Social Thinking Objectives Apply attribution theory to explain

Social Thinking

Objectives ● Apply attribution theory to explain motives (e. g. , fundamental attribution error, self-serving bias). ● Explain how individuals respond to expectations of others, including groupthink, conformity, and obedience to authority. ● Discuss attitudes and how they change (e. g. , central route to persuasion).

Social Psychology ● The scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another

Attribution Theory ● The theory that we explain someone’s behavior by crediting either the situation or the person’s disposition. Ex. If a new friend acts really shy at a party, we may attribute it to the situation (the party) or her personality (shy).

Fundamental Attribution Error The tendency for observers, when analyzing another’s behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition. Example: In class Jack may be quiet as Juliette. Catch Juliette as the lead in the high school musical and you may hardly recognize her.

Attitude shallow: feelings, influenced by beliefs that predispose us to respond in particular way to objects, people and events example: believing someone is mean and acting unfriendly towards them deep strategy:

Central Route Persuasion ● Attitude change path in which interested people focus on the arguments and respond with favorable thoughts o someone may be persuaded to buy a product because the advertisement cites facts and studies, not because it was endorsed by a celebrity

Peripheral Route Persuasion attitude change the path in which people are influenced by incidental cues, such as a speaker’s attractiveness. Example: endorsement by respected people.

Foot-in-the-door Phenomenon ● the tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request comply later with a larger request. ● Ex. during the Korean war, Chinese communists use the effect to “train” their prisoners o start off with small requests like speaking trivial statements o escalate to admitting the flaws of capitalism or having a public confession

Foot-in-the-door cont.

Role shallow: set of expectations for a social position defining how we ought to behave when in that position role: following social norms; “Fake it till you make it” example: following expectations when you enroll in the military and pretend to be a soldier

Conformity ● Adjusting one’s behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard

Social Thinking

Normative Social Influence Shallow: Influence resulting from a persons desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval. Deep: People will do and say what others do to gain social approval and avoid rejection. Example: We clap when others clap, eat as others eat, believe what others believe, even see what others see.

Informational Social Influence Shallow: Influence resulting from one’s willingness to accept other’s opinions about reality. Deep: Groups may provide valuable information, and only an uncommonly stubborn person will never listen to others. Example: People respect the police and will follow the laws. They will follow the authority they have, while others will break the laws.

Social Facilitation Shallow: Stronger responses on simple or well-learned tasks in the presence of others. Deep: One will respond better in doing a task when they have others looking, or when competing with others. Example: After a light turns green, drivers take about 15 percent less time to travel the first 100 yards when another car is beside them at the intersection then when they are alone.

Social Loafing Echo Durham Shallow: the tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually accountable. Deep/example: I. e. group projects for a history class: students will put in less effort when they understand that another student could do more work with them/for the group. http: //www. psychologyandsociety. com/socialloafing. html

Deindividuation Echo Durham Shallow: the loss of self-awareness and self-restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity. Deep: When in a group, one may lose sense of themself, and may conform to the rest of the group with whatever they are choosing to do in that situation, and may feel aroused by this. Example: In Russia, one may feel politically oppressed, and that one person may speak their mind, and begin a riot and others may follow. http: //www. goodtherapy. org/blog/psychpedia/deindividuation

Deindividuation Echo Durham ● Objective: Describe the structure and function of deindividuation

Group polarization Shallow: the tendency for groups to make more extreme decisions than the initial thoughts of individual members Deep: Angry mobs can be violent and often make decisions because they are in a group setting. They think like one single unit rather than a collection of individuals. Example: Ferguson riots, the mobs destroyed towns and looted. Most of these people would not do it on their own.

Group Polarization(cont. ) Objectives: Describe the structure and function of group polariztion

Groupthink Shallow: the mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives Deep: the word groupthink has group and think in it, which is pretty much the main point of the word; group thinking Example: If one is in a group and everyone decides to go to a certain resturaunt, the individual would go with that decision even if they want something else because of the majority opinion

Groupthink(cont. ) Objectives: Explain how individuals respond to expectations of others including groupthink

Cognitive dissonance Shallow: theory that we act to reduce the discomfort we feel when two of our thoughts are inconsistent Deep: We need to take care of the environment but we drive cars that are not environmentally friendly. Theme: Discuss attitude formation and change, including persuasion strategies and cognitive dissonance. Attitude formation-feelings, often influenced by our beliefs, that predispose us to respond in a particular way to objects, people, and events –cognitive 
(how
we
think
or
reason
through
an
attitude) – emotional 
(how
we
feel
regarding
an
attitude) – behavioral
 (how
we
act
on
an
attitude) Change- noticing what has changed around you Persuasion strategies- are the strategies you use to try to persuade someone. There are 7 of them. Example: Attitude formation- When making a decision I go through my beliefs before making an decision. Change- I look around for change in my life. Past from present. Persuasion change- When in a business meeting i persuade my co workers to agree with my ideas.

Theory Shallow: an explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events Deep/ Example: Classical conditioning is a type of learning that had a major influence on the school of thought in psychology known as behaviorism.

Social Influence

Culture The enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next. Creates a sense of identity for an individual within a group. The Sikh people of the Punjab region of India have a very different culture from the West. Where we consider altering appearances as a requirement to meet beauty standards, the Sikh people refuse to alter their outward appearances in any way, including not removing any body hair whatsoever, and consider that to be their standard of beauty.

Prejudice Deep strategy/example: ● a TSA screener may take more or less precautions when people pass through airport security based on what they are wearing and the color of their skin ● an unjustifiable (and usually negative) attitude toward a group and its members. Prejudice generally involves stereotyped beliefs, negative feelings, and a predisposition to discriminatory action Social Influence: ● Contributing factors to prejudice are a lack of understanding for people who are different from one’s own “ingroup”. Those who also perceive themselves or their “ingroup” as superior to other groups are more prejudiced against others.

Norm An understood rule for accepted and expected behavior. Norms prescribe “proper” behavior. Knowing when to clap or bow, how to act on the first day of school, how to dress, what gestures and compliments are appropriate (handshaking or cheek-kissing? which one? !? !), allows us to live among each other without fear of embarrassment or insult.

Stereotype A generalized (sometimes accurate but often overgeneralized) belief about a group of people People who are not from Asian countries sometimes believe that Asians are bad drivers. Whether or not this may be true, it is an overgeneralization of the entire race.

Exhibit A: A bad Asian driver.

Discrimination Definition: Unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group and its member Deep Strategy: In the 1900 s, racial segregation was created to separate the blacks and whites from daily life (activities, restaurants, etc).

Ingroup Definition: “Us” - people with whom we share a common identity Deep Strategy: Christians share a common identity than those who believe in the idea Buddhism

Outgroup Definition: “Them” - those perceived as different or apart from our ingroup. Deep Strategy: Students, especially in high school, put those who differ from themselves in an “outgroup”. For example, the students who make poor choices are usually ostracized by students who are educationally motivated and involved.

Deep Strategy: Ingroup Bias People do this with their friend group, people who share Definition: similar religious beliefs, and The tendency to people from the same race. For favor our own group. example, for a long time interracial marriage was not acceptable because the white majority didn’t believe African. Americans were of their same status.

Theme We are predisposed to learn from and mirror the actions of those around us to create an environment that facilitates individual improvement without the fear of embarrassment or insult, and develops a sense of identity within a group.

Social Influence By: Russell Boston III, Sami Harrell, Mitchell Mc. Quigg, Wyatt Diaz

Vocab - Scapegoat Theory: Theory that prejudice offers an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame Other-Race Effect: The tendency of humans to recognize faces of their own race more accurately than those of other races Just-World Phenomenon: tendency for people to believe the world is just and that people therefore get what they deserve and deserve what they get Aggression: Physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt someone. Frustration-Aggression Principle: The principle that frustration- the blocking of an attempt to achieve some goal-creates anger which can generate aggression

Scapegoat Theory Deep: Using prejudices formed by a certain group or society that you are part make it easy to blame others for problems affecting the group Example: Everyone in the class taught by a “bad teacher” fails the first test of the year because they didn’t study. Rather than acknowledge their own lack of preparation, they blame their teacher for not preparing them well for the exam.

Other-Race Effect Deep: When people are among a crowd - Black people remember people best - White people remember white people best - Etc. . . Example: When Russell meets his new teammates next year, he will most likely remember the faces of his black teammates better than those of his other teammates initially.

Just-World Phenomenon Deep: Karma, justice is served naturally, every action has a consequence, whether its good or bad Example: Someone robs a bank, they are then punished by being put in jail. They get what they deserved for the actions they committed.

Aggression Deep: Taking anger out on someone to physically or verbally hurt them Example: Wyatt slapped Mitch in the face which made Mitch take his aggression out on Wyattj

Frustration-Aggression Phenomenon Deep: Anger caused by frustration or disappointment Example: Sami’s team is losing in soccer. She becomes frustrated which then leads to aggression. She takes out her anger on a player of the other team by hockey checking them.

Social Relations

Mere Exposure Effect Shallow: phenomenon that repeated exposure to novel stimuli increases liking of them. Deep: Familiarity breeds acceptance. Example: a penguin born completely white was ostracized by his black-and-white counterparts, but after 3 weeks of contact he was accepted.

Objective Familiarity breeds attraction by proximity.

Passionate Love Shallow: An aroused state of intense positive absorption in another, usually present at the beginning of a love relationship. Deep: The Honeymoon (Cupcake) Phase. Example: Romeo and Juliet.

Objective People that have passionate love see the person through rose-colored glasses which breeds attraction.

Companionate Love Shallow: the deep affectionate attachment we feel for those with whom our lives are intertwined. Deep: We’re all in this together. Example: a good marriage.

Objective Survival is dependent on those we are companionate with, which breeds attraction.

Equity Shallow: a condition in which people receive from a relationship in proportion to what they give to it. Deep: what you give is what you get. Example: splitting responsibilities between roommates (I take out the trash this week, you next).

Objective If one receives what one needs from a relationship then that breeds attraction.

Self-disclosure Shallow: revealing intimate aspects of oneself to others. Deep: telling one’s secrets to one’s friends/loved ones. Example: telling a partner about your dark past.

Objective People find deeper intimacy by sharing personal information which breeds attraction.

Altruism Shallow: unselfish regard for the welfare of others. Deep: helping others. Example: Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Objective Altruism is inspired by example and by the happiness we feel inside when we help others. In other words, the feelings that altruistic actions inspire breed attraction to the actions themselves and the people who perform them.

Bystander Effect Shallow: the tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present. Deep: “Oh yeah, why didn’t YOU do something? ” Example: This is why in an emergency you give a specific person the job of calling 911, instead of saying “Somebody call 911”.

Objective When we are alone, we are more likely to react to emergency situations, but when there are others around, we are less likely to act because we feel someone else will handle it. Other people being around breeds attraction to not acting.

Social Relations Objectives Predict the impact of the presence of others on individual behavior. Describe the variables that contribute to altruism, aggression and attraction.

Group Six Theme: Social Relations

Objectives Describe the structure and function of different kinds of group behavior (e. g. , deindividuation, group polarization) Explain how individuals respond to expectations of others , including groupthink, conformity, and obedience to authority Discuss attitudes and how they change (e. g. , central route to persuasion) Predict the impact of the presence of others on individual behavior (e. g. , bystander effect, social facilitation) Describe processes that contribute to differential treatment of group members ( e. g. , in-group/out-group gynamics, ethnocentrism, prejudice) Describe the variables that contribute to altruism, aggression, and attraction

Social Exchange Theory Definition: theory that our social behavior is an exchange process, the aim of which is to maximize benefits and minimize costs Example: If you are pondering whether to donate blood, you may weigh the costs of doing so, (time, discomfort, and anxiety) against the benefits (reduced guilt, social approval, and good feelings). If the rewards you anticipate from helping exceed the costs, you will help.

Reciprocity Norm Definition: an expectation that people will help, not hurt, those who have helped them Example: We leave tips for people we will never see again because we have been socialized to do so through norms that prescribed how we ought to behave, often to our mutual benefit

Social-Responsibility Norm Definition: an expectation that people will help those dependent upon them Example: On January 2 nd, 2007, construction worker Wesley Audrey and his 6 & 4 year-old daughters were waiting for a subway train. In front of them, a man collapsed in a seizure, got up, then stumbled to the platform’s edge and fell onto the tracks. Audrey made a split decision when he saw the train’s headlights approaching to jump from the platform, push the man off the tracks, and into a foot-deep space between them, and laid on top of him. He then yelled that he had two daughters and to let them know that their dad is okay.

Conflict Definition: a perceived incompatibility of actions, goals, or ideas Example: Elements are same at all levels. There are nations at war which are conflicts, and individuals in a martial dispute, which is also a conflict. The similarity in all conflicts, is that people become involved in a potentially destructive social process that can produce unwanted results. In a war, the casualties are unwanted and in a martial dispute, divorce is unwanted

Superordinate Goals Definition: shared goals that override differences among people and require their cooperation Example: Two basketball teams were competing against one another for the championship. After the game, both teams suffered many injury’s causing both teams to not be eligible to play in the championship. Although rivals, the two teams joined together and shared superordinate goals of winning the championship

Mirror-Image Perceptions Definition: mutual views often held by conflicting people, as when each side sees itself as ethical and peaceful and views the other side as evil and aggressive Julia believes that Max is annoyed of her, she may snub or brushoff him, causing him to act in ways that justify his perception.

Social Trap Definition: a situation in which the conflicting parties, by each rationally pursuing their selfinterest, become caught in mutually destructive behavior Example: Maddy enjoys to eat treats and goodies, and continues to eat in her teenage years. However, she will pay for it later with the problems associated with obesity

GRIT: Graduated and Reciprocated Initiatives in Tension-Reduction- a strategy designed to decrease international tensions Example: Danielle who has a B in her psychology class uses her “gritty” personality to raise her B to an A by the end of the semester.