Unit 14: Social Psychology
Outline Guide
 Social Psychologists
 Attributing Behavior to Persons or to Situations
 Attribution Theory



Example
Fundamental Attribution Error

Study

How might disposition vary?
Effects of Attribution

Marriage

Politics

Work
 Attitudes & Actions


Attitudes Affect Actions

Central Route Persuasion

Peripheral Route Persuasion

External Situation
Actions Affect Attitudes

Foot-in-the-Door Phenomenon
 Example

Role-Playing Affects Attitudes
 Role
 Zimbardo’s Prison Experiment
1

Cognitive Dissonance Theory
 Example
 Social Influence
 Conformity & Obedience


Chameleon Effect

Mood Linkage

Bad side of suggestibility
Group Pressure & Conformity
 Conformity
 Soloman Asch

Conditions that Strengthen Conformity (7)

Reasons for Conforming
 Normative Social Influence
 Informational Social Influence
 Baron Study

Obedience

Stanley Milgram
 Obedience was highest when (4):

Lessons from Conformity/Obedience Studies (3)
2
 Group Influence
 Individual Behavior in Presence of Others
 Social Facilitation
 Example
 Easy vs. Difficult tasks
 Crowding

Social Loafing
 Example
 Why? (2)

Deindividuation
 Example

Effects of Group Interaction
 Group Polarization
 Example
 Benefits
 Negatives
 Role of the Internet

Groupthink
 Example
 What feeds groupthink?
 Cultural Influence
 Culture
3

How has culture changed our lives?

Variation Across Cultures

Norms

Personal Space
 Who likes more/less?


Expressiveness

Pace of Life
Variation Over Time
 Positives

Negatives
 Power of Individuals


Social Control

Personal Control
Minority Influence (3)
 Social Relations
 Prejudice


Mixture of:

Prejudice vs. Discrimination
How Prejudiced are People?

Overt vs. Subtle

Modern Prejudice
4


Examples of overt prejudice

Role of Gender (negative and positive)
Social Roots of Prejudice
 Social Inequalities
 “Haves” justification
 Role of Stereotypes
 Blame-the-Victim Dynamic

Us (Ingroup) & Them (Outgroup)
 Social Identities
 Similar Outgroups
 Ingroup Bias

Emotional Roots of Prejudice
 Fear

Anger
 Scapegoat Theory
 Role of feelings of insecurity

Cognitive Roots of Prejudice

Categorization
 Outgroup homogeneity
 Other-race Effect
 Exposure

Vivid Cases Study
5

Just-World Phenomenon
 Role of Hindsight Bias
 Aggression

Biology

Genetic Influences

Neural Influences

Biochemical Influences
 High Testosterone Correlates with:
 Two-way influence
 Alcohol

Psychological & Social-Cultural Factors
 Aversive Events
 Frustration-Aggression Principle
 Example
 Other aversive stimuli

Social & Cultural Influences
 Learning principles
 Ostracism
 Ancestry
 Absent Fathers
 Parent-training suggests

Observing Models
6
 Study example

Social Scripts
 Study example

Video Games
 Study example
 Problem with Catharsis Hypothesis
 Attraction
 Psychology of Attraction
 Proximity

Mere Exposure Effect
 Evolution

Physical Attractiveness
 How do we see physically attractive people?
 Unrelated to self-esteem (2):
 Culture
 Averageness

Similarity
 Dissimilarity
 Reward Theory of Attraction

Romantic Love
 Passionate Love
 Role of physical arousal
7

Companionate Love
 Adaptive

Equity

Self-disclosure
 Study example
 Altruism

Bystander Intervention
 We will help under these conditions (3):

Role of the Presence of Others

Diffusion of Responsibility
 Study example
 Gender difference
 Bystander Effect

Norms for Helping

Social Exchange Theory
 Example
 Intrinsic motivation

Reciprocity Norm

Social-Responsibility Norm
 Conflict and Peacemaking
 Conflict

Social Traps
8


Threats to communal well-being

Efforts to promote mutual betterment (3):
Enemy Perceptions
 Mirror-Image Perceptions
 Example

Self-Fulfilling Prophecies
 Example


Contact


University College London experiment
Resegregation
Cooperation

Superordinate Goals
 Study example
 Fearsome external threat

Communication
 Mediators

Conciliation

GRIT
 How does it work?
 Personal conflict example
9