Social Psych Final

Explain how personality and role models are related to helping behavior.

-an altruistic personality--helping tends to be consistent across situations, and twin studies suggest a genetic component. -helping role models (Ruston, 1975)--kids who see an adult help are likely to engage in helping behavior (short and long term)

How might kin selection, reciprocity, and cooperative groups be related to helping behavior?

-kin selection--individuals who helped close relatives would have passes on more total genes, so evolution probably provided a general helping drive -reciprocity--a general drive would have quickly evolved into a "help people who are likely to help you back" drive -in-group bias--in earlier times, your group was probably composed of family members. Today, the general drive to help groups you belong to still exists

Imagine that you are a shoe salesperson at a department store. Since you work on commission, you want to sell as many expensive pairs of shoes as you can. Identify, define, and explain four social influence techniques (at least two must be things that were not in the Compliance lecture) you might use on your customers (HINT: social influence can occur in a number of different ways; think back to all the information that we have talked about this quarter when answering this question).

1. Bait and Switch Technique: offer a great deal, then switch it with the same deal on a related, but worse, product. To be consistent, they should still want a similar product. -I would entice my customers in with a great deal on a black shoe by a brand that is normally expensive. After I get them to agree to buy it, I would "go to the back to get their size," and when I return I would tell them that unfortunately we are out of stock of the shoe in the black color in their size, but we do have it in a nice baby vomit green! 2. Low-Ball Technique: similar to bait and switch, but instead you give a worse offer than you originally did on the same product. People agree to buy something, then when given a steeper price, the drive for consistency compels them to buy it. -I would entice my customers in with a great deal on a normally expensive shoe, get them to agree to buy it, but when I "go to the back to get their size" I return with news that their shoe size is not included in the sale on this product, but they can still get it in their size at the full price. 3. Appeal to Peripheral Route Processes: People use peripheral route processes when elaboration is low. Because shoe shopping is relatively trivial (in comparison to shopping for something like a car or a large home appliance where you would want to do a lot of prior research), there's a decent chance my customers will be relying on peripheral route processes rather than central route processes, which focus more on the strength of the message. To appeal to peripheral route processes, I would use the authority of celebrities to sell my shoes. For example, if I saw a boy wearing a Chicago Bulls basketball jersey with his parent, I would try to sell him Air Jordan basketball shoes by telling him he can be like Mike if he wears those shoes when he plays basketball. 4. In-group Bias: In early times, your group was probably composed of family members. Today, there is a general drive to help groups you belong to. -While helping a customer, I would try to make small talk to find something that connects me to them so that we share an in-group. If they mention that they went to Hendrix for college, I would be like "Omg no way, I went to Hendrix too!" Now, because we both know we belong to the same in-group, the customer will become more motivated to help me by buying shoes from me.

In our class discussions of The Unlikely Disciple by Kevin Roose, we made connections between the book and course content. Identify five different topics, theories, concepts, or research findings that you can connect to the book. For each, clearly identify and explain the topic/theory/concept/research and then clearly explain how that thing appears in Roose's description of his time at Liberty University.

1. Four-walls Compliance Technique on Spring Break trip Technique: you surround people with their own attitudes or past behaviors. Their desire to be consistent should influence them to comply with your request. In the book: When Roose went on the spring break evangelism trip, they utilized the Four-Walls technique by approaching strangers and asking them a series of questions about themselves and their morality (Would you consider yourself to be a good person? Do you think you've kept the Ten Commandments? When God judges you, do you think you will go to heaven or hell? etc). Their aim was that by getting people to admit that they think they are good people, then their follow up questions will make them realize that they are being inconsistent and will influence them to change their lives by becoming a Christian. (this tactic is largely unsuccessful for them though bc for this technique to work the people need to already have a neutral or positive attitude toward Christianity, and most of the people they are approaching do not) 2. Incremental Theory of Personality--the theory that personality traits are changeable and they evolve over time. In the book: Roose attends a gay conversion therapy group for gay male students at Liberty. At the group, Pastor Rick does not call them "gay," but instead says they suffer from "same-sex attraction" and believes that with effort, they can overcome their SSA. Pastor Rick holds an incremental theory of personality and believes that their SSA is a personality trait that can be changed. 3. Interpersonal/similarity attraction--we like similar others vastly more than dissimilar others bc of social validation and cognitive consistency. In the book: Roose finds himself attracted to Liberty students like Anna and Jersey Joey who, like him, aren't totally bought in on all of the values and beliefs of Liberty/evangelical Christianity 4. Public Conformity--conforming to group norms in public, but in private your true beliefs are not changed. in the book: Kevin publicly conforms to group norms at Liberty by changing his language to not cuss, participating in the cold-turkey evangelism on the spring break trip, and pretending to be a recently born-again Christian. In private, though, he does not believe in any of those things. 5. Cognitive dissonance--when two or more cognitions are relevant and dissonant, it creates negative arousal, and we are highly motivated to reduce this negative arousal. In the book: Jersey Joey has a lot of Catholic friends back home, but the evangelic teachings at Liberty say that all non-evangelicals are going to hell. This causes him to feel cognitive dissonance bc he thinks his Catholic friends are good people and his evangelic beliefs conflict with that. In order to resolve this dissonance, Jersey Joey is willing to "bend Liberty's bedrock beliefs to bring them more into line with his own values."

Motivation and ability are two variables that play a very important role in social psychology. Identify three specific theories or concepts that we have discussed this semester that incorporate the ideas of motivation and ability. Describe the role motivation and ability play in each of the theories or concepts. Finally, provide one example of how researchers can manipulate motivation and one example of how researchers can manipulate ability.

1. Heuristics -a heuristic is a mental shortcut we use when we are not motivated or able to use more effortful processing. -Bodenhausen (1990). When people are not motivated or able to think carefully, they are more likely to use stereotypes, which are heuristics. 2. Automated vs. Controlled Processing. -Automated Processing: we rely on automated processes when we are not motivated or able to think carefully. These processes are unconscious, unintentional, involuntary, and effortless. -Controlled Processing: we rely on controlled processes when we are motivated and able to think carefully. These processes are conscious, intentional, voluntary, and effortful. -Some things can move from controlled to automatic and back. Ex. driving a car. 3. Gilbert's Three Stage Model of Attributions -Stage 1: Behavioral Identification. The behavior in question is identified, and this stage occurs automatically. -Stage 2: Dispositional Attribution. People make a dispositional attribution for this behavior, and this stage occurs automatically. -Stage 3: Situational Correction. If motivated and able, people can correct their dispositional attributions based on situational factors. This step is controlled, and you only make it to Stage 3 if you are motivated and able to correct the dispositional attribution. How researchers can manipulate motivation: -Manipulating personal relevance can change participants' motivation. ex. Study where psych majors were asked their opinions on adding a comprehensive exam to the psych degree requirements at their university. When Ps were told the exam would be added in the following year, students were motivated to voice negative feelings about it, but when Ps thought it would be added in ten years, they were more open to the idea because it wasn't as personally relevant and they were less motivated to prevent it from being implemented. How researchers can manipulate ability: -By depriving Ps of sleep or increasing cognitive load, researchers can manipulate their Ps' ability.

Throughout the semester, I have said that social psychologists are more interested in people's subjective perception than the idea of objective truth in situations. Identify three specific theories, research findings, or concepts that we have discussed this semester that incorporate the idea that people's subjective experiences are more important than the objective reality of situations.

1. The Two-Factor Theory of Emotion -developed by Schacter and Singer in 1962. -the idea that people perceive arousal and then attempt to explain it. Emotional stimulus--> arousal --> experienced emotion Ex: Dutton and Aron (1974)--an attractive female confederate approached males to give them a questionnaire. IV: half of Ps had just crossed a rickety bridge over a high drop, other half of Ps were just standing beside it. After the questionnaire, people were given a sheet with the confederate's contact information for "future questions." DV: how many of these men called and asked this woman out on a date? Results: those who had just crossed the bridge were much more likely to call the woman than those who were just standing beside it. This is explained by the two-factor theory: the men who had just crossed the bridge were already physiologically aroused by the anxiety of crossing a rickety bridge, but when the attractive female approached them, they attributed the feeling of arousal to interacting with an attractive woman, which made them believe they were even more attracted to her. 2. Cognitive Dissonance/Rationalization and Perception of Physical Environment -Balcetis and Dunning (2007)--will cognitive dissonance affect the perception of our physical environment? Ps are college students who are asked to dress up in a Carmen Miranda-style costume and walk across the main quad of campus. IV: level of choice--high choice (told they could wear something else), low choice (of a range of tasks, this one was chosen for them), control condition (no costume). DV: Ps' rating of the distance across the quad. Results: those in the high choice IV condition estimated that the distance was much shorter than those in the control and low choice conditions. The cognitive dissonance felt by those in the high choice condition (I did this really embarrassing thing by choice) is rationalized by "but it wasn't even that far!!" thus making high choice Ps perceive the distance to be shorter. 3. Stereotype Threat and the perception of the situation: How can the perception and framing of a test minimize the effects of stereotype threat? -Johns, Schmader, and Martens (2005) Ps were male and female statistics students. IV: task description. Some were told it was a problem solving exercise about general cognition, some were told it was a math test to study gender differences, and some were told it was a math test but they were given a teaching intervention about what stereotype threat is. DV: accuracy on test. Results: Women Ps who perceived the test to be a problem solving activity did just as well as men did, but when women perceived it to be a math test to study gender differences they did much poorer than men because stereotype threat was activated. When given a teaching intervention, though, they did just as well as when they believed it was a problem solving activity. Although it was the exact same test every time, the perception of the situation changed women's accuracy.

Identify and describe two theories that argue aggression is a learned response? Specifically, be prepared to describe research that has found differences in aggression due to culture of honor.

Aggression as a Learned Response: 1. Socialization--gender and culture affect the way you are socialized to aggression. Males and females are rewarded and punished differently for aggression, so they learn to be aggressive in different ways. Culture of Honor--emphasis is placed on honor and status and aggression is used to protect honor (American South). Research on this (Cohen et all 1996)--IV1: Ps were northern and southern males. IV2: whether or not the P is insulted by a confederate. DV: will they move out of the way for someone walking toward them? Result: when insulted, Southern (vs. Northern) males: feel angrier, produce more testosterone and cortisol, and will be more behaviorally aggressive. 2. Social Learning Theory--we learn behavior by watching others and observing the consequences. This even works with observation of aggressive models (Bobo doll study)

What is aggression? What does the definition rule out? What are the two types of aggression and what's an example of each?

Aggression is behavior intended to injure another person who does not want to be injured (this rules out behavior like on Jackass where they're hurting each other to be funny and everyone is consenting in it). Two types of aggression: 1. instrumental aggression--aggression in order to obtain something of value (robbing someone for money) 2. hostile aggression--aggression solely to harm another person (getting in a disagreement and punching the other person)

Identify and describe the frustration aggression hypothesis and the effect of negative affect on aggression. Describe a study that demonstrates each. And, how can thoughts, specifically when people are drinking alcohol, affect aggression?

Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis (Dollard)--when we are frustrated in the effort to achieve a goal, this leads to aggression. Studies with evidence for this: -kids who wait before playing with new toys subsequently play much more destructively. Negative Affect (Berkowitz, 1989)--anything that causes negative affect leads to aggression. Frustration is one cause, but other causes are pain, bad odors, loud noises, air pollution, heat, etc. Study on heat and aggression (Griffit and Veitch, 1971)--IV: manipulated temperature of room while Ps were taking a test. DV: self-report on aggression and rating of their hostility towards a stranger. Results: individuals reported feeling more aggressive and acted more aggressive when in a hot room. Cognitions and aggression: -impacted by alcohol, high arousal, and things that impair self-control. Alcohol lowers inhibition, limits cognitive control, and creates alcohol myopia (nearsightedness in actions)--these are a recipe for aggressive behaviors

Identify and describe two theories that argue aggression is innate?

Instinct Theories--aggression is an instinct at birth (Lorenz) 1. Evolutionary explanations--being aggressive leads to greater dominance (dominant offspring, who are more aggressive) 2. Biological--amygdala (area in brain associated with aggressive behaviors). Activation of amygdala can lead to violence. Testosterone is the male sex hormone that is positively correlated with aggression

The norm of consistency plays a large role in social psychology. Define norms generally and then specifically define the consistency norm. Finally, describe three different concepts, theories, or research findings that demonstrate the norm's importance in social psychology. As you explain, be sure to give definitions and examples of concepts, when appropriate.

Norms are explicit or implicit "rules" of conduct in a given context. **ask Dr. Z this** Consistency norm: People should be true to their attitudes and prior behaviors and not contradict themselves. Examples of consistency norm in social psych: 1. Four walls compliance technique: you surround people with their own attitudes or past behaviors. Their desire to be consistent should influence them to comply with your request. (ex. encyclopedia salesmen: "don't you care about your child's education??") 2. Foot-in-the-door technique: get person to agree to an initial trivial request, then ask for a bigger one. People will feel pressure to be consistent and will likely say yes to the bigger request when they might not have if you had asked for the bigger request first. (ex. drive safely yard sign after agreeing to a small window decal first) 3. Bait-and-switch technique: offer a great deal, then switch it with the same deal on a related, but worse, product. To be consistent, they should still want a similar product. (ex. offer a great deal on a new car, get person to agree to buy it, and then tell them that the deal is only available on a gross color car after they had agreed to a more desirable color.)

How does mood affect helping behavior? Describe a study that demonstrates the effect of positive moods on helping. And, describe general research findings that describe the influence of negative mood.

Research has shown that both a positive and negative mood can positively influence helping behavior. -Isen and Levine (1972)--people in a mall made a phone call. IV: they found a dime in the coin return or not. Then, a confederate walks by and drops some papers. DV: do Ps help or not? Results: Those who had just found a dime in the coin return helped WAY more than those who did not. Explanation: events interpreted in a more sympathetic way when you're in a good mood. Also, to maintain our good feeling and bc of reciprocity--the universe did me a favor, so I'll help someone else. -Bad moods and helping--when we feel bad, we do good too bc good deeds are believed to "cancel out" our bad deeds or things we feel guilty about. Also, helping is a way to improve our bad mood, and helping does not have to be related to the cause of our bad mood.

What is social exchange theory and what are some of the benefits that these theorists argue people get from helping?

Social exchange theory assumes that people will be motivated to help only when the benefits outweigh the costs. Such theorists do not believe in true altruism. Non-material benefits from helping: increased chance of being helped in the future, increased social approval (self-enhancement), increased self-esteem or mood, *relief from distress from watching someone in need of help*

What are the effects of media violence, according to experimental data?

Social learning theory is related to the effect of media violence, which still exists when we control for parenting, IQ, and other factors. Video Games and Aggression study (Bushman and Anderson, 2002)--IV: Ps played violent (ex. Mortal combat) or non-violent (ex. 3D pinball) video games. DV: Ps completed an ambiguous story stem where a character could become aggressive. Results: Ps who played violent video games had the character doing, thinking, and feeling more aggressive things.

What are the five stages of Darley & Latane's model of helping behavior? Be prepared to give an experiment to illustrate each of the first three stages of the model.

Stage 1: Noticing. To help, you have to notice that something has happened. Ex: Darley and Batson (1973)--seminary students giving a lecture on either the good samaritan or another parable (IV1). Students had the expectation they were late, on time, or early (IV2). They pass a man in distress moaning in a doorway. DV: do they stop to try to help the man? Results: parable had no effect. Those were late helped the least, those on time helped in the middle, and those who were early were most likely to stop and help. Those who didn't help typically said they were in such a hurry that they didn't even notice the man. Stage 2: Interpretation. People must interpret an event as an emergency in which helping is needed. Pluralistic ignorance--assuming others' public behavior reflects their feelings, while knowing ours does not. We stay calm in emergencies to see others' reactions and others do the same, so we can incorrectly think there's no emergency. Ex: Latane and Darley (1970)--Ps sat in a room either with two other people (confederates) or alone (IV). Smoke starts pouring into the room through a vent. The confederates (when present) are trained not to respond. DV: do real Ps do anything? Results: when alone, almost all Ps leave the room to get help, but when in a group, much fewer do. Stage 3: Assuming Responsibility. If a situation calls for help, you decide whether or not you are responsible for providing it. Bystander effect--the more people present, the less likely any are to provide help (also called diffusion of responsibility). Ex: Darley and Latane (1968)--brought Ps in to be a part of a group conversation over intercoms. Told that they were in a group with 2, 3, or 6 other people (IV) and that the intercoms functioned like walkie talkies. At the beginning, one person (confederate) mentions he is prone to seizures. Ps talk for a few minutes. Then, they hear another person asking for help in between choking sounds. DV: what did they do and when did they do it? Results: the smaller the group size, the more likely Ps were to help and the shorter reaction time of Ps who sought help. Stage 4: Knowing How to Help. If you assume responsibility, you will only provide help if you know what to do and you can actually do the helping behavior. Stage 5: Deciding to Implement Help. Given that you know what to do, you still need to decide if you will help. Important factors: cost/benefit analysis, empathy, social norms, reciprocity, similarity, attractiveness, etc. *failure at any of the 5 stages results in no help given.

You are walking across campus when a belligerent man approaches you and starts to scream and push you aggressively. You are aware that dozens of people are walking by, but no one is trying to help you. List and describe each of the five steps in Latané and Darley's model of what leads a bystander to offer help in an emergency situation. For one of the steps, describe a study that supports the step. Finally, for each step, give at least one example of something that you could do to ensure that one of the bystanders would help you.

Stage 1: Noticing. To help, you have to notice that something has happened. Ex: Darley and Batson (1973)--seminary students giving a lecture on either the good samaritan or another parable (IV1). Students had the expectation they were late, on time, or early (IV2). They pass a man in distress moaning in a doorway. DV: do they stop to try to help the man? Results: parable had no effect. Those were late helped the least, those on time helped in the middle, and those who were early were most likely to stop and help. Those who didn't help typically said they were in such a hurry that they didn't even notice the man. -How to get someone to notice the distress I am in: Make a loud disturbance (screaming, etc) to make sure people hear me and subsequently notice what the man is doing. Stage 2: Interpretation. People must interpret an event as an emergency in which helping is needed. Pluralistic ignorance--assuming others' public behavior reflects their feelings, while knowing ours does not. We stay calm in emergencies to see others' reactions and others do the same, so we can incorrectly think there's no emergency. Ex: Latane and Darley (1970)--Ps sat in a room either with two other people (confederates) or alone (IV). Smoke starts pouring into the room through a vent. The confederates (when present) are trained not to respond. DV: do real Ps do anything? Results: when alone, almost all Ps leave the room to get help, but when in a group, much fewer do. -How to get someone to interpret what's happening to me as an emergency: literally screaming "please help me this is an emergency!" Stage 3: Assuming Responsibility. If a situation calls for help, you decide whether or not you are responsible for providing it. Bystander effect--the more people present, the less likely any are to provide help (also called diffusion of responsibility). Ex: Darley and Latane (1968)--brought Ps in to be a part of a group conversation over intercoms. Told that they were in a group with 2, 3, or 6 other people (IV) and that the intercoms functioned like walkie talkies. At the beginning, one person (confederate) mentions he is prone to seizures. Ps talk for a few minutes. Then, they hear another person asking for help in between choking sounds. DV: what did they do and when did they do it? Results: the smaller the group size, the more likely Ps were to help and the shorter reaction time of Ps who sought help. -How to get someone to assume responsibility to help me: Directly asking a bystander for help rather than just saying "'someone' help me." Either say their name or point and make eye contact with someone as I'm asking them for help. Stage 4: Knowing How to Help. If you assume responsibility, you will only provide help if you know what to do and you can actually do the helping behavior. -How to make sure they know how to help: Directly tell them exactly what to do to help me. Whether it's "call p-safe" or "get him away from me." Stage 5: Deciding to Implement Help. Given that you know what to do, you still need to decide if you will help. Important factors: cost/benefit analysis, empathy, social norms, reciprocity, similarity, attractiveness, etc. -How to get them to decide to help me: uhh if they've made it this far and still decide not to help they're kind of a jerk, but I could appeal to the reciprocity norm by telling them I would help them if the situation was reversed? Social norms would also probably get them to help me because at Hendrix it's a pretty well established norm that we help people who are in danger at parties and stuff *failure at any of the 5 stages results in no help given.

Throughout the semester, we have talked about how the ABCs of social psychology can be applied to numerous topics. First, what are the ABCs of social psychology? Second, choose two topics from this semester and identify the role played by the ABCs in each of the two topics. As you explain, be sure to give definitions and examples of concepts, when appropriate.

The ABCs of Social Psychology: A: Affect--feelings B: Behavior C: Cognitions--thoughts The ABCs of Prejudice and Stereotyping: -Affective component: prejudice. Prejudice is hostile or (usually) negative ~feelings~ toward a group of people based solely on their membership in a group -Behavioral component: discrimination. Discrimination is unwarranted hostile ~behavior~ toward a member of a group which is based on their group membership -Cognitive component: stereotypes. Stereotypes are a ~generalization~ in which identical characteristics are assigned to virtually all members of a group. The ABCs of Attitudes: Attitudes are based on three components: -Affect--emotional response to the object -Behavior--how you behave toward the object -Cognition--thoughts about the object. However, thoughts, feelings, and behaviors can be inconsistent. For example, having pets comes with a mixture of positive and negative thoughts, behaviors, and cognitions. Some attitudes are primarily based on one of these more than the others. The more consistency between the ABCs of an attitude, the stronger that attitude is.

What is venting? Is it helpful or harmful? What are two ways we can try to deal with aggression pre-stimuli? What are two ways we can try to deal with aggression post-stimuli? What are two ways we can try to deal with aggression after you already feel aggressive?

Venting is the idea that aggressive impulses build pressure that must be released (ex. yelling, punching a pillow, cursing, etc)--this is actually harmful and you shouldn't do this bc research shows that acting aggressively creates more subsequent aggressive thoughts and behaviors. Two ways to deal with aggression pre-stimuli: 1. avoid aggressive media 2. don't associate with aggressive people Two ways to deal with aggression post-stimuli through cognitive restructuring: 1. see things in a humorous way 2. reframe the situation (it was a mistake, it wasn't a personal attack against you, etc) Two ways to deal with aggression after you already feel aggressive: 1. exercise (engaging in non-aggressive activity) 2. take a "time out" 3. express aggressive feelings in a non-aggressive way

Are people more likely to get help in rural or urban settings? Why?

people are more likely to receive help in a rural setting than in an urban one. There are two proposed explanations: 1. people in rural areas have internalized the importance of helping. 2. urban overload: people become overwhelmed with stimulation from the environment in urban settings (evidence favors this hypothesis)

What is are prosocial behavior and altruism? What is the critical difference between the two?

prosocial behavior is an act performed with the goal of benefitting another person. Altruism is an act that benefits another person--but does not benefit the helper in any way--

What is the empathy-altruism hypothesis? What does the research literature show about decisions about helping when empathy is high and low?

the Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis was developed by Batson, and it states that pure altruism does exist, but only when we feel empathy (a state of taking on others' feelings). Findings show: -when empathy is high, altruism motivates helping even when costs outweigh benefits -when empathy is low, cost/benefit analyses motivate helping