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Chapter 11

Social Psychology

Social psychology studies how people think about, influence, and relate to others
Examines many topics in psychology in a social context
Whereas sociology looks more at social behavior at the level of the group, social psychology examines at the level of the individual within the group

Social Cognition

Explores how people select, interpret, remember, and use social information

Social Cognition - Person Perception

Processes by which social stimuli, such as faces, are used to form impressions of others
Physical attractiveness

A common social stereotype is that “Beautiful is good”, so people will be more willing to trust a good-looking person than someone who is not attractive

This can lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy of expectations – you expect the best of someone, and behave better toward them; in turn, they behave better in response to you
First impressions take advantage of the primacy effect – we place a high value on the first information we get about an individual, because we have no other information to go on

Social Cognition - Attribution

Attribution theory examines how people are motivated to discover underlying causes of behavior to make sense of behavior, in both themselves and others
This domain looks at how people focus on or neglect factors such as:

Internal/external causes of behavior

Stable/unstable causes

Controllable/uncontrollable causes

Attributional Errors and Biases

Attributions for causes of behavior vary based on perspective of the situation, that of the actor or the observer
Actor - produces the behavior

Often explains behavior in terms of external causes, such as situational factors

Observer - offers causal explanation of the actor’s behavior

Often attributes behavior to internal causes, such as personality variables

Leads to the fundamental attribution error – the tendency of observers to overestimate the influence of internal traits, and underestimate of external situations

Attribution

Because we lack all the information about a situation and the actor’s reasoning, as observers we rely on heuristics

Cognitive shortcuts that allow rapid decision-making

Can play role in social information processing

These are helpful but can lead to mistakes

Example: False consensus effect

Overestimation of degree to which everybody else thinks or acts as we do

Social Cognition - The Self as a Social Object

Much of how we manage our social self is oriented toward protection of our self-esteem

Positive or negative evaluation of self

Thus, we engage in positive illusions of the self not necessarily rooted in reality

For instance, many research findings suggest that large portions of the population will engage in certain negative behaviors (e.g. administering electric shocks to a stranger, as highlighted in the Milgram study in this chapter)

Most people will claim they would not engage in these behaviors, even though the research says most people will

The Self as a Social Object

Self-serving bias

Tendency to take credit for successes and deny responsibility for failures

Stereotype threat

Fast-acting, self-fulfilling fear of being judged based on a negative stereotype

E.g. when told you are part of a group that struggles with a certain type of test, you become more likely to struggle
Social comparison

Process of evaluating thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and abilities in relation to similar others

Do Attitudes Predict Behavior?

Attitudes

Opinions and beliefs about people, objects, ideas

Usually will be comprised of both a cognitive component and an emotional component

Attitudes best predict behavior when:

Attitudes are strong

We show awareness of attitudes and practice them

We have a vested interest

Does Behavior Predict Attitudes?

Cognitive dissonance theory

We experience discomfort when we hold either inconsistent thoughts, or thoughts that are inconsistent with behavior

E.g. “I smoke, but I know smoking can kill me

Can be reduced by:

Changing behavior to fit attitude (quitting smoking)
Changing attitude to fit behavior (“Lots of people smoke without getting lung cancer, it won’t happen to me”

Persuasion

Trying to change someone’s attitude
Elements include:

Communicator (source)

Medium

Target

Message

Persuasion

Elaboration Likelihood Model

Central route

Engaging someone with sound, logical argument
More effective when people pay attention to facts

Peripheral route

Involves non-message factors
Effective when people not paying close attention to communicator

The following slides will highlight some elements of the peripheral route. Be sure to study these for this week’s discussion

Elements of Persuasion

Effects of the communicator

Credibility contributes to believability; we’re more likely to be persuaded if we deem someone to be credible

Do they have the credentials of an authority figure?
Do they seem potentially biased against you, and thus easily dismissed?
Are they like you (e.g. demographically, in beliefs)?

Elements of Persuasion

Credibility

Perceived expertise is not tied solely to credentials, it’s also driven by delivery

Is the person speaking confidently?
Making eye contact
Arguing against own self-interest?

Elements of Persuasion

Effects of the Communicator

Attractiveness is an important component that affects whether people will be receptive to your message

There aren’t too many unattractive endorsers in TV commercials, and usually they’re for humorous effect

Elements of Persuasion

The message content may argue from emotion

Trying to persuade via good feelings

Arousing fear of opponent

Not just tied into wording, also tied into mood of the effort, such as ominous music or dark, grainy imagery

Elements of Persuasion

Appeal to emotion can also include an appeal to aspiration, what you want to be
Present people using the product looking cool, appearing rugged, etc.

Elements of Persuasion

Appeal to emotion can include sex appeal
E.g. many beer ads
Appeal to emotion can also include building of positive and negative associations
In political advertising, a candidate may try to depict an opponent as being tied to a more unpopular figure

Elements of Persuasion

Choice of language also is important in manipulating thought

So, for instance, we all can agree that “life” and “choice” are good things. Thus, in the abortion debate (“pro-life” v. “pro-choice”), the two sides try to use these words to define their argument, and cast the opposing side as being opposed to it (“anti-life”, “anti-choice”)

Elements of Persuasion

Effects of delivery

Music memory can be effective

Commercial jingles (such as 1-800-SAFE-AUTO) can be annoying, but memorable

Repetition of a message can increase its credibility over time

Altruism: Social Behavior

Unselfish interest in helping another person

Also referred to as prosocial behavior

Egoism

Giving to another to ensure reciprocity, to gain self-esteem, to present oneself in a particular way, or to avoid social censure

Reciprocity - acting kindly toward others because they might do the same for us someday

Altruism

Bystander Effect

Tendency for observer of emergency to help less when others present, under the assumption that others will do so, due to:

Diffusion of responsibility

Tendency to look to behavior of others for cues; as everyone else assumes someone else will help, a norm emerges that waiting is the expected thing to do

Famously described in the Kitty Genovese case; however, the story of that case has been undermined in recent years (see learning links in the Activity Folder for this chapter)

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Altruism: Social Behavior

Media influences

Exposure to prosocial media may be an important way to spread kindness

Aggression: Biological Influences

Evolutionary views

Innate aggressive responses

Genetic basis

Proactive physical aggression in humans

Aggression = stronger chances of survival

Aggression: Biological Influences

Neurobiological factors

Brain areas  Limbic system

Frontal lobes

Neurotransmitters  Serotonin

Hormones  Testosterone

Aggression: Psychological Factors

Frustration-aggression hypothesis

Frustration, blocking attempts to reach goal, always leads to aggression

Other aversive experiences can cause aggression

Aggression: Psychological Factors

Cognitive determinants

Aspects of environment, such as presence of weapons

Perceptions of unfairness

Observational learning

Aggression: Sociocultural Factors

Cultural variations

Gap between rich and poor

Cultural norms about masculine pride and family honor

Culture of honor

Man’s reputation as an essential aspect of economic survival

Aggression: Sociocultural Factors

Media violence

Can prompt aggressive/antisocial behavior in children

Violent pornography may have some effect on male sexual aggression

Social Behavior: Aggression

Aggression and gender

Generally, males are more aggressive than females

Reducing aggression

Decrease rewards for and exposure to aggression

Parenting strategies

Encourage children to develop empathy toward others
Monitor adolescents’ activities

Social Influence

How behavior is influenced by other individuals and groups

Conformity

Obedience

Group influence

Conformity

Change in behavior to coincide with group standard
Solomon Asch studied this in an experiment that had people judge lengths of lines; he asked them to say which of three lines was the same length as the test lines (see example next slide)

In groups, only one person was a subject; the rest were in on the experiment; some or all of them were told to give the wrong answer on some trials

Participants conformed to incorrect answers 35% of time when the entire group gave the wrong answer; but, this dropped if the group was not unanimous

Asch’s Conformity Experiment

A B C

Test line

Conformity

Asch found people conformed for different reasons

Informational social influence

People thought the group must have the right answer and they must somehow be wrong

Normative social influence

Knew they were correct, but wanted to be judged well by the group, so gave wrong answer
In Asch’s experiment, this dropped dramatically when people could give their response in private after hearing the answers from the rest of the group

Conformity

Conformity and culture

Collectivist cultures has been associated with greater levels of conformity

Cultural norms provide clues about how groups of human beings have managed to adapt to life

Obedience

Behavior that complies with explicit demands of authority
Milgram studied this in a famous series of experiments

Be sure to read about this and the Stanford Prison Study in your book

About two thirds of participants obeyed the experimenter

Disobedience more common when:

Others disobeyed
Authority figure not legitimate, or not close by
Victim made to seem more human

Group Influence

Deindividuation

Reduction of personal identity and erosion of personal responsibility, when part of a group

May be due to anonymity

Social contagion

Imitative behavior involving spread of behavior, emotions, and ideas

These together highlight how a mob mentality can arise, leading to rioting or other spontaneous mass acts

Group Performance

Social facilitation

Improvement in individual performance due to the presence of others

Due to effects of arousal, this effect is found only on well-learned tasks

On tasks that are not well-learned, arousal can undermine performance (e.g. giving a speech in front of a class)

Group Performance

Social loafing

Tendency to exert less effort in group due to less accountability for individual effort

Decreased by increasing identifiability of individuals and their effort levels, simplifying evaluation, and making group task more attractive

Group Decision Making

Risky shift

Tendency for group decision to be riskier than the average decision made by the individual group members

Agreement can increase confidence
Group polarization

Solidification and strengthening of individual position as a result of group discussion

May result from persuasion (getting more information) or social comparison and validation

Group Decision Making

Groupthink

A tendency of some close-knit groups to emphasize conformity over accuracy in decision-making

Groups may feel overconfident of own abilities

Also may engage in self-censorship, wherein people with dissenting opinions keep quiet and conform to the group

This then gives the group an illusion of unanimity

Prevented if groups:

Avoid isolation
Allow all sides of an argument to be aired
Have an impartial leader
Include outside experts

Intergroup Relations

Group identity: Us vs. them
Social identity and self are often defined in terms of group membership

Crucial part of self-image and source of good feelings

We then divide world into in-group (us) vs. out-groups (them)

Ethnocentrism - tendency to favor one’s own ethnic group

Intergroup Relations: Prejudice

Prejudice is an unjustified negative attitude based on group membership

Explicit racism

Conscious and openly shared attitude

Implicit racism

Attitude on deeper, hidden level

Intergroup Relations: Prejudice

Stereotypes

Generalizations about group

More likely to stereotype out-group members

Discrimination

Unjustified negative or harmful action based on group membership

Intergroup Relations: Prejudice

Many factors contribute to prejudice

Competition between groups, especially for scarce resources

Cultural learning

Low self-esteem

Limits of information-processing abilities

We may use the availability heuristic to draw group conclusions based on limited individual interactions

Intergroup Relations

Discrimination

Unjustified negative or harmful action based on group membership

Improving intergroup relations

Certain types of contact

Task-oriented cooperation

Sherif’s (1961) Robbers Cave study
Aronson’s (1986) Jigsaw Classroom

Types of Social Identity

Close Relationships: Attraction

Proximity

Physical closeness as strong predictor of attraction

Mere exposure effect

Encounters increase liking, even without realizing it

Consensual validation

Explains why people are attracted to others who are similar to them

Close Relationships: Attraction

Evolutionary approaches

Gender differences in attraction variables based on different roles in procreation

Males focus on quantity of sexual partners

Females focus on quality and resources

Criticism

Humans have the decision-making ability to change their gender behavior

Close Relationships: Attachment

Secure style

Positive views of relationships, easy to get close to others and not concerned about romance

Avoidant style

Hesitant about getting involved in romance

Once in a relationship tend to distance themselves from their partner

Anxious style

Demand closeness, less trusting, more emotional, jealous, and possessive

Close Relationships: Love

Romantic (passionate) love

Strong components of sexuality and infatuation

Predominates in early part of love relationship

Affectionate (companionate) love

Deep, caring affection for another person

Close Relationships: Love

Gender

Men conceptualize love in terms of passion

Women in terms of friendship

Models of Close Relationships

Social exchange theory

Focus on minimizing costs and maximizing benefits

Equity as most important predictor of success, especially early in relationships

Investment model

Focus on underlying factors of relationships

Examines commitment, investment, and availability of attractive alternative partners