Social Psychology
Social psychologists study social behavior.
They are interested in the ways people
influence and are influenced by each other.
Social psychology is a diverse field
incorporating the study of attitudes and
perceptions, persuasion, and typical
behaviors of relatively normal people in their
relationships with others.
Module 13.1
Cooperation and Competition
Altruism
Social psychologists seek to explain why at
times compete with each other for resources while at other times we cooperate, even
engaging in altruistic behavior, accepting some disadvantage to ourselves in order to help others
What determines whether we’ll cooperate or
compete?
Cooperation and Competition
The prisoner’s dilemma
In the prisoner’s dilemma a person must
choose between a cooperative act or one very beneficial only to him or herself that is hurtful to others.
In the variants of the dilemma, people have
great difficulty choosing the cooperative
option, even with the possibility of the selfish strategy backfiring.
Cooperation and Competition
The prisoner’s dilemma
Our cooperative strategies require some
degree of individual recognition.
We tend to engage in reciprocal altruism,
helping others with the understanding that they should eventually help us.
We keep track of who holds up his or her end
of the bargain so that we know with whom it is in our best interest to cooperate.
Cooperation and Competition
The Trust Game
The Trust game is another example of an
exercise in which there are short-term
rewards for competitive behavior but people often chose to be altruistic, perhaps in hopes of gaining a reputation for being fair and
Cooperation and Competition
Cultural Transmission
It is possible that we learn to cooperate
instead of compete because other members of our community will punish us for not
exhibiting some altruistic behavior.
Research suggests that the more cooperative
the culture, the greater the punishment for failing to exhibit altruistic behavior.
Cooperation and Competition
Accepting or denying responsibility toward
others
Bystander helpfulness or apathy
Why do people fail to intervene sometimes during a
crime or accident?
The presence of many people during a crime may
create a sense of diffusion of responsibility.
We may convince ourselves that if there are many
other people present, someone else will help, so we need do nothing.
Cooperation and Competition
Responsibility toward others
Bystander helpfulness or apathy
Pluralistic ignorance is another
explanation for this lack of action.
People sometimes assume in the
absence of information that others have
a different and better-informed opinion.
They will decide therefore to say or do
Learning Morality and Cooperation
Our powers of reasoning change as we
mature, and so does our reasoning about
issues of right and wrong.
There are different psychological frameworks
to describe the changes in moral reasoning
that occur over the lifespan.
Learning Morality and Cooperation
Kohlberg’s method of evaluating levels of
moral reasoning
Lawrence Kohlberg argued that moral
reasoning progresses through distinct stages.
Young children tend to equate
wrongness with punishment.
Young children also frequently fail to
consider intent in judging a deed.
Learning Morality and Cooperation
Kohlberg’s method of evaluating levels of
moral reasoning
Kohlberg believed that people start at a low
level of moral reasoning and progress through higher stages.
He measured the maturity of an individual’s
moral reasoning by evaluating the responses given to moral dilemmas – problems that pit one moral value against another.
Learning Morality and Cooperation
Kohlberg’s method of evaluating levels of
moral reasoning
Kohlberg assessed the level of moral reasoning
using the explanation for the decision offered, rather than the decision itself.
Kohlberg believed that very few people actually
Learning Morality and Cooperation
Justice versus other orientations
Kohlberg based his system of
reasoning on people’s rights.
Carol Gilligan proposed that some
people might reason based on what
would help or hurt others, an
orientation of caring.
Moral reasoning is moderately
consistent at best.
Moral understanding does not
Is Cooperative Behavior Logical?
People frequently help each other. It is still
not clear whether this tendency evolved or is
learned – or both. Maybe the explanation has
been overlooked, or is not important.
We all help others, often with no expectation
Module 13.2
Social Perception and Cognition
Social perception and cognition are mental
processes that help us to collect and
remember information about others, and to
make inferences and judgments based on that
information.
Social Perception and Cognition
First impressions
The primacy effect is the principle that the first
information learned about someone will be a more powerful influence on our perceptions than any later information will be.
Social Perception and Cognition
Stereotypes and prejudices
A stereotype is a generalized belief about group
of people.
We tend to remember unusual qualities
or characteristics more readily than
ordinary ones, so we form false
stereotypes easily.
Some stereotypes are based on
exaggerations of essentially correct
observations.
Social Perception and Cognition
Stereotypes and prejudices
Prejudice is an unfavorable attitude toward a
group of people.
Aversive racism
refers to the
behavior of unintentionally
discriminating against some groups
while expressing the belief that all
people are equal.
Social Perception and Cognition
Stereotypes and prejudices
People acknowledge that prejudice is a
serious problem in the world, but deny
that they themselves are prejudiced.
Similarly, many people experience
ambivalent sexism
; an overt belief in
equal treatment of the sexes with a
hidden, lingering belief that women
should be treated differently.
Social Perception and Cognition
Implicit measures of stereotypes and
prejudices
Some research on prejudice has been done, but
subtle, unintentional racism is difficult to measure.
The Implicit Association Test, used for
personality assessment, can also be used for the purpose of detecting subtle prejudice.
Social Perception and Cognition
Overcoming prejudice
Making members groups in conflict talk does
not appear to be enough to solve this
problem.
Getting them to work towards a
common goal appears to be a more
effective strategy.
Social Perception and Cognition
Overcoming prejudice
Evidence for this was provided by the
Robber’s Cave
experiment.
But the children in the experiment
were from arbitrarily formed
competitive groups, not two different
racial or ethnic groups.
Social Perception and Cognition
Attribution
Attribution refers to the set of thought
processes we use to explain the causes of behavior.
Internal or dispositional
attributions
are explanations based
on an individual’s perceived stable
characteristics, such as attitudes,
personality traits, or abilities.
Social Perception and Cognition
Attribution
Attribution theory
External or situational attributions
are
explanations based on the current situation
and events that would influence all people.
Lack of familiarity with culturally
determined responses in other societies
causes most people to attribute externally
influenced behaviors to dispositional
Social Perception and Cognition
Attribution
Kelley proposed three sources of information
when we make an attribution:
Consensus information
– how one
individual’s behavior compares with
other people’s.
Consistency information
– how the
person’s behavior varies over time.
Distinctiveness
– how the person’s
behavior varies between situations.
Concept Check:
Internal or external attribution?
He went to the theatre to impress his new
girlfriend.
Concept Check:
Internal or external attribution?
He went to the theatre because it was a
requirement for his English Literature class.
Social Perception and Cognition
The Fundamental Attribution Error
We commit the Fundamental Attribution Error
when we make dispositional attributions for a person’s behavior despite the presence of
possible external influences.
Americans are prone to commit the
Fundamental Attribution Error.
We emphasize individual responsibility
Social Perception and Cognition
The actor-observer effect
We also tend to make situational attributions
for our own behaviors and dispositional ones for the behavior of others.
We are more acutely aware of how our
own behavior varies from situation to
situation though we don’t consider this
possibility when evaluating the
Figure 13.5
Figure 14.3 Participants were most likely to say that their own behavior depended on the situation and least likely to say “it depends” for the person they knew the least. (Based on data of Nisbett, Caputo, Legant, & Marecek, 1973)
Social Perception and Cognition
The actor-observer effect
We also tend in general to attribute unusual
behavior in people to internal causes.
We do not perceive ourselves as stable objects
(because we are observing) but we see other people as such.
When we watch ourselves on videotape, we
tend to make more dispositional attributions about our own behavior.
Social Perception and Cognition
Using attributions to control perceptions of
ourselves
Attributions that we use to optimize our
perception of ourselves are called self-serving biases.
You attribute your victory in a tennis
match to your extraordinary skill.
You attribute your failing mathematics
Social Perception and Cognition
Using attributions to control perceptions of
ourselves
Self-handicapping strategies protect our
self-image.
We intentionally create a disadvantage
to provide an excuse for an expected
failure.
Eating a whole pizza shortly before a
swim meet with the current league
champions.
Social Perception and Cognition
We are usually not fully aware of the reasons
for other’s behavior, or our own.
We try to make good guesses about both.
Understanding the theories of social
perception and cognition can help us to
improve our accuracy.
Module 13.3
Social Psychology
Attitudes and Behavior
An attitude is a like or dislike that influences
our behavior toward a person or thing.
Persuasion refers to any attempt to change
Social Psychology
Attitude Measurement
Measuring attitudes and the effectiveness of
persuasive techniques is a challenging task.
People answer attitude questionnaires
impulsively or they misinterpret the
questions.
People may hold conflicting or mixed
Figure 13.6
Attitudes and Persuasion
Cognitive Dissonance
The classic study on cognitive dissonance was
done by Festinger and Carlsmith in 1959.
A variety of interesting experiments have
shown that cognitive dissonance has effects on our attitudes.
The effect of cognitive dissonance on attitudes
Attitudes and Persuasion
Cognitive Dissonance
Cognitive Dissonance Theory suggests that an
individual’s behavior can change his or her attitudes.
It’s a state of tension that exists when
an individual realizes that he or she
holds contradictory attitudes on an
issue, or has exhibited behavior that is
inconsistent with an expressed
Figure 13.7
Figure 13.7 Cognitive dissonance is a state of tension that arises when people perceive that their attitudes do not match their behavior. They could resolve this discrepancy by changing either their attitudes or their behavior or by developing a new attitude to explain the discrepancy.
Attitudes and Persuasion
Routes of attitude change and persuasion
When making serious decisions, people invest
time and effort in evaluating the evidence and logic behind the message.
Attitudes and Persuasion
Routes of attitude change and persuasion
When evaluating a message on a topic or
decision of relatively little importance, people pay more attention to relatively superficial
aspects such as the speaker’s appearance or the amount of evidence (instead of its quality.)
Attitudes and Persuasion
Delayed influence of messages
Messages may have no effect when we first
encounter them, but change our attitudes later.
The
Sleeper Effect
- delayed
persuasion by an initially rejected
message.
Minority Influence
- those holding
unpopular opinions eventually change
the attitudes of the majority.
Attitudes and Persuasion
Ways of presenting persuasive messages
There are two broad categories of persuasive
messages:
Fulfill the request to make something
good happen.
Fulfill the request to prevent something
bad from happening (chain letters and
some internet hoaxes work on this
principle; they almost always feature an
implied threat).
Attitudes and Persuasion
Audience variables in persuasion
Situation variables:
Perceived similarity between the
audience and speaker
Perception that idea is approved or
endorsed by a respected group
Attitudes and Persuasion
Audience variables: Heightened resistance
What if people know they are about to hear an
argument with which they don’t agree?
Telling them will increase the likelihood
that they’ll reject the argument -
Forewarning Effect
.
Presenting a weak version of an
argument and following it with a
stronger version increases the chance
that the strong one will be rejected -
Inoculation Effect
.
Attitudes and Persuasion
Strategies of persuasion
A very favorable deal is followed by
additional demands after a
commitment has been made - the
bait-and-switch technique.
The offer is improved before any reply
is given - the that’s-not-all technique.
Concept Check:
Name that form of persuasion
A friend asks you to watch her kid brother one
afternoon when she has an after school date.
When her mother gets home, she asks you if
you would come back every Tuesday and
Thursday and baby-sit.
Concept Check:
Name that form of persuasion
The person you are madly in love with wants
you to take him/her to the Hullapalooza Rock
Festival next month. You agree to treat to the
tickets. You are then informed that he/she
won’t go without two good friends who also
can’t afford the tickets.
Concept Check:
Name that form of persuasion
The infomercial MC says that if you call
within the next 30 minutes to buy one jar of
Lard-off Miracle Fat Burning Cream, he will
throw in two more jars at the same low price
of $59.99.
Module 13.4
Interpersonal Attraction
Established lasting relationships
How do we choose our friends?
Proximity
- we are likely to become
friends with people who live near us
and become familiar to us.
Mere exposure
- the more often we
see someone or something the more
likely we are to start to like the person
or thing.
Interpersonal Attraction
Established lasting relationships
Similarity – we are drawn to those who are
like ourselves in background, attitudes, interests and other important ways.
We choose people who’ll confirm our
self-concept and level of self-esteem.
According to exchange or equity theories we
seek people with whom we feel we can make equitable transactions of goods and services.
Interpersonal Attraction
Special concerns in selecting a mate
Characteristics of successful marriages:
Partners have similar attitudes and
personalities.
They find the relationship satisfying.
They earn an adequate income for their
lifestyle.
The husband feels pride in his job.
The wife was not pregnant before the
couple married.
The couple’s parents also had successful
Module 13.5
Interpersonal Influence
Other people influence us in two major ways:
They give us information about situations. They set the norms (the rules that establish
expected behavior) by which we conduct ourselves in situations.
Interpersonal Influence
Conformity
Conformity is the maintenance or alteration of one’s
behavior to match the behavior and expectations of others.
At first it was believed that people would most likely conform in ambiguous
situations.
Asch’s classic experiment demonstrated that conformity was also likely even when one could be sure that a judgment was
Interpersonal Influence
Conformity
Asch’s experiment has been done in other
cultures.
Cross-culturally the behaviors were the same. The motivations expressed were somewhat
different.
For example Asian subjects said they did not
Interpersonal Influence
Conformity
The need to conform is likely to overwhelm our
need to be correct or feel right in our judgments.
Size of group did not have an impact – it was as
hard for a subject to disagree in a group of 3 as in a group of 13.
Two people had an easier time disagreeing
Interpersonal Influence
Conformity: Good and bad
Conformity to rules that benefit the members
of society in general is necessary for our survival as a species.
It may be just as vital, however, for some of us
to resist that urge in certain situations where the human need for conformity may override our ability to see the truth and take action where it is necessary to prevent destructive mistakes.
Interpersonal Influence
Obedience to Authority
A surprising and disturbing study done at
Stanford University in the 1970s by Philip
Zimbardo and his colleagues provided evidence that people are inclined to change their
behavior in response to assigned roles and to follow outrageous and immoral orders.
The study involved the establishment of a
Interpersonal Influence
Obedience to Authority
The behavior of the students involved became
so real and so brutal, the study had to be called off after 6 days.
When faced with such evidence, people are still
inclined to say “I would never follow such
immoral orders.” Unless one is in the situation, it is hard to know if that would be true.
Behavior Traps
Obedience to Authority
Stanley Milgram set up an experiment to find
out how realistic such a claim actually was.
Almost three-quarters of Milgram’s
experimental subjects followed orders to hurt someone if the authority figure and the
situation demanded it.
Variations were done, and although compliance
could be lowered in some instances, some of participants still “followed orders.”
Interpersonal Influence
Obedience to authority
Many experts predicted a different result when
told about this experiment.
It was thought that only a few, very abnormal
people would agree to give the higher levels of shock.
Interpersonal Influence
Obedience to authority
Some scientists and others refused to believe
these results. Milgram’s career suffered
because what he told us about ourselves was not very comforting.
Today’s ethical standards for experimentation
would probably have prevented the Milgram and Stanford Prison studies from being done.
Interpersonal Influence
Group decision-making
There are some advantages to appointing
committees to review evidence and make
decisions, but there are also some pitfalls to group decision-making processes.
All of us will probably be part of group
decision-making processes during our lives so it is useful to understand these problems.
Interpersonal Influence
Group decision-making
Group polarization
If most members of a group already
have a strong opinion on a matter they
will lean even more strongly in that
direction after discussion.
Discussion serves the purposes of
making the group more extreme in its
views rather than opening a dialogue
on differing opinions.
Interpersonal Influence
Group decision-making
Groupthink
Groupthink can emerge in a group
regardless of the level of cohesion.
Group members suppress doubts about
an issue or decision for fear of being
ostracized.
Sometimes dominant members will
silence dissenters; sometimes
dissenters fail to speak up at all.
Interpersonal Influence
Group decision-making
Groupthink
The decisions to invade the Bay of Pigs
and to launch the space shuttle
Challenger are famous examples of
groupthink.
