1

CHAPTER

14 Social Psychology

Links to Learning Objectives

ENDURING ISSUES IN SOCIAL

PSYCHOLOGY

SOCIAL COGNITION

Forming impressions

Attribution to internal or external causes

Biases

Interpersonal attraction

ATTITUDES

Components of attitudes

Prejudice & discrimination

Persuasion

Cognitive dissonance

SOCIAL INFLUENCE

Cultural influences

Conformity, compliance, & obedience

SOCIAL ACTION

Deindividuation

Helping behavior

Groups & decision making

Theories of leadership

Cultural & gender differences in leadership

Diversity-Universality

Stability-Change

Mind-Body

Nature-Nurture

Person-Situation

Enduring Issues

To what extent does

a particular behavior reflect

personal characteristics like

attitudes and values,

versus situational ones

like the behavior of

others and social

expectations?

Diversity-Universality

Stability-Change

Mind-Body

Nature-Nurture

Person-Situation

Enduring Issues

To what extent are there

differences in social behavior

among people in different

cultures?

ocial

psychology

The scientific

study of the ways

in which the

thoughts, feelings

and behaviors of

one individual are

influenced by the

real, imagined, or

inferred behavior

or characteristics

of others

Social Cognition

2

Social Cognition

Forming Impressions

Attribution

Interpersonal

Attraction

Forming Impressions

Schemata

Primacy effect

Self-fulfilling prophecy

Stereotype

Organized sets of beliefs and expectations

based on past experience that is presumed to

apply to all members of that category

When early information about someone weighs

more heavily than later information in

influencing one’s impression of that person

When a person’s expectation about another

elicits behavior from the second person that

confirms the expectation

A set of characteristics presumed to be shared

by all members of a social category

LEARNING OBJECTIVE: Describe the role of schemata, stereotypes, and the primacy effect in

impression formation. Explain how impressions of others can become self-fulfilling prophecies.

External Internal

Attribution

“He probably got caught in some bad

traffic, and then he was late for a meeting.”

“He’s such a careless driver. He never watches out

for other cars.”

LEARNING OBJECTIVE: Summarize the way in which distinctiveness, consistency, and consensus

affect our judgment about whether a given behavior is due to internal or external causes.

Attribution theory: Addresses the question of how people make judgments about the causes of behavior

Actor-observer bias:

Tendency to explain

the behavior of others

as caused by internal

factors and one’s own

behavior as caused by

external forces

• Fundamental

attribution error

Defensive attribution:

Tendency to attribute

our successes to our

own efforts or qualities

and our failures to

external factors • Self-serving bias • Just-world hypothesis

LEARNING OBJECTIVE: Explain what is meant by the statement “the causal attributions we make

are often vulnerable to biases.” In your answer, include the actor-observer bias, the fundamental attribution error, and defensive attribution (including the self-serving bias and the just-world

hypothesis).

Biases

LEARNING OBJECTIVE: Briefly summarize the five factors that influence attraction and the tendency

to like another person.

Interpersonal Attraction

INTERPERSONAL ATTRACTION

Attitudes

3

I think country music is

better than any other kind of music.

Evaluative Beliefs Feelings

I buy country music CDs every

chance I get.

Behavior Tendencies

The Nature of Attitudes

LEARNING OBJECTIVE: Describe the three major components of attitudes and the variables that

determine whether an attitude will be reflected in behavior.

Components of Attitudes

I like country music; it's fun and uplifting.

Attitudes and Behavior

Factors influencing the

relationship between attitude

and behavior:

• Strength of attitude

• Relevance of attitude

• How noticeable a given

attitude is in a given situation

• How easily the attitude comes

to mind

• Self-monitoring

“She is such a nice

person.”

Attitude Development

How we acquire our

attitudes:

• Early, direct personal

experience

• Imitation

• Mass media

Prejudice and Discrimination

Prejudice

• An attitude

• An unfair, intolerant,

or unfavorable view

of a group of people

– Ultimate attribution error

Discrimination

• A behavior

• Unfair act or acts

directed against an

entire group of people

or individual members

of that group

LEARNING OBJECTIVE: Distinguish between prejudice, racism, and discrimination. Explain the role

of stereotypes and the ultimate attribution error in prejudicial attitudes. Compare and contrast the following potential sources of prejudice: frustration-aggression, authoritarian personality, “cognitive

misers,” and conformity. Describe the three strategies that appear promising as ways to reduce

prejudice and discrimination.

Sources of Prejudice

• Frustration-aggression theory

– Scapegoats

• Authoritarian personality

– Rigid conventionality

• Oversimplification

– “Cognitive misers”

• Conformity

– In-group bias

• Racism

– Innate inferiority

Strategies for Reducing Prejudice and Discrimination

• Recategorization

• Controlled

processing

• Improving contact

between groups

4

Applying Psychology

What are some of the psychological forces at work in ethnic conflict?

• Propaganda

• Shared collective memories

• Personal and social identity

• Societal beliefs

Changing Attitudes

LEARNING OBJECTIVE: Describe the three steps in the use of persuasion to change attitudes:

attention, comprehension, and acceptance. In your description, include the source (credibility and the sleeper effect), the message itself (one-sided vs. two-sided, fear), the medium of

communication, and characteristics of the audience.

To be persuaded, you must:

• Pay attention to the message

• Comprehend it

• Accept it as convincing

The source

The message itself

The medium of communication

Characteristics of the audience

Four key elements involved in message comprehension and acceptance:

Communication Model of Persuasion

1

2

3

4

Cognitive Dissonance

• Perceived inconsistency

between two cognitions,

which creates psychological

tension that must be

resolved

• How to resolve:

– Change one’s attitude

– Increase the number of

consonant elements

(i.e. thoughts that are

consistent with one another)

LEARNING OBJECTIVE: Explain what is meant by “cognitive dissonance” and how that

can be used to change attitudes.

“I am a good,

loyal friend.”

“I repeated

gossip about my

friend Chris.”

Social Influence

Obedience

Social Influence

Compliance Conformity

Cultural

Influences

5

Cultural Influences

• Culture dictates:

– How you dress

– What you eat

– Your personal space preferences

• Cultural truisms: Beliefs or values that most members of a society accept as self-evident

• Norms: Shared ideas or expectations of how to behave

LEARNING OBJECTIVE: Explain what is meant by the statement that “culture is a major

form of social influence.” In your explanation, include cultural truisms and norms.

Conformity

Two sets of factors influence the likelihood that a person will conform:

LEARNING OBJECTIVE: Compare and contrast conformity, compliance, and obedience. Describe the

factors that influence conforming behavior. Distinguish between the foot-in-the-door technique, lowball procedure, and the door-in-the-face effect as ways to get compliance. Describe the factors

that influence obedience.

• Characteristics of the

situation, including:

– Size of the group

– Degree of unanimity

– The nature of the task

• Characteristics of the

person, including:

– Attraction to the group

– Expected future interaction

with its members

– Having low status

– Desiring greater acceptance

Asch’s Study

Social Influence Across Cultures “In collectivist cultures, community and harmony are very important. Thus, you

might suspect that members of collectivist cultures would conform more frequently

to the will of a group than would members of noncollectivist cultures. In fact,

psychologists have found that levels of conformity in collectivist cultures are

frequently higher than those found by Asch…”

– Page 474 (Ciccarelli & White)

Compliance

• Foot-in-the-door

• Lowball

• Door-in-the-face

Obedience

• Change of behavior in

response to a command

from another person,

typically an authority

figure

6

Social Action

Deindividuation

LEARNING OBJECTIVE: Explain how deindividuation and the snowball effect can contribute to mob

behavior.

Deindividuation: A loss of

personal sense of

responsibility in a group

Snowball effect: When one

dominant and persuasive

person can convince other

people to behave in a certain

way, and those other people

then, in turn, convince others

to behave in a certain way

Helping Behavior

LEARNING OBJECTIVE: Explain the role of the following factors in influencing helping

behavior: altruism, the bystander effect, the ambiguity of the situation, and the personal

characteristics of bystanders.

Helping behavior is influenced

by two sets of factors:

• Those in the situation:

– Presence of other people

(see next slide)

– Ambiguity

• Those in the individual:

– Personal characteristics of

bystanders (i.e. empathy,

mood)

The Bystander Effect

A person is less likely to offer assistance

when other potential helpers are present.

Groups and Decision Making

Polarization: Shift in attitudes by members of a

group toward more extreme positions than the

ones held before group discussion

• Risky shift: Greater willingness of a group

than an individual to take substantial risks

LEARNING OBJECTIVE: Describe the process of polarization in group discussion.

Identify the factors that affect whether a group is likely to be more or less effective than individuals acting alone.

The Effectiveness of Groups

Factors that influence the effectiveness of groups:

• Whether the requirements of the task match the skills of the group members

• The ways in which group members interact

• Group size

• The cohesiveness of the group

7

Groupthink

A process that occurs

when the members

of a group:

• Like one another

• Have similar goals

• Are isolated, leading

them to ignore

alternatives and not

criticize group

consensus

Leadership

• Great-person theory

– Result of personal qualities and traits that qualify one to lead others

• Right-place-at-the-right-time theory

– Emerges when the right person is in the right place at the right time

• Fielder’s contingency theory

– Transactional view • Task-oriented or relationship-oriented leader

• Nature of task, relationship of leader with group, leader’s power

• Sternberg’s systems approach to leadership

– Effective leadership = the synthesis of wisdom, intelligence, and creativity

LEARNING OBJECTIVE: Compare and contrast the following theories of leadership:

the great-person theory, the right-place-at-the-right-time theory, and contingency theory.

Culture and Gender Differences in Leadership

Female leaders Collectivist cultures

LEARNING OBJECTIVE: Briefly summarize cultural and gender differences in leadership.

• Less clearly defined roles

of leadership than in U.S.

• All members see

themselves as working

together to accomplish

the group’s goals

• Have effectively

combined task-oriented

and relationship-oriented

leadership styles

• Are often more effective

because they are more

democratic,

collaborative, and

interpersonally-oriented

Lecture Activities

Get into small, all-female

or all-male groups. Create a

list of factors that are most

important in your initial and

long-term attraction to others.

Number your paper from one to five. You

will be presented with 5 slides, each of which

comprises a configuration of dots. You will

attempt to guess the number of dots on each

slide. The number of dots will be different on

each slide. Each slide will be shown for 3

seconds, following which you will have 3

seconds to write your guess. Good luck!

Counting Dots

Activity begins on next slide

8

<<Get ready>>

Write your guess now.

Write your guess now.

9

Write your guess now.

Write your guess now.

End of Test << Finish activity on next slide >>

1. Determine whether you are an under-estimator or an over-estimator by adding up all of your guesses to determine whether you are under or over 210.

2. If you are an over-estimator, list three personality traits of an under-estimator. If you are an under-estimator, list two personality traits of an over-estimator.

3. Consider the following questions: • What kinds of traits did you list for those in the other

group?

• Did you list any negative traits for those in the other group?

• What does this activity suggest about implicit personality theories and the formation of stereotypes?

10

Attitude Survey

For each of the three attitude items below,

indicate your response on a scale of 1 to 5

(1=strongly disagree; 5=strongly agree).

1. Poverty in our country is a serious problem.

2. Pollution is one of the biggest issues confronting

today’s world.

3. Freedom of speech is one of the most important

rights that we have as Americans.

(Survey continued on next slide)

Attitude Survey (continued)

For each of the following questions, indicate your

response with “Yes” or “No.”

1. Do you personally do anything to lessen poverty in our

country (e.g., donate money to a shelter or charitable

organization)?

2. Do you personally do anything to lessen pollution (e.g.,

vote for “green” political representatives, support

recycling in your community, make fewer trips in your

car)?

3. Do you personally exercise your freedom of speech (e.g.,

actively participate in town meetings/protests, vote in

every election for which you are eligible, write to your

congressional representative)?

Who are a few non-conformists

that have made a positive and

lasting difference in the world?

Applying Consumer Psychology

Get into groups and come up with an

original, real-world example for two of

the compliance techniques discussed

in your text.

Acknowledgments

Slide # Image Description Image Source

text template upside down blue sky & grass ©iStockphoto.com/Konrad Lew

chapter template

layered hands ©istockphoto.com/René Mansi

3 cool woman ©istockphoto.com/Paco Romero Photography

3 other cool people ©istockphoto.com/ALiJA

4 Masai ©istockphoto.com/Muendo

4 tai chi woman ©istockphoto.com/Kings Photo

4 mariachi singer ©istockphoto.com/José Luis Girarte

4 cowboy ©istockphoto.com/Living Images

4 hiphop dancer ©istockphoto.com/Santa Maria Design Group

4 Indian woman ©istockphoto.com/Vasko Miokovic Photography

5 sheep on hillside ©istockphoto.com/jalala

7 woman's head ©istockphoto.com/Nicolas Hansen

9 woman watching ©istockphoto.com/Konstantin Kamenetskiy

9 man watching ©istockphoto.com/4X6

9 car 1 accident ©istockphoto.com/flyrfixr

9 car 2 accident ©istockphoto.com/mgkaya

11 icon: jigsaw puzzle Charlie Levin

13 back of head with headphones ©istockphoto.com/ShaneKato

14 waving ©istockphoto.com/Hongqi Zhang

15 father and daughter ©istockphoto.com/Yvonne Chamberlain Photography

15 two girls with mudmasks ©istockphoto.com/studiovespa

15 guy watching tv ©istockphoto.com/Marcelo Poleze

17 political rally (b/w image) ©istockphoto.com/Shaun Lowe

18 diversity paper cut-outs ©istockphoto.com/twentyfourworks

19 building hit by rocket ©istockphoto.com/Boris Katsman

19 car bomb ©istockphoto.com/Martin Kucera

11

20 "wrong way" sign ©istockphoto.com/Jill Fromer

20 "this way" sign ©istockphoto.com/Sean Locke

22 icon: wanted sign Charlie Levin, adapting wooden board image from ©istockphoto.com/andynwt

22 woman's head ©istockphoto.com/Angel Herrero de Frutos

24 man's head ©istockphoto.com/Nicolas Hansen

25 people in jeans eating pizza ©istockphoto.com/digital planet design

26 icon: wanted sign Charlie Levin, adapting wooden board image from ©istockphoto.com/andynwt

27 Japanese fabric pattern ©istockphoto.com/Matty Symons

27 Asch lines Morris/Maisto, 9/e p. 473

28 Open Your Book - textbook cover Shutterstock

28 Open Your Book - textbook background From Ciccarelli, Psychology, 1/e pp. 213-214

28 Open Your Book - open textbook From Ciccarelli, Psychology, 1/e pp. 114-115

29 foot in door ©istockphoto.com/WebSubstance

29 car dealership sale ©istockphoto.com/Jesus Jauregui

29 contract ©istockphoto.com/Pali Rao

30 police ©istockphoto.com/ImageegamI

30 referee ©istockphoto.com/Jeff Skopin

32 one person silhouette Derek Borman

33 natural disaster street ©istockphoto.com/Claudiad

33 Katrina house collapsing ©istockphoto.com/ParkerDeen

33 Katrina brick wall graffiti ©istockphoto.com/ParkerDeen

34 someone needing help ©istockphoto.com/Sharon Dominick Photography

34 background intersection ©istockphoto.com/stevegeer

34 silhouettes of people watching ©istockphoto.com/Leontura

34 silhouettes of people watching ©istockphoto.com/Leontura

36 workplace ©iStockphoto.com/Jacob Wackerhausen

34 silhouettes of people watching ©istockphoto.com/Leontura

37 silhouetted group ©istockphoto.com/Leontura

39 Japanese fabric pattern ©istockphoto.com/Matty Symons

41 topbar: jigsaw pieces animation Charlie Levin

41 topbar: jigsaw bk ©istockphoto.com/Felix Möckel

42 topbar: classic studies books ©istockphoto.com/Justin Allfree

42 topbar: chrome & license plate ©istockphoto.com/Grafissimo

42 topbar:red shiny car background ©istockphoto.com/Jon Helgason

55 topbar: cactus ©istockphoto.com/Lee Daniels

55 topbar: wooden board ©istockphoto.com/andynwt

57 topbar: cactus ©istockphoto.com/Lee Daniels

57 topbar: wooden board ©istockphoto.com/andynwt

58 topbar: jigsaw pieces animation Charlie Levin

58 topbar: jigsaw bk ©istockphoto.com/Felix Möckel