Social Psychology
Chapter 13
AP Psychology
Alice F. Short
Hilliard Davidson High School
Chapter Preview
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Social Cognition
Social Behavior
Social Influence
Intergroup Relations
Close Relationships
Social Psychology and Health and Wellness
Social Psychology
• social psychology - the study of how people
think about, influence, and relate to other
people
• social cognitions
• social influences
• social relations
Social Cognition
• How do people select, interpret, remember, and use
social information?
• Person Perception
– physical attractiveness
• stereotype – a generalization about a group’s characteristics that
does not consider any variations from one individual to another
– natural = cognitive processing limitations
• “Beautiful is good” stereotype
• self-fulfilling prophecy – expectations cause individuals to act in
ways that serve to make the expectations come true
– teacher expectations of “late bloomers”  expectations met
• composite faces, symmetry, and youthfulness
– first impressions
• 100 milliseconds  form first impression
• attribution – the process by which we come to understand the
cause of others’ behavior and form an impression of them as
individuals
Social Cognition: Attribution Theory
• attributions - explanations for why people
behave the way they do
• attribution theory - attempt to discover
underlying causes of behavior as part of their
effort to make sense of the behavior
– internal/external causes
• internal: traits and abilities
• external: social pressure, aspects of situation
– stable/unstable causes
• hostile or bad mood?
– controllable/uncontrollable causes
• should we hold it against you?
Social Cognition: Attribution
• attribution errors
– actor – person who produces the behavior
– observer – person who offers a causal explanation for
actor’s behavior
– observers often explain actors’ behaviors incorrectly
– fundamental attribution error
• overestimate the importance of internal traits
• underestimate the importance of external causes
• Zimbardo on Abu Ghraib prison – TED TALKS
– actors often explain own behavior in terms of external
causes
Fundamental Attribution Error
Social Cognition
• heuristics - cognitive shortcuts that speed
decision making
– stereotypes = type of heuristic
– false consensus effect
• overestimating the degree to which everyone else
thinks or acts the way we do
• use our outlook to predict that of others
A SHORT Time to Ponder
• How do politicians use the false consensus
effect to their advantage?
The Self as a Social Object
• self-esteem – the degree to which we have
positive or negative feelings about ourselves
– positive illusions – views of ourselves that are not
necessarily rooted in reality
– self-serving bias – tendency to take credit for
success and deny responsibility for failure
• internal attributions
• external attributions
– self-objectification – tendency to see oneself
primarily as an object in the eyes of others
• DOCUMENTARY: MISSRepresentation
A SHORT Time to Ponder
• What’s so wrong with average? (By definition,
50 percent of people will always be below
average.)
• In what ways do you objectify yourself?
• Would you perform differently depending on
the way you were dressed?
Social Cognition: The Self as Object
• stereotype threat - a self-fulfilling fear about being judged
on the basis of a negative stereotype about our group
– living “down” to expectations
• African American males = work academically by checking box
• White males = worse at sports when reminded
• Asian women = better at math by checking box “Asian” box, worse by
checking “female” box
• social comparison - process by which we evaluate our
thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and abilities in relation to
other people
– social comparison theory – when no objective means are
available to evaluate our opinions and abilities, we compare
ourselves with others
A SHORT Time to Ponder
• What stereotype should you think about for
yourself before starting the AP Psychology
test, or any academic test for that matter?
Attitudes
• attitudes - beliefs about people, places, and ideas
• Can attitudes predict behavior?
– when attitudes are strong
– when attitudes are rehearsed
– when person has vested interest
• Can behavior predict attitudes?
– cognitive dissonance – an individuals psychological
discomfort (dissonance) caused by two inconsistent
thoughts
• uneasy when behavior ≠beliefs
• effort justification – type of dissonance reduction, means
rationalizing the amount of effort we put into something
– low money
– hazing
– self perception theory – Daryl Bem’s (1967) theory on how
behaviors influence attitudes, stating that individuals make
inferences about their attitudes by perceiving their behavior
• I do something; therefore, I must like it.
Cognitive Dissonance Theory
• Discomfort caused by two dissonant thoughts
– thoughts of ones attitude v. ones behavior
• Dissonance reduced by
– changing behaviors to match attitude
– changing attitudes to match behavior
Self-Perception Theory
• self-perception theory - individuals make
inferences about their own attitudes by
perceiving their own behavior, especially if
their attitudes are unclear
• cognitive dissonance and self-perception
theory  explain the connection between
attitudes and behavior
Attitudes and Behavior
Persuasion
• 2 Essential Questions:
– What makes an individual decide to give up an
original attitude and adopt a new one?
– What makes a person decide to act on an attitude
that he or she has not acted on before
Persuasion
1. The Communicator (credibility)
– trustworthiness, expertise, attractiveness, likeability,
similarity
2. Medium (television versus print) – but should it?
3. The Target (age, attitude, strength)
4. Message (rational versus emotional strategy)
– elaboration likelihood model:
• central route – sound, logical argument
– effective: ability and motivation to pay attention to the facts
• peripheral route – non-message factors (credibility,
attractiveness, emotional appeals)
– effective: people are not paying attention; don’t want to expend
mental effort
Persuasion
• Successful Persuasion
– foot-in-the-door technique
• small request  big demand
– door-in-the-face technique
• biggest demand  smaller “concessionary demand”
– reciprocity and obligation
– SHORT DISCUSSION: How do you use either of these
techniques on your parents?
• Resisting Persuasion
– inoculation – William McGuire
• introducing a weak version of a persuasive message and
allowing them time to argue against it (like a vaccine)
• inoculation: Credit card companies prey on college students!
Social Behavior
• we behave in social ways toward the people
around us
• two extremes of human social activity…
– altruism (prosocial behavior)
– aggression
Prosocial Behavior
• altruism (prosocial behavior) - an unselfish
interest in helping someone else
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random acts of kindness
debate: is it possible to be completely altruistic?
Ayn Rand: opposed to altruism… why?
egoism – giving to another person to ensure
reciprocity; to gain self-esteem; to present one-self as
powerful, competent, or caring; or to avoid censure
from ones self and others for failing to live up to
society’s expectations
• reciprocity
Prosocial Behavior
• explanations of altruism
– evolutionary – promoting survival of family’s genes
• research: humans not necessarily self-centered
• animals: demonstrate altruism
– psychological factors
• mood
– happy people = more helpful
– feelings of elevation (video: photo shoot)
• empathy – a person’s feelings of oneness with the emotional state of
another
– sociocultural factors
• market economies – more prosocial behavior (trust = requirement)
• investment in established religion – emphasis on golden rule
• gender
– women: more helpful in nurturing situations
– men: more helpful in dangerous situations and when feel competent to help
Prosocial Behavior
• The Bystander Effect
– Darley and Latané (1968)
– individuals are less likely to help in an emergency when
others are present then when the observer is alone
– diffusion of responsibility
• Media Influence
– listening to music with prosocial lyrics  increases
kindness
– TV shows with positive content  increase prosocial
behavior
– Lemmings video game  prosocial behavior
A SHORT Time to Ponder
• Do you believe that human nature is more selfish
or altruistic?
• “Happy people just don’t kill their husbands, they
just don’t.” – Elle Woods, Legally Blonde
• Do your favorite TV shows promote prosocial
behavior?
• Should TV be required to promote prosocial
behavior?
• Can you think of a time when altruism is linked to
aggression?
Aggression
• aggression – social behavior whose objective is to
harm someone, either physically or verbally
• biological influences
– evolutionary views – more likely to survive
– genetic basis
• breeding docile animals and vicious animals
• physical aggression – more linked to genes
• social aggression – more linked to environmental
– neurobiological factors
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limbic system - active
frontal lobes of brain – smaller / less functioning
low levels of serotonin
high levels of testosterone
results = less consistent with humans than animals
operational definitions of aggression  external validity criticism
Aggression
• psychological influences
– aversive circumstances  triggers aggression
• frustration – the blocking of an individual’s attempts to
reach a goal  triggers aggression
• frustration-aggression hypothesis – frustration always leads
to aggression
• weather, physical pain, crowding  triggers aggression
– cognitive determinants
• priming (seeing a weapon  prime hostile thoughts)
• perception of unfairness  triggers aggression
– observational learning
• Bobo doll study, Bandura, Ch. 6
• violence on TV
• violence at home
Aggression
• sociocultural influences
– cultural variations
• inequality (gap b/w the rich and poor)
– U.S. higher homicide rate compared to other developed
countries… greater inequality (YouTube clip)
• culture of honor
– honor killings
– the South
Aggression
– media violence
• television
– increases aggression
– changes attitudes towards violence
– violence in home = more significant
• violent pornography
– small effect on male sexual aggression
– increases acceptance of violence toward women
– rape myth – the false belief that women desire coercive sex
• violent video games
– “rational though is suspended and highly arousing aggressive scripts are
increasingly likely to be learned”
– CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH:
» more aggressive
» less sensitive to real-life violence
» more likely to engage in delinquent acts
» lower grades
Critical Controversy:
A SHORT Time to Ponder
• Do you or people you know play violent video
games? If so, what impact, if any, do you think
this activity has on your or their thoughts and
feelings?
• Would you allow your child to play violent
video games? Why or why not?
• What do you think policymakers should do
with regard to the controversy over the effects
of playing video games?
Aggression
• reducing aggression
– decrease rewards
– lessen exposure
– encourage empathy
– monitor adolescents’ activity
Social Influence: Conformity
• conformity – a change in a person’s behavior to coincide
more closely with a group standard
– can lead to enhanced cooperation among group members
• Asch’s Experiment (1951)
– factors that contribute to conformity
• informational social influence – the influence other people have on
us because we want to be right
• normative social influence – the influence others have on us because
we want them to like us
– volunteer participant conformed to incorrect answers 35% of
time
– VIDEO Clip:
– demonstrates power of conformity (breaking social norms)
• cognitive neuroscience
– fMRI images - when women found others disagreed, they
responded as mistakes
Social
Influence:
Conformity
• Which line is
the same
length?
• CHALLENGE: As
a group, try to
convince
someone of
something
obviously
incorrect…
Social Influence: Obedience
• obedience – behavior the complies with the
explicit demands of the individual in authority
– obedient: authority figure demands  we do
• Stanley Milgram’s Experiments (1965, 1974)
– factors that contribute to disobedience
• disobedient models
• authority figure not legitimate or not close by
• victim made to seem more human
– ethical concerns regarding Milgram – deception
– VIDEO: TED Talks (may leave the room – very graphic)
Social Influence:
Obedience
• How far do you think
you would go?
Group Influence
• Deindividuation
– erosion of personal identity and responsibility
– anonymity
– example: KKK
• group, darkness, wearing white
• Social Contagion
– imitative behavior
– spread of behavior, emotions, and ideas
– examples: social fads, the popularity of dog breeds, the spread
of unhealthy behaviors (smoking and drinking in adolescents),
symptoms of eating disorders among young women
– experiment: go someplace quiet and start coughing
– observations: misbehaviors in school (talking, packing up early,
etc.)
• Group Performance
– social facilitation: arousal with well-learned tasks
– social loafing: reduced accountability
Group Decision Making
• Risky Shift
– group decisions are riskier than average individual
decisions
• Group Polarization
– discussion strengthens the individual’s position
Group Decision Making: Groupthink
• groupthink
– group harmony valued over “right” or “correct”
– impaired decision making and avoidance of realistic
appraisal
– symptoms of groupthink
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overestimating the power and morality of one’s group
close-mindedness
lack of willingness to hear all sides of an argument
pressure for uniformity  “get with the program”
dissent meets with very strong disapproval
– avoiding groupthink
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avoid isolation
allow the airing of all sides of an argument
have an impartial leader
include outside experts in the debate
encourage group members who are strongly identified with the
group to speak out in defense
Group Decision Making:
Majority-Minority Influence
• Majority-Minority Influence
– majority: normative and informational pressure
• informational – greater opportunity to share
• normative – set group norms  those who do not go
along may be ignored or given the boot
– minority: informational pressure
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cannot win with normative pressure
must use informational pressure
consistency and confidence = key
must win over majority members
A SHORT Challenge
• Can you think of a minority position that you
support?
– Create a cogent argument in support.
– Then consistently and confidently defend it.
Intergroup Relations
• Group Identity
– us versus them
• Social Identity
– define ourselves in terms of group membership
– assumes commonalities
Intergroup Relations
• Henry Tajfel’s Social Identity Theory
– our social identities are a crucial part of our self-image and a
valuable source of positive feelings about ourselves
– in-groups versus out-groups
• in-group – a group that has special value in comparison with other
groups
• out-group
• focus more on the differences between the groups than on their
similarities
• Tajfel’s Reseach (1978)
– dot estimation (over or under) to create arbitrary groups
– asked to award money to other participants
•  awarded money to members of their “own group” more
– conclusion: we favor the members of in-groups based on trivial
differences...
• Ethnocentrism
– favoring one’s own group over other groups
– out-groups not just different, but worse/inferior/less than
A SHORT Time to Ponder:
Tajfel’s Reseach (1978)
• How has this concept been used around the
world and through history to oppress people?
– Rwanda
– Slavery in the United States
Social Identity
Prejudice
• an unjustified negative attitude toward a group and its members
• explicit versus implicit racism
– explicit racism – a persons conscious and openly shared attitude,
which might be measured using a questionaire
– implicit racism – attitudes that exist on a deeper, hidden level… must
be measure with a method that does not require awareness
• Implicit Associations Test (IAT) – a computerized survey that assesses the ease
with which a person can associate a Black or White person with good things
• THE DOLL TEST: VIDEO!! If you find it—the original vide, I will drop the lowest
grade from every person in your class period for the fourth quarter AND I will
buy your class donuts and coffee from the place of your choice
• explanations for prejudice
– competition between groups
– cultural learning
• Dream Deferred, post cards, and kids learning racism… 
– motivation to enhance self-esteem
– limitations in cognitive processes
Prejudice
• “ethnic cleansing”
• U.S. racial prejudice
– “black names” video
– Freakonomics video clip
• white names – 50% more likely to get an interview
• Are you racist?
– 88% of Americans say no
Stereotyping and Prejudice
• stereotype - a generalization about a group
• discrimination - unjustified negative or
harmful action
– Civil Rights Act of 1964 (revised 1991)
• unlawful to deny someone employment on the basis of
gender or ethnicity
– video: actresses / typecasting
Stereotyping and Prejudice
• How can relationships between ethnic groups be
improved?
– contact does not lead to tolerance / warm relations
• Gordon Allport (1954)
– think that they are equal status
– feel that an authority figure sanctions the positive
relationships
– believe that friendship might emerge from the
interaction
– engage in cooperative tasks in which everyone hast to
contribute
Stereotyping and Prejudice
• Improving Interethnic Relations
– Contact Only is Not Effect
– Works best if groups:
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think they are of equal status
feel an authority figure approves positive relations
anticipate emergent friendship
engage in cooperative tasks
– task-oriented cooperation:
• Sherif’s robbers cave study
• Aronson’s jigsaw classroom
Stereotyping and Prejudice
• task-oriented cooperation:
– Muzafer Sherif’s robbers cave study
• organized groups of 11-year-old boys into “Rattlers” and the “Eagles” in
a summer camp called Robbers Cave
• competed in baseball, touch football, tug-of-war
• relations became ugly
• brought together to complete tasks – repairing camp’s only water
supply system, pooling money to rent movie
• shows how competitive and cooperative activities changes perceptions
of the out-group
– Eliot Aronson’s jigsaw classroom
• real-world application: violence and ethnic tensions in desegregated
schools between African Americans, Mexican Americans and Whites
• jigsaw classroom – all students have to pull together to get the “big
picture”
– each group contains similar ethnic and ability level
• associated with increased self-esteem, better academic performance,
friendships among classmates, and improved interethnic perceptions
Sherif’s
Robbers
Cave
Study
Close Relationships
• TED Talks: Reverse-Engineering on-line dating
• Attraction
– proximity (physical closeness) – strong predictor of attraction
• mere exposure effect – the phenomenon that the more we encounter
someone or something (a person, a word, and image), the more
probable it is that we will start liking the person or thing even if we do
not realize we have seen it before
• promise of acquaintanceship
– we like those who like us
• similar attitudes, behavior patterns, taste in clothes, intelligence,
personality other friends, values, lifestyle, physical attractiveness
– similarity
• consensual validation – our own attitudes and behavior are
supported when someone else’s attitudes and behavior our similar to
our s—their attitudes and behavior validate ours
• tend to shy away from the unknown
Close Relationships: Love
• Romantic Love
– passionate love (romantic love) – love with strong
components of sexuality and infatuation, often dominant
in the early part of a love relationship
– “in-love”
– sexuality and infatuation
• Affectionate Love
– companionate love (affectionate love) – love that occurs
when individuals desire to have another person near and
have a deep, caring affection for the person
– deep caring affection
– passion gives way to affection
Close Relationships: Love
• Social Exchange Theory
– fair exchange of “goods”
– minimize costs, maximize benefits
– equity – a feeling on the part of the individuals in the
relationship that each is doing his or her fair share
• most important predictor of relationship success
• fades over time in a relationship (becomes distasteful)
• Investment Model
– factors in stability of relationship – predicts
satisfaction and stability
• commitment to partner – predicts willingness to sacrifice
• investment in relationship – brings out the best in eachother
• lack of attractive alternatives
Social Psychology
and Health and Wellness
• Social Ties and Health
– isolation and mortality
• loneliness linked with impaired physical health
– social support and coping
• Fighting Loneliness
– join activities with others
• diverse social network  live longer
• narrow social network  live shorter
– act pleasant
– get help
Chapter Summary
• Describe the influences on people’s
perceptions and attributions of others.
• Identify how people are influenced in social
settings.
• Discuss inter-group relations.
• Explain the nature of close relationships.
• Describe social processes affecting health and
wellness.
Chapter Summary
• Social Psychology
– study of how we think about, influence, and relate
to other people
• Social Cognition
– person perception
– attribution and the fundamental attribution error
– heuristics
– self-esteem
– attitudes – cognitive dissonance/self perception
Chapter Summary
• Persuasion
• Prosocial Behavior
– altruism
– bystander effect
– media influence
• Aggression
– biological influences
– psychological influences
– sociocultural influences
Chapter Summary
• Social Influence
– conformity – Asch’s study
– obedience – Milgram’s study
– group influence
• deindividuation, social contagion, group performance
• group decision making
• Intergroup Relations
– social identity
– prejudice and stereotyping
Chapter Summary
• Close Relationships
– attraction – proximity and similarity
– romantic (passionate) love
– affectionate (companionate) love
– social exchange theory and investment model
• Social Psychology and Health and Wellness
– social ties and health