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Overview of the Day
Social Psychology attribution theory, attitudes, conformity
and obedience, group influence Film: persuasion, leadership, and
gender
What is Social Psychology?
The psychology of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another
Social Thinking
Attribution: the process of inferring the causes of one’s own and others’ mental states and behavior How we make attributions:
External (situation) or internal (person) cause
Fundamental Attribution error: The tendency for observers, when analyzing
another’s behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition.*
Social Thinking
Self serving biases When making attributions about ourselves, we
attribute our successes to ourselves, and our failures to the situation.
People rate themselves as above average Recall more positive than negative
information Attribute greater role to self than others in
group projects Talents more striking than deficiencies
Attitudes
Beliefs and feelings that predispose our reactions to people, objects and events
Do attitudes affect behavior? Yes, when:
outside influences are minimal (vote for tax increase when do not have to worry about reelection)
The behavior is specific* (I am in favor of candidate X)
We are aware of our attitudes
Attitudes
Do behaviors influence attitudes? Often, they do.
Foot-in-the-door (when people who agree to a small request, they are more likely to agree to a larger one)
Influence of roles (“pull” of situation)
Why do behaviors influence attitudes? Cognitive dissonance* (need to rationalize
our actions to ourselves)
Social Influence
How do and what social factors influence our behavior, attitudes, beliefs, and decisions Suggestibility
Sherif study--autokinetic effect
Group pressureAsch experiment
Obedience to authorityMilgram experimentsPersonal responsibility or morality?
Social Influence
Social facilitation Presence of others Social loafing
Presence of others reduces individual effort in team effort
Deindividualization (mob violence, rock concerts, sports)
• Arouses people and diminishes responsibility• Abandon normal restraint• Anonymity of group
Group Influence
Group polarization• The enhancement of a group’s prevailing
tendencies through group discussion
Group think• Pressure to avoid disagreement and maintain
harmony in group to reach premature consensus • Often results in poor decisions
Minority influence• A minority in a group that holds unswervingly to
his or her position is more likely to influence the majority than if he or she waffles
Overview of the Day
Aggression (plus film)PrejudiceAltruismAttractionLoveCourse Surveys
AggressionAggression: verbal or physical behavior
intended to harm another person or beingAre humans aggressive?
In the 20th century, so far:• 110 million war-related deaths• In the US alone, 21,597 murders; 1.1 million assaults
Or are some humans more aggressiveMurder rate 25% less in Canada, 20% less in New
Zealand 17 % less in EuropeMurder rates (per capita) higher in southern US than
north
Causes of Aggression--Nature (biology)
Genes (some animals are bred for aggressiveness; twin studies)
Testosterone levelshigh testosterone levels ---> aggression
dominance (also spatial abilities)*violent criminals tend to be muscular young
males with lower-than average IQ scores, low levels of serotonin and higher-than-average levels of testosterone
Causes of Aggression--Natures
The male mind95% of all prison inmates are malemale-male competition for status and
resources to attract females • females prefer high status, dominant males
escalation of altercations of trivial origin (about 37% of murders)
– loss of face (status, reputation)--->mating opportunities
jealous rage against unfaithful wife (20-50% of spousal murders)
Causes of Aggression--Natures
Overactive limbic system (in brain) studies with animals (bulls, monkeys)
studies of convicted murders show most suffered severe head injury
Causes of Aggression--Nature (Learning and the Environment)
Frustration-->anger-->aggression More assaults occur in hot weather than
coldCulture and learning
southern towns have triple the homicide rates of northern towns (herder culture)
Father absence70% of imprisoned juveniles grew up in single
parent households
Causes of Aggression--Nurture
Violence on TV homicide rate doubled in US and
Canada between 1957 and 1974 (same years as introduction and spread of TV)
Why is there so much violence of TV? Why do people like to watch it?
Prejudice
An unjustifiable (and usually negative) attitude toward a group and its members
Causes of Prejudice
In-group and Out-group categorization self-definition by group membership distinguish friends from enemies Categorization--mental short-cut
Scapegoating blame someone or group when things go
wrong
How to lower prejudice
Knowledge any two randomly chosen humans, on
average, are 99.8% alike geneticallyInteraction (interaction, usually, fosters
liking)Evolutionary Perspective: Intermarriage
among groups* genetic self-interest people become outwardly similar over time
Altruism
Altruism: the regard for others’ welfare
Types of altruism Reciprocal altruism (tit for tat) Pure altruism (unconditional help)
Sources of altruistic behavior
Social exchange You scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours Occurs even in vampire bats
Kin-based (Genetic relatedness) altruism ] Altruism is in proportion to relatedness and
reproductive potentialAnalysis of wills
Other types of Altruism
Helping others when its not in our self interest Helping strangers
Bystander interventionKitty Genovese murder (repeated stabbing, rape,
no helped; waited 20 minutes to even call police)Notice --> interpret as emergency--> assume
responsibilityWhen are we most likely to assume responsibility?
• When there are fewer people available to help
Attraction
What binds people together in close relationships? Proximity
Who are you most likely to marry ?• A person who lives close to you
Availability--people who are close are available• Do this bode well for long-distance relationships?
Exposure• Exposure increases liking, familiarity breeds fondness
Attraction
Physical attractivenessPeople prefer others who are physically
attractive
What makes someone physically attractive?
• For both sexes: – Facial symmetry (asymmetry can be a signal of
genetic abnormality and lack of resistance to parasites)
– Unique cultural standards
Attraction
For women: youthful appearance (clear skin, full lips, ) and a
.70 waist to hip ratio of about .70 (signal of fertility)
average features (symmetry, carrier hypothesis)
For menhealth, dominance, and affluence (signals
capacity to support and protect)“Power is the world’s greatest aphrodisiac”
Henry Kissinger
Attraction
Similarity Common attitudes, interests, abilities
(IQ of spouses correlates about .50)
Blind luck, randomness Are the spouses of identical twins
similar? (No)
Love
Components of love: physical arousal (adrenaline makes the
heart grow fonder--studies: running in place, walking over bridge)
Equity in social exchange (both partners receive in exchange in proportion to what they give)
Self disclosure/intimacy (revealing intimate details about one’s self)
Commitment
Love
Types of love Romantic love
Intimacy + passion
Companionate love intimacy + commitment“love makes the time pass, and time makes
love pass”
Summary of the Day
AggressionPrejudiceAltruismAttractionLove
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