Social Psychology
I. Theories of Social
Psychology
A. Definition: The study of how we think
about, influence and relate to one
another
B. Attribution Theory
1. Do we explain behavior by crediting the
situation or disposition?
C. Fundamental Attribution Error
1. Tendency for observers to underestimate
the impact of the situation and to
overestimate the impact of personal
disposition when analyzing another’s
behavior and do the opposite when
analyzing our own
2. Ex: Judging a teacher’s personality based
on what you see in the classroom
D. The Foot in the Door Phenomenon
1. Tendency for people who agree to a small
action to comply later w/a larger one
2. Ex: First asking parents for a slightly later
curfew followed by asking for a much later
one
E. Role-Playing Affects Attitudes
1. Role: set of expectations about a social
position, defining how people in the
position ought to behave
2. Philip Zimbardo’s prison study
F. Cognitive Dissonance Theory
1. We act to reduce the discomfort we feel
when two of our thoughts are inconsistent
2. Ex: Justifying smoking even though you
know it’s unhealthy
G. Attitudes-Follow-Behavior Principle
1. Changing our behavior can change how
we think about others
2. Act as though you like someone, and you
soon will
H. Chameleon Effect
1. Unconsciously mimicking others’
expression, postures and tone of voice
2. Ex: If a group of people is looking up,
passersby will likely do the same
3. Ex: Suicides and copycat crimes
II. Conformity
A. Adjusting one’s behavior or thinking to coincide w/a
group standard
B. Conditions that strengthen conformity
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
One is made to feel incompetent or insecure
Group has at least 3 people
Group is unanimous
One admires the groups status
One has made no prior commitment to any response
Others in the group observes one’s behavior
One’s culture strongly encourages respect for social
standards
III. Obedience
A. Stanley Milgram’s Experiment
B. Obedience was highest when
1. Person giving orders was close at hand and was
perceived to be a legitimate authority figure
2. Authority figure was supported by a prestigious
institution
3. Victim was depersonalized or at a distance
4. There were no role models for defiance
A. Social facilitation
1. Stronger responses on simple or welllearned tasks in the presence of others
2. Ex: Home field advantage
3. People perform more poorly on tougher
tasks when observers are present
B. Social loafing
1. Tendency for people in a group to exert
less effort when pooling their efforts
toward a common goal than when
individually accountable
2. Ex: Group vs. individual projects, tug of
war
C. Deindividuation
1. Loss of self-awareness and self-restraint
in group situations that foster arousal and
anonymity
2. Ex: Ku Klux Klan; crowd of people yelling
at a referee
D. Group polarization
1. Enhancement of a group’s prevailing
inclinations through discussion within the
group
2. Ex: when high-prejudice students
discussed racial issues, they became
more prejudiced
E. Groupthink
1. Mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for
harmony in a decision-making group overrides a
realistic appraisal of alternatives
2. Ex: failed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba
3. People suppress their opinions to maintain
perceived group harmony
4. Different from conformity, where people just don’t
want to be different
IV. Prejudice
A. Unjustifiable attitude toward a group
and its members
B. Social Roots of Prejudice
1. Social Inequalities
a.
b.
Tendency of the “haves” to develop attitudes
that justify things as they are
Ex: slave owners justifying slavery
2. Us vs. Them: Ingroup and Outgroup
a. Ingroup: “us” - people w/whom we share
a common identity
b. Outgroup: “them” - those perceived as
different or apart from our ingroup
c. Ingroup bias: tendency to favor our own
group
– Ex: identity w/Arcadia and not with GET
C. Emotional Roots of Prejudice
1. Scapegoat theory: theory that prejudice
offers an outlet for anger by providing
someone to blame
2. Ex: Feeling good when a rival does poorly
after we’ve done poorly; lashing out at
Arabs post-9/11
D. Cognitive Roots of Prejudice
1. Categorization
a.
b.
We overestimate the similarity of those within
other groups but recognize how greatly we
differ from others in our group
Other-race effect: tendency to recall faces of
one’s own race more accurately than faces of
other races
2. Vivid Cases
a. Judging the frequency of events by
instances that readily come to mind
b. Ex: believing all terrorists are Muslim
3. Just-World Phenomenon - tendency
for people to believe the world is just
and that people get what they deserve
Rules for “The Pairing Game"
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Do not look at your own number or tell anyone else what their
number is.
Your task is to pair off with another student. The pair with the
highest number will receive a reward.
The offer to form a pair is made by extending your hand to
another person, as if to offer a handshake. The other person
can choose either to accept or reject your offer.
If your offer is accepted, stand together with your partner at
the edge of the room.
If your offer is rejected, continue looking until you have formed
a pair.
V. Psychology of Attraction
A.
Proximity
1.
2.
B.
Geographic nearness is friendship’s most powerful
predictor
Mere exposure effect: phenomenon that repeated
exposure to new stimuli increases liking of them
Physical attractiveness
1.
2.
3.
Attractiveness most affects first impressions
People’s attractiveness is unrelated to self-esteem and
happiness
If led to believe someone has appealing traits (honesty,
humorous), people perceive the person as more physically
attractive
Psychology of Attraction -contC. Similarity
1. Opposites retract
2. The more alike people are, the more their
liking endures
VI. Altruism
A. Unselfish regard for the welfare of
others
B. Bystander effect: tendency for any
given bystander to be less likely to help
if other bystanders are present
– Ex: Kitty Genevieve case
Altruism -contC. The best odds of us helping someone occur when
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Person appears to need and deserve help
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 not preoccupied
We are in a good mood