Social Psychology – Modules 53-55

1. Social Psychology – Modules 53-55 • How we think about, influence and relate to others

2. Attribution Theory • How people explain someone’s behavior • Behavior is attributed either to disposition or situations • Disposition – Internal factors – Personality traits • Situations – External factors - Environment • Ex. A hostile student

3. Fundamental Attribution Error - • People have a tendency to default to what “kind” of a person someone is rather than rather than the environment • ***Tend to favor disposition over situation • Ex. “Rude” waitress talking back • Ex. Quiet student in class • Ex. Poverty/Unemployment

4. The Foot in the Door Phenomenon • A tendency for people who agree to a small request to comply later with a larger one – Ex. Army Recruitment Centers • Attitudes are also affected by role playing

5. Cognitive Dissonance Theory • People are motivated to have consistent attitudes and behaviors • People often change their attitudes to bring them into agreement with their actions • Individuals experience tension when thoughts and actions don’t coincide

6. Social Influence • Conformity, Compliance and Group Behavior can illustrate the enormous power of social influence on our attitudes, beliefs, decisions and actions • Advertisers and salespeople use principles of social influence to sway our decisions to buy, vote, donate, etc.

7. Conformity • Adjusting our thinking or behavior to bring it in line with some group standards Why conform? • Suggestibility can have devastating results • Ex. Following the death of Marilyn Monroe, suicides in U.S. spiked by more than 200 • Ex. In Germany and the U.S., suicide rates escalate following fictional suicides on Soap Operas

8. Reasons for Conforming • Why do we clap when others clap? Eat as others eat? Wear what others wear? • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxB-H6f3crY • We are sensitive to Social Norms – understood rules for accepted and expected behavior because of the potential price for being different • We seek to avoid rejection and strive to gain social approval • Ex. Marco Lokar – Seton Hall Basketball Player - 1991

9. Obedience • People often comply with social pressures – How do they respond to outright commands? • Milgram Study – Nazi Germany – “ I was only following orders”

10. Behavior in the presence of others - • Social Facilitation – Performance is often stronger in the presence of others • ***Opposite can also be true • Social loafing

11. Group Pressure and Conformity - Solomon Asch – Suggestibility test - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYIh4MkcfJA • Conformity is strengthened when: • We are made to feel insecure or incompetent • The group has at least three people • The group is unanimous • We admire the group’s status and attractiveness • We have made no prior commitment to a response • Others in the group observe our behavior • Our culture strongly encourages respect for social standards

12. Group Polarization • The tendency of a group to make more extreme decisions than the group members would make individually • ***In a group setting there is Diffusion of Responsibility • Ex. In 1,500 cases where judges sat alone they took an extreme course of action only 30% of the time. However when sitting in a group of 3 this figure more than doubled to 65%

13. Group Think • Coined by Irving Janis • Groups often make poor decisions when too little conflict exists within the group • Flaws of a plan are often overlooked to avoid “rocking the boat”

14. Group Think - continued • Occurs when members of the group are more concerned with preserving solidarity than objectively evaluating all the alternatives • Symptoms associated with Group Think: • Close-mindedness • Rationalization • Ignoring dissent • Feelings of invulnerability

15. Minority Influence • A minority in the group that unswervingly holds to its position is far more successful in swaying the majority than the minority that waffles • Ex.Members of a jury

16. Social Relations • Aggression – Any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy, whether done out of hostility or as a calculated means to an end • Ex. An assertive, persistent salesperson is not aggressive • A dentist who makes you feel pain is not aggressive • Cyber bully…aggressive

17. The Biology of Aggression • There are three levels of physiological influences – Genetic,Neural, and Biochemical • Twins independently admitted to having a “violent temper”

18. “Vicious Mice” • Finnish Psychologist Kirsti Lagerspetz • Bred aggressive and more passive mice for 25 generations

19. Neural Influences • AP Exam Review… • Animal and Human brains have neural systems that, when stimulated, produce aggressive behavior. Which portions of the brain?

20. Biochemical Influences • Hormones and other substances in the blood influence the neural systems that activate and inhibit aggression • A raging bull will become gentle when testosterone levels are reduced – vice versa

21. Biochemical Influences – cont’d • Violent Criminals tend to be muscular, young males with lower than average intelligence scores and higher than average testosterone levels • High testosterone levels correlate with delinquency, hard drug use and aggressive behavior – these effects are also intensified by alcohol

22. Frustration-Aggression Principle • Frustration causes anger, which often generates aggression • Aggressive behavior can be learned through direct rewards – children who grow up observing aggressive models often imitate the behaviors that they see

23. Tidbits about Aggression • Watching violence on TV does correlate with violence in real life • Over the last 3 plus decades, America’s known rape rate has tripled – Unreported rapes greatly outnumber those reported

24. Aggression Tidbits – cont’d • Correlational studies show that in times and places where sexual materials are freely available, rates of sexual violence are higher • Hawaii – Number of reported rapes rose almost 900% between 1964-1974, dropped when pornography restraints were temporarily imposed, then rose again when the restraints were lifted • Exceptions to every rule - Japan

25. Lab Experiment • One group viewed sexually explicit films for six weeks – A second group viewed non-erotic films during the same span • Three weeks later, both groups viewed a newspaper report about a man convicted, but not yet sentenced for raping a hitchhiker • When asked to suggest a prison term, those who viewed the sexually explicit films recommended sentences half as long as the other group

26. The Bystander Effect – “The Genovese Syndrome” • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPnK0NCn_MQ • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N26pYx0rgWI • 1964 – Queens, NY – Kitty Genovese was stabbed and raped around 3:30AM • 38 people reported either seeing or hearing the incident • Attacked fled, and returned to stab her 8 more times • 30 minutes later, someone finally called for help

27. Bystander Effect – cont’d • Three steps are important in helping: • The incident must be noticed • The incident must be interpreted as an emergency • The bystander must assume responsibility for helping • ***When people think that it is their sole responsibility to help, they are more likely to do so. Opposite is true due to Diffusion of Responsibility

28. Odds of Helping are best when… • We have just observed someone else being helpful • We are not in a hurry • The victim appears to need, and deserve help • We are, in some way, similar to the victim • We are in a small town, or rural area • We feel guilty • We are focused on others, and not preoccupied • We are in a good mood

29. The Psychology of Helping • Social Exchange Theory – If the anticipated rewards of helping exceed the anticipated costs…you help

30. The Psychology of Helping – cont’d • Social Norms also influence helping • The Reciprocity Norm teaches us that we should return help, not harm, to others

31. Attraction • What factors predict whether two people will become close friends or romantically involved? • Proximity – Before friendships develop, they must begin – Geographic Nearness is perhaps the most powerful predictor of friendship • Studies reveal people are most likely to marry those from same neighborhood, office, parking lot, etc. • Part of the Mere Exposure Effect – Repeated Exposure to stimuli increases our likelihood of liking them

32. Attraction – cont’d • Physical Attractiveness – What most impacts your first impressions? • Intelligence? • Personality? • Sincerity? • Hundreds of studies indicated it is much more superficial…Appearance • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kS_jdcV5QsM&feature=related

33. Attraction – cont’d • Attractive people are perceived as happier, more sensitive, more successful, and more socially skilled • However… they are often viewed as less honest, and less compassionate • Do you love someone because they are beautiful, or is the person beautiful because you love them?

34. Attraction – cont’d • Similarity – Do opposites attract? • Not usually…we tend to like things or people that are like us • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLeKEr5JCFM&feature=related • Friends and couples are not usually paired with people unless they share common attitudes, beliefs or interests

35. Attraction – cont’d • Romantic Love – Two types of love • Temporary Passionate Love – Key ingredient is arousal • Companionate Love – More enduring, based on equity and trust. Vital ingredient is self-disclosure – revealing intimate details about yourself