Defining Social Psychology

Defining Social Psychology Social Psychology - The study of how people think about, influence, and relate to other people Bystander Effect - the tendency of an individual who observes an emergency to be less likely to help when other people are present than when the observer is alone ● Humans are extremely social species ● The fundamental social nature of human existence os the focus of social psychology ● Social psychologists study how a person’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual (or imagined) presence of others ● Topics of other areas of psychology including neuroscience, perception, cognition, learning, motivation, and emotion ● Social psychology is similar to sociology ○ Both examine human social behavior Features of Social Psychology ● Social psychology is connected to real life ○ Inspired by real-life events ○ After WWII, social psychology experiences extraordinary growth as scientists dedicated themselves to understanding the events that led to the war, the rise of the Nazis, and the Holocaust ○ During the civil rights movement in the US, social psychologists were interested in studying all of the ways that changing situational factors that might alter a person’s life for the better ○ Today, racism and prejudice remain central research topics ○ Includes topics such as leadership, organizational behavior, marketing, and persuasion ● Social psychological research is (often) experimental ○ Use experimental methods even though some research is correlational ■ Social psychologists are more likely to manipulate an independent variable to draw causal conclusions about its effects on some outcome (dependent variable) ● An example: the bystander effect ○ Studies showed that when alone, a person was likely to take action about 75% of the time, but when another bystander was present, the figure dropped to 50% Social Cognition Social Cognition - The area of social psychology exploring how people select, interpret, remember, and use social information Person Perception - the processes by which an individual uses social stimuli to form impressions of others Stereotype - a generalization about a group’s characteristics that does not consider any variations from one individual to another Self-fulfilling Prophecy - Social expectations that cause an individual to act in such a way that expectations are realized Stereotype Threat - an individual’s fast-acting, self-fulfilling fear of being judged based on a negative stereotype about his or her group Attribution Theory - the view that people are motivated to discover the underlying causes of behavior as part of their effort to make sense of the behavior Fundamental Attribution Error - observers’ overestimation of the importance of internal traits and underestimation of the importance of external situations when they seek explanations of another person’s behavior Self-serving bias - the tendency to take credit for one’s successes and to deny responsibility to one’s failures False Consensus Effect - observers’ overestimation of the degree to which everybody else thinks or acts the way they do Positive Illusions - favorable views of the self that are not necessarily rooted in reality Social Comparisons - the process by which individuals evaluate their thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and abilities in relation to others Attitudes - an individual’s opinions and beliefs about people, objects, and ideas; how the person feels about the world Self-perception theory - Bem’s theory on how behaviors influence attitudes, stating that individuals make inferences about their attitudes by perceiving their behavior Elaboration Likelihood Model - theory identifying two ways to persuade: a central route and a peripheral route ● Person Perception ○ First impressions happen very quickly ■ Can be accurate enough to tell a person’s romantic interest in them, propensity for violence , leadership, and sexual orientation ■ The brain makes a first impression by the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC), the area right above forehead, is involved ■ When processing in the dmPFC is disrupted, people are slower to render judgment of a person’s traits ■ dmPFC is thought to play a role in our sense of self as well as in our judgment of others ■ People reveal themselves in many ways, including body language, emotional expressions, styles of dress, and hairstyle ■ The face is a very important social cue ○ Physical Attractiveness ■ We prefer an attractive face over an unattractive one ● Even 3-6 month olds showed a preference for looking at attractive faces vs unattractive faces ■ Averageness is a key aspect of facial attractiveness ■ Attractive individuals are generally assumed to have a variety of positive characteristics including being better adjusted, socially skilled, friendly, likable, extraverted, and apt to achieve superior job performance ■ Studies have shown that social perceivers are likely to give attractive people better treatment ○ Attribution ■ Attributions are explanations of the causes of behavior ■ Internal and external causes ● Internal attributions include causes inside and specific to the person, such as his or her traits and abilities. ● External attributions include causes outside the person, such as situational factors. Did Beth get an A on the test because she is smart or because the test was easy? ■ Stable and unstable causes ● Is the cause relatively enduring and permanent, or is it temporary? Did Aaron blow up at his girlfriend because he is a hostile guy or because he was in a bad mood that day? ■ Controllable and uncontrollable causes ● We perceive that we have power over some causes (for instance, by preparing delicious food for a picnic) but not others (rain on picnic day). ■ Attributional errors and biases ● The person who produces the behavior is called the actor. ● The person who offers a causal explanation of the actor’s behavior is called the observer. ● A brain imaging study showed that activity in the brian in an area associated with thinking about other people’s mental states (the medial PFC) was related to a higher tendency to commit the fundamental attribution error ■ Heuristics in social information processing ● Can be helpful tools for navigating the complex, social landscape, but they can lead to mistakes ○ The self as a social object and social comparison ■ Individuals with high self-esteem possess a variety of positive illusions ● research shows that many of us think of ourselves as “above average” on many valued characteristics, including how trustworthy, objective, and capable we are ● Holding positive illusions is linked to psychological health and academic achievement ■ Leon Festinger proposed a theory of social comparison posting that when individuals lack an objective way to evaluate their opinions and abilities, they compare themselves with others ● More likely to compare with individuals who are similar to them ○ Attitudes ■ Attitudes and Behavior ● Attitudes predict behavior sometimes under the following conditions ○ When the person’s attitudes are strong ■ The stronger an attitude toward a particular topic, the more likely a person will act on it. Attitudes tend to be especially strong about issues we believe are morally important. Just labeling a topic moral can increase the strength of attitudes about it ○ When the person shows a strong awareness of his or her attitudes and when the person rehearses and practices them ■ People are more likely to act on attitudes when the issue at stake will affect them personally. For example, a classic study examined whether students would show up for a rally protesting a change that would raise the legal drinking age from 18 to 21. Although students in general were against the change, those in the critical age group (from 18 to 20) were more likely to turn out to protest. ■ Behavior and Attitudes ● Cognitive Dissonance Theory ○ the psychological discomfort (dissonance) caused by two inconsistent thoughts ○ According to the theory, we feel uneasy when we notice an inconsistency between what we believe and what we do ○ Effort justification is one type of dissonance reduction ● Self-perception Theory ○ Daryl Bem’s take on how behavior influences attitudes ○ According to self-perception theory, individuals make inferences about their attitudes by observing their behavior. ○ According to Bem, we are especially likely to look to our behavior to determine our attitudes when those attitudes are unclear. ○ Persuasion ■ Persuasion involves trying to change someone’s attitude—and often behavior as well ■ Techniques of persuasion ● 2 pathways of persuasion ○ Central route ■ works by engaging the audience thoughtfully with a sound, logical argument ○ Peripheral route ■ involves factors such as the attractiveness of the person giving the message or the emotional power of an appeal ■ Effective when people are not paying close attention or lacking the time or energy to think about the message ■ Resisting persuasion ● Counter-arguing ○ Defend against the information by mentally generating arguments against it Social psychology - the study of how people think about, influence, and relate to other people ● The branch of psychology that studies individuals as they interact with others ○ Topics include ■ Social cognitions ■ Social influences ■ Social relations ○ Studied in ■ Real life ● The (uninvolved) bystander effect ○ The larger the group, the less likely one will help ○ Diffusion of responsibility: the effect of being in a group that apparently rescues the sense of personal responsibility of each group member to act appropriately ● Social cognition ○ Person perception ■ First impressions ■ Physical attractiveness ● “Beautiful is good” stereotype ● Composite faces, symmetry, and youthfulness ■ Stereotypes ● Self-fulfilling prophecies ● Stereotype threat ○ Attributions ■ Explanations for why people behave the way they do ○ Attribution Theory ■ Theory of how and why people make the attributions they make ● external/internal causes ● stable/unstable causes ● controllable/uncontrollable causes ○ Attribution Errors & Bias ○ Fundamental Attribution Error ■ Overestimate the importance of internal trait ■ Underestimate the importance of external situation ■ Actors often explain own behavior in terms of external causes ○ Self-serving bias ■ Tendency to take credit for success and deny responsibility for failure ○ Heuristics: Cognitive shortcuts that speed decision making ■ Stereotypes ■ False consensus effect ■ Overestimating the degree to which everyone else thinks or acts the way we do ■ Use our outlook to predict that of others ● The self as a social object ○ Self-esteem ■ Positive illusions ● Views of ourselves that are not necessarily rooted in reality ● ● ● ● ● ● ■ Social Comparison ● Process by which we evaluate our thoughts, feelings, behaviors, add abilities in relation to others Attitudes - beliefs about people, places, and ideas ○ Can attitudes predict behavior? ■ When attitudes are strong ■ When attitudes are rehearsed ■ When person has vested interest ○ Can behavior alter attitudes? ■ Cognitive dissonance and self perception Cognitive Dissonance Theory ○ Discomfort caused by 2 dissonant thoughts ■ Thoughts of one’s attitude Self-perception theory ○ Individuals make inferences about their own attitudes by perceiving their own behavior, especially if their attitudes are unclear Persuasion ○ Elaboration likelihood model ■ Central route ● Engage audience thoughtfully with logic ■ Peripheral route ● Emotional appeal ○ Resisting persuasion ■ Counter-arguing ■ Inoculation Social Behavior ○ We behave in social ways towards the people around us ○ 2 extremes of human social activity ■ Altruism ● An unselfish interest in helping someone else ■ Aggression Close relationships ○ Attraction ■ Proximity ● Mere exposure effect ● Promise of acquaintanceship ■ We like those who like us ■ Similarity ● Consensual validation ■ Evolutionary v social roles view ○ Love ■ Romantic love ● Passionate love ● Sexuality and infatuation ■ Affectionate love ● Companionate love ● Deep caring affection ○ Models ■ Social exchange theory ● Fair exchange of “goods” ● Minimize costs, maximize benefits ■ Investment model ● Factors in stability of relationship ○ Commitment to partner ○ Investment in relationship ○ Lack of attractive alternatives ● Social Influence: Conformity ○ Factors that contribute to conformity ■ Psychological - Asch’s experiment (1951) ● Informational social influence ● Normative social influence ■ Biological ● Brain equates non-conformity with makingan error ■ Cultural ● Collectivism promotes conformity ● Social Influence: Obedience ○ Milgram’s Experiments (1965, 1974) ■ Willingness to obey objectionable orders ■ Most subjects “went the whole way” ■ Those who quit tended to quit when “learner” first requested a halt ■ Ethical concerns regarding Milgram ○ Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment ■ 2-week simulation: Guards vs prisoners ■ Manifested extreme aggression and abuse ● Participants did not quit ● Simulation was aborted after 6 days ■ Biased sample ● Group Influence ○ Deindividuation ■ Erosion of personal identity and responsibility ● ● ● ● ■ Anonymity ○ Social cognition ■ Spread of behavior, emotions, and ideas ○ Group Performance ■ Social facilitation: arousal helpful wil well-learned tasks ■ Social loafing: reduced accountability Group decision making ○ Risky shift ■ Group decisions tend to be riskier than individual decisions ○ Group polarization ■ Discussion strengthens the individual’s original position ○ Groupthink ■ Impaired decision making and avoidance of realistic appraisal ■ Group harmony ■ Symptoms of groupthink ● Overconfidence ● Closed-mindedness ● Pressure for uniformity ■ Majority-minority influence ● Majority: normative and informational pressure ● Minority: informational pressure Intergroup Relations ○ Social identity ■ Define ourselves in terms of group membership ● Social identity theory ○ In-groups v out-groups ○ Ethnocentrism ■ Favoring one’s own ethnic group over other groups Prejudice - an unjustified negative attitude towards group and its members ○ Explicit v implicit racism ○ Explanations for prejudice ■ Competition between groups ■ Cultural learning ■ Simplifications in cognitive processes Stereotyping and Prejudice ○ Stereotype - a generalization about a group ○ Discriminatin - an unjustified negative or harmful action ○ Improving Interethnic Relations ■ Works best if groups… ● Think they are of equal status ● Feel an authority figure approves positive relations ● Anticipate emergent friendships ● Engage in cooperative tasks