Announcements
• This is the last week for experiments – Monday 13th at 9am is deadline for alternative papers (contact Sue Phebus if you plan on doing this) • For only those on the list with 3 or more exams on same day, you must Social Psychology contact Mary Ann Honors ([email protected]) by this Thursday to Chapter 16 reschedule. • Top Cumulative Score = 192 • Exam 5 Study Session: PSY 12000.003 – Thursday, Dec 16th, 5:00-6:00pm, PRCE 277 Fall, 2010 • Exam 5: – Friday, Dec 17th, 10:20am – 12:20pm, CL50, Rm 224 (here)
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Group Pressure & Focuses in Social Psychology Conformity “We cannot live for ourselves alone.” An influence resulting from one’s willingness to accept others’ opinions Herman Melville about reality. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=- qlJqR4GmKw Social psychology scientifically studies how we
think about, influence, and relate to one another. William Vandivert/ Scientific American
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Conditions that Strengthen Conformity Reasons for Conformity
Normative Social Influence: Influence resulting from a . One is made to feel incompetent or insecure. person’s desire to gain approval or avoid rejection. A person . The group has at least three people. may respect normative behavior because there may be a . The group is unanimous. severe price to pay if not respected. . One admires the group’s status and attractiveness. Informative Social Influence: The group may provide . One has no prior commitment or response. valuable information, but stubborn people will never listen to . The group observes one’s behavior. others. . One’s culture strongly encourages respect for a social standard. Mindless conformity: Using others as cues to behavior without thinking or dealing with the dilemma of perception/ thoughts and others’ perceptions and thoughts.
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1 Informative Social Influence Informative Social Influence
Baron and colleagues (1996) made students do an eyewitness identification task. If the task was easy (lineup exposure 5 sec.), conformity was low in comparison to a difficult (1/2 sec. exposure) task.
Baron et al., (1996) 7 8
Obedience Obedience to Authority People comply to social • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2PGnHHnRMk pressures. How would they Courtesy of CUNY Graduate School and University Center respond to outright command?
Stanley Milgram designed a study that investigates the effects of authority on obedience. Stanley Milgram (1933-1984) 9 10
Milgram’s Study Milgram’s Study: Results dist. by Penn State, Media Sales Sales Media by Penn State, dist. Obedience, Both Photos: © 1965 By Stanley Miligram, from the the from Miligram, 1965 By Stanley Photos: © Both film
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2 Lessons from the Conformity and Factors that Increase Obedience Studies Obedience In both Asch's and Milgram's studies, participants were pressured against following their standards and • Authority is physically closer to participant be responsive to others. • Victim is physically further from participant • Having Co-Participants who willingly (and without question) obey. In Milgram’s study, participants were torn between hearing the victims pleas, their own values, and the experimenter’s orders.
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Power of the Situation: Role Playing Affects Attitudes Stanford Prison Study Zimbardo (1972) assigned the roles of guards and • http://www.prisonexp.org/psychology/2 prisoners to random students and found that guards • http://www.youtube.com/watch? and prisoners developed role- appropriate attitudes. v=rmwSC5fS40w&feature=related Originally published in the Phillip Zimbardo, G. Inc. New Yorker
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The Chameleon Effect or Conformity & Obedience Nonconscious Mimicry Behavior is contagious, modeled by one followed by Conformity: Adjusting one’s behavior or thinking another. We follow behavior of others to conform. to coincide with a group standard (Chartrand & Bargh, 1999). Other behaviors may be an expression of compliance (obedience) toward authority.
Conformity Obedience
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3 Group Pressure & Conformity What Happens When We Don’t Conform? Suggestibility is a subtle type of conformity, Reactions to a Deviate adjusting our behavior or thinking toward some group standard. • Groups create pressures toward uniformity – Pressures to change deviate – Pressure to reject/exclude deviate 19 20
Bystander Intervention Reasons for Bystander Effect
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dT192AkivC8 • Pluralistic Ignorance – Others aren’t helping, so help is probably not needed (similar to conformity) • Social Inhibition – Fear of standing out, making a mistake, overblowing the situation, etc. • Diffusion of Responsibility
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Just six months ago… Social Inhibition
• Social Inhibition (Petty, Williams, Harkins, & Latané, 1977: “Bystander Response to a Cheeseburger”
• How are Conformity and Social Inhibition Similar?
Free Cheesebur ger
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4 Actions Can Affect Attitudes Cognitive Dissonance Why do actions affect attitudes? One explanation is • We don’t like to hold inconsistent thoughts, or that when our attitudes and actions are opposed, we have a thought that is inconsistent with our experience tension. This is called cognitive behavior. dissonance. • When faced with an inconsistency (for something relatively important), we experience “cognitive dissonance.” • We are motivated to reduce this dissonance. To relieve ourselves of this tension we bring our • We change the belief/attitude to come in line with attitudes closer to our actions (Festinger, 1957). the behavior. – 1$/$20 Study by Festinger & Carlsmith – Severity of initiation by Aronson & Mills 25 26
Attributing Behavior to Persons or to Social Thinking Situations Attribution Theory: Fritz 1. Does his absenteeism signify Heider (1958) suggested illness, laziness, or a stressful work that we have a tendency to atmosphere? give causal explanations 2. Was the horror of 9/11 the work of crazed for someone’s behavior, evil people or ordinary people corrupted
often by crediting either http://www.stedwards.edu by life events? the situation or the 3. Why was Derek Anderson smiling when person’s disposition. his team was losing so badly? Social thinking involves thinking about others, http://www.youtube.com/ Fritz Heider especially when they engage in doing things that are watch?v=sZBKer6PMtM 27 unexpected. 28
Attributing Behavior to Persons or to Fundamental Attribution Error Situations A teacher may wonder whether a child’s hostility The tendency to overestimate the impact of personal reflects an aggressive personality (dispositional disposition and underestimate the impact of the attribution) or is a reaction to stress or abuse (a situations in analyzing the behaviors of others leads situational attribution). to the fundamental attribution error.
Dispositions are enduring personality traits. So, if Joe is a quiet, shy, and introverted http://www.bootsnall.org We see Joe as quiet, shy, and introverted most of the child, he is likely to be like that in a number of time, but with friends he is very talkative, loud, and situations. extroverted.
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5 Effects of Attribution Attitude
How we explain someone’s behavior affects how we A belief and feeling that predisposes a person to react to it. respond in a particular way to objects, other people, and events.
If we believe a person is mean, we may feel dislike for the person and act in an unfriendly manner.
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Attitudes Can Affect Action Attitudes Can Affect Action
Our attitudes predict our behaviors imperfectly Not only do people stand for what they believe in because other factors, including the external situation, (attitude), they start believing in what they stand for. also influence behavior.
Democratic leaders supported Bush’s attack on Iraq
under public pressure. However, they had their private MacDonald/D. PhotoEdit reservations.
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Small Request – Large Request Social Influence
In the Korean War, Chinese communists solicited The greatest contribution of social psychology is its cooperation from US army prisoners by asking them study of attitudes, beliefs, decisions, and actions and to carry out small errands. By complying to small the way they are molded by social influence. errands they were likely to comply to larger ones.
Foot-in-the-Door Phenomenon: The tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request.
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6 Individual Behavior in the Presence of Group Influence Others How do groups affect our behavior? Social Social facilitation: Refers psychologists study various groups: to improved performance on tasks in the presence of others. Triplett (1898) noticed cyclists’ race times . One person affecting another were faster when they . Families competed against others Michelle Agnis/ NYT Pictures than when they just raced . Teams against the clock. . Committees
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Social Loafing Deindividuation
The tendency of an individual in a group to exert less The loss of self-awareness and self-restraint in group effort toward attaining a common goal than when situations that foster arousal and anonymity. tested individually (Latané, Williams, & Harkins, 1981).
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Effects of Group Interaction Groupthink
Group Polarization A mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for enhances a group’s harmony in a decision-making group overrides the prevailing attitudes realistic appraisal of alternatives. through a discussion. If a group is like-minded, • Attack on Pearl Harbor discussion strengthens its • Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis prevailing opinions and • Watergate Cover-up attitudes. • Chernobyl Reactor Accident
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7 Power of Individuals Social Relations
The power of social Margaret Bourke-White/ Social psychology teaches us how we relate to one influence is enormous, another through prejudice, aggression, and conflict but so is the power of the to attraction, and altruism and peacemaking. Life
individual. Magazine. © 1946 Time Warner, Inc.
Non-violent fasts and appeals by Gandhi led to the independence of India from the British. Gandhi
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Prejudice Reign of Prejudice
Simply called “prejudgment,” a prejudice is an Prejudice works at the conscious and [more at] the unjustifiable (usually negative) attitude toward a unconscious level. Therefore, prejudice is more like group and its members. Prejudice is often directed a knee-jerk response than a conscious decision. towards different cultural, ethnic, or gender groups.
Components of Prejudice
1. Beliefs (stereotypes) 2. Emotions (hostility, envy, fear) 3. Predisposition to act (to discriminate) 45 46
How Prejudiced are People? Racial & Gender Prejudice
Over the duration of time many prejudices against Americans today express much less racial and interracial marriage, gender, homosexuality, and gender prejudice, but prejudices still exist. minorities have decreased.
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8 Race Gender
Nine out of ten white respondents were slow when Most women still live in more poverty than men. responding to words like “peace” or “paradise” when About 100,000,000 women are missing in the world. they saw a black individual’s photo compared to a There is a preference for male children in China and white individual’s photo (Hugenberg & India, even with sex-selected abortion outlawed. Bodenhausen, 2003).
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Gender Social Roots of Prejudice
Although prejudice prevails against women, more Why does prejudice arise? people feel positively toward women than men. Women rated picture b [feminized] higher (665) for a matrimonial ad (Perrett, 1998). . Social Inequalities . Social Divisions Professor Dave Perrett,Professor St. University Andrews . Emotional Scapegoating
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Social Inequality In and Out Groups
Prejudice develops when people have money, power, Ingroup: People with whom one shares a common and prestige, and others do not. Social inequality identity. Outgroup: Those perceived as different from increases prejudice. one’s ingroup. Ingroup Bias: The tendency to favor one’s own group. Mike Hewitt/ Getty Images
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9 Emotional Roots of Prejudice Cognitive Roots of Prejudice
Prejudice provides an outlet for anger [emotion] by One way we simplify our world is to categorize. We providing someone to blame. After 9/11 many categorize people into groups by stereotyping people lashed out against innocent Arab- them. Americans. Michael S. Yamashita/ Woodfin Camp Associates
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Cognitive Roots of Prejudice Cognitive Roots of Prejudice
In vivid cases such as the 9/11 attacks, terrorists can The tendency of people to believe the world is just, feed stereotypes or prejudices (terrorism). Most and people get what they deserve and deserve what terrorists are non-Muslims. they get (the just-world phenomenon). © The New Yorker Collection, 1981, Robert Mankoff from cartoonbank.com. All Rights Reserved.
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Hindsight Bias Aggression
After learning an outcome, the tendency to believe Aggression can be any physical or verbal behavior that we could have predicted it beforehand may intended to hurt or destroy. contribute to blaming the victim and forming a It may be done reactively out of hostility or prejudice against them. proactively as a calculated means to an end.
Research shows that aggressive behavior emerges from the interaction of biology and experience.
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10 The Biology of Aggression Influences
Three biological influences on aggressive behavior Genetic Influences: Animals have been bred for are: aggressiveness for sport and at times for research. Twin studies show aggression may be genetic. In men, 1. Genetic Influences aggression is possibly linked to the Y chromosome. 2. Neural Influences 3. Biochemical Influences Neural Influences: Some centers in the brain, especially the limbic system (amygdala) and the frontal lobe, are intimately involved with aggression.
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Influences The Psychology of Aggression
Biochemical Influences: Animals with diminished Four psychological factors that influence aggressive amounts of testosterone (castration) become docile, and behavior are: if injected with testosterone aggression increases. Prenatal exposure to testosterone also increases 1. Dealing with aversive events aggression in female hyenas. 2. Learning aggression is rewarding 3. Observing models of aggression 4. Acquiring social scripts
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Aversive Events Environment
Studies in which animals and humans experience Even environmental temperature can lead to unpleasant events reveal that those made miserable aggressive acts. Murders and rapes increased with the often make others miserable. temperature in Houston. Jeff Kowalsky/ EPA/ Landov
Ron Artest (Pacers) attack on Detroit Pistons fans. 65 66
11 Frustration-Aggression Principle Learning that Aggression is Rewarding
A principle in which frustration (caused by the When aggression leads to desired outcomes, one learns blocking of an attempt to achieve a desired goal) to be aggressive. This is shown in both animals and creates anger, which can generate aggression. humans.
Cultures that favor violence breed violence. Scotch- Irish settlers in the South had more violent tendencies than their Quaker Dutch counterparts in the Northeast of the US.
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Observing Models of Aggression Acquiring Social Scripts
Sexually coercive men are The media portrays social scripts and generates mental promiscuous and hostile in tapes in the minds of the viewers. When confronted their relationships with with new situations individuals may rely on such social women. This coerciveness scripts. If social scripts are violent in nature, people has increased due to may act them out. television viewing of R- and X-rated movies.
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Do Video Games Teach or Release Summary Violence?
The general consensus on violent video games is that, to some extent, they breed violence. Adolescents view the world as hostile when they get into arguments and receive bad grades after playing such games.
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12 Conflict A Game of Social Trap
Conflict is perceived as an incompatibility of actions, By pursuing our self-interest and not trusting others, goals, or ideas. we can end up losers.
A Social Trap is a situation in which the conflicting parties, by each rationally pursuing their self-interest, become caught in mutually destructive behavior.
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Enemy Perceptions Psychology of Attraction
People in conflict form diabolical images of one 1. Proximity: Geographic nearness is a powerful another. predictor of friendship. Repeated exposure to novel stimuli increases their attraction (mere exposure effect). http://www.aftonbladet.se http://www.cnn.com A rare white penguin born in a zoo was accepted after 3 weeks by other penguins just Rex USA Saddam Hussein George Bush due to proximity. “Evil” “Wicked Pharaoh” 75 76
Psychology of Attraction Psychology of Attraction
2. Physical Attractiveness: Once proximity affords 3. Similarity: Similar views among individuals causes contact, the next most important thing in attraction the bond of attraction to strengthen. is physical appearance.
Similarity breeds content! Brooks Kraft/Brooks Corbis Kraft/Brooks Corbis
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13 Romantic Love Romantic Love
Passionate Love: An aroused state of intense positive Companionate Love: A deep, affectionate attachment absorption in another, usually present at the beginning we feel for those with whom our lives are intertwined. of a love relationship. Courtship and Matrimony Two-factor theory of emotion
. Physical arousal plus cognitive appraisal (from the collection of Werner Nekes) . Arousal from any source can enhance one emotion depending upon what we interpret or label the arousal
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Altruism Bystander Effect
An unselfish regard for the welfare of others. Tendency of any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other Equity: A condition in which people receive bystanders are present. from a relationship in proportion to what they give.
Self-Disclosure: Revealing intimate aspects of oneself to others.
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Bystander Intervention The Norms for Helping
The decision-making process for bystander Social Exchange Theory: Our social behavior is an intervention. exchange process. The aim is to maximize benefits and minimize costs.
. Reciprocity Norm: The expectation that we should Akos Szilvasi/Akos Stock, Boston return help and not harm those who have helped us.
. Social–Responsibility Norm: Largely learned, it is a norm that tells us to help others when they need us even though they may not repay us.
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14 Peacemaking Peacemaking
Superordinate Goals are shared goals that override Graduated & Reciprocated Initiatives in Tension- differences among people and require their Reduction (GRIT): This is a strategy designed to cooperation. decrease international tensions. One side recognizes
Syracuse Newspapers/ The Image Works mutual interests and initiates a small conciliatory act that opens the door for reciprocation by the other party.
Communication and understanding developed through talking to one another. Sometimes it is mediated by a
third party. 85 86
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