Social Psychology:
The Power of the Situation
• Kurt Lewin and his two classic statements
• Behaviour is a function of the person and the situation
• There is nothing quite so practical as a good theory
• Conformity and Obedience
• Bystander Intervention
Conformity and Obedience
• The Sherif Norm Formation Study
• Used the autokinetic effect
• Consensus formed
• Consensus could be manipulated
• Asch Conformity Study
• Would people say long was short?
• Yes, 70% of the people did
Asch Line Judgment Task
Reactions of Participants in the Asch Study
Effect of One Dissenter in the Asch Paradigm
Conformity and Obedience
• The Sherif Norm Formation Study
• Used the autokinetic effect
• Consensus formed
• Consensus could be manipulated
• Asch Conformity Study
• Would people say long was short?
• Yes, 70% of the people did
• Milgram Obedience Study
• Would people commit acts of cruelty?
Milgram Obedience Study
The Milgram Experiment Results
Bystander Intervention
• Kitty Genovese, Common Sense, and the Power of the
Situation
• Darley & Latane’ explanation - the more people you have
around the less likely it is that anyone will help
• Smoke Filled Room Study
Bystander Intervention
• Kitty Genovese, Common Sense, and the Power of the
Situation
• Darley & Latane’ explanation - the more people you have
around the less likely it is that anyone will help
• Smoke Filled Room Study
• 55% report smoke within two minutes when alone
• only 12% do when in a group of three
• Seizure Study
Seizure Study Results
Darley & Latane’ Model of Helping
Social Psychology:
The Perceiver Shapes Reality and the
Interaction of the Person and the Situation
• The Perceiver Shapes Reality
• Fundamental Attribution Error
• Stereotyping
• Self-Fulfilling Prophecies
• The Interaction of the Person and the Situation
• The Two Factor Theory of Emotion
• Cognitive Dissonance
The Fundamental Attribution Error
• The Origin of Attribution Theory and the prediction of the
fundamental attribution error
• The Jones & Harris (1967) Essay Study
Jones & Harris (1967) - Essay Study
The Fundamental Attribution Error
• The Origin of Attribution Theory and the prediction of the
fundamental attribution error
• The Jones & Harris (1967) Essay Study
• The Ross, Amabile, & Steinmetz (1977) Game show study
Ross, Amabile, & Steinmetz (1977) Game Show Study
The Fundamental Attribution Error
• The Origin of Attribution Theory and the prediction of the
fundamental attribution error
• The Jones & Harris (1967) Essay Study
• The Ross, Amabile, & Steinmetz (1977) Game show study
• The role of culture in the fundamental attribution error
Culture and the Fundamental
Attribution Error
Stereotyping
• The effect of stereotypes on the evaluation of others Darley & Gross (1983)
Darley & Gross (1983)
Stereotyping
• The effect of stereotypes on the evaluation of others Darley & Gross (1983)
• The automatic activation of stereotypes affects
evaluations - Devine (1989)
Donald Paragraph
I ran into my old acquaintance Donald the other day, and I decided
to go over and visit him, since by coincidence we took our
vacations at the same time. Soon after I arrived, a salesman
knocked at the door, but Donald refused to let him enter. He also
told me that he was refusing to pay his rent until the landlord
repaints his apartment. We talked for a while, had lunch, and then
went out for a ride. We used my car, since Donald’s car had broken
down that morning, and he told the garage mechanic that he would
have to go somewhere else if he couldn’t fix his car that same day.
We went to the park for about an hour and then stopped at a
hardware store. I was sort of preoccupied, but Donald bought
some gadget, and then I heard him demand his money back from
the sales clerk. I couldn’t find what I was looking for, so we left and
walked a few blocks to another store. The Red Cross had set up a
stand by the door and asked us to donate blood. Donald lied by
saying he had diabetes and therefore could not give blood. . .
Stereotyping
• The effect of stereotypes on the evaluation of others Darley & Gross (1983)
• The automatic activation of stereotypes affects
evaluations - Devine (1989)
• We often use stereotypes to achieve a desired
conclusion - Sinclair & Kunda (1999)
Sinclair & Kunda (1999)
Social Psychology:
The Interaction of the Person and the Situation
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Self-fulfilling Prophecies
Stereotype Threat
The Two-Factor Theory of Emotion
Cognitive Dissonance Theory
Self-Fulfilling Prophecies
• What is a self-fulfilling prophecy
• The Pygmalion effect in the classroom - Rosenthal &
Jacobson (1968)
Self-Fulfilling Prophecies
• What is a self-fulfilling prophecy
• The Pygmalion effect in the classroom - Rosenthal &
Jacobson (1968)
• Stereotypes as self-fulfilling prophecies - Word, Zanna, &
Cooper (1974)
• Stereotype Threat - Spencer, Steele, & Quinn (1999)
Spencer, Steele, & Quinn (1999)
The Two-Factor Theory of Emotion
• Early Models of Emotion
• Williams James
• Cannon & Baird
• The Two-Factor Theory
• Arousal
• Cognitive Label
• Anger and your mother study - Schacter & Singer (1962)
• Attraction and the Bridge - Dutton & Aron (1974)
Percent Calling
Back
Dutton & Aron (1974)
Where Interview was Conducted
Cognitive Dissonance Theory
• How much would it take to get you to lie? - Festinger &
Carlsmith (1959)
Festinger & Carlsmith (1959)
Cognitive Dissonance Theory
• How much would it take to get you to lie? - Festinger &
Carlsmith (1959)
• The role of arousal in cognitive dissonance - Zanna &
Cooper (1974)
Zanna & Cooper (1974)
Focus on University of Waterloo Research How Focussing on Prevention leads to Risky
Decisions
Scholer, Zou, Fujita, Stroessner, & Higgins
(2010)
• We normally think that focussing on prevention would
make us cautious
• Under certain conditions, however, focussing on
prevention might make us more risky
• specifically when we are experiencing losses and only
risky decisions can prevent the loss
• Measured whether people focus on prevention or
promotion
• Had everyone play a stock buying game
• Examined how risky they were in buying stocks
• People high in prevention got more risky when they were
losing money
“Purchasing” Risky Stock
Scholer et al. (2010) - Study 2