Social Psychology The study of human behavior in its social context It explores how we think about influence and relate to others Social Cognition thinking about others Social Behavior helping and hiring others Social Influence Conformity obedience group process Intergroup Relations prejudice discrimination Close Relationships attraction and attachment Social categorization Put people into groups based on shared characteristics Generally automatic and unconscious In groups Us social groups we identify with in group heterogeneity recognize we differ Out groups Them groups we don t identify with out group homogeneity we believe they similar Attitudes evaluations of people groups and ideas can be favorable or unfavorable Cognitive beliefs objective fact based Affective feelings often strong with politics sex religion Behavioral Actions tendencies explicit attitudes consciously accessible easy to report Implicit unconscious associations difficult to verbalize generally involuntary and uncontrollable When do attitudes predict behavior social pressure is low if contrary to norm Other factors minimal weather cost etc Attitude specific to predict recycle ask about recycling not love of environment Attitude is strong When do behaviors predict attitude During attitude formation Self perception theory look at the behavior to see how feel we tend to justify our efforts When behavior and attitude don t match AND you can t change behavior or justify discrepancy Cognitive Dissonance discomfort caused by inconsistencies we are motivated to reduce so we shift attitude to match the behavior if necessary Prejudice A predetermined unjustified attitude towards a group Stereotype Belief cognitive compnent Characteristics you believe ALL group members share preconceptions things you think before meeting can be wrong for group OFTEN wrong for individuals Affective Evaluation Prejudgements about members of a social group often unsupported Ex Sexism Racism ANYTHING Discrimination behavior component Treat people differently only because of the group they belong to Origins of Prejudice Cognitive Roots Categorize and stereotype automatically Social Roots In group bias Ethnocentrism where we favor our own group we find it superior to other groups Belief in a just world when we see unfair behavior we believe that they deserve it Emotional Roots Negative emotions nourish prejudice Realistic conflict theory if two groups compete over the same recourses it increases tension and prejudice When threatened we latch on to own group and dislike other groups Learning Theory All types play a role modeling reinforcing punishment classical conditioning Stopping Prejudice and Discrimination Education About positives and similarities Laws Attitudes often follow behavior Equal status contact non competitive equal status no group has power over another Robber s cave and Jigsaw classrooms Altruism Help with no expectation of reward may involve risk of Prosocial behavior Helping others harm One type helping a stranger When do we help a stranger in need 11 factors 1 We notice may not be aware of distress 2 Decide there is clearly a need ambiguous 3 We take responsibility note likely if alone The bystander effect iThe more people around the less likely you Diffusion of responsibility you feel less responsible someone else Pluralistic ignorance no body else is reacting so there must not be will be helped will help a problem 4 We know how to help 5 Low risk to us 7 Females in need are more likely to get help especially attractive 6 Good mood 8 Same race etc 10 Empathy 11 Prosocial models 9 When we feel it s not the victim s fault Social Cognition mental processes used to understand make sense of the social world use on self and others Attribution Theory One dimension Attributions Inferred causes of events behaviors assigned reasons Dispositional internal personality charicteristics slipped because they are clumsy Situational external environmental circumstances slipped because it s icy Attribution patterns common people tend to have a style Culture impacts attribution patterns societies Individualistic emphasize personal identity and uniqueness Focus on competitive success strength and skill Value independence self reliance America Western Europe Collectivist Group goals more important than individual goals feel more responsible to others 80 of world Cooperation important Personed defined by group membership More in Asia Africa Fundamental Attribution Error FAE Overestimate dispositional factors and underestimate situational factors overestimate the persons fault and underestimate the environmental Why do we do it in individualistic societies Collectivists less likely Our society emphasizes individual accomplishments We don t like to admit how much the environment affects us Self Serving Bias Attribute success to personal factors and failure to the environment when it is ourself more in individualistic societies Self Effacing Bias Attribute success to the help from others or environment and failure to self more in Collectivists Halo Effect Know one thing good or bad about someone we assume all other traits are comparable if i know one good thing about you you are all good Beautiful is good someone is attractive they are also talented Social Influence 1 Conformity Obedience Persuasion Compliance Use the two class handout for notes on these topics 2 Social facilitation social influence on task performance Why is it that sometimes we do better with an audience and sometimes we do worse Arousal and the Yerkes Dodson Law Others arouse us and this makes Dominant response even more likely Dominant response on easy task is to do well and for hard is to not do it well Social facilitation we do better on easy things with others around and we do worse on hard things when others are around 3 Social loafing what is it and how to reduce tendency to do less in a group than alone Compared to effort when alone combat social loafing by making people accountable for their share 4 Group Polarization risky shift group discussion and interaction tends to strengthen an individual s individual position group rating more extreme than any of the individuals 5 Group Think what is it and how to reduce bad decisions made because members of a cohesive group emphasize harmony at expense of critical thinking and decision making combat by having anonymous input an outsider etc Social Relationships Stages or Phases of Relationships A Initial Attraction 3 factors
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