individual behavior Beliefs Attitudes social context Roles Norms

individual behavior Beliefs Attitudes social context Roles Norms Think operant conditioning: what is the consequence of obeying norms? Violating norms?

individual behavior Beliefs Attitudes social context Roles Norms how do roles, norms, beliefs, and attitudes do their work? * Attributions Stereotypes Prejudices Deindividuation Entrapment

Do people behave differently when they are in large groups? Fans after a big game? Protesters at a rally? Fans at a concert of The Who? What happens to our sense of personal responsibility in a crowd or other group? or ?

Roles: Positions in society that come with guidelines for behavior What are some roles in society? What are some roles you play? Student Teacher Child Sibling Parent Waitstaff Cashier Manager

Norms: Unspoken rules for behavior Social norms: What is a dating ritual that would be ok at 12 and not ok now ? Country/cultural norms: In this country, where is it ok to wear sneakers? Family norms: In your house, is the TV on during dinner? Is the TV on most of the day?

individual behavior Beliefs Attitudes Zimbardo’s Prison Study social context Roles Norms Deindividuation Entrapment

Roles Norms What were the roles assigned to participants? How are people in those roles supposed to behave in the ‘real world’? Deindividuation individua Entrapment How did the prison study take away the ‘individuality’ of the participants? Once a ‘guard’ has done of couple of guard-like things to a ‘prisoner, ’how does he feel about himself? How might he justify that behavior? Zimbardo’s Prison Study

individual behavior Beliefs Attitudes Milgram’s Obedience Experiment social context Roles Norms Entrapment Diffusion of responsibility

Roles What roles were involved in Milgram’s study? Entrapment Once a participant had ‘shocked’ a learner a few times, how would s/he explain her behavior to him/herself? Diffusion of responsibility Who might the ‘teachers’ have blamed for their behavior? Milgram’s Obedience Experiment What are the norms for behavior toward a person in a lab coat in charge of technical equipment? Has this changed at all in recent years? Why?

What portion of participants were willing to play the assigned role? All administered some shock. 2/3 administered ‘life-threatening’ shock. What historical events inspired Milgram’s work? What more recent events does the work remind you of? Milgram’s Obedience Experiment What is the role of fear in this kind of behavior?

Stereotyping A mental trick we use to fill in gaps in our knowledge If I don’t know many _______ people, where will my ideas about them come from?

Stereotyping Stereotypes are not necessarily ‘negative’ – but what are some flaws with stereotyping as a strategy for understanding the world? Magnify differences – we focus on what’s different between “them” and “us” Self-fulfilling; self-supporting - we notice what fits, and ignore the rest Hide differences – we focus on what’s the same about all of “them”

Prejudice = Negative Stereotype + Strong Negative Feeling Where does prejudice come from? • Often a strategy for dealing with fear – homophobia, economic insecurity • ‘We take care of our own’ – social evolutionary function? • Economic/political function – Those in power maintain power by claiming those without power are inferior (what kind of attribution are these powerful people making? ? ) Irrational: Unable to ‘hear’ information that contradicts the belief

Prejudice What happens to prejudice when the economy is bad? Why?