Myers for AP, Unit 14

Social Psychology

Opening Activity

• • Just listen and follow directions, please Discussion

Social Psychology

• • Exploring connections by scientifically studying: • • • How we think about each other How we influence each other How we relate to each other What’s the difference between sociology and social psychology? • • Sociology explores groups and cultures Social psychology explores how individuals interact

6 Overarching Themes (NIB)

• • • • • • We construct our own social reality Our social intuitions are powerful but sometimes perilous Social influences shape our behavior Personal attitudes and dispositions also shape behavior Social behavior is biologically rooted Social psychology principles apply in everyday life

Do Now:

• • Can you think of a time when you have been misjudged as BEING a certain way when you have only been FEELING a certain way due to circumstances? Are you a different person in different settings? How so?

What you said:

• • • Age range: 37-64!!!

Marital Status: • Married: 7 • • • Divorced: 9 Divorced twice: 1 Single: 5 Music: • Country: 10 • West Coast Rap: 1 • Jazz: 2 • • Folk: 2 80s pop/rock: 1 • • • • • Kids: 2 sons: 7 2 children: 9 One child: 4 3 children: 2 • • • • • • • • • • Food: • Peaches: 1 • • Eggplant: 1 Organic gluten-free vegan cookies: 1 Tacos: 1 Rice: 1 Italian/pasta: 5 Mexican: 1 Vegetables: 2 Apples: 1 Chinese: 1 Greek food Color: • Pink: 10 • Purple: 11 • Red: 1

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Vacation: South America Europe: 4 Travel around world Rome Backpack –Europe International historic tour Africa safari Hawaii: 2 Germany Meeting new people in exotic country Somewhere tropical: 3 Leadership conference Machu Picchu Paris Some nature place • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Hobbies: Travel: 10 Singing: 2 Dancing Socializing: 2 Reading: 7 Writing Community service Wine tasting Kayaking Meeting People Cooking Skydiving Grocery shopping Gardening Grading!!!

Internet Social media: 2 Knitting • • • • • Hobbies: Watching Grey’s Anatomy Listening to NPR Speaking to troubled youth Teaching Learning • • • • • • • • • • • • • Born: California: 4 Montana Georgia Tennessee Washington 4 Arizona New York: 2 Michigan: 2 Virginia: 3 Utah Oklahoma Alaska

Social Psychology Questions

• • • How did Brittney Griner become comfortable with herself, given her experiences growing up? http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch /2014/04/08/300516000/coming-out in-basketball-how-brittney-griner found-a-place-of-peace Pick a friend: If an alien (or even someone from another country) saw that person’s social media output, what conclusions would they draw?

Discussion: Social media vs. Real Life

How do we explain others’ behavior and our own?

• • • • Attribution theory: Is she a hostile person (dispositional attribution) OR Is she behaving in a hostile way because she is going through something difficult (situational attribution) Are teachers outgoing? How does attribution theory figure into the current debate about student performance and teacher pay?

Do Now:

On the small paper you’ve been given: 1) Age 2) Marital status 3) Music 4) Food 5) Color 6) Ideal vacation 7) Hobbies 8) State of birth 9) Children? How many?

More on attribution:

• • • • Fundamental attribution error: overstating personality and understating situational influences We TEND to attribute the behavior of others to their personality We TEND to attribute our own behavior to the situation “There, but for the grace of God, go I.” -- John Bradford

Tie-In Unit 12

• Explanatory style: • • Optimists – more likely to attribute good events to disposition and bad events to situations Pessimists – more likely to attribute bad events to disposition and good events to situations

Does what we think affect what we do, or does what we do affect what we think?

• • • • Attitudes affect actions: Do now: What attitudes have you seen in your lifetime that have changed actions of many?

Central route persuasion: “I believe it because the argument was solid and made sense.” (More analytical and thoughtful) Peripheral route persuasion: “I believe it because Matthew McConaughey said it, and he’s hot!” (More incidental and superficial)

Actions Affect Attitudes

• • • • • • Foot-in-the-door phenomenon – behavior follows actions. (Frog in the pot) Works for good and bad Moral action strengthens moral convictions Interesting: Looking Glass Effect (Diener & Wallbom) Why do we not do what we say we believe in?

“Do what’s right whether anyone’s watching or not.”

Role-Playing

• • Fake it to Make it?

• • • • • Acting the part helps you become the part: Being a college student Being a new husband or wife Being a new parent Being a new anything Is this why actors often fall in love with their romantic co-stars?

Activity CD Module

Cognitive Dissonance

• • • • • • Clash of the attitudes and actions We bend our beliefs to fit our actions Example: Iraq War & WMD Example: I believe cheating is wrong. I do it anyway. I create explanations to make it “okay.” Example: I believe that the world will end in 2008. It doesn’t. I create a new story that makes me not wrong, perhaps that some things have changed so the world doesn’t need to end. A big part of why public opinion changes

Significant Evidence

• • • • • Zimbardo (Stanford Prison Experiment) Abu-Ghraib Can you think of a time when you acted a role and then later became “that way?” Video One bad apple does not always spoil the whole bunch, but it has a reasonable chance of doing so

Bottom Line on Attitudes

• • • • • • • Acting cruel can make you more cruel Acts of good will can shape us in good ways Changing behavior changes attitudes Be the change you want to see in the world – M. Gandhi No one can make you feel inferior without your permission – E. Roosevelt If you think you can, or you think you’re right. – H. Ford Do now: Using attitudes-follow-behavior principle, how could you change an attitude you’ve been wanting to change (what attitude and how?)

What do experiments on conformity and compliance reveal about the power of Social Influence?

Part II: Social Influence

• • • • • • Do Now: Why do you obey some rules and disobey others? Have you ever been convinced by friends to do something you knew was wrong? Do you consider yourself a conformist or nonconformist? Why?

When we know how to act, life runs smoothly. How is this true? When is it not true?

Bold statement: Behavior is contagious. Give three examples!

Conformity: Define Chameleon effect: Define Mood linkage & mood contagion (sometimes we try to make this happen unnaturally)

Activity

• • On the slip of paper you’ve been given, write at least two attitudes or opinions you have that you believe are NOT the popular view. (Be brave! This is anonymous) Agree/Disagree activity

Solomon Asch

• • • • • • • • Conformity Studies: Suggestibility Individually, participants answered a question (such as about line length) incorrectly less than 1% of the time. In groups, people answered incorrectly more than 1/3 of the time when the others did.

If others jaywalk, do you?

If others swear, do you?

If others cheat, do you?

Hmmm…

Factors Related to Conformity

• • • • • • • Informational influence - belief that others are correct in their judgments. Normative influence - Fear the possible negative social consequences of not going along. Size of group - conformity tends to increase as the size of the group increases, however, there is little change in conformity once the group size reaches 4-5.

Awareness of norms - the more aware someone is of the prevailing norm, the more likely one is to conform.

Presence of an ally - Asch found that even the presence of just one confederate that goes against the majority choice can reduce conformity as much as 80%.

Age differences - there is some evidence that age may play a factor. For example, during adolescence there is an increased tendency to "conform" to peers.

Cultural influences - many instances of cultural influences leading to differences in conformity.

Why we conform:

• • • • Normative social influence: avoid rejection and/or gain approval (Think Maslow, too) Informational social influence: willingness to accept others’ opinions • The idea that “I’m right, and everyone else is wrong,” doesn’t usually get us very far (Rebecca Denton!!) Upworthy video: http://www.upworthy.com/a-guy hung-an-offensive-sign-around-his-neck-to-make-a solid-point-and-it-worked Robert Baron experiment (1996)

Compliance

• • • • • • • • • • • Stanley Milgram’s experiments Sheep not wolves (experiment without coercion) Gretchen Brandt “I don’t want to be responsible for harm” Germany Rwanda Etc.

Modern Day slavery Music?

Fashion?

Morals?

“Great evils sometimes grow out of people’s compliance with lesser evils.”

Factors that Influence Obedience

• • • • Authority figure - Prestige & presence = greater obedience Proximity of victim -- Milgram variations Personal responsibility – Experimenter vs. participant Escalation of harm – gradual = more obedience (foot-in-the-door)

How is our behavior affected by the presence of others or by being part of a group?

Digital History

• • • • NPR Report on Susan Sontag (17,000+ emails) Lots of you exists that you don’t have any control over.

Given enough material and a bias, you could form any kind of opinion about anyone.

It used to be that you could just burn any documentation.

Group Influences

• • • • • What do you do better when people are watching?

Demo: baskets! Volunteers (4) Home court advantage Social facilitation: Doing better on practiced or simple tasks when others are present Bottom line: what you do well, you’re likely to do better when people are watching, especially if they are friendly (and vice versa)

What causes these problems?

• • • • • • • Social loafing: Your input is dispensable?

You are less worried about what others think?

You’ll get the same benefits anyway?

Males in individualist cultures do this most Discussion?

Deindividuation – Diminished sense of responsibility • Examples: stadium riot, food fight, KKK costumes, war paint, “mob mentality”

What are group polarization and Groupthink?

• • Group Polarization: The enhancement of a group’s prevailing inclinations (ideas) through discussion. (Result: Bigger gaps between groups) • Benefits & Drawbacks – can increase resolve, understanding and tolerance, but can also increase division and prejudices • Polarizing political areas are a concern Groupthink—suppression of concerns or alternative views to maintain harmony, usually when there’s a charismatic leader.

How do cultural norms affect our behavior?

• • • • • • Common behaviors, attitudes, values & traditions Preservation of innovation Division of labor What about when cultures clash?

Changes in US culture – positive or negative?

What if we THINK they’re norms and they’re not? (False consensus effect)

A new definition of culture?

• • • David Matsumoto defines culture as: • • • • Relative affluence Population density Technology access Climate Have you ever tried to act against your culture? Give an example.

Homework: Survey people within your culture: What is considered rude behavior?

How much power do individuals have? Can a minority sway the majority?

• • Yes! There are all kinds of examples. What ones come to your mind?

Key: consistency – no waffling

Part III: Social Relations

• • Prejudice: mixture of beliefs (stereotypes), emotions and predisposition to action (discrimination) Subtle prejudice • Implicit racial association • Unconscious patronization • Race-influenced perceptions • Seeing Black • Reflexive bodily responses • Doll experiment video • Test your own http://implicit.harvard.edu

Why prejudice?

• • • • • • • • • Social Roots: Social inequalities? Haves vs. have nots and pursuant justification? Blame the victim dynamic Us and them (survival by banding together); social identities In-Group bias (Seahawks) Activity: Class is divided into two groups: Make a list of how the other group is not like you.

Discuss Weirdly, the most intense rivalries are between very similar groups

Why Prejudice?

• • Emotional Roots • Terror • Anger • Scapegoat theory Cognitive Roots • • • Categorization • Other-race effect Vivid cases The Just-World Phenomenon

Aggression

• • • • Any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy. Aggression or not (14-12) Requires biology + experience Biology? Too much variation = learned behavior, but there are biological factors: • Genes – the Y chromosome + more (pit bulls vs. cocker spaniels) • Neural influence -- amygdala stimulation and/or lessened frontal lobe activity = aggression

Aggression

• Biochemical influences— • • • (High T, low Serotonin = bad combo) Behavior can increase testosterone Alcohol unleashes aggression

Aggression

• Psychological Triggers: • • • • • • Aversive events Frustration-aggression principle • Thwarted goal • Pain Gap between reality and expectations Insults High temperatures Other personal peeves

Aggression

• Social and cultural influences • Learning—situations where aggression pays • • • • • • • • • • Ostracism—shunning, mocking, bullying Disparity between rich and poor Cultures within cultures Minimal father care Parenting styles Media influences/social scripts Pornography The rape myth Video games http://www.upworthy.com/see-how-these-men respond-when-a-woman-makes-sexist-remarks

Aggression & Video Games

• • • More violent games seems to equal • • • • More hostility More arguments and fights (10x nongamers) Worse grades Desensitization to violent imagery With both video games and pornography, the “catharsis hypothesis” seems to be disconfirmed “We are what we repeatedly do” -- Aristotle

Interesting Gun Facts (in book)

• • • More than 1 million people killed in the U.S. by firearms in nonwar settings in the past 40 years* Those who keep guns in the house are almost 3x more likely to be murdered in the home than those who don’t.

For every self-defense use of a gun in the home, there are: • • 4 unintentional shootings 7 criminal assaults or homicides • 11 attempted or completed suicides

Passive-Aggression

• • Manipulative, indirect ways of expressing anger.

An interesting blog: http://masksofsanity.blogspot.com/2011/04/p assive-aggressive-behavior.html

Attraction

• Why do we fall in love with some and not others?

• • • • Proximity • Mere exposure effect Attractiveness (sorry, looks do matter) Similarity (reality: opposites retract) Reward theory of attraction (reciprocity is good)

Romantic Love?

• • Passionate Love • • • Aroused state of intense positive absorption Two-factor theory of emotion (again) Adrenaline makes the heart grow fonder Companionate Love • • • Deep affectionate attachment Equity—both give and receive proportionately Self-disclosure (thoughts and feelings)

Altruism

• • The unselfish regard for the welfare of others (Sidenote: This is the basic philosophy of Hazen’s Leadership Class) Kitty Genovese (again)

Altruism

• • • • Bystander effect Diffusion of responsibility Best odds of helping: • The person appears to need help • • • • • • • The person is similar to us We just saw someone else being helpful We are not in a hurry We are in a small town We feel guilty We are focused on others, not preoccupied We are in a good mood But remember??? Actions create attitudes

Why Help at All?

• Self-interest dominates: • • • Cost-benefit analysis Utilitarianism Social exchange theory • Maximize rewards, minimize costs (what’s in it for me?)

So what IS in it for you?

• • • • • • Intrinsic rewards (feel better) Helpfulness breeds happiness Reciprocity norm (return help, not harm) Social responsibility norm (help those who don’t have the resources to give back) What examples can you think of that would make Hazen a better place? Homework: Come up with two altruistic ideas, practice them for a week, and write a reflection.

Conflict & Peacemaking

• • • Conflict: a perceived incompatibility of actions, goals or ideas.

Social traps Distorted perceptions

Peter & Cindy: Conflict Options

• • • • • • Problem: It’s vacation time. Peter wants to go to a mountain lodge; Cindy wants to go to a seaside resort. Conflict options: Contending (concern for self) Yielding (concern for others) Problem-solving (concern for both) Inactivity (concerns for self and other are weak) Withdrawal (no deal)

Key Concepts of Conciliation

• • • • • Mirror-image perceptions Self-fulfilling prophecies Contact Cooperation Superordinate goals