Module 25
Social Psychology
Activity

What if you were invisible for 24 hours?
Likely Responses
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Aggression
Charity
Academic dishonesty
Crime (26%)
Escapism
Political activities
Sexual behavior (11%)
Social disruption
Interpersonal spying &
eavesdropping (11%)
Travel
Other

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myers 54, 6
Prosocial (9%)
Antisocial (36%)
Nonnormative (19%)
Neutral (36%)
Most frequent:
“Rob a bank” (15%)
Culture, Socialization,
& Norms
Social Psychology
Field of psychology whose goals are to
understand and explain how our thoughts,
feelings, perceptions, and behaviors are
influenced by the presence of, or
interactions with, others
 Social Cognition

 Subarea
of psychology that focuses on
cognitive processes
Activity

Candid Camera
Culture

Symbols, language, norms, and values
held in common by people who share a
distinctive way of life
 Sets
the limits for the behavior of individuals
 Learned behavior common to the group
 Transmitted from one generation to the next
(through socialization)
Socialization


Teaching and learning process in which a
culture transmits its values, norms, language,
and symbols through social interaction
Humans are social beings…
 We
need people
 We need company the most when we are anxious
 We need people with experience similar to our own
when anxious (to compare experiences and reduce
anxiety)

Takes place through modeling (sociallearning) and rewards and punishments
(operant conditioning)
Cultural Norms

Norms: Unwritten rules for accepted and
expect behavior in a culture
 Expressions
of the values of a culture
 Prescribe ‘proper’ behavior
 Describe ‘normal’ behavior
 Influence behavior of individuals by
restraining it
We hardly realize
norms exist


Breaking the norms of a culture aids recognition of
these norms
Some American Cultural Norms:
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American males shake hands in greeting (not hug and kiss)
We eat a hamburger and fries (and certain other foods) with
our hands (not usually a knife and fork)
We eat spaghetti and salads (and most other foods) with
utensils (not usually with our hands)
In social settings where most people are strangers (like the
mall), we avoid eye contact
We don’t reveal very personal information to strangers and
acquaintances
“How are you?” is a greeting, not an invitation to bear your
soul
We quietly listen to symphonies
More American
Cultural Norms
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We dress appropriately to the occasion (Example: Although you
may dress up for the first day of school or a dress up day, you
probably wouldn’t wear a tux or prom dress!)
We use titles (like Mr., Dr., or Mrs.) when speaking to those of
higher status (we don’t typically call them by their first name)
We typically speak to lower status people and friends in a familiar
way without titles
We expect punctuality
With strangers, we prefer a buffer zone of around four feet of
personal space. (You would find it uncomfortable if someone you
didn’t know came very close to you when speaking to you).
With friends, we like about 2 or 3 feet of personal space (We
don’t like friends getting much closer either- we tend to back
away!)
Cultural Values

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Values: Broad principles people in a society consider
important and desirable
Some American Cultural Values:
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Getting things done is important
Nature should be conquered and used to meet our needs
Material things are good
People succeed due to their own efforts
A good society comes from making decisions that are best for
the majority
There are clear, universal moral laws
Time is money
Science is the way to understand the physical world
Americans are open and friendly
Progress leads to utopia
We need people
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We depend on others to satisfy our basic needs
Close personal contact and satisfaction of basic
needs become associated
Therefore, we seek personal contact
(even though we can care for ourselves in
adulthood)
Interacting with others, we develop social needs
We develop needs for praise, respect, love,
affection, sense of achievement, etc.
These social needs can be satisfied only by
interaction with others
When do we need people?

Schachter Study:
 Hypothesis:
Anxious people are more likely to seek the
company of others than people who are less anxious
 Experiment:
n
n
High-anxiety Group (Experimental Group): Met a frightening
doctor and were told they would be given extremely painful
electric shocks that would cause no permanent damage
Low-anxiety Group (Control Group): Met a friendly doctor and
were told they would be given tickling, tingling shock sensations
 Questionnaire:
Do you want to wait alone or with
others?
 Independent Variable: Anxiety level
 Dependent Variable: Seeking company
We need company the
most when we are anxious
Schachter Study:
 Results:

 Low-anxiety
Group: Most chose to wait alone
 High-anxiety Group: Majority chose to wait
with others

Conclusion: High anxiety produces a
need for companionship
(“Misery loves company.”)
We need people with
experience similar to our own
when anxious

Schachter’s Follow-up Study:
 Hypothesis:
Highly anxious people are more likely
to seek out the company of those with whom they
can compare similar experiences
 Experiment: All subjects encounter the stern ‘Dr.
Zilstein’ and are told they will receive painful,
electric shocks with no permanent damage. Two
groups of subjects are offered two different sets of
choices…
n
n
Waiting Alone OR With Other Participants in the Same
Study (Experimental Group)
Waiting Alone OR With Students Waiting to Speak with
Academic Advisors (Control Group)
We need people with
experience similar to our own
when anxious
Schachter’s Follow-up Study:
 Results:

 Alone
or with participants: Most chose to
wait with other participants
 Alone or with non-participants: Most chose
to wait alone

Conclusion: High anxiety produces a
need for companionship with those with
similar experience
(“Misery loves miserable company.”)
Attraction Discussion
What do you think are the top four
factors Influencing your selection
of friends and significant others?
Interpersonal
Attraction


Any positive response towards another
person (includes plutonic affection and
love)
Top Four Factors Influencing Attraction:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Proximity
Physical Attractiveness
Similarity
Reciprocity
Proximity
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Degree of geographic, residential, and other
forms of closeness
Amount of contact
Living near or constantly associating with
someone makes it easier to interact with another
person
Degree of closeness based on housing, school,
or work
Mere Expose Effect: If you have initial attraction,
people tend to like another person more with
each subsequent exposure to that person
Proximity
Example: College Next-Year
Physical
Attractiveness
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Person’s degree of physical beauty as defined
by his or her culture
Attractiveness influences intimate AND
friendship relationships
Attractiveness tends be associated with fertility
in mates
We have an innate tendency to appreciate
aesthetic beauty
Attraction is reinforced by the good feelings we
get just looking at attractive people
Physical
Attractiveness

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Attraction may be reinforced by feelings of
pride and prestige may also be associated
with a good-looking partners and friends
Halo Effect: Attractive people are often
perceived as having other desirable qualities,
such as intelligence, sensitivity, kindness, and
self-confidence
Matching Hypothesis: People of approximately
the same attractiveness match up with each
other
Similarity

Similarity: Extent to which two people are alike in
terms of age, education, attitudes, and so on
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Similar people are attracted to each other
Homogamy: Tendency to marry someone who is like
us in almost every way
People of similar age, race, religion, and
socioeconomic classes tend to form relationships
People tend to simply avoid relationships with others
that would be deemed "inappropriate“
Attitudes similarities increase attraction
People who want to do the same activities increase
attraction
We think that those who share our attitudes will
approve of us contributing to attraction
Reciprocity
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Mutual exchange: Both partners in relationship
give and receive

We tend to like people that like us

Warmth and affection elicit the same from the
others
Gender Roles
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Traditional or stereotypic behaviors, attitudes, values, and
personality traits that society says are how males and females are to
think & behave
When asked, USA college students agreed that female gender roles
include being
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Caring
Insecure
Helpful
Emotional
Social
College students agreed that male gender roles include being
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Arrogant
Self-confident
Aggressive
Ambitious
Dominant
Gender Roles
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World-wide gender roles
 College
students from around the world
agreed that male gender roles include being
n
n
n
ambitious
dominant
independent
 Agreed
n
n
n
that female gender roles include being
submissive
affectionate
emotional
Why Do Gender Roles
Develop: 2 Theories

Evolutionary psychology theory
 Differences
in gender roles arose because there are
different evolutionary demands placed on the survival
of each sex
n
n

men needed to be aggressive & dominant to protect their
families
women needed to be caring and helpful to raise their children
Social role theory
 Gender
n
n
differences arose because
men transitionally had occupational roles and society
encouraged them to be assertive
women traditionally had family roles and society encouraged
them to be caring
What is Beautiful is
Good
Discussion Myers 55, 10
Theories of
Love/Attraction
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Berscheid & Hatfield (Two Types)
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Two-factor Theory of Romantic Love

Sternberg's Triangle Theory of Love
Berscheid & Hatfield
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Ellen Berscheid and Elaine Hatfield
Two Types of Love
Identified and distinguished between passionate
and companionate love
 Passionate
Love/ Infatuation
 Companionate love/ Mature or real love
Berscheid & Hatfield

Passionate Love (Infatuation)
 Feelings
of great intensity
 Feeling held often at the beginning of a relationship
 Intensely emotional and sexual fascination with
mate
 Strong desire for exclusiveness
 Excitement, anxiety, tenderness, and jealously are
common
 “Romantic love”
 Lovers long for partners’ affection
 Onset is fairly swift or sudden
 Relatively short-lived
 Some passionate love relationships turn into longer
lasting companionate love relationships
Berscheid & Hatfield

Companionate Love/ Real love
 Sometimes
less energetic, but more intimate
 Affection we feel for those with whom our lives are
deeply intertwined
 Communication, trust, respect, tolerance, and
affection
 Share mutual concern and care for each other
 Have strong, frequent, and long-term interactions
 Friendship,understanding, and willingness to make
sacrifices for each other
Berscheid & Hatfield
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Companionate Love/ Real love (continued)
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Develops with mutual attraction and changes as they build their
relationships together
Influenced by the degree to which each person is willing to reveal
personal and private information (degree of self-disclosure)
Couples who trust and communicate are likely to have
relationships that endure
Mutual self-disclosure deepens relationships
Empathy for the loved one (experiences are shared)
Deep concern for the welfare and happiness of the loved one
(alter own one (alter own plans to make the loved one happy)
Finding pleasure in working for the loved one’s welfare
Allows loved one freedom to do whatever he or she wishes (not
possessive)
Scales
Passionate Love
 Trust

Myers 55, 12
Myers 55, 10
Two-factor Theory of
Romantic Love

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A state of intense emotional arousal is
associated with an appropriate romantic partner
causing belief that one is ‘in love’ (Hatfield also)
Criteria Necessary to Experience Passionate
Love
1. Believe one will fall in love or be smitten by
passionate desire for a person
2. Must experience a state of intense emotional
arousal
3. Emotional arousal must be associated with an
appropriate romantic partner
Two-factor Theory of
Romantic Love

Experiment: An attractive female interviewer
interviewed men on a bridge. She then gave
them her phone number asking them to call
her if they wanted to learn more about the
experiment
 Experimental
Group: High, narrow, swinging,
dangerous foot bridge over a deep ravine
 Control Group: Low, wide bridge over a shallow
creek
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Results: The experimental group was much
more likely to call the interviewer
Conclusion: Fear was interpreted as attraction
or love!
Applications…
Considering this theory, what are
some good ideas for dates?
Sternberg’s Triangular Theory
of Love: 3 Components

Passion
 Feeling
physically aroused
and attracted to someone

Intimacy
 Feeling
close & connected to someone
 Develops through sharing & communicating

Commitment
 Making
a pledge to nourish the feelings of
love & to actively maintain the relationship
Sternberg's Triangle
Theory of Love
Identified three components of love
 Believed various combinations of these
components form the different types of
love

 Intimacy
 Passion
 Commitment
Sternberg's Three
Components of Love
Intimacy: Emotional bond, connection,
understanding, mutual exchange of
support, and reciprocal desire to protect
well-being
 Passion: Romance, physical attraction,
and sexual consummation
 Commitment: Deep attachment,
recognition of love, and decision to stay
with a person

Sternberg’s Eight
Types of Love

Combinations of the three components
Sternberg’s Eight
Types of Love

Combinations of the three components
 Non-love
 Liking
 Infatuation
 Empty
love
 Romantic love
 Companionate love
 Fatuous love
 Consummate love
Two-Factor Example

“Speed” Video Clip (last 6:30)
Myers 55, 10
Non-love
Casual acquaintances
 No components present

Liking
Genuine friendships
 Intimacy present to some degree
 No passion (no sexual attraction)
 No commitment (no expectations for future
involvement)

Infatuation
“Love at first sight”
 Energetic relationships that usually burn
out
 Passion present
 No emotional intimacy
 No desire for commitment
 Beloved is usually idealized

Empty love

Stagnant relationships

Only commitment is present

If once had passion and intimacy, these
have faded
Romantic Love

Fulfilling relationships

Passion and intimacy are present

Long-term commitment is not present

Commitment may develop
Companionate Love
Long-lasting relationships
 Intimate and fulfilling
 Intimacy and commitment present
 Lack passion
 Can be completely healthy and sustaining

Fatuous Love
Whirlwind courtships or relationships that
progress at great speed
 Much passion
 Desire for commitment present
 Fail to develop intimacy
 Lead to empty love that may not last

Consummate Love

Ideal relationships achieved by few

All components present (intimacy,
passion, & commitment)

Rewarding and healthy
Sternberg's Triangle
Theory of Love

Relationships evolve into different categories
over time

The three components are highly subject to
change

Love is a triangle with three sides of varying
length (passion, intimacy, and commitment)
Figure 16.5 Sternberg’s view of love over time. In his theory of love, Robert
Sternberg (1988b) hypothesizes that the various elements of love progress in
different ways over the course of time. According to Sternberg, passion peaks early
in a relationship, whereas intimacy and commitment continue to build gradually.
Figure 16.6 Infant attachment and romantic relationships. According to Hazan and
Shaver (1987), people’s romantic relationships in adulthood are similar in form to their
attachment patterns in infancy, which are determined in part by parental caregiving
styles. The theorized relations between parental styles, attachment patterns, and intimate
relations are outlined here. (Data for parental caregiving styles and adult attachment
styles based on Hazan and Shaver, 1986, 1987; infant attachment patterns adapted from
Shaffer, 1985)
Choosing a Partner
About 90% of adults in the
US marry
 Ideal partner schema

 List
of the most desirable
characteristics one is looking
for in a mate
Source: List adapted from
“Preferences in Human Mate
Selection,” by D. M. Buss and
M. Barnes, 1986, Journal of
Personality and Social
Psychology, 7, 3-15, American
Psychological Association.
Desirable Traits
Across cultures,
researchers have
generated a list of the
most desirable traits for
potential partners
 Men and women have
similar lists (r = .87)

Source: List adapted from “Mate
Preferences in 37 Cultures,” by D. M.
Buss, 1994. In W. J. Lonner & R.
Malpass (Eds.), Psychology and
Culture. Allyn and Bacon.
Desirable Traits
Source: List adapted from “Mate Preferences in 37 Cultures,” by
D. M. Buss, 1994. In W. J. Lonner & R. Malpass (Eds.),
Psychology and Culture. Allyn and Bacon.
Figure 14.2
What do people look for when considering potential dating partners? Here are
the results of a study in which personal ads were placed in newspapers. As
you can see, men were more influenced by looks, and women by success
(Goode, 1996).
Person Perceptions,
Attributions, Attitudes, &
Persuasion
Person Perception
Process by which we form impressions of,
and make judgments about, the traits and
characteristics of others
 Influenced by 4 factors

 Physical
Appearance (attractiveness)
 Need to Explain
 Influence on behavior
 Race
Impression Formation

When we first meet people, we have little
information to form impressions

Peoples’ impressions of the same person
differ due to different theories

Effects of Forming Impressions?
When we first meet people,
we have little information to
form impressions

We base impressions on one or many of
the following characteristics:
 Sex
 Race
 Approximate
age
 Appearance
 Facial
features
 Hair (lack)
When we first meet people,
we have little information to
form impressions

Each characteristic may activate a social
schema that will lead to our first impression
 Faces:
Subjects judged faces by attractiveness then
determined whether they thought they held an honest
or dishonest profession
 Hair:
Subjects judged men that were balding to be
less attractive and consequently less appealing
personal qualities and interpersonal skills
Schemas


Mental categories that contain & help us organize
knowledge about people, events, and concepts. Schemas
affect how we attend to and interpret experience.
Kinds of Schemas

Person Schemas
n

Role Schemas
n

based on the jobs people perform or the social positions they hold
Event Schemas (Scripts)
n

judgements about traits that we and others possess
contain behaviors we associate with familiar activities, events or
procedures
Self Schemas
n
personal information about ourselves that influences, modifies, and
distorts what we perceive and remember and how we behave
Figure 16.1 Examples of social schemas. Everyone has social schemas
for various “types” of people, such as sophisticated professionals or
working-class stiffs. Social schemas are clusters of beliefs that guide
information processing.
Source: PhotoDisc, Inc.
Source: PhotoDisc, Inc.
Schemas
2 Disadvantages of
Schemas

They may restrict, bias, or distort what we
attend to & remember

They are highly resistant to change
Schemas
4 Advantages of
Schemas
They are efficient mental shortcuts
 They help us fill in missing information
 They provide guidelines for appropriate
behavior in different situations
 They help us explain why people behave
the way they do

Peoples’ impressions of the
same person differ due to
different theories


Implicit Personality Theory: Our own set of
assumptions about how people behave and
what traits or characteristics go together
Example: A person judged as extremely
intelligent could be perceived in these two very
different ways due to different theories about
intelligent people.
 Intelligent….
Assume active, highly motivated, and
conscientious.
 Intelligent… Assume boring, boastful, and unfriendly.
Peoples’ impressions of the
same person differ due to
different theories

Further actions by the individual produce
evidence for different theories (same
example….)
 Intelligent
person talks about work…
Impressed by animation when speaking about
career
 Intelligent person talks about work… Doesn’t
like how this person doesn’t pay attention to
others
Peoples’ impressions of the
same person differ due to
different theories

Negative information has a stronger affect than
positive information on impressions
 Experiment:
A professor described the guest lecturer
to two different classes exactly the same way except
for one word. After the guest spoke to the class, he
asked the class what they thought other lecturer.
Those whose original description included…
n
n

Rather cold… (Further described him as humorless,
ruthless, and self-centered).
Rather warm… (Further described him as relaxed, friendly,
and concerned).
Impressions of others guide our expectations of
others in future interactions and our treatment
of others
Stereotypes
Widely held beliefs that people have
certain traits because they belong to a
particular group
 Prejudice

 Unfair,
biased or intolerant attitude toward
another group

Discrimination
 Specific
unfair behaviors exhibited towards
members of a group

Source of information

Thought-saving device

Problems
 Dismiss
mismatched information
 Difficult to change
 Often times innaccurate
Source: PhotoDisc, Inc.
2 Functions of
Stereotypes
Stereotypes

Exaggerated set of assumptions about an identifiable
group of people






Can be positive or negative
Primacy effects (initial information-stereotype- influences our
behavior toward and interpretation of others) may cause
stereotypes to bias us
Stereotypes (just like first impressions) can lead to self-fulfilling
prophecy (see just below)
Prejudice (Attitude): Prejudgment, deciding beforehand what
someone will be like (holding a stereotype is prejudiced)
Self-fulfilling prophecy can strengthen relationship between
stereotype and prejudice
Discrimination (Action): Unequal treatment of members of certain
groups (stereotype and prejudice can lead to discrimination)
Effects of forming
impressions?

Self-fulfilling prophecy: Tendency for
one’s expectations to make a second
person behave in accordance with these
expectations
 Develop
impression through schema
 Act a certain way toward this person based on
schema
 Person acts in accordance with the way
they’re treated and consequently our
expectations
Activities 1 & 2

At a traffic light, someone behind you
honks and gestures frantically for you to
get out of the way.

In class today, the new student, Kari, does
not talk, ask questions, or participate.

You ace your Psychology exam!
Attributions
Our explanation of the cause of events,
other people’s behaviors, and our own
behaviors
 Internal vs. External Attributions

 Internal
n
a.k.a. Dispositional Attributions
Explanations of behavior based on the dispositions
of the person performing the behavior
 External
n
a.k.a. Situational Attributions
Explanations of behavior based on external
circumstances
Concept Check:
Internal or external attribution?
He went to the theatre to impress his new
girlfriend.
External
Concept Check:
Internal or external attribution?
He went to the theatre because it was a
requirement for his English Literature class.
External
Kelley’s Model of
Covariation


In making attributions we should look for factors that
are present when the behavior occurs and factors
that are absent when the behavior does not occur
Consensus
 Determining
whether other people engage in this behavior
in a particular situation

Consistency
 Determining
whether the person engages in this behavior
every time he/she is in a particular situation

Distinctiveness
 Determining
how differently the person behaves in one
situation when compared to other situations
Source: PhotoDisc, Inc.
Kelley’s Model of
Covariation
Internal or External
Attribution?
You decide…
Scenario 1
Tyler plays on the soccer team. She recently fell when
trying to score. Other kids at school told her she was
clumsy because they had seen her fall before when she
played soccer, they saw her fall before when she was
walking down the hall, and most kids her age don’t fall
that much.
Consistency?
Distinctiveness?
Concensus?
High
Low
Low
Attribution?
Internal Cause

Fundamental Attribution Error
 Our
Source: PhotoDisc, Inc.
Attributions: Biases &
Errors
tendency to focus on
dispositional causes when looking for
causes of another person’s behavior

Actor-Observer Effect
 Tendency
to attribute your own
behavior to situational factors

Self-Serving Bias
 Explaining
our successes by attributing them to our
dispositions and explaining our failures by attributing
them to the situation
Fundamental
Attribution Error

Tendency to attribute the actions of others much
more to internal factors (disposition) than
external factors (situation)
 Common
mistake
 Lacking complete information contributes
 Example: The man who honked at me at the stoplight
is rude and impatient (disposition- internal
attribution). However, I failed to realize his wife was
actually in labor and they were driving to the hospital
Figure 16.6 An alternative view of the fundamental attribution error. According to Gilbert (1989)
and others, the nature of attribution processes favors the fundamental attribution error.
Traditional models of attribution assume that internal and external attributions are an either-or
proposition requiring equal amounts of effort. In contrast, Gilbert posits that people tend to
automatically make internal attributions with little effort and then may expend additional effort to
adjust for the influence of situational factors, which can lead to an external attribution. Thus,
external attributions for others’ behavior require more thought and effort, which makes them less
frequent than personal attributions.
Actor-Observer Bias


An observer tends to make internal attributions
(disposition) and actors tend to make external
attributions (situational) about the same event
Difference in attribution made by an observer
versus the actor

Example:
n
n
Observer: Someone who saw the man honking at the
stoplight would probably assume he is rude and impatient
(disposition- external attribution)
Actor: The man believes that he is neither rude nor impatient,
but would think that he’s really just in a hurry
Self-Serving Bias




Tendency to make dispositional attributions for
our own positive behaviors and situational
attributions for our own negative behaviors
People tend to explain their own failures with
external causes and their own success with
internal causes
Optimistic attributions pattern
Example:
I
aced my test because I studied hard.
 I failed my test because the teacher was unfair.
Attitudes


Any belief or opinion that includes an evaluation of some
object, person, or event along a continuum from negative
to positive
Attitudes have 3 components

Cognitive component
n
n

Affective component
n
n

Thoughts and beliefs that can strongly influence how we behave
Ex - Some cosmetics are tested on animals
Emotional feelings which also influence our behaviors
She feels uncomfortable when she wears makeup
Behavioral component
n
n
Attitudes influence how we behave & behaviors influence the
development of attitudes
She fought to save her job, but refused to wear make-up
Figure 16.7 The components of attitudes. Attitudes can be broken into cognitive,
affective, and behavioral components, as illustrated here for a hypothetical person’s
attitude about gun control.
Figure 14.9
Elements of positive and negative attitudes toward affirmative action.
3 Functions of
Attitudes

Predispose
 Guide

us to behave in certain ways
Interpret
 Provide
convenient guidelines for interpreting
and categorizing objects and events

Evaluate
 Help
us stand up for those beliefs and values
that we consider important to ourselves
2 Theories of Attitude
Change

Cognitive Dissonance (Festinger)
 State
of unpleasant psychological tension
resulting from inconsistent thoughts/beliefs
that motivates us to reduce our cognitive
inconsistencies by making our beliefs
consistent with each other
n
n

Change beliefs
Engaging in counterattitudinal behavior
Self-Perception Theory
 First,
we perceive our own behavior; then we
change our attitude
Figure 14.6
Cognitive dissonance is a
state of tension that arises
when people perceive that
their attitudes do not match
their behavior.
Theoretically, they could
resolve this discrepancy by
changing either their
attitudes or their behavior or
by developing a new
attitude or excuse to explain
the discrepancy. Most of
the research, however, has
focused on how cognitive
dissonance leads to a
change of attitude
2 Routes of
Persuasion

Central
 Presents
information with strong arguments,
analyses, facts, and logic

Peripheral
 Emphasizes
emotional appeal, focuses on
personal traits, and generates positive
feelings
Figure 16.8 Overview of the persuasion process. The process of persuasion
essentially boils down to who (the source) communicates what (the message)
by what means (the channel) to whom (the receiver). Thus, four sets of
variables influence the process of persuasion: source, message, channel, and
receiver factors. The diagram lists some of the more important factors in each
category (including some that are not discussed in the text because of space
limitations). (Adapted from Lippa, 1994)
Social & Group Influence:
Conformity & Compliance
Conformity

Adjusting one’s behavior or thinking to coincide
with a group standard

People adopt behavior and opinions to
outwardly match those of a group

Any behavior you perform because of group
pressure, even though that pressure might not
involve direct requests
Studies in Conformity

Studies in Norm Formation & Conformity
Asch’s Famous Study in Conformity
 Psychological influences leading to
conformity
 Factors that influence conformity
Asch’s Famous Study in
Conformity

Hypothesis: People conform to the
behavior of others even in non-ambiguous
situations
Asch’s Experiments
You are seated at a round table with 5
others
 You have been told that you are taking
part in a visual perception experiment
 Your group is shown a line. Pick out the
line that is equal in length to the original

Source: Based on “Effects of Group Pressure Upon Modification and Distortion of Judgments,” by Solomon Asch,
1958. In E. Maccoby, T. M. Newcomb & E. L. Hartley (Eds.), Readings in Social Psychology (3rd Ed.). Holt, Rinehart
& Winston.
Figuure 16.12
Stimuli used in Asch’s conformity
studies. Subjects were asked to
match a standard line (top) with
one of three other lines displayed
on another card (bottom). The task
was easy—until experimental
accomplices started responding
with obviously incorrect answers.
(Figures 16.12 and 16.13 adapted
from “Opinion and Social
Pressure,” by Solomon Asch,
Scientific American, November
1955, from illustrations by Sara
Love on pp. 32 and 35.)
Asch’s Famous Study in
Conformity

Results:
 When
subjects were asked to match the standard
line ALONE, they were accurate 99% of the time.
 In the group of seven (with the confederates), 37%
of the responses conformed to those of the group &
75% of subjects conformed at least once.
n
n
n
Some subjects never conformed
Few subjects conformed every time
When subjects were 99% accurate alone, they were only
63% accurate when tested in a group due to conformity
when the right answer was quite clear!
 Point
of Interest: There was no reward for
conforming and no punishment for not conforming!
Asch’s Famous Study in
Conformity

Conclusion: People conform even in nonambiguous situations

Even when there is no overt pressure to
conform.
Psychological Influences
Leading to Conformity

Informational Influence: Desire to be correct and
to understand the right way to act in a given
situation (biggest impact in unfamiliar situations)
leading to looking to others for correct behavior
or opinions

Normative Influence: Desire to be liked and
accepted by others leading to adapting one’s
behavior to fit in
Figure 16.13 Conformity and group size. This graph shows the percentage of trials
on which subjects conformed as a function of group size in Asch’s research. Asch
found that conformity became more frequent as group size increased up to about
seven, and then dropped off.
Factors that influence
Conformity…

INCREASE
CONFORMITY









Uncertainty
Importance
High Status
Desire for Acceptance
Public Response
Cohesion:
No Prior Commitment
Group Size of 3-5
Unanimity

DECREASE
CONFORMITY







Certainty
Triviality
Obviousness of Error
Private Response
Prior Commitment
Group Size of Two
Lack of Unanimity
Compliance


Kind of conformity in which we give in to social
pressure in our public responses, but do not
change our private beliefs
Foot-in-the-door technique
 Relies
on the increased probability of compliance to a
request if a person complies with a small, first request

Door-in-the-Face Technique: A person who has
refused a major request will be more likely later
on to comply with a smaller request.
 After
the door has been slammed in your face (major
request refused), person may be more likely to agree
to a smaller request.
Social & Group Influence: Group
Dynamics
Definition of a Group

A collection of two or more people who influence
each other through social interaction for more
than a few moments and work toward a common
goal
Group Dynamics

Group
 Collection
of 2 or more people who interact, share
some common idea, goal or purpose; and influence
how members think and behave

Group Cohesion
 Group
togetherness; determined by how much group
members perceive that they share common attributes

Group Norms
 Formal
or informal rules about how group members
should behave
Which are groups?







People riding in an elevator together
A volleyball team
Red-headed women
American high school freshmen
The senior class at Cathedral High School
Boy Scout Troupe 30
Jack and Jill going up a hill to fetch a pail of
water
Which are groups?







People riding in an elevator together
A volleyball team
Red-headed women
American high school freshmen
The senior class at Cathedral High School
Boy Scout Troupe 30
Jack and Jill going up a hill to fetch a pail of
water
Group Decision
Making

Although it seems that two heads may be
better than one, group polarization and
groupthink often harm the decision-making
process of groups
 Group
polarization: The shift in judgment
following group discussion to a more extreme
alternative than the average of individual
judgments made before the discussion
 Groupthink: Tendency of a group to
emphasize agreement within the group at the
expense of critical thinking
Why Do We Form
Groups?

Maslow
 Motivational

need for love & belonging
Social comparison theory
 We
are driven to compare ourselves to others
who are similar to us so that we can measure
the correctness of our attitudes and beliefs.
Behavior in Crowds

Crowd


Deindividuation


Large group of people, most of whom are unacquainted
Increased tendency for subjects to behave irrationally or perform
antisocial behaviors when there is less chance of being personally
identified
Informational Influence Theory
 We use the reactions of others to judge the seriousness of the
situation
Diffusion of
Responsibility

An effect experienced within a group in which
each person feels less responsibility than he
would as an individual
Bystander Effect

The greater the number of bystanders looking on
in an emergency (or any other time help is
needed), the less likely any one of them will be to
help
 Influenced
by diffusion of responsibility (each assumes
someone else will or should help)
 Ambiguity increases bystander effect:
n
n
When we’re unsure if help is required, we’ll look to others’
behavior for the proper mode of action. When we see others
doing nothing, we assume help is not needed.
Audience Inhibition: When we don’t know what to do, we do not
want to take the chance of rushing forward to help for fear of
overreacting and looking silly.
 Cost
of intervening (time, money, energy, one’s own
safety) may bear more influence on decision to
intervene when others are present that could help
Social Loafing

Phenomenon observed in groups, in which
each member of the group exerts less effort
than they would individually
 Influenced
by diffusion of responsibility (People feel
less individual responsibility for completing the
task)
 Productivity Declines:
n
n
Individual effort is less identifiable and not rewarded
People are not punished for putting forth less effort
 People
reduce effort when they see others slacking
off
 People may put forth less effort because they feel
they lack control over the quality of the outcome
 Group rewards have to be shared
Deindividuation

Condition that occurs when an individual in
a group loses his sense of individuality
and sense of self-awareness resulting in
behavior that is less constrained and
inhibited
 Caused
n
n
n
by…
Immersion in a group
Physical or social anonymity (being undetected or
unknown)
Arousing or distracting activities
Prisoner’s Dilemma

In game theory, the prisoner's dilemma
is a type of non-zero game in which two
players may each "cooperate" with or
"defect" (i.e. betray) the other player. In
this game, as in all game theory, the only
concern of each individual player
("prisoner") is maximizing his/her own
payoff, without any concern for the other
player's payoff
Prosocial Behavior
Any behavior that benefits others or has
positive social consequences
 Altruism

 Helping
for reasons other than the
expectation of a material or social reward
 Unselfish regard for the welfare of others
Why Do People Help?
Empathy
 Personal distress
 Norms & values

Social & Group Influence:
Obedience
Behavior Traps

Obedience to Authority
 The
Nuremberg Trial, at which many Nazi war
criminals took the stand and said in their own
defense “I was just following orders”,
provoked international outrage.
 People
all over the world said to themselves “I
would never follow such immoral orders.”
THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST
FAMOUS AND CONTROVERSIAL
PSYCHOLOGY EXPERIMENTS
OF ALL TIME!
Stanley Milgram’s
Obedience Study

Two subjects arrive to participate in an
experiment testing the effects of punishment on
learning. A stern experimenter in a gray
technician’s coat greets the subjects. They are
told that one subject will teach a list of word
pairs to the other and punish each incorrect
response with electric shock of increasing
intensity. Roles are drawn out of a hat.
Stanley Milgram’s
Obedience Study

The ‘teacher’ first experiences a mild
sample shock then watches the
experimenter strap the ‘learner’ into a
chair and attaches electrodes. The
‘teacher’ is instructed by the experimenter
to give painful electric shocks to the
‘learner’ for answering questions
incorrectly, increasing 15 volts each time.
Stanley Milgram’s
Obedience Study


The shock generator ranges from 15 to 450 volts in 15volt increments. The shock generator is labeled “Slight
Shock,” “Very Strong Shock,” “Danger Severe Shock,”
and so on. From 435 – 450 Volts the generator is
labeled “XXX.”
When the ‘teacher’ complies in administering the shocks,
he will hear grunts from the ‘learner’ at 75, 90, and 105
volts. The ‘learner’ shouts that the shocks are painful at
120 volts. At 150 volts, the ‘learner’ screams to be let out
and exclaims that he will no longer participate. The
'teacher' hears agonizing screams by 270 volts and the
'learner' insisting to be let out. By 300 volts, the ‘learner’
refuses to answer. After 330 volts, the ‘learner’ is silent.
Stanley Milgram’s
Obedience Study

The ‘teacher’ will plead to end the experiment
and let the ‘learner’ out. The experimenter
instructs the ‘teacher’ to treat refusal to respond
as wrong answers. To encourage the ‘teacher’
to continue in the experiment, the experimenter
simply says one of the following:
 Please
continue.
 Please go on.
 The experiment requires that you continue.
 It is absolutely essential that you continue.
 You have no other choice; you must go on.
Stanley Milgram’s
Obedience Study

Before Stanley Milgram at Yale University
first did this study, he described it to
psychiatrists, college students, and
middle-class adults. All three groups
thought they would disobey by
approximately 135 volts. Not one person
though they would go above 300 volts.
Stanley Milgram’s
Obedience Study

I asked

Before the study, Milgram asked the same
three groups how far they thought OTHERS
would go (to try to prevent self-serving bias).
Almost no one thought that ANYONE would
proceed all the way to “XXX” on the shock
panel. The psychiatrist thought that maybe
one in a thousand (about .01%) would obey all
the way to the “XXX.”
Stanley Milgram’s
Obedience Study

Startling Actual Results:
 63%
of subjects obeyed clear to 450 volts!
 All subjects in the experiment obeyed to over 300
volts
 All who reached 450 volts, continued with command
to CONTINUE the procedure!
 When learners’ protests were made even more
compelling (references to a heart condition) in a
follow-up study, 65% fully complied!
 Milgram's experiment has been replicated many
times by himself and other researchers on thousands
of subjects confirming its validity!
Figure 14.6
Results of Milgram’s obedience experiment. Only a minority of subjects refused to
provide shocks, even at the most extreme intensities. The first substantial drop in
obedience occurred at the 300-volt level (Milgram, 1963).
Conclusions from
Milgram’s Study

Certain situational factors can induce
extreme obedience

Normal people can be made to perform
cruel acts against their moral judgment
Obedience

Behavior that occurs when people follow a
direct command
 We
are taught to obey parents and teachers
 We learn to obey authority figures in life
(doctors, judges, employers)
 Obedience tends to be socially useful
 Extreme obedience can lead to horrible acts
(Nazi Holocaust, My Lai Massacre: “I was
only following orders.”)
Follow-up Studies Helped Identify
Factors that Breed Obedience…

Emotional Distance of Victim

Proximity of Authority

Legitimacy of Authority

Institutional Authority

Group Support
Emotional Distance of
Victim

The closer the victim, the lower the
obedience
 Obedience
was 100% when the teacher never
saw nor heard the learner
Proximity of Authority

The physically closer the authority, the greater
the obedience
 When
the experimenter was physically close, the
teacher was more obedient
n
n
Research has shown that given a light touch, people are
more willing to lend money, sign petitions, or sample a
new food.
So, if you ever wait tables, a light touch on the arm of a
customer may increase your tips!
 When
the experimenter phoned in the same
commands, obedience dropped to 21% (although
many lied and said they were obeying).
Legitimacy of
Authority

The more valid the authority is perceived, the
greater the obedience.
 When
the experimenter received an emergency
phone call and another subject (actually a
confederate) decided to command the ‘teacher’ to
increase the level of shock with each wrong answer,
80% of the subjects refused to fully obey.
n
One man threw the ‘subject’ who tried to take over across the
room.
 When
the doctor in the gray lab coat gave
instructions, subjects politely deferred to the
instructions.
Institutional Authority

The more prestigious the institution, the
greater the obedience
 When
the experiment was performed at a
highly prestigious university, Yale University,
obedience was greater
 When the experiment was moved and
performed under the name “Research
Associates of Bridgeport,” full obedience
declined to 48%
Group Support

The more conformity in a group, the
greater the obedience
 When
a peer modeled obedience, obedience
was high
 When the subject only had to watch as
another administered shocks, obedience was
high
 When the experiment was done with a group
of ‘subjects’ and at least one did not obey,
obedience was very low
Ethics & Debriefing



This study would probably not be permitted
today with the APA strict ethical guidelines
Often, experimenters use debriefing to ensure a
study causes no psychological harm to
participants
Debriefing
 Explaining
the true purpose and method of an
experiment to a subject after a procedure and asking
about their feelings about being in the experiment and
helping subjects deal with possible doubts or guilt
arising from their behaviors in the experiment
 Milgram debriefed his subjects
Aggression
Aggressive Behavior
Any act that is intended to do physical or
psychological harm
 3 Factors that differ among individuals

 Predisposing
biological factors (lower levels of
serotonin)
 Social learning factors
 Environmental factors

Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis:
Frustration tends to lead to aggression.
Figure 14.12
Personal discomfort caused by aversive (unpleasant) stimuli can make aggressive behavior more likely.
For example, studies of crime rates show that the incidence of highly aggressive behavior, such as
murder, rape, and assault, rises as the air temperature goes from warm to hot to sweltering (Anderson,
1989). The results you see here further confirm the heat-aggression link. The graph shows that there is a
strong association between the temperatures at major league baseball games and the number of batters
hit by a pitch during those games. When the temperature goes over 90°, watch out for that fastball!
(Reifman, Larrick, & Fein, 1991.)
Social Learning Theory
(Bandura) and Television

Social Learning Theory: Combines learning principles
with cognitive processes, socialization, and modeling to
explain behavior





No instinctive (innate) desires for shooting guns, knife fights, and
so on
Aggression must be learned
Bobo Doll Study
Disinhibition: Removal of inhibition; results in acting-out
behavior that normally would be restrained
Television seems to be able to cause desensitization to
violence

Desensitization: Reduced emotional sensitivity
Figure 14.14
Although TV violence does not cause aggression, it can encourage it. The likelihood
of committing criminal acts by age 30 is related to the amount of TV watching a
person did when she or he was a child (Eron, 1987). (Graph copyright 1987 by the
American Psychological Association, Inc. Reprinted by permission of the author.)
Characteristics of
Rapists

Power rapist (70%)
 Goal

is to possess; acts are premeditated
Sadistic rapist (5%)
 Using

physical force is arousing
Anger rapist
 Impulsive,

savage attack of uncontrolled violence
Acquaintance rapist
 Uses
various amounts of physical or verbal coercion
to force partner to engage in sexual activities
Rape Myths





Healthy women cannot be raped against their
will
Women often falsely accuse men of rape
Rape is primarily a sex crime committed by sexcrazed maniacs
Only “bad girls” get raped
If a girl engages in necking or petting and lets
things get out of hand, it is her own fault if her
partner forces sex on her
Review

True/False

The Social Game
Discovering Psychology
19. The Power of the Situation
Attributions

FAE Activity Myers 53, 3
Assignment

Analyze a Commercial/ Print Ad ap
Discovering Psychology
26. Cultural Psychology
Tom Sawyer
Social Psychology Application ap
Figure 14.7
Physical distance from the “learner” had a significant effect on the percentage of
subjects obeying orders.