Unit 14:Social Psychology

Introduction

• Social Psychology– Studies how thoughts, behavior, and emotion are

influence by social factors.

Conformity

• Conformity–voluntarily yielding to social norms,

even at the expense of one’s preferences.

Solomon Asch conformity experiment

• Demonstrated under some circumstances people will conform to group pressure even if it forces them to deny obvious physical evidence

• Method• Results: Conformed 35% of the time

Asch Conformity Experiment

• Repeated studies showed that it only took one person to go against the group to have the participant to also do so!

Conformity• Chameleon effect:

–Unconsciously mimicking other’s expressions, postures, and voice tones, coughing

–Mood linkage–Even as far as rubbing your

own face

Attributing Behavior to Persons or to Situations

Fundamental attribution error

the tendency to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition when observing others

Fundamental Attribution error

• Someone trips on the way into school – They are clumsy

• You trip on the way into school – It was icy

• Someone gets a low score on the Psychology exam – They are stupid or they didn’t study

• You get a low score – The test was difficult

Fundamental Attribution error example Jill Carroll – American freelance journalist kept

captive in Baghdad for 82 days – 2006. Kidnappers gave the United States 72 hours to release all female prisoners in Iraq said if they did not they would kill her. In a video made Jill praised her captors as “good people fighting an honorable fight” and denounced the United States. Observers disregarded the situational pressures and concluded she was a traitor. She explained later they told her if she didn’t do it she would die and if she did they would let her go.

Fundamental Attribution error example

Shawn Hornbeck – kidnapped Missouri boy held captive for four years – released in 2007 – people wondered why he didn’t escape –dispositional. Why didn’t he make an effort to escape?

Persuasion

• The Foot-in-the-Door Phenomenon

Request something small, once someone agrees request something bigger

• "Can I go over to Suzy's house for an hour?" followed by "Can I stay the night?"

• "Can I borrow the car to go to the store?" followed by "Can I borrow the car for the weekend?"

• "May I turn in the paper a few hours late?" followed by "May I turn it in next week?“

Foot-in the-door phenomenon/low-ball techniqueExample

• Car salesman • First propose an attractive price on an idea/item which

you are confident that the other person/buyer will accept.

• Maximize their buy-in, in particular by getting both verbal and public commitment to this, e.g., a down payment or a handshake.

• Make it clear that the decision to purchase is of their own free will.

• Change the agreement to what you really want. The person/buyer may complain, but they should agree to the change if the low-ball is managed correctly.

Foot in the doorClassic experiment

• Asked students to participate in an experiment.

56% agreed, before being told that the experiment started at 7:00 AM. They then told the volunteers that the study was scheduled at 7:00 AM, and the volunteers could withdraw if they wished. None did so, and 95% turned up at the scheduled time (the foot-in-the door group).

• When a control group was asked to participate and were told the timing of the experiment up front, only 24% agreed to participate

(Cialdini, Cacioppo, Bassett, and Miller, 1978)

Persuasion

• Door-in-the face phenomenon Ask for something big you know you will not get and then lower your request

• Can I go stay at my friends cabin after prom for the weekend? – Just for one night?

• Can I borrow $100 – What about $20?

Actions Affect Attitudes• Role-Playing Affects AttitudesStanford Prison Experiment

Read article and answer Questions

Day 5: Social Psychology

• Go over Stanford Prison experiment • Most Recently: “The brutality comes amid a statewide outbreak

of prison violence that has some Georgia institutions teetering on the brink of anarchy”

"Things seem to be spiraling out of control," "We are seeing mass chaos, essentially, in many of the prisons."

Cognitive dissonance theory

• When our thoughts do not align with our behavior it creates internal tension so we change one of them (usually thoughts)

• We do not like it when our behaviors and cognitions don’t match up. So we change one of them

Examples: 1. The conflict: It is important for her to be with a man who

is financially secure and matureShe is dating a man who is financially unstable.What can she do?

Either dump him or change her values of financial stability – may emphasize other positive characteristics of him while downplaying importance of financial stability

2. You smoke but you value your health

Cognitive Dissonance – the justification of effort

• Fraternity and sorority pledging – Hell week • One pledge was told to dig his “own grave” after he

complied with others to lie flat in the finished hole the sides collapsed and suffocated him before his fraternity brothers could dig him out.

• Another pledge chocked to death after repeatedly trying to swallow a large slab of raw liver soaked in oil.

• Broke a bone in each foot when he was required to keep his feet under the rear legs of a folding chair while the heaviest fraternity brother sat down and drank a beer

• Why do hazing activities persist? - increase commitment – As a result of their efforts, new fraternity members

may find the group more attractive and worth while.

Lessons From the Conformity and Obedience Studies• Ordinary people being corrupted by

an evil situation–Ordinary soldiers who follow orders to

torture prisoners–Ordinary students who follow orders to

haze – Had to decide between morals not to hurt someone

and morals not to disobey someone– Used foot in door phenomenon – Now that we know this we should take responsibility

in our actions

Conformity and ObedienceObedience

• Obedience–Milgram’s studies

on obedience• Procedure

• Results

• Ethics– Milgram experiment replicated – Would you obey a stranger?

Group InfluenceIndividual Behavior in the Presence of Others

• Deindividuation• When group participation makes people feel

anonymous • Glenbrook hazing

How others influence individuals helping

Bystander Effect • Read article and answer questions Real life example

Prisoners Dilemma • Two men are arrested, but the police do not possess enough

information for a conviction. Following the separation of the two men, the police offer both a similar deal—if one testifies against his partner (defects/betrays), and the other remains silent (cooperates/assists), the betrayer goes free and the cooperator receives the full one-year sentence.

• If both remain silent, both are sentenced to only one month in jail for a minor charge.

• If each 'rats out' the other, each receives a three-month sentence. Each prisoner must choose either to betray or remain silent; the decision of each is kept quiet. What should they do?

• the usual outcome of the prisoners dilemma show we are an

individualistic society

• Individualistic Society– promote one's own goals and desires over the

groups, value and praise independence. • Collectivist Society

– stresses the priority of group goals over individual goals . Value and praise cohesion and sacrifice within a society.