MIT Spark 2013: Social Psychology Instructor: Mr. Rosen.

MIT Spark 2013:Social Psychology Instructor: Mr. Rosen

What Is Social Psychology?

What Is Social Psychology?

Any ideas?

Social psychology: the scientific study of how individuals’ feelings, thoughts and behaviors are influenced by other people

EXAMPLES OF QUESTIONS SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGISTS WOULD ANSWER:

When is a person most likely to conform? What determines romantic attraction? How are individuals persuaded? What are factors that lead to the bystander effect?

How Cool Is Social Psychology?

Change Blindness:

1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBPG_OBgTWg

2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diGV83xZwhQ

Issues in Social Psychology

1. Conformity

2. Bystander Effect

3. Obedience

4. Persuasion

5. Attribution Theory

6. Attraction

CONFORMITY

What is conformity? 1. Conformity: the tendency of one person to

change his/her perceptions, opinions and behaviors in ways that are consistent with group norms

--We all conform to social norms- unwritten rules of social behavior; it’s hard to violate them

Types of Conformity

--2 types of conformity:

1. Compliance- going along with the influence publicly but remaining unconvinced in private (PUBLIC CONFORMITY)

2. Internalization- privately becoming convinced of the idea; internalizing the conformity (PRIVATE CONFORMITY)

Why Do People Conform?

1. Informational influences: people conform because they want to be correct- look to others for the right answer

EX) An example could be choosing to eat at a busier restaurant opposed to the empty one, or imitating the locals when outside your

country. 2. Normative influences- people conform because they

want to be accepted by a groupEX) An example is laughing at a joke you

don't understand, or agreeing with an opinion you believe others have.

Conformity Experiments

1. Jenness

Bean Experiment

Conformity Experiments

2. Asch Experiment

Results of Asch Experiment

RESULTS: On average, about one third (32%) of the participants who were placed in this situation went along and conformed with the clearly incorrect majority on the critical trials. Over the 12 critical trials about 75% of participants conformed at least once and 25% of participant never conformed.

CONCLUSION: Why did the participants conform so readily? When they were interviewed after the experiment, most of them said that they did not really believe their conforming answers, but had gone along with the group for fear of being ridiculed or thought "peculiar". A few of them said that they really did believe the group's answers were correct.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=iRh5qy09nNw

Factors That Influence Conformity

4 FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE CONFORMITY:1. Group Size- conformity increases with group size (until 7 people then it decreases)2. A Focus On Norms: social norms influence conformity- conformity is affected by the environment as well; people are more likely to litter in a dirty parking lot than a clean one3. Having An Ally: Having 1 ally decreases conformity significantly- in Asch study, 1 ally decreased conformity by 80%; it is difficult for people to stand alone in their convictions; any dissent can ‘break the spell’ cast by a unanimous majority and reduce the normative pressures to conform4. Gender Differences- women conform more than men; a study was done, asking man and woman gender-neutral topics and then telling them the percent of people who answered what- more women conformed to the answers than men

Reducing Conformity1. Talking about preferences rather than facts

2. To have dissenters- 1 ally decreases conformity.

SUMMARY: Is This Conformity?

1. Peter goes out to dinner with his wife Lois and does not know whether his fork goes on the left or the right side of the plate. He looks around the room and adjusts his plate accordingly.


2. At a pep rally, Stewie stands up to give the football team a rousing ovation. Meg refuses to stand up, until the entire audience stands, at which point she does, as well.


3. Everyone in Brian’s English class has a MacBook. When Christmas comes around, Brian insists that his family buy him a Dell computer

so he can be different than his friends.

BYSTANDER EFFECT--Bystander Effect- the effect

where the presence of others in an emergency inhibits helping

--Kitty Genovese Incident- woman is stabbed repeatedly and raped as she screams for help in street- 38 neighbors heard but no one intervened and she died***In an emergency, the more

people present, the less of a chance one will intervene.***

Reasons for the Bystander Effect

1) Ambiguous Situation- it’s unclear if person is in danger2) Pluralistic Ignorance- since no one else is doing anything,

people think that they should not intervene- Ex) teacher asks if anyone has a question- since no one raises their hand, you don’t raise your hand because you assume no one has a question

3) Diffusion of Responsibility- the belief that others will or should take the responsible for providing assistance to a person in need- you feel less responsible since there’s a lot of other people doing the same thing as you

4) Audience Inhibition- reluctance to help others for fear of making a bad impression on observers/embarrassing yourself in front of others

5) Lack of competence- People do not think they’re fit to be handling emergency situation

Women In Distress Study Women-In-Distress Study: Subjects came to lab to

participate in study; 1 X 3 experiment, 3 levels- subject alone, subject with friend, subject with apathetic confederate; tape recording of women falling from bookcase is played

--Subject alone helped 70% of the time

--Subject with friend helped 70% of the time--Subject with confederate helped 7% of the time

What To Do In An Emergency

--In an emergency situation, we should do 5 things:

1) Notice the problem

2) Interpret event as an emergency

3) Take responsibility for providing help

4) Decide how to help

5) Provide help

Combating the Bystander Effect

1. Counteract the ambiguity of the situation by making it clear you need help.

2. Reduce the diffusion of responsibility by singling out particular individuals for help.

3. [If you’re an onlooker] Counter pluralistic ignorance by saying: “I think that person’s hurt!”

Factors that Influence the Bystander Effect

1. Time pressure- when we’re in a hurry, we fail to notice others who need help2. Location and helping- a large-city has characteristics that reduces help to strangers- cities produce stimulus overload- too much going on for us to notice3. Culture and helping- collectivist cultures lead to more helping, individualist cultures lead to less helping4. Moods and helping- people are more likely to help someone when they’re in a good mood; good mood effect: the effect where a good mood increases helping behavior

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIvGIwLcIuw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSsPfbup0ac

SUMMARY: Bystander Effect You are taking a math exam

during the afternoon when all of a sudden, you hear a boy

screaming out in pain from the hallway calling out: “Someone help me! I need help!” Everyone else in your class, including your teacher, does

not seem to react to this.1. Why is no one doing anything?2. What can you do in that

situation?

OBEDIENCEWhy did you obey?

Obedience

People are inclined to obey authority

Obedience is a behavior change produced by the commands of authority

The topic of obedience became popular after the Holocaust and the trials of Nazi leaders, like Adolf Eichmann

Milgram Experiment

Milgram’s research on obedience to authority is the most famous and most controversial in the history of psychology.

Milgram constructed a lab setting that required people to inflict increasing amounts of pain to an innocent man.

Subject in experiment meets 2 men, a victim who he must shock and an experimenter who he must obey; subject is told he is participating in a study showing the effects of punishment on learning- subject must read a list of words to the victim and shock him on every wrong answer and then shock him on every answer

The procedure was designed to test obedience- it consisted of ordering a naive subject to administer electric shock to a victim; the instrument ranged from slight shock to severe shock

Results of Milgram Experiment

RESULTS: Subjects were convinced of the reality of the situation, that the shocks they were administering to the learner were extremely painful; subjects showed signs of nervousness upon administering the shocks- 14/40 had nervous fits

14 subjects were defiant, 26 subjects were obedient and went all the way to 450 Volts

***65% of subjects in the Milgram experiment went all the way***

Conclusions Drawn from Milgram Experiment

1. Obedient tendencies are very strong; 26 subjects followed the instructions of an authority who had no way to enforce his orders

2. Obedience overrides subjects’ moral values- they disapproved of shocking an innocent man but did it anyway

3. Extraordinary tension is present in situations like this.

Why Did Subjects Obey?

1. Objectivity and authority of the experimenter

2. Experimenter held himself accountable- told participants that they were not responsible and this increased obedience

3. Fairness of the experiment- subjects believed both him/her and the victim were subjects and they both had an equal chance of being the victim and shocker

4. Legitimacy of experiment- took place at lab at university.

How Can Obedience Be Reduced?

1. Presence of dissenter; in experiment with 2 experimenters, one dissents and the subject stops shocking the victim.

2. Distance from victim: if victim is very close, the subject stops shocking.

3. Milgram changed experiment- no longer was it in a lab setting, it was in a run-down office and obedience decreased to 40%- this shows authority status of the experiment was significant.

SUMMARY: Obedience Joe Swanson wants to play

a prank on some of the rookie cops at the Quahog Police Station. He sends them to a nearby jail cell to cook dinner for some of the model prisoners. Based on what you know about obedience, will the rookie cops do this and why?

PERSUASION--Persuasion: changing

people’s attitudes or behaviors by using language

--Persuasion is used in business and marketing, advertising, politics, litigation, and every facet of life

Strategies of Persuasion

1. Foot in the Door Technique- persuading others to agree to a small request makes them more likely to agree to a bigger one

Study on Foot in the Door Technique: someone says they’re promoting safe driving campaign in California- asked to put billboards in backyard- 20% agree, but when asked to put a sticker on window first, 76% agree to the billboard .

***This shows asking for a small favor before a big favor gets your foot in the door.***

Strategies of Persuasion2. Door in the Face Technique- asking someone for a

ridiculous request first and then asking for a smaller requestEX) “Mom, can I take a road trip across the

country with my friends?” “No.”“Can I drive down to 7-11 with my friends

and get a slurpee?”“Sure honey. Go right ahead.”


3. Low Ball Technique- Any situation in which someone gets you to agree to an attractive offer even after removing the incentive

Energy Consumption Study: researchers mailed out letters telling people what they can do to lower energy consumption - they included incentive- said anybody who can cut their energy by 10% would get their name in the paper- it worked and there was a 12.2% decrease in energy consumption in the neighborhood

They sent out another letter saying: “we can’t continue to put your names in the paper;” they remove the incentive and the people still continued to reduce energy consumption- it went down to 15% decrease.

***This is because of low-balling- after attractive incentive was removed, people still did it because they were psychologically committed to it.***


4. That’s Not All Technique- influencer begins with an inflated request and it seems less ridiculous because he offers discounts or bonuses

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piFaTt4VXgg

Other Weapons of Persuasion1. Reciprocity- people are obliged to

give back to others if they have received

EX) If a friend invites you to his or her party, you are likely to invite him or her to your party

2. Liking- people are easily persuaded by other people whom they like

EX) Celebrity endorsements

3. Scarcity- “For a limited time only” generates demand

SUMMARY: Persuasion If you are a real estate agent and you need to convince me to buy a house, what strategies would you use to do it?

ATTRIBUTION THEORY

Attribution: how we explain behavior to other people

TYPES OF ATTRIBUTIONS

1. Dispositional Attributions: attribution to internal characteristics of an actor such as ability, personality, mood or effort

2. Situational Attributions- attributions to factors external to an actor (situations)

Fundamental Attribution Error

Fundamental Attribution Error: when we make attributions for other people’s behavior, we focus too much on dispositional factors and not enough on situational factors; however, when we make attributions for our own behavior, we focus on the situation and not on dispositional factors

EX) Your friend fails a test- “he’s an idiot.” You fail a test: “the teacher didn’t do a good

job explaining the material… the test was unfair…”

Other Examples of Fundamental Attribution Error

1. You are walking into school and the person in front of you does not hold the door- you tell yourself the person is incredibly rude and careless. In reality, the person has had a very rough day.

2. Your co-worker receives a promotion, and you assume it is because he is favored by the manager or because the person is just plain lucky. If you receive a promotion, though, it’s because you’re qualified for the job.

3. On a specific day a waitress is talking rudely to her customers. The customers now think that she is a really bad person. What the customers don't realize is that usually most people find the waitress friendly but today the waitress is experiencing one of the hardest days in her life. Her husband just left her for another woman, and she just lost her son in a car wreck.

Why Do We Use the Fundamental Attribution Error?

1. Saves time and effort- cognitive heuristic- we don’t know others’ situations or contexts and so we judge their characters because it’s easier

2. Satisfies our belief that the world is fair and we have control over our lives (just world phenomenon)

Self-Serving Bias--Self-serving bias- when individuals attribute their

successes to personal factors but attribute their failures to external or situational factors

Actor-Observer Bias

--Similar to Fundamental Attribution Error--Actor-Observer Bias- we put too much weight on situational

factors and too little weight on dispositional factors for ourselves

Rating Friends Study: Subjects asked to rate themselves, their best friend, father and Walter Cronkite- you had 3 options- talkative, quiet and “depends on the situation”--Subjects used depends on the situation the most for ourselves**We see ourselves as variable and others as consistent.**

Objective Self-Awareness

--In most cases, we have subjective self-awareness- we hear our voices, we see our hands but we don’t see ourselves

Cheating Study: Subjects are given difficult anagrams and are told it’s an IQ test- experimenter says take 5 minutes and then stop- he leaves the room --2 conditions- mirror faces subject and mirror faces away from subject---DV is to what extent people stop taking test after 5 minutes--Mirror condition: 7% of people cheat; no mirror condition: 71% of people cheat

***People don’t cheat with mirror there, because they don’t want to have to blame themselves.***

SUMMARY: Attribution Theory

ATTRACTION

CLARK AND HATFIELD- Sex with a Stranger Study--Male or Female asks a stranger

1- Do you want a date (50/50 males and females yes)2. Do you want to go back to my apartment (69 male percent/9 percent female yes)3. Do you want to have sex (75 percent male, 0 percent female yes)--As the probability of sex increases, female interest decreases and male interest increases

What Kind of People Should We Be Attracted To?

--Physical attractiveness is a characteristic that suggests fertility and health.--Men look for cues that indicate reproductive viability

--Men, on average, tend to be attracted to women who are shorter than they are, have a youthful appearance, and exhibit features such as a symmetrical face, full breasts, full lips, and wide hips.--Women look for men who are strong and can protect their offspring

--Women on average, tend to be attracted to men who are taller than they are, display a high-degree of facial symmetry, and who have broad shoulders, a relatively narrow waist, and V-shaped torso.

Other Factors of Attraction

1. Proximity: People are more likely to become friends with people who are geographically close. One explanation for this is the mere exposure effect. The mere exposure effect refers to people’s tendency to like novel stimuli more if they encounter them repeatedly.

2. Similarity: People also tend to pick partners who are similar to themselves in characteristics such as age, race, religion, social class, personality, education, intelligence, and attitude.

3. Reciprocity: People tend to like others who reciprocate their liking.

2 Factor Theory of Arousal

Schachter-Singer Two Factor Theory- we decide what we’re feeling from physiological arousal (rapid heartbeat, sweating, etc) and situational information

1. 2. 3.

Misattribution of Arousal

--Since we perceive physiological changes to our body first, we can misattribute where these changes are coming from.

Misattribution of Arousal Study 1/2 participants run across fear imposing bridge, ½ cross harmless

bridge; all subjects stopped by attractive confederate, Gloria/Tom or an ordinary man- shown image from ink blot and asked what they see; afterwards, the confederate gives the subject her phone number- call to talk if interested

With fear-imposing bridge, more subjects were likely to call Gloria after the experiment.

WHY? They were aroused from the fear of the bridge and misattributed this to

mean they were attracted to Gloria. This is why it’s better to take a girl to see a scary movie than a

romantic dinner! Because she will become scared – heart beating, blood pumping fast– and will think this is because she likes you.

Another Misattribution of Arousal Study

--Men come to lab and look at Playboy magazine--Experimenters hook you up to machine to monitor your arousal--They tell men they are going to be able to hear their heart rate measured out loud--What you hear is not your actual heart rate- it’s a tape recording of a fast or slow heart--Subjects rated the pictures are more attractive when they heard a fast heartbeat than if they heard a slow heartbeat--This is misattribution of arousal- when subjects heard fast heartbeat, they thought they were getting excited because the girl was attractive

Can People Be Too Attractive?

The Pratfall Effect- we might like attractive people more if they show their weaknesses or make mistakes because it makes them look human STUDY ON PRATFALL EFFECT--Subjects listen to a tape recording of a trivia competition--2 independent variables: competence of contestant and what happens at the end of the tape

--Competence of contestant: highly competent contestant on audio tape who answers all questions correctly, and

incompetent contestant who answers every question incorrectly--What happens at the end: contestant spills coffee on himself at the end (pratfall), or nothing and the competition

ends--Subjects must listen to the tape and rate how much they like each contestant

Pratfall Effect Study Results

RESULTS: The highly competent contestant was very well-liked, but even more well-liked with a pratfall (spilling coffee on himself)--The incompetent was disliked and even more disliked with the pratfall***The pratfall effect exaggerates

our initial tendencies- if it’s someone we like, we think “they’re just like me” and like them more. If

it’s someone we dislike, we think “what a loser” and dislike them

more.***

Pratfall Effect in Everyday Life

SUMMARY: Attraction

In your Phys. Ed class, you are forced to go rock climbing with a girl who you dislike. After rock-climbing with her though, you feel as if you like her. Is this genuine?

So What?

Conformity affects every social situation; a dissenter reduces the effect of conformity.

The bystander effect is a factor whenever there is an emergency and more than two people are present; it can be combated by reducing diffusion of responsibility and assigning roles.

Obedience can drive people to extremes. Strategies of persuasion can be exploited in a personal and

professional setting to convince others to do what you want. We all fall victim due to the fundamental attribution error and

self-serving bias. Oftentimes, we think we are attracted to people that we are not

due to misattribution of the source of arousal; the pratfall effect exaggerates our likeness or hatred for someone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gutCFMc5khY

Thank You!

Ricky Rosen

[email protected]

[email protected]

MIT Spark 2013: Social Psychology Instructor: Mr. Rosen.

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