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social psychology
the study of how people think,
feel, & behave in social situations
social categorization
categorizing people into
stereotyped groups based upon
their shared characteristics
(is done using Implicit Personality Theory)
Implicit personality theory
assumptions that you have about
types of people, traits, & behavior
attribution
when you try to explain
someone’s behavior
dispositional cause
(internal/personal)
situational cause
(external)
fundamental attribution error
(about other people)
overestimating role of internal factors
& underestimating external factors
E.g.
car swerving across lanes
hyper person at party
actor-observer discrepancy
(for bad outcomes)
you as observer = commit FAE
you as actor = blame external factors
E.g.
arriving late to class
self-serving bias
you attribute your successes to internal
factors but your failures to external factors
E.g.
skill at snowboarding
cooking skill
Let’s return to the
fundamental attribution error…
blaming the victim
s/he must have caused it or didn’t
take steps to prevent it
E.g.
- loved one is mistreated at work
just world hypothesis
people get what they deserve
(Why do people believe it?)
cognitive dissonance
you feel tension when you have two
conflicting attitudes
increased when behavior contradicts
your attitude
E.g.
procrastination of studying
cognitive dissonance
How is tension reduced?
1) rationalize behavior
2) If cannot be rationalized, change
attitude
in-group
group to which you belong
(in-group bias = tendency to judge in-group
favorably & out-group unfavorably)
out-group
group to which you DO NOT belong
(out-group homogeneity effect=tendency
to see out-group members all the same)
stereotype
ethnocentrism
Belief that one’s culture or ethnic group
is superior to all others
conformity
when you change in order to fit-in
discussion
Have you ever done something you
didn’t want to do, just because of
pressure from others?
Asch conformity experiment
Would people still conform even if the
group opinion was CLEARLY wrong?
Asch conformity experiment
stimulus line
1
2
3
obedience
to obey an authority
Stanley Milgram’s Obedience
Experiment
Could a person be pressured by others
into committing an immoral act?
Stanley Milgram’s Obedience
First, survey results:
• Most would REFUSE TO OBEY at 150 volts
• None would reach 450 volts
results
survey
expectations
35%
stopped here
65%
all the way
actual
results
altruism
helping someone
(without expecting a reward)
bystander effect
a person is LESS likely to help when
others are also present
Story of Kitty Genovese
social loafing
working less when working in a group
Examples?