PSY 0010 notes Social psychology page 1 Social psych how people think about influence relate to one another understand explain thoughts feelings behavior of individuals as influenced by presence of others o effects of social situations on individuals in those situations How does social situation influence our behavior dispositionism situationism o behavior and attitudes caused by internal factors of the individual genotype personality traits motivations etc o behavior and attitudes caused by the social environment circumstances social expectations social rewards punishments fundamental attribution error o tendency to attribute others behavior to internal causes overestimate impact of dispositional influences underestimate impact of situational influences o attributions of our own behavior do not follow this pattern influenced by self enhancement motive social rewards and punishments o others control access to what we want and our ability to avoid what o performance on simple familiar tasks is improved by the presence of performance on complex tasks is worse o arousal being around other members of our species is autonomically others control rewards punishments increased arousal improves performance on easier tasks and worsens it on harder ones o social loafing tendency of individuals to work less hard when in we don t want others arousing groups decreased evaluation apprehension often not consciously done diffusion of responsibility weakening of each group member s sense of individual obligation group problem solving brainstorming fewer ideas less creative overestimate success socialization lifelong process of shaping a person s behavior patterns values attitudes motives and abilities by the culture in which the person lives o often less direct than social rewards punishments o agents of socialization family school mass media religion o social norms expectations of what behavior and attitudes are appropriate acceptable PSY 0010 notes Social psychology page 2 enforced through giving withholding social punishments rewards but still indirect know that violating social norms makes social punishment more likely conveyed indirectly in unspoken ways via modeling conformity allow behavior to be shaped according to expectations of those around us o no society without some measure of conformity o in social psych willingness to change behavior attitudes beliefs because of indirect group pressure o Solomon Asch study of perceptual judgments standard v comparison lines effects of perceived pressure to conform 76 of subjects conformed to incorrect responses on at least one of 12 trials overall conformity 37 of trials o why do we conform informational social influence gain accurate information in ambiguous or unfamiliar situations by conforming when uncertain normative social influence motivated to avoid ostracism gain rewards like Asch study o what increases conformity ambiguous situations result in higher rates of conformity accept others judgment when unsure public responding conformity less likely in private unanimity of others in group larger groups plateau at 7 8 people obedience to authority o Milgram s 1962 electric shock studies effects of punishment on learning 2 subjects 1 teacher 1 learner learner must learn correct pairs of words teacher would punish learner if he got a word pair wrong intensity increased with each wrong answer if teacher resists experimenter insists 65 administered the maximum shock of 450 volts lethal beforehand psychiatrists had posited that no more than 1 1000 would give lethal shock tests stopped for a while because of concern of effect on teachers after deciding to give lethal shock Burger 2009 partially replicated Milgram s studies 70 went to max shock of 150 volts and were prepared to continue 55 would have been expected to go all the way to 450 o what increases obedience PSY 0010 notes Social psychology page 3 psychological distance when teachers couldn t hear learner obedience rates were higher high status authority official looking experimenters received more obedience than unofficial helpers direct observation by the authority reducing perceived responsibility if only reading word pairs and not shocking obedience goes to 90 o what role does personality play dispositional factors do not seem influential no known gender cultural age differences desire for control still not consistent but maybe deindividuation o Zimbardo s Stanford prison study 1972 randomly assigned college student volunteers to prisoner or guard in simulated prison for 2 weeks guard sadism increased within a day or two prisoners initially passive then began to rebel family and outsider submission on visiting days despite being disturbed by conditions all agreed to come back experimenter complicity as wardens Zimbardo woke up and ended study prematurely after outside interviewer o deindividuation tendency of people to engage in atypical behavior when stripped of their usual identities most likely to happen in large groups when anonymous during arousing distracting activities during diminished self awareness people seek out these ecstatic experiences extasis to be thrown out of yourself can also lead people to behave helpfully when others in the group are doing so bystander nonintervention o more likely than a large group helping deindividuation Bystander nonintervention real world incidents o Kitty Genovese 1964 NYC stabbed outside apartment many people heard and observed without calling for help o Deletha Word 1995 Detroit chased by guy she hit in hit and run beaten with tire iron jumped off bridge to death while 50 people watched o Angel Torres 2008 Hartford 78 y o hit by car lays in street without being helped until unrelated police car stops people much more likely to help in an emergency when alone than when in a group effects on bystander effect PSY 0010 notes Social psychology page 4 o stimulus overload effect people who live in cities accustomed to emergency stimuli learn to tune it out o diffusion of responsibility the more people present the less responsible each individual feels to help o pluralistic ignorance no one else thinks it s necessary to respond therefore to respond individual must go against consensus When do we help others dispositional influences o gender men more likely to help strangers in public women more likely to help in close relationships o empathy high in empathy more likely to help o enlightenment effect knowing about bystander nonintervention reduces