CHAPTER 18: SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

Introduction
• social psychology: the scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to
one another
Social thinking
Attributing behavior to persons or to situations
• attribution theory: suggests how we explain someone’s behavior – by crediting either
the situation or the person’s disposition (situational or dispositional attribution)
• 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
o runs stronger in western cultures than in East Asian cultures; also applies to Nazi
death camp commanders and terrorists
the effects of attribution
• political effects of attribution: conservatives attribute poverty to social problems or to
personal dispositions of poor and unemployed; liberals are more likely to blame past and
present situations
• managers and interviewers also must make attributions of their employees or
interviewees, which lead to palpable outcomes
Attitudes and actions
• attitude: feelings, often based on beliefs, that predispose response in a particular way to
objects, people, and events
Attitudes can affect actions
• attitudes predict behavior imperfectly because other factors such as the external situation
(including strong social pressures) can also influence behaviors
• attitudes predict behaviors when other influences are minimal, when attitude is specific to
behavior, or when we are keenly aware of our attitudes
Actions can affect attitudes
• attitudes follow behavior
The foot-in-door phenomenon
• foot-in-the-door phenomenon: the tendency for people who have first agreed to a small
request to comply later with a larger request
• often beliefs adjust towards consistency with public acts
• moral action also strengthens moral conviction
Role-playing affects attitudes
• when adopting a new role, behaviors may feel phony because one is acing a role;
however, the role soon becomes who we are and what we believe (see: guards in Stanford
Prison Experiment)
cognitive dissonance: relief from tension
• cognitive dissonance theory: we act to reduce the discomfort (dissonance) we feel when
two of our thoughts (cognitions) are inconsistent; ex. When our awareness of our
attitudes and of our actions clash, we can reduce the resulting dissonance by changing our
attitudes
 • the less coerced and more responsible we feel for a troubling act, the more dissonance we
feel. The more dissonance we feel, the more motivated we are to find consistency, such
as changing our attitudes to help justify the act
• although we cannot directly control all our feelings, we can influence them by altering
our behavior [see: emotional effects of facial expressions and body postures); if we feel
terrible we can talk in positive ways, and if we are unloving, we can do thoughtful things,
express affection, and give affirmation
Social influence
Conformity and obedience
• chameleon effect – the tendency for humans to unconsciously mimic others’ expressions,
postures, voice tones (leads to mood linkage)
• automatic mimicry is part of empathy – the most empathetic people mimic – and are
liked – the most
o those most eager to fit in with a group seem to intuitively know this, for they are
especially prone to nonconscious mimicry
• same applies to: suicides (in local clusters), shooting threats, etc.
Group influence
Social relations
Prejudice
• prejudice: an unjustifiable (and usually negative) attitude toward a group and its members;
generally involving stereotyped beliefs, negative feelings, and a predisposition to discriminatory
action
• discrimination: unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group or its members
How prejudiced are people?
• despite increased verbal support for interracial marriage, many admit in intimate settings (dating,
marrying) they would feel uncomfortable with someone of another race
• many believe immigrants are a bad influence on their country, black motorists are discriminated
against
• gender prejudice and discrimination persist: fathers perceived as more capable than mothers, boys
are valued more highly than girls
• women: perceived as more nurturing, sensitive, less aggressive, have traits that most people
prefer
Social roots of prejudice
Social inequalities
• people who have certain things justify their position; prejudice rationalizes inequalities – ex.
Women perceived as unassertive but sensitive and therefore suited for the caretaking tasks they
have traditionally performed
• discrimination provokes prejudice through the reactions it provokes in its victims – producing
self-blame or anger, which create the blame-the-victim dynamic [poverty -> higher crime rate;
crime rate can be used to justify discrimination against the poor]
Us and them: ingroup and outgroup
• through social identities we associate ourselves w certain groups and contrast ourselves with
others
• ingroup: people with whom one shares a common identity – “us”
• outgroup: those perceived as different or apart from one’s ingroup – “them”
• ingroup bias formed by these group identifications – predisposes prejudice against strangers
Emotional roots of prejudice
• negative arousal (anger, fear) may heighten prejudice against certain groups
• prejudice may also express anger – through scapegoating upon those prejudiced against
• scapegoat theory: prejudice offers an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame
Cognitive roots of prejudice
Categorization
• we overestimate the similarity of those within other groups by assigning them stereotypes
o to those in one ethnic group, members of another seem more alike in appearance,
personality, and attitudes than they are
Vivid cases
• vivid (violent) cases are readily available to our memory and therefore influence our judgments
of a group
The just-world phenomenon
• just-world phenomenon: the tendency of people to believe the world is just and that people
therefore get what they deserve and deserve what they get
• hindsight bias contributes to the blame of the victim [the raped, abused, or AIDS-inflicted victim]
Aggression
• aggression: any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy
The biology of aggression
 • aggression varies too widely from culture to culture to be considered unlearned
Genetic influences
• genes influence human aggression, especially the presence of the Y chromosome
Natural influences
• neural systems inhibit or produce aggressive behavior
• aggression is more likely if the frontal lobe is damaged, disconnected, or not fully mature –
frontal lobe system inhibits aggression
Biochemical influences
• testosterone is a main ingredient in aggression: correlates with irritability, low tolerance for
frustration, assertiveness, and impulsiveness
• high levels of testosterone correlate with delinquency, hard drug use, and aggressive-bullying
responses to frustration
• dominating behaviors also boost testosterone levels
• alcohol affects aggression
The psychology of aggression
Aversive events
• frustration-aggression principle: frustration – blocking of an attempt to achieve some goal –
creates anger, which can generate aggression
• aversive stimuli (including rises in temperature) stimulate hostility, which stimulates aggression;
global warming would contribute to this aggression
• rejection intensifies aggression
Learning that aggression is rewarding
• aggressive reactions are likely when people have learned they have paid off before
• father absence strongly correlates to aggressive tendencies
Observing models of aggression
• availability of violent and sexually explicit films has contributed to aggressive sexual acts
• watching pornography makes one’s own partner seem less attractive, makes a woman’s
friendliness seem more sexual, and makes sexual aggression seem less serious
• sexual violence affect men’s acceptance and performance of aggression against women
Acquiring social scripts
• factors that create predisposition toward violence: the media, dominance motives, disinhibition by
alcohol, and a history of child abuse
• media influences through social scripts – instructions on how to act, especially in situations when
we are unsure of ourselves; youth may do this after viewing media regarding impulsive, sexual
relationships
Do video games teach or release violence?
• effects of video games: rising level of arousal and feelings of hostility
• those selected to play violent video games became more hostile, see the world as more hostile
• playing violent video games increases aggressive thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, instead of
releasing them (expressing anger breeds more anger)
Conflict
Social traps
Enemy perceptions
Attraction
The psychology of attraction
Proximity
Physical attractiveness
Similarity
Romantic love
Passionate love
Companionate love
Altruism
Bystander intervention
The norms for helping
Peacemaking
Cooperation
Communication
conciliation