April 7, 2014Social Psychology cont’d Conformity & obedience Bad Aggression Genocide Drug use Good Social harmony Prosocial acts Group behavior Other ways our behavior changes in the presence of others Decision-making Performance Behaviors Group decision-making Group polarization = when people of similar view form a group together Discussion within group makes views even more extreme Groupthink = groups trying to solve problems will accept one another’s information & ideas without subjecting them to critical analysis Group performance Social facilitation = individual performance is intensified when others are observing Experts do even better & novices do worse Social loafing = tendency of people in a group to show less effort when not held individually responsible (e.g. group projects) Group behavior Deindividuation = loss of self-awareness & self-restraint in group situations with anonymity or high arousal Social relations Psychological components of how people relate to each other In-groups & out-groups In-group = any group you are a member of Out-group = any group you are not a member of In-group bias = we tend to favor & think highly of our own group Prejudice Hostile or negative attitude toward a group of people based solely on their membership inthat group Includes components that are : Affective (emotional) Behavioral Cognitive Discrimination Unjustified behavior selectively applied to members of a group Stereotype Generalized belief about a group Applied to every member of a group Scapegoat theory Process of singling out one person or group for unmerited blame Hitler blamed Jews for economic crisis in Germany Blaming natural disasters on gays, liberals, atheists, etc. Other-race effect Seeing uniformity in the appearance of other groups May assume other similarities (traits, personality) which leads to stereotypes Just-world fallacy Believing that justice generally happens People get the punishments & benefits they deserve Rich & privileged people earned it / poor & outcast people do not deserve better Attraction Mere-exposure effect = merely seeing someone’s face & name makes them more likeable More likely to develop attraction to someone you’ve seen a lot Opposites might attract at first, but it does not last Types of love Passionate love = intense emotions & passion-filled Companionate love = affection with greater stress on intimacy Helping others Prosocial behavior = action can be intended to benefit another Can be done for own sake or to gain external/internal reward Pure altruism = action intended to benefit another No external/internal reward to helper Why we help : social norms Help because we have been taught to help Reciprocity norm = expectation that people should help, not hurt, those who have helped them Social responsibility norm = expectation that people should help those who are dependentupon them/need help (e.g. disabled, children) Emotional influences on helping Being in a positive mood “Happy people are helping people” More likely to help on a sunny day, near a pleasant smell, etc. Helping prolongs our good mood & makes us look on the bright side Why we help : negative-state relief model Witnessing someone in need of help is distressing Motivated by desire to reduce your own uncomfortable negative emotions Who helps : gender considerations Women are more likely to : Help in relational ways Be long-term caretakers Be involved with religious organizations Give money to religious organizations Hold liberal political views Men are more likely to : Help in heroic ways Contribute money to a campaign/organization/in general Contact an elected official Have membership in political organization Gender roles Women traditionally put in “private” sphere & men put in “public” sphere Who gets helped Attractiveness of person in need Physically attractive people more likely to be helped Friendly people more likely to be helped Charisma of one person can determine how much help other people receive Magic Johnson effect More likely to help those who are similar to us (age, gender, etc.) Who does not get helped Stigmatized groups (addicts, homeless, LGBTQ, HIV/AIDS, etc.) Attribution of responsibility Beliefs about needy person’s responsibility influences helping AIDS from blood transfusion vs. sexual behavior When we are by ourselves when help is needed We trust our instincts that there is a problem We know we are the only ones who can help Bystander effect Step 1 : notice the problem Less likely in large crowd/with distractions/when in a rush Step 2 : Interpret the event as an emergency/decide if help is needed Pluralistic ignorance = belief that if others are not doing anything, probably nothing needs to be done Step 3 : take responsibility Diffusion of responsibility = we feel less compelled because we feel less responsible Step 4 : decide how to help Lack of competence Step 5 : Provide help Audience inhibition Costs exceed rewards Undoing bystander effect Define situation as an emergency (“I need help, it’s an emergency) Prevent diffusion of responsibility (pick out particular bystander: “You need to help me”) Prevent lack of competence (state what type of help is needed: “Call an
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