Ch 12 Social Psychology

3 Causes of Social Loafing

1. Acting as part of a group and feeling less accountable 2. Feeling individual contribution doesn't matter and is dispensable 3. Slacking off, or free riding on others' efforts, which is especially common when there is a lack of identification with the group

Automatic Mimicry

Behavior is contagious; what we see we often do Helps people empathize and feel what others feel More we mimic, the greater our empathy, and the more people tend to like us Suggestibility and mimicry are subtle forms of conformity Chartrand and colleagues (1999) demonstrated the chameleon effect w/ college students

Components (of Prejudice)

Beliefs (stereotypes) Emotions (for example, hostility or fear) Predispositions to action (to discriminate)

Like Minds Network in the Blogosphere

Blue liberal blogs link mostly to one another, as do red conservative blogs By connecting and magnifying the inclinations of like-minded people, the Internet can be very, very bad, but also very, very good

Philip Zimbardo's 1972 Stanford Prison Simulation Study

Controversial, but showed the power of the situation and of role playing Other studies have shown that role playing can even train torturers

Attitudes Follow Behavior

Cooperative actions, such as those performed by people on sports teams, feed mutual liking. Such attitudes, in turn, promote positive behavior

Cooperation

Cooperative contact, not contact alone, reduces conflict A shared predicament or superordinate goal can have a unifying effect Experiments with teen in 11 countries confirm that cooperative learning can maintain or enhance student achievement

Forming Categories

Humans categorize people by race: mixed-race people often identified by minority identity Similarities of others overestimated during categorization, creating "We" and "They"

Believing the World is Just

If the world is just, people must get what they deserve. Hindsight bias often comes into play, promoting a blame-the-victim mentality (which also reassures people that terrible crimes couldn't happen to them). People also have a basic tendency to justify their culture's social systems.

Milgram's Follow-Up Obedience Experiment

In a repeat of the earlier experiment, 65 percent of the adult male "teachers" fully obeyed the experimenter's commands to continue. They did so despite the "learner's" earlier mention of a heart condition and despite hearing cries of protest after they administered what they thought were 150 volts and agonized protests after 330 volts. (Data from Milgram, 1974.)

Similarity

Includes shared attitudes, beliefs, interests, age, religion, race, education, intelligence, smoking behavior, and economic status

Normative Social Influence

Influence resulting from a person's desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval Conforming to avoid rejection or to gain social approval

Informational Social Influence

Influence resulting from one's willingness to accept others' opinions as new information Conforming because we want to be accurate

Stanley Milgram's Experiments (1963, 1974)

Intended to see how people would respond to outright commands Research participants became "teachers" to supposedly random "learners" and believed they were subjecting them to escalating levels of electric shock More than 60% complied fully; other studies have shown even higher obedience rates People in these studies obeyed orders even when they thought they were harming another person

Modern Matchmaking

Internet-formed friendships and romantic relationships are on average slightly more likely to last and be satisfying. Nearly a quarter of heterosexual and two-thirds of same-sex couples met online.

Variation Over Time - Cultural Influences

Like biological creatures... Cultures vary and compete for resources Cultures evolve over time, and may change rapidly; cultural evolution is far faster than biological evolution Cultural changes can be negative or positive Cultures shape our lives

Unconscious Patronization

Lower expectations, inflated praise and insufficient criticism for minority student achievement

Social Exchange Theory

Maximizing rewards and minimizing costs (accountants call it cost-benefit analysis; philosophers call it utilitarianism; psychologists call it social exchange theory)

Prejudice

Mean "prejudgment" Is an unjustified negative attitude toward a group and its members Often targets a different culture, ethnic, or gender group

Media Models for Violence

Media portrayals of violence provide social scripts that children learn to follow Viewing sexual violence contributes to greater aggression toward women Playing violent video games increases aggressive thoughts, emotions, and behaviors

Contact

Most effect when contact is free of competition and equal status exists Across a quarter-million people studied in 38 nations, friendly contact with ethnic minorities, older people, and people with disabilities has usually led to less prejudice Contact is not always enough. Also important are cooperation, communication, and conciliation

Mirror-image Perceptions

Mutual views often held by conflicting people, as when each side sees itself as ethical and peaceful and views the other side as evil and aggressive

Do Violent Video Games Teach Social Scripts for Violence?

Nearly 400 studies of 130,000 people suggest video games can prime aggressive thoughts, decrease empathy, and increase aggression Some researchers dispute this finding and note other factors they say may be more important: Depression, family violence, and peer influence

Neural Influences

Neural systems facilitate or inhibit aggression when provoked Aggression more likely to occur with frontal lobe damage

Peripheral Route Persuasion

Occurs when people are influences by incidental cues; produce fast but relatively thoughtless changes in attitudes

Central Route Persuasion

Occurs when people are offered evidence and arguments to trigger thoughtful responses

Gender Prejudice

Overt gender prejudice has also declined sharply, but gender prejudice and discrimination persist Gender inequality in wages

Foot-in-the-door Phenomenon

People agreeing to a small request will find it easier to agree later to a larger one Principle works for negative and positive behavior

Conflict

Perceived incompatibility of actions, goals, or ideas in which people become enmeshed in potentially destructive processes that often produce unwanted results Among these processes are social traps and distorted perceptions

Obedience in Milgram's experiments was highest when...

Person giving orders was nearby and perceived to be a legitimate authority figure Research was supported by a prestigious institution Victim was depersonalized or at a distance There were no role models for defiance

The Power of Individuals

Power of the individual (personal control) and the power of the situation (social control) interact A committed individual or a small minority with consistently expresses views may sway the majority The power of one or two individuals to sway majorities is referred to as minority influence

Deindividuation

The loss of self-awareness and self-restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity Thrives in many different settings When we shed self-awareness and self-restraint (in a mob, at a rock concert, at a ballgame, or at worship) we become more responsive to the group experience, whether bad or good

Groupthink (Janis, 1982)

The mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony within a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives Is prevented when leaders... Welcome various opinions, usually in diverse groups Invite experts' critiques of developing plans Assign people to identify possible problems

Odds for deciding to help people are increased when...

The person appears to deserve help The person is in some way similar to us The person is a woman We have just observed someone else being helpful We are unhurried or in a good mood We are feeling guilty We are focused on others and not preoccupied

Mere Exposure Effect

The phenomenon that repeated exposure to novel stimuli increases liking of them

Social Facilitation (Triplett, 1898)

The presence of others arouses people, improving performance on easy or well-learned tasks but decreasing it on difficult ones Our arousal heightens our reactions, strengthening our most likely response - the correct one on an easy task but an incorrect one on a difficult task Ex: Home advantage for team sports; doing something we do well in front of a friendly audience Crowding effect; performers know that a "good house" is a full one

Social Inequalities

The privileged often developed attitudes that justify the status quo Stereotypes rationalize inequalities Victims of discrimination may react in ways that feed prejudice, in a classic blame-the-victim dynamic

Bystander Effect

The tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present People are most likely to help when they notice an incident, interpret it as an emergency, and assume responsibility for helping (Darley & colleagues) When more people share responsibility for helping, there is a diffusion of responsibility

Fundamental Attribution Error

The tendency, when analyzing others' behavior, to overestimate the influence of personal traits and underestimate the effects of the situation

Reward Theory of Attraction

The theory that we will like those who behavior is regarding to us, including those who are both able and willing to help us achieve our goals

Passionate Love

The two-factor theory of emotion can help us understand this Emotions have two ingredients: Physical arousal and cognitive appraisal Arousal from any source can enhance an emotion, depending on how we interpret and label the arousal Sexual desire + a growing attachment = the passion of romantic love

Outgroup

"Them" - those perceived as different or apart from our group

Ingroup

"Us" - people with whom we share a common identity

Other-race Effect

(AKA cross-race effect and own-race bias) The tendency to recall faces of one's own race more accurately than faces of other races

LGBT experience

Higher rates of depressive, anxiety, and alcohol use disorders Higher rates of cardiovascular deaths

Proximity

Geographic nearness Friendships most powerful predictor Provides opportunity for aggression or friendship, but much more often breeds the latter

Just-world Phenomenon

Good is rewarded and evil is punished

Self-fulfilling Prophecy

A belief that leads to its own fulfillment

Conformity

Adjusting our behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard

Physical Attractiveness

Affects first impression Predicts frequency of dating and popularity Is influenced by cultural ideals and personal feelings

Companionate Love

Although the desire and attachment of passionate love often endure, the intensity generally fades into a steadier companionate love - a deep, affectionate attachment Passion-facilitating hormones (testosterone, dopamine, adrenaline) give way to another, oxytocin, that supports feelings of trust, calmness, and bonding

Equity

An important key to satisfying and enduring relationships

Altruism

An unselfish concern for the welfare of others Became a major concern of social psychologists after an especially vile act. On March 13, 1964, a stalker repeatedly stabbed Kitty Genovese, then raped her as she lay dying outside her Queens, New York, apartment at 3:30 a.m. Genovese's screams for help attracted attention, but no one called the police until 3:50 a.m., after the attacker had already fled

Aggression

Any physical or verbal behavior intended to harm someone physically or emotionally Examples of aggressive behavior: Passing along vicious rumors, bullying in person or online, physical attack Aggressive behavior results from interaction of biology and experience

Role Playing Affects Attitudes

At first, behaviors in a new role may feel phony, as though you are acting, but eventually these new ways of acting become a part of you

Attitudes Affect Actions

Attitudes are especially likely to affect behavior when external influences are minimal, and when the attitude is stable, specific to the behavior, and easily recalled Not only will people stand up for what they believe, they also will more strongly believe in what they have stood up for

Factors that Affect Attributions

Cultural Factors: Individuals from individualist cultures (Westerners) more often attribute behavior to personal traits Individuals from collectivist cultures (East Asian) more often attribute behavior to situational factors When we explain out own behavior, we are sensitive to how behavior changes the situation We are sensitive to the power of the situation when we explain the behavior of people we have seen in different situations Most likely occurs when judging others' behaviors, not our own, and especially when a stranger acts badly

Self-disclosure

Deepens intimacy

Sexual Orientation Prejudice

Dozens of countries have laws criminalizing same-sex relationships Anti-gay prejudice, though rapidly subsiding in Western countries, still persists. In national surveys, 39% of LGBT Americans reported having "been rejected by a friend or family member" because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. 58% reported being "subject to slurs or jokes" (Pew, 2013)

Implicit Racial Associations

Even people who deny racial prejudice may carry negative associations

Genetic Influences

Evidence from animal studies and twin studies; the male Y chromosome is a genetic marker, as is MAOA gene People who have low MAOA gene expression tend to behave aggressively when provoked

Social-responsibilty Norm

Expectation that people should help those who depend on them

Reciprocity Norm

Expectation that people will respond favorable to each other by returning benefits from benefit

Solomon Asch (1955)

Experimented on conformity showed that people fear being "oddballs," and will often conform with other group members, even though they do not agree with the group's decision

Consequences of Attributions

Explaining and attribution actions can have important real-life social and economic effects A person's friendliness may be attributed to romantic interest or politeness Unemployment and poverty may be attributed to personal dispositions Point to remember: Our attributions - to a person's disposition or to the situation - have real conseqeuences

Explicit Ethnic Prejudice

Explicit ethnic prejudice in North America has decreased over time. Expressed support today for all forms of racial contact, including the once unpopular idea of interracial dating. Overt prejudice has waned; subtle prejudice lingers. Prejudice can be automatic and unconscious.

Race-influenced Perceptions

Fatigue can increase automatic reactions that amplify racial bias

Ingroup Bias

Favoring of our own group

Attitude

Feelings influenced by beliefs, that predispose reactions to objects, people, and events

Speed-dating

For many people, 4 minutes sufficient to form a feeling about a conversational partner and to register whether the partner likes them People who fear rejection often elicit it Choices may be more superficial, especially given many options Women tend to be more choose than men

Attribution Theory

Fritz Heider (1958) The theory that we explain someone else's behavior by crediting either the situation (a situational attribution) or the person's disposition (a dispositional attribution)

Aversive Events Frustration-aggression Principle

Frustration creates anger, which can spark aggression

Conciliation

GRIT (Graduated and Reciprocated Initiative in Tension-Reduction) is alternative to conflict, to war or surrender

Reinforcement, Modeling, and Self-Control

Previous reinforcement for aggressive behavior, observing an aggressive role model, and poor self-control may all trigger aggression Hot temperatures, physical pain, personal insults, foul odors, cigarette smoke, crowding, and a host of other aversive stimuli may also evoke hostility "Manly honor" and "culture-of-honor" traditions may encourage aggressive behavior

Scapegoat Theory

Proposes that when things go wrong, finding someone to blame can provide an outlet for anger

Enemy Perceptions

Psychologists have noted that those in conflict have a curious tendency to form diabolical images of one another

Role

Sex of expectations (norms) about a social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave

Social Traps

Situation in which the conflicting parties, by each rationally pursuing their self-interests, become caught in mutually destructive behavior Harm our collective well-being Challenge us to reconcile our right to pursue our personal well-being with our responsibility for the well-being of all Psychologists have explored ways to convince people to cooperate -- agreed-upon regulations, better communication, and awareness of our responsibilities toward community, nation, and the whole of humanity

Lessons From Obedience Studies

Strong social influences can make people conform to falsehoods or capitulate to cruelty Ordinary people are corrupted by evil situations People get to real-life violence in tiny increments (the foot-in-the-door phenomenon): In any society, greater evils often grow out of people's compliance with lesser evils

Social Loafing

Tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable

Biochemical Influences

Testosterone influences the neural systems that control aggression Alcohol effect - unleashes aggressive responses (even just thinking you've consumed it has an effect)

Culture

The enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group of people Transmitted from one generation to the next Transmits customs and beliefs that enable us to communicate with each other Transmits agreed-upon rules to avoid confrontation

Group Polarization

The enhancement of a group's prevailing inclinations through discussion within the group Online communication magnifies this effect, for better (motivating positive social change in protest groups) and for worse (cementing prejudiced opinions in hate groups) If a group is like-minded, discussion strengthens its prevailing opinions Talking over racial issues increased prejudice in a high-prejudice group of high school students and decreased in a low-prejudice group (Myers & Bishop 1970)

Solomon Asch & others have found that we are most likely to adjust our behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard when...

They are made to feel incompetent or insecure Their group has at least three people Everyone else agrees They admire the group's status and attractiveness They have not already committed to another response They know they are being observed Their culture encourages respect for social standards

Us and Them: Ingroup and Outgroup

Through social identities people certain groups and contrast ourselves with other Evolution prepares people to identify with a group

Norm

Understood rules for accepted and expected behavior Each cultural group evolves its own norms; when cultures collide, their differing norms can confuse or even anger

Social Psychologists

Use scientific methods to study how people think about, influence, and relate to one another Study the social influences that explain why the same person will act differently in different situations

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

We act to reduce the discomfort (dissonance) we feel when two of our thoughts (cognitions) are inconsistent

Remembering Vivid Cases

We often judge the frequency of events by instances that come readily to mind Vivid - violent, for example - cases are more readily available to our memory and feed our stereotypes

Communication

When real-life conflicts become intense, a third-party mediator may facilitate much-needed communication Mediators can help each party to voice its viewpoint and to understand the other's needs and goals; change a competitive win-lose orientation to a cooperative win-win one