Social Psychology Chapter Outline
Chapter 18, Psychology by David Meyers, 7th Edition
1. Social Psychology – the scientific study of how we think about, influence, and
relate to one another
-
Social Thinking –
 We analyze why people act as they do
2. Attribution Theory – the theory that we tend to give a casual explanation for
someone’s behavior, often be crediting either the situation or the persons
disposition - Fritz Heider
 We often overestimate the influence of personality and underestimate the
influence of situations
3. Fundamental Attribution Error – the tendency for observers, when analyzing
another’s behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to
overestimate the impact of personal disposition.
o Proven in experiment by Napolitan and Goethals involving college
students judging a woman’s disposition even after half of the
participants were told that she was instructed to act the way she
did.
 When explaining our own behavior we are sensitive to how our behavior
changes with the situations we encounter
 Explaining others is fundamental attribution error
 Reversing the actors and observers perspectives allows each to
appreciate the other. The observer better appreciates the situation, actor
better appreciates their own personal style.
 When we make judgments, our attributions – to the person or the situation
– have important consequences.
 Political liberals (and social scientists) are more likely to blame past and
present situations.
4. Attitude- a belief and feeling that predisposes one to respond in a particular
way to objects, people, and events.
 Our attitudes will guide our actions if:
o Outside influences on what we say and do are minimal
o The attitude is specifically relevant to the behavior
o We are keenly aware of our attitudes
 Mindful of thoughts. Attitudes that come quickly to mind are
more likely to guide our behavior.
 Your attitudes follow your behavior:
5. Foot-in-the-door Phenomenon – the tendency for people who have first agreed
to a small request to comply later with a larger one
o Employed by the Chinese in the brainwashing of captured US
soldiers during the Korean War
©CAMERONPHILLIPS2012
o Spiral of actions feeding attitudes feeding actions enables behavior
to escalate.
 “Succumb to a temptation and you will find the next temptation harder to
resist”
 Moral action strengthens moral convictions
 When you adopt a new role you strive to follow the social prescriptions, at
first your actions feeling phony. Before long the actions that felt forced no
longer do and what started as acting becomes you.
o Tested in an experiment involving college students in a prison
situation. The “guards” developed disparaging attitudes and the
“prisoners” broke down, rebelled, and became passively resigned.
 We feel motivated to justify out actions
 When we are aware that our attitudes and actions don’t coincide, we
experience tension called cognitive dissonance
6. Cognitive Dissonance Theory – the theory that we act to reduce the discomfort
(dissonance) we feel when two of our thoughts (cognitions) are inconsistent. For
example, when our awareness of our attitudes and of out actions clash, we can
reduce the resulting dissonance by changing our attitudes.
o The more dissonance, the more motivated we are to find
consistency -> changing our attitudes to help justify the act
 Changing our behavior can change how we think and how we feel.
-
Social Influence –
- Conformity and Obedience Behavior is contagious
 Unconsciously mimicking others expressions, postures, and voice tones
helps us feel what they are feeling
 We are natural mimics – “the chameleon effect”
o Developed by Tanya Chartrand and Josh Bargh through placing
students in rooms with confederates who would do a particular action,
resulting in the participants mimicking the actions.
 Suggestibility is a subtle type of conformity
7. Conformity – adjusting one’s behavior or thinking to coincide with a group
standard
o Studied by Solomon Asch in an experiment that would have a
participant answer an obvious question. Multiple confederates would
give the wrong answer first, and the participant would vary the answer
to conform to the group.
 Conformity increases when:
- One is made to feel incompetent or insecure
- The group has at least three people
- The group is unanimous
- One admires the group’s status and attractiveness
- One has made no prior commitment to any response
- Others in the group observe one’s behavior
©CAMERONPHILLIPS2012
- One’s culture strongly encourages respect for social standards
8. Normative Social Influence – influence resulting from a person’s desire to gain
approval or avoid disapproval
9. Informative Social Influence – influence resulting from one’s willingness to
accept other’s opinions about reality
o Shown in a modernized Asch experiment by Robert Barton studying
conformity for identifying a person out of a police line up. When the
participants understood that their decision was important and came
alone with a $20 reward, they were more receptive to others opinions.
 When we are unsure of what is right, and when being right matters, we
become receptive to other’s opinions
 Stanley Milgram studied obedience through an electric shock experiment
involving participants taking orders from an, ‘experimenter,’ instructing
them to shock an innocent person. When the person being shocked
screamed in agony, the participants were obedient and continued the
experiment.
 Social influences can make people conform to falsehoods or capitulate to
cruelty.
- Group Influence –
 Norman Triplett – “the presence of others boosts performance”
10. Social Facilitation – improved performance of tasks in the presence of others:
occurs with simple or well learned tasks but not tasks that are difficult or not yet
mastered
 When others observe us, we become aroused – strengthening the most
likely response, not always the correct one.
 The arousal triggered by crowding amplifies reactions
o Like a friendly person more; an unfriendly person less
11. Social Loafing – the tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when
pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when individually
accountable
Why - people acting as part of a group feel less accountable and therefore worry
less about what others think
 View their contribution as dispensable
 Combination of arousal and diminished sense of response leads to
deindividuation.
12. Deindividuation – the loss of self-awareness and self-restraint occurring in
group situations that foster arousal and anonymity
o Abandoning normal restraints to the power of the group
 Proved in experiment by Zimbardo where NYU women dressed in Ku
Klux Klan style hoods delivered twice as much shock to a victim as did an
identifiable woman.
 Tribal warriors will kill, torture, and manipulate captured enemies more so
with deindividulizing face paint than when exposed.
13. Group Polarization – the enhancement of a group’s prevailing attitudes that
occurs when people within a group discuss attitudes that most of them either
favor or oppose.
©CAMERONPHILLIPS2012
o Can have beneficial results, or can have dire consequences
14. Groupthink – the mode of thinking that occurs when the desire for harmony in
a decision making group overrides a realistic appraisal of alternatives
o Coined by Irving Janis in his study of President John F.
Kennedy’s failed plan to send troops in invade Cuba
undetected. When the plan failed JFK wondered “how could we
have been so stupid” – Janis studied the decision making
procedures that led to the fiasco.
o Groupthink prevented when a leader welcomes various
opinions, invites experts critiques of developing plans, and
assigns people to identify possible problems.
 Social Control – the power of the situation
 Personal Control – the power of the individual
 When we feel pressured, we may react by doing the opposite of what is
expected, reasserting our sense of freedom.
 Social history is often made by a minority that sways the majority
 Minority Influence – the power of one or two individuals to sway majorities
 Holding consistently to a minority opinion will not make you popular, but it
may make you influential.
- Social Relations 15. Prejudice – an unjustifiable (and usually negative) attitude toward a group
and its members. Prejudice generally involves stereotyped beliefs, negative
feelings, and a predisposition to discriminatory action.
16. Stereotype – a generalized (sometimes accurate but often overgeneralized)
belief about a group of people.
 Schemas that influences and interpret events
 Prejudgments color perceptions
 Subtle Prejudice – in social intimate settings (dating, dancing, marrying)
many people admit they would feel uncomfortable with someone of
another race.
 Recent experiments show that prejudice can not only be subtle, but also
apparently unconscious:
o Anthony Greenwald – Showed that 9 out of 10 people who denied
racial or gender prejudices took longer to identify pleasant words as
“good” when shown a black face rather than a white one
o Kent Harber – asked white university woment to provide feedback
on a flawed essay either stated to be black or white authored.
Harber found that the supposed “black authored” papers were
criticized insufficiently, compared to the much harsher criticisms
provided for the white reader. Such low expectations may hinder
minority achievement.
o Correll + Greenwald – Blacks were more often shot mistakenly for
fear of possessing a weapon in a virtual reality simulation.
- Social Roots –
©CAMERONPHILLIPS2012

Inequalities, social divisions, and emotional scapegoating partly
responsible for prejudice
 When some people have money, power, and prestige, the “haves”
justify reasons for prejudice in some people
 Prejudice rationalizes inequalities
 Discrimination increases prejudice through the reactions it provokes in
its victims
 Gordon Allport – being a victim of discrimination can produce either
self-blame or anger – new grounds for prejudice through the blamethe-victim dynamic
 We are a group bound species, partly defining who we are – our
identities – in terms of our groups
 Through our social identities we associate ourselves with certain
groups and contrast ourselves with others
17. Ingroup – “us” – people with whom one shares a common identity
18. Outgroup – “them” – those perceived as different or apart from one’s own
group.
19. Ingroup Bias – the tendency to favor one’s own group.
 The urge to distinguish enemies from friends and to have one’s group be
dominant predisposes prejudice against strangers
20. Scapegoat Theory – the theory that prejudice offers an outlet for anger by
providing someone to blame
 Despised outgroups can boost ingroup members self-estem
21. Just-World Phenomenon – the tendency of people to believe the world is just
and that people therefore get what they deserve and deserve what they get
 Good is rewarded and evil is punished
 Ronnie Janoff-Bulman – an experiment showing that when a story of a
woman ends in her being raped, people perceive that the woman’s
behavior as partly to blame. “She should have known better.”
22. Aggression – any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy
 Most destructive force in social relations
 Either reactively out of hostility or proactively as a calculated means to an
end
 Freud – “our species has a volcanic potential to erupt in aggression”
 We have a “death instinct” which we displace towards others as
aggression, or release in socially approved activities.
Genetic Influences
 Genes influence human aggression
 Not one spot in the brain controls aggression
 Neural system that facilitates aggression, making it more likely, with
the presence of provocation
 Frontal lobe system for inhibiting aggression
 Hormones, alcohol and other substances influences the neural
systems that control aggression
 Loss of testosterone = loss of aggression
©CAMERONPHILLIPS2012
Psychological Influences
 Suffering my build character, it may also bring out the worst in us
23. Frustration-Aggression Principle – the principle that frustration – the blocking
of an attempt to achieve some goal – creates anger, which can generate
aggression.
o Especially in the presence of an aggressive cue, such as a gun
o Other adverse stimuli (pain, personal insults, foul odors) can
evoke hostility.
 When people are hot, they think, feel, and act more aggressively
 Our reaction are more likely to be aggressive in situations where
experience has taught us that aggression pays
o Learned not only though direct reward but through observation
 Correlation between fatherless homes and aggression
 Once established, aggressive behavior patterns are difficult to change
 There is a correlation between sexual aggression and an increase in the
availability of R rated, explicit movies.
 Correlation between rapists and sex offenders and the amount of
pornography they watch.
 Pornography makes ones partner seem less attractive, makes a woman’s
friendliness seem more sexual, and makes sexual aggression seem less
serious.
 It is not the eroticism but the depiction of sexual violence that most
directly affects mens acceptance and performance of aggression against
women
 Significant behaviors, such as violence usually have many determinants,
any single explanation is an oversimplification
 The influence of the media is NOT a minor issue
 Medias influence comes from the social scripts they provide
o When we are in new situations where we don’t know how to act,
we use their social scripts.
 Video games can prime aggressive thoughts and increase aggression
 Expressing anger breeds more anger, and practicing violence breeds
more violence.
24. Conflict – a perceived incompatibility of actions, goals, or ideas.
 The elements of conflict are much the same at all levels
25. Social Trap – a situation in which the conflicting parties, by each rationally
pursuing their self interest, become caught in mutually destructive behavior.
o “The few whales I am killing doesn’t pose a threat to their
extinction”
o Challenge us to find ways of reconciling our right to pursue our
persona well being with our right to pursue our personal well being
with our responsibility for the well being of all
o Psychologists attempt to convince people to cooperate for their
mutual betterment – through agreed upon regulations,
communication, and awareness.
©CAMERONPHILLIPS2012

Those in conflict have a tendency to form diabolical images of one
another
 Mirror-Image Perceptions: as we see “them” – as untrustworthy and evil
intentioned – so “they” see us. Each demonizes the other.
 Self-Fulfilling Prophecy – Perceptions confirm themselves by influencing
how the other reacts in ways that seem to justify them.
- Attraction Three ingredients
 Proximity – geographical nearness – is perhaps the most powerful
predictor of friendship
 Studies show we are more likely to like people who live in the same
neighborhood/ sit by us in class/ work in the same office etc.
26. Mere-Exposure Effect – the phenomenon that repeated exposure to novel
stimuli increases liking of them
 Demonstrated by Richard Moreland and Scott Breach by having 200
students rate the attractiveness of four equally attractive women who
attended class for 0, 5, 10, or 15 sessions. They found the woman they
had seen the most the most attractive.
 Mere exposure effect is primitive, for our ancestors, what was familiar was
generally safe and approachable – explains gut-level prejudice against
those culturally different as primitive.
Physical Attractiveness
 Most affects your first impression
 Elaine Hatsfield and her coworkers studied physical attractiveness by
setting up extraordinary compatible people on blind dates. They found that
when one was not attractive, the dates did not like each other as much as
attractive people.
 People’s physical attractiveness predicts their frequency of dating; feelings
of popularity, and others initial impressions of their personalities.
 We perceive attractive people to be healthier, happier, more sensitive,
more successful, and more socially skilled through not more honest or
compassionate
 Attractiveness unrelated to self-esteem or happiness
o Except after comparing themselves to super-attractive people, few
people view themselves as unattractive. (mere-exposure effect on
our own faces)
 Less attractive people accept praise as more sincere
 Most accepted standards of beauty are influences by one’s place and time
[cultural]
 Some aspects are unified: Men judge women as more attractive if they
have a youthful appearance. Women are attracted to healthy-looking,
dominant, mature, and affluent men.
 People prefer physical features that are neither unusually large or small
 Attractiveness also depends on our feelings about the person
Similarity
©CAMERONPHILLIPS2012





In real life, opposites react
Couples are likely to share common attitudes, beliefs, and interests
Similarity breeds content
We like those who like us, especially when out self-image is low
When we believe someone likes us, we respond to them more warmly,
which leads them to like us even more
 To be liked is powerfully rewarding
 We like those whose behavior is rewarding to us, and we will continue
relationships that offer more rewards than costs.
Romantic Love
 Intense, complex, and mysterious state
Elaine Hatfield – two types of love:
1. Temporary Passionate Love
2. Enduring Companionate Love
27. Passionate Love – an aroused state of intense positive absorption in another,
usually present at the beginning of a love relationship
 2 Factor Explanation:
1. Emotions have two ingredients: physical arousal and cognitive
appraisal
2. Arousal from any source can enhance on emotion or another,
depending on how we label and interpret the arousal.
 Proven by having aroused vs. un-aroused college men rate the
attractiveness of a woman. The aroused men found the woman more
attractive
 Donald Dutton and Arthur Aron had men cross either a low, sturdy
bridge, or a shaky one 230 feet above the rocks of British Columbia’s
Capilano Rover. At the end they were intercepted by a woman who sought
their help in filling out a survey. The aroused men coming off the high
bridge were much more likely to take her phone number when offered.
 To be revved up and to associate some of that arousal with a desirable
person is to feel the pull of passion.
 Adrenaline makes the heart grow fonder.
28. Companionate Love – the deep affectionate attachment we feel for those with
whom our lives are intertwined.
 Comes as love matures.
 Passionate love often produces children whose survival is aided by the
parents waning obsession with one another.
29. Equity – a condition in which people receive from a relationship in proportion
to what they give to it.
 Key to a gratifying and enduring relationship
 Mutually sharing self and possessions, giving and getting emotional
support.
30. Self-Disclosure – Revealing intimate aspects of oneself to others
 Our likes and dislikes, our dreams and worries, our proud and shameful
moments
©CAMERONPHILLIPS2012


Self disclosure breeds liking, and liking breeds self disclosure
Each increase in intimacy rekindles passion

Equity and Self-Disclosure are key to enduring companionate love.
31. Altrusim – unselfish regard for the welfare of others
 Such goodness in response to such badness
Kitty Genovese – a stalker stabbed her repeatedly and raped her as she lay
dying outside her New York apartment at 3:30AM. 38 of her neighbors woke
up to her cries of “help” but it wasn’t until 3:50AM, after the attacker fled for
good, after raping her again, did anyone call the police.
 John Darley and Bibb Latané attributed the bystanders inaction to an
important situational factor – the presence of others.
 Staged emergency experiment findings reveled a decision scheme:
o We will help only if the situation enables us first to notice the
incident, then to interpret it as an emergency, and finally to assume
responsibility for helping.
 The presence of bystanders turns people away from helping
 Experiment by Darley and Latané proved by having students take part in
a conversation over an intercom, when one made signs that they were
having a seizure, if the student was under the impression that they were
the only one listening they would assume responsibility and go to aid the
suffering colleague, those with others present on the intercom, did not.
32. Bystander Effect – the tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to
give aid if other bystanders are present.
 The best odds of our helping someone occur when:
o We have just observed someone else being helpful
o We are not in a hurry
o The victim appears to need and deserve help
o The victim is in some way similar to us
o We are in a small town or a rural area
o We are feeling guilty
o We are focused on others and not preoccupied
o We are in a good mood
 Happy people are helpful people
33. Social Exchange Theory – the theory that our social behavior is an exchange
process, the aim of which is to maximize benefits and minimize costs.
 If you anticipate rewards from helping that exceed the costs, you help.
 Social expectations also influence helping.
Reciprocity Norm – the expectation that we should return help, not harm,
to those who have helped us.
o Compels us to give as much as we receive
Social Responsibility Norm – We should help those who need our help,
even if the costs outweigh the benefits.
Those who attend a religious service each week often exhibit the social
responsibility norm.
©CAMERONPHILLIPS2012
-Peacemaking Cooperation, communication, and conciliation can transform antagonisms
into attitudes that promote peace
 When there are two conflicting parties, noncompetitive contact helps
smooth over prejudice
 Muzafer Sherif placed 22 boys in a camp and split them into two teams
that competed against each other. Eventually the groups became
intensely proud of itself and hostile toward the other. Gave them
superordinate goal.
34. Superordinate Goal – shared goals that override differences among people
and require their cooperation
 A planned water shortage forced the boys to work together
 Members of interracial groups who work together on projects and play
together on athletic teams typically come to feel friendly toward those of
the other race.
Communication
 People are usually distrustful and pursue their individual interests as a
defense against exploitation, but when allowed to discuss the dilemma
and negotiate, cooperation increases.
 When conflict becomes intense, a mediator may facilitate much needed
communication
o Mediator changed conflict from win-lose to win-win
 When conflict intensify, images become more stereotyped, communication
more difficult, and judgment more rigid.
Conciliation
 When tension and suspicion peak, cooperation and communication may
become impossible
o Party likely to threaten, coerce, or retaliate
 Charles Osgood developed the GRIT
35. GRIT – “Graduated and Reciprocated Initiatives in Tension-Reduction”. A
strategy designed to decrease international tensions
 One side first announces its recognition of mutual interest and its intent
to reduce tensions
 Then it initiates one or more small conciliatory acts
 Effective for increasing trust and cooperation
 During intense personal conflict, when communication has been
nonexistent, a small conciliatory gesture – a smile, a touch, a word of
apology – may work wonders.
 Allow both parties to begin edging down tension.
©CAMERONPHILLIPS2012