Overview of the Day

Social Psychology attribution theory, attitudes, conformity

and obedience, group influence Film: persuasion, leadership, and

gender

What is Social Psychology?

The psychology of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another

Social Thinking

Attribution: the process of inferring the causes of one’s own and others’ mental states and behavior How we make attributions:

External (situation) or internal (person) cause

Fundamental Attribution error: The tendency for observers, when analyzing

another’s behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition.*

Social Thinking

Self serving biases When making attributions about ourselves, we

attribute our successes to ourselves, and our failures to the situation.

People rate themselves as above average Recall more positive than negative

information Attribute greater role to self than others in

group projects Talents more striking than deficiencies

Attitudes

Beliefs and feelings that predispose our reactions to people, objects and events

Do attitudes affect behavior? Yes, when:

outside influences are minimal (vote for tax increase when do not have to worry about reelection)

The behavior is specific* (I am in favor of candidate X)

We are aware of our attitudes

Attitudes

Do behaviors influence attitudes? Often, they do.

Foot-in-the-door (when people who agree to a small request, they are more likely to agree to a larger one)

Influence of roles (“pull” of situation)

Why do behaviors influence attitudes? Cognitive dissonance* (need to rationalize

our actions to ourselves)

Social Influence

How do and what social factors influence our behavior, attitudes, beliefs, and decisions Suggestibility

Sherif study--autokinetic effect

Group pressureAsch experiment

Obedience to authorityMilgram experimentsPersonal responsibility or morality?

Social Influence

Social facilitation Presence of others Social loafing

Presence of others reduces individual effort in team effort

Deindividualization (mob violence, rock concerts, sports)

• Arouses people and diminishes responsibility• Abandon normal restraint• Anonymity of group

Group Influence

Group polarization• The enhancement of a group’s prevailing

tendencies through group discussion

Group think• Pressure to avoid disagreement and maintain

harmony in group to reach premature consensus • Often results in poor decisions

Minority influence• A minority in a group that holds unswervingly to

his or her position is more likely to influence the majority than if he or she waffles

Overview of the Day

Aggression (plus film)PrejudiceAltruismAttractionLoveCourse Surveys

AggressionAggression: verbal or physical behavior

intended to harm another person or beingAre humans aggressive?

In the 20th century, so far:• 110 million war-related deaths• In the US alone, 21,597 murders; 1.1 million assaults

Or are some humans more aggressiveMurder rate 25% less in Canada, 20% less in New

Zealand 17 % less in EuropeMurder rates (per capita) higher in southern US than

north

Causes of Aggression--Nature (biology)

Genes (some animals are bred for aggressiveness; twin studies)

Testosterone levelshigh testosterone levels ---> aggression

dominance (also spatial abilities)*violent criminals tend to be muscular young

males with lower-than average IQ scores, low levels of serotonin and higher-than-average levels of testosterone

Causes of Aggression--Natures

The male mind95% of all prison inmates are malemale-male competition for status and

resources to attract females • females prefer high status, dominant males

escalation of altercations of trivial origin (about 37% of murders)

– loss of face (status, reputation)--->mating opportunities

jealous rage against unfaithful wife (20-50% of spousal murders)

Causes of Aggression--Natures

Overactive limbic system (in brain) studies with animals (bulls, monkeys)

studies of convicted murders show most suffered severe head injury

Causes of Aggression--Nature (Learning and the Environment)

Frustration-->anger-->aggression More assaults occur in hot weather than

coldCulture and learning

southern towns have triple the homicide rates of northern towns (herder culture)

Father absence70% of imprisoned juveniles grew up in single

parent households

Causes of Aggression--Nurture

Violence on TV homicide rate doubled in US and

Canada between 1957 and 1974 (same years as introduction and spread of TV)

Why is there so much violence of TV? Why do people like to watch it?

Prejudice

An unjustifiable (and usually negative) attitude toward a group and its members

Causes of Prejudice

In-group and Out-group categorization self-definition by group membership distinguish friends from enemies Categorization--mental short-cut

Scapegoating blame someone or group when things go

wrong

How to lower prejudice

Knowledge any two randomly chosen humans, on

average, are 99.8% alike geneticallyInteraction (interaction, usually, fosters

liking)Evolutionary Perspective: Intermarriage

among groups* genetic self-interest people become outwardly similar over time

Altruism

Altruism: the regard for others’ welfare

Types of altruism Reciprocal altruism (tit for tat) Pure altruism (unconditional help)

Sources of altruistic behavior

Social exchange You scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours Occurs even in vampire bats

Kin-based (Genetic relatedness) altruism ] Altruism is in proportion to relatedness and

reproductive potentialAnalysis of wills

Other types of Altruism

Helping others when its not in our self interest Helping strangers

Bystander interventionKitty Genovese murder (repeated stabbing, rape,

no helped; waited 20 minutes to even call police)Notice --> interpret as emergency--> assume

responsibilityWhen are we most likely to assume responsibility?

• When there are fewer people available to help

Attraction

What binds people together in close relationships? Proximity

Who are you most likely to marry ?• A person who lives close to you

Availability--people who are close are available• Do this bode well for long-distance relationships?

Exposure• Exposure increases liking, familiarity breeds fondness

Attraction

Physical attractivenessPeople prefer others who are physically

attractive

What makes someone physically attractive?

• For both sexes: – Facial symmetry (asymmetry can be a signal of

genetic abnormality and lack of resistance to parasites)

– Unique cultural standards

Attraction

For women: youthful appearance (clear skin, full lips, ) and a

.70 waist to hip ratio of about .70 (signal of fertility)

average features (symmetry, carrier hypothesis)

For menhealth, dominance, and affluence (signals

capacity to support and protect)“Power is the world’s greatest aphrodisiac”

Henry Kissinger

Attraction

Similarity Common attitudes, interests, abilities

(IQ of spouses correlates about .50)

Blind luck, randomness Are the spouses of identical twins

similar? (No)

Love

Components of love: physical arousal (adrenaline makes the

heart grow fonder--studies: running in place, walking over bridge)

Equity in social exchange (both partners receive in exchange in proportion to what they give)

Self disclosure/intimacy (revealing intimate details about one’s self)

Commitment

Love

Types of love Romantic love

Intimacy + passion

Companionate love intimacy + commitment“love makes the time pass, and time makes

love pass”

Summary of the Day

AggressionPrejudiceAltruismAttractionLove