Social Psychology

Take a minute or two to think about what social psychology

might be!

Main focuses of Social Psychology

• Social Psych studies how we behave, think, and feel in social situations.

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• Social psychology is one of the single most useful areas of psychology to have a practical knowledge of.

Attitudes and Actions

• Attitudes are mixtures of belief and emotion that predisposes us to respond to other people, objects, or institutions in positive or negative ways.

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• Our attitudes affect our actions

And vice versa!

• Our actions can influence our attitudes as well!

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• Think about someone doing something that takes some conviction.

What else is there to people?

• It’s not just attitude that dictates behaviour.

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• www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=90YC_yReluc&safe=active

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• What is this video suggesting?

Philip Zimbardo

• 1933 - Present

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• Heavily involved in social psychology.

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• Most famous for Stanford Prison Experiment.

Prison Experiment

• 1971

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• Zimbardo assigned roles of guards and prisoners to random students.

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• Within 6 days, role-appropriate attitudes developed and the experiment had to shut down.

Remember talking about ethics?

• This is one of the crazy ones.

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• It got to the point where people had actual mental breakdowns.

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• Shut down because Zimbardo realized how dehumanizing it was becoming.

The Stanford Prison Experiment

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZwfNs1pqG0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XN2X72jrFkThe Movie Trailer

Stanford Prison Experiment

• One of the most controversial experiments ever done.

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• Zimbardo’s experiment is an excellent example of the power of the situation and how easily an individual can slip into a role, and have it become real.

Power of the Situation A real example: Abu Ghraib Prison

• Orange Textbook (8th Edition)

• 1. Read page 729 (purple section)

• 2. Find a quote from this section OR in your own words, briefly explain why good people do bad things.

• 3. Write down and be prepared to discuss.

Deindividuation

• Deindividuation is the loss of self-awareness and self-restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity.

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• Being part of a group can make us lose our sense of identity.

Deindividuation

• Do you guys have any examples of deinidividuation?

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• Take a couple minutes and think of a time where you have felt you lost identity in part of a larger group.

Feelings/factors of deindividuation

• Anonymity - “I cannot be found out”

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• Diffused responsibility - “I am not responsible for my own actions”

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• Group Size - The larger the group, more prominent the other two feelings.

Solomon Asch

• 1907 - 1996

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• Pioneer in social psych.

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“Most social acts have to be understood in their setting, and lose meaning if isolated. No error in thinking about

social facts is more serious than the failure to see their place and function.”

- Soloman Asch

Solomon Asch

• 1907 - 1996

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• Pioneer in social psych.

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• Most famous experiment that he did was on conformity.

Conformity

• Conformity is an influence resulting from one’s willingness to accept others’ opinions about reality.

Asch’s Experimenthttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qA-gbpt7Ts8&safe=active

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgRoiTWkBHU

Conditions that Strengthen Conformity

• 1. The person feels insecure

• 2. The group has at least 3 people

• 3. The group is unanimous

• 4. The person admires the group

• 5. Others in the group are observant

Norms

• Norms are the standard of behaviour.

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• Norms exist only in social situations

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• More accurate term would probably be social norms.

An Extreme Example Jonestown

• www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpWr45bKWpE&safe=active

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ql3yrDs6Cc

Heaven’s Gate Cult

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzWpfq103q4&safe=active

Stanley Milgram

• 1933 - 1984

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• Psychologist at Yale University

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• Studies focused on the affects of authority on obedience.

Milgram’s Study

• 1961

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• Famous, very controversial.

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• He tested whether people would shock a person simply because an authority figure told them to do it.

Milgram’s Study

• 66% of the people delivered shocks as they heard cries of pain and signs of heart trouble.

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• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwqNP9HRy7Y

Conditions that Strengthen Obedience

• 1. The authority is close at hand.

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• 2. The victim is depersonalized or at a distance from the person obeying.

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• 3. There were no role models for defiance.

Foot in the door phenomenon

• The tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request.

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• www.simplypsychology.org

Bystander Effect• The more people present, the less

likely we are to help.

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• This is because of a feeling of diffused responsibility.

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• www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSsPfbup0ac&safe=active

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• www.cbc.ca/player/News/Technology and Science/ID/2441760100/

Watching Eyes

• http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-tyne-22270052