Social Psychology Unit

• 1-2 tests & dates

• Variety of activities

• Objective & outline for unit posted on website

True or False

1. Most people would refuse to obey an authority figure who told them to hurt an innocent person.

2. Studies of college & professional athletic events indicate that home teams win about 6 in 10 games.

3. Individuals pull harder in a team tug-of-war than when they pull in a one-on-one tug-of-war.

Questions

1. Does his absenteeism signify illness, laziness, a stressful work atmosphere?

2. Was the horror of 9/11 the work of crazed evil people or ordinary people corrupted by life events.

3. What drives people to do good or evil?

Social Psychology Unit

Social ThinkingSocial thinking involves thinking about others, especially when they engage in

doing things that are unexpected.

Social Thinking

Social Psychology scientific study of how we think about,

influence, and relate to one another

Social Thinking Attribution Theory:

Fritz Heider (1958) suggested that we have a tendency to give causal explanations for someone’s behavior, often by crediting either the situation or the person’s disposition.

Social Thinking Fundamental Attribution Error

tendency for observers, when analyzing another’s behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition

Examples: Fatal Attraction, 9/11, Nazi officials, ex.@ Williams college

Consequences to attribution

How we explain someone’s behavior affects how we react to it

Negative behavior

Situational attribution“Maybe that driver is ill.”

Dispositional attribution“Crazy driver!”

Tolerant reaction(proceed cautiously, allowdriver a wide berth)

Unfavorable reaction(speed up and race past theother driver, give a dirty look)

Social Thinking

Actor-observer biasObserver - when another person acts, our

focus is on the person (disposition)

Actor - When we act, however the environment commands our attention (situation)

Solutions

• Switch roles! If perspectives can be reversed, attributions also change.

Social Thinking

Attitude belief and feeling that predisposes one to

respond in a particular way to objects, people and events

Attitudes & Actions

• Cheating example p.5 TRM

• When we feel self-conscious, we are truer to our convictions

Do our attitudes guide our actions?

Attitudes will guide actions if:– 1. Outside influences are minimal– 2. Attitude is relevant to behavior (running

example)– 3. Attitude that comes quickly to mind

Social Thinking Our behavior is affected by our inner attitudes

as well as by external social influences

Internalattitudes

Externalinfluences

Behavior

Social Thinking

Attitudes follow behavior

Cooperative actions feed mutual liking

Do our actions affect our attitude?

• People come to believe what they stand up for

• Attitudes follow behavior

Demo M53

• 1 = strongly disagree 5 = strongly agree

1. World hunger is a serious problem that needs attention

2. Our country needs to address the growing # of homeless

1 = strongly disagree 5 = strongly agree

3. The right to vote is one of the most valuable right of American citizens

4. Our government should spend less $ on nuclear weapons and more on helping citizens better their lives

Demo M53 continued

1. Do you do anything to personally to lessen world hunger?

2. Do you personally do anything to help the homeless?

3. Did you vote in the last election if you were eligible?

4. Do you personally convey your feelings to the government?

Social Thinking Cognitive Dissonance Theory

we act to reduce the discomfort (dissonance) we feel when two of our thoughts (cognitions) are inconsistent

Leon Festinger

Social Thinking Cognitive dissonance

Situation• You have volunteered to participate in a psychology

experiment on campus. Upon arrival, you were seated at a table and asked to undertake a series of dull, meaning less tasks for about an hour. Afterward, the experimenter convinced you to extol the virtues of the tasks you had performed by describing them to other potential participants as highly worthwhile, interesting, and educational. You are paid either $1 or $20 to do this. You are asked to privately rate your enjoyment of the tasks on a survey. After which amount do you believe your actual enjoyment rating of the tasks would be higher?

• TRM p.7

3 concepts that illustrate the influence of actions on

attitudes• 1. Foot-in-the-door - start with small

requests and more to larger requests– Low balling ( car dealer technique)– Write it down– Can have both +/- effects– Ex. Of brainwashing with Korean war

POWs

3 concepts that illustrate the influence of actions on

attitudes• 2. Role play (Zimbardo exp.)

• 3. Cognitive dissonance

• Others: not in text– Primacy effect - 1st impression bias– Reciprocity - given a small gift, you feel like

you need to give back

Tom Sawyer assignment

• Properly label assignment on piece of paper: Title, Name, Site, Hour

• Use complete sentences.• Clearly explain how Ben experiences

cognitive dissonance.• Clearly explain how Tom uses foot-in-the-

door. • Be specific and include examples from the

story to explain your answer.

Social Thinking Cognitive Dissonance Theory

we act to reduce the discomfort (dissonance) we feel when two of our thoughts (cognitions) are inconsistent

Leon Festinger

Social Thinking Foot-in-the-Door Phenomenon

tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request

Ex. Korean war pows, sales techniques

Low balling Write-it-down technique

Social Thinking Role - set of expectations about a social

position Role play influences actions & attitudes

Ex. Philip Zimbardo prison experiment Role play Power of the situation is stronger then the

individual

Zimbardo’s prison experiment

• Focus of study was the consequences of prisons life

• 1971• Stanford University• Phillip Zimbardo

Add on to the back of your Quiet Rage Guide

Phillip Zimbardo did eventually end the experiment. Make a list of lessons learn from this experiment?

What applications can be made from what was learned in this experiment or what relevance is there for an experiment like this one?

Zimbardo’s prison experiment

Conclusions:– Role play - people took on their roles and

the situation became real– Role play influences actions & attitudes

– Power of the situation is stronger then the individual

3 concepts that illustrate the influence of actions on

attitudes1. Foot-in-the-door

2. Role play

3. Cognitive dissonance

Experiments & Names

• Leon Festinger - Cog. Dis

• Fritz Heider - Attrib.

• Philip Zimbardo - Prison exp., role play

Answer the following questions:

1. Psychologists who study how we think about and influence, & relate to one another are called ?

2. Most people tend to _____ the extent to which people’s actions are influenced by social situations because their attention is focused on the person.

3. #2 is referred to as the ____________4. Heider proposed what theory?5. Give an example of the consequences of

attributions