Social Psychology crash course thru 3 29 Attitude

Social Psychology crash course thru 3: 29 Attitude Attraction Aggression Group Behavior the scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another

Why is this man homeless? rich?

Attribution Theory • theory that we tend to give a causal explanation for someone’s behavior, often crediting either the situation or the person’s disposition • it is either… 1. dispositional (internal) attributions: ascribe causes of behavior to traits, abilities and feelings 2. situational (external) attributions: ascribe causes of behavior to situational demands and environmental restraints

Fundamental Attribution Error When observing others, we tend to overestimate the role of dispositional factors and underestimate situational factors. Proposed reasons why observers tend to blame the person rather than the situation: 1. Situational pressures may not be readily apparent to observer. 2. Attributing behavior to dispositions is effortless, almost automatic process. The more familiar you are with an individual, the less likely you are to commit this error when evaluating their behavior.

Actor-Observer Bias • Tendency to attribute one's own actions to external causes, while attributing other people's behaviors to internal causes. • Essentially, people tend to make different attributions depending upon whether they are the actor or the observer in a situation. • The actor-observer bias tends to be more pronounced in situations where the outcomes are negative. • In essence, it is the opposite of the F. A. E.

False Consensus Effect We tend to overestimate the extent in which others share our beliefs and behaviors. Self-Serving Bias If you win it is because you are awesome…if you lose, it must have been the referees or weather or….

Defensive Attribution • Defensive attribution: tendency to blame victims for their misfortune, so that one feels less likely to be victimized in a similar way. • Let’s say your friend gets mugged. • You may attribute the mugging to your friend’s carelessness or stupidity rather than bad luck. • Why? • Because if you attribute it to bad luck, you have to face the reality that it could as easily happen to you!

Attitudes • Attitudes are feelings often based on our beliefs that predisposes us to respond in a particular way to objects, people and events. • Made up of three components: • 1. Cognitive component: beliefs people hold about the object • 2. Affective component: emotional feelings stimulated by an object of thought • 3. Behavioral component: predispositions to act in certain ways toward an attitude object • Question remains: Do attitudes affect actions? Do actions affect attitudes?

Two Types of Attitudes • Explicit attitudes: attitudes that we hold consciously and can readily describe • Implicit attitudes: covert attitudes that are expressed in subtle automatic responses that people have little conscious control over

Attitude and Behavior start @ 7: 53 • Do attitudes tell us about someone’s behavior? Cognitive Dissonance Theory Khan Academy You have a belief that cheating on tests is bad. But you cheat on a test!!! The teacher was really bad so in that class it is OK. • People want to have consistent attitudes and behaviors… when they are not, they experience dissonance (unpleasant tension). • Usually they will change their attitude.

Attitudes and Advertising is ALL based on attitude formation ü Mere Exposure Effect ü Central Route v. Peripheral Route ü start @ 3: 19 ü cartoon of central/peripheral r. o. p ü Central ü Peripheral

Compliance Strategies start @ 4: 46 • Foot-in-the-door phenomenon • Door-in-the-face phenomenon • Norms of Reciprocity

Zimbardo’s Prison Study start @ 4: 12 cartoon example • Illustrated the importance of role playing & deindividuation in attitude formation. • Philip Zimbardo had students at Stanford U play the roles of prisoner and prison guards in the basement of psychology building. • They were given uniforms and numbers for each prisoner. • What do you think happened?

Results of Zimbardo’s Experiment • Zimbardo’s two week study had to be cut short after only 6 days. • The guards had conformed so much to what was expected of their role that they began to punish and humiliate the prisoners in manners that could possibly cause harm. • The guards’ attitudes towards their role as guards influenced their actions in the “prison”. • Zimbardo’s experiment also brought up many ethical concerns of psychological research.

Conformity Studies Candid Camera: accurate example? why? • Adjusting one’s behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard.

Obedience to Authority • After World War II many social psychologists became interested in explaining how the Nazis convinced people to follow through with atrocious acts during the Holocaust. • In the early 1960 s, Yale researcher Stanley Milgram carried out one of the most important studies in all of psychology. • He wanted to see how far normal people would go at the request of an authority figure.

Milgram’s Study of Obedience replication

Milgram’s Obedience Experiment • Milgram created a situation in which an authority figure ordered a volunteer to “teach” another volunteer and to punish that “learner” (an accomplice of the experiment) if and when he made a mistake. • Electric shocks were used as the punisher. • The teacher could administer increasing levels of shock up to a maximum 450 volts. • The teacher and learner communicated via microphone in separate rooms.

Results of the Milgram Study

What did we learn from Milgram? • Ordinary people will do “shocking” things when told to do so (obedience). • Later studies revealed that obedience varied with… ü Proximity of Authority Figure ü Respect for Authority Figure ü Depersonalization of “Student” ü Role Models of Disobedience • Ethical issues… ü Would not have received approval from IRB (Internal Review Board) today.

Solomon Asch’s Conformity Experiment • Solomon Asch conducted studies in the 1950’s on conformity to group pressure. • He seated a number of individuals together and asked them to verbally respond to some questions. • All but one of the participants were accomplices (confederates) of Asch who had told them to give obviously wrong answers. • The idea was to see if the target volunteer went along with those answers, even against their better judgment.

Asch’s Study of Conformity Experiment modern example; start @ 2: 46

Asch’s Results • About 1/3 of the time, participants conformed. • 70% of participants conformed at least once. To strengthen conformity: • The group is unanimous • The group is at least three people. • One admires the group’s status • One had made no prior commitment.

Reasons for Conforming Khan Academy Normative Social Influence: Informational Social Influence: Influence resulting from a person’s desire to gain approval or avoid disappointment Influence resulting from one’s willingness to accept others’ opinions about reality

Would how you dress for school be affected, if you lived in small-town Texas? • When could this be an example of normative example of social influence? informative social influence?

Group Influence

Social Facilitation Theory • If you are really good at something…. or it is an easy task…you will perform BETTER in front of a group. • If it is a difficult task or you are not very good at it…you will perform WORSE in front of a group (social impairment).

Social Loafing • The tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling efforts toward a common goal than if they were individually accountable.

Deindividuation Trick or Treat • People get swept up in a group and lose sense of self. • Feel anonymous and aroused. • Explains rioting behaviors.

Group Polarization Khan Academy(begin @ 4: 05) • Groups tend to make more extreme decisions than the individual; strengthen common beliefs

Groupthink Phineas and Ferb Khan Academy • Group members suppress their reservations about the ideas supported by the group. • They are more concerned with group harmony. • Works in highly cohesive groups.

Stereotypes, Prejudice and Discrimination start @ 2: 10 Stereotype • Overgeneralized idea about a group of people. Prejudice • Undeserved (usually negative) attitude towards a group of people. Ethnocentrism is a typical result of prejudice. Discrimination • An action based on a prejudice.

Is it just race? NO • Palestinians and Jews • Lassiter and Kell • Men and Women

How does prejudice occur? Social Roots • In-Group Bias • In-Group versus Out. Groups Human Zoo • Scapegoat Theory Cognitive Roots • Categorization • “Vivid Cases” (Based on the Availability Heuristic- violent actions of groups or individuals often first come to mind) • Just World Phenomenon- the belief that good is rewarded and evil is punished and therefore there is justice in the world. Ex: rich man might see his own success and a poor man’s suffering as well deserved.

Combating Prejudice Contact Theory • Contact between hostile groups will reduce animosity if they are made to work towards a superordinate goal.

Prejudices can often lead to a… Self-Fulfilling Prophecy • A prediction that causes itself to be true. example • “A Class Divided” – Blue Eye / Brown Eye Lesson • Rosenthal and Jacobson’s “Pygmalion Effect” experiment.

Aggression • Aggression is defined as an act of delivering an aversive stimulus to an unwilling victim. • Psychologists distinguish two types of aggression: • 1. Instrumental aggression: action in which satisfaction of some goal behavior or benefit. – (i. e. "fighting your way through a crowd”) • 2. Hostile aggression: results when a person feels pain, anger or frustration and attempts to strike out against someone or something. – (i. e. “road rage” or punching a wall)

Basis of Aggression Biology of Aggression start @3: 06 • Genetic (Twins, Y Chromosome) • Neural (Amygdala, Frontal Lobes) • Biochemical Factors (Hormones, Alcohol) Psychology of Aggression • Bandura’s Modeling (Social learning Theory) • Frustration-Aggression Principle • Other Aversive Stimuli (Heat, Foul Odors, Pollutants)

Hot Weather and Aggression

Aggression and TV Watches = • By the time you are 18, you spend more time in front of TV than in school • 2/3 of all homes have 3 or more sets average 51 hours a week. • By the time a child finishes elementary school they have witnessed 8000 murders and 100, 000 other acts of violence on TV • Over half of all deaths do NOT show the victim's pain • As TV watching has grown exponentially, so does violent behaviora strong positive correlation with aggression.

Conflict start @ 8: 15 • a perceived incompatibility of actions, goals, or ideas • social trap – a situation in which the conflicting parties, by each rationally pursuing their selfinterest, become caught in mutually destructive behavior

Attraction and Love Biological factors: • Neural- Hypothalamus (influences sex drive through the production of oxytocin, dopamine and serotonin), Pituitary Gland (release of hormones), Frontal Lobe (Processing and Decision Making). • Biochemical- hormones (estrogen, testosterone, adrenaline) and pheromones

5 Factors of Attraction

Proximity • Physical nearness • Mere Exposure Effect • Familiarity breeds Fondness § Taiwanese Letters § Student/Classmate

Reciprocal Liking • You are more likely to like someone who likes you. • Why? • Except in elementary school!!!!

Similarity • Paula Abdul was wrong- opposites do NOT attract. • Birds of the same feather do flock together. • Similarity breeds content.

Liking through Association • Classical Conditioning can play a part in attraction. • If I were incredibly fond of a certain restaurant and I saw the same waiter every time I ate there, I might begin to associate that waiter with the good feelings I get by going to that restaurant.

What is beauty? Youth and Symmetry seem to be two culturally universal marks of attractiveness.

The Hotty Factor • Physical attractiveness predicts dating frequency • They are perceived as healthier, happier, more honest and successful than less attractive counterparts.

Beauty and Culture Women's Beauty Standards Men's Beauty Standards Obesity is so revered among Mauritania's white Moor Arab population that the young girls are sometimes force-fed to obtain a weight the government has described as "life-threatening".

So Why Does Gondek Have a Crush on Hank Green? ? ? • Mere Exposure Effect: • 14 Units (Sometimes multiple Crash Courses a unit) x 4 classes of AP Psych last year= A whole lot of Crash Course • Liking through Association: • She loves AP Psych and shows Crash Course during that class. • Facial Symmetry: • Studies have shown that wearing glasses improves facial symmetry. • She’s a big nerd.

Do People Really Have a “Type” Science says: Maybe? !? !? Thought the research is for the most part varied and inconclusive, the idea of someone having a “type” comes from the development of schemas, or frameworks for our ideal partner. These schemas can be consistent over time or change based on individual experiences.

Instructions Read each personal ad, and, using your knowledge of psychology, determine which two people will be most likely to become involved and why. • Shy and Single—Long Island, Jewish, professional (32) seeks long-term relationship. I enjoy music (folk and rock), the outdoors, reading, and sushi. • Come Build a Future With Me—Suburban, Chicago, carpenter looking for a companion (25 -35) for friendship and more. Favorite activities include concerts, dining, and athletics. • Alone in the City That Never Sleeps—Manhattan business executive ready to settle down. I love pets and children and like to travel, go to movies, and read. • Life of the Party Seeks Partner—Single secretary in San Francisco looking for life partner. I am ambitious, vivacious, and delicious. I enjoy jogging, yoga, and creative pursuits.

Theories of Love • In the 1970’s John Lee identified six types of love styles: • 1. Eros: passionate physical and emotional love based on aesthetic enjoyment • 2. Ludus – a love that is played as a game or sport • 3. Storge – an affectionate love that slowly develops from friendship • 4. Pragma – love that is driven by the head, not the heart • 5. Mania – obsessive love; experience great emotional highs and lows; very possessive and often jealous lovers • 6. Agape – selfless altruistic love

Theories of Love • Robert Sternberg: most know for his “triarchic theory of intelligence” also came up with his own “triarchic theory of love”. • The main “goal” of love according to Sternberg is what he called consummate love. • Consummate love is made up of three components: • 1. passion: intense desire to be with the other person • 2. intimacy: emotional closeness • 3. commitment: desire to maintain the relationship • Other specific forms of love are made up of combinations of these three components.

Prosocial Behavior start @ 5: 30 start @ 7: 53 • Kitty Genovese case, NY • What Happened to Kitty Genovese • Bystander Effect ü conditions under which people are more or less likely to help one another. In general, the more people around, the less chance of help. ü Why? Diffusion of Responsibility • Altruism-unselfish regard for the welfare of others • modern example

Altruism What makes it likely that someone will help, counteracting the “bystander effect”? üPresence of Examples üNot in a Hurry üVictim Appears to Need/Deserve Help üVictim is Similar to Observer üSmall Town / Rural Area üFeelings of Guilt üFocused on Others / Not Preocuppied üGood Mood

Social Exchange Theory start @ 7: 25 The idea that our social behavior is an exchange process, which we maximize benefits and minimize costs (weigh the pro’s/cons of giving blood!) Reciprocity Norm to give as much as we receive “AA sent me some beautiful address labels this year so I will donate $$ to them”