SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGYNo, this is not a guide on how to

get a date.

Social psychology is concerned with:

Persuasion Obedience Group dynamics Prejudice Culture Formation Stereotyping

Fundamental Attribution Error

Tendency to attribute internal attributes to other people’s behavior Self-serving bias

good things happen to us: internal reasons bad things happen to us: external

Just-world hypothesis Good things happen to good people Bas things happen to bad people

Halo effect Because there is one good thing about a person,

this means that everything is good about him or her

Asch Study

Solomon Asch’s Conformity Experiment

75% of participants conformed to the group majority

The larger the group, the larger the majority.

Milgram

Milgram’s Findings

In the voice feedback condition, 65% of participants obeyed the Experimenter.

One of the obeying participants was a Holocaust survivor.

“Agentic State”

Zimbardo Prison Experiment

College-aged students randomly assigned to be a guard or a prisoner in a prison simulation.

Meant to be a role play intended to study the psychological effects of incarceration,

Environment became a sadistic prison environment Guards physically and mentally

abused the prisoners and The prisoners became

convinced that they were meant to stay indefinitely.

The experiment shows how easy it is for people to assume their roles and let it become their reality.

Cognitive Dissonance

Festinger & Carlsmith (1959) Boring Task “Tell others that this was fun!” Some paid $20, others paid $1 Those paid $1 rated activity as more enjoyable

than those who were paid $20 Cognitive Dissonance: Discomfort caused by

behavior and belief not being congruent Choice: Live with dissonance, change behavior, or

change belief If behavior is forced, then change in belief is

possible

Groupthink

Need for consensus Results in suppression of dissent

“Symptoms” Illusion of invulnerability Self-censorship Pressure to make dissenters conform Illusion of unanimity

Examples 1986 Challenger Explosion Bay of Pigs Invasion

Kennedy: “How could we have been so stupid? When we saw the wide range of the failures we asked ourselves why it had not been apparent to somebody from the start. I guess you get walled off from reality when you want something to succeed too much”.

Cialdini’s Principles of Persuasion

Commitment & Consistency We stay loyal to those we make a commitment

Consensus We are more likely persuaded to an idea if we see others

believing in that idea Liking

We like those who are like us Authority

We tend to believe an idea if an authority figure endorses it Scarcity

We must have what is scarce Reciprocation

If you give me something, I feel compelled to give something in return.

Sherif et al. (1954) Muzafer Sherif took 24

school aged boys and separated them into two groups.

Without being told to, each group formed its own identity (the Rattlers and the Eagles), assigned roles, and hierarchal structure.

When the groups became aware of each other, they insisted on doing competitive games against one another

Competition

The two groups engaged in a series of competitions. The winning group would win a trophy.

After a few days, the to groups were brought into the camp cafeteria, where excessive name calling resulted.

Hatred Develops

The two groups started calling each other names.

After a while pranks were played on one another.

An Eagle cabin was broken into by a Rattler and several items were stolen

Signs of hostility, aggression, and hatred were observed in both groups by researchers.

Creating Harmony

Sherif and his colleagues found that intergroup hostilities could be overcome if both groups worked together to achieve a common goal. The Movie Problem Maryland Referndum on Slavery (1864) Truman Desegregating the Armed Forces

(1947)

How prejudice develops

United States: African-Americans and immigrants provided competition in finding jobs. The greatest hostilities were found during the Great Depression.

Europe: Many bankers throughout Europe were Jewish. Having strong influence over the economy, many viewed Jews as competitors.