

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Unit 7 Social Psychology

• Ch 18 Individual Interaction
• Ch 19 Group Interaction
• Ch 20 Attitudes and Social Influence
• Ch 21 Psychology Present and Future

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Ch 18 Individual Interaction

• Why we need friends

• Social psychology seeks to explain how our
  thoughts, feelings, perceptions, behaviors are
  influenced by interactions w/ others.
• Social cognition is a subfield of social psych.
  that focuses specifically on how we perceive,
  store, retrieve information about social
  interactions.
• As infants we learn to associate close personal
  contact w/ the satisfaction of basic needs.
• Being around other humans becomes a habit that is
  difficult to break. We develop needs for praise,
  respect, love, affection, other rewarding
  experiences that can only be satisfied by
  others.

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• Anxiety companionship

• We seem to need company most when were afraid or
  anxious. We also need it when were unsure of
  ourselves want to compare our feelings w/
  others.
• We like to compare our experiences w/ others.
  (How many of you asked one or more of your
  classmates how they did on your last psychology
  test when you got them back?) ?
• This helps us to understand our own situation.
• This is how we learn our strengths weaknesses.
• When we are uncertain, we want to socialize w/
  people who are in a similar situation.
• Friends offer support in trying times b/c they
  can serve as mediators can react to our
  problems.
• Friends tend to help high stress, be of no
  significant help w/ average amounts of stress,
  hinder peoples ability to deal w/ low levels of
  stress.
• By repeatedly going over low stressful events,
  you might your sensitivity to them.

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• How we choose friends

• Although modern methods of transportation
  communication make it easier to be friends w/ all
  kinds of people, we rarely go beyond the most
  convenient methods in making friends.
• Proximity physical proximity refers to the
  distance of one person to another person. The
  closer 2 individuals are geographically (home,
  school, work, etc), the more likely they are to
  form a relationship. We tend to form
  relationships w/ people we see regularly.
• Reward values what are you getting out of the
  friendship?
• Stimulation value is the ability of a person to
  interest you in or to expose you to new ideas
  experiences.
• Utility value is the ability of a person to help
  another achieve his/her goals.
• Ego-support value is the ability of a person to
  provide another person w/ sympathy,
  encouragement, approval.

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• Physical appearance our appearance greatly
  influences others impressions of us. People
  feel better about themselves when they associate
  w/ people whom others consider attractive.
• We often consider those w/ physical beauty to be
  more responsive, interesting, sociable,
  intelligent, kind, outgoing, poised.
• This is true of same-sex opposite-sex
  relationships.
• One study showed that the only positive
  characteristic attractive people displayed more
  was that they tend to be more comfortable in
  social settings.
• We usually seek out others whom we consider to be
  our equals in attractiveness.
• Approval we tend to like people who agree w/
  support us b/c they make us feel better about
  ourselves (ego-support value).

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• Similarity we tend to choose friends whose
  backgrounds, attitudes, interests are similar
  to our own. Why?
• Agreement on what is worthwhile fun, which
  provides the basis for shared activities.
• Most of us feel uneasy around people who are
  constantly challenging our views.
• Most of us are self-centered enough to assume
  that people who share our values are basically
  decent intelligent.
• People who agree about things usually find it
  easier to communicate w/ each other.
• Complementarity the attraction that often
  develops b/w opposite types of people b/c of the
  ability of one to supply what the other lacks.
• Helps in some relationships, but most
  psychologists agree that similarity is a much
  more important factor.

End Section 1
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• 1st impressions

• Your expectations of a person are often based on
  your 1st impression of him/her.
• Your 1st impression is usually based on a
  persons physical appearance.
• The primacy effect is the tendency to form
  opinions of others based on 1st impressions.
• These initial judgments often influence us more
  than later information does.
• These impressions sometimes become a
  self-fulfilling prophecy b/c the way you act
  toward someone changes depending on your
  impression of him/her which influences how that
  person interacts w/ you.

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• Schemas

• Forming impressions helps us place these people
  into categories or schemas.
• Schemas are different for each individual.
• When you meet someone who exhibits a particular
  characteristic, you might assume he/she possesses
  other characteristics based on your past
  experience.
• Ex. You meet someone who is intelligent assume
  she is also interesting. Another person meets
  her, but assumes she must also be boring.
• We also develop schemas about people weve never
  met but only heard of.
• Schemas allow us to explain a persons past
  behavior to predict his/her future behavior.
  They also allow us to organize information so
  that we can respond appropriately in social
  situations.

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• Stereotypes

• Are a set of assumptions about people in a given
  category often based on half-truths non-truths.
• Occur when we develop schemas for entire groups
  of people.
• May contain positive or negative information.

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• Attribution theory

• A collection of principles based on our
  explanations of the causes of events, other
  peoples behavior, our own behaviors.
• Internal (or dispositional) attributions refers
  to a persons personal characteristics.
• External (or situational) attributions refers to
  outside influences on their behavior.
• The fundamental attribution error is the tendency
  to attribute others behavior to internal
  attributions ignore the external factors
  contributing to their behavior.
• The actor-observer bias is our tendency to focus
  on internal factors when explaining the behavior
  of others, but more on external factors when
  explaining our own.
• We realize our own behavior changes from
  situation to situation, but when we observe
  people we dont take that into account.
• The self-serving bias is our tendency to claim
  success is due to our efforts, while failure is
  due to circumstances beyond our control.

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• Nonverbal communication

• Is the process through which messages are
  conveyed using space, body language, facial
  expressions.
• People are often unaware of their nonverbal
  communication.
• We are more aware of nonverbal communication when
  were on the receiving end of the messages.
• Body language refers specifically to our use of
  space, posture, gestures.
• Although the use of body language is often
  unconscious, many of the postures we adopt
  gestures we make are governed by social rules.

End Section 2
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• Parent-child relationships

• Many psychologists believe that early
  persistent patterns of parent-child interaction
  can influence peoples later adult expectations
  about their relationships w/ the significant
  people in their lives.
• If our caregivers are loving, responsive
  consistent, we will trust other people to meet
  our needs.
• If our caregivers are unaffectionate,
  unresponsive, inconsistent, we will most likely
  be more mistrustful of other people.
• As we form relationships w/ people outside our
  families, we apply what weve learned from our
  families.
• Our parents (may) provide us w/ the 1st example
  of a marital relationship.
• Many people tend to duplicate this model (for
  better or worse).
• In our society, parent-child conflict may develop
  during adolescence.
• Generational identity is the theory that people
  of different ages tend to think differently about
  certain issues b/c of different formative
  experiences.

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• Romantic love

• While love w/o marriage is becoming more common
  in our society, marriage w/o love is still
  unpopular.
• Marrying for convenience, companionship,
  financial security, or any reason that doesnt
  include love strikes most of us as impossible or
  at least unfortunate.
• Some believe that one of the main reasons its
  difficult for many people to adjust to love
  marriage is b/c we have exaggerated ideas about
  love. This could also explain the s of
  divorce.
• There are 2 types of love
• Passionate love intense, sensual,
  all-consuming.
• Feelings of great excitement, intense sexuality,
  the threat that it might go away. When it
  subsides, it MIGHT grow into the 2nd type.
• Companionate love friendship, liking someone,
  mutual trust, wanting to be w/ them.
• More stable, includes commitment intimacy.

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• Like vs. (romantic) love

• Liking is based primarily on respect for another
  person the feeling that he/she is similar to
  you.
• Loving has 3 major components
• Need (attachment)
• Caring (the desire to give)
• Intimacy (a special knowledge of each other
  derived from uncensored self-disclosure)
• People in love feel strong desires to be w/ each
  other, to touch, to be praised cared for, to
  fulfill, be fulfilled.
• W/o caring, need becomes self-centered, but w/o
  need, caring becomes charity or plain kindness.
• Men women tend to express the same degree of
  love for each other, but women tend to like their
  boyfriends more than their boyfriends like them.
• Women also tend to love share intimacies w/
  their same-sex friends more than men do.
• When both partners express their interest in each
  other, the relationship is likely to progress.
• So love isnt something that happens to you, its
  something you seek create.

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• The triangular theory of love

• Another psychologist proposed the triangular
  theory of love which contends that love is made
  up of 3 parts
• Intimacy
• Passion
• Commitment
• The various combinations of these parts account
  for the many different ways love is experienced.
• Early love is heavy on passion light on
  commitment, whereas a couple celebrating their
  50th anniversary is heavy on intimacy
  commitment, but probably light on passion.

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• Marriage

• A couples formal public commitment to each
  other.
• Odds for a successful marriage improve if they
  have similar cultural, economic, educational
  backgrounds practice the same religion.
• Odds are even better if their parents were
  happily married, they had happy childhoods,
  maintain good relationships w/ their families.
• 2 principles tend to govern behavior leading to
  successful marriages
• Endogamy The tendency to marry someone who is
  from ones own social group.
• Homogamy The tendency to marry someone who has
  similar attributes such as physical
  attractiveness, age, physique.

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• Marital problems divorce

• In general, healthy adjustment to marriage
  depends on 3 factors
• 1. Whether their needs are compatible.
• 2. Whether their images of themselves each
  other are compatible.
• 3. Whether they agree on what their roles in the
  marriage are.
• External factors may make it impossible for
  either to live up to their own role expectations,
  but often the couple just grows apart.
• In many ways, divorce is like adjusting to death.
  A person often feels angry even if he/she wanted
  the divorce. Other common emotions are
  resentment, fear, loneliness, anxiety, mostly
  the feeling of failure.
• Separation shock often occurs this is when
  divorced people go through a period of mourning
  that lasts until they suddenly realize they have
  survived.
• They then begin to construct new identities as
  single people.

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• Children divorce

• A divorce is usually far more difficult for the
  children than the parents. This is b/c
• Children usually dont want the divorce.
• Children usually dont understand the reasons for
  the divorce.
• Children rarely have any control over the outcome
  of a divorce.
• Children arent as emotionally mature able to
  cope w/ the experience.
• A child whose parents divorce may exhibit
  behaviors like emotional outbursts, depression,
  /or rebellion.
• How long these behaviors last may be determined
  by the harmony of the parents relationship, the
  stability of the childs life, the adequacy of
  the caregiving arrangement.
• Most children do eventually come to terms w/ the
  divorce.
• It helps if the parents explain the divorce
  allow the child to express his/her feelings.

End Section 3
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Ch 19 Group Interaction

• Groups

• A collection of people who have a degree of
  interdependence, some amount of communication,
  shared goals.
• People who congregate but dont interact arent
  considered a group but an aggregate. So
  interaction is the key factor in forming a group.
• Interdependence occurs when any action by 1
  member will affect or influence the other
  members.
• In small groups, members usually have a direct
  influence on each other. But in large groups,
  the influence may be indirect.

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• Communication is crucial to the functions of a
  group. It may be directed outwards toward
  nonmembers or internal for group members to
  discuss group activities share common goals.
  It also aids members feelings of belonging.
• Shared goals 2 kinds
• Task functions activities directed toward
  getting a job done.
• Social functions responses directed toward
  satisfying the emotional needs of members.
• Usually groups meet both types of goals, but 1
  type is dominant.
• A centralized organization seems more useful for
  task-oriented groups, whereas a decentralized
  network is more useful in socially oriented
  groups.

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• Why do we join groups?

• They satisfy our need to belong.
• We use group members as standards against which
  to evaluate ourselves our experiences.
• Groups our uncertainty.
• Group members may offer us support in trying
  times.
• Groups provide us w/ companionship.
• Groups help us accomplish things that we couldnt
  do alone.

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• How are groups held together?

• Factors that a groups cohesiveness are
• Norms unwritten rules that govern the behavior
  attitudes of group members.
• Includes rules, tendencies, habits.
• Group members are punished for breaking them
  may only be criticism.
• Ideology the set of principles, attitudes,
  defined objectives for which a group stands
  their values.
• Commitment demonstration of personal sacrifice
  participation.
• If a person is willing to pay , endure hardship,
  or undergo humiliation to join a group, he/she is
  likely to continue w/ that group.
• When people actively participate in group
  decisions share the rewards of a groups
  accomplishments, their feelings of belonging
  .

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• Types of groups

• When a groups members identify w/ their group,
  they are known as the in-group.
• The out-group includes everyone who isnt a
  member of the in-group.
• A primary group is a group of people who interact
  daily face-to-face.
• Tend to be more personal.
• A secondary group is a larger group of people w/
  whom you might have a more impersonal
  relationship.

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• Social facilitation vs. social inhibition

• Social facilitation refers to the tendency to
  perform better in the presence of a group.
• Ex. Home team advantage.
• Seems to occur when participants perform simple
  or well-learned tasks.
• Social inhibition refers to the tendency to
  perform worse in the presence of a group.
• Ex. Stuttering when giving a speech.
• Seems to occur when participants perform complex
  tasks or tasks that involve unfamiliar factors.
• The effect of a crowd on your behavior may also
  be a reflection of your concern about being
  evaluated.
• Its about confidence!

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• Interactions w/in groups

• The particular role(s) we play w/in groups is
  important. Each group member has certain unique
  abilities interests, the group has a of
  different tasks that need to be performed.
• There are many aspects to group structure
• The personal relationships b/w individual members
• The rank of each member on a particular dimension
  (ex. Popularity or power, amount of resources).
• The roles (behaviors expected of individuals) the
  members are expected to play.
• Sometimes the roles a person plays may conflict.

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• Decision making

• Group polarization is the theory that group
  discussion reinforces the majoritys point of
  view shifts group members opinions to a more
  extreme position.
• The repetition of the same arguments results in
  stronger attitudes in support of the majoritys
  view.
• BUT if opinions of a group are equally split on
  an issue before a discussion, the group
  discussion usually results in compromise.
• Groupthink refers to poor group decision making
  that occurs as a result of a group emphasizing
  unity over critical thinking.
• Group members refrain from criticizing each other
  may not discuss opposing viewpoints.
• Decision making can be improved by encouraging
  group discussion, hearing ALL viewpoints,
  challenging each others views. Also, focus on
  the task.

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• Leadership

• A leader embodies the norms ideals of the group
  represents the group to outsiders. W/in the
  group, the leader initiates action, gives orders,
  makes decisions, settles disputes.
• An effective leader has a great deal of influence
  on the other members.
• Leaders tend to be better adjusted, more
  self-confident, more energetic outgoing,
  slightly more intelligent than other members of
  their group.
• When a leader is charismatic, followers trust the
  correctness of his/her views, obey him/her
  willingly, feel affection for the leader, are
  more motivated to perform at peak levels.
• Styles of leadership
• Authoritarian makes all the decisions assigns
  tasks.
• Laissez-faire only minimally involved in group
  decision making, he/she encourages the group to
  make its own decisions.
• Democratic encourages the group to make
  decisions through consensus.

End Section 1
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• Group pressure to conform

• Conformity is acting in accord w/ group norms or
  customs usually b/c of direct or indirect group
  pressure.
• Many people sometimes conform to other peoples
  ideas of the truth, even when they disagree.
• Why do we conform?
• Most children are taught the overriding
  importance of being liked accepted.
• Conformity is the standard means of gaining this
  approval.
• We learn to follow orders throughout our lives.
• We are more likely to follow rules when an
  authority figure is present.
• We usually only need 1 person disagreeing w/ the
  majority in order to be willing to go against a
  smaller group. It seems that its hardest to
  stand alone.
• Even when we conform, we might not actually
  change our beliefs. This contradiction of public
  behavior private belief is known as compliance.

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• Factors that conforming behavior in people

• Belonging to a group that emphasizes the role of
  groups rather than individuals.
• The desire to be liked by other members of the
  group.
• Low self-esteem.
• Social shyness.
• Lack of familiarity w/ a task.
• Group size (conformity as the size of the
  group grows to 5-6 people. After that conformity
  levels off).
• Cultural influences.

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• Obedience to authority

• The influence other people have on your attitudes
  behavior is considerable. Sometimes this
  influence is direct obvious, other times its
  indirect subtle.
• Obedience is a change in attitude or behavior
  brought about by social pressure to comply w/
  people perceived to be authorities.
• It can be useful or destructive.
• The abuses of German Nazis American soldiers in
  Vietnam show that individuals often obey
  irrational commands, even when obedience goes
  against their conscience.

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• The Milgram experiment

• P.558-560.
• During 1960s, Stanley Milgram wanted to determine
  whether participants would administer painful
  shocks to others just b/c an authority figure
  told them to.
• It was a study on peoples responsiveness to
  authority.
• Almost 1,000 male participants were told the
  study was on how punishment effected learning.
• Participants, the teachers, were told to
  administer an electric shock to the learners
  when they answered incorrectly.
• Shocks werent real but learners acted as if in
  severe pain.
• 65 of the teachers administered the full shock
  possible b/c they were told to.
• The teachers often showed signs of extreme
  discomfort many wanted to quit but continued as
  instructed.
• People assume that authorities know what they are
  doing, even when their instructions seem to be
  immoral.
• The experiment has been repeated w/ similar
  results.

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• The Stanford prison experiment

• P. 561-562.
• In 1971, Philip Zimbardo wanted to determine how
  participants of similar backgrounds would respond
  to being placed in a simulated prison environment
  w/ ½ acting as guards ½ as prisoners. The
  experiment was planned to last 2 weeks.
• He created a prison in the basement of a
  building at Stanford Univ. Male volunteers were
  questioned then randomly assigned the role of
  guard or prisoner.
• W/in 2 days, the guards began behaving very
  harshly w/ the prisoners (excessively punishing
  humiliating them) the prisoners, whom at 1st
  rebelled, eventually became angry depressed.
• The experiment was called off after 6 days.
• Participants, although drastically affected at
  the time, reported no lasting effects.
• Showed the power of a situation in affecting
  peoples actions personalities.
• Led to new, tougher ethical standards for
  psychology experiments.

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End Section 2
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• Aggression

• Any behavior intended to do physical or
  psychological harm to others.
• There are several theories about what causes
  people to act in aggressive ways
• Biological factors Humans have innate
  biological factors that cause aggression (like
  some wild animals). Neurotransmitters also
  influence a persons aggressive behavior.
• Cognitive factors Children learn aggressive
  behavior by observing imitating adults. The
  media also teaches aggressive behavior to
  children they can become immune to violence.
• Personality factors Certain personality traits
  (like impulsiveness, little empathy, w/ a
  dominating nature) can turn a person into a
  bully. Aggressive people may also be arrogant
  often strike out at others to affirm their sense
  of superiority.
• Environmental factors The frustration-aggression
  hypothesis states that frustration or a failure
  to obtain something expected leads to aggression
  in certain situations.

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• Controlling aggression

• So aggression is a combination of biological,
  cognitive, personality, environmental factors.
• How do we limit control aggression?
• Catharsis is releasing anger or aggression by
  letting out powerful negative emotions.
• This can be done by talking it out w/ someone,
  doing something active, etc
• But some believe that expressing aggression may
  lead to more aggression b/c you focus on the
  problem.
• Punish children for violent behavior (but the
  punishment must not be excessive) limit the
  amount of violence theyre exposed to.
• Can be controlled by teaching people to react to
  disappointments in ways other than violence.

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• Group conflict vs. cooperation

• Conflicts b/w groups are a fact of life, but why
  do they occur persist?
• Studies have found that competition (even if it
  starts out friendly) can lead to conflict.
• However, when 2 opposing groups have to work
  together cooperate for the good of all,
  gradually intergroup tensions lessen may go
  away.
• So the key to ending conflict is cooperation.
• A social trap is when individuals in a group
  decide not to cooperate, but to act selfishly
  create a bad situation for all.

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• Helping others (or not)

• Altruism is the helping of others, often at a
  cost or risk, for reasons other than expectation
  of a reward.
• Diffusion of responsibility occurs when the
  presence of others lessens an individuals
  feelings of responsibility for his/her actions or
  failure to act.
• We assume that someone else will/should act.
• The bystander effect occurs when an individual
  doesnt take action b/c of the presence of
  others.
• People may even encourage each other not to act.
• The larger the crowd, the less likely we are to
  act.
• We also have a tendency to minimize the need for
  any response. We may hear screams wait to make
  sure its a real emergency rather than embarrass
  ourselves by acting immediately.
• Its easier to believe nothing is wrong if others
  are behaving calmly may even make you think
  that not doing anything is the proper thing to do.

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• We are more likely to act if a leader is present,
  we know the person who needs help, know what kind
  of help is needed, have seen the correct response
  modeled before, /or expect future interactions
  w/ the person needing help.
• Social loafing refers to the tendency to put less
  effort into work when sharing the workload w/
  others.
• We realize that our individual contributions are
  not as apparent easily measured in a group
  setting may also experience a sense of
  accountability.
• When people act as individuals, obey their
  consciences, are concerned w/ self-evaluation,
  we think of them as individualistic. But when
  deindividuation occurs, people lose their sense
  of self follow group behaviors. They may
  behave irrationally when there is less chance of
  being personally identified.
• May feelings of guilt or self-awareness
  causing normally pleasant people to commit
  violence.
• But social pressure can also lead people to do
  good things as well or just refrain from doing
  bad things.

End Section 3
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Ch 20 and 21 Quiz
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Ch 20 Attitudes and Social Influence

• Attitude

• A predisposition to act, think, feel in
  particular ways towards a class of people,
  objects, or an idea.
• Where do attitudes come from?
• Conditioning classical operant.
• Cognitive evaluation we form opinions after
  thinking about something or sometimes w/ very
  little thought.
• Other sources culture, parents, peers,
  experiences, etc

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• Functions of attitudes

• Help us make up our self-concept (how we see or
  describe ourselves our total perception of
  ourselves).
• Social groups have attitudes as well.
• People in the same conditions tend to have the
  same attitudes b/c they are exposed to the same
  information.
• Serve as guidelines for interpreting
  categorizing people, objects, events, as well
  as guide us to behave in certain ways.
• So they tell us what to approach what to avoid.
• Sometimes our attitudes arent consistent w/ our
  behavior. Your behavior may reflect your
  attitudes more/less strongly depending on why you
  formed a certain attitude.
• Many psychologists believe that the attitudes
  that most strongly predict behavior are those
  acquired through direct experience.

End Section 1
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• Attitude change

• There are 3 main processes involved in forming or
  changing attitudes
• Compliance a change of behavior to avoid
  discomfort or rejection to gain approval.
• We often give in to social pressure, but this is
  usually only temporary the attitude doesnt
  really change.
• Identification seeing oneself as similar to
  another person/group accepting the attitudes of
  another person/group as ones own.
• Its different from compliance b/c the person
  believes the newly adopted views.
• But these attitudes are weak, b/c if a person
  stops identifying w/ the other person/group, the
  attitude may change.

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• Internalization incorporating the values,
  ideas, standards of others as part of oneself.
• The attitude becomes an integral part of the
  person.
• Its most likely to occur when an attitude is
  consistent w/ a persons basic beliefs supports
  his/her self-image.
• This is the most lasting of the 3 types of
  attitude formation/change.
• Compliance or identification may lead to the
  internalization of an attitude.
• Often the 3 overlap.

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• Cognitive consistency

• Our attitudes change b/c were always trying to
  get things to fit together logically inside our
  heads.
• Holding 2 opposing attitudes can create internal
  conflict.
• Cognitive dissonance is the uncomfortable feeling
  when a person experiences conflicting thoughts,
  attitudes, beliefs, or feelings.
• To reduce dissonance, its necessary to change
  either the behavior or the conflicting attitudes.
• How do we reduce dissonance?
• By denying it exists.
• Avoiding situations or exposure to information
  that would create conflict.
• By changing the attitude /or reevaluating the
  event.
• The process of dissonance reduction doesnt
  always take place consciously.

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• Attitudes actions

• Actions can affect attitudes if you act speak
  as though you have certain beliefs feelings,
  you may begin to really believe feel that way.
  That is known as counterattitudinal behavior.
• This is also a method of reducing cognitive
  dissonance.
• People have a need for self-justification (the
  need to rationalize ones attitude behavior).
• Studies have shown that if people are led to
  believe theyve hurt someone, they will convince
  themselves they didnt like the victim so the
  victim deserved the injury.
• A self-fulfilling prophecy occurs when a person
  acts in such a way as to make a belief,
  prediction, or expectation come true.
• Ex. You think people are basically nice so you
  are very friendly making people like you, or
  you think people are basically rude so you are
  very unfriendly making people avoid you.

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• Prejudice

• A preconceived attitude toward a person or group
  that has been formed w/o sufficient evidence
  isnt easily changed.
• PREJUDGEMENT.
• Its not always negative.
• Can be based on social, economic, or physical
  factors.
• A stereotype is an oversimplified, hard to change
  way of seeing people who belong to some group.
• A role is an oversimplified, hard to change way
  acting.
• What causes prejudice?
• People tend to be prejudice in favor of those
  they see as similar to themselves against those
  they see as different.
• May acquire it through social learning.
• Other causes as well.
• Discrimination is the unequal treatment of
  members of certain groups.
• Prejudice is an attitude discrimination is an
  action.
• A person may be prejudice, but not discriminate.
  Also, a person may discriminate (due to something
  like social pressure) but not be prejudice.

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• Persuasion

• A direct attempt to influence attitudes.
• The persuaders main hope is that by changing the
  other persons attitudes, he/she can change that
  persons behavior as well.
• Persuasive communication can be broken into 4
  parts
• 1. The source of the message.
• Is it trustworthy sincere?
• Is he/she knowledgeable about the subject?
• Is he/she likeable?
• - If the answer to all these questions is
  yes, the message is more likely to be
  accepted.
• - The boomerang effect is when a change in
  attitude or behavior opposite of the one
  desired by the persuader occurs.
• - Ex. You dont like the sports player
  trying to get you to buy a particular pair
  of shoes.

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• 2. The message itself.
• The persuasiveness of a message depends on its
  content how it is composed organized.
• The central route for persuasion relies on
  presenting information logically.
• The peripheral route for persuasion relies on
  emotional appeals.
• 3. The channel through which its delivered.
• When, where, how the message is delivered.
• Personal contact is usually the most effective.
• Movies, tv, the internet are more effective
  media of persuasion than printed ads b/c were
  more likely to believe what we see hear.
• 4. The audience that receives it.
• Persuading people to alter their views depends on
  knowing who they are why they hold the
  attitudes they do.
• You need to know what motivates them.
• People tend to ignore information that doesnt
  support their beliefs.

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• Heuristics

• Rules of thumb or shortcuts that may lead to but
  doesnt guarantee a solution.
• If an individual isnt interested in an issue,
  he/she is likely to rely on heuristic processing
  (a very casual, low-attention form of analyzing
  evidence).
• Advertisers use heuristics to get us to buy their
  products by using key words, stressing their
  products popularity, having it endorsed by a
  celebrity, etc

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• The sleeper effect

• The delayed impact on attitude change of a
  persuasive communication.
• Changes in attitude arent always permanent
  usually have their greatest impact immediately
  then fade away.
• So why might the persuasion be delayed?
• The tendency to retain the message but forget the
  source (this is significant if the source was
  viewed negatively).
• It can take time for the message to sink in
  people to change their minds.

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• The inoculation effect

• Is developing a resistance to persuasion by
  exposing a person to arguments that challenge
  his/her beliefs so that he/she can practice
  defending them.
• A person who has resisted a mild attack on
  his/her beliefs is ready to defend them against a
  stronger attack that might otherwise have been
  overwhelming.
• It motivates individuals to defend their beliefs
  more strongly gives them practice in defending
  their beliefs.
• The most vulnerable attitudes you have are the
  ones that youve never had to defend.

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• Brainwashing

• An extreme form of attitude change involving
  physical torture psychological manipulation by
  use of peer pressure, threats, rewards, guilt,
  /or intensive indoctrination.
• Peoples convictions are broken down they
  accept new patterns of belief, feeling, /or
  behavior.
• Brainwashing is done by
• Stripping away all identity subjecting him/her
  to intense social pressure physical stress.
• Rewarding every act of compliance to his/her
  capturers.
• Eventually, the person begins to believe what
  his/her capturers wish.

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Ch 21 Psychology Present and Future

• Careers in psychology

• Psychology is a logical undergraduate major for
  people planning graduate work in fields like
  sociology, social work, law, medicine, or
  education.
• These are all fields in which human behavior
  plays a key role.
• Some career options are
• Crisis hot line advisor. A crisis intervention
  program is a short-term psychological first aid
  that helps individuals families deal w/
  emergencies or highly stressful situations.
• Certain types of salesmen good salesmen tend to
  be sensitive to others.

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• Mental health assistant.
• Personnel director involves getting the right
  people hired for jobs keeping them motivated
  efficient.
• School psychologist.
• Clinical psychologist provides therapy. Often
  self-employed.
• Consulting psychologist often provides
  short-term services for businesses regarding
  human behavior how it relates to the
  services/product the business provides.

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• Fields of psychology

• Psychology is among the fastest growing fields
  according to the US Bureau of Labor.
• Forensic psychology deals w/ diagnosis,
  evaluation, treatment, testimony regarding the
  law criminal behavior.
• Industrial/organizational psychology deals w/ the
  psychology of the workplace.
• They help businesses operate more efficiently
  humanely.
• Sports psychology studies athletics athletic
  performance.
• They focus on maximizing performance through
  techniques like visualization (mentally
  rehearsing the steps involved in a successful
  performance or process).

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• Psychologys contributions to society

• Mental health
• The mentally ill are no longer seen as being
  possessed needing to be put in chains, but as
  needing care understanding.
• Testing
• Psychologists have played a leading role in
  devising updating many tests (IQ, career
  interest inventories, etc) including the SAT (a
  standardized test that measures verbal, written,
  mathematical reasoning abilities) the ACT (a
  standardized test that consists of 4 assessment
  tests that measure academic development).
• Everyday living
• Educational programs (daycare, tv, etc)
• Childrearing
• Learning/behavior modification
• Much, much more

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• Experimental vs. applied psychology

• Experimental psych uses a variety of scientific
  methods to study human animal behavior.
• Applied psych puts the knowledge of psych to work
  solving human problems.
• Both gather the available evidence offer the
  best explanation they can find.
• Both study behavior use similar processes.
• Applied psychologists search for immediate
  solutions experimental psychologists for
  long-range answers.

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• The challenges of psychology

• Social change, urban problems, early learning,
  the biological bases for behavior, reduction of
  violence, etc are all among the challenges
  facing psychologists today.
• Gerontology is the study of aging. Its becoming
  increasingly important as people are living
  longer.
• The top 3 killers of children adolescents in
  our society are accidents, violence, drugs
  mostly psychological problems.
• Many of the dangers facing society today are
  caused by social problems, so they can only be
  solved by changing the behavior attitudes of
  individuals communities.

End Section 2