Lecture slides for Ch12

1. SOCIAL
PSYCHOLOGY
1
Groups
2
Harming &
Helping
3
Attitudes
4
Social
Cognition
Close
Relationships

2. SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY:
the scientific study of
how mental processes
and behavior are
changed by the presence
of other people

3. GROUPS
•INGROUP FAVORITISM:
we favorably evaluate and
privilege members of the
ingroup
•OUTGROUP
HOMOGENEITY EFFECT:
we view outgroup
members as less varied
than ingroup members

5. GROUPS

6. GROUPS
•SOCIAL FACILITATION: the presence
of others generally enhances
performance
•Robert Zajonc

7. GROUPS
•DEINDIVIDUATION:
•Reduced individuality
•Reduced self-awareness
•Reduced attention to personal
standards
•Most likely to occur when we feel
•Aroused
•Anonymous
•Not responsible

8. At this point it became clear that we
had to end the study. We had
created an overwhelmingly powerful
situation—a situation in which
prisoners were withdrawing and
behaving in pathological ways, and in
which some of the guards were
behaving sadistically. Even the
“good” guards felt helpless to
intervene, and none of the guards
quit while the study was in progress.
Philip Zimbardo

9. Torture at Abu Ghraib
Prison
2003-2004

10. GROUPS
•RISKY SHIFT: groups often
make riskier decisions
•GROUP POLARIZATION:
initial attitudes of groups
get more extreme over
time
•GROUPTHINK: group
values harmony over
accurate analysis and
evaluation

11. GROUPS
•SOCIAL LOAFING: people work harder alone than in a group

12. GROUPS
•CONFORMITY:
altering beliefs or
behaviors to match
other people
•Muzafer Sherif

13. GROUPS
•CONFORMITY:
altering beliefs or
behaviors to match
other people
•Solomon Asch

14. GROUPS Why do people conform?
•INFORMATIONAL SOCIAL
INFLUENCE: conforming
because you are not sure
what to do
•NORMATIVE SOCIAL
INFLUENCE: conforming in
order to gain acceptance

15. GROUPS
•COMPLIANCE: agreeing to a request made by another person
•FOOT-IN-THE-DOOR: if someone agrees to a small request first,
they are more likely to agree to a large request later
•DOOR-IN-THE-FACE: people are more likely to agree to a small
request after they first refused a larger request
•LOW-BALLING: after agreeing to a low price, a person is likely
to stick to that agreement even if the terms change

16. GROUPS

17. GROUPS
•OBEDIENCE: when
a person follows
the orders of
someone with
authority
•Stanley Milgram

18. GROUPS

19. GROUPS

21. SOCIAL
PSYCHOLOGY
1
Groups
2
Harming &
Helping
3
Attitudes
4
Social
Cognition
Close
Relationships

22. Biological
Factors
• MAO Gene
• Amygdala
• Serotonin
• Prefrontal Cortex
• Testosterone
Social &
Cultural
Factors
• Wide Variations
• Culture of Honor
HARMING & HELPING - AGGRESSION

23. HARMING & HELPING - AGGRESSION

24. HARMING & HELPING –
PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOR
•PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOR:
actions intended to
benefit others
•BYSTANDER
INTERVENTION EFFECT:
we are less likely to
provide help when other
people are present
•Latané & Darley
Kitty Genovese

25. HARMING & HELPING –
PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOR
Why does the bystander
intervention effect occur?
1. Diffusion of responsibility
2. Fear of being wrong in an
ambiguous situation
3. Anonymity &
deindividuation
4. Costs outweigh benefits

26. HARMING & HELPING – PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOR

27. SOCIAL
PSYCHOLOGY
1
Groups
2
Harming &
Helping
3
Attitudes
4
Social
Cognition
Close
Relationships

28. ATTITUDES
•Attitudes have three
components:
•Affective
•Behavioral
•Cognitive
Diet Coke is good for
me because it has
zero calories.
I LOVE Diet
Coke.

29. ATTITUDES
•COGNITIVE DISSONANCE: uncomfortable state caused by a
contradiction between two attitudes or an attitude and a
behavior
•HOW TO REDUCE DISSONANCE:
•Change attitudes or behaviors
•Rationalization

31. ATTITUDES
•INSUFFICIENT JUSTIFICATION:
if the external justification for
a behavior is weak, the person
will use an internal
explanation
•Festinger & Carlsmith

32. ATTITUDES
•POSTDECISIONAL
DISSONANCE: after making
a choice between two
options, we focus on…
• the positive aspects of
the chosen option
• the negative aspects of
the unchosen option

33. ATTITUDES
•EFFORT JUSTIFICATION:
•Struggling to join a group
creates dissonance
•Resolved by inflating the
importance of the group

34. ATTITUDES
•PERSUASION:
the active and
conscious effort
to change an
attitude through
the transmission
of a message

35. SOCIAL
PSYCHOLOGY
1
Groups
2
Harming &
Helping
3
Attitudes
4
Social
Cognition
Close
Relationships

36. ATTRIBUTIONS
•ATTRIBUTIONS:
explanations for
why events or
actions occur

37. ATTRIBUTIONS
•FUNDAMENTAL ATTRIBUTION ERROR: we blame personality traits and
ignore situational factors when making attributions for others
•ACTOR/OBSERVER BIAS:
•Own Behavior = focus on situations
•Others’ Behavior = focus on dispositions

38. ATTITUDES TOWARD
GROUPS
STEREOTYPE: a generalized belief
about a group; identical traits
are assigned to all members.
PREJUDICE: a negative and
unjustified prejudgment of a
group

39. ATTITUDES
TOWARD GROUPS
DISCRIMINATION:
unjustifiable
negative behavior
toward a group

40. ATTITUDES TOWARD
GROUPS
•Stereotypes may lead to
prejudices, which may
lead to discrimination.
•But, this is not
necessarily an automatic
process.

41. ATTITUDES TOWARD GROUPS
•Blatant Stereotype:
intentional, conscious,
voluntary, controlled bias
•Subtle Stereotype:
unintentional,
non-conscious, involuntary,
automatic bias
Explicit Attitude
Implicit Attitude

42. SOCIAL
PSYCHOLOGY
1
Groups
2
Harming &
Helping
3
Attitudes
4
Social
Cognition
Close
Relationships

43. CLOSE RELATIONSHIPS -
ATTRACTION
PROXIMITY
Why does proximity lead to liking?
• Increased interactions
• Anticipation
• MERE EXPOSURE EFFECT: we like
things more after repeated
exposure
0 1 2 5 10 25
Frequency
Liking

44. CLOSE RELATIONSHIPS - ATTRACTION
SIMILARITY
•Attitudes, Beliefs
•Age, Height,
Attractiveness
•Politics, Religion
•Habits

45. CLOSE RELATIONSHIPS -
ATTRACTION
Physical Attractiveness
•Attractiveness predicts liking
better than personality or
intelligence
•MATCHING PHENOMENON:
we tend to choose partners
who are a “good match” in
attractiveness

46. CLOSE RELATIONSHIPS - ATTRACTION

47. CLOSE RELATIONSHIPS –
ATTRACTION
WHAT IS BEAUTIFUL IS GOOD: we
assume that physically attractive
people possess other desirable
traits

48. CLOSE RELATIONSHIPS - ATTRACTION
What is attractive?
•Average features & facial symmetry (Langlois & Roggman, 1994)

49. CLOSE RELATIONSHIPS – INTIMATE PARTNERSHIPS
•PASSIONATE LOVE: a state of intense longing and sexual desire
•COMPANIONATE LOVE: a strong commitment to care for and support
a partner

50. CLOSE
RELATIONSHIPS –
INTIMATE
PARTNERSHIPS
ACCOMMODATION:
make partner-enhancing
attributions and
overlook bad behavior to
respond constructively