“The thoughts, feelings, and behavior of individuals as shaped by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others” Gordon Allport

Major Themes

• Human beings are social by nature

• Humans are shaped by & shape society/culture

• Survival tool - ability to formulate stereotypes

In the beginning…..• Norman Triplett (1897) –

1st social psychological experiment

[18 years after birth of psychology as science]

• Interested in increased ability in presence of others• Led to complex body of literature on social facilitation

•1908 with publication of Ross & McDougall’s Social Psychology text

Overall framework for social psychology begins. Inspired by father of modern social psychology –

Kurt LewinLewin proposed “formula”:

“behavior is a function of the person in the environment”

Conformity• Normative social influence

—Conforming to group pressure out of need for acceptance or approval

• Informational social influence —Conforming to group pressure out of need for direction and information

• Reference Groups —People we conform to or go along with, because we like and admire them and want to be like them

Key Terms• Saliency bias —tendency to focus

on most noticeable factors when explaining causes of behaviors

• Self-serving bias —taking credit for our successes and externalizing our failures

• Attitude —learned predisposition to respond cognitively, affectively, and behaviorally to particular object

• Deindividuation —Increased arousal and reduced self-consciousness, inhibition, and

personal responsibility that sometimes occurs in group, particularly when members feel

anonymous

Group Decision Making• Groupthink —Faulty decision making that

occurs when highly cohesive group strives for agreement and avoids inconsistent information

Silence = Consent

Group members practice Mindguarding Newly married couples

Iraq war

Irving Janis concept after Bay of Pigs Fiasco

Group Decision Making• Group polarization —Group’s movement

toward either riskier or more conservative behavior, depending on members’ initial dominant tendency

(if were violent as individuals, will be violent as a group)

– Is form of “confirmation bias” People can ignore stuff that contradicts what they want to be true

disconfirmation bias: People overly criticize that which contradicts what they want to be true

expectancy effect: People see patterns in support of their ideas where nothing actually exists

status quo bias: People like to stick with what they know

Group Think

– Combat GT by having a “devil’s advocate”

– Minority Influence: small group can get an alternate opinion out better than an individual

Fundamental Attribution Error

• When looking at other people’s behavior, we tend to explain it dispositionally

(it’s part of person’s disposition) We tend to ignore impact of situation.

• Yet, think about how we explain our own failures – do we tend to blame ourselves or something about the situation?

Decision-Making Process for Bystander Intervention

Genovese Effect

Noticesincident?

Interpretsincident as

emergency?

Assumesresponsibility?

Attemptsto help

Nohelp

Nohelp

Nohelp

No No No

Yes Yes Yes

• Asch - Conformity

Person Perception• Milgram

Obedience•Festinger

Cognitive DissonanceSocial Comparison

•Heider Balance Theory Attribution Theory•Zimbardo Prison Study•Sherif

Robber’s Cave Experiment

Power of the Situation

• Look for consistencies in human behavior

*explain behavior through internal dispositions

• Social Psychologists emphasize influences/ constraints of situation

• Explanations for behavior known as attributions.

• Internal explanations are referred to as dispositional, external as situational

Cognitive Dissonance Theory and Confirmation Bias

• Confirmation bias —we tend to accept data/input that confirms what we already believe to be true

• Cognitive dissonance theory —we discover inconsistencies between our attitudes and/or behaviors, we experience discomfort which we try to alleviate through attitude changes

Leon Festinger's cognitive dissonance experiment, in which participants who were paid $1 to say they enjoyed a boring task, liked it better at the end of the study than those who were paid $20. People justified the lie by changing their previously unfavorable attitudes about the task (1959).

Cognitive dissonance was the recital of Aesop's fable "Sour Grapes." The fox cannot get the grapes and leaves without them. He is feeling some cognitive dissonance. He wants the grapes but fails to get them. He now changes his belief about the grapes in an effort to justify his actions. He states that he now believes that the grapes are sour.

Social Influence• Conformity—changing behavior as result of real

or imagined group pressure• Obedience—following direct commands, usually

from authority figure

Power of authorityDistance between teacher & learner (i.e., in “shock experiment”)Assignment of responsibilityModeling/imitation

Obedience Factors

Ingroups and Outgroups• Ingroup Favoritism —

Viewing members more positively than members of outgroup.

• Outgroup Homogeneity Effect —Judging members of more alike and less diverse than members of ingroup.

History of Social Psychology -Age of Activism

1960’s • Stereotyping and Prejudice

– School Desegregation

• Aggression

- Bullet Theory

• Altrusim

– Bystander Intervention

• Interpersonal Relations

– Attraction

Prejudice and Discrimination• Stereotype — belief

about characteristics of people in group generalized to

all members

• Prejudice —learned, generally negative, attitude toward members of group

• Discrimination —negative behaviors directed at members of group

Aggression

• Psychological factors– Aversive stimuli– Culture and learning– Media and video

games Bobo Doll

•Biological factors Instinct Genes Brain & nervous system Substance abuse & mental disordersHormones & neurotransmitters

James Suleiman’sSocial Loafing

Why Do People Loaf?

VS

Attraction • Physical Attractiveness (symmetry)• Proximity• Similarity

Eros—erotic love/romantic lovePhilia—fraternal love (love between friends or siblings)Agape—unconditional love (companionate love)

Love

Romantic Love – Looking for Love

• Men Want:• Physical attractiveness• Ability in bed• Warmth and affection• Social skill• Homemaking ability• Dress sense• Sensitivity to others’

needs• Good taste• Moral perception• Artistic creativity

• Women Want:

• Record of achievement

• Leadership qualities

• Skill at the job

• Earning potential

• Sense of humor

• Intellectual ability

• Attentiveness

• Common sense

• Athletic ability

• Good abstract reasoning

Altruism• Actions designed to help others with no obvious

benefit to the helper– Egoistic model —Helping that is motivated by

anticipated gain—later reciprocation, increased self-esteem, or avoidance of guilty and distress

– Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis —

Helping because of empathy for someone in need

Helping breaks down in crowd largely due to:Diffusion of responsibility —Assuming someone else will take action (or responsibility) Genovese Effect