Social Psychology

Time-interval Exercise (p.9 IM)

example of Social Influence

Social Psychology

How individualsThink about… one anotherInfluence… one anotherRelate to… one another

Social Thinking

How do you make sense of people’s behavior? We make attributions… (explaining others’

behavior) We use our “social intelligence”, but we often make

an error….Fundamental Attribution Error

tendency when analyzing another’s behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal traits

Examples? (e.g., “it was a just a few bad apples responsible for the Abu Ghraib abuses”)

Attitudes and Behavior

Cognitive Dissonance Theory we act to reduce the discomfort

(dissonance) we feel when our thoughts are inconsistent (or when our thoughts and behavior are inconsistent).Smoking example (“Smoking is unhealthy,

but I smoke”) rationalization (e.g., “sour grapes”)

Social Thinking and Social Influence

Stanford Prison Study by Zimbardo – role-playing, attitudes and behavior (McGraw-Hill DVD)

Situational and systemic factors must be taken into accountNorms and roles

• Learned, socially based rules• Culturally-based

Social Influence

Studies of conformity and obedience

Videos Candid Camera (begin w/ Segment 5)

Why do people behave in these ways?

Research Studies (McGraw-Hill DVD: next slide)

Social Influence Studies:

Asch – conformity experiments Milgram – obedience to authority

“Most people do what they are told to do as long as they perceive that the command comes from a legitimate authority.”

Results: The majority of subjects continued to obey to the end – “Danger-Severe-XXX”

Social InfluenceQuestion: In what specific ways does the

presence of others influence your behavior? Example: Do people in a group exert less

effort compared to when they are individually accountable (e.g., work crews)?

Called Social Loafing

Social Facilitation improved performance of tasks in the

presence of others – when? examples?

Social Influence

Deindividuation loss of self-

awareness and self-restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity

Social Relations

Stereotypes and Prejudice How do these develop? Can they be altered?

(A class divided: blue-eye, brown-eye film)

Social Relations- Attractiveness

Social Relations- Attractiveness

Why do you judge someone as attractive?Blind Date (DVD Segment 30) – Social Cognition and

Person Perception

Factors influencing attraction? Proximity

mere exposure effect – repeated exposure increases liking of them

Similarityfriends share common attitudes, beliefs, interests

Physical AttractivenessWhat makes someone physically “attractive?”

What is attractive?

What is attractive?

Social Relations -- aggressionSocial views of aggression

Modeling: bobo dolls, violent media (desensitization?)

Frustration-Aggression Principle Media and Aggression

Television violencePornographyVideo games

Bystander Studies What would you do? (ABC Primetime video)Kitty GenoveseThe decision-making process for bystander intervention:

Noticesincident?

Interpretsincident as

emergency?

Assumesresponsibility?

Attemptsto help

Nohelp

Nohelp

Nohelp

Yes YesYes

No No No

Bystander Effect

tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present

Percentageattempting

to help

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

Number of otherspresumed available to help

1 2 3 4