Social Psychology Social Psychology How we think about how we interact how we react and how we relate to each other dealing with other people Our behavior generally comes from a cognitive evaluation of what is happening and we realize how and why people react to things Fritz Heider s Attribution Theory When we encounter others we frequently try to figure out what is causing them to act the way they act is it who they are or the environment causing them to act that way People normally assume you act because that is who you are for the most part Someone would assume you had a rude personality if you talked rude to them when in reality they could have just had a horrible morning and don t want to talk right now It can either be the person themselves or the situation when we see others we assume it to be the person Understanding the context gives us added insight Attitudes and Actions Attitudes Our attitudes often predict our behavior If we think someone is an ass we will treat them that way So we try to convince people of the justice of our position to make them do what we want The environment and social pressure can effect into someone making a decision but our attitude is most important Often time vivid and easy to recall information is the best Central Route of Persuasion Convincing people of your argument by using logic and encouraging thoughtful discussion to make them do something you want You want to stay out late tonight so you make a long discussion why you should If your mother is actually willing to listen to you then a rational thought out explanation is better Peripheral Route of Persuasion Most useful on people unlikely to think about what you are saying you rely on cues and celebrity endorsements to get them to make a snappy decision Advertising use this they use celebrities to sell their products they don t want us to think why Michael Jordan is selling us underwear Tanning Experiment They spend a long time talking to people about why tanning is dangerous and they show another group pictures of people with skin cancer the pictures work better because they don t want to spend a long time thinking about the dangers of skin cancer but the people with the pictures get the message 72 of the people with the pictures came back with lighter skin yet only 16 of people with the discussion did People s attitudes follow behaviors Foot in the Door Phenomenon This is all about asking people to say yes to small requests The salesperson ask you questions to which you would reply yes A good salesperson may say I ve been walking around all day and it s hot can you get me a water The goal is to get you to say yes The more you say yes the more likely you are to say yes to what they really want you to This is putting your foot in the door not letting it close Door in the Face Phenomenon When the salesman gets there he asks for something so big he knows they will say no Then he will ask for something smaller which is what you were really trying to get the whole time They feel good having negotiated you down but you won Roles Social Roles By adopting a new role it makes us act differently than we did previously Placed in a given situation people will act as how the role they inhabit dictates them to people succumb to the situation they find themselves in other people tend not to change as much Zimbardo He sets up the Stanford Prison study to examine how roles impact society He cancelled it early because he had lost control of the experiment the guards were treating the prisoners too poorly Stanford Prison Study The prisoners who got promoted to guards began to act violent towards the prisoners so they stopped it early The role we are given in society is the one we end up playing Cognitive Dissonance Theory Our attitudes and our actions do not align We are not able to act in the way that we believe If we think murder is wrong and we are forced to kill someone this is cognitive dissonance People solve this by changing their beliefs to fit with their actions Social Influence Social Influence We tend to mimic what we see in others and our mood resembles that of the people we surround ourselves with Yawning tends to be contagious Conformity People try to change their thinking and behaviors to whatever the group decides is right Asch Study People try to conform He can get 1 out of 3 people to tell him that white is black The different sizes lines that people try to tell One possibility is they get it correct They might either believe the group is true and they are wrong or they might just go along with it More people are likely to change on harder things than easier things He can get people to change the right answer to something that is wrong just by putting them in a room with other people As long as 3 or more people agree you give in to see the world in their way Normative Social Influence An influence resulting from just wanting to fit in We know what the right answer is but we want to change it to fit in to the group Informational Social Influence You actually believe what the group says instead of having a different opinion but just going along Obedience Following what we are told to do without questions If there are no role models for defiance we are more likely to go along with what we are being told Like conformity obedience is part of human nature Milgram Study Studies how it was possible that a race of good people could participate in something as horrible as the Holocaust He views the Germans as good people who took part in a horrible genocide and wants to know how it happened He thinks it is because of obedience Most people are willing to go all the way to the end of the shock machine and then keep using that shock the whole time even though the other person is not responding Group Influence Social Facilitation Being in a group affects our behavior We have stronger responses on simple or well learned tasks while in the presence of others People rise to the occasion If you do something well you are better to do well with an audience around But if you struggle at this task more people will make you worse Something becomes easier when more people are around if you are good at it Social Loafing When we are placed in group situations we sometimes do not give our full effort especially in situations where you are not individually evaluated as you can rely on the group You can experience both of thee at the same time Deindividualization There is an arousing situation where there is also
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