Psych 301 9 29 3 Interpersonal processes When does social context influence behavior Group influences on behavior Social facilitation Presence of others strengthens dominant response Often leads to enhanced performance Social loafing Tendency for people to work less hard in a group than when working alone Lack of motivation from individual responsibility Deindividuation in groups Loss of individuality and self awareness Fail to attend to personal standards People are especially likely to become deindividuated when They are aroused they are anonymous there is diffusion of responsibility Zimbardo prison experiment Group decision making Risky shift Group decisions often riskier than if made by separate individuals Group polarization Process whereby group members conform to initial attitudes of other members who already agree Agreement supersedes actual decision Can explain both risky shift and excessive caution depending on group dynamics Conformity Social norms Expected standards of conduct indicating appropriate behavior in a given situation Conformity Altering one s behavior or opinions to match those of others Sherif s autokinetic effect study Asch s line judgment study Compliance Agreeing to others requests Especially likely when people fail to pay attention and respond without fully considering their options Strategies for inducing compliance Foot in the door effect Door in the face effect Low balling strategy Milgram s obedience to authority experiment Cover story a learning experiment Teacher the real subject administers shock to learner a confederate Shock level increases to dangerous levels Learner objects becomes hysterical and eventually goes silent Authority figure an experimenter instructs subject to continue Obedience determined by whether or not the subject refused to continue Results large proportion of subjects obey Despite obeying many subjects were very distressed Factors leading to less obedience Physically seeing or touching learner Authority figure not immediately present Observing other people refusing to obey Males and females were equally obedient Obedience increased when the subject did not directly flip the switch to administer the shock When do people harm or help others Biological factors in aggression Aggression Any behavior or action that involves the intention to harm someone else The amygdala Stimulating the amygdala leads to attack behaviors Removal of the amygdala leads to passive behaviors Frontal lobe damage associated with aggressive behaviors Probably due to lack of inhibition Serotonin may be important for control of aggression In mice low levels of serotonin are associated with aggressive behaviors Drugs enhancing serotonin reduce aggression New Zealand study Low levels of serotonin associated with violence but not criminality Suicide is also associated with low levels of serotonin Negative affect and aggression Frustration aggression hypothesis The extent to which people feel frustrated predicts the likelihood that they will act aggressively Road rage is an example Cognitive neoassociationistic model Frustration leads to aggression because it elicits negative affect Negative affect primes cognitive knowledge associated with aggression Learned and cultural factors in aggression Violence rates can change within a country and they can change over time Murder rates vary greatly among countries Cultures of honor Expectation that men must protect their reputations through physical aggression Leads some cultures to be more violent Nisbett s Asshole study Influences on helping behavior Prosocial behavior Tendency to help others Altruism Providing help when it is needed without apparent reward Inclusive fitness Adaptive benefits of passing along genes rather than individual survival Kin selection Individuals are more altruistic to those with whom they share genes Reciprocal helping Explanation of helping toward non relatives Individuals help because that individual may return the favor at a later time Bystander apathy Bystander intervention effect Failure to offer help by those who observe someone in need Latan and Darley studies Smoke filled room study Demonstrates social referencing The epileptic seizure study Demonstrates diffusion of responsibility The Good Samaritan study Demonstrates failure to notice Relationships Factors influencing affiliative choice Proximity Frequency with which individuals come into contact Increases the likelihood that people will become friends May have its effect because of familiarity mere exposure effect Similarity People with similar attitudes values interests backgrounds and personalities tend to like each other The matching principle The most successful romantic couples tend to be physically similar Socially constructive characteristics tend to be seen as admirable The what is beautiful is good stereotype People tend to attribute positive qualities to those who are physically attractive Even mothers treat physically attractive children more affectionately and play with them more Sex differences in mating strategies Sexual strategies theory Evolutionary theory of David Buss Men and women look for different qualities in a relationship Women s basic strategy Intensive care to a relatively small number of offspring Leads to relatively high selectivity for mates Value commitment and ability to provide Men s basic strategy Less investment required so less selective Value attractiveness fertility sexual faithfulness Love and human relationships Sternberg s triangular theory 3 components passion intimacy romance Describes seven basic types of love Attributional styles in couples Unhappy couples Attribute good outcomes to situations and bad outcomes to each other Make distress maintaining attributions View each other in negative ways Happy couples Attribute good outcomes to each other and bad outcomes to the situation Make partner enhancing attributions Constructive responses to conflicts
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