Ch. 15 Social Psychology

Social psychology is 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 other people.

1. Social Cognition A. Impression Formation

Schemata - ready-made categories Primacy effect

Early info weighs more Self-fulfilling prophecy

We bring about expected behavior in another person

Stereotypes A set of characteristics believed to be

shared by all members of a social category

B. Attribution Explaining behavior Biases

Fundamental attribution error Overemphasize personal causes for others and

underestimate personal causes for self

Defensive attribution Success attributed to own efforts, failure to

external factors Just-world hypothesis - assume bad things happen

to bad people Attribution across cultures

Varies dramatically

C. Interpersonal Attraction Proximity - living or working close Physical Attractiveness

Power assumptions about character Similarity

In attitudes, interests, values, background Exchange

We like people who appreciate us Intimacy - self disclosure

2. Attitudes A. The Nature of Attitudes

Attitudes and behaviors Relatively stable beliefs, feelings, and behaviors

(math) Self-monitoring

Behave as others expect Attitude development

Imitation Reward Teachers Peers Mass media

B. Prejudice and Discrimination Prejudice

Unfair attitude Sources of prejudice

Frustration-aggression theory Displaced frustration - scapegoat

Authoritarian personality Rigidly conventional

Racism Directed at particular racial group

Modern racism More subtle

Institutional racism $36,915 average income of white family $21,423 average income of African-American

family

Reducing prejudice Recategorize

Catholics and Protestants view themselves as Christians

Education Equal status contact and one-to-one contact Cooperation

C. Attitude Change Process of Persuasion

1. Attention 2. Comprehending 3. Accepting

Communication Model Source Message Medium Audience

Cognitive dissonance Two contradictory cognitions

Increase consonant elements

D. Compliance Change in behavior in response to a request

E. Obedience Obey orders

3. Social Influence3. Social Influence

A. Cultural Influence Norm

Shared idea about how to behave B. Cultural Assimilators

technique of asking why people behave a certain way - staying open-minded

C. Conformity Yield to social norms Conformity across cultures

Varies - higher in collectivist cultures

D. Compliance Change in behavior in response to a request from

someone foot-in-the-door (get them to say yes first) lowball (get compliance then raise price) door-in-the-face (get them to decline large request

then ask something smaller)

E. Obedience Change in behavior in response to a command Milgram

4. Social Action4. Social Action

A. Deindividuation Loss of personal sense of responsibility in a group

B. Helping Behavior Altruistic behavior - helping behavior that is not linked

to personal gain Bystander effect - helpfulness decreases as

bystanders increase Helping behavior across cultures

C. Group Dynamics Polarization in group decision making

Shift toward more extreme position The effectiveness of groups

Groupthink - Bay of Pigs invasion, Watergate cover-up, Challenger disaster

Group Leadership Great person theory

Personal qualities qualify one to lead

D. Organizational Behavior Productivity

Hawthorne effect Just attention of experimenter changed

behavior Communication and responsibility

Buy-in is important Shared governance