Psych Class 12 - Lecture notes 12 PDF

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Colin William...

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Social Psychology Elementary Psychology Colin T. William Social Psychology Studies the individual within the social context Compare to sociology, which studies group behavior Terms - Norms and Roles Norms are the rules that govern our behavior in a social context – What are the norms of social media? How do they differ between platforms? A role is a pattern of behavior that is expected of a person in a given setting or group My roles: – Husband, Father, Brother, Friend, Professor, Colleague Norms and Roles The norms for a specific role are generally learned by experience The norms of a situation guide our behavior, often without our thinking about it When people violate norms, this can cause awkwardness, discomfort – Norms of personal space • Elevator behavior • Men and urinals 1 2 3 4 Stanford Prison Study The prison study was very problematic But, it suggests that, situationally, people can easily fall into roles and become subject to norms Suggests how prisoner abuse in Iraq was not “a few bad apples”, but situational In daily life we easily follow – Gender roles – Family roles – Career roles Milgram – Obedience to Authority Stanley Milgram maximized the power of the authority figure using these different methods: – Having the authority figure take responsibility • Does this absolve the teacher of all responsibility? – Making the task routine • Nazi approach to mass homicide – Entrapment • Having the teacher commit first to less dangerous steps • “Foot in the door” approach Milgram – Obedience to Authority Factors that undermined the influence of the teacher – When the experimenter left the room – When the victim was in the same room – When the experimenter issued conflicting demands – When the person ordering them to continue was an ordinary man – When the subject worked with peers who refused to go on Milgram – Obedience to Authority Milgram’s study demonstrates the power of the roles of authority figure and subject Gives a glimpse into power of authority figures in Nazi Germany and other “I was under orders” situations

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Any Questions…? The Individual in Groups Many aspects of a person’s behavior in group settings are affected by deindividuation – A loss of awareness of one’s own identity in a group Anonymity emboldens people – Quality of online discussion forums, both in hostility and for shy students This can lead to “mob mentality” situations Diffusion of Responsibility In groups, the tendency of members to avoid taking responsibility for actions or decisions, under the assumption that someone else will – Leads to social loafing • Members of a group do less work individually than they would as individuals working alone • Tug of war, group projects – Also leads to bystander apathy • People stand and watch rather than take action • Red Cross – “You, call 911!” Diffusion of Responsibility Research was inspired by the Kitty Genovese case Conformity A tendency of people to go along with the group – Peer pressure among teenagers – Studied by Asch using judgments of line length • Highlights importance of both normative social influence and informational social influence Groupthink In close-knit groups, the tendency for all members to think alike and suppress disagreement for the sake of unanimity Symptoms of groupthink include – Illusion of invincibility – Pressure on dissenters to conform – Self-censorship – Illusion of unanimity Example - Challenger explosion Groupthink Groupthink can be counteracted by: – Creating conditions rewarding dissent – Basing decision on majority rule – Assigning a person to make only contrarian arguments Any Questions…? Attitudes An attitude is a relatively stable opinion based on both a cognition and an emotion These can be explicit or implicit – Explicit – you are aware of them – Implicit – you act on them without awareness Attitudes and behavior are interconnected – Attitudes drive behavior

However, self-perception theory argues that we also infer our attitudes based on internal observation of our own behavior Prejudice, Stereotypes, Discrimination Prejudice is an implicit or explicit attitude driven by negative feeling about individuals based on group membership This is the foundation of stereotypes, negative beliefs about individuals based solely on group membership Stereotyping / prejudice can lead to discrimination, negative behavior toward individuals based on their group membership These can create a dangerous self-fulfilling prophecy: – Discrimination can lead to negative response from the discriminated individual, which in the mind of the discriminator confirms their prejudicial stereotyping. Attitudes and Persuasion Persuasion is an effort to change an attitude – Direct – an effort to persuade based primarily on the merits of an argument – Peripheral – an effort to persuade by using methods other than direct argument One significant challenge is that even direct attempts to change core beliefs can actually make them stronger – May be an artifact of cognitive dissonance Peripheral Persuasion The effect of the communicator – Are they famous? • Celebrity endorsers – Are they like you? • Same party affiliation or different? – Are they attractive? – Do they appear authoritative? Appeal to Authority Peripheral Persuasion Appeal to emotion – Fear – Sex, e.g. beer ads – Appeal to what you want to be • Present people using the product looking cool Peripheral Persuasion Positive / negative associations – Opposite party campaign ads including Bush, Obama Choice of language – “Pro-choice” / “pro-life” – “Estate tax” vs. “death tax” – “Domestic wiretapping” vs. “terrorist surveillance program” Peripheral Persuasion Effects of delivery – Reagan, Clinton very strong on delivery – Music memory can be potent • 1-800-SAFE-AUTO – Repetition • Hitler’s “Big Lie” –

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– Validity effect – more likely to believe something often repeated Mere exposure effect suggests increased liking based on perceptual fluency Any Questions…?...