Social Psychology

• Social Psychology

  The scientific study of how individuals think, feel, and behave in a social context
• Social Psychology is a science that makes it different from these artistic and humanistic endeavors
• Social


  Refers to the social aspects of human behavior
• Social Psychology vs. Common Sense

  • Soc Psych - understanding how people behave
  • Common Sense - practical wisdom we use in everyday situations
• History of Social Psychology

  • Plato offered keen insights into many social psychological issues, but no systematic and scientific study developed until the end of the nineteenth century
  • Birth and infancy of social psychology 1880s-1920s
  • A call-to-action 1930s-1950s
  • Confidence and crisis 1960s to Mid-1970s
  • An Era of Pluralism Mid-1970s-1990s
• In 1936, Gordon Allport (younger brother of Floyd) and other social psychologists formed an organization
• Stanley Milgram's (Milgram Experiment) findings showed that a significant proportion of participants were willing to administer what they believed to be increasingly severe electric shocks to another person when instructed to do so by an authority figure
• The Milgram study raised ethical concerns due to the psychological distress it caused to participants and the deception involved
• Pluralism in Social Psychology

  • Instead of focusing solely on one dominant theory or method, researchers began to explore a wide range of ideas and methodologies
  • Diversification expanded the scope of social psychology and allowed researchers to address a broader range of questions about human behavior and social interaction
  • Methodological Advances - Advancements in research methods and techniques
• Main Areas of Social Psychology

  • Social perception and interaction
  • Group behavior
  • Conformity
  • Non-verbal behavior
  • Prejudice
  • Aggression
  • Leadership
• Social Influence


  The ways in which individuals change their behavior to meet the demands of a social environment
• Types of Social Influence

  • Conformity
  • Compliance
  • Obedience
• Conformity


  The act of changing your behaviors in order to fit in or go along with the people around you
• Types of Conformity


  • Compliance - You comply with group norms but still uphold your stand to avoid critics
  • Internalization
  • Identification - Identify in the same group
  • Ingratiational - An individual seeks acceptance by adapting behaviors to please them
• Normative Conformity


  Occurs when we express opinions or behave in ways that help us to be accepted or that keep us from being isolated or rejected by others
• Informational Conformity


  Change in opinions or behavior that occurs when we conform to people whom we believe have accurate information
• Asch's Conformity Experiment

  Groups of participants were asked to match the length of lines on cards, a task with an obvious answer. However, each group only included one real participant, with the rest being confederates instructed to give the incorrect answer
• Factors Influencing Conformity


  • Group Size - Conformity increases in group size, but only to a certain point
  • Unanimity - Refers to the extent that members of a majority agree with one another
  • Group Cohesion - The bonds, unity, and emotional and social connection among group members
• Compliance


  A type of social influence where an individual does what someone else wants them to do, following his or her request or suggestion
• Types of Request


  • Explicit Request
  • Implicit Request
• Techniques in Compliance


  • The Foot in the Door Technique - Getting a person to agree to a large request by first setting them up with a very small request
  • The Door in the Face Technique - Starting with an exaggerated request and then scaling down to a more reasonable one
  • The Low-Ball Technique - Making it difficult for the person to back out of the agreement
• Persuasion


  A powerful force that affects the decisions and actions that people take. It is a process in which one person or entity tries to influence another person or group of people to change their beliefs or behaviors
• How to respond to persuasion

  • Evaluate information carefully
  • Learn how to resist persuasion
  • Know How to Use Persuasion
• 6 principles of Persuasion related to Compliance

  • Reciprocity - It relies on the principle of giving and receiving
  • Scarcity - People tend to desire things that are rare
  • Authority - We are complying from an authority figure
  • Consistency - We are committed to certain issues
  • Liking - Comply with people we admire
  • Consensus - We are uncertain on what to do, so we look for something we need to do
• Social Influence


  Refers to the way in which individuals change their ideas and actions to meet the demands of a social group
• Why do people accept Social Influence?

  • Acceptance - Need for social approval
  • Cooperation - They want to work together
  • Group think - Go along with group decisions
  • Cohesion - When people feel a strong sense of connection
• Obedience


  A form of social influence where an individual acts in response to a direct order from another individual, who is usually an authority figure
• Milgram Experiment on Obedience


  Participants were told by an experimenter to administer increasingly powerful electric shocks to another individual. Unbeknownst to the participants, shocks were fake and the individual being shocked was an actor. The majority of participants obeyed, even when the individual being shocked screamed in pain
• Factors Influencing Obedience


  • Legitimacy of Authority - More likely to obey commands from those perceived as a legitimate authority
  • Proximity - Obedience decreases when authority is far
  • Group Conformity - Obedience influences others who are also conforming to the same authority
• Group influence


  A phenomenon that occurs when the majority of people in a group influence the thoughts and behaviors of other people within that group
• Prejudice


  An assumption or an opinion about someone simply based on that person's membership to a particular group
• Types of Prejudice


  • Racism - color
  • Sexism - sex
  • Ageism - age
  • Classism - social class
  • Homophobia - gender
  • Nationalism - national identity
  • Religious prejudice - religion
  • Xenophobia - stranger
• Social Cognition


  The study of how people think about themselves in the social world
• Cognitive Dissonance Theory


  First investigated by Leon Festinger
• Heuristics


  Mental shortcuts that allow people to solve problems and make judgments quickly and efficiently
• Biases


  Systematic errors that occur when using heuristics
• Types of Heuristics

  • Availability Heuristic - Decisions based on how easy it is to bring something to mind
  • Representativeness Heuristic - Decisions by comparing the present situation to the most representative mental prototype
  • Anchoring Heuristic - Tendency to be overly influenced by the first bit of information we hear or learn
• Social Identity

  The part of a person's self-concept that derives from membership in social groups
• In-group vs. Out-group Bias


  Ingroup bias is the tendency to favor one's own group over other groups. It causes us to treat ingroup members differently and be more willing to share resources with them
• Heuristics


  • Have pros and cons