Transcript Document 7365017

Social Psychology
The Power of the Situation
Social Thinking
Social Psychology
Scientific study of how we think about, influence, and
relate to one another
Actual, implied or imagined presence of others impacts beh
Attribution Theory
Tendency to give a causal explanation for someone’s
behavior, often by crediting either the situation or the
person’s disposition
Disposition vs. situation attributions
Social Thinking
Fundamental Attribution Error
Tendency for observers, when analyzing another’s
behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation
and to overestimate the impact of personal
disposition
Why?
Figure ground
Control
Same situation
Differential info
Social Thinking
How we explain someone’s behavior affects how
we react to it
Situational attribution
“Maybe that driver is ill.”
Tolerant reaction
(proceed cautiously, allow
driver a wide berth)
Dispositional attribution
“Crazy driver!”
Unfavorable reaction
(speed up and race past the
other driver, give a dirty look)
Negative behavior
Social Thinking
Attitude
Belief and feeling that predisposes one to respond in a
particular way to objects, people and events
Our behavior is affected by our inner attitudes as well as by
external social influences
Internal
attitudes
External
influences
Behavior
Attitude & Behavior
Attitudes -> behavior if…
External influences weak
Attitudes is specifically relevant for behavior
Aware of our attitudes
Attitude & Behavior
Behavior -> attitudes?
Role
Set of expectations about a social position
Defines how those in the position ought to behave
Playing a role leads to changed attitudes
Military/torture training
Stanford Prison Study
Attitude & Behavior
Behavior -> attitudes?
Foot-in-the-Door
Agreeing to small request -> greater compliance to a
later larger request
Why do behaviors change attitudes?
Attitude & Behavior
Cognitive Dissonance Theory
Inconsistent attitudes & behavior produce tension
We act to reduce dissonance
Change attitude
Attitude & Behavior
Must feel responsible
for & not have
justification for
incongruent behavior
$1 or $20
Only $1 condition
increased liking of task
Social Influence
Conformity
Adjusting one’s
behavior or thinking to
coincide with a group
standard
Social Influence
The chameleon effect - unconscious
conformity
Number
0.8
of times
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
Participant
rubs face
Confederate rubs face
Participant
shakes foot
Confederate shakes foot
Social Influence
Asch’s conformity experiments
Social Influence
Results
2/3 conformed > once
Subsequent research supported this
Group pressure
Social reality
Deviants threaten group defined reality
Pressure to uniformity
Social Influence
What increases
conformity?
Unanimous group
~3 group members
High group status
Observable behavior
Culture respecting
social standards
Why do we conform?
Desire to be LIKED
Normative Social Influence
Desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval
How? - act like others
Norm
Rule for accepted and expected behavior
Prescribes “proper” behavior
Social Influence
Desire to be RIGHT
Informational Social Influence
Willingness to accept others’ opinions about reality
Many issues not amendable to reality testing
Look to others to evaluate MY views
Others agree I must be right
• HATE groups
• Important issues
Social Influence
Obedience
Charles Manson
David Koresh
Nazis
What makes people obey?
Milgram shock study (1963)
Milgram Shock Studies
Percentage
of subjects
who obeyed
experimenter
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
The majority of
subjects continued
to obey to the end
Moderate
Very
Extreme
XXX
Slight (75-120) Strong strong Intense intensity Danger (435-450)
(15-60)
(135-180) (195-240) (255-300) (315-360) severe
(375-420)
Shock levels in volts
Milgram Shock Studies
WHY? - Situation
Social norms to obey
authority
Experimenter
Learner in other room
Gradual in nature - no
stopping point
Foot in the door
Dissonance
Prestigious University
We all could be
Nazis if the
situation is
right!
Group Influence
Social Facilitation
Improved performance of tasks in presence of others
Simple/well-learned tasks but not for difficult or not
yet mastered tasks
Olympics & record breaking
How?
Presence of others increases arousal
Arousal increases well-learned tasks, inhibits difficult tasks
Social Facilitation
Home Advantage in Major Team Sports
Sport
Games
Studied
Home Team
Winning
Percentage
Baseball
23,034
53.3%
Football
2,592
57.3
Ice hockey
4,322
61.1
Basketball
13,596
64.4
Soccer
37,202
69.0
Group Influence
Social Loafing
 People in a group exert less
effort than when working
alone
Group vs individual
accountability
Group Influence
Deindividuation
Loss of self-awareness and self-restraint in group
situations that foster arousal and anonymity
Mob Rules
Group Influence
Group Polarization
High +4
Enhancement of group’s
prevailing attitudes
through group discussion
+3
+2
High-prejudice
groups
+1
Prejudice 0
Low-prejudice
groups
-1
-2
-3
Low -4
Before discussion
After discussion
Group Influence
Groupthink
Desire for group harmony/concurrence overrides
realistic appraisal of alternatives
Antecedent conditions
Cohesive group
Insulation from experts
Directive leadership
Group think
Decision deficits
Few alternatives
No risk examination
Rejecting negative information about choice
No contingency plan
Social RelationsAttractiveness
Proximity
Being close
Mere exposure effect- repeated exposure to novel stimuli
increases liking of them
Physical Attractiveness
Culturally dependent
Youthfulness & health
Similarity
Common attitudes, beliefs, interests
Social Relations
Passionate Love
An aroused state of intense positive
absorption in another
Usually present at the beginning of a love
relationship
Companionate Love
Deep affectionate attachment we feel for
those with whom our lives are intertwined
Social Relations
Altruism
Unselfish regard for the
welfare of others
When do by-standers help
during emergencies?
Rarely - due to features of
situation
Emergency situations
No benefit
No experience
Sudden
Social Relations
The decision-making process for
bystander intervention
Notices
incident?
Yes
Yes
Yes
Interprets
Assumes
incident as
responsibility?
emergency?
No
No
help
No
No
help
No
No
help
Attempts
to help
Model of Helping
1. Notice incident
Social norms (don’t stare!)
Ambiguous situations
Groups narrow our attentional focus
2. Interpret as emergency
Want to look cool (norm SI)
Social comparison (info SI)
Pluralistic Ignorance
Model of Helping
3. Responsible to act
Diffusion of responsibility
More people each person
feels less responsible
Summary
Atttribution
Attitudes
Conformity
Obedience
Social facilitation/loafing
Social relations