Chapter 12 Social Psychology PDF

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Chapter 12 Social Psychology Perceiving others 

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Impression formation: why first impressions count so much o Impression formation- the process of developing an opinion or impression of another person o Social schema- a mental image or representation that we use to understand our social environment o Stereotypes- the tendency to characterize all members of particular group as having certain characteristics in common o Self-fulfilling prophecy- an expectation that helps bring about the outcome that is expected Attributions: why the pizza guy is late o Attribution- an assumption about the cases of behavior or events (causal assumptions) o Dispositional causes- causes relating to the internal characteristics or traits of individuals o Situational causes- causes relating to external or environmental events o Fundamental attribution error- the tendency to attribute behavior to internal causes without regard to situational influences o Actor-observer effect- the tendency to attribute the causes of one’s own behavior to situational factors while attributing the causes of other people’s behavior to internal factors or dispositions o Self-serving bias – the tendency to take credit for our accomplishments and to explain away our failures or disappointments Attitudes: how do you fell about…? o Attitude- a positive or negative evaluation of people, objects or issues  cognitions (sets of beliefs),  emotions (feelings of liking or disliking), and  behaviors (inclinations to act positively or negatively). o Cognitive dissonance- the belief that people are motivated to resolve discrepancies between their behavior and their attitudes, beliefs or perceptions  Leon Festinger  Change Attitude  Change Behavior  Self-Justification  Ignore the Inconsistencies Persuasion: the fine art of changing people’s minds o Elaboration likelihood model- a theoretical model that posits two channels by which persuasive appeals lead to attitude change a central route and peripheral route o Factors in persuasive appeals  Source variables- factors related to the person doing the persuading  Credibility  Likeability  Similarity

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Message variables- what is said and how it is communicated  One-sided Vs. two- sided arguments  Repetition Recipient variables- factors related to the person receiving the persuasive message  Intelligence  Self-confidence  Mood

Relating to others 

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Attraction: getting to like (or love) you o Attraction- feelings of liking for others, together with having positive thought about them and inclinations to act toward them in positive ways  Influenced by  Similarity- sharing similar values and attitudes  Matching hypothesis- the belief that people tend to pair off with others who are similar to themselves in physical attractiveness and other characteristics o Physical attractiveness  Reciprocity – the principle that people tend to like others who like them back  Proximity- repeated interaction can increase feelings of liking disliking Love: the deepest emotion o Basic three components  Intimacy- the close bond and feeling of attachment between two people, including their desire to share their innermost thoughts and feelings  Passion- an intense sexual desire for the other  Decision/commitment- the recognition that one loves the other person and is committed to maintaining the relationship though good times and bad o Nonlove- none o Liking-intimacy o Infatuation- passion o Fatuous (foolish) love- passion/commitment o Empty love- commitment o Romantic love- passion/ intimacy o Consummate love- all three o Compassionate love- intimacy/commitment Helping behavior: leading a hand to others in need o Prosocial behavior- behavior that benefits others  Kitty Genovese o Bystander intervention- helping a stranger in distress  Need for help?  Emergency?  Do I need to get involved?

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 Is there a way I can help?  Am I ready? o Factors influence a willingness to help  Situational ambiguity- in an ambiguous situation in which it is not clear what is happening, people are much less likely to help than in situations involving a clear-cut emergency  Perceived cost- the likelihood of helping increases as the perceived cost to ourselves declines  Diffusion of responsibility- the presence of others may diffuse the sense of individual responsibility  Similarity- people are willing to help others whom they perceive to be similar to themselves- people who share a common background and beliefs  Empathy- having empathy, or understanding of a person’s feelings or pain is associated with a greater likelihood of helping a person in need  Facial features- people with baby faced features are more likely to elicit help than people with more mature facial features  Mood and gender- people are generally more willing to help others when they are in good mood  Attributions of the cause of need- people are much more likely to help others they judge to be innocent victims than those they believe have brought their problems on themselves  Social norms- standards that define what is socially acceptable in a given situation Prejudice: Attitudes That Harm o Prejudice- a preconceived opinion or attitude about an issue, person, or group  Cofnitive  Emotional  Behavioral o Discrimination- unfair or biased treatment of people based on their membership in a particular group or category o Racism- negative bias held toward members of other racial groups o In groups- social, religious. Ethic, racial or national groups with which one identifies o Out groups- groups others than those with which one identifies o Out group negativism- a cognitive bias involving the predisposition to attribute more negative characteristics to members of out-group than to those of in groups o in-group favoritism- A cognitive bias involving the predisposition to attribute more positive characteristics to members of in-groups than to those of out-groups o out-group homogeneity- A cognitive bias describing the tendency to perceive members of out-groups as more alike than members of in-groups. o authoritarian personality- A personality type characterized by rigidity, prejudice, and excessive concerns with obedience and respect for authority. o Universalist orientation- focus on similarities o stereotype threat- A sense of threat evoked in people from stereotyped groups when they believe they may be judged or treated stereotypically.

contact hypothesis- Allport’s belief that under certain conditions, increased intergroup contact helps reduce prejudice and intergroup tension.  Social and institutional support. People in positions of authority must be clearly behind the effort to bring groups closer together.  Acquaintance potential. Opportunities must exist for members of different groups to become better acquainted with each other.  Equal status. Increased opportunities for contact with members of other groups who occupy subordinate roles may actually reinforce existing stereotypes and prejudices  Intergroup cooperation. Working cooperatively to achieve a common goal can help reduce intergroup bias by bringing members of different groups closer together Human aggression: behavior that harms o Biological Influences - genetic, hormonal, and neurotransmitter influences o Learning Influences - acquired through observational learning and reinforcement o Sociocultural Influences - social stressors (poverty, child abuse/neglect, exposure to violence) o Alcohol Use - loosening inhibitions, impairing the ability to weigh the consequences of behavior and interpret social cues, and reducing sensitivity to punishment-related cues o Emotional States - frustration and anger are negative emotions that may serve as triggers o Environmental Influences - high temperatures induce angry, hostile thoughts and feelings o

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Group influences on individual behavior 

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Our social selves: “who are we?” o Personal identity- the part of our psychological identity that involves our sense of ourselves as unique individuals “who am i?” o Social identity- the part of our psychological identity that involves our sense of ourselves as members of particular groups. Also called group identity. “who are we?” Conformity: bending the “I” to fir the “we” o Conformity- the tendency to adjust one’s behavior to actual or perceived social pressures o Conformity appears to be stronger among  Collectivist Cultures  People with lower self-esteem, low self-confidence, social shyness, strong desire to be liked by the group o Tends to decline with age o Conformity can be broken with 1 dissenting voice o Conformity levels off after group sizes of 4 to 5 o Solomon Asch (1956)  Conforming in the face of group consensus  3 out of 4 participants conformed  Assume the majority must be correct

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 Don’t care about being correct – want to be accepted  It’s easier to agree than to disagree o Compliance- the process of acceding to the requests or demands of others  Lowball technique- a compliance technique based on obtaining a person’s initial agreement to purchase an item at lower price before revealing hidden costs that raise the ultimate price  Bait-and-switch technique-A compliance technique based on “baiting” a person by making an unrealistically attractive offer and then replacing it with a less attractive offer.  Foot-in-the-door technique- A compliance technique based on securing compliance with a smaller request as a prelude to making a larger request. “you purchased this, How about this too?”  Door-in-the-foot technique- A compliance technique in which refusal of a large, unreasonable request is followed by a smaller, more reasonable request. “Ok, fine, the second offer doesn’t seem too bad” Obedience to authority: when does it go too far? o Obedience- compliance with commands or orders issued by others, usually people in a position of authority o Stanley Milgram  Electric shocks  Are ordinary people willing to do bad deeds to obey authority? o 26 out of 40 (65%) administered all shocks  Variations of Experimental Technique have produced different results  More compliance if giving orders to a confederate (92.5%)  Less compliance if in the same room (40%) o Legitimization of authority- the tendency to grant legitimacy to the orders or commands of people in authority o Solid validation- the tendency to use other people’s behavior as a standard for judging the appropriateness of one’s behavior Social facilitation and social loafing: when are you likely to perform at your best? o Social facilitation- the tendency to work better or harder in the presence of others than when alone o Social loafing- the tendency to expand less effort when working as a member of a group than when working alone  Presence of others may enhance  performance on simple tasks,  impair performance on complex tasks o Groupthink- Janis’s term for the tendency of members of a decision-making group to be more focused on reaching a consensus than on critically examining the issues at hand. o...