Transcript individual behavior

individual behavior
Beliefs
Attitudes
social context
Roles
Norms
Think operant conditioning: what is the
consequence of obeying norms? Violating
norms?
individual behavior
Beliefs
Attitudes
social context
Roles
Norms
how do roles, norms, beliefs, and attitudes do their work?*
Attributions
Stereotypes
Prejudices
Deindividuation
Entrapment
Do people behave differently
when they are in large groups?
Fans after a big game?
Protesters at a rally?
Fans at a concert of The Who?
What happens to our sense of personal
responsibility in a crowd or other group?
or
?
Roles: Positions in society that
come with guidelines for behavior
What are some roles in society? What are
some roles you play?
Student
Teacher
Child
Sibling
Parent
Waitstaff
Cashier
Manager
Norms: Unspoken rules for
behavior
Social norms: What is a dating ritual that would be
ok at 12 and not ok now ?
Country/cultural norms: In this country, where is it
ok to wear sneakers?
Family norms: In your house, is the TV on during
dinner? Is the TV on most of the day?
individual behavior
Beliefs
Attitudes
Zimbardo’s
Prison Study
social context
Roles
Norms
Deindividuation
Entrapment
Roles
Norms
What were the roles assigned to participants?
How are people in those roles supposed to behave in
the ‘real world’?
Deindividuation
Entrapment
How did the prison study take away the
‘individuality’ of the participants?
Once a ‘guard’ has done of couple of guard-like things to a
‘prisoner,’how does he feel about himself? How might he justify
that behavior?
Zimbardo’s Prison Study
individual behavior
Beliefs
Attitudes
Milgram’s
Obedience
Experiment
social context
Roles
Norms
Entrapment
Diffusion of
responsibility
Roles
What roles were involved in Milgram’s study?
Entrapment
Once a participant had ‘shocked’ a learner
a few times, how would s/he explain her
behavior to him/herself?
Diffusion of
responsibility
Who might the ‘teachers’ have blamed for
their behavior?
Milgram’s
Obedience
Experiment
What are the norms for behavior
toward a person in a lab coat in
charge of technical equipment?
Has this changed at all in recent
years? Why?
What portion of participants were willing to play the
assigned role?
All administered some shock.
2/3 administered ‘life-threatening’
shock.
What historical events inspired
Milgram’s work?
What more recent events does the work
remind you of?
Milgram’s
Obedience
Experiment
What is the role of fear in this kind of
behavior?
Stereotyping
A mental trick we use to fill in gaps in our
knowledge
If I don’t know many _______ people, where will
my ideas about them come from?
Stereotyping
Stereotypes are not necessarily ‘negative’ – but what are
some flaws with stereotyping as a strategy for
understanding the world?
Magnify differences – we focus on what’s
different between “them” and “us”
Self-fulfilling; self-supporting - we notice what
fits, and ignore the rest
Hide differences – we focus on what’s the
same about all of “them”
Prejudice =
Negative Stereotype +
Strong Negative Feeling
Where does prejudice come from?
•Often a strategy for dealing with fear – homophobia,
economic insecurity
•‘We take care of our own’ – social evolutionary function?
•Economic/political function – Those in power maintain
power by claiming those without power are inferior (what kind
of attribution are these powerful people making????)
Irrational: Unable to ‘hear’ information that contradicts the belief
Prejudice
What happens to prejudice
when the economy is bad?
Why?