April 14, 2014Final Exam Study GuideChapter 14 : Social Psychology Attribution theory Attribution = conclusion about the cause of an observed behavior/event We explain others’ behavior with two types of attributions Situational attribution = factors outside the person doing the action Maria scored the goal in the soccer game because she was having a lucky day Dispositional attribution = person’s stable, enduring traits, personality, ability, emotions are causing the action Maria scored the goal in the soccer game because she is a good soccer player Self-serving bias Tendency to view one’s self favorably Use situational attribution to describe our bad behaviors I did poorly on the test because the professor made it too hard & unfair Use dispositional attribution to describe our good behaviors I did well on the test because I am good at psychology Fundamental attribution error Tendency to attribute other people’s behavior to their dispositions (less likely to consider situational causes) Use dispositional attribution to describe others’ behaviors Changing attitudes Central route persuasion Relying on evidence & logic Most effective when attitude is important to the person You need to purchase an acne product and you pick the brand with empirical findingson their commercial Peripheral route persuasion Appealing to fears, desires & associations Most effective when attitude is unimportant to the person You need to purchase an acne product and you pick the brand with an attractive celebrity on their commercial Cognitive dissonance When our actions do not match up with our attitudes Cognitive dissonance theory = we often resolve dissonance by changing our attitudes to fit our actions Behavior & attitudes Foot-in-the-door phenomenon = the tendency to be more likely to agree to a large requestafter agreeing to a small one Donating $20 to charity after agreeing to donate $5 Door-in-the-face phenomenon = tendency to agree to a smaller request after rejecting a larger request Donating $5 to charity after rejecting to donate $20 Conformity Change in behavior or belief as a result of real or imagined group pressure Automatic mimicry Not by choice Contagious yawning, arm folding, hand wringing, etc. Adopting regional accents, grammar & vocabulary Empathetic shifts in mood to fit the moods of people around us Adopting coping styles of parents/peers (violence, yelling, withdrawal, etc.) Informational social influence Choose to conform because we believe other people’s views are correct/their behavior is appropriate When- Situation is ambiguous- There is a crisis- Task is very difficult- Other people are/are thought to be experts Normative social influence Conform because we want to be liked/thought of positively Desire to be accepted/fit in Can occur even in unambiguous situations Women dieting & losing weight to fit “ideal” shape shown in the media Answering a question with what you know is the incorrect answer because other people are answering so Obedience Experiment conducted by Stanley Milgram- Studied obedience to authority- Hypothesis : Americans will not comply with authority to such an extent- Teacher “shocks” learner with increasing voltage for each wrong answer- Could not see the learner, but could hear them- If desire to quit, simply told to please continue/the experiment require that they continue- 65% obeyed fully Why do people obey- Obedience to authority (perceived expertise)- Need for consistency- Escalation of commitment- Strange situation- Diffusion of responsibility- Conformity Stanford prison experiment Recreate prison environment with role play of guards & prisoners Prisoner rebellion, guard retaliation, guard aggression, sexual embarrassment tactics, break of prisoner solidarity Experiment ended prematurely What did we learn? Situation was very real to all involved Guards were brutal & prisoners were broken Three types of guards = tough but fair, nice, hostile Type of guard was NOT predicted by personality test results Authoritarianism prisons endured longer Implications & applications Ethical guidelines Power of situations & roles Transformation of human character/deindividuation Diffusion of responsibility Prison reform Group decision-making Groupthink Groups trying to solve problems will accept one another’s information & ideas without subjecting them to critical analysis Bay of Pigs invasion planned by Eisenhower administration – Kennedy administration accepted plan without criticism & ignored warnings Group polarization When people of similar views form a group together, discussion makes their views more extreme You support Planned Parenthood & attend one of their meetings with other supporters. When you leave the meeting you feel even stronger & support Planned Parenthood more Group performance Social facilitation Individual performance is intensified when you are observed by others Experts do even better & novices do worse You are an excellent violinist. At your spring concert in front of 100 people you play the best you ever have You just began playing soccer and you are not that good. At your homecoming game all of your friends, classmates and family come to watch and you play more horrible than usual Social loafing Tendency of people in a group to show less effort when not held individually accountable You don’t try as hard in a group project as you do in an individual project Group behavior Deinidividuation Loss of self-awareness & self-restraint in group situations with anonymity or high arousal KKK (anonymity) The mosh pit at a concert gets out of hand and security needs to be called in as peoplebegin getting trampled (high arousal) Prejudice Scapegoat theory The process of singling out one person or group for unmerited blame Hitler blamed the economic crisis in Germany on Jewish citizens Natural disasters being blamed on gays, liberals, atheists, etc. Just world fallacy Believing that justice generally happens People gets the benefits & punishments they deserve Those who are rich & privileged must have earned it Those who are poor & outcast must not deserve better Attraction
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