more psychology

• Social influence


  How others – groups and individuals – can influence our behaviour
• We often believe that we are responsible for our own actions and make our own decisions, but a lot of the time other people can impact and influence us
• It is very important to understand how others impact our behaviour, because then we can encourage good behaviour and prevent bad behaviour such as rioting and bullying
• Social psychology


  Helps us to understand ourselves better in our social world
• Bystander intervention


  When we help others in need
• Bystander effect/apathy


  When we fail to help someone in need
• Bystander behaviour was investigated following the case of Kitty Genovese's murder in New York in 1964
• Factors affecting whether we help or not

  • Situational factors
  • Personality factors
• Diffusion of responsibility

  We feel less personally responsible when there are more people around to potentially help
• Noticing the event

  We are less likely to notice events in a large crowd compared to when we are on our own
• Pluralistic ignorance

  When in situations, we often look to others and react based on what other people are doing
• Cost of helping

  The higher the costs, the less likely we are to help
• Competence


  If we feel competent (able) enough then we will help
• Mood

  We are more likely to help if we are in a good mood than in a bad mood
• Similarity

  The more we see ourselves as similar to a victim then the more likely we are to help them
• Psychological research indicates that although some personality factors can influence whether or not we help, bystander intervention is largely influenced by situational factors
• Piliavin et al (1969): Good Samaritanism: An Underground Phenomenon?

  1. Aim: to investigate helping behaviour in a natural environment, and understand the conditions in which people are more likely to help

  2. Procedure: New York Subway (field experiment), Approx 4500 passengers, Between 11am and 3pm, 4 groups of 4 students used, Covert observation
• The Railway Carriage set-up


  • piliavin carriage
• 81 out of 103 trials, the victim was helped before the model planned to help
• In 60% of the trials, more than one person helped
• 90% of first helpers were male
• 64% of first helpers were white
• 68% of helpers who aided the white victim were also white
• 50% of white passengers came to the aid of a black victim
• There was a tendency for same race helping if the victim appeared drunk
• Interestingly, no diffusion of responsibility was found. The speed in which people helped was greater when there was more people than when there was less
• Conformity


  The tendency to change what we do, think or say in response to the influence of real or imagined pressure from others
• Normative Social Influence


  We wish to be liked by the majority group, so we go along with them even though we may not agree with them
• Informational Social Influence


  We look to the majority group for information as we are unsure about the way in which to behave
• Deindividuation


  Loss of personal self-awareness and responsibility as a result of being part of a group
• Factors affecting conformity


  • Locus of Control
  • Age
• Adolescents are more likely to conform than older people
• Factors increasing conformity

  • Bigger group
  • Everyone agrees
  • Task is easy
• Obedience

  Following orders from a higher authority
• Blind Obedience

  Following orders of an authority figure without question
• Milgram (1963)

  1. Factors affecting obedience: Situational factors, Personality factors

  2. Variations of Milgram's study: Proximity, Change of location, Uniform
• Authoritarian personality

  Someone with an authoritarian personality type is more likely to obey
• Agentic State

  Individuals are either in an agentic state or an autonomous state. Someone in an agentic state believes they are acting on behalf of someone else and so are more likely to obey
• Crowd Behaviour


  A large group of individuals behaving collectively (a mob mentality)
• Reduction in personal responsibility


  In a crowd