©2002 prentice hall behavior in social and cultural context chapter 8

©2002 Prentice Hall

Behavior in Social and Cultural Context

Chapter 8


Behavior in Social and Cultural Context Roles and rules Social influences on beliefs Individuals in groups Us versus them: Group identity Group conflicts and prejudice


Roles and Rules Defining norms and roles The obedience study. The prison study. The power of roles.


Defining Roles and Rules Norms

Rules that regulate human life, including social conventions, explicit laws, and implicit cultural standards.

Role A given social position that is governed by a set of

norms for proper behavior. Culture

A program of shared rules that govern the behavior of members of a community or society, and

A set of values, beliefs and attitudes shared by most members of that community.


The Obedience Study Stanley Milgram and coworkers investigated

whether people would follow orders, even when the order violated their ethical standards.

Most people were far more obedient than anyone expected. Every single participant complied with at least some

orders to shock another person. 2/3 shocked the learner to the full extent.

Results are controversial and have generated much research on violence and obedience.


Factors Leading to Disobedience in Milgram’s study

When the experimenter left the room. When the victim was in the same room. When the experimenter issued conflicting

demands. When the person ordering them to continue

was an ordinary man. When the subject worked with peers who

refused to go on.


The Prison Study Subjects were physically and mentally healthy

young men who volunteered to participate for money.

They were randomly assigned to be prisoners or guards.

Those assigned the role of prisoner became distressed, helpless, and panicky.

Those assigned the roles of guards became either nice, “tough but fair,” or tyrannical.

Study had to be ended after 6 days.


The Power of Roles

Factors that cause people to obey: Allocating responsibility to the authority. Routinizing the task. Wanting to be polite. Becoming entrapped.

Entrapment: A gradual process in which individuals escalate their commitment to a course of action to justify their investment of time, money, or effort.


Social Influences on Beliefs Defining social cognition. Attributions. Attitudes.


Social Cognition An area in social psychology concerned

with social influences on thought, memory, perception, and other cognitive processes.

Researcher are interested in how people’s perceptions of themselves and others affect: Their relationships, thoughts, beliefs and

values.


Attributions Attribution Theory The theory that people are

motivated to explain their own and other peoples’ behavior by attributing causes of that behavior to a situation or a disposition.

Fundamental Attribution Error Tendency in explaining

others’ behaviors to overestimate personality factors and underestimate situational influence.


Attributions

Self-serving bias Tendency, in explaining own behavior, to

take credit for one’s good actions and rationalize one’s mistakes.

Just-world hypothesis The notion that many people need to believe

that the world is fair and that justice is served Bad people are punished and good people

rewarded.


Attitudes A relatively stable opinion containing beliefs and

emotional feelings about a topic. Explicit

We are aware of them, they shape conscious decisions

Implicit We are unaware of them, they may influence our

behavior in ways we do not recognize.


Factors Influencing Attitude Change Change in social environment Change in behaviors. Due to a need for consistency.

Cognitive Dissonance A state of tension that occurs when a person

simultaneously holds two cognitions that are psychologically inconsistent, or

when a person’s belief is incongruent with his or her behavior.


Influencing Attitudes

Effective ways to influence attitudes

Endorsement by an attractive or admired person

Repetition of an idea or assertion (validity effect)

Association of message with a

good feeling


Coercive Persuasion Person is under physical or emotional duress. Person’s problems are reduced to one simple

explanation, repeated often. Leader offers unconditional love, acceptance, and

attention. New identity based on group is created. Person is subjected to entrapment. Person’s access to information is controlled.


Individuals in Groups Conformity. Groupthink. The anonymous crowd. Disobedience and dissent.


Conformity Subjects in a group were asked to match line lengths. Confederates in the group picked wrong line. Subjects went along with wrong answer 37% of trials. Meta-analyses demonstrates that conformity has

decreased in US since 1950. May be due to social norms. Individualistic v.s. Collectivist cultures.

A B CTest line


Groupthink In close-knit groups, the tendency for all members to

think alike and suppress disagreement for the sake of harmony.

Symptoms of groupthink include Illusion of invincibility. Self-censorship. Pressure on dissenters to conform. Illusion of unanimity.

Groupthink can be counteracted by: Creating conditions rewarding dissent Basing decision on majority rule.


The Anonymous Crowd Diffusion of Responsibility

In organized or anonymous groups, the tendency of members to avoid taking responsibility for actions or decisions because they assume that others will do so.

Bystander apathy People fail to call for help when others are near.

Social loafing. When people work less in the presence of others,

allowing others to work harder.


Deindividuation

In groups or crowds, the loss of awareness of one’s own individuality.

Factors influencing deindividuation. Size of city, group. Uniforms or masks.

Deindividuation can influence unlawful as well as friendly behaviors. Depends on norms of the specific situation.


Disobedience and Dissent Situational factors contributing to

nonconformity: You perceive the need for intervention or help. Situation makes it more likely that you will take

responsibility. Cost-benefit ratio supports your decision to get

involved. You have an ally. You become entrapped.


Helping by Culture


Group Conflict and Prejudice Defining ethnocentrism Group Identity: Us versus them Stereotypes Prejudice


Ethnocentrism The belief that one’s own ethnic group,

nation, or religion is superior to all others. Aids survival by making people feel

attached to their own group and willing to work on their group’s behalf.


Group Identity: Us versus Them Social Identity

The part of a person’s self-concept that is based on identification with a nation, culture, or group or with gender or other roles in society.

Us versus them social identities are strengthened when groups compete with one another. Robber’s Cave studies


Robbers’ Cave Experiment

Boys were randomly separated into two groups “Rattlers” and “Eagles”

Competitions fostered hostility between the groups.

Experimenters contrived situations requiring cooperation for success.

Cross-group friendships increased.


Stereotypes Cognitive schemas or a summary impressions of a

group, in which a person believes that all members of the group share a common trait or traits (positive, negative, or neutral).

Allow us to quickly process new information and retrieve memories.

Distort reality in 3 ways. Exaggerate differences between groups. Produce selective perception. Underestimate differences between groups.


Prejudice The origins of prejudice. Defining an measuring prejudice. Reducing prejudice and conflict.


Origins of Prejudice Psychological functions.

People inflate own self worth by disliking groups they see as inferior.

Social and cultural functions. By disliking others we feel closer to others

who are like us. Economic functions.

Legitimizes unequal economic treatment.


Problems with Measuring Prejudice Not all people are prejudiced in the same way. People know they shouldn’t be prejudiced so

measures of prejudice have declined. Distinguishing between explicit and implicit

prejudice. Measuring implicit prejudice.

Measures of symbolic racism. Measures of behaviors rather than attitudes. Measures of unconscious associations with a target

group.


Measures of unconscious associations with the target group.


Reducing Prejudice and Conflict Groups must have equal legal status, economic

opportunities, and power. Authorities and community institutions must

endorse egalitarian norms and provide moral support and legitimacy for both sides.

Both sides must have opportunities to work and socialize together, formally and informally.

Both sides must cooperate, working together for a common goal.

©2002 prentice hall behavior in social and cultural context chapter 8

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