PSY 110 1st Edition Lecture 15 Outline of Last Lecture I. MotivationII. Hunger DrivesIII. Behavioral and Social Cognitive MotivationIV. EmotionOutline of Current Lecture I. Social CognitionII. AttractionIII. Conformity, Obedience, and ComplianceCurrent Lecture Social CognitionSocial Psychology: Field of psychology that attempts to explain how the presence of others influences thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of individualsSocial Cognition: Process of attending to, interpreting, and remembering information about ourselves and others- Areas of interest include:o How we form impressions of others and manage their impressions of uso Attribution: The process of making inferences about the causes of human behaviorImpression Formation: The mental process of developing judgments about other people- Obvious attributes are noted first- Gender, race, age, dress, and physical attractiveness or unattractiveness- Primacy Effect: A person’s overall impression of another is influenced more by the first information received than by information that comes later- We then use this info to interpret later behaviorThese notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.Impression Management: Intentional steps taken to influence others’ opinions of us- Important in meeting people who are in a position to provide something that we desire- Achieving agreement between others’ opinions of us and our own self-concepts plays a key role in the development of social relationships- Impression management influences how we view ourselves- Feedback that we receive from others through our efforts at impression management helps us affirm and review our own self-conceptsAttribution: An assignment of a cause to explain one’s own or another’s behaviorSituational Attribution: Attributing behavior to an external cause or factor related to a situationDispositional Attribution: Attributing behavior to an internal cause, such as a personality traitSelf-Serving Bias: The tendency to attribute one’s successes to dispositional causes and one’s failures to situational causesEX) attributing high test grade to your hard work and studying strategies and attributing low testgrade to the test being unfairActor-Observer Effect: Attributing own behavior to situational aspects and others’ behavior to dispositional factorsEX) interpreting a car crash AttractionFactors Influencing Attraction:1. Proximity: Physical, geographical closeness- Mere-Exposure Effect: Tendency to feel more positively toward a stimulus as a result of repeated exposure to it2. Our Emotions at the Time- We may be drawn to someone who is around during positive times3. Reciprocity: We tend to like people who like us4. Similarity to Ourselves: Age, race, gender, SES5. Physical Attractiveness**people of all ages have a strong tendency to prefer physically attractive people**symmetrical faces and bodies are seen as more attractive and sexually appealing in all culturesHalo Effect: The tendency to assume that a person has generally positive or negative traits as a result of observing one major positive or negative trait- physically attractive people are perceived as having other favorable qualities- the impact of physical attractiveness is strongest in the perception of strangers- we may think of someone as more exciting, interesting, or likeable if we like one major trait about themMatching Hypothesis: We choose partners who are similar to ourselves in physical attractiveness and other attributes- Mismatched couples are more likely to end a relationship4 Most Important Qualities in Life Partner Selection:- mutual attraction/love- dependable character- emotional stability and maturity- pleasing dispositionEvolutionary Psychologist: Men and women prefer mates on the basis of what they can contribute to reproductive success- Men prefer young, attractive women- Women prefer men with resources and high status**gender differences in mate preferences are influenced by economic and social forces as well as evolutionary forcesSternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love:- Intimacy: Emotions that foster sense of connection- Passion: Drives that involve sexual intimacy- Commitment: Short- and long-termSeven Kinds of Love:Conformity, Obedience, and ComplianceConformity: Changing or adopting a behavior or an attitude in an effort to be consistent with the social norms of a group or expectations of other people- Asch’s experiment- 75% of participants conformed at least some of the time with the incorrect answer given- The same results were attained when varying the size of the group- One dissenting opinion affected participants’ responses- Confederates: Participants that are planted to help researcher- Naïve Subject: Does not know that deception is being usedSocial Norms: Attitudes and standards of behavior expected of members of a particular groupStanley Milgram Obedience Study: Milgram was interested in the involvement of ordinary citizens in the atrocities committed in Nazi Germany- Unquestioning obedience can cause humans to commit unbelievably horrible acts- Staged an experiment to see if ordinary Americans would inflict harm on other citizens when directed to- “Shocks” were administered to “learner” by a “teacher”- Twenty-six participants (65% of the sample) obeyed the experimenter- Only withdrew when the maximum voltage level was reached; “Danger: Severe Shock”- Took a terrible toll on participants- They “were observed to sweat, tremble, stutter, bite their lips, groan, and dig their fingernails into their flesh”- Some teachers begged the learners to respond correctly- Experimenter said, “The experiment requires you to continue” or “You have no other choice; you must go on”- Milgram suggested that distress resulted from the conflict between a desire to avoid harming others and a need to conform to authorityCompliance: Acting in accordance with the direct requests of other peopleFoot-in-the-Door Technique: Gain agreement to a small request first- The person becomes more likely to agree to a larger request laterDoor-in-the-Face Technique: Make a large request with the expectation that the person will refuse- The person becomes more likely to comply with a smaller request laterLow-Ball Technique: Making an attractive initial offer to get a