Social Psychology Sample Book PDF

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Social Psychology

Dr Vasant Kothari B Tech, M Tech (Textile), MBA (Marketing) M Phil (Management), MA (Psychology)* PhD (Management)

SPRING SEASON PUBLICATIONS Navi Mumbai, INDIA

Social Psychology © Dr. Vasant Kothari 2018 All Rights Reserved First Published – 2018 ISBN: 978-81-935047-3-4

Spring Season Publications Kharghar Sec 10, Navi Mumbai, MS, INDIA, 410210

www.springseason.in All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electrical, mechanical, Photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior Written permission of the author.

Printed by: Printwell International Pvt. Ltd. Aurangabad, MS, INDIA

Content

1

Introduction to Social Psychology

1

2

Social Cognition: Attribution Theory

13

3

Methods of Social Psychology

32

4

Cultural Trends in Social Psychology

48

5

Concept of Social Influence

56

6

Pro-Social Behaviour

73

7

Interpersonal Attraction

82

8

Aggression and Violence

93

9

Attitude and Stereotype

106

10

Formation of Attitude and Attitude Change

119

11

Prejudice and Discrimination

131

12

Social Conflict and its Resolution

140

13

Introduction to Group

150

14

Group Dynamics

163

15

Social Identity and Crowd Behavior

171

16

Cooperation, Competition and Conflict

183

Chapter 05 Concept of Social Influence 5.1 Current Research on Social Influence

June 13 (250 words/5 Marks) Dec 14 (2500 words/5 Marks)

Social influence can also be defined as the process by which individuals make real changes to their feelings and behaviors as a result of interaction with others who are perceived to be similar, desirable, or expert. People adjust their beliefs: • • •

to feel similar in accordance with psychological principles such as balance by getting influenced by majority after getting influenced by another who is perceived to be an expert in the matter at hand

Current research on social influence generally uses experimental methodology and tends to fall into main areas as discussed below: 5.1.1 Minority Influence Minority influence is said to occur when a minority subgroup attempts to change the majority. For example, • •

teachers often influence their students’ beliefs, and political and religious leaders frequently influence the behavior of their followers

In addition, the presence of minority groups within a larger group often leads to more creative thinking and better overall solutions on group tasks. Studies have found this to be particularly true when the minority group is consistent in what it presents to the majority. (80 Words) 5.1.2 Persuasion

Jun 13 (250 words/5 Marks)

Current research on persuasion, broadly defined as change in attitudes or beliefs based on information received from others, focuses on written or spoken messages 56

Concept of Social Influence

sent from source to recipient. This research operates on the assumption that individuals process messages carefully whenever they are motivated and able to do so. Two types of theories dominate modern persuasion research •

Elaboration Likelihood Model

It states that the amount and nature of thinking that a person does about a message will affect the kind of persuasion that the message produces. Aspects of the persuasion situation that have been shown to be important for this model include source, message, recipient, affect, channel, and context. The ELM proposes two major routes to persuasion: the central route and the peripheral route.

Of particular importance is the degree to which the recipient views the message’s issue as relevant to himself. This model has demonstrated its utility in persuading various people to make various types of healthier choices e.g. cancer patients, teens at risk from tobacco use. •

Heuristic-Systemic Models

It proposes that argument strength will be most effective in persuading an individual when he is motivated and able to attend to the message, the ‘systemic’ route. When the target individual is not motivated or is unable to attend carefully, persuasion will take place through more indirect means, the ‘heuristic’ route, such as nonverbal cues or source credibility. Persuasion that takes place via the systemic route (Central route) will be relatively permanent and enduring; persuasion through the heuristic route (Peripheral route) is more likely to be temporary. This model is quite similar to Elaboration Likelihood Model. 57

(266 Words)

Social Psychology

5.1.3 Social Impact Theory Bibb Latané proposed a theory of social influence that can be used to explain why people are obedient. Latané, consistent with the main social psychological underpinning ideas, proposed that we are greatly influenced by the actions of others; we can be persuaded, inhibited, threatened and supported by other people. These effects are the result of others ’ actions, and effect changes to how we feel and how we act in response. This is known as social impact because of how others, real or imagined, impact on us. More specifically, Latané referred to targets and sources of social influence. The target referred to the person being impacted and the source being the influencer. He developed a formulation of different principles that result in more or less social influence being exerted on the target. Social impact theory proposes that the impact of any information source is a function of three factors: o o o

Strength - the intensity of social forces Immediacy - the closeness of social forces Number - the quantity of social forces

Thus, a group that has many members (rather than few members), high power (rather than low power), and close proximity (rather than distant proximity) should exert the most influence on an individual. Dynamic social impact theory uses ideas about social impact to describe and predict the diffusion of beliefs through social systems. In this view, social structure is the result of individuals influencing each other in a dynamic way. Dynamic social impact theory views society as a self-organizing complex system in which individuals interact and impact each other ’s beliefs. (259 Words) 5.1.4 Social Influence Network Theory Social influence network theory presents a mathematical formalization of the social process of attitude changes that unfolds in a social network of interpersonal influences. The formal theory involves a two- weighted averaging of influential opinions. 58

Concept of Social Influence

Actors start out with their own initial opinions on some matter. At each stage, then, actors form a ‘‘norm’’ opinion which is a weighted average of the other opinions in the group. Actors then modify their own opinion in response to this norm, forming a new opinion which is a weighted average of their initial opinion and the network norm. This theory utilises mathematical models and quantifications to measure the process of social influence. (109 Words) 5.1.5 Expectation States Theory First proposed by Joseph Berger, the expectation states theory is a social psychological theory that looks at how status hierarchies form within small groups. Expectation states theory is an approach to understanding how people evaluate other people’s competence in small task groups and the amount of credibility and influence they give them as a result. This allows the group to utilize their resources in the best possible way to achieve an assigned task. Central to the theory is the idea that we evaluate people based on two criteria. • •

The first criterion is specific skills and abilities that are relevant to the task at hand, such as prior experience or training The second criterion is composed of status characteristics such as gender, age, race, education, and physical attractiveness, that encourage people to believe that someone will be superior to others, even though those characteristics play no role in the work of the group

Researchers in this tradition have developed systematic models predicting the relative influence of task-oriented actors in group settings. Bales discovered that even when group members were equal on status at the beginning of the group session, some members would end up being more influential than others. The group would develop a hierarchy based on the behaviour of the group members. When group members were initially unequal in status, inequalities would be imported to the group from the larger society such that, for example, age or sex or race would structure a hierarchy of influence. (246 Words)

59

Social Psychology

5.2 Areas of Social Influence

Jun 15 (1 00 words/3 Marks)

Social influence refers to the ways people influence the beliefs, feelings, and behaviors of others. Three areas of social influence are conformity, compliance and obedience.

•

• •

Conformity refers to when people adjust their behaviors, attitudes, feelings, and/or beliefs to fit to a group norm. In other words, conformity is changing how you behave, to be more like others. Compliance is when an individual changes his or her behavior in response to an explicit or implicit request made by another person. Obedience is a change in behavior as a result of a direct command from an authority figure. (96 Words)

5.2.1 Conformity

Jun 12 (150 words/3 Marks) Dec 12 (125 words/3 Marks) Dec 13 (250 words/5 Marks) Jun 14 (500 words/10 Marks) Dec 14 (125 words/2.5 Marks) Jun 16 (100 words/3 Marks)

In psychological terms, conformity refers to an individual’s tendency to follow the unspoken rules or behaviors of the social group to which he or she belongs. In other words, conformity involves changing our behaviors in order to “fit in” or “go along” with the people around us. Conformity is the most common and pervasive form of social influence. Note that conformity is limited to changes in behavior caused by other people; it does not refer to effects of other people on internal concepts like attitudes or beliefs. Researchers have long been interested in the degree to which people follow or rebel against social norms. 60

Concept of Social Influence

Conformity encompasses compliance and obedience, because it refers to any behavior that occurs as a result of others’ influence - no matter what the nature of the influence. While high levels of conformity can be detrimental, a certain amount of conformity is necessary and normal, and even essential for a community to function. (157 Words) 5.2.1.1 Asch’s (1951) Experiment on Conformity

Dec 11 (250 words/5 Marks) Jun 12 (350 words/7 Marks) Dec 15 (250 words/6 Marks)

Asch conducted one of the most famous laboratory experiments examining conformity. He wanted to examine the extent to which social pressure from a majority, could affect a person to conform. Asch found that people were willing to ignore reality and give an incorrect answer in order to conform to the rest of the group.

Asch set up a situation in which usually about seven people all sat looking at a display. They were given the task of saying out loud which one of three lines (1, 2, or 3) was the same length as a given standard line, with the experimenter working his way around the group members in turn. All but one of the participants were confederates (actor) of the experimenter and had been told to give the same wrong answer on some of the trials. The one genuine participant was the last (or the last but one) to offer his/her opinion on each trial. The results for the other groups were interesting; when surrounded by people giving an incorrect answer, over one third of the subjects also voiced an incorrect opinion. At least 75% of the subjects gave the wrong answer to at least one question. The performance of participants exposed to such group pressure was compared to performance in a control condition with no confederates and it was found that there was only one incorrect response out of 35; this could probably be explained 61

Social Psychology

by experimental error. The Asch Experiment results were interesting and showed that peer pressure could have a measurable influence on the answers given. There was no doubt, however, that peer pressure can cause conformity. (269 Words) 5.2.1.2 Factors Found to Increasing Conformity

Dec 11 (250 words/5 Marks) Dec 13 (250 words/5 Marks) Jun 16 (350 words/7 Marks)

A number of factors are known to increase the likelihood of conformity within a group. Some of these are as follows: • • • •

• • •

• •

•

Group Size - Larger groups are more likely to conform to similar behaviors and thoughts than smaller ones Group Attractiveness - The more attractive the group is to its members, the more likely the members are to conform Unanimity - Individuals are more likely to conform to group decisions when the rest of the group’s response is unanimous Cohesion - Groups that possess bonds linking them to one another and to the group as a whole tend to display more conformity than groups that do not have those bonds Status - Individuals are more likely to conform with high-status groups Culture - Cultures that are collectivist exhibit a higher degree of conformity than individualistic cultures Gender - Women are more likely to conform than men in situations involving surveillance, but less likely when there is no surveillance. Societal norms establish gender differences that affect the ways in which men and women conform to social influence Age - Younger individuals are more likely to conform than older individuals, perhaps due to lack of experience and status Importance of stimuli - Individuals may conform less frequently when the task is considered important. This was suggested by a study where participants were told that their responses would be used in the design of aircraft safety signals, and conformity decreased Minority influence - Minority factions within larger groups tend to have influence on overall group decisions. This influence is primarily informational and depends on consistent adherence to a position, the degree of defection from the majority, and the status and self-confidence of the minority members 62

Concept of Social Influence

•

•

•

Publicity and Surveillance - More the attention placed on the behavior, the more likely it is for someone to conform. Publicity and attention can create additional pressure to conform Difficulty and Ambiguity - The more difficult the task, the more ambiguous the stimuli. The greater the conformity, more the reliance on the group for direction Fear and Anxiety - The greater the fear and anxiety factor, the greater the conformity (341 Words)

5.2.1.3 Types of Conformity Deutsch and Gerard (1955) identified two types of conformity: •

•

Informational conformity happens when people change their behavior in order to be correct. In situations where we are unsure of the correct response, we often look to others who are better informed and more knowledgeable and use their lead as a guide for our own behaviors. In a classroom setting, for example, this might involve agreeing with the judgments of another classmate who you perceive as being highly intelligent. Normative Conformity stems from a desire to avoid punishments (such as going along with the rules in class even though you don’t agree with them) and gain rewards (such as behaving in a certain way in order to get people to like you).

Informational Conformity When we conform to others because we believe they have accurate information Results with our desire to be accurate Usually occurs due to lack of knowledge Usually occurs when a person is in an ambiguous situation Actually, use other’s responses to form an opinion

Normative Conformity When we conform to others because we want them to like and accept us Results from our desire to gain approval or avoid disapproval Usually occurs due to group pressure Usually occurs when a person is not ambiguous Own beliefs clearly conflict with those of the group

63

Social Psychology

Informational Conformity Usually involves internalization – where a person accepts the views of the groups and adopts them individually Aim is to avoid standing out

Normative Conformity Usually involved compliance – where a person publicly accepts the views of a group but privately rejects them Aim is to avoid punishment (257 Words)

5.2.2 Compliance

Dec 11 (250 words/5 Marks) Jun 14 (1 50 words/3 Marks) Dec 14 (125 words/2.5 Marks) Dec 17 (100 words/2 Marks)

Compliance is where a person does something that they are asked to do by another. In psychology, compliance refers to changing one’s behavior due to the request or direction of another person.

Compliance psychology tries to understand why people respond to • •

direct request o like a person face to face covert requests o like when TV commercials successfully convince people to buy one product over another

Compliance psychology is concerned with social influence and conformity. (75 Words) 5.2.2.1 Principles Observed by Robert Cialdini Dr. Robert Cialdini postulated 6 principles of influence as mentioned below: •

•

Reciprocation – People are driven to give after being given to or help after being helped. If a friend invites you to their party, there ’s an obligation for you to invite them to a future party you are hosting. And in the context of a social obligation people are more likely to say yes to those who they owe. Failing to respond leads to violation of our obligation to reciprocate and bears the risk of social sanction. Guilt arousal produces an increase in compliance. Authority/Credibility – Symbols of authority help create compliance and support by others. If the source is an expert, with knowledge, 64

Concept of Social Influence

•

abilities or skills, i.e. more credible, we would respect the request more and would be more likely to comply. Liking/friendship – People are more likely to be influenced or say ‘yes’ to people they know, like and trust because of the Social Exchange Theory, which states that human relationships are formed by using a subjective cost-benefit analysis and the comparison of alternatives. Thus, complying with a person we like certainly is more favorable.

65

Social Psychology

• •

•

Scarcity – People find things that are rare or less available to be more valuable. Individuals do not want to be left alone without an item. Social validation – People look to other people to know what works. The human need to fit in is very strong and tends to make us comply in order to be a part of the majority. Commitment – People are compelled to be consistent with their words and actions. (260 Words)

5.2.2.2 Four Compliance Strategies

Dec 17 (200 words/4 Marks)

Compliance is known to be enhanced by a number of situational manipulations such as: Technique Foot-in-the-door technique Door-in-the-face technique Low-Ball

Initial Request Small Extreme Small favor