Social Psychology

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Social Psychology

• Social Psychology looks at both intrapersonal
  (attitudes, persuasion, social cognition,
  cognitive dissonance) and interpersonal
  (relations with others, group dynamics, social
  influence, interpersonal attraction) phenomena
• Discovering Psychology - The Power of the
  Situation

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Attribution Process and Theory

• How we attach meaning to others behavior, or our
  own, is called attribution
• Attribution theory (Fritz Heider) People
  naturally see cause and effect relationships and
  seek to explain behavior

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Attribution Process and Theory

• Attribution theory (Fritz Heider)
• Dispositional versus situational attribution
• Fundamental attribution error (others)
• Self-serving bias (also defensive attribution)
  self only
• Actor-observer effect
• Why were you late for class? Why was Jimmy late
  for class?
• Why did you fail the Psych test? Jimmy?
• Just-world hypothesis

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Cognitive Dissonance

• Cognitive dissonance The tension caused by
  holding two contradictory ideas simultaneously.
  Includes attitudes and beliefs, and actions
• Theory of cognitive dissonance proposes that
  people seek to reduce dissonance by changing
  their attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors, or by
  justifying or rationalizing their attitudes,
  beliefs, and behaviors in order to seek cognitive
  consistency (Festinger)

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Cognitive Dissonance Attitudes and Actions

• According to Leon Festinger we seek cognitive
  consistency by bringing our attitudes closer to
  our actions called theory of cognitive dissonance
  or balance theory
• Tedious task experiment (Festinger)
• Festinger CD
• A(ttitude)-B(ehavior) Problem To what extent do
  behaviors affect attitudes? Can one predict the
  other?

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Cognitive Dissonance and Behavior

• Role playing Subjects in a role often begin to
  become the role. Behavior affects attitudes
  and reduces dissonance (e.g. role playing Im
  a teacher, dad, scholar)
• Zimbardo prison pathology experiments
• Foot-in-the-door theory The tendency for people
  who agree to a small request to comply later with
  a larger one (cheating, lying, drug use,
  tortureits a slippery slope!). Reduces initial
  dissonance. Also used in persuasion/sales
• Effort justification the tendency to find
  something more attractive if you have to work
  hard to achieve it, Examples?

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Role Playing and Zimbardo

• Zimbardo prison experiments
• Role playing and deindividuation and situational
  influences
• ZimbardoPE
• Zimbardo DN
• The Stanford Prison Experiment

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Deindividuation

• Deindividuation into a group results in a loss of
  individual identity and a gaining of the social
  identity of the group. Examples?
• Anonymity
• Diffused responsibility
• Group size

The Lucifer Effect Abu Ghraib Daily Show
Zimbardo
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Social Influence and Conformity Obedience

• Conformity influences the maintenance of social
  norms and allows society to function smoothly
• Other behaviors may be an expression of
  compliance (obedience) toward authority

Conformity
Obedience
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Social Conformity (Asch)

• Aschs conformity experiments
• Asch study
• What are the factors which affect degree of
  conformity?
• Normative social influence v. Informational
  social influence

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Reasons for Conformity

• Normative Social Influence Results from a
  persons desire to gain approval or avoid
  rejection. Public compliance, but doubt.
  Number, strength and immediacy. Asch Conformity
  Studies
• Two polar bears are sitting in a bathtub. The
  first one says, "Pass the soap". The second one
  says, "No soap, radio!" (anti-humor false and
  negative understanding)
• ConformityCC

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Reasons for Conformity

• Informational Social Influence Look to group to
  make accurate judgments
• Also called social proof. It occurs most often
  when
• The situation is ambiguous.
• There is a crisis. We have no time to think and
  experiment. A decision is required now!

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Other Types of Conformity Phenomena

• Chameleon effect
• Mood linkage (emotional or social contagion)
• Suggestibility

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Obedience to Authority

• The Milgram Experiments
• Milgram Video
• The Power of the Situation

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Social Obedience (Milgram)

• Results and Explanations for Milgrams Obedience
  to Authority experiments
• Socialization (normative influence)
• Foot in the door phenomenon
• Perception of legitimate authority
• Diffusion of responsibility
• Inaccessibility of values
• Lack of social comparison
• Physical and psychological buffers (proximity,
  depersonalization)
• Ethicality of the experiment?

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Social Identity Theory and Prejudice

• Social Identity Theory Identity is formed
  through the groups to which we belong. We are
  motivated to improve the image and status of our
  own group in comparison with others (Tajfel)
• Categorizing people (including oneself) into
  ingroups or outgroups affects perceptions,
  attitudes, and behavior (key source of prejudice
  and discrimination) Tajfel and Social Identity
  Theory

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Social Identity Theory and Prejudice
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Group Dynamics and Prejudice

• Sherifs Robbers Cave experiment (1961)
• Realistic Conflict Theory Limited resources lead
  to conflict between groups and result in
  prejudice, discrimination and stereotypes within
  a society
• In Group homogeneity and Out Group bias (basis of
  stereotype and prejudice). Stages 1) In Group
  formation 2) friction and competition and 3)
  integration
• Superordinate goals
• Contact hypothesis
• GRIT
• PsyBlog War, Peace and the Role of Power in
  Sherif's Robbers Cave Experiment

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Prejudice and Discrimination

• Prejudice is an unjustifiable (usually negative)
  attitude toward a group and its members.
  Prejudice underlies the behavior of discrimination

Components of Prejudice

1. Beliefs (stereotypes)
2. Emotions (hostility, envy, fear)
3. Predisposition to act (to discriminate)

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Social, Emotional and Cognitive Roots of Prejudice

• Social inequality, social division and emotional
  outgroup and ingroup bias
• An outlet for blame, anger and resentment
  Scapegoat Theory
• Just world phenomenon

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Unconscious Prejudice

• Prejudice works at the conscious and even more
  at the unconscious level. Prejudice is more a
  knee-jerk response than a conscious decision
  which then results in behavior (discrimination)
• Implicit Association Test
• Discrimination A Class Divided

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Group Dynamics

• How does the presence of others influence
  individual behavior?
• Social loafing
• Social facilitation
• Group polarization (incestuous amplification and
  risky shift) not groupthink
• Deindividuation
• Groupthink (rationalized conformity) and mindguard

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Groupthink and Mindguard

• Groupthink When norms for conforming in a
  homogeneous group become so strong, and members
  are so highly concerned about maintaining
  unanimity, that they fail to critically evaluate
  their options and consequently make a poor
  decision
• Examples...Iraq invasion, Bay of Pigs, Challenger
  disaster
• Role of mindguard

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Bystander Effect

• Bystander intervention v. bystander apathy/effect
  (Kitty Genovese)
• First demonstrated by Darley and Latane (1968)
  Participants are assigned to alone or group
  condition (comprised of confederates). A crisis
  situation is staged a person getting injured, a
  person having a seizure...How do participants
  react?
• Consistent Results The presence of others
  inhibits helping
• Diffusion of responsibility/social loafing
• Pluralistic ignorance
• Bystander intervention

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The Psychology of Helping

• Altruistic and Prosocial behavior
• Social norms theory States that much of peoples
  behavior is influenced by their perception of how
  other members of their social group behave
• Social exchange theory An economic-social theory
  that assumes human relationships are based on
  choice and cost-benefit analyses Social
  benefits
• If one partner's costs begin to outweigh his or
  her benefits, that person may leave the
  relationship, especially if there are good
  alternatives available

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Theory of Social Comparison

• Theory of Social Comparison (Festinger) Humans
  gain information about themselves, and source
  self-esteem, by comparison to others
• Upward social comparison Individuals compare
  themselves to others who are socially better to
  view self more positively
• Downward social comparison A defensive tendency
  to evaluate oneself in comparison with others
  whose troubles are more serious than one's own

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Persuasion and the Elaboration Likelihood Model

• Persuasion can be divided into two separate
  processes based on the "likelihood of cognitive
  elaborations," that is, whether people think
  critically about the content of a message, or
  respond to superficial aspects of the message and
  other immediate cues
• Central and peripheral routes to persuasion

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The Psychology of Aggression

• Bio-psychosocial model
• Biological Sources/Causes (brain, hormones,
  genetics, evolutionary - instinct theory)
• Psychological sources
• Social scripts
• Observational learning and reinforcements
• Frustration-aggression hypothesis

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Psychology of Attraction

• Factors affecting attraction
• Proximity/propinquity mere exposure effect
• Primacy (first impressions)
• Physical attractiveness (facial matching)
• Similarity
• Complementarity (not dissimilarity)
• Reward theory of attraction/social exchange
• Intimacy
• Theories of interpersonal attraction
  reinforcement, equity and cognitive consistency
  (balance)