Transcript Social Psychology - Ms. Smith`s Online Classroom

Behavior in a Social Context



Understanding individual behavior in a social
context
Human behavior is influenced by others &
social context
Social norms
◦ Spoken or unspoken rules about behavior

Self concept

Social cognition


Prejudice &
discrimination
Interpersonal
processes

Attribution theory

Social influence

Attitudes

Group processes

Stereotypes

Aggression

Social Influence

◦ Conformity
◦ Obedience
◦ Bystander Effect

Social Cognition
◦ Identity
◦ Attitudes
◦ Stereotypes
Social Behavior
◦ Discrimination
◦ Relationships

Social Development
◦ Attachment
◦ Self-concept

Social Facilitation
◦ The presence of others influences behavior
◦ Audiences improve actor’s performances
◦ Home teams perform better than away teams
Home teams win about 6 of 10 games.
Home Advantage in Major Team Sports
Sport
Games
Studied
Home Team
Winning
Percentage
Baseball
23,034
53.3%
Football
2,592
57.3
Ice hockey
4,322
61.1
Basketball
13,596
64.4
Soccer
37,202
69.0

Social inhibition
◦ The presence of others can impair performance
on tasks that one is not particularly good at
◦ Ex. Parallel parking

Social Loafing
◦ On group tasks, people will sometimes exert
less effort if individual contributions are not
possible to identify
◦ Ex. Group projects
◦ Note: Men are more likely to participate in social
loafing than women


When we believe in something different than
the people around us we feel discomfort
We are motivated to change our beliefs to
lessen the discomfort
 “Free
speech being
a privilege rather
than a right, it is
proper for a
society to suspend
free speech when it
feels threatened”
Agree or
Disagree?
 19%
agreed with statement in
private
 58%
agreed under pressure of
group influence

Adopting the social norms of a group

We are most likely to conform when…

We are least likely to conform when…
◦ 1. We want to be liked
◦ 2. We want to be right
◦ We like the group and leaders
◦ The larger the group
◦ The group is not unanimous



When divided into groups prejudices develop
naturally
Individuals need to maintain a positive sense
of personal and social identity
Desirability of qualities found within your
group over less desirable traits in the other
group

We look for an explanation of behavior in the
social world
 Is it internal or external?
 Is it stable or does it change over time?
 Is it controllable?

The fundamental attribution error overestimating
internal (personal) influences and
underestimating external (situational) influences
when judging the behavior of others: “He’s poor
because he’s lazy.”

Most likely occurs in unfamiliar
environments

The presence of authority

Covert pressure

Feeling that someone else is responsible
Milgram’s experiment
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYv3J12pA
RM




Confederate strapped into chair with
electrodes
Teacher & experimenter go to room with
shock generator…
Shocks range: 15 volts (slight shock) - 450
volts (Danger/severe shock/XXX)
Every time learner gets one wrong, “teacher”
is to increase the shock



Giving up normal behavioral restraints to the
group. Being less self-conscious and restrained
in a group situation may account for mob
behavior
Ex. Students at pep assemblies are more likely to
behave badly at the assembly if they cannot be
identified individually for their behavior).
Ex. Fan behavior (good and bad) at sports games
(painting faces, screaming insults, and so on).





Phillip Zimbardo, psychologist at Stanford
University
Developed to understand mass mentality as seen
in the Holocaust
Zimbardo analyzed 70 male student volunteers
and picked the most normal, average people in
the bunch
Participants divided into two groups, guards and
prisoners
Prisoners arrested and booked and transported
to a university building where a prison had been
created for a two-week stay

Within a few hours, the guards — who’d been
instructed that physical abuse was off limits
— became psychologically abusive gang.
◦ Ex. Name calling, unsanitary conditions, removal of
mattresses



Five of the prisoners began to experience
such severe negative emotions, including
crying and acute anxiety, that they had to be
released from the study early
Researchers lost sight of purpose
Still sited as an unethical study


Perceived number of bystanders predicts
likelihood of helping behavior
Diffusion of responsibility


According to the police report,
Catherine "Kitty" Genovese was
stabbed to death over a period
of 35 minutes - with 38 people
watching the cruelty.
By the time a neighbor finally
called the police - who arrived
within two minutes - it was too
late for Genovese who had died
just inside the front door of a
nearby apartment as she was
trying to escape.