social psychology basic premise: who we are is determined by our social interactions –--past: our...
TRANSCRIPT
Social Psychology
• Basic premise: Who we are is determined by our social interactions– --Past: our social development– --Present: social influence
We’ll start with an area of overlap between cognition and social influence; attitudes, and the drive toward attitude consistency
Strong Generalization About Attitudes
We like to maintain consistancy of attitudes:
1. selective exposure2. selective interpretation 3. selective memory
Stronger Theories of Attitude Consistency
• Balance Theory (Heider)
• Cognitive Dissonance Theory (Festinger)
• Self Perception Theory (Bem)
Cognitive Dissonance Theory
• Leon Festinger: Two cognitions that are in conflict or dissonant (one implies the opposite of the other) result in pressure to change one or both to bring them into consonance
• In practice, the two are an attitude and a behavior and the attitude changes
Three types of Dissonance Situations or Experiments
• Justification of effort (Aronson & Mills)
• Inadequate external justification
--when prophecy fails (Ms. Keech)
--counterattitudinal advocacy (Yale)
• Consequences of a decision (Brehm)
Knox & Inkster betting study (consequences of making a decision)
Self Perception Theory- Bem
• The theory and its relation to cog. diss.
• Experimental evidence (Bem, Valins)
• Can we know ourselves given all this?
• (Back to Missouri!)
Emotion and Self-Perception
• Emotions involve both bodily activation (brain-endocrine) and precipitating stimuli
• Naïve view: perception of p-stimuli causes us to feel a certain way-->activates body
• James-Lange view: p-stim. causes physiological arousal--> perceived emotion
• Cognitive theory: p-stim. + physiol. arousal --> perceived emotional state
Social Influence (continued): some dangerous findings
Bystandar Apathy
Conformity
Obedience
Bystander Apathy & Intervention
• Surprising work of Darley & Latane on the effect of the no. of bystanders
Mechanisms That Produce Bystander Apathy Effects
1. moral diffusion 2. lack of clarity--ambiguity of interp. and of
action. airport/subway crutch--fall 83 vs. 41 % helped, and they were people more familiar with the surround.
3. costs of intervention. sometimes they are raised bythe presence of others (surveillance)
4. rules for behaving: don't stare, unless you know what to do/day, keep your mouth shut etc.
5) mood: Isen dime in coin slot mailing letter 10-->90 %
Solomon Asch: Conformity
• Conformity: Good or bad?
• Major findings: 1/3 & 2/3 conform!
• What it takes to resist!
• Conclusion
Stanley Milgram: Obedience
• Description of Experiment
• Basic findings 2/3
• Field theory explanation (exper. vs. victim force fields)
Underlying Explanation
• Foot in the door
• Other is responsible (diffusion of resp.)
• Aloneness- lack of social support
• Ambiguity about situation/what to do!!!
• Other directedness (Reisman)
Schein’s POW Work
• Level of compliance and how it was obtained
• The power of social isolation
• Who resisted?
• Solution: inner codes vs. external or situational control
• Conclusion: balance?……