Chapter 8 Social Processes , Attitudes, and Behavior
There are distinct types of conformity including internalization and identification. Internalization -involve changing one's behavior to face with a group while also privately agreeing with the ideas of the group Identification -refers to be at outward acceptance of others' ideas without personally taking on these ideas Key concept: internalization and identification both deal with accepting other's ideas, but whereas internalization and also reflects a change in internal thoughts to agree with the idea, identification is a acceptance of the idea on the surface level without internalizing it -The likelihood of Conformity differs among cultures. -For instance, Western cultures tend to value independent thought and unique ideas and are less likely to conform. In eastern cultures, Group mentality often supersedes the individual. This type of collectivist society tends toward conformity
-a classic experiment looking at internalization was PHILIP ZIMBARDO'S STANFORD PRISON EXPERIMENT: -ZIMBARDO advertised for a role-playing experiment in which he recruited 21 male college students. -the study participants were randomly assigned the role of prisoner OR guard. The prisoners were arrested in their homes and taken into a prison created in the Stamford University psychology building. -guards were issued uniforms including whistles, handcuffs, and dark glasses to prevent eye contact. The prisoners and guards quickly fell into their roles and displayed related behaviors almost immediately. Guards began to taunt and harass prisoners, appearing to enjoy their role. Prisoners also adopted their new role, taking the prison rules very seriously, and becoming more and more depending on guards. As regards become more aggressive, the prisoners became more submissive, although they were attempted to mount a revolt. -the study has to be ended after six days because he guards have begun to physically abuse of prisoners so severely that ethical concerns were raised. -after this study ended, Zimbardo interviewed each participant . -the guards and prisoners who had internalized there roles, were both shocked by their behavior during the experiment
Agents of socialization -there are many agents of socialization -for children, the primary agents of socialization are parents or family members -for adolescents, this can expand to social circles, including friends, peers, and teachers -for adults, colleagues and bosses can also facilitate socialization -aside from personal relationships, the environment can also add socialization. For example, when entering college, teenagers experience a complete lifestyle change and are in nearly Constant interaction with people of their own age. This creates a shift in acceptable behavior that include late night out with friends, all night study sessions, and significant time away from family. -when entering the workforce, another change in environment leads socialization within the organization -ethnic background, religion, and government also play a role in learning behavior -geography at the national, regional, a neighborhood level also dictate norms of behavior: acceptable behavior in downtown Manhattan is not identical to acceptable behavior in rural Montana
-furthermore, the media play a large role in what is accepted within a particular society. The media impact beliefs and can determine what is considered important in a particular society -Mass media is more commonly assessed through television, Radio, News papers and the Internet. It delivers impersonalized communication to a vast audience, and thereby established trends in America or international POP CULTURE
Subcultures -Refer to groups of people within a culture that distinguished themselves in the primary culture to which they belong -when studying subcultures, symbolic attachment to things such as clothing or music differentiate the group from the majority. Subculture can't be formed based on race, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, and other differentiating factors from the whole of the society
-subcultures can be perceived as negative when they subvert the majority culture's definition of normalcy. -in the case of COUNTERCULTURE: -the subculture group gravitates toward this identity that is at odds with the majority culture and deliberately opposes the prevailing social mores
Compliance -is behavior based on a direct request -the person or group that asked the individual to make that change typically have no actual power or authority to command the individual, yet will ask him to change his behavior There are several notable techniques used to gain compliance of others, particularly within the marketing arena. 1. Foot in The Door Technique -in which a small request is made, and after gaining compliance, a larger quest is made. 2. DOOR- IN THE FACE -this is the opposite of the foot-in-the door technique, wherein a large request is made at first and, if refused, a second, smaller request is made.Often, this smaller request is the actual goal of the requester.
3. LOWBALL TECHNIQUE: -in this technique, the request there will get an initial commitment from an individual, and then raise the cost of the commitment -it is important to note that costs need not only include money, but can also include effort and time 4.THAT'S-NOT-ALL TECHNIQUE -in this method, individual is made an offer, but before making a decision, is told that the deal is even better than she expected -this method is frequently seen in infomercials.
-deviance, stigmatization, and reputation are strongly linked with the LABELING THEORY ---this theory posits that the labels given to people affect not only how others respond to that person, but also the person's self image. -this can lead to a channeling of behavior into deviance or conformity. -for example, if members of society label a woman as promiscuous, this could either lead two further promiscuity or to a change in behavior towards something more in line with what is accepted in that society.
According to DIFFERENTIAL ASSOCIATION THEORY: --- deviance can be learned through interaction with others. In this theory,intimate exposure to others who engage in deviant behavior lays the ground work for one to engage in deviant behavior themselves. -however, this same person will also likely come into contact with nor-abiding individuals -Differential Association, then, is the degree to which one is surrounded by ideals that adhere to social norms vs. are ideals that go against it -in this theory, when associations with others engaging in deviant behavior are more numerous or intense than those engaging in normative behavior, the individual begins to gravitate toward deviant behavior themselves.
Culture -can be defined as the beliefs, behaviors, actions, and characteristics of a group or society of people -culture is learn by living with any society, observing behaviors and traits, and adopting them -it is passed down from generation to generation -while a "cultured" individual is often thought of as someone who has knowledge of the arts and expensive taste, sociology considers all people to be cultured by living with in a society and participating in its culture -culture is universal throughout humanity; while many animals exhibit purely instinctual behavior, humans show variable behaviors based on the cultures in which they reside. -the beliefs held by an individual are typically based on learned behavior, expectations, and pressure from the group and one is in -cultural differences include everything from typical jobs, common dwellings, and diet to what time of day one eats anywhere one travels on vacation if at all -when traveling outside of one's own society, these cultural differences can seem quite dramatic and are often referred to as CULTURE SHOCK
Assimilation and Multiculturalism Cultural assimilation -is the process by which an individual's or group's behavior and culture began to resembled that of another group -this could also mean that groups with different cultures began to merge into one -assimilation integrates new aspects of a society and culture with all ones, transforming the culture itself. While one a society melds into another it is typically not an even blend. -one group will generally have more power and influence and the other, resulted in more traits of that culture being displayed after transformation. -in times of immigrant assimilation and there are 4 primary factors that can be used to assess the completeness of assimilation: 1. socioeconomic status 2. Geographic distribution 3. Language attainment 4. Intermarriage
Attitudes and Behavior Social cognition: focuses on the ways in which people think about others and how these ideas impact behavior. Our attitudes---the ways in which we perceive others--impact the ways we behave toward that
Components of attitude -attitude: is the expression of positive or negative feelings toward a person, place, thing, or scenario -attitude develop from experience with others cool affect our opinions and behaviors -even prior to meeting someone, past experiences and information from others can influence your attitude toward a person. -there are three primary components of attitude: Mnemonic: Attitude: ABC Affective Behavioral Cognitive
STRAIN THEORY: -attempts to explain deviance as a natural reaction to disconnect between social goals and social structure. -Common Example: the American dream, which refers to acquiring wealth and personality stability through achievement and hard work. It is considered a desirable social goals but the structure of society is unable to guarantee the education and opportunity needed to achieve this goal to all citizens. Therefore, deviant behaviors such as theft may arise as an attempt to achieve the social goal outside of limiting social structure. - While deviance is associated with negative behavior such as crime, functional theorist argue that it is necessary for social order.These theorist argue that deviance provides a clear perception of social norms and acceptable boundaries, encourages unity within society, and can even promote social change
Conformity, compliance, and obedience -while deviance is going against social norms, conformity compliance and obedience are manners of adhering to social expectations of others' request Conformity -is matching one's attitudes,beliefs, and behaviors to social norms -the pressure to conform can be real or imagined: an actual pressure others, or a perceived pressure or expectation. -conformity is also known as: MAJORITY INFLUENCE ---The Asch experiments, showed the strength of social influence on NORMATIVE CONFORMITY: the desire to fit into a group because of fear of rejection
Groupthink -refers to the social phenomenon in which desire for harmony or conformity results in a group of people coming to an incorrect or poor decision -in an attempt to eliminate or minimize conflict among the group members, consensus decisions are reached without alternate ideas being assessed -in these cases, the desire to agree with the group causes a loss of independent critical thinking. The group also begins to isolate any ignore external viewpoints, seen their own ideas as correct without question -groupthink can have a large impact on group decision-making and is influenced by a variety of factors, including group cohesiveness, Group structure, leadership, and situational context -Irving Janis conducted the first research on the theory in the 1970s He study the affect of extreme stress on group cohesiveness and its resulting in effect on group think He further investigated the decision-making of the groups that lead to the disastrous American foreign policy decisions, including the bay of pigs invasion. -he specifically examined eight factors that are indicative of groupthink
Eight factors: 1. Illusion of invulnerability: the creation of optimism and encouragement of risk-taking 2. Collective rationalization: ignoring warning against the ideas of the group 3. Illusion of morality: the belief that the group decisions are morally correct 4. Excessive stereotyping: the construction of stereotypes against outside opinions 5. Pressure for conformity: the pressure put on anyone in the group who express opinions against the group, viewing the opposition of disloyal 6. Self-censorship: the withholding of opposing views 7. Illusion of unanimity: the false sense of agreement with in the group 8. Mindguards: the appointment of members to the role of protecting against opposing views
Learning Theory: -posits that attitudes are developed through different forms of money -Direct contact with the object of influence attitude -Direct instruction from others can also influence attitude -our attitudes can also be influenced by others' attitudes -attitudes maybe formed through classical conditioning, operant conditioning, or observational learning
Elaboration likelihood model -separate individuals on a continuum based on their processing a persuasive information -add one extreme are those who elaborate as extensively; that is, those who think deeply about information, scrutinize its meaning and purpose, and draw conclusions or make decisions based on this thought. This date thinking is referred to as CENTRAL ROUTE PROCESSING -at the other extreme are those who do not elaborate, focusing on superficial details: the appearance of the person delivering argument, catchphrases and slogans, and credibility. This is known as PERIPHERAL ROUTE PROCESSING
Michelangelo Phenomenon: The concept of self is made up of both the intrapersonal self, the ideas and individual has regarding their abilities, traits, and beliefs; and the interpersonal self, the manner in which others influence creation of the ideal self
Group Psychology Max Weber Social Action- defined as the actions and behaviors that individuals are conscious of and performing because others are around - The idea is that humans will behave in different ways based on their social environment and how their behavior will affect those around them - If individuals predict a negative reaction from those around them, then they will often modify their behavior
Group processes -in contrast to social action, SOCIAL INTERACTION --- explore the ways in which two or more individuals can both shape each other's behavior -these include group processes and establishment of culture
Group polarization Describe the tendency for groups to make decisions that are more extreme than the individual ideas and inclinations of the members within the groups -Thus, polarization can lead to riskier or more cautious decision based on the initial tendencies of the group members towards risk or caution. This phenomenon has shown that individuals in group situations will form opinions that are more extreme than they would if making the same decision alone. -the hypothesis underlying polarization is that initial ideas tend not to be extreme, but that through discussion within the group, these ideas tend to become more and more extreme -this concept was originally termed RISKY SHIFT, because it was noted that groups tended to make a riskier decisions then individuals - however when psychologists begin to realize that groups could also shift toward caution, the term became CHOICE SHIFT -Choice shift and polarization refer to the same idea; however polarization is used to describe behavior at the individual level, while choice shift describes the behavior change of the group as a whole --Group polarization explains many real-life scenarios including policymaking, violence, and terrorism
Social Cognitive THEORY -postulates that people learn how to behave and shape attitudes by observing the behavior of others. -According to this idea, behavior is not learned by trial and error, but develops through direct observation and factors( such as thoughts about the behavior) and the environment In which we observe the behavior - these 3 factors--behavior, personal factors, and environment--- are not independent concepts, but influence each other as shown in the Bandura's triadic reciprocal causation in Fig. 8.9
Key concept: -Central route processing(high elaboration) -scrutinizing and analyzing the content of persuasive information -Peripheral Route Processing (low elaboration) -focusing on superficial details of persuasive information, such as appearances, catchphrases and slogans, and credibility
-assimilation can be slow by the creation of ETHNIC ENCLAVES, which are locations (usually neighborhoods) with a high concentration of one specific ethnicity. These are most common in urban areas and they often have names like Chinatown or Little Italy. Key concept: Assimilation- (usually uneven) merging of cultures; a melting pot Multiculturalism-celebration of coexisting cultures; a cultural mosaic
Multiculturalism -refers to the communities or societies containing multiple cultures. -from a sociology with perspective, multiculturalism encourages, respects, and celebrate cultural differences. -this view can enhance cultural diversity and acceptance within society, which contrasts with the concept of assimilation -while multiculturalism is often described as a creating a "Cultural Mosaic" , or mixture of cultures and ethnic groups that coexist in society, assimilationism Is described as creating a melting pot, or melting together of different elements of culture into one homogeneous culture
-ANTICIPATORY SOCIALZATION -is the process by which a person prepares for future changes in occupations, living situations, or relationships -a couple living together in preparation for married life is an example of anticipatory socialization RESCOICALIZATION -is another process by which one discards old behaviors in favor new ones to make a life change, and can have positive or negative connotations. -this method by which members of the Armed Forces are trained to obey orders and commands without hesitation is a prime example of resocialization, but so is attracting and indoctrinating members into a cult
Norms -sociologist defined norms as societal rules that define the boundaries acceptable behavior Mores -are widely observed social norms -while norm are not laws, they do provide a mechanism for regulating the behavior of individuals and groups and thereby serve as a means of SOCIAL CONTROL - penalties for misconduct, called SANCTIONS, can also be used to maintain social control and often include fines or incarceration; in some societies, corporal punishment (infliction of pain or bodily injury) and capital punishment (execution) may also be used -Norms provide us with a sense of what is appropriate, what we should do and what is considered TABOO- socially unacceptable, disgusting, or reprehensible. -Norms exist for behavior , speech, dress, home life, and more and can differ between groups within a society, and also between different cultures -FOLKWAYS -are norms that refer to behavior that is considered polite in particular social interactions, such as shaking hands after a sports match
Social loafing -refers to the tendency of individuals to put a lot less effort when in a group setting that individually -this may apply a many context: physical effort, such as carrying a heavy object; mental effort, such as working on a group project; or initiative, such as coming up with the solution to the problem
Peer and Pressure -refers to the social influence placed on an individual by group of people or another individual. -From a sociology perspective PEERS: are considered individuals who are equal within a social group -in adolescent peers play an extremely important role in determining lifestyle, appearance, and social activities -while parents and other adults provide the foundation for development of beliefs and values, peers become very important as teenagers become independent from their parental figures -the pressure exerted by peers can cause changes in behavior, attitudes, or beliefs to conform to the norms of the group. -it exist at all ages -this pressure can come in many forms including religious ideals, appearance, values, drug use, and sexual behavior -it can be positive or negative; certain types of peer pressure can benefit the individual and experiencing the influence -In children, social accceptance is associated with being most like these social norm of the group regardless, of positive or negative connotations
Simulated patterns of thinking in which a group arrives at a common (but often extreme) consensus also underlie many cultural phenomena, including riots, fads, a mass hysteria. -anti-normative behavior in riots was described previously in the section on the deindividuation -still like groupthink, a share political or social motivation may urge groups to engage in potentially violent and distructive behavior -a FAD is a behavior that is transiently View as popular or desirable by large community -Fads can and include owning certain objects (such as pet rocks in the 1970s, Rubiks cubes in the 1980s, and pogs in the 1990s) or in engaging in in certain behaviors( using catchphrases, altering clothing in someway, or engaging in particular types of media such as viral videos.) -finally, MASS HYSTERIA refers to a shared, intense concern about the threats to society. -in mass hysteria, many futures of groupthink- collective rationalization,illusion of morality, excessive stereotyping, and pressure for conformity, in particular- lead to a shared delusion that is augmented by distrust, rumors, propaganda, in fear mongering. - perhaps the most notable historical case of mass hysteria was Salem witch trials in colonial Massachusetts, which led to execution of 20 individuals for fear of witchcraft
Real world The Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuban missile crisis where you by Janice as case studies. When JFK took over the White House, the administration inherited a CIA Cuban invasion plan, and it was accepted without critique. -with Sen. Fulbright and Sec.Schlesinger expressed objections, they were ignored by the Kennedy team. -overtime Fulbright and Schlesinger started to perform self-censorship. -after the invasion, it was revealed that there were many inaccuracies in the CIA plan, including underestimation of the Cuban Air Force in the assumption that Castro would not have the ability to quell uprisings
Social Action - considers the individual that is surrounded by others
Social Facilitation -It has been observed that people tend to perform better on simple tasks when in the presence of others . -This Tendency is known as social facilitation and it supports the idea that people naturally exhibit a performance response when they know they're being watched. Although being in the presence of others does not necessarily constitute an evaluation the theory suggests that performance sparks a perceived evaluation in the individual performing -According to the Yerkes-Dodson LAW of social facilitation: being in the presence of others will significant raise arousal which enhances the ability to perform tasks when is already good at (or a SIMPLE TASKS) and hinders the performance of less familiar tasks (or COMPLEX TASKS) -Social facilitation reflects the idea that performance is not solely influenced by individual ability but also by social environment and awareness of that environment
Deviance -refers first to any violation of norms, rules, or expectations within a society. -it is important to note that using the term deviant is often associated with strongly negative connotations; however in the sociological context, it simply refers to any act that goes against societal norms. -deviance can vary in severity, from something as simple as jaywalking to something as serious as committing murder -it also includes any act and meets with disapproval from the larger society,such as promiscous sexual behavior
Social STIGNA - is the Extreme disapproval or dislike of a person or group based on perceived the the Differences from the rest of society. -these deviations from The norm can include differences in Beliefs, abilities, behaviors, and appearance -certain medical conditions such as HIV, achondroplasia (dwarfism), and obesity can also be stigmatized. -stigma can also spread to affect others who are associated with a particular individual. For example, Family members of an alleged or convicted murderer or rapist can be stigmatized. -stigma also evolves over time; whereas divorce was stigmatized in the earliest 20th Century, is no longer has such negative connotations
Socialization -more than any other animal, humans use social experiences to learn a acceptable behavior in this society in which they live. -sociologists and psychologists use the term socialization when discussing the process of developing, inheriting, and spreading the norms, customs, and beliefs. -individuals gain the knowledge, skills, habits, and behaviors that are necessary for inclusion in society. The view of society become the accepted viewpoints and are generally adopted by the individuals within it -the manner in which a society socializes its members is termed CULTURAL TRANSMISSION OR CULTURAL LEARNING, and spreading norms, customs, beliefs ( especially new ones) throughout the culture is called CULTURAL DIFFUSION
Socialization can be further characterized: Primary socialization -occurs during childhood we initially learn acceptable actions and attitudes in our society, primarily through observations about parents and other adults in close proximity. -in children, this sets the stage for future socialization and provides the foundation for creating personal opinions Secondary socialization -is the process of learning appropriate behavior within smaller sections of the larger society. -this type of socialization occurs outside of the home and is based on learning the role of specific social environment -For example, the behaviors necessary to thrive in school is different from that in the home setting, and also from that which is acceptable on his sports field or in a church -secondary socialization is typically associated with adolescents and adults and include smaller changes and refinements two behaviors that were established in primary socialization. -secondary socialization can also occur when moving to a new region or changing schools or professions.
The mechanism behind peer pressure has been is explained by the -IDENTITY SHIFT EFFECT: -when an individual's state of harmony is disrupted by a threat of social rejection, the individual will often conform to the norms of the group -upon doing so however the individual will begin to experience Internal conflict because the behavior is outside the normal character of the individual -to eliminate this sense of internal conflict, the individual experiences and identity shift where the individual adopts the standards of the group as her own - the identity shift effect also highlights a larger theme in psychology; COGNITIVE DISSONANCE: the simultaneous presence of two opposing thoughts or opinions. -this generally leads to an internal state of discomfort, which may manifest as anxiety, fear, anger, or confusion -individuals will try to reduce this is discomfort by changing, adding to, or minimizing one of these dissonant thoughts
Solomon Asch's Conformity Experiment - Showed that individuals will often conform took an opinion held by the group. -in this experiment, Male college students participated in simple task of perception -this study was set up to have one individual who made observations in the presence of Confederates, or actors who were pretending to be part of the experiment -the point of the study was to examine if the behavior of the individual was influenced by the Confederates. -they were then asked to say aloud which line on the second card label A, B, or C, Match the length of the line on the first card -Prior to experiment, the Confederates were secretly told to unanimously respond correctly or incorrectly to the question -when the Confederates answer correctly, the error rate for the real participate it was less than 1% -however when the Confederate's answer incorrectly, it was seen that the real participants answer incorrectly up to one third of the time -Thus, Asch concluded, individuals will sometimes provide answers they know to be untrue if it avoids going against the group: the urge toward conformity could outweigh the desired to provide the correct answer
Deindividuation: -is another social phenomenon that occurs when individuals are in group settings. Individual Behavior can be dramatically different is social environments. This is thought to be due to the presence of a large group that provides anonymity and causes a loss of individual identity. -Deindividuation can also lead to ANTI NORMATIVE Behavior- or behavior against the norm -This aspect of deindividuation attempt to provide an explanation for violent Behavior seen crowds and riots; in group settings, the individual loses his sense of individuality and becomes an anonymous part of a group. With anonymity , he is more likely to act in a manner that is inconsistent with his normal self. This is further enhanced when the group is in uniform or masked, disguising the individual within the group and increasing anonymity
THE BYSTANDER EFFECT is another observed phenomenon that occurs in social groups where in individuals do not intervene to help victims when others are present. It has been shown that the likelihood and timeliness of response is inversely related to the number of bystanders. In other words, the more people standing by, the less likely any one of those people is to help. There are several factors that play in bystander effect. First when in groups, people are less likely to notice danger or anything out of the ordinary. This is thought to be de in parts of social etiquette, in that it can't be considered rude to watch others and their surroundings. -additionally, when in groups, humans take cues from others. If other people are not responding to a situation, an individual is less likely to perceive this situation as a threat or emergency -the degree of emergency or the danger to the victim plays a role in response -In low-danger scenarios bystanders are less likely to provide aid -in high-danger scenarios bystanders are more likely to intervene -another factor is the degree of responsibility felt by the bystander. This is determined by the competency of the bystander, his or her relationship to the victim, and whether he or she considers the victims to be deserving of aid. -finally cohesiveness of the group has been shown to influence the the responsiveness of the bystanders -In groups made up of strangers the likelihood of response and speed of response is much slower than a group of well aquainted individuals
Obedience -while compliance deal with requests made by people without actual authority over an individual; OBEDIENCE: is changing one's behavior in response to a direct order from an authority figure -while a classmate has no authority to demand notes for you, an authority figures have social power over other individuals -people are far more likely to obey then comply due to the real or perceived social power of the individual
The most notable Obedience Experiment is being conducted by Stanley Milgram -in this classic study, Milgram claimed to be recruiting participants for a study to test the effects of punishment on learning behavior -participants were told they will be randomly assigned to the "reader" or "learner"; however, the "learner" was actually a paid actor(confederate) -the teacher were told that they would be controlling an electrical panel that would administer shocks to the learner if they made mistakes. -prior to giving the first shock, the teacher were giving a sample 45V shock to make them aware of what they will be doing to the learners. -the teachers were then told that they would need to increase the voltage by 15V is time an incorrect response was given -the learner, who received no actual shock, were provided with scripts telling them to show pain, ask to stop the experiment, scream, and even feign passing out -as the learners acted more uncomfortable, the teachers became less willing to increase the shock voltage. However, by using a increasingly demanding language, the researchers were able to get 65% of the participant to administer shocks to the maximum 450V, even if they showed discomfort in doing so. -Milgram and other researchers were surprised at the level of obedience the participants show during the experiment. This type of is experiment has been repeated many times and have consistently shown that more than 60% of people Will obey even if they do not wish to continue
1. Affective Component of attitude refers to the way a person feels toward something, and is the emotional component attitude 2. Behavioral component of attitude is the way a person acts with respect to something 3. Cognitive component attitude is the way and individual thinks about something, which is usually the justification for the other two components
Theories of attitude Functional attitudes Theory -States that the attitude serve 4 functions: 1. Knowledge: function is important in the improvides consistency and stability: attitudes help provide organization to thoughts and experiences, and knowing the attitudes of others help to predict their behavior 2. ego -expressive: allow us to communicate and solidify our self identity 3. Adaptive attitude is the idea that one will be accecpted if socially acceptable attitudes are expressed 4. Ego-defensive attitudes protect our self-esteem or justify actions that we know are wrong