Social Psychology
Social Psychology is the scientific
study of how peoples thoughts,
feelings and behaviors are influenced
by others..
It studies how people influence and are
influenced by other people.
Peoples Perceptions of the World
Have an Enormous Influence on How
They Think, Feel and Act.
In Many Cases People Make Decisions
That Do Not Solely Depend on the Facts.
Social Cognition.
The mental process associated with how we perceive and
react to individuals and groups
How we construct a perspective of the world.
Some of the Social Influences on
Us
Social Comparisons
People Spend a Lot of Time
Evaluating Themselves.
These evaluations are influenced by other people
and they affect our public behavior
Leon Festinger noted that self-evaluation
involves two types of questions:
Those that can be answered objectively and
those that cannot.
In Subjective Situation We Use Social
Comparisons to Get Answers.
Using social criteria to answer a question
Useing people like ourselves to answer questions.
These people are called reference groups.
The performance of these types of people
influences your self-esteem.
To Prevent This We Sometimes
Compare Ourselves to People Who We
Feel Do Not Have It So Good.
Downward social comparison.
This makes us feel better.
If we run across people more superior to us we
rationalize by overexagerating their ability.
When We Compare Ourselves to
People Who Are Superior to Us We
Experience the Relative Deprivation
Theory Influence.
This lowers our self esteem and leaves us dissatisfied.
Social Identity Theory
Social identity
Our feelings about the groups in which we
belong.
Part of our self concept.
People sacrifice their lives for the sake of their
social identity.
It is why we donate to those in need or display
helping behaviors.
A strong social identity could lead to
problems
It fosters an us vs. them mentality which may
lead to prejudice and discrimination
Social identities lead to social schemas
1. a mental representation themselves.
This Shapes How People Think
About Themselves.
It can lead to vulnerability to certain
psychological disorders such as anxiety
disorders and depression.
Patricia Linville States That Some
People Have Unified Self-schemas
They have the same characteristics in all
settings.
Others have differentiated self-schemas.
Unified self-schema people will have a strong
emotional reaction to failing an exam – why?
Differentiated people may think of themselves
less as students but it will not effect their other
social roles.
Social Perception
This is the process in which people:
Interpret information about others.
Form impressions about them.
Draw conclusions about the reasons for their
behavior
Our schemas affect our social
perception
Schemas mental representations about people.
Characteristics or events that are consistent
about our schemas of another person get more
attention.
We tend to process information about a person
more quickly if it confirms our beliefs.
Impression Formation
The process of combining information about
people into an overall judgment.
1. it’s like developing a theory of a person and
using it as a guideline.
For example: Big men are scarier to encounter
at night then little women.
Schemas also influence what we
remember about others.
For example, blue collar workers are more likely
to drink beer and watch television.
Schemas affect our judgment, cause errors in
judgment and impact first impressions
How do people form impressions of
other people and why are they so
reticent to change.
Our mental schemas cause us to form
impressions. (it’s combining information about
people into an overall judgment)
For example most people we meet hold attitudes
and values similar to our own.
Therefore we initially like people.
Wwe dislike people we first meet who
do things which we interpret as
negative. .
we often do things to confirm our first
impressions.
For example, teacher expectations of students to
do poorly are usually sensed by the student and
they make less of an effort and do more poorly.
When Schemas Cause People to
Act in Line With Our Expectations
This Becomes a Self-fulfilling
Prophecy.
Acting in accordance with our beliefs to
make our beliefs happen.
People also form implicit theories
about other people’s behavior.
This is referred to as attribution
People tend to attribute behavior in a particular situation
to either:
Internal causes – characteristics of the person
themselves or
External causes – situations which cause the behavior.
Harold Kelly developed an attribution
theory
It states that you can determine whether a
person's behavior is internally or externally
motivated by looking at three variables:
Consensus
Consistency
distinctiveness
Consensus Is the Degree to Which
Other Peoples Behavior Is similar.
Consistency is the degree to which the behavior
is the same across time or situations.
Distinctiveness concerns the extent to which
similar stimuli elicit the same behavior
Kelly states that behavior is internally
attributed when:
Consensus is low
Consistency is high
Distinctiveness is low
Behavior is externally attributed
when:
Consensus is high
Consistency is low
Distinctiveness is high
For Example, If You Observe Your Boss
Insulting Customers, a Situation of Low
consensus (Most People in Business
Are Polite), High Consistency (No Matter
Who the Customers Are) and Low
Distinctiveness (not the same in similar
circumstances all the time), You Would
Attribute Your Bosses Behavior to
Internal Attribution.
Most People Are Prone to Attribution
Biases.
Fundamental attribution error.
The tendency to over-attribute the behavior of
others to internal factors.
1. not taking the power of the situation into
account.
A Related Form of Cognitive Bias is
The Ultimate Attribution Error.
When positive behaviors by members of an out
group are both attributed to external situational
factors. (rather then crediting the person)
Because of this, out group members receive little
credit for their positive actions and members of
in-groups little blame for their negative actions.
What is the consequence of this?
It Helps Maintain Stereotypical Views
of Certain Groups.
These are social beliefs learned form others
It effects how we think about people
They are shortcuts to thinking
The physical attractiveness stereotype
The tendency to perceive physical attractive
people as:
More dominant
More sociable
More sexually attractive
More intelligent
More socially skilled
When People Explore Their Own
Behavior They Use The Actor Observer
Bias.
They attribute their own behavior to external
causes, especially when their behavior is
inappropriate.
a. Although they attribute other people's
behavior to internal causes.
People Also Have a Self-serving Bias.
This is taking credit for success and blaming
failure on external causes.
This protects their self-esteem.
ATTITUDES
Attitudes Are positive or Negative
Evaluations Towards People, Things
Events or Issues.
They influence peoples views.
Attitudes have three components
Ideally These Three Components Act
in Harmony.
Whether these components are consistent is
determined by several factors:
1. Whether the cognitive and emotional
components are in agreement.
2. Whether the behavior is in line with our
subjective view I.E. We behave the way we think
people want us to behave.
When our personal views are in
conflict with prevailing attitudes
behavior could be effected.
Example
You believe In gay rights but will not campaign
for them because it will upset your family
The Formation of New Attitudes Is
Influenced Mainly by Learning
Principles.
We also fall prey to something called the mere
exposure effect.
Attitudes towards things become more positive
the more frequently we are exposed to it.
Attitudes can be formed through
conditioning
Operant – Being praised when learning t dance
will result in a positive towards dancing
Classical – developing prejudicial attitudes
towards a group because you heard your
parents maligning them
How Do We Change Attitudes?
When we are persuaded by three things:
The characteristics of the person
communicating the message
The content of the message
The audience receiving it.
One Explanation is the Elaboration of
Likelihood Model.
Persuasive messages can change people's
attitudes through one of two main routes.
1. The peripheral route
2. The central route
The Peripheral Route
Little attention is paid to the actual content of the
persuasive message.
Confidence, attractiveness or some other
characteristic of the person delivering the
message influences the person.
For example, using a movie star to sell you
something.
The Central Route
This is when the message is more important
then the characteristics of the communicator.
There Are Other Characteristics
Involved in Attitudinal Change Such As:
How busy you are at the time you are being
persuaded.
Your personality characteristics.
Cognitive Dissonance Theory
Developed by Leon Festinger
People want their thoughts, beliefs and attitudes
to be consistent with one another and with their
behavior.
Inconsistency or dissonance among
these elements causes anxiety
Example; smokers who believe it is harmful
must decide its not or quit.
When People Engage in Behaviors
That Are Contrary to Their Private
Held Attitudes, They Are Likely to
Change Their Attitudes to Be
Consistent With Their Public
Behavior.
One of the Recent Challenges to
Cognitive Dissonance Theory Is Self
Perception Theory.
It’s founder Daryl Bem states that situations
often arise in which people are not quite sure
about their attitudes.
People look at their own behavior in the
particular circumstance and then infer what their
attitude must be.
Self Perception Theory Seems to Apply
Best When People Have No Prior
attitude or Have an Attitude That Is
Weak or Ill Defined.
For instance, towards a food they have never
tasted.
When attitudes are strongly defined and when
internal consistency is important to ones selfesteem, dissonance theory seems to hold true.
Prejudice
Stereotyping Leads to Prejudice.
This is the an attitude towards specific members
of a group suggesting they deserve an inferior
social standing.
Prejudice, like other attitudes has cognitive,
behavioral and affective components.
Prejudice Is More Likely Among People
Who Have a Personality Trait Called
Authoritarianism
Authoritarianism has three elements:
An acceptance of conventional or traditional values.
An inclination to act aggressively towards those
identified by authority figures as threatening the values
held buy ones in-group.
A willingness to follow the orders of authority figures.
A More Recent Motivational Explanation
of Prejudice Invokes the Concept of
Social Identity
Most people are motivated to identify with their ingroup and tend to see it as better then other groups.
See members of an out-group as less attractive and
less socially accepted.
There Are Also Cognitive Theories on
Stereotyping and Prejudice Which State
That People Use Schemas and Other
Cognitive Shortcuts to Organize and
Make Sense Out of Their Social World.
Draw conclusions about other people but
sometimes they are inaccurate.
Learning Theories on Prejudice
Say That Our Attitudes Towards
Other Groups Are Learned by the
Words and Deeds of Our Parents
and Our Peers.
Realistic group conflict theory
When two groups compete for scarce resources
a breeding ground for prejudice develops.
Hostility increases towards the opposing outgroup
In-group loyalty intensifies
This is called ethnocentrism
How Do We Reduce Prejudice?
One Theory Called the Contact
Hypothesis States That Stereotypes and
Prejudice Will Diminish As Contact With
the Group Increases.
This is he theory behind cultural diversity and
multiculturalism in schools.
Studies in desegregated schools show that contact is
not enough for prejudice to completely dissipate.
People have to be roughly equal in social and economic
status.
School Authorities Had to Promote
cooperation and Independence.
Contact had to occur on a one to one bases.
Members of both groups had to be typical and
not unusual in any way.
When these four conditions are met, children’s
attitudes towards one another become more
positive.
To Reduce Prejudice, We Must
Develop Educational Techniques That
Address the Social Cognitions and
Perceptions That Lie at the Core of
Bigotry and Hatred Towards People
That Are Different Form Us.
What Causes Interpersonal
Attraction?
HOMOGAMY, PROPINQUITY,
PHYSICAL ATTARACTIVENESS
Homogamy is known as the matching
hypothesis
The balance theory also ties to explain
hmogamy.
1. developed by Fritz Heider
We desire balance in our thoughts, feelings and
relationships.
Balanced relationships are exciting and
rewarding and is created when two people value
the same thing and have similar attitudes.
How Do Relationships Turn
Intimate?
Eventually People Who Are Attracted
to Each Other Become
Interdependent.
Their thoughts emotions and behaviors affect
each other.
When the defining values on one person
become part of the self concept of another
intimacy begins.
Another Key Component of Intimacy
Is Commitment to the Relationship.
People become committed to a relationship
when:
1. Satisfied with the rewards they receive from
it.
2. Invested considerable resources in it.
3. Few attractive alternative relationships
available.
When Does Intimacy Become Love?
Love is fleeting and people define it differently.
There is a difference between passionate love
and companionate love.
Passionate love is intense, arousing and marked
by both physical and emotional attachment.
Companionate love is less arousing but
psychologically more intimate. It is marked by a
mutual concern for the welfare of one another.
Partner enhancing bias
People in happy romantic relationships do two
things, they attribute their partners:
Positive behavior to dispositional factors and
Negative behaviors to situational factors
What Causes Successful Marriages?
Two things:
1. Couples who had a close intimate
relationship and similar attitudes when dating.
2. The ability to deal with conflict and anger.
Handling relationship conflict
Caryle Rosbult identified four strategies people
use in dealing with a troubles relationship.
Loyalty
Waiting things out, ignoring the problems in
hopes things will change
Neglect
Ignore the partner and spend less time with them
Exit
Leave the relationship
Voice
Discuss the problems and seek a compromise in
a attempt to salvage the relationship
The strategies operate on a
active/passive, constructive/destructive
plane
Loyalty is a passive constructive strategy
Neglect is a passive destructive strategy
Exit is a active destructive strategy
Voice is a active constructive strategy
Social Influence
Social power
Refers to the power available to the influencer.
Power originates from having resources or being
liked and admired
What is the major way in which
society influences us?
Social Norms.
Socially based rules that prescribe what people
do in various situations.
They are transmitted by various agents of the
culture like parents and peers.
Robert Cialdini Describes Two Types of
Social Norms: Prescriptive and
Injunctive
Prescriptive – these indicate how most people
should act. They tell a person what to do. (green
light)
Injunctive – they tell us what is unacceptable.
(stop sign)
Social Influence created by norms
Results in Social Behavior.
It can also lead to a breakdown of behavior.
An example is deindividuation.
1. a psychological state which occurs when a
person is submerges in a group and loses his
individuality
They go along with everything the group wants.
The three behavioral consequences of
social influence are
Conformity
Compliance
Obedience
Conformity and Compliance
Could You Be Influenced to Change
Your Opinion If Several of Your Friends
Give Opposite Opinions.
When people change their opinion to match
other members of the group they are said to
conform.
Conformity usually results from group pressure,
real or imagined.
Our tendency to mimic the behaviors
of others is called the chameleon
effect
It is an example of how conformity works
FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE
CONFORMITY
Group size
As the group size increase so does conformity.
up to a point.
After the number goes beyond three or four,
group influence decreases
Group cohesiveness
Cohesive groups elicit greater conformity.
One is more likely to accept a friends influence
Social support
A friend who supports your thinking will reduce
your conformity to the group
Desire for personal control
A high degree of personal control will reduce the
temptation to conform
culture
Individualist cultures reduce conformity
Why Do People Conform?
To avoid rejection and gain social approval.
a. This is normative social influence
To gain valuable information
a. This is informational social influence
Why Do Group Norms wield Such
Power Over Us?
Norms tell us what is right and wrong
Second, people are motivated to be liked.
A. If you go along with the group you are liked.
Third, norms influence social rewards and
punisments.
How Do You Get People to
Conform?
When you make people feel insecure or
incompetent
When the group has at least three people
When the group is unanimous
When the group has status and is attractive
When the person has made no prior
commitments
CONT.
When other group members observe your
behavior
When we come from a culture that respects
social standards
Compliance Is Different, It Occurs
When People Adjust Their Behavior
Because of a Request.
It could be explicit. (PASS THE SALT)
It could be implicit. (a stern glance)
Compliance is enhanced by mood
alteration
Others are likely to comply if they are in a good
mood.
Especially when asked to help another in need.
Reciprocity norm
Another factor increasing compliance
The idea that one should return a favor or god
deed.
For example, if someone gives you a gift you are
more likely to donate to their organization.
Compliance is enhanced when a reason
is given as to why the request should be
granted.
For example, come to the crime watch meeting,
it will reduce the likelihood of being robbed
How can you get others to comply with
your wishes?
Several strategies can be used:
A. The foot in the door technique
1. Make small requests followed by larger
ones.
B. The door in the face procedure. I.E. Make
request likely to be denied, then concede it was
inappropriate.
The Lowball Approach
Obtain a person’s oral commitment to do
something.
Increase the cost of the commitment
.
What is obedience and how does it
work?
A behavioral change that comes in response to a
demand from an authority figure.
To understand how it works we need to look at
Stanley milligram's experiment.
There Are Several Factors That
Effect obedience:
Prestige of the requester
If others are obeying
Personality characteristics
Research tells us that:
Early and firm statements in opposition of an
order reduces compliance to an authority figure.
Aggression
There are two types of aggression
Instrumental aggression
Hostile aggression
Instrumental aggression
He intentional use of harmful behavior so that no
one else can achieve a goal.
Motivated by rewards or avoidance of
punishment.
For example, military aggression
Hostile aggression
Purposeful use of harmful behavior to cause
injury or death
Impulsive, irrational behavior
For example, punching someone who took your
parking place
Many aggressive actions can’t be put in
either category.
I.E. A CHILD HITS A FRIEND FOR TAKING HIS
TOY (HOSTILE AGGRESSION) AND THEN
RETREIVES THE TOY (INSTRUMENTAL
AGGRESSION)
Why Are People Aggressive?
There are several explanations:
Freud said because we have life and death instincts.
Aggression is a life instinct that builds up and must be
released at some point.
Sometimes it is released in the form of physical and
verbal abuse and sometimes it is turned inward and
people commit suicide or do other self-damaging things.
Evolutionary Psychologists Say It’s a
Genetic Thing.
There is evidence there are genetic and
biological influences on aggression.
People inherit certain temperaments for
impulsiveness which can turn into aggression.
Research on the Limbic System
Concludes That Manipulation of the
Amygdala Produces Aggressive
Behavior.
The cerebral cortex is also thought to be
involved in aggression.
The prefrontal area of the cortex metabolizes
glucose more slowly in murderers.
Hormones
Aggression is related to testosterone levels
Drugs that effect the central nervous system can
cause aggressive behavior.
Even the smallest amounts of alcohol can
substantially increase some popele’s
agressiveness .
Learning Also Plays a part In
Aggression.
The more we are introduced to aggressive models,
the more likely we will become aggressive.
We learn aggression by watching aggressive
people.
When Do People Become
Aggressive?
Aggression is related to emotion.
One emotion that is considered to be a major
cause of aggression is frustration.
The frustration aggression hypothesis.
(frustration causes anger which causes
aggression)
Recent research shows that
aggressiveness is caused by several
factors
Stress
Emotional arousal
The environment in which you live
Gender differences In aggression styles
Men are more likely to engage in physical
aggression
Women in indirect aggression (gossiping or
spreading rumors)
When people are provoked these gender
differences are lessoned
STUDIES SHOW THAT SELFAWARENESS AND SELF-REGULATOIN
ARE CRUCIAL FACTORS IN
CONTROLLING AGGRESSION
Also, parents must exhibit self-control not just
preach it to instill the behavior in children
What is Altruism?
Altruism is an unselfish concern for another’s
welfare.
There are several theories which attempt to
explain why some people are more willing to
help others
The Arousal Cost Reward Theory.
When People See Someone in
Distress, They become Very Anxious.
This motivates them to do something to reduce
this anxiety.
People usually evaluate two things before they
rush to help someone:
- The cost of helping the person and the cost of
not helping.
Helping Also Depends On:
Clarity of need for help
The amount of people around (the bystander
effect)
The personality of the helper
The more stress a person is under, the less likely
they are to help.
The Empathy Altruism Theory
People Will Engage in Altruistic
Behavior If They Feel Empathy
Towards the Person in Need.
Empathizing with another person can lead to
unselfish helping.
Evolutionary Theory
Altruism Echoes the Actions That
Contribute to the Survival of Our
Ancestors.
Cooperation, Competition and
Conflict
When People Interact With One Another
While Attempting to Reach Some Goal,
One of Three Things Could Happen
Cooperation – behavior in which people work
together to obtain a goal
Competition – Trying to gain a goal for yourself
while achieving a goal
Conflict – When a person or a group stands in
the way of achieving a goal.
Cooperation
To change conflict to cooperation introduce a
project with standard goals.
Cooperative contact reduces conflict
Cooperation is extremely positive when it leads
to the definition of a new inclusive group with
shared goals.
Bias will be reduced if:
You take adversaries and assign then a
cooperative task
Shared goals make friends of former enemies.
What Are Social Dilemmas?
CERTAIN SOCIAL SITUATIONS LEAD
TO SOCIAL DILEMMAS
Situations in Which Actions Which
Produce Rewards for One Individual
Will, If Adopted, Produce Negative
Consequences for All Others.
Psychologists have used something called the
prisoners dilemma to help define this.
There Is a Dilemma Here
If they cooperate they will both confess and get five
years.
They have an incentive to compete by confession and
get off free. (THIS IS CONFLICT)
If both compete and confess they will get five years.
Both are going through what psychologists call mixed
motive conflict.
People Tend to Act Competitively Rather
Then Cooperatively for Two Reasons:
Winning is in itself a reward
Competition seems to feed itself
Conflict Is Likely When People Become
Involved in Zero Sum Games
Situations in which what one person gains is
subtracted from another persons resources
There Are Four Major Causes Of
Interpersonal Conflicts:
Competition for scarcer resources
Revenue
Attributing unfriendly of selfish motives to others.
Faulty communications
Industrial Psychologists Have
Discovered That It Is Better to Try and
Manage
Conflict Effectively Then to Try
In
and Eliminate It.
Group Processes
The social/psychological processes that occur in
groups.
They are:
Group Leadership
A good leader will help the group pursue its’
goals.
Good leaders are dominant, emotionally stable,
agreeable, conscientious, success oriented and
flexible.
Even good leaders in one situation may be
ineffective in another.
Group Polarization
Initial differences between groups tend to grow
over time. This is group polarization.
It could be good or bad.
Good when it amplifies a positive group goal.
I.E. a resolve to help others
Bad when it enhances evil goals. I.E. terrorism
Group Think
This is when group members are not realistically
able to evaluate the options available to them.
Group Think Is Likely When Three
Conditions Exist:
The group is isolated.
The group is working under time pressure.
People are not impartial
When all three conditions exist the group
becomes very close minded and tends to make
irrational decisions.
One Way to Eliminate group Think Is to
Designate a Devil’s Advocate.
Another is to encourage diverse opinions.
Remember, all of these situations effect how we
interact with people which, in effect, impacts how
we perceive, how we behave and how we think.