Content Category 7B Social Processes That Influence Behavior

Content Category 7B: Social processes that influence behavior How the Presence of Others Affects Individual Behavior (PSY) Social facilitation Social Facilitation Mere presence – most basic level of experience between members of society, means that people are simply in each other’s presence, either completing similar activities or apparently minding their own business. The mere presence of others has a measurable effect on an individual’s performance • People tend to perform simple, well-learned tasks better when other people are present—Social facilitation effect o Explanation—arousal. Presence of others stimulates arousal, which serves to activate our dominant responses, and the practiced responses come most easily to us. Deindividuation Deindividuation When situations provide a high degree of arousal and a very low sense of responsibility, people may act in startling ways. They lose their sense of restraint and their individual identity in exchange for identifying with a group or mob mentality. Disconnection of behavior from attitudes • Results from a confluence of several factors: o Group size – larger groups create diminished sense of identity and responsibility o physical anonymity – using facepaint, masks, or costumes o arousing activities; rather than beginning with a frenzy, deindividuating circumstances usually start with arousing activities that escalate Bystander effect Bystander Effect Kitty Genovese – involved stabbing of a woman in NYC late at night, with a lack of effect of neighbors to help her while she cried for help Bystander effect – finding that a person is less likely to provide help when there are other bystanders —creates a diffusion of responsibility Social loafing Social Loafing Applies to circumstances when people are working together toward common goals—there is a tendency for people to exert less effort if they are being evaluated as a group than if they are individually accountable When being part of a group increases concerns over evaluation, social facilitation occurs. When being part of a group decreases concerns over evaluation, social loafing occurs Social control (SOC) Sociologists identify two basic forms of social control: • Informal means of control – Internalization of norms and values by a process known as socialization, which is defined as "the process by which an individual, born with behavioral potentialities of enormously wide range, is led to develop actual behavior which is confined to the narrower range of what is acceptable for him by the group standards".[2] • Formal means of social control – External sanctions enforced by government to prevent the establishment of chaos or anomie in society. Some theorists, such as Émile Durkheim, refer to this form of control as regulation. Peer pressure (PSY, SOC) You want to be accepted by society, so you do stuff that your peers do Conformity (PSY, SOC) Changing your behavior because of peer pressure Obedience (PSY, SOC) Changing your behavior because of authority Conformity and Obedience Solomon Asch – tested the effects of group pressure on individual’s behavior • Subjects were asked to determine which of three lines were most similar to a comparison line o when done alone, everyone got perfect scores o when placed in a room with confederates (part of the experiments), and all of them saying the wrong lines, more than a third of the subjects conformed • Conformity – phenomenon of adjusting behavior or thinking based on the behavior or thinking of others Stanley Milgram – fake shock study • Participants believed they were in control of equipment that delivered shocks to a student who was attempting to pass a memory test (no shocks were actually use) o researcher directed him to administer levels of increasing shock, when student answered incorrectly o participant could hear shouts pain, but were still obedient Three ways that an individual’s behavior may be motivated by social influence: Compliance – compliant behavior is motivated by desire to seek reward or to avoid punishment Identification – motivated by the desire to be like another person or group (Asch) Internalization – motivated by values and beliefs that have been integrated into one’s own value system – most endearing motivation Group Decision-making Processes (PSY, SOC) Group polarization (PSY) Group Polarization Groups tend to intensify the preexisting views of their members—the average view of a member of the group is accentuated. It does not mean that the group becomes more divided on an issue, but suggests that the entire group tends toward more extreme versions of the average views they initially had. When you consider group polarization phenomenon with the fact that people tend to preferentially interact with like-minded people, you can see why group negotiations are so difficult. • Reasons that this occurs: o informational influence – in group discussion, the most common ideas to emerge are the ones that favor the dominant viewpoint, persuading others to take a stronger stance toward this viewpoint and provides and opportunity to rehearse and validate these opinions, strengthening them ▪ just thinking about an opinion by yourself for a couple minutes is likely to strengthen it, because we usually just think of things that support it o Normative influence – based on social desirability, wanting to be accepted or admired by others o Social comparison – evaluating our opinions by comparing them to those of others Groupthink r Groupthink A state of harmony within a group, can lead to some pretty terrible decisions; manifests when certain factors come together: • Group is overly optimistic of its capabilities, has unquestioned belief in its stances • Group becomes increasingly extreme by justifying its own decisions while demonizing those of opponents • Some members of the group prevent dissenting opinions from permeating by filtering out information that go against the beliefs of the group—mindguarding • There is a pressure to conform, so individuals censor their own opinions in favor of consensus Normative and Non-normative Behavior (SOC) Social norms (PSY, SOC) Norms – spoken/unspoken rules and expectations for the behavior of its members, posited by a society Normative behavior – social behaviors that follow these expectations Formal norms – written down (laws) Informal norms – generally understood but less precise, often carry no specific punishments (handshake) • Sanctions (SOC) • Sanctions – rewards and punishments for behaviors that are normative or not normative (ex: disapproving, uncomfortable look) • Folkways, mores, and taboos (SOC) • Mores (“more-ays”) – norms that are highly important for the benefit of society, strictly enforced (no treason or animal abuse) Folkways – less important but shape everyday behavior (styles of dress, ways of greeting) Taboo – behaviors that customs forbid, results in disgust toward the violator. Often a moral or religious component (eating pork, cannibalism, incest, murder). • • • Anomie (SOC) Anomie – concept that describes the social condition in which individuals are not provided with firm guidelines to norms and values, and there is minimal moral guidance or social ethic—state of normlessness • Emile Durkheim’s research suggested that suicide rates were lower in cultures that valued communal ties, as this provided a form of support during times of emotional distress. Anomie is characteristic of societies in which social cohesion is less pronounced—for example, may be more likely to occur in societies where individualism and autonomous decision-making predominate, at the expense of the greater social order Deviance • Perspectives on deviance (e.g., differential association, labeling theory, strain theory) Deviance Describe cases where individuals do not conform to the expectations implicit in social structure —non-normative behavior – challenged shared values and institutions, threatening social structure Deviance – actions that dominate social norms, whether formal or informal • Is also a social construct, situational and contextual o murder is acceptable in war and self-defense o subject to change • Often studied through the lens of crime Functionalist Perspective • Edwin Sutherland’s differential association – argues that deviance is a learned behavior resulting from interactions between individuals and their communities. When an individual participates in communities that condone deviant behaviors, it becomes easier for the individual to learn these behaviors and become deviants o Criticism: people are reduced to their environments, not considered as independent, rational actors with personal motivations Conflict Theory • Howard Becker’s labeling theory – suggests that deviance is the result of society’s response to a person rather than something inherent in the person’s actions—it assumes that the act itself is not deviant for intrinsic moral reasons. The use of negative labels can have serious consequences—self-fulfilling prophecies o individual exhibits more deviant behaviors to fulfill expectations of his label o It is the most dominant groups labeling the subordinate groups ▪ agents of social control ▪ reinforces power structures and hierarchies o Criticism: deviance is assumed to be an automatic process: people may be able to ignore social expectations Symbolic Interactionism • Robert Merton’s structural strain theory – perspective purports that deviance is the result of experienced strain. Merton specified that anomie is the state in which there is a mismatch between the common social goals and the structural, institutionalized means of obtaining these goals. In this state, they experience strain, and there is pressure to used deviant methods to prevent failure Stringer Bell and Avon Barksdale o Lower class expected to use deviant methods of reaching economic success Aspects of collective behavior (e.g., fads, mass hysteria, riots) Collective Behavior – social norms for the situation are absent or unclear. Collective behavior is more short-lived than group behavior, and less conventional values influence the group’s behavior • Do not reflect the existing social structure but are instead spontaneous situations in which individuals engage in actions that are otherwise unacceptable and violate social norms • Loss of individual and independent moral judgement in exchange for sense of group (mobs) Herbert Blumer – sociologist who identified four main forms of collective behavior • Crowds – group that shares a purpose, can influence herd behavior o not all crowd behavior is irrational o include acting crowds (for a specific goal), casual crowds, conventional crowd (gathered for planned event), expressive crowds (gathered to express an emotion, like at a funeral) o panic – situation in which fear escalates to the point that it dominates thinking and affects entire groups • Publics – group of individuals discussing a single issue, ceases as the discussion ceases • Masses – group whose formation is prompted through the efforts of mass media, share common interest • Social movement – collective behavior with intention of promoting change o active – attempt to foster social change (revolutions) o expressive – attempt to foster individual change (support groups) Fad – collective behavior in which something experiences a rapid and dramatic incline in reputation, remains popular among a large population for a brief period, and experiences a rapid and dramatic decline in reputation Trends – are longer-lived and often lead to more permanent social changes (hippie trend), not a form of collective behavior Mass hysteria – collective behavior that refers to the collective delusion of some threat that spread through emotions and escalates until it spirals out of control (Salem Witch Trials) • Differ from outbreaks, epidemics, and pandemics (actual spread of infectious disease, with outbreaks being the smallest in scope and pandemics being the largest) Riots – collective behavior, occur as a result of general dissatisfaction with social conditions, like in response to hunger or oppression. there is no specific end. Increase in criminal behavior and unrest Socialization (PSY, SOC) Agents of socialization (e.g., the family, mass media, peers, workplace) Agents of Socialization • Family – teach children customs, beliefs, and traditions of their cultures • Schools – value logic and linear thinking, creativity, (can differ) • Peer Groups – more important as children grow older • Workplace – through written codes and rules, as well as through informal norms • Religion/Government – create “rites of passage” like coming of age and marriage, legal rules (drinking, voting) • Mass Media/Tehcnology – television, cell phones, educational programming (can be positive or negative)