Social psychology

The Role of Causal attributions

*People are less likely to offer help to the homeless if they attribute the person's need to his or her own lack of effort. This may also affect a decision to help a group. *Recent evidence suggests that some groups in society that might be most in need of help, such as the homeless and drug addicts, actually elicit disgust rather sympathy. Our brains react as though they were observing objects rather than people. In fact, when people dehumanize others, they assume that those others experience a smaller range of uniquely human emotions.

Theories of aggression (Biological influences)

- Instinct theory and evolutionary psychology -Neutral influences -Genetic influences -Biochemical influences

Social learning approach

- controlling aggression by counteracting the factors that provoke it - reduce aversive stimulation - rewarding nonaggression -Modeling nonaggression -Eliciting reactions incompatible with aggression

Kin selection

- natural selection let to greater tendencies to help close kin than to help those with who we have little genetic relation (Hamilton) - innate or culturally learned? Ex: People are more likely to help there parents and siblings before helping there Aunts, Cousins etc

Catharsis

-(When you are angry punching a pillow) *Contrary to the hypothesis, expressing aggression by catharsis tends to breed further aggression, not reduce it. Bushman (2002)

Altruistic personality

-Ability to empathize -Strong moral reasoning -Sense of social responsibility Personality characteristics are more apparent when situations are more ambiguous

Biochemical influences

-Alcohol (decrease self control) -Testosterone ( increase = more aggressive) -Poor diet -Biology and behavior interact

What influences aggression?

-Aversive incidents -Arousal - Aggression cues - media influences - group influences - culture

Group influences

-Can amplify aggressive reaction partly by diffusing responsibility * increase with distance and number -Group think

How can aggression be reduced

-Catharsis -Social learning approach

Strategies for closing the gap

-Experience pain or rejection -Taking perspective of a person in need

Priming prosocial feelings and behavior

-Experience positive affect Ex: smiley face -Using prosocial metaphors Ex: higher is better( heaven and hell) -Priming prosocial roles Ex: nursing- occupation carry the norm to help Priming mortality -fear - real world reminders of death generally increase charitable giving, volunteerism, and blood donation. -big exception to this..thoughts? *Prosocial behavior can help embed us in a world that we value and thus make us better able to distance ourselves from the reality of death, but only if the charitable action does not itself conjure up thoughts of our mortality.

Frustration-aggression theory

-Frustration triggers a readiness to aggress *Can also take form of Displacement.

Flattery (exceptions)

-Makes people feel better -Not always effective if and ulterior motive is obvious

Social explanation for helping

-Norm of reciprocity -positive parenting

Communal feeling

-One of the strongest motivators of human behavior is the desire to form, strengthen, and maintain close relationships.

Negative state relief hypothesis

-People help to reduce egoistic motivation. -The link between empathy and helping is ultimately about the self.

Media influences

-Pornography and sexual Violence - distorted perception of sexual reality - studies confirm that exposure to pornography increases acceptance of the rape myth -Television and the Internet - television effects on behavior -Desensitization - social scripts - Altered perceptions - cognitive priming - Time drain - video games - common among the young - content matters (4th graders: 59% of girls and 73% of boys' favorite video games were violent ones..... Games that are rated "M" for mature are often marketed to those younger. 4/5 attempts underage children could purchase "M" games.) -Effects of the games kids play *Increases aggressive behaviors *Increases aggressive thoughts *Increases aggressive feelings *Decreases helping others *Decreases empathy for others *Desensitized to violence. Dehumanizing others.

Aggression cues

-Priming aggression -Raises the question... What is associated with aggression?

What causes frustration?

-Relative deprivation -Perception that one is less well off than others with whom one compares oneself *Explains why happiness tends to be lower and crime rates higher in communities and nations with large income inequality

Religiosity and helping

-Religious individuals likely to value prosocial behavior for social welfare, but also value conservative ideologies opposing social welfare -Religious people more likely to make dispositional attributions - priming religious ideas increase helping ( everyone helps more when you have a figure)

Diff between humans and animals

-Technical advances ( guns weapons) (makes it easy to do the act but it's hard to cope with the act) -Self control

More evidence for Innate need to belong

-The motive to belong is universal (Eibl-Eibesfeldt). -Innate affiliate behaviors are seen in children worldwide and not seen in other species (Murray and others). -Rejection causes physical and psychological distress (rejection sensitivity; Downey and Feldman). -Reproduction is more successful in the context of stable, close relationships. -Early ancestors disposed to join in, lend a hand, listen to others, and care, were more likely to have offspring that could be raised to maturity and reproduce as well.

Empathy- altruism model (Batson)

-The reason people help others depends on how much they empathize with them. -The capacity for empathy allows people to understand the distress of others and paves the road to altruism. -Feelings of empathy lead to helping, even when it would be easy simply to ignore the person in need. *When empathy is low, people help others when benefits outweigh costs; but when empathy is high, people help others, even at costs to themselves.

Steps to helping...or not!

1)Failing to notice the event 2)Assuming there is not real danger 3)Believing someone else will take action 4)Not knowing what to do 5)Danger to self, embarrasment

Intrumental aggression

>Aggression that is a means to some other end >Occurs when someone intends too inflict harm on another person to serve some other goal. Ex: a man kills for a fee > not triggered by strong emotions but is still intended to cause harm

Affective aggression

>Aggression that springs from anger; its goal is to harm >The main goal is to harm the other person simply for the sake of doing so. > Often is impulsive Ex: fight breaks out in a bar

Prosocial feelings

>Guilty people are helpful people (Mcmillen and Austin 1971)( DV: calls IV: lied not lied) >Positive mood and relief (Forgas et al 2008) positive mood....( Dolinski and Nawrat 1998) relief >Communal feeling >Recipient gratitude >Feeling socially secure (When you feel secure in your relationships you are more likely to help)

Arousal

A given state of bodily arousal feeds one emotion or another depending on how the person interprets the arousal *Schacter and Singer (1962)

Pluralistic ignorance

A situation in which individuals rely on others to identify a norm but falsely intersperse others beliefs and feeling in inaction *Even when the situation includes other naive by standers like yourself, if you are all glancing at each other trying to decide whether there is anything to be worried about, then no one is actually doing anything

Diffusion responsibility

A situation in which the presence of others prevents any one person from taking responsibility (e.g., for helping) *Someone else will take care of it

Aggression

Physical or verbal behavior meaning to cause harm

Neutral influences

Abnormal brains can contribute to abnormally aggressive behavior :Raine (1998): brain scans of antisocial conduct disorder. They found that PFC is 14% less active.

Psychosocial helping

Although genes provide people with some basic inclinations, culture and learning shape when and for whom these inclinations are cued - positive parenting - display of emotional responses to those I need - development in stages - integration of helpfulness with personal indenting

positive parenting

Although genes provide people with some basic inclinations, culture and learning shape when and for whom these inclinations are cued.

Physical attractiveness

Attractiveness and dating - looks are predictor of how often one dates - looks influence voting Matching phenomenon - tendency for couples to pick equal matches Physical attractiveness stereotype Attractiveness varies from culture to culture Can be affective by social comparison Affected by affection - The more "in love" people are, the more attractive they find their partner and the less attractive they find everyone else (Johnson and Rusbult, 1989) High status attributes are often viewed as more attractive Body size and weight Mass media affect -emphasize on thin ideal; tendency to objectify women - unrealistic standard of feminine beauty

Aversive incidents

Physical pain Psychological pain Heat Attacks

The Great Debate Batson vs. Cialdini

Batson (empathy) Painful shocks... Participants manipulated into low and high empathy and low as high cost of helping Marci asked participants to switch spots with her DV: doesn't he participant take there spot Results: high empathy helped in both. Low empathy in low conditions

Observational learning

Bobo doll experiment (Banduras experiment) *We learn social behavior by observing and imitating

Why do people fail to help?

Bystander effect: more people present the less people will help

The Great Debate Batson vs. Cialdini

Cialdini (1973) Negative state relief model: we help to make us feel better. We are more likely to help when in negative mood Participants either knocked some IBM cards or experimental did. participants either given money praise or no relief DV: how many phone calls the participant made Results: no relief conditions Altruism is not real Reduce negative state relief model

Gains-loss theory

Compliment from a stranger is more potent then a compliment form friend or spouse

Psychological need

Ex: Love, acceptance Mechanism for regulating behavior to acquire the tangible or intangible resources necessary for survival and well-being

Norm of reciprocity

Explanation for why we give help: if I help you today, you might be more likely to help me tomorrow.

Positive mood and relief (Forgas et al 2008) positive mood....( Dolinski and Nawrat 1998) relief

Feel good/do good: happy ppl are helpful ppl. Forgas et al (2008): Confederate offered either a mood boosting compliment to a target dept salesperson or a neutral mood deflating comment. Moments later: a second confederate, who was blind to the mood induction condition, sought the employees help in locating nonexistent item. Among less experienced staff: those with mood boost made the greatest effort. Mcmillen and Austin (1971): you are in an experiment, someone (confederate) tells you that the test has all answer Bs on it. The experimenter comes out and asks if you have heard anything about the test. 100% lied. Then the experimenter after the experiment says you are free to leave, but if you have some free time, could you help out scoring?. On average, those not induced to lie volunteered 2 minutes of time. Those who lied, volunteered an average 63 minutes.

Motives for helping

Functional approach Altruistic approach

frustration

Gap between expectations and attainment. Often result from blocking of a goal. ( triggers aggression)

Altruistic approach

Helping is the result os a desire to help another person purely for the other persosns benefit, regardless of benefit to self (Batson) * We feel empathy for another person, we help not to serve our own needs but rather to serve the needs of the other

Genetic influence

Heredity influences the neural system's sensitivity to aggressive cues :Temperament

Culture

Honor culture

Leaned behavior

How could aggression be reinforced?

Transference

How you like people -The tendency to map, or transfer, feelings for a person who is known onto someone new who resembles that person in some way Personality traits: friendliness, honesty, warmth, kindness, intelligence, a good sense of humor, emotional stability, reliability, ambition, openness, and extraversion

Instincts theory and evolutionary psychology

Innate, unlearned behavior pattern exhibited by all members of a species - Freuds perspective - Konrad Lorenz's perspective

Which step does pluralistic ignorance interfere

Interpreting it as an emergency

Biological explanation for helping

Kin selection Twin study *Evidence of heritability of prosocial tendencies Social animal study *Helping without reward in primates, killer whales, rats

Step 2-3

Laramie and Darlay (1968) IV: alone or 3 others 85% vs 31%

Bystander effect Step 1 noticing

Laramie and Darlay 1968 More people around less likely to help

Norm of reciprocity

Liking someone who likes you People want rewards from those who like them

People need to belong

Major pieces of evidence - the need to belong is satiable -when the need to belong is satisfied, people thrive -when the need to belong is chronically unmet, mental and physical health decline.

Guilty people are helpful people (Mcmillen and Austin 1971)( DV: calls IV: lied not lied)

Mcmillen and Austin (1971): you are in an experiment, someone (confederate) tells you that the test has all answer Bs on it. The experimenter comes out and asks if you have heard anything about the test. 100% lied. Then the experimenter after the experiment says you are free to leave, but if you have some free time, could you help out scoring?. On average, those not induced to lie volunteered 2 minutes of time. Those who lied, volunteered an average 63 minutes.

Genuine Altruism

Our willingness to hell is influenced by self-serving and selfless considerations -fuleled by empathy

Recipient gratitude

People are more likely to help again when gratitude is expressed *Takeaway: Express gratitude when you are helped if you want more help.

Empathy gap

People tend to underestimate the physical pain and social rejection of others ( empathy gap). This may result in failure to give help When someone needs a help we are more likely to help when we have the same mood

Functional approach

Peoples actions are motivated by some degree of self interest; egotistic motivations for helping (James)

Driving forces behind attraction

Proximity Prop

Reciprocal helping

Reciprocity patterns can provide adaptive advantages to individuals and group (norm of reciprocity)

Classical conditioning

Reward model of liking -People can also like or dislike someone simply because they happen to be around when they were feeling good or bad.

Assertiveness

Self assured, energetic, go getting behavior

Gender roles

Sex differences in personality traits (surveys) -Women: Higher on measures of agreeableness and empathy; decoding emotions, agency, and communion; differences found across many cultures

Two factory theory

Suggest that in a romantic context, arousal from any source, even painful experiences, can be steered into passion Dutton and Aron (1974): bridge study

Which step does diffusion of responsibility interfere

Taking responsibility

Individual differences in motivations for helping

The more helping is part of one's identity, the more likely one is to sustain an investment in many kinds of prosocial activities. -High on measure of trait agreeableness related to prosocial motivation -Higher levels of empathy and strong connections to others linked to intrinsic motivation

Social exchange theory

Theory that human interactions are transactions that aim to maximize one's rewards and minimize one's costs. Think economics.

Personality traits

Things that come straight from the culture

Culturally valued attributions

Things that the cultural value

Feeling socially secure (When you feel secure in your relationships you are more likely to help)

Those who feel insecure in their relationships are more likely to avoid others and less likely to feel compassion.

Propinquity effect

You are going to like people who are closer too you, physically close by

A police officer tackles a man to the ground that was resisting arrest. The police officers violence towards the man is the best described as

instrumental aggression

Prosocial behavior

is action by an individual that is intended to benefit another individual or set of individuals