Social Psych: The scientific Study of the way in which people’s thoughts, feelings, attitudes or behaviors are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other peopleFocuses on individualsHighly ExperimentalFocus on the social situation and contextTypical, non-pathological behaviorAttribution Theory: attributing behavior to either situation or person’s dispositionDispositional Attributions: attributing behaviors to a person’s disposition and traitspeople tend to overestimate the dispositional factorsSituational Attributions: attributing behavior to the environmentpeople tend to forget about situational factorsFundamental Attribution Theory: The tendency to overestimate the impact of personal disposition and underestimate the impact of situations; occurs when we ignore the power of the situation in other’s behaviorHow our actions can affect our attitudesFoot in the Door Technique:Process of getting someone to agree to a smaller request/behavior in order to subsequently ask for a bigger request/behaviorasking for something small- person feels ok giving itwhen asked for a bigger “something,” since already participating, more likely to give in and give againZimbardo Prison StudyZimbardo (1972) assigned the roles of guards and prisoners to random students and found that guards and prisoners developed role- appropriate attitudes.People fall into role play/roles assignedGuards = became more psychologically harmful, physically tough on prisonersPrisoners = some revolted, others became very compliantPower of Person + SituationBehavior= f(person +environment)Interactionist perspectiveImportant to know that BOTH person factors and situations factors are involved herePerson: Features or characteristics that individuals carry into social situationsSituation: Environmental events or circumstances outside the personCognitive DissonanceOne explanation is that when our attitudes and actions are opposed, we experience tensionOne route to attitude change is when we act in ways that counter to an attitude we holdDissonance: the unpleasant state of psychological arousal resulting from an inconsistency within one’s important attitudes, beliefs, or behaviorsCounterattitudinal action: a behavior that is inconsistent with an existing attitudeexample) Lab Exampleparticipants volunteer in a tedious, mundane task they are rewarded either with $1 or with $20 then asked to call in the next participant and tell them that the study is very interestingThey then take a survey:The participants who were given only $1 recognize that there was no powerful external source influencing their decision to complete the task ($1 is small motivation, insufficient); additionally, the decision was not forced and the person self-identifies as a non chronic liar because there was no “reason” for the participant to have complied, his/she reasons that the task must not have been that bad and will therefore feel the task must not have been that badThe participants who were paid $20- since they received more money (enough to be considered a “powerful external source”) the participant reasons that the only reason why he/she completed the task is because they received enough reward, and the task was bad some go as far as to tell the next participant that the study is boringConformity studyStudy: participants are shown the lines and told to match the single line with on of the letter-labeled linesWhen participant is completing the task on their own:They’re correctly pairing the lines just shy of 100% of the timeThis indicates that they can distinguish and do know the correct line pairingsWhen the participant is completing the task in a group with at least 3 other individuals:They’re incorrectly answering much more often- they’re more likely to agree with the group, even when the answer given is clearly incorrectMuch less likely if one person out of a group (giving the same wrong answer) gives an alternate answer whether wrong or right—the trick is that someone breaks the conformityLess likely in today’s society, now that conformity is not a socially imposed construct, but individuality takes overMilgram StudyHow the power of the situation can get in the wayPeopleOne person was the participant (Teacher)One person was the learner (Confederate)One was the participant (deceived-don’t know what’s really happening)ProcedureTold they would be testing the effect of punishment on learningTeacher would deliver word pairings and “shock” the person when they responded incorrectly.Effect/discoveriesShows how authority can lead us to perform behaviors we never thought we wouldProfessional Psychologists Predicted <1% would complyIn Reality – 65% of Participants compliedDiffusion of Responsibility: the teacher acts as an authority; they would be the ones responsible if anything happenAltruismProsocial Behavior: any action intended to benefit another person, regardless of motiveEx) give a large tip to a waiter to impress your bossPure Altruism: benefits another intentionally for no external or internal rewardEx) jumping on the railroad track to help a stranger who has fallenHelping behavior: when are we likely/unlikely to helpUnlikely:when there are bystandersDiffusion of responsibility: someone else to blame/put the responsibility onPluralistic ignorance: the greater the number of people, the less likely anyone individual is to helpIf we are in a rush: uncertainty of whether someone needs help because nobody around you in doing anythingLikely:When there are no other bystandersWhen we are the only one present with a skillIf we are not in a rushwhen there is a known problemDecision making processWhy do we help?Social Exchange theorySocial Economic: theory that human interactions are transactions that aim to maximize one’s rewards & minimize one’s costs; your doing cost benefit analysis of helpingDonating blood: doing a good deed vs time consuming/painfulEgoism: motivated by the desire to increase one’s own welfareSocial Norms theoryNot calculated cost/benefit analysisSubtle form of self-interest we feel we should do something as a human responseReciprocity Norm: An expectation that people will help, not hurt those who have helped them; feel good theory- of I do this good deed, I will get a good deedSocial Responsibility Norms: Societal rule that people should help those dependent on them and in need of their