Social Psychology
Attributing Behavior & Conformity and Obedience
Ben
Attitudes and Actions & Group Influence
Kevan
Power of Individuals & Prejudice
Eben
Aggression
Collin
Attraction
Joe
Altruism & Conflict and Peace Making
Logan
Altruism & Conflict and Peace Making
altruism: unselfish regard for the welfare of others
bystander effect: the tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other
bystanders are present (Kitty Genovese rape and murder)
John Darley and Bibb Latane: found that people will only help after three steps are taken;
noticing the incident, interpreting it as an emergency, and finally assuming responsibility for
helping. At each of these steps, they found that the presence of bystanders turns people
away from these steps that lead to helping.
diffusion of responsibility: when more people share responsibility for helping, any single
listener will be less likely to help.
best odds of our helping someone occur when:
the person appears to need and deserve help
the person is in some way similar to us
we have just observed someone else being helpful
we are not in a hurry
we are in a small town or rural area
we are feeling guilty
we are focused on others and not preoccupied
we are in a good mood
social exchange theory: the theory that our social behavior is an exchange process, the aim
of which is to maximize benefits and minimize costs.
reciprocity norm: an expectation that people will help, not hurt, those who have helped them
social-responsibility norm: an expectation that people will help those dependent upon them
(Gallup surveys report those that attend religious services volunteer more for the sick and
poor)
conflict: a perceived incompatibility of actions, goals, or ideas
social trap: a situation in which the conflicting parties, by each rationally pursuing their selfinterest, become caught in mutually destructive behavior
mirror-image perceptions: mutual views often held by conflicting people, as when each side
sees itself as ethical and peaceful and views the other side as evil and aggressive
superordinate goals: shared goals that override differences among people and require their
cooperation
GRIT: Graduated and Reciprocated Initiatives in Tension-Reduction, a strategy designed to
decrease international tensions
Attitudes and Actions:

Attitudes affect Actions
o Central Route Persuasion: when a person is naturally analytical, or involved with the
issue
o Peripheral Route: when a person makes a snap judgement (i.e because they see a
respectable person do something)
*Central Route Persuasion is more likely to change a person’s behavior, because it is less
superficial than Peripheral Route*
 Actions affect Attitudes
o Foot-in-the-Door Phenomenon: the tendency for people to agree to much larger
actions if they have agreed to do smaller/trivial tasks earlier
o Role-Playing: Once receiving a new role in society, subconsciously people strive to
meet the demands and standards of following the social prescription
o Cognitive Dissonance: when our actions and attitudes do not coincide
Group Influence:



Individual Behavior in the Presence of Others
o Social Facilitation: in the presence of others, stronger responses on simple or well
learned tasks
o Social Loafing: in a group, humans have a tendency not to try as hard as they would
if they were by themselves
o Deindividualization: loss of self-awareness and self-restraint when in a group
Effects of Group Interaction
o Group Polarization: if a group is like-minded, discussion strengthens its opinions
o Groupthink: the mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in a
decision-making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives
Power of Individuals
 When one person chooses to go against the majority, others tend to follow
Attributing Behavior & Conformity and Obedience
Attribution theory- The theory that we explain when someone’s behavior by crediting either
the situation or the person’s disposition.
Fundamental attribution error- The tendency for observers, when analyzing another’s
behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of
personal disposition.
Conformity- Adjusting one’s behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard.
Soloman Asch- Asch’s conformity experiments, in which he had a group of five
confederates and one participant. Asch had them look at lines and answer which lines were
the same length. After a little bit into the trial the confederates all chose the wrong answers
on some questions to see if the participant would conform. Most of the time they conformed
.
Normative social influence- influence resulting from a person’s desire to gain approval or
avoid disapproval.
Informational social influence- Influence resulting from one’s willingness to accept others’
opinions about reality.
Stanley Milgram- Milgram did the obedience studies at Yale University. The experiment
involved the teacher (participant), student (confederate), and an experimenter who told the
teacher what to do. The teacher was to “teach” the student a list of words and then test the
student on them. If the student got it wrong the teacher would shock the student. The
shocks went up to 450 volts. 63% went all the way to the highest voltage during the study.
Aggression
any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy, whether done reactively
out of hostility or proactively as a calculated means to an end.
- Aggression is a learned instinct
- Biology influences aggression
- Testosterone greatly affects aggression
- Alcohol increases aggression both psychologically and biologically
- Social exclusion is a large cause of aggressive behavior
- Sexual aggression is greatly increased by regular viewing of X-Rated material
- All forms of media offer social cues on how to act, often violent
Studies
- Study by Miles & Carey show twins often share similar violence levels
- Moyer found that there are neural triggers to aggression
- Mazzer & Booth testosterone not only increases aggression, but aggression
increases testosterone
- Greenfield found drinking leads to 4/10 violent crimes and ¾ acts of spousal
abuse
- Anderson & Anderson found violence increase with temperature
- Young males raised without a father at home have nearly 2x the
incarceration rate (Harper & Mclanahan)
- Volunteers subjected to hatefull songs were more likely to act/think hostile
towards those targeted by the lyrics (Fischer & Greitemeyer)
- Violent video games can increase general aggressive tendencies
Terms
frustration-aggression principle - frustration creates anger, which may in
some
people generate aggression, especially in the presence of an
aggressive
cue
Attraction
The Psychology of Attraction
Proximity
Within limits, familiarity breeds fondness. People are more likely to like people who are
close to them, whether they live in the same neighborhood or sit next to each other in class.
Mere exposure effect - the phenomenon that repeated exposure to novel stimuli increases
liking of them.
Physical Attractiveness
A person’s physical attractiveness plays the biggest role on a person’s first impression. We
perceive attractive people to be healthier, happier, more sensitive, more successful, and
more socially skilled, though not more honest or compassionate.
People’s attractiveness is unrelated to their self-esteem and happiness.
Judgements of attractiveness are relative; beauty is in the eye of the culture. However, men
judge women to be more attractive if they have a youthful appearance and women judge
men to be more attractive if they seem mature, dominant, and affluent.
People like average sized body parts, such as noses and legs, as well as people with
symmetrical faces and bodies.
Attractiveness also depends on our feelings about the person. If someone believes that a
person has appealing traits, like being nice and funny, people will perceive that person to be
more attractive.
Similarity
Opposite do not attract. The more alike people are, the more their liking endures.
Reward Theory of Attraction - We will like those whose behavior is rewarding to us and that
we will continue relationships that offer more rewards than costs.
Reward Theory of Attraction basically sums up everything above on attraction. When a
person lives in close proximity with someone else, it costs less time and effort to develop
the friendship and enjoy its benefits. Attractive people are aesthetically pleasing, and
associating with them can be socially rewarding. Those with similar views reward us by
validating our own.
Romantic Love
Passionate Love
Passionate Love - an aroused state of intense positive absorption in another, usually
present at the beginning of a love relationship.
The Two Factor Theory of Emotion helps us understand this intense positive absorption in
another. The theory assumes that (1) emotions have two ingredients - physical arousal plus
cognitive appraisal - and that (2) arousal from any source can enhance one emotion or
another, depending on how we interpret and label the arousal.
Companionate Love
Companionate Love - The deep affectionate attachment we feel for those with whom our
lives are intertwined.
As love matures it becomes a steadier companionate love. Passionate love often produces
children, whose survival is aided by the parents’ waning obsession with one another.
Equity - A condition in which people receive from a relationship in proportion to what they
give to it.
Equity is one key to a gratifying and enduring relationship.
Self-Disclosure - Revealing intimate aspects of oneself to others.
Self-disclosure is another vital ingredient of loving relationships.
Intimacy can also grow from pausing to ponder and write our feelings.