Download - Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 16–1 Chapter Sixteen Social Psychology

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 16–1

Chapter Sixteen

Social

Psychology


Did You Know That…

• Revealing too much about yourself when first meeting someone can convey a negative impression?

• The Japanese are more likely than Americans to attribute their success to luck or fate than to themselves?

• People tend to believe that attractive people have more desirable?


Did You Know That… (cont.)

• In a study of police trainees, friendships were more likely to be formed among those whose names began with the same or adjacent letters of the alphabet?

• At least 38 people in a quiet urban neighborhood heard the screams of a woman who was viciously attacked by a knife-wielding assailant but did nothing?


Did You Know That… (cont.)

• The origins of prejudice may be traced back to ancestral times?

• Most subjects in a famous but controversial study administered what they believed to be painful and dangerous electric shocks to other subjects when instructed to do so by the experimenter?


Module 16.1

Perceiving Others


Module 16.1 Preview Questions

• What is social perception?• What are the major influences on first

impressions, and why do first impressions often become lasting impressions?

• What role do cognitive biases play in the judgments we make about the causes of behavior?


Module 16.1 Preview Questions (cont.)

• What are attitudes and how are they acquired?

• How are attitudes related to behavior, and how do they change in response to persuasive appeals?


Social Psychology

• The branch of psychology that studies how our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by our social interactions with others.

• Social Perception: The process by which we form impressions, make judgments, and develop attitudes about the people and events that constitute our social world.


Impression Formation

• The process by which we form an opinion or impression of another person.

• Influenced by: – Personal disclosure– Social schemas– Stereotypes

• Impressions can become self-fulfilling prophecies.


Attributions

• Personal explanations about the causes of behaviors or events.

• Two types of attributions– Dispositional Causes: Causes relating to internal

characteristics or traits of individuals.– Situational Causes: Causes relating to external or

environmental events.


Cognitive Biases in Attribution

• Fundamental attribution error– Attribute behavior to internal factors– Disregard external situational factors

• Actor-observer effect– Attribute one’s own behavior to external causes– Attribute others’ behavior to internal causes

• Self-serving bias– Attribute personal success to internal factors – Attribute failure to external factors


Attitudes

• A positive or negative evaluation of persons, objects, or issues.

• Consists of 3 components:– Cognitions: set of beliefs– Emotions: feelings of liking or disliking– Behaviors: inclinations to act positively or

negatively.

Figure 16.1: Attitudes


Sources of Attitudes

• Our social environment• Heredity, through its influence on our:

– Intelligence– Temperament– Personality traits


Attitudes and Behavior

• Attitudes only modestly linked to behavior• Many factors limit this relationship, especially

situational constraints.


Figure 16.2: Elaboration Likelihood Model


Figure 16.3: Getting Your Message Across: Factors in Persuasive Appeals


Module 16.2

Relating to Others



• What are the major determinants of attraction?

• What factors are linked to helping behavior?• What is prejudice, and how does it develop?• What can be done to reduce prejudice?• What factors contribute to human

aggression?


What Is Attraction?

• Feelings of liking others• Having positive thoughts about them• Inclinations to act positively toward them• Includes friendships and romantic

relationships


Determinants of Attraction

• Similarity– Attitudes, appearance, class, race, other similarities

• Physical attractiveness– Major determinant of initial attraction– Matching hypothesis

• Proximity– Provides more chances for interacting

• Reciprocity– Liking others who like us back


Helping Behavior

• A form of prosocial behavior.– Behavior that benefits others.

• Motives underlying helping behavior:– Altruistic motives– Self-centered motives


Figure 16.4: A Decision-Making Model of Bystander Intervention


Figure 16.4: A Decision-Making Model of Bystander Intervention (A Closer View)


Influences on Helping

• Situational ambiguity• Perceived cost• Diffusion of responsibility• Similarity• Mood and gender• Attributions of the cause of need• Social norms


Prejudice

• Preconceived attitude, usually unfavorable, formed without critical thought or evaluation of the facts.

• Components– Cognitive: biased beliefs about other groups.– Emotions: dislike toward members of other

groups.– Behavior: discrimination or biased/unfair treatment

of people based on group membership.


How Does Prejudice Develop?

• Negative stereotypes that are learned or acquired

• Direct experience• Cognitive biases

– Out-group negativism– In-group favoritism– Out-group homogeneity


Prejudice: Individual Differences

• Learning experiences• Cognitive style

– Universalist orientation: less prejudiced

• Authoritarian personality style– Rigidity, obedience and respect for authority


Effects of Stereotyping and Prejudice

• Racism is the negative bias held toward members of other racial groups.– Significant source of environmental stress for many

minority group members.

• Stereotyping can lead to lowered expectations.• Stereotypical beliefs an become internalized.• Stereotype threat can lead to poorer

performances.


Figure 16.5: An Experimental Study of Stereotype Threat


Reducing Prejudice:Allport’s Contact Hypothesis

• Reduce prejudice by bringing groups into close contact

• Facilitated by:– Social and institutional support– Acquaintance potential– Equal status– Intergroup cooperation


Reducing Prejudice: Individual Efforts

• Teach empathy• Avoid stereotypical thinking

– Rejecting negative thoughts– Rehearsing positive images

• Diversity education


Is Human Aggression Instinctual?

• Fighting instinct as basic survival mechanism• Aggression among males used to:

– Establish dominance– Defend territory– Claim food, mates, resources

• Human aggression may be too complex to be based on instinct.


Influences on Aggression

• Biological Influences– Violent behavior and abnormal brain circuitry– Male sex hormone, testosterone– Inherited tendencies

• Learning Influences– Aggressive behavior learned like other behaviors– Observational learning, reinforcement



• Sociocultural Influences– Violence occurs within social contexts– Violence as social influence tactic

• Alcohol use– Strongly linked to aggressive behavior– Loosens inhibitions– Impairs cognitions, sensitivity, perception



• Emotional Influences– Frustration, anger may trigger aggression

• Environmental Influences– Rising temperatures, more aggression– Extreme high temperatures, dampen aggression


Module 16.3

Group Influences on Individual Behavior



• What is social identity?• What was the significance of the Asch study

on conformity?• What are compliance techniques based

upon?• Why were Milgram’s findings so disturbing,

and why were his methods so controversial?


Module 16.3 Preview Questions (cont.)

• How does the presence of others affect individual performance?

• What are deindividuation, group polarization, and groupthink?


Our Social Selves

• Personal Identity: Involves our sense of ourselves as unique individuals.

• Social Identity: Involves our sense of ourselves as members of particular groups.– “Group identity”


Conformity

• Tendency to adjust one’s behavior to actual or perceived social pressures.

• What pressures do we conform to?– General social norms– Group or peer norms

• Asch’s classic study on conformity


Figure 16.6: Stimuli Similar to Those Used in the Asch Conformity Studies


Why Do People Conform?

• People assume majority must be correct.• People value group acceptance more than

being correct.• People feel that it is easier to go along than

disagree with the group.


Influences on Conformity

• Gender differences– Women, by a small margin, more likely to conform.

• Cultural differences– People from collectivistic cultures tend to conform

more.

• Personality factors– Low self-esteem, shyness, desire to be liked

• Situational factors


Compliance

• The process of acceding to the requests or demands of others.

• Factors influencing compliance:– Appeals from a recognized authority– Desire for social validation– Desire for consistency


Compliance Techniques

• Foot-in-the-Door Technique: Small then larger favor

• Bait-and-Switch Technique: Item not available as advertised

• Low-ball Technique: Low price becomes higher

• Door-in-the-Face Technique: Excessively large, then smaller request


Obedience

• Compliance with commands or orders issued of others, usually authority figures.

• Milgram’s research– “Teacher” shocks “learner”– Most subjects obeyed, delivering high voltage

shock.– Demonstrates potential for ordinary people to do

harm by following authority.


Why Do People Obey Immoral Commands?

• Legitimization of authority– Early socialization– Taught to obey authority figures

• Social comparison• Foot-in-the-door effect


Social Facilitation

• Tendency for people to work better or harder when working in the presence of others.

• Exposure to others induces energizing arousal.

• Increases performance of dominant responses.– Not always correct response


Figure 16.7:

Effects of the Presence of Others


Social Loafing

• Tendency for people to apply less effort working as members of a group.

• More likely when performance is not being evaluated.

• Reduced with:– More appealing tasks – Visibility of individual performance– Individual accountability– Public feedback on individual performance


Deindividuation

• Loss of self-awareness that may occur when one acts in concert with the actions of a crowd.

• May be destructive– Deviant, reckless mob behavior

• Results from:– Anonymity in the crowd. – Shifting attention from one’s own thoughts and

standards to the actions of the group.


Group Decision Making

• Group Polarization: Tendency for group members to adopt views more extreme but in the same direction as their original views.– Risky-shift phenomenon may occur

• Why does it occur?– Social validation– Normative influences


Groupthink

• Tendency for members of a group to lose ability for critical evaluation.

• Pressure to conform prevents debate• Likely with:

– Members strongly attached to group– External threat present– Strong-minded leader


Avoiding Group Think

• Encourage consideration of all alternatives• Group leader avoids stating preferences• Outside opinions and analyses• Encourage “devil’s advocate”• Subdivide into independent groups• Meetings to reassess and evaluate new

information


Module 16.4

Application: Psychology Goes to Work


Module 16.4 Preview Question

• What are some areas of interest to industrial/organizational psychologists today?


Industrial/Organizational Psychology

• Studies people at work and organizations in which they work.

• Key areas of interest:– Job satisfaction– Adjustment to a changing workplace


Factors Influencing Job Satisfaction

• Qualities of job– Status, pay, benefits– Interesting and fulfilling

• Personality traits of employees– Self-esteem, self-efficacy, emotional stability

• Fit between attributional style and amount of control at work


Adjustment to a Changing Workplace

• Challenges of the changing workplace– Less secure– Changes in technology– Flexible work shifts, locations

• Organizational culture: System of shared values and norms within an organization.– Develops to fit the needs of workers and the

workplace.

Download - Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. 16–1 Chapter Sixteen Social Psychology

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