Social Psychology At least Attitude ChangePersuasion Group Behavior

Social Psychology: (At least) Attitude Change/Persuasion & Group Behavior CSCW January 28, 2004

Teams • Su, Rob, Mary, Yvonne: Blackboard • Prasant, Jing, Sirong: Community. Zero • Guarav, Chetan, Chris • Will, Angie, Arul, Jason

What’s the difference between Attitude Change and Persuasion? • ?

Persuasion • • • Reciprocity Commitment & Consistency Social Proof Liking Authority Scarcity

Reciprocity • Door-in-the-face Technique • Ask people for a big concession; They say no; Ask them for a smaller concession; They are more likely to say yes. • Ex: Chaperoning problem adolescents on a two-hour trip to the zoo vs. First asking them to work as volunteers in the Country Juvenile Detention Center, 2 hours/week for 2 years. 17% vs. 50% agreed to chaperon. (Cialdini) • The reciprocity in this is…. . • Asker must be viewed as reasonable, same person for both requests, happen quickly.

Consistency • Foot-in-the-door Technique • Initial small request followed by a bigger request. • Large, obtrusive sign in front yard saying “Drive Carefully” vs. first sign petition in favor of safe driving, then a different person two weeks later asked about sign (17% vs. 50%). • The consistency in this is ……

Social Proof • Other People Do It. • Kitty Genovese: no one else helping her. • (Bandura) Show nursery aged children who are very afraid of dogs another child playing with dogs happily for 20 minutes/day. After 4 days, 67% willing to climb into a playpen with a dog and remain their while every else left the room. • Works if video of child playing with dog. • Works better if video of different children playing with dogs.

Liking • • • Physical attractiveness Similarity Compliments Familiarity: mere exposure Cooperation: – Jigsaw Method (Aronson) – Eagles vs. Rattlers (Sherif) • Rivalry: Separating boys into two cabins; Giving the groups different name • Shared Goal: pulling truck out of the mud. – Conditioning and Association (weathermen, bad weather)

Authority • Obedience: A major concern of social psychology (influenced by WWII). • Milgram Obedience Experiment • Stanford Prison Experiment – A little known fact: Had screened out all people with strong pacifist or strong pro-war opinions (e. g. dissenters). • Connotation, not content (Britney Spears for Pepsi; that’s funny, it used to be Micheal Jackson) • Titles (“Psychologist”) • Clothes

Scarcity • My landlady: “I want to sell right away. Final price. ”

Group Behaviors • Non-social groups • Social groups – Behavior: Anonymity – Decisions: Type of task – Conformity • Group think • Group polarization – Process loss • Leaders – What makes a leader? – Fiedler’s contingency theory of leadership

What is a group? • Nonsocial groups – Mere Presence (social facilitation vs. social loafing) Enhanced Simple tasks SOCIAL FACILITATION Indiv. effort can be evaluated. Presence of others arousal SOCIAL LOAFING Indiv. effort can not Be evaluated. relaxation – Evaluation, arousal, task complexity Impaired Complex tasks Impaired Simple tasks Enhanced Complex tasks

Social Groups: Conformity • Solomon Asch • 8 people in each group---7 confederates • Judgments about line lengths, e. g. Which line is the same length as the following? 1. 2. 3.

Conformity • All confederates instructed to make the same wrong choices on certain trials. • Errors of majority ranged between 1/2 “ and 1 ¾”. • 68% of “critical subjects” reported the objectively correct answer. • 32% conformed to the majority. • Extreme individual differences • Majority of three enough to produce influence. One partner reduces effect to 10% yielding.

Anonymity • Anonymity is associated with asocial behavior. • Deindividuation • Ku Klux Klan • Destroying cars (Zimbardo)

Decisions • Are groups better or worse than individuals at making decisions?

Decisions: Type of Task

Decisions: Type of Task

Process Loss • = any aspect of group interaction that inhibits good problem solving • Can occur because: – The most competent member of the group has low status and is not taken seriously. – Most competent member might have concerns about evaluation by others – Communication problems in group. – Answer not simple or clear cut.

Shared Vs. Unshared Information 85% Prefer Candidate 24% Prefer Candidate Why? : Because people only talk about the SHARED INFORMATION.

Conformity • Group Think (Janis, 1982, 1972) • Bay-of-Pigs (Kennedy administration) • = a kind of thinking in which maintaining group cohesiveness and solidarity is more important than considering the facts realistically.

Symptoms & Consequences Group. Think: Antecedents, Cohesive Isolated fm. other opinion Directive leader High stress Poor decision making process Illusion of invulnerability Belief in moral correctness Outgroup viewed in simplistic ways Self-censorship Direct pressure on dissenters. Illusion of unanimity Mindguards Incomplete survey of alternatives Failure to examine risks Poor Information search Failure to develop contingency plans

Conformity: Group Polarization • Choice Dilemmas Questionnaire • A low-ranked participant in a national chess tournament, playing an early match against a highly favored opponent, has the choice of attempting or not trying a deceptive but risky maneuver that might lead to quick victory if it is successful or almost certain defeat if it fails.

Choice dilemmas questionnaire • Please indicate the lowest probability of success that you would accept before recommending that the chess player play the risky move: • __ 1 chance of success in 10 • __ 3 chances of success in 10 • __ 5 chances of success in 10 • __ 7 chances of success in 10 • __ 9 chances of success in 10 • __ I would not recommend the alternative no matter how high its likelihood of success.

Group Polarization • Roger, a young married man with two children, has a secure but low-paying job and no savings. Someone gives him a tip about a company stock that will triple in value if the firm’s new product is successful, but will plummet if the new product fails. Should Roger sell his life insurance policy and invest in the company?

Group Polarization • Please indicate the lowest probability of success that you would accept before recommending that Roger sell his life insurance policy and invest in the company: • __ 1 chance of success in 10 • __ 3 chances of success in 10 • __ 5 chances of success in 10 • __ 7 chances of success in 10 • __ 9 chances of success in 10 • __ I would not recommend the alternative no matter how high its likelihood of success.

Group Polarization • The tendency for groups to make decisions that are more extreme than the initial inclinations of its members. – Risky Shift is a term for when they take greater risks. • Culture-value theory: Americans (for example) value risk more than (for example) people in Uganda and Liberia. • Another kind of conformity in groups.

Leaders • What makes a leader?

Leaders • By studying leaders: – Intelligence, morality, motivation, family size, height, personality traits

Fiedler’s contingency theory of leadership

Leadership & Stress