Social Psychology
The study of how the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others influences the thoughts, feelings, and behavior of individuals (G. Allport)
• Major topics
– Social perception including stereotyping and prejudice, and inter-group relations
– Sexual attraction, friendship, love
– Group influence, conformity, obedience, compliance
– Interdependence, community, teamwork, civic duty
– Attitude formation and attitude change
– Prosocial behavior, altruism
– Individualism versus collectivism
– Social identity and the emergence of the self

According to Gordon Allport's classic definition, social psychology is an attempt to understand and explain how the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of individuals are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others .
By imagined or implied presence, Allport meant that the effects of social influence are felt even when there are no others are around.
Emphasis on the location of individuals in the social order, their social roles and interaction, and how personality and identity relate to social structure.
Social Psychology is a subfield of both psychology or sociology.
Emphasis on individuals’ mental processes, dispositions, and experiences as influenced by others

• The self-concept is the total of a person’s beliefs (i.e., cognitions) about their own personal attributes including assets and deficits.
• These beliefs can be about affect, behavior, cognitions, skills, physical characteristics, motives, etc.
• Sometimes evaluations of these beliefs
(i.e., self-esteem) are considered part of the self-concept.

• Self-Concept: thoughts about the self
• Self-Esteem: feelings about the self
• Self-Consciousness: awareness of the self
• Self-Worth: valuing of the self
• Self-Efficacy: belief and confidence in self

• Theories are based on the insights of sociologist and philosopher George
Herbert Mead, and the insights of psychologist and philosopher William James.
• The self is the total of one’s thoughts and feelings about self.
• Both theories refer to the subjective self as the “I” and the objective self as the “me.”
• We do not have a “self”; rather, we become a “self.”

William James
Outlined the dimensions of the mature self and stated that things become part of the self through emotional identification
George Herbert Mead Current
Outlined how the self develops and stated that it is largely a cognitive process brought about through symbolic interaction and role-taking
Have expanded on the insights of Mead and
James
The “me” of the self is an object of awareness consisting of three regions: spiritual, social, material.
The “me” of the self is seen from the perceived and imagined perspective that others have of oneself.
Self-concept is the sum of thoughts about self as object.

(American • 1863-1961)
• Symbolic-Interaction theorist
• Believed that the self was a social product acquired by observing and assimilating the roles of others
• Key concepts: “I” and “me,” significant other, role-taking, generalized other, preparatory stage, play stage, game stage
The "I" and "me" of self derive from social interaction. The "I" is the response of the individual to the attitudes others convey toward him or her; the "me" is the organized set of others’ attitudes about oneself that one assumes, accepts, or internalizes. One reacts subjectively as “I” toward this “me” component, or this awareness of self as an object derived from interaction with significant others.

Types of concepts about the self (Higgins)
Self-concept
Actual
Definition Example
The beliefs about the attributes one actually has
I am a caring and sensitive person;
I am athletic
Ideal
Ought
The beliefs about the attributes one would like to have ideally
I would love to be successful and popular
The beliefs about the attributes one is obligated to have
I should be more ambitious and tough

(American • 1922-1982)
The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life uses the theatrical stage as a metaphor to explain how we "stage manage" the images we try to convey about ourselves to those around us. For this management of others’ impressions, Goffman coined the term
"dramaturgy." We essentially negotiate who we are with each person we know and with each person we interact.
•
Symbolic-Interaction theorist
• Believed we play roles and present a “face” or somewhat different self for each person with whom we interact
• Key concepts: dramaturgy, front-stage and backstage selves, presentation of self

(American • 1925 - )
• Social (cognitive) psychologist who performed classic study of imitation and aggressive behaviors in children.
• Key concepts: social learning theory, imitation, models, vicarious reinforcement, self efficacy, self-regulation, and reciprocal determinism.

• An evaluation, either positive or negative, of a person, object, or event that is exhibited in thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
• Three parts:
– 1. Cognition (thoughts)
– 2. Affect (feelings)
– 3. Behavior (intentions)
Children’s book by Barb Hogan

Attitudes Vary Along a Number of Dimensions
THE LINGO
• Favorability
• Salience
• Strength/confidence
• Persistence
• Resistance to attack
SAY WHAT??
“I like it a lot.”
“I can remember my attitude toward it.”
“I’m sure I like it.”
“I’ve liked it for a long time and will continue to like it.”
“I’ll like it no matter what anyone says about it.”

Instrumental attitudes:
Attitudes based on benefits and costs associated with the attitude object.
Symbolic attitudes:
Attitudes that are formed through the influence of long-standing values.
Values:
Enduring beliefs about important life goals that transcend situations.

Self-Perception Theory proposes that we often infer our internal states, such as our attitudes, by observing our behavior.
It contends that behavior causes attitudes.

Antecedents for Attitudes:
Attitudes: are believed to be formed through behavioral, affective, and cognitive processes.
Behavioral: instrumental conditioning, selfperception theory, facial feedback theory.
Affective: classical conditioning, and the mere exposure hypothesis.
Cognitive: dissonance theory, attribution theories, planned behavior theory.
Behavioral
Processes
Affective
Processes
Cognitive
Processes
Attitudes

Didn’t They Run This Ad 5 Minutes Ago?
Discovered by Robert Zajonc in 1968, the Mere Exposure Effect relies on the power of repetition. This effect reflects the finding that the more exposure we have to a stimulus, the more apt we are to like it.
Many companies take advantage of this effect. Advertisements can be seen everywhere (t.v., radio, billboard).
Sometimes commercials are repeated so many times, we know them off by heart.
According to the mere exposure effect, we will probably like the product/service that is repeatedly advertised.
Artwork entitled Overexposure by SjG is used here with written permission

Introduced by Daniel Berlyne, this theory provides a plausible explanation for the “ mere exposure effect .”
This theory suggests that people’s reactions to stimuli go through two phases.
– Positive Habituation: Initially perceiving a stimulus is a difficult and complex perceptual task. After repeated exposure, a person develops a sense of perceptual mastery. It is no longer as difficult to perceive the same stimulus. This mastery creates a positive feeling and this feeling is transferred onto the stimulus.
– Boredom: After many repeated exposures a person has already achieved perceptual mastery and becomes bored with the stimulus. Favorability eventually increases less and less with every additional exposure. A prediction about the onset of boredom can be made:

CS (Wallonian)

R (orientation)
UCS (stupid)

UCR (implicit negative evaluative response)
In this example, a boy who has a neutral opinion about the Wallonians eventually develops a negative attitude towards them because each time he sees one, his mother says that they’re stupid thereby giving the boy a predisposition to feel negatively about them.

The case whereby natural behaviors increase or decrease in frequency, depending on whether they are followed by positive or negative reinforcement or positive or negative punishment.
In the case of attitudes, it simply implies that those attitudes that are reinforced remain and those attitudes that are punished or not reinforced usually change (or are hidden).
Primary reinforcers are biological (e.g. food, water, and sex). Secondary reinforcers are things that are repeatedly associated with primary reinforcers and elicit the same types of responses (e.g. money, praise, grades).

Do we inherit our attitudes?
Studies using identical twins that were reared apart show that they have similar attitudes despite growing up in different environments. Apparently, attitudes are influenced by genetics.
For instance, identical twins’ (reared apart) concordance rate for thinking that
“people who commit sex crimes deserve more than imprisonment” is a lot higher than between people who are not genetically related.

Genetic Factors Influencing Attitudes
Tesser (1993) suggests that while genes do not determine attitudes, the genetic influence on the following factors can in turn have an impact on attitudes:
• Sensory structures
• Body chemistry
• Intelligence
• Temperamental characteristics including activity level
• Conditionability

Cognitive Dissonance
One other route to attitude change can occur when we act in ways that are counter to an attitude we hold. According to
Festinger’s cognitive dissonance theory , when one cognition is inconsistent with another cognition, the resulting discomfort motivates us to find a way to restore cognitive balance or consistency.

If our behavior does not match our attitudes, what can we do since often we cannot take back our behavior. We can only
1. Change cognitions
2. Add new cognitions
3. Change the importance of relevant cognitions
Photograph entitled Cognitive Dissonance by Charles Neenan http://%20www.picturemanstudios.com/

• People have many pre-existing attitudes.
• People need consistency among thoughts, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors to guard self-esteem.
• Inconsistency creates an aversive state of arousal or tension.
• People may resolve the dissonance (i.e., get rid of the arousal) by changing their attitudes. Doing so may suggest hypocrisy.

• Self-perception theory: Bem (1972): We do not change our attitudes in response to our behavior; instead, we
infer our attitudes from our behavior.
– Do I like Chinese food?
– I eat it fairly frequently, even when I have the choice of other food.
– Therefore, I must like it.
• Self-perception is a theory of attitude formation; cognitive dissonance is a theory of attitude change and thus motivation as well.

• Rating of enjoyment of experiment (+5 - -5)
$ amounts show what subjects were paid.
1.5
1
0.5
0
-0.5
$1.00
$20.00
Control
(no Lie)

• Cognitive Dissonance: people have a driven by the tension of inconsistency to be consistent and change attitudes to maintain consistency and a positive self-image ( attitude change ).
• Self-Perception: people infer their attitudes from their behavior ( attitude formation ).
• Self-Presentation: people do not have a true drive to be consistent, but they want to present themselves as consistent because they and others see this as good or virtuous ( attitude change ).
• Mere Exposure: the more exposure we have to a stimulus, the more apt we are to like it; lack of exposure precludes a favorable attitude ( attitude formation and change ).
• Instrumental Conditioning: attitudes that are reinforced remain, and attitudes that are punished or not reinforced change ( attitude formation and change ).
• Classical Conditioning: pairing a neutral thing or person with negatives will result in the thing or person eliciting a negative attitude ( attitude formation ).
• Genetics: while genes do not determine attitudes, the genetic influence on things like temperament, intelligence, and conditionability can have an impact on attitude formation ( attitude formation )

Dislike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Like
List 2 things you believe about this person
Would it be all right if your brother or sister married one of these people?

A schema is an organized structure of knowledge about a stimulus that is built up from experience and that contains causal relations; it is a theory about how the social world operates. (e.g., gender schema)
A script is a schema that describes how a series of events is likely to occur in a well known situation, and which is used as a guide for behavior and problem solving. (e.g., student script)
When applied to the members of social groups, schemas are often called stereotypes .

1. Social Schemas : these are organized clusters of ideas about a group of people (e.g. gender occupation, race, age, religion).
2. Stereotypes : belief that people have certain characteristics because of their membership in a particular group.
3. Subjectivity : top-down perception via expectations; asymmetrical insight bias likely.

• The Fundamental Attribution Error: to make internal attributions over external attributions in explaining the behavior of others.
• Actor-Observer Effect: the tendency for people to attribute their own behavior to external causes but that of others to internal factors. (e.g., blaming the victim).
• Self-Serving Bias: the tendency to assign an internal locus of causality for our positive outcomes and an external locus for our negative outcomes .

(Discrimination)
(Prejudice)
(Stereotype)

Generalized attitude towards members of a group
Generalized belief about members of a group
Behaviors directed at people on the basis of group membership

◘ Mental representations of social groups and their members that contain enough detail to allow us to know what group members are like without meeting them
(Augoustinos & Reynolds 2001, p108)
◘ Original definition of stereotype came from Lippmann
(1922) based on printing press image: set in rigid form without much depth or detail but has sufficient likeness for easy reproduction.
◘ Rigid mental images we hold about the social world such as (a) terrorists, (b) missionaries, (C ) gypsies.
◘ Stereotypes have negative or positive aspects that are used to enhance our understanding of the group
◘ The attributes ascribed to a particular group often sustain prejudices associated with that particular group
(Locke & Johnston 2001).

 Direct expressions of inner beliefs and values
 Endorse related actions based on cultural endorsement (social reflection theory)
 Offer easy perceptions of others and automatic explanations of their behavior.
 Nourish attribution biases in popular culture and the media
 Are sources of humor and derogation of outgroups

Attraction and Forming Relationships
Relationship formation is related to:
– Physical attractiveness
– Reinforcement/Affect – we are drawn to those who compliment, laugh, smile, listen, entertain, inform, agree, support, etc.
– Proximity – geographic closeness is a major factor in attraction along with propinquity.
– Similarity – race, age, beliefs, values, status, education; we see more similarity with our friends than actually exists
Picture from New
Thot Art used here with permission.
– Reciprocity – we tend to like those who like us

Propinquity (exposure)
Proximity (nearby)
Similarity
Physical appearance
Inferences about personality
Reinforcement and related affect
Reciprocity Effects

Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love includes three components: intimacy, passion, and commitment. Singularly and in combinations these produce seven different kinds of love:
• Liking
• Infatuated love
• Empty love
• Romantic love
• Fatuous love
• Companionate love
• Consummate love

• Women: large eyes, small nose, small chin, prominent cheekbones, narrow cheeks, high eyebrows, large pupils, big smile
• Men: large eyes, prominent cheekbones, large chin, big smile
• Overlap : people like “baby-like” features in the opposite sex (e.g. large eyes). This is especially pronounced with female beauty
• Culture: surprisingly these findings do generalize cross culturally.

• Conformity: a change in attitude or behavior due to the real or imagined presence of others.
• Compliance: a change in behavior, but not attitude, due to the results of social pressure.
• Acceptance: a change in both behavior and attitude.
• Obedience: a form of compliance where commands from authority are followed

What Increases & Decreases Conformity?
• Decrease: feeling of security within a group
• Decrease: inducement to make commitment to initial independent judgment
• Decrease: high-self esteem
• Decrease: individualistic rather than collectivist cultural influence
• Increase: group cohesiveness
• Increase: expert power within the group
• Increase: similarity of group to the individual
• Increase: group size – increases up to four and then levels off
• Increase: individual awareness of group norms
• Increase: presence of at least one dissenter who breaks unanimity – one is all it takes

Unanimity: People are less likely to conform when there is another person who supports their idea or opinion.
A break in unanimity is the cause for the reduction and not the support given by another person who dissents.
Commitment: The more a person has to commit to their opinion, the less likely that person is to conform. For example, if subjects have to write their opinion down on paper, sign it and give it in to the researcher, they will usually give their honest opinion instead of the majority’s opinion.
Group Cohesiveness: The more close-knit a group is, the more conforming a subject will be in order to be accepted by that group.

Irving Janis coined the term “groupthink”
When concurrence-seeking overrides realistic individual appraisal
Factors that lead to groupthink
– Self-censorship
– Illusion of unanimity
– Direct pressure on dissenters
– Illusion of invulnerability
– Illusion of morality
– Stereotype and dismiss competitors

• Emotional distance of the victim
• Closeness and legitimacy of the authority
• Institutional authority
• The liberating effects of group influence

1. Participant authoritarianism.
– An individual difference (personality) characteristic.
– Is positively associated with obedience to authority.
2. Degree of authority.
3. Immediacy.
4. Accountability.
5. Social defiance.

Contributory Factors in Obedience
• Agentic State: The loss of autonomy individuals experience when they become the agent of a higher authority.
– Information and guidance accepted passively from authority.
– Personal responsibility only as a ‘conduit’.
• Participants felt “responsibility to the authority” but
“no responsibility for the content of the actions that the authority prescribes” (Milgram, 1974).
– Obedience is easy and relatively effortless.
– Disobedience is difficult and costly.
• Roles: e.g., ‘teacher’ and ‘subordinate’ (cf. Zimbardo’s prison study)
• Incremental Commitment: cf. foot-in-the-door.

When detecting deception, what tips us off?
• microexpressions
• interchannel inconsistency
• voice pitch, sentence repairs, pace
• shifts in pattern of eye contact
• exaggerated facial expressions