Social Psychology

1. Social Psychology
Tung Siew Hui, Jiji Ng, Jason Goh KokWei, Chin Cheong Soon

2. 5 Concepts Incorporated in Class
▪ Discrimination
▪ Halo Effect
▪ Optimism Bias and CounterfactualThinking
▪ Self-fulfilling Prophecy
▪ Social Loafing

3. Video Clip: First-hand Approach to
University Environment

4. Stereotype-Discrimination: Tattoo
Irrational behavioural disposition towards group
or its members – disparagement:
o based on society’s consequential values
o lack of mutuality between discriminating and
discriminated individuals.
o impulsive categorization of discriminating
individual; not the actual values of
discriminated individual.
Manifestations of hostility:
o verbal: professing the barbarity of tattooing
individual
o non-verbal: disrespected reflection in facial
and viewing expression
Prejudicial thinking:
o avoidance of contact
o renunciation of equality

5. Cognitive Bias–Halo Effect: New
Relationship
Tendency to view peer holistically by means of
social norms, initiated by peer’s positive,
specific trait, is due to:
o conceptual bias: nonconformity in
reasoning about ambiguous group’s belief,
desire and intention.
o cognitive predisposition: deep-rooted
perception of former trait.

6. Optimism Bias and Counterfactual
Thinking: Academic Result
Optimistic bias: exaggeration of positive
occurrence for difficult occasions, as in:
o planning fallacy: tendency of generating
optimistic predictions about task
management.
Counterfactual thinking: susceptibility of
comparing situational alternatives with
current occurrence via automatic and active
cognition processing, as in:
o downward counterfactual thinking:
comparison associated with positive
feelings on present outcomes with less
favourable ones

7. Self-fulfilling Prophecy: Academic
Performance
Self-fulfilling prophecy: Positive or negative
expectation affected target to create
situations in the expectation’s fulfilment.
o realisation and internalisation of
perceiver’s behaviour based on
classification of behaviour, occasioning
target being “socially reconstructed”,
because:
o educator’s behaviour redirect student’s
belief of learning in motivation,
achievement and behaviour.

8. Social Loafing: Group Assignment
Tendency of individuals to dedicate lesser
effort in the contribution of group task, due
to:
o lacking motivation in task drive
o unproductive group expectation on
member’s negligence
o diffusion of responsibility due to
bystander effect