Social Psychology

Chapter 14

Social psychology – The branch of psychology that studies the effects of social variables and cognitions on individual behavior and social interactions

Social context – The combination of

• The activities and interactions among people
• The setting in which behavior occurs, and
• The expectations and social norms governing behavior in that setting

Situationism – The view that environmental conditions influence people’s behavior as much or more than their personal dispositions do


Social role – One of several socially defined patterns of behavior that are expected of persons in a given setting or group

Script – Knowledge about the sequence of events and actions that is expected in a particular setting

Conformity - changing your behavior or opinions to match those of your group


Ashe identifies three factors that influence whether a person will yield to pressure:

• The size of the majority
• The presence of a partner who dissented from the majority
• The size of the discrepancy between the correct answer and the majority position

In “groupthink,” members of the group attempt to conform their opinions to what each believes to be the consensus of the group

Conditions likely to promote groupthink include:

• Isolation of the group
• High group cohesiveness
• Directive leadership
• Lack of norms requiring methodical procedures
• Homogeneity of members’ social background and ideology
• High stress from external threats with low hope of a better solution than that of the group leader

Obedience to authority


In Milgram’s experiment

• The victim was an actor
• The victim receive no actual shocks
• Nevertheless, this controversial experiment demonstrated how powerful effects of obedience to authority
• Situational factors, and not personality variables, appeared to effect people’s levels of obedience

Diffusion of responsibility – Dilution or weakening of each group member’s obligation to act when responsibility is perceived to be shared with all group members

Interpersonal attraction

Reward theory of attraction – A social learning view that says we like best those who give us maximum rewards at minimum cost

Matching hypothesis – Prediction that most people will find friends and mates that are about their same level of attractiveness

Cognitive dissonance – A highly motivating state in which people have conflicting cognitions, especially when their voluntary actions conflict with their attitudes



Fundamental attribution error – Tendency to emphasize internal causes and ignore external pressures

Self-serving bias – Attributional pattern in which one takes credit for success but denies responsibility for failure

Prejudice – A negative attitude toward an individual based solely on his or her membership in a particular group

Discrimination – A negative action taken against an individual as a result of his or her group membership

In-group – The group with which an individual identifies

Out-group – Those outside the group with which an individual identifies

Social distance – The perceived difference or similarity between oneself and another person

Scapegoating

Combating prejudice

Research suggests that the possible tools for combating prejudice include:

• New role models
• Equal status contact
• Legislation

In the Robber’s Cave experiment, conflict between groups arose from an intensely competitive situation


Cooperation, however, replaced conflict when the experimenters contrived situations that fostered mutual interdependence and common goals for the groups