Social PsychologyBehavior in a Social Context

All behavior happens in a social context even when nobody else is physically present

A major influence on people’s behavior, thought processes and emotions are other people and society that they have created.

Focus of Study Understanding individual behavior in a

social context

Human behavior is influenced by others & social context

Social norms◦ Spoken or unspoken rules about behavior

Important Topics Self concept

Social cognition

Attribution theory

Social influence

Group processes

Aggression

Prejudice & discrimination

Interpersonal processes

Attitudes

Stereotypes

Social Influence◦ Conformity◦ Obedience◦ Bystander Effect

Social Cognition◦ Identity◦ Attitudes◦ Stereotypes

Social Behavior◦ Discrimination◦ Relationships

Social Development◦ Attachment◦ Self-concept

Areas of Application

Social Facilitation

◦ The presence of others influences behavior

◦ Audiences improve actor’s performances

◦ Home teams perform better than away teams

Group Processes

Home Advantage in Major Team Sports

Home TeamGames Winning

Sport Studied Percentage

Baseball 23,034 53.3%

Football 2,592 57.3

Ice hockey 4,322 61.1

Basketball 13,596 64.4

Soccer 37,202 69.0

Home teams win about 6 of 10 games.

Social inhibition◦ The presence of others can impair

performance on tasks that one is not particularly good at

◦ Ex. Parallel parking Social Loafing

◦ On group tasks, people will sometimes exert less effort if individual contributions are not possible to identify

◦ Ex. Group projects◦ Note: Men are more likely to participate in

social loafing than women

Other group processes

When we believe in something different than the people around us we feel discomfort

We are motivated to change our beliefs to lessen the discomfort

Cognitive Dissonance

“Free speech being a privilege rather than a right, it is proper for a society to suspend free speech when it feels threatened”

Conformity

Agree or Disagree

?

19% agreed with statement in private

58% agreed under pressure of group influence

Studies of attitude

Adopting the social norms of a group◦ 1. We want to be liked◦ 2. We want to be right

We are most likely to conform when…◦ We like the group and leaders◦ The larger the group

We are least likely to conform when…◦ The group is not unanimous

Conformity

When divided into groups prejudices develop naturally

Individuals need to maintain a positive sense of personal and social identity

Desirability of qualities found within your group over less desirable traits in the other group

Social Identity Theory

We look for an explanation of behavior in the social world

Is it internal or external?

Is it stable or does it change over time?

Is it controllable?

The fundamental attribution error overestimating internal (personal) influences and underestimating external (situational) influences when judging the behavior of others: “He’s poor because he’s lazy.”

Attribution Theory

Most likely occurs in unfamiliar environments

The presence of authority

Covert pressure

Feeling that someone else is responsible

Obedience

Milgram’s experimenthttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYv3J12pARM

Confederate strapped into chair with electrodes

Teacher & experimenter go to room with shock generator…

Shocks range: 15 volts (slight shock) - 450 volts (Danger/severe shock/XXX)

Every time learner gets one wrong, “teacher” is to increase the shock

Obedience to Authority

Out of 40 men, 25 (63%) went all the way to 450 volts.

Giving up normal behavioral restraints to the group. Being less self-conscious and restrained in a group situation may account for mob behavior

Ex. Students at pep assemblies are more likely to behave badly at the assembly if they cannot be identified individually for their behavior).

Ex. Fan behavior (good and bad) at sports games (painting faces, screaming insults, and so on).

Deindividuation

Phillip Zimbardo, psychologist at Stanford University

Developed to understand mass mentality as seen in the Holocaust

Zimbardo analyzed 70 male student volunteers and picked the most normal, average people in the bunch

Participants divided into two groups, guards and prisoners

Prisoners arrested and booked and transported to a university building where a prison had been created for a two-week stay

Stanford Prison Experiment

Within a few hours, the guards — who’d been instructed that physical abuse was off limits — became psychologically abusive gang.◦ Ex. Name calling, unsanitary conditions, removal of

mattresses Five of the prisoners began to experience such

severe negative emotions, including crying and acute anxiety, that they had to be released from the study early

Researchers lost sight of purpose Still sited as an unethical study

The experiment lasted only 5 days…

Perceived number of bystanders predicts likelihood of helping behavior

Diffusion of responsibility

Bystander Effect

According to the police report, Catherine "Kitty" Genovese was stabbed to death over a period of 35 minutes - with 38 people watching the cruelty.

By the time a neighbor finally called the police - who arrived within two minutes - it was too late for Genovese who had died just inside the front door of a nearby apartment as she was trying to escape.

Kitty Genovese’s story