Transcript Media:oreilly_genpsych_ch15_socialx

Social
The Big Questions / Issues
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What is novel / counterintuitive about social?
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Spotlight effect?
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Situation vs. Disposition attributions?
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Cognitive dissonance (not really social!)?
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Baumeister’s ego depletion studies: mostly bogus!
Social includes (even focuses on) “The Self”
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Self is social because we define ourselves relative
to others (CCCC = Contrast)
What is Social Psychology?
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Influence of social situations on individuals
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Influence of individuals on social situations
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Major focus on the notion of self
Major Conclusions
(That You Already Know)
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Self control is good (and challenging)
We care what other’s think, manage our
impressions, compare ourselves to others
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Downward social comparison makes you feel better
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People can be conformists
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People can be evil, good, and in between
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People stereotype, have prejudices
First: The Self
(Cogito Ergo Sum, and CCCC = Control)
The best self-defense is a good offense:
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Self-serving bias: overestimate contributions
(I really do 75% of housework!), relative status
(I’m definitely above average!), attribution errors
(success = all me, failure = someone/thing else)
Positive illusions: it’s good to be delusional!
uncritically positive views of self, illusions of
control, unrealistic optimism: all CCCC=Control!
Control and Dissonance
(Must stay in control, always..)
Cognitive Dissonance: when behavior is at odds
with beliefs / values / attitudes:
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Change: attitudes to match behavior, behavior
to match attitudes, or perception of mismatch!
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Cannot just let it go.. Must stay in control, always..
Often first or last – behavior is strong –
“rationalizing” behavior
e.g., I am on diet; eat cookie anyway; reduce
dissonance by minimizing (“only 1!”) or
justifying (“I worked hard today”), etc.
Clicker Dissonance
Which best describes you:
A. I am good at rationalizing, and I know it..
B. I am good at rationalizing, and I’m often not so
aware that I’m doing it.
C. I am bad at rationalizing, but I wish I wasn’t.
D. I am bad at rationalizing, and I accept that my
behavior is driven by more than my ideals.
E. My behavior is always perfectly aligned with my
attitudes, beliefs, and values!
Actually Changing Behavior..
Self control: suppressing desires to be a better you,
who is less dissonant with beliefs, values
Self regulation: All the processes of monitoring and
controlling to achieve goals..
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Marshmallow study (Mischel): behavior as a kid
predicts many later life outcomes!
Depends on PFC executive function: so does a lot of
other stuff (3rd variable: PFC is good, not self ctrl?)
Baumeister and “muscle” theory of control: recent
failures to replicate!
False hope syndrome: we are unrealistically optimistic!
Clicker Control
Which best describes you:
A. I have good self control – don’t even have to
work hard at it – just comes naturally.
B. I have good self control but I have to work hard
at it
C. I have bad self control but I try hard anyway
D. I have bad self control and have long since
given up hope of being otherwise..
Actual Social Psychology
Social Comparision: upward, downward
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Both occur; make you feel good / bad about self
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Shadenfreude: someone’s downfall is your upfall..
Actual Social Psychology
Attribution theory: why do people do what they
do? Is it them (disposition) or the situation?
Fundamental Attribution Error: attribute other’s
behavior to them, ignoring situation.
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Situation often invisible
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But not so reliable cross-culturally, or in real adults..
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And situation acts via dispositions in first place!
FAE
A. I have definitely experienced FAE – and I have
the funny story(ies) to prove it!
B. I have probably experienced FAE but don’t
remember specific cases.
C. I don’t think I have experienced FAE, but not
sure..
D. I definitely don’t think I’ve experienced FAE – I
often notice situational effects on people’s
behavior.
Actor-Observer Bias
When I cut someone off, I’m just late – when they
do it, they’re just rotten jerks (always!)
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Mainly happens for negative behaviors that we
want to explain away via situation (but don’t
have that motivation for others).
Impression Management
We constantly engage in active management of
social impressions:
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Produce positive / desired impressions
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Reduce negative / un-desired impressions
Spotlight Effect
You think the whole world’s watching you / but
they’re all just watching themselves!
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I think this is a huge effect – and hugely
important for your own personal well-being
Don’t worry about what others think of you –
they’re too busy worrying about themselves!
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Golden rule! Relax, be happy, etc.
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OTOH, if you’re weird, people will talk about you
and generally not want to socialize with you.
Click the Spot
A. I often experience the spotlight effect: think that
people are watching / judging me (but they’re not)
B. I sometimes “
C. I rarely “ – I was already aware of this effect..
D. I’m a free spirit and genuinely don’t care what
other people think!
E. People actually are always watching me!
Social Attraction
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We are attracted to people who are similar to
us, but not identical (no inbreeding!) (positive
assortment).
And what we’ve been exposed to (mere
exposure effect)
And: Symmetry, averageness, exaggerated sex
features, age
Average Faces:
Genetic Diversity is Good
Left = average
of ”attractive”
faces – lots of
consistency
Right =
averages of
”unattractive”
faces – lots of
variability
Central limit
theorem: more
samples =
“tighter” mean
Group Dynamics: Actual “Social”
Behavior!
Conformity: Very strong effect!
but often unrecognized.
Brains wired for social approval
Groupthink: collective failure to consider what
could go wrong.. Bay of Pigs, Iraq War..
Bystander Effect: Kitty Genovese
Legend: nobody helped despite screams (diffusion
of responsibility: someone else will call the cops..)
Truth: several people called police. Police were
very slow to respond.
Initial reporting “told a story”
in biased manner.
(Killer just died in prison)
Selfish Genes and Inclusive Fitness
Genes are selfish: they can live forever – we are
just temporary hosts! (The great chain of being:
genes passed down over millions of years!)
You share tons of genes with relatives – even
distant ones (we are all distant cousins)..
We are motivated to help each other: Altruism =
inclusive fitness of the group! Empathy =
proximate cause
In-Group, Out-Group
We (presumably) evolved in small “tribes” that had
to compete with others for limited resources.
Tribes that helped (love) members and killed
(hate) non-members were more successful..
This happens with Chimps:
And all the time in humans
(Milgram prison expt,
dehumanization)
Can we be one big tribe??
Stereotyping, Prejudice
(major focus of research at CU)
Stereotyping: typical features of given group –
erroneously assumed to apply to all members of
group. CCCC = Compression / Categorize
Prejudice: pre-judging according to stereotypes
often implicit (IAT):
CCCC = The 4 C’s
CCCC = CCCC, Compression, Contrast, Control
(yes, that is a recursive definition there – the brain is
(way) more than the sum of its parts!)
• Compression: filtering, simplifying, capturing the
essence while removing the noise (perception,
memory, learning, stereotypes, delusions..)
• Contrast: everything is relative (happiness, color,
size, income, social standing..)
• Control: we are each little despots ruling our own
fiefdoms, and don’t you ever diss me! (control is
central to most mental disorders)