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An Invitation to Social Psychology
characterizing social psychology
social psychology: the scientific study of the feelings, thoughts, + behaviours of
indvs in social situations
Zimbardo
simulated prison study with 24 Stanford University students
participants assigned to either “guard” or “prisoner”
right away the guards turned to verbal abuse + physical humiliation, requiring
the prisoners to wear bags over their heads, striping them naked, + requiring
them to engage in simulated sex acts
the study had to be terminated after 6 days bc of the behaviour of the guards
produced extreme stress reactions in several of the prisoners
social psychologists study situations in which ppl exert influence over one another,
as well as the ways ppl respond to various attempts to influence them
also interested in how ppl make sense of their world - how they decide what +
whom to believe; how they make inferences about the motives, personalities, +
abilities of other ppl; + how they reach conclusions about the causes of events
the power of the situation
Kevin Lewin
the founder of modern social psychology
he believed that the behaviour of ppl, like the behaviour of objects, is always a
function of the field of forces in which they find themselves
in the case of ppl, the forces are psychological as well as physical
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forces such as the situation (esp social situation), + personal attributes, but
these attributes always interact w the situation to produce the resulting
behaviour
the Milgram experiment
Stanley Milgram
conducted a study on Yale University students in which participants
administered shocks to others (shocks were not actually given)
80% of the participants continued past the 150 V level
62.5% of participants went all the way to the 450 V level (highest level)
average shock given was 360 V, after the learner let out an agonized scream +
became hysterical
participants listened to authority
has been compared to Hitler
the step-by-step nature of the procedure was undoubtedly crucial
seminarians as samaritans
John Darley + Daniel Batson (1973)
study asking participants about their religious orientation to determine whether
particular students were primarily concerned w religion as a means toward
personal salvation or for its other moral + spiritual values
turned out the nature of religious orientation was of no use in predicting whether
the seminarians would offer assistance
whether the seminarians were in a hurry or not was a very powerful
predictor
seminarians were pretty good samaritans as a group - but only when they
weren’t in a rush
the fundamental attribution error
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dispositions: internal factors, such as beliefs, values, personality traits, + abilities
that guide a person’s behaviour
these judgements are valid far less often than we think
fundamental attribution error: the failure to recognize the importance of situational
influences on behaviour, along w the corresponding tendency to overemphasize the
importance of dispositions on behaviour
social psych encourages us to look at another person’s situation in order to fully
understand the person’s behaviour
nudge, don’t push
Kurt Lewin
introduced the concept of “channel factors” to help explain why certain
circumstances that appear unimportant on the surface can have great
consequences for behaviour
either facilitating or blocking it
circumstances can sometimes guide behaviour in a particular direction by
making it easier to follow one path rather than another
behavioural economists refer to this as “nudges”: small, innocuous-seeming
prompts that can have big effects on behaviour
Howard Leventhal
study on how to motivate ppl to take advantage of preventive care (tetanus
vaccines)
some students given a “nudge” - the nudge increased the % of students getting
a vaccine 9 fold (3% → 28%)
the role of construal
interpreting reality
perception requires substantial interpretation on our parts + is subject to sig bias
under certain conditions
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gestalt psychology: approach that stresses the fact that ppl perceive objects not by
means of some automatic registering device but by active, usually nonconsious
interpretation of what the object represents as a whole
the whole is greater than the sum of its parts
naive realism: the belief that we see the world directly, without any complicated
perceptual or cognitive machinery “doctoring” the data
construal: one’s interpretation or inference about the stimuli or situations that one
confronts
schemas
schema: a knowledge structure consisting of any organized body of stored info that
is used to help in understanding events
stereotypes
stereotype: a belief that certain attributes are characteristic of members of a
particular group
schemas that we have for ppl
about a person’s nationality, gender, religion, occupation, neighbourhood, etc.
can be applied in the wrong way + to the wrong ppl
can also be given too much weight in relation to more specific info we have
about a particular person
automatic vs. controlled processing
automatic + unconscious - often based on emotional factors
give rise to implicit attitudes - cannot be controlled by the conscious mind
conscious + systematic - more likely to be controlled by more deliberate thought
give rise to explicit attitudes + beliefs we are aware of
can become implicit over time
automatic + controlled processing can result in quite diff attitudes in the same
person toward members of outgroups
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types of nonconscious processing
often we can’t even identify some of the crucial factors that affect our beliefs +
behaviour
we subconsciosuly immitate other ppl’s body language
called “ideomotor mimicry”
functions of nonconscious processing
partly a matter of efficiency
conscious processes are generally slow + can run only serially
automatic processes are typically much faster + can operate in parallel
evolution + human behaviour: how we are the same
natural selection: an evolutionary process that molds animals + plants so that traits
that enhance the probability of survival + reproduction are passed on to subsequent
generations
disadvantageous characteristics are selected against - characteristics better
adapted to the environment are selected for
can be helpful in explaining why ppl behave the way they do
many human behaviours + institutions are universal, or nearly so
we’ve acquired based behavioural tendencies
some theorists believe that some of our commonalities can be accounted for as
simply a result of our species’ superior intelligence
group living, language, + theory of mind
there are general, inherited propensities to develop grammatical language
theory of mind: the ability to recognize that other ppl have beliefs + desires
by age 2, children recognize that the way to understand other ppl’s behaviour is
to understand their beliefs + desires
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by age 3/4, theory of mind is sophisticated enough that children can recognize
when other ppl’s beliefs are false
autistic ppl struggle w this
evolution + gender roles
parental investment: the evolutionary principle that costs + benefits are associated
w reproduction + the nurturing of offspring
bc these costs + benefits are diff for males + females, one gender will normally
value + invest more in each child than will the other
avoiding the naturalistic fallacy
naturalistic fallacy: the claim that the way things are is the way they should be
mistakenly assuming that biology is destiny
idea that what we are biologically predisposed to do is what we inevitably will do
+ perhaps even should do
social neuroscience
everything humans do or think involves biological processes in the brain + body that
have been shaped by natural selection
older regions in the brain that we share w other mammals appear to be involved in
nonconscious, automatic reactions to our social environment
e.g. amygdala + nucleus accumbens
the size of our neocortex is unique to other mammals
neocortex: consists of layers of neurons on top of older regions of the brain
(e.g. amygdala)
involved in reasoning, abstract thought, + memory
also involved in social behaviour
e.g. prefrontal cortex (self-awareness + moral judgement), empathy
network, + a mentalizing network
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culture + human behaviour: how we are different
cultural differences in social relations + self-understanding
cultural differences go far deeper than beliefs + values
they extend to the level of fundamental forms of self-conception + social
interaction, as well as perceptual + cognitive processes ppl use to develop new
thoughts + beliefs
independent (individualistic) cultures: a culture in which conception of the self is
distinct from others, w attributes that are constant
interdependent (collectivistic) cultures: a culture in which conception of the self is
inextricably linked to others, w attributes depending on the situation
culture appears to shape the human brain
studies have shown that participants who are more independent have denser gray
matter in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex + dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
ventromedial prefrontal cortex: supports attention + thought about the self
dorsolateral prefrontal cortex: supports thoughts of self-agency
some qualifications
in Latino-American cultures, interdependence involves familialism
familialism: close contact w extended family, who provide strong emotional +
material support (particularly in Hispanic ppl)
a social value defined by interpersonal warmth, closeness, + support
social class: captures the degree of wealth, education, + occupational prestige a
person enjoys
working-class ppl in modern societies are more interdependent than middleclass indvs
working-class ppl have more interactions w their families than middle-class
indvs, + their parenting styles emphasize more conformity + obedience
one person can have a relatively independent orientation in some situations + a
relatively interdependent orientation in others
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culture + gender roles
male dominance is one of the most variable aspects of gender roles
the kinds of sexual relations that are considered normal + appropriate vary greatly
accross cultures
e.g. polygyny + serial monogamy
men + women differ in the way they understand themselves, as well as in their
emotions + motivations
culture + evolution as tools for understanding situations
the uses of social psychology
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