Chapter 10: How Do We Relate With Others?. Pastorino/Doyle-Portillo Essentials of What Is Psychology? 1 st edition © 2010 Cengage Learning Social Psychology.

Chapter 10:How Do We Relate

With Others?

Pastorino/Doyle-PortilloEssentials of What Is Psychology? 1st edition

© 2010 Cengage Learning

Social Psychology

The study of thought and behavior as influenced by social situations

Attitudes – an evaluative belief held about something Acquired through learning; classical,

operant and social learning



Classical and Operant Conditioning of Attitudes

Classical Conditioning Learned emotional and physiological responses

Operant Conditioning Attitudes strengthened if rewarded and weakened if

punished Consequences of direct interaction with object affect

attitude

Social Learning Observe a model and store mental representation of

behavior Attitudes tend to be most like those around us



The Link Between Attitudes and Behavior

Attitude-behavior consistency

Researchers interested in why this is often lacking What variables affect attitude-behavior consistency? Answers have practical social value

Politics, consumerism, safe sex, prejudice

How can attitudes be changed?



Cognitive Consistency and Attitude Change

Attitudes change as new knowledge is acquired and different experiences are had

Cognitive consistency Desire to avoid contradictions among attitudes or

between attitudes and behavior

Why?... Cognitive Dissonance theory



Dissonance Theory

Inconsistencies cause unpleasant physical state – dissonance

Motivated to restore state of consonance

Three ways to remove inconsistenciesChange behaviorChange attitudesBring new beliefs or attitudes to

situation



Persuasion and Attitude Change

Persuasion = Direct attempts to change attitudes Advertisements, media, politicians, friends

Exposed to multitude of persuasion attempts on daily basis

Cognitive processes engaged during the persuasive attempt influence effect Central route where messages are critically evaluated Peripheral route where superficial aspects of

arguments influence



Other Variables Affecting Persuasion

Communicator variables Credible, attractive, expert Especially in peripheral route

Message variables Present both pros and cons

Audience variables Easier on peripheral route than central route Positive moods use less careful evaluation Easier to persuade:

low IQ, sometimes high IQ, younger



How We Form Impressions of Others

Impression formation = How we understand and make judgments about others

Attempt to determine what others are like so we can predict their behavior and guide ours



The Attribution Process

Attribution = Judging people by observing and determining cause of behavior

Trait attribution Traits, abilities, characteristics of person

Situational attribution Environmental causes



Heuristics and Biases in Attribution

Realistically, not always possible to make careful attributions

Humans are ‘cognitive misers’ Often use heuristics or shortcuts to make

conclusions about others

May lead to errors and biases



Fundamental Attribution Error

The tendency to rely more on trait attributions than situational

Reasons for this not entirely clear

Varies by culture Individualistic cultures emphasize individual

behavior and success over group; more likely to make fundamental attribution errors

Collectivistic cultures emphasize group over individual



Actor/Observer Bias

When observing own behavior take more situational factors into account

Appears self-serving, but not always

Factors: Cannot see own behavior, focused outward Have different knowledge about self than other



Self-Serving Bias

Tendency to make trait attributions for successes, situational attributions for failures

Helps protect self-esteem

May become too self-serving and hurt



Prejudice: How It Occurs and How to Reduce It

Prejudice hampers lives through violence, hate crimes or subtler forms (discrimination against minorities in home loans, women in workforce)

Of hate crimes, most common motivations are racial, religious, and sexual orientation

Prejudice is an attitude and develops like other normal cognitive processes; it is unique in its divisiveness



Prejudice and Stereotypes

Stereotype: formation of a schema for specific groups of people

Stereotypes can be helpful or hurtfulPrejudice is stereotype gone awryBiased, negative stereotype + negative affect

= prejudice

Discrimination: behavioral expression of prejudice



Stereotype Threat

Claude SteeleStereotype threat - Fear that others will

judge one based on prejudicial stereotypes May end up reinforcing aspects of the prejudice Can inhibit task performance

Stereotype threat impairs African Americans’ academic performance



Social Transmission of Prejudice

Develop through classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and social learning

Jane Elliot’s “experiment” Created prejudice within hours of beginning

experiment

Children tend to adapt parents’ beliefs, more so for egalitarian beliefs than prejudicial beliefs Shaped by peers



In-Group Bias: Us vs. Them

In-group bias: prefer groups of which we are members Like group members more than others

Contributes to self-esteemView out-group members as inferiorAffects way we perceive out-group members

Out-group homogeneity bias: perceive members of out-group as alike



Intergroup Conflict and Prejudice: It’s Their Fault

Realistic-conflict theory Conflict amongst groups for resources (e.g. jobs,

trophies) contributes to development of prejudice

Minority out-group can become scapegoats Racial prejudice when direct competition between

groups for jobs

Muzafer Sherif’s Robber’s Cave experiment Competition between groups and affiliation with

group led to prejudice



Does Social Contact Reduce Prejudice?

Contact hypothesis: contact between groups reduces prejudices

Contact alone does not reduce prejudice, must be cooperative contact

Superordinate goal: goal both groups want to achieve, but need help of other group Become one group, with one mission



Group Contact Characteristics That Reduce Prejudice

Groups need each other Have a common, superordinate goalWork at same level on equal playing fieldContact is hospitable, informal, and free

from negative emotional interactionContact lasts a significant period of timeNorm promote harmony and mutual respect



The Jigsaw Classroom

Real-life application of group contactElliot Aronson

Jigsaw classroom: students from different ethnic groups work together to complete a project Reduces prejudice and hostility Increases academic performance and self-

esteem



The Nature of Attraction

Attitudes formed about a person determine whether or not we will be attracted Affective component particularly important

Proximity Physical closeness to person affects attraction

(someone we see often, live near) Mere exposure effect: the more often we see person

or object, the more we like itSimilarity

Similarity predicts attraction across all cultures



The Nature of Attraction: Physical Attractiveness

Standards of attractiveness vary by culture, but is important factor in attraction Important to both men and women, with men

placing more emphasis on itMatching hypothesis: involved with people

whose physical attractiveness is similar to ours True for friendships and romantic partners

Attractive people perceived as more interesting, kind, sociable, sensitive, and nurturing

May be part biological and instinctive





Groups and Group Influence

We belong to a multitude of groupsFunctions of groups

Companionship Security Social identity Helps in gaining information and achieving goals

Groups have power to influence behavior



Social Forces Within Groups: Norms and Cohesiveness

Norms: laws that guide behavior of group members Explicit or implicit

Breaking norms results in unpleasant consequences

Cohesiveness: desire to maintain membership in group High cohesiveness includes high pressure to

meet group norms Increases conformity



Conformity Within a Group

Solomon AschSubjects given series of lines and asked

questions about them Confederates deliberately chose incorrect answers

Subjects were most likely to follow confederates and choose wrong answer (74%) Conformity increases as majority group increases Maximum conformity with only 3 confederates





Factors Contributing to Conformity

Lacking confidence in own abilitiesHigh cohesiveness in groupResponses are public, not anonymousGroup has at least 3 unanimous membersThe idea of conformity is a cultural norm

and/or no personal need to feel individuated



Explaining Conformity

During debriefing Asch asked why conformed

Normative conformity Subjects who knew their answer was wrong, but

went along with group Desire to fit with group and be liked by others

Informational conformity Subjects became convinced that their choice was

actually wrong Heightened when unsure of opinions or abilities



Stanford Prison Experiment: The Dark Side of Conformity

Phillip Zimbardo

Subjects assigned role of prisoner or guard in mock prison

Within days, disturbing behaviors emerged Abuse on parts of guards Prisoners became docile and depressed



Explaining the Stanford Prison Experiment

New setting, isolated from outside world and norms of society, new norms developed

Deindividuation – behavior controlled by external norms rather than internal values and morals Several aspects of experiment contributed to

deindividuation



Decision Making in Groups

Group decisions not necessarily better than decisions made by individuals

Groupthink: group fixates on one decision, without examining alternatives

Factors related to group think: Group isolation (no outside information) Group cohesiveness (don’t rock the boat) Strong dictatorial leadership (can’t

disagree) Stress in group (may not think logically)



Compliance Techniques

Foot-in-the-Door First asked to comply with small request, then

bigger requests Effective because most want to behave in consistent

manner – compliance reduces dissonanceDoor-in-the-Face

Large request followed by smaller request High rates of compliance Effective for may reasons: perceptual contrast,

reciprocity, guilt



Obedience

Stanley MilgramResearch question: Is it possible that the

average person could be influenced to hurt others if an authority figure gave order to do so?

Subjects asked to shock unseen participants (confederates) when mistake made on word list

65% of subjects shocked up to the 450-volt mark (even when confederate appeared injured)

Studies have replicated results



Factors That Affect Obedience

Presence of perceived authority figure (relieves responsibility, intimidates)

Physical distance of authority figureTiming of request (came quickly, little

time to think)Shock levels increase incrementally (foot-

in-the-door phenomenon, slippery slope)Psychological distances (don’t see

consequences of actions)



Revisiting the Obedience Studies

Milgram’s study a demonstration of destructive obedience: that which leads to harm of others

Ethics of study? Effect on subjects: stress-related behaviors, use

of deception led to this Actual purpose of research was disclosed to

participants (debriefing), but they are left with knowledge of their behavior

Modern ethical principles guiding research



Aggression

Aggression: action intended to cause harm to another Instrumental aggression: aimed at

satisfying goal Hostile aggression: motivated by desire

to hurt

U.S. is considered an aggressive society



Biological Theories of Aggression

Males tend to be more aggressive then females 80%+ of violent crimes, including murder

May be related to testosterone; correlation does not imply causation

Serotonin Lower levels of serotonin found in two

groups: survivors of suicide and adults institutionalized since childhood for aggression



Childhood Abuse and Aggression

Correlation between aggression and possible brain damage related to child abuse

Child abuse and neglect correlated with several structural brain abnormalities Hippocampus, amygdala, left frontal and temporal

lobes, cerebellum, corpus callosum



Learning Theories of Aggression

Albert Bandura’s Bobo Doll experimentsAggression is learned by viewing an

aggressive model



Does Television Portray Violence Accurately?

TV portrays aggression unrealistically Portrays incidence of aggression as higher than actual

rates No negative repercussions for aggressive acts

Victims’ suffering not portrayed accurately

Least accurate portrayal in children’s programs

Leave children with false impressions regarding aggression, increasing likelihood children will model behavior



Situations That Promote Aggressive Behavior

Frustration-aggression hypothesis When frustrated, we activate a motive to harm others

or objects Motives directed at what appears to be source of

frustration

Abusive parents may be in stressful situations such as poverty



Helping Behavior: Will You Or Won’t You?

Just as humans can engage in negative behaviors, we can also be very generous

Altruism: willingness to help others without considering personal benefit

Capacity for kindness and compassion

What factors influence helping behavior?



The Murder of Kitty Genovese

1964 Kitty Genovese was murdered in New York City while 38 of her neighbors heard

Not one contacted the police or intervenedFactors involved in decision to help

Noticing something is occurring Correctly interpret events Feeling responsibility to intervene Deciding how to help Implementing strategy



The Bystander Effect

Latane and Darley Failure can occur at any stage in helping decision

process As number of bystanders increases, likelihood of

intervention decreases

Diffusion of responsibility With more bystanders, more diffusion

Pluralistic ignorance Group failure to perceive problem



When People Choose to Help

People do choose to help total strangers

Many forms and examples of altruism exist

Failure to help not typically due to apathy or cruelty but to misunderstanding, confusion, or fear

Chapter 10: How Do We Relate With Others?. Pastorino/Doyle-Portillo Essentials of What Is Psychology? 1 st edition © 2010 Cengage Learning Social Psychology.

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