What is Social Psychology z Scientific Study of

What is Social Psychology? z. Scientific Study of how our thoughts, feelings and behaviors are influenced by others (and vice versa)

What is Person Perception? § Person Perception is the process of forming impressions of others. § We dress up for job interviews and maybe dress down for our friend’s party. § We might not mention embarrassing stuff about ourselves.

To be HOT or NOT? z Good looking people are seen as more sociable, friendly, poised, warm, well-adjusted than ugly people. 5’ 9, 110 pounds and anorexic z But people tend to downplay good looking people’s accomplishments and attribute them to their good looks

In reality. . . z. Research indicates there is little correlation between attractiveness and personality traits.

Ladies, which do you prefer? Although prejudice prevails against women, more people feel positively toward women than men. Women rated picture b [feminized] higher (66%) for a matrimonial ad (Perrett & others, 1998). Professor Dave Perrett, St. Andrews University

Ladies, which do you prefer?

Keener on Relationships

Guys, which do you prefer?

Keener on Short Term Sex

Evolutionary Perspective on attractiveness z Female attractiveness is related to child-bearing features: big breasts, curvy hips, overall health and vigor. z Male attractiveness is related to man’s ability to protect and provide. Women (when ovulating) like strong shoulders and masculine features. Otherwise, women like more nurturing qualities.

Evolutionary Perspective on attractiveness z Facial symmetry is the most consistent factor for attractiveness.

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Baby faces z. For partners, women prefer baby faced men, except when they are ovulating. Women prefer masculine men for affairs. z. In terms of competence, we prefer mature -looking men.

Baby Face z. Baby faced men are seen as more trustworthy, honest, relatively warm, submissive, helpless and naïve. z. Evidence suggests there is no association between baby-faced features and these traits. z. Masculine men are seen as competent, strong

Social Relations. Attractiveness Variables § Conceptions of attractiveness vary by culture § Physical Attractiveness is KEY

How to get someone to like you… z Proximity: y. Geographic nearness to someone promotes getting some to like you. y. Sit by them in class. z Mere Exposure Effect y. Repeated exposure to something breeds liking. y. Be seen in class.

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

Similarity z Opposites do NOT attract (for long) z Birds of the same feather DO flock together. z Similarity breeds content.

Liking through Association • Classical Conditioning can play a part in attraction. • I love Bread Co. If I see the same cashier every time I go there, I may begin to associate that cashier with the good feelings I get from Bread Co.

Social Schemas z. In Piaget’s Preoperational stage, children have schemas about what a dog is. At first they think a dog is ALL furry animals with tails. z. Social Schemas: Organized clusters of ideas about categories of social events and people.

Social Schema Examples z We act differently at church than we do at a party. z We have a schema about how a professor’s office might look or how you might feel on the first day of school.

Stereotypes z. A type of schema z. A specific characteristic we assume somebody has because of their social schema.

Stereotypes, Prejudice and Discrimination Stereotype: • Overgeneralized idea about a group of people. Prejudice: • Undeserved (usually negative) attitude towards a group of people. Ethnocentrism is an example of a prejudice. Discrimination: • An action based on a prejudice.

Discrimination: • An action based on a prejudice. • 1963, Birmingham

Elizabeth Eckford Her name is Hazel Bryant.

z. In-group vs. out-group – just like in a high school cafeteria, in the wild, animals need to distinguish friend from foe. z. Way to organize people as friend (Ingroup) and foe (Out-group)

z. Ingroup bias - Those in the ingroup are viewed in a positive light, while those in the outgroup are viewed in terms of negative stereotypes. (they are inferior, they are all alike)

Does perception change with race?

Prejudice leads to discrimination z Social Roots to Prejudice (attitude)=social inequality, blame the victim, in group vs. out group z Emotional Roots to Prejudice : Fear and anger of the unknown z Cognitive Roots to Prejudice: Social schemas, just world phenomenon (defined later in powerpoint), availability heuristics

How Prejudiced are People? Over the duration of time many prejudices against interracial marriage, gender, homosexuality, and minorities have decreased.

Racial & Gender Prejudice Americans today express much less racial and gender prejudice, but prejudices still exist.

Combating Prejudice Contact Theory • Contact between hostile groups will reduce animosity if they are made to work towards a superordinate goal. • Mere exposure to each other and working togethercombating prejudice

Power of the Situation…. Zimmardo’s Zimbardo (1972) assigned the roles of guards and prisoners to random students and found that guards and prisoners developed role- appropriate attitudes. Self-fulfilling prophecy & Power of the Situation Originally published in the New Yorker Phillip G. Zimbardo, Inc.

Self Fulfilling Prophecy y Self Fulfilling Prophecy- is a prediction that directly or indirectly causes itself to become true, by the very terms of the prophecy itself, due to positive feedback between belief and behavior y Jane Elliot’s: Blue Eyed. Brown Eyed Study x Blue Eyes are smart. x Brown Eyes are inferior.

Confirmation Bias z We tend to notice behaviors in others that already fit our preconceived notions. z As we learned in the Perception chapter, we see what we expect to see! z Waiting for the blonde to say something stupid…

Confirmation bias. . . z We ignore events that do not fit with our stereotypes and tell ourselves that is a rare exception. z Ex: A redneck with a college degree.

Just-World Hypothesis* z The belief that good things happen to good people. z Karma-what goes around, comes around. z If someone has been hit, they must have deserved it. z BAD things DON’T happen to GOOD people. y. Can lead to victim-blaming. z JWH- helps us maintain trust

What is Illusory correlation? z. Occurs when people think they have confirmed their stereotypes more than they actually have. Ex. Saying you never met an honest lawyer when in fact you have met a few.

Evidence for Illusory correlation. z. Subjects watched a video of a woman listening to classical music, drinking beer, and watching TV. z. If the subjects were told the woman was a librarian, then they remembered she listened to classical music. If the subjects were told she was a waitress, they remember the beer.

Attribution Theories of Behavior z. Attributions are inferences/explanations that people draw about the causes of others’ behavior. z. It is HOW we explain other people’s behavior and even our own behavior.

What is Fritz Heider’s Attribution Theory? http: //www. stedwards. edu Attribution Theory: Fritz Heider (1958) suggested that we have a tendency to say others’ behavior is caused by internal and external attributions. Fritz Heider

Attribution Theory We attribute behavior as being…. z Situational Attribution behavior is due to the situation-”bad day” VERSUS z Dispositional Attribution- behavior is due to who they are “bad attitude”

Effects of Attribution How we explain someone’s behavior affects how we react to it.

Fundamental Attribution Error Refers to the observer’s bias in favor of internal attributions in explaining others’ behavior. We tend to have a bias that leads us to believe other peoples’ behavior is due to their disposition rather than their situation. As a teacher, I might assume that a student who sleeps, doesn’t take notes and doesn’t try is dumb, lazy and an all around loser. This is wrong because students have external factors affecting this reality.

Self Serving Bias z We tend to explain our own bad behavior in terms of external factors. (I am a victim. ) z We tend to attribute others’ bad behavior in terms of internal factors. (They are a stupid loser. )

Situational or dispositional Attributions? z. A teen crashes the car. One parent says it was because of the slippery road. Another says it’s because he wasn’t paying attention to driving. z. One parent uses dispositional attributes; the other uses situational attributes.

What is Self Serving Bias? z We attribute our success to personal/internal factors but attribute our failures to situational/external factors.

Hindsight Bias After learning an outcome, the tendency to believe that we could have predicted it beforehand may contribute to blaming the victim and forming a prejudice against them. “I knew John Edwards was a slimeball politician!”

Actions Can Affect Attitudes Not only do people stand for what they believe in (attitude), they start believing in what they stand for. D. Mac. Donald/ Photo. Edit Cooperative actions can lead to mutual liking (beliefs).

Ways to get people to do what you want…. Persuasion Techniques Foot-in-the-Door Phenomenon: The tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request. Door in the face: ask for something big (a car) then ask for something small (a cell phone). Reciprocity: charities give you something like return address stickers hoping you will donate to their cause.

Cognitive Dissonance Theory by Leon Festinger • People want to have consistent attitudes and behaviors…. when they are not in line they will experience dissonance (unpleasant tension). • Usually they will change their attitude to fit their behavior. • We want our thoughts and actions to be congruent or we will feel dissonance (tension). 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.

Cognitive Dissonance

Group Pressure & Conformity.

Solomon Asch’s conformity experiment Which line is equal to the standard line? After several others said “ 3” the subject would say “ 3”. William Vandivert/ Scientific American

Asch’s Results • About 1/3 of the participants conformed. • 70% 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

Conditions that Strengthen Conformity 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. One is made to feel incompetent or insecure. The group has at least three people. The group is unanimous. One admires the group’s status and attractiveness. One has no prior commitment to a response. The group observes one’s behavior. One’s culture strongly encourages respect for a social standard.

Obedience to authority Stanley Milgram designed a study that investigates the effects of authority on obedience. Courtesy of CUNY Graduate School and University Center People comply to social pressures. How would they respond to outright command? Stanley Milgram (1933 -1984)

Both Photos: © 1965 By Stanley Miligram, from the film Obedience, dist. by Penn State, Media Sales Milgram’s Study

Milgram’s Study: Results

Group Behaviors z. Social Facilitation vs. Social Inhibition y. Related to Yerkes-Dodson Law x. Arousal Theory

Individual Behavior in the Presence of Others Social facilitation: Refers to improved performance on tasks in the presence of others. We perform better when we are competing. Michelle Agnis/ NYT Pictures

Social Facilitation

Social Loafing The tendency of an individual in a group to exert less effort toward attaining a common goal than when tested individually We pull harder by ourselves!

Deindividuation The loss of self-awareness and self-restraint in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity. Mob behavior

Prosocial Behavior z Pro. Social behaviors are those intended to help other people. Prosocial behavior is characterized by a concern about the rights, feelings and welfare of other people.

Bystander Effect and Diffusion of Responsibility…. • Kitty Genovese Case in Kew Gardens NY. z Bystander Effect: • Conditions in which people are more or less likely to help one another. In general…the more people around…the less chance of help…. because of… z Diffusion of Responsibility-When no one is designated a role within a group; it is likely no one will do anything. z Pluralistic Ignorance • People decide what to do by looking to others for direction.

Bystander Effect Tendency of any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present.

Effects of Group Interaction Group Polarization enhances a group’s prevailing attitudes through a discussion. If a group is like-minded, discussion strengthens its prevailing opinions and attitudes.

Group Polarization z Groups tend to make more extreme decisions than the individual would otherwise if by themselves.

Groupthink A mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a decision-making group overrides the realistic appraisal of alternatives.

Why are we aggressive & seek conflict? z. Biology: genetics, amygdala, decreased frontal lobe activity, testosterone levels z. Psychology: y. Frustration Aggression Principle- frustration creates anger and then anger breeds frustration. y. Modeling (observed it) y. Social scripts: (mental tapes on how to act) y. Video games?

Frustration-Aggression Principle A principle in which frustration (caused by the not achieving a desired goal) creates anger, which can generate aggression.

Environment Even environmental temperature can lead to aggressive acts. Murders and rapes increased with the temperature in Houston.

Culture & Relationships z Very little cross-cultural research has been conducted on interpersonal attraction. z Cultures DO vary on their emphasis on love. Love as a basis for marriage is an 18 th century Western invention. z Love is not as important as a prerequisite for marriage in “collectivist” countries like China, India, Japan. z Collectivist countries traditionally like arranged marriages. z Other examples: Personal Space, display rules, pace of life

Sternberg’s Model of Love?

Passionate Love: An aroused state of intense positive absorption in another, usually present at the beginning of a love relationship. Two-factor theory of emotion 1. Physical arousal plus cognitive appraisal 2. Arousal from any source can enhance one emotion depending upon what we interpret or label the arousal

Companionate Love: A deep, affectionate attachment we feel for those with whom our lives are intertwined. Courtship and Matrimony (from the collection of Werner Nekes)

z 1. Your unique ideas about how a college class should be run, what a typical straight "A" student is like, and how a typical professor will act are all examples of za. Prejudices zb. Attitudes zc. Attributions zd. Social schemas ze. Confirmation Bias

z 2. A father suggests that his son's low marks in school are due to the child's laziness. The father has made _____ attribution. za. an external zb. a distinctive zc. an internal zd. a situational ze. a self serving

z 3. Attributing one's successes to dispositional factors and one's failures to situational factors is referred to as za. the fundamental attribution error zb. a self-serving bias zc. the actor-observer bias zd. a self-enhancing strategy ze. the just world hypothesis

z 4. In Stanley Milgram's research on obedience, the "teacher" routinely za. resisted the authority figure zb. obeyed the authority figure zc. resisted the authority figure, but obeyed the confederate zd. resisted the authority figure when the learner appeared to be injured ze. Conformed to other participant’s answers

z 5. The "bystander effect" is the finding that z a. the probability that a witness to an emergency will help increases as the number of bystanders increases z b. a group of witnesses to an emergency will all tend to cooperate to provide help z c. the probability that a witness to an emergency will help decreases as the number of bystanders increases z d. bystanders' willingness to help depends on the seriousness of the emergency z e. The probability of the group cooperating with the leader regardless of the decision

z 6. Diffusion of responsibility refers to the za. tendency of others to assume that someone else will take responsibility in a crisis zb. basis for performing prosocial behavior zc. halo effect in aggression zd. loss of identity one experiences in mob violence/aggression ze. The foundation of prejudice

z 7. The reduction in effort by individuals when they work in groups is referred to as za. bystander apathy zb. diffusion of responsibility zc. extroverted effort zd. social loafing ze. social impairment

z 8. When the jury entered the jury room most of the jurors thought that the defendant in the case was probably innocent, but some weren't certain. After discussing the case for four hours, all twelve jurors are now firmly convinced that the defendant did not commit the crime. The strengthening of the jurors' opinions following group discussion is consistent with which of the following processes? z a. Group think z b. The bystander effect z c. Reciprocity z d. Group polarization z e. Social facilitation

z 9. Which of the following is not characteristic of groupthink? za. dividing the world into the ingroup and the outgroup zb. censoring dissent from group members zc. gathering all the relevant information before making a decision zd. censoring information that contradicts the group's views ze. Blindly agreeing with the leader of a group

z 10. A man who believes that "women just don't make good leaders" may dwell on his female supervisor's mistakes and quickly forget about her achievements. This scenario illustrates which of the following concepts? za. defensive attribution zb. the illusory correlation effect zc. the fundamental attribution error zd. the bystander effect ze. diffusion of responsibility

z 11. Ethnocentrism refers to the tendency to za. focus on one's own needs as opposed to what is best for the group zb. evaluate people in one's own group as superior to others zc. model the attitudes of members of one's immediate family zd. identify with members of a popular outgroup ze. being open-minded to other cultures

z 12. Solomon Asch is best known for his studies in z. A. interpersonal attraction z. B. conformity z. C. obedience z. D. stereotyping z. E. self-fulfilling prophesies

z 13. According to the bystander effect, you are more likely to get help with your flat tire if you are z. A. on Jefferson z. B. Oak Cliff Blvd z. C. on Hampton z. D. Interstate 30

z 14. Zimbardo’s Prison experiment studied z. A. The cruelty of the prison system z. B. How people will follow orders even if they are told to harm someone z. C. How a person’s current situation affects their thinking and behavior z. D. How people will conform their answers to that of others on an intelligence test

z 15. JFK had a disaster when he failed to uproot Castro in the failed Bay of Pigs invasion. Part of the problem were his “yes” men who did not want to make waves and say it’s a bad idea. This illustrates: z. A. the expert-power effect z. B. mere exposure effect z. C. self serving bias z. D. groupthink

z 16. According to theory of cognitive dissonance, attitudes are changed because z. A. emotionally persuasive arguments unfreeze beliefs. z. B. logical arguments alter the belief component of an attitude z. C. clashing thoughts cause discomfort z. D. acting contrary to one’s beliefs for a large reward causes dissonance

z 17. You are walking into a store when a man rudely cuts in front of you, almost shoving you, so that he may enter the store first. "What a jerk!" you think to yourself. As you enter the store, you see the same man performing an emergency tracheotomy on a women with a collapsed windpipe. You have just za. discounted a person's actions due to situational demands. zb. self-handicapped. zc. overemphasized the object in this action sequence. zd. made the fundamental attribution error.

z 18. The person who agrees to a small request initially is more likely later to comply with a larger demand. This describes the za. door-in-the-face-effect. zb. foot-in-the-door effect. zc. low-ball technique. zd. high-ball technique.

z 19. Prejudice based on displaced aggression represents a form of za. projection. zb. discrimination. zc. scapegoating. zd. authoritarianism

z 20. In general, helping behavior in emergency situations is discouraged by za. the presence of a large number of persons. zb. low costs associated with helping. zc. smaller social distance between the helper and the victim. zd. fear of cognitive dissonance

z 1. D z z z z z 2. C 3. B 4. B 5. C 6. A 7. D 8. D 9. C 10. B 11. B 12. B 13. D 14. C 15. D 16. C 17. D 18. B 19. C 20. A