Intro to Social Psychology

Social Psychology Defined

• Scientific study of how individuals' thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the presence of others, whether real, imagined, or implied.
• Explores topics like social influence, group behavior, attitudes, stereotypes, conformity, and interpersonal relationships.

Nature vs. Nurture

• The nature/nurture debate questions whether behavior is primarily shaped by genetics (nature) or environment (nurture).
• Social psychology emphasizes nurture, highlighting the impact of social influences but acknowledging interactions between both.

Core Assumptions of Social Psychology

• Behavior is influenced by others, with social norms and expectations shaping actions even when alone.
• Situations significantly impact behavior, often outweighing personality traits.
• Cognition and perception matter because understanding social situations affects how people respond.
• Group dynamics shape identity, influencing self-concept and decisions.
• Culture and environment play a role in social behavior, which varies across different settings.

Zimbardo's Prison Experiment

• Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment (1971) examined the impact of social roles on behavior.
• College students were assigned roles as guards or prisoners in a simulated prison environment.
• Guards became abusive, and prisoners became submissive, which led to the early termination of the experiment.
• Conclusion: Situations, rather than just personality, can catalyze extreme behaviors.
• Power and authority can lead to cruel actions, supporting theories of conformity and deindividuation.

Criticisms of Zimbardo's Research

• Ethical concerns due to harmful conditions and absence of fully informed consent.
• Researcher bias because Zimbardo influenced participants, compromising objectivity.
• Lack of realism as participants may have acted based on stereotypes.
• Replicability issues, as recreations yielded inconsistent results.
• Overemphasis on situational factors, neglecting the roles of personality and free will.

Socialisation

• The process of learning societal norms, values, and behaviors.

Primary vs. Secondary Socialisation

• Primary socialisation: occurs early in childhood through family and caregivers, shaping basic beliefs and identity.
• Secondary socialisation: takes place later, via schools, peers, media, and work, refining social skills and roles.

Norms and Values

• Norms are social rules that guide behavior, like saying "thank you" or queuing.
• Values are shared beliefs about what is important, such as honesty, respect, or freedom.

Explicit vs. Implicit Norms & Values

• Explicit norms & values are clearly stated rules or expectations, like laws against theft or school dress codes.
• Implicit norms & values are unspoken but understood, like maintaining personal space.

Social Sanctions

• Rewards or punishments used to enforce norms and values.
• Positive sanctions: Rewards for following norms, like praise or promotions.
• Negative sanctions: Punishments for violating norms, like fines or social exclusion.

Agents of Socialisation

• Individuals, groups, or institutions that influence social development.
• Family: Teaches basic norms, values, and behaviors.
• Peers: Influence behavior, attitudes, and social skills.
• School: Provides education and reinforces societal norms.
• Media: Shapes views on culture, identity, and behavior.
• Workplace: Teaches professional norms and roles.

Social Constructs

• Ideas or concepts created and maintained by society rather than being inherent or natural.
• Gender roles: Expectations on how individuals should behave based on their sex.
• Race: Categories of people based on physical traits, lacking biological basis.
• Class: Social stratification based on wealth, education, and occupation.

Gender as a Social Construct

• Society shapes the meaning of "male" or "female" expectations, behaviors, and roles, rather than these roles being based on biology.
• Societal expectations of men being strong and women being nurturing are not biologically determined.

Conformity

• Altering one’s behavior, attitudes, or beliefs to align with others, often due to perceived or real social pressure.

Internalisation, Identification, and Compliance

• Internalisation: Adopting beliefs or behaviors matching personal values, leading to lasting change (e.g., environmentalism).
• Identification: Conforming to gain acceptance by a group, without fully agreeing with their values (e.g., joining a team and adopting its style to fit in).
• Compliance: Publicly agreeing to avoid conflict, without changing private beliefs (e.g., pretending to like something others like).

Informational vs. Normative Influence

• Informational influence: Conforming because others are believed to have accurate information, leading to changes in beliefs.
• Normative influence: Conforming to fit in or avoid social rejection, even without agreeing with the group's beliefs.

Sherif's Conformity Experiment

• Sherif's experiment (1935) involved participants observing a stationary light in a dark room, which seemed to move (autokinetic effect).
• When in groups, participants’ estimates of the light's movement converged, showing conformity.
• Conclusion: Demonstrates informational influence, where people conform when uncertain, believing others have more accurate data.

Asch's Conformity Experiment

• Asch’s experiment (1951) involved participants judging line lengths in a group, where confederates gave incorrect answers.
• Participants often conformed to the wrong answer, even when the correct one was obvious.
• Conclusion: Illustrates normative influence: people conform to avoid rejection or gain acceptance, even knowing the right answer.

Obedience

• Following orders from an authority figure, even if it conflicts with personal beliefs or moral values.

Milgram's Obedience Experiment

• Milgram's experiment (1961) tested participants administering electric shocks to a person when instructed by an authority.
• Many continued to administer shocks, even when hearing screams of pain.
• Conclusion: People tend to obey authority figures, even if it involves harming others.
• Highlights the power of authority and situational factors in driving obedience.

Milgram's Agentic State Theory

• People shift from autonomous individuals to "agents" following orders from an authority.
• In this state, they do not feel personally responsible for their actions, but rather see themselves as instruments of authority.
• Explains conformity as individuals defer responsibility to authority, leading them to obey commands.

Hofling's Hospital Experiment

• Nurses were instructed by a doctor to administer a higher dose of medication than allowed by hospital protocol.
• Most nurses complied, despite the order violating their training.
• Conclusion: People tend to obey authority, even with unethical instructions.

Factors Increasing Conformity

• Group size: Larger groups can increase conformity, especially if unanimous.
• Unanimity: Agreement within the group increases conformity.
• Cohesion: Stronger connections to a group increase conformity.
• Status: Perceived higher status of individuals increases conformity.
• Group attraction: The desire to be accepted increases conformity.

Factors Decreasing Conformity

• Confidence: Feeling confident reduces conformity.
• Dissent: Disagreement from one person reduces conformity.
• Independence: Strong personal beliefs reduce conformity.
• Cultural context: Individualistic cultures reduce conformity compared to collectivist cultures.

Brickman's Field Study

• Tested obedience to authority by a security guard, milkman, or civilian giving orders.
• People most obeyed the security guard, showing perceived legitimate authority increases obedience.

Components of an Attitude

• Affective: Emotional response (fear of spiders).
• Behavioral: Actions based on the attitude (avoiding spiders).
• Cognitive: Beliefs or thoughts (spiders are dangerous).

Factors Affecting Attitude Strength

• Personal relevance: Stronger if it directly affects the person.
• Experience: Firsthand experiences make attitudes more stable.
• Accessibility: Easier recall strengthens the attitude.
• Social context: Peer pressure affects how the attitude is expressed.

Cognitive Dissonance

• Psychological discomfort that occurs when a person holds conflicting beliefs or behaviors.
• People adjust attitudes or actions to reduce discomfort.

Festinger's Cognitive Dissonance Study

• Participants lied about a boring task being fun; those paid $1 changed their attitude, showing how people align beliefs with behavior.

How People Learn Attitudes

• Classical conditioning: Associating something with experiences
• Operant conditioning: Shaping attitudes
• Social learning: Observing and imitating others.
• Direct experience: Personal experiences forming strong attitudes.

Mere Exposure Effect

• Tendency to develop a positive attitude toward something through repeated exposure.

Stereotype

• A generalized belief about a group, often oversimplified and inaccurate.
• "All elderly people are bad with technology."

Smith & Lloyd's 'Baby X' Study

• Adults given a baby dressed as either a boy or a girl played with them accordingly.
• Boys received active toys, girls got dolls, showing gender stereotypes influence how adults treat infants.

Stigma

• Negative label attached to a person or group based on a characteristic.
• Can lead to discrimination, social exclusion, and lower self-esteem.

Kenneth & Mamie Clark's Doll Study

• Black children preferred white dolls in the study.
• Reveals internalized racism and the impact of segregation on self-perception.

Rosenthal & Jacobson's 'Pygmalion in a Classroom' Study

• Teachers were told some students were "intellectual bloomers."
• Those students showed greater improvement due to the self-fulfilling prophecy.

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

• A belief or expectation that leads to its own fulfillment.
• Stereotyping someone as "lazy" can reduce motivation and reinforce the stereotype.

Stereotype Threat

• Fear of confirming a negative stereotype about their group.
• Leads to anxiety and worse performance (e.g., women underperforming in math tests due to gender stereotypes).

Prejudice vs. Discrimination

• Prejudice: A negative attitude toward a group.
• Discrimination: Actions based on prejudice (e.g., denying someone a job due to race).

Allport's Five Stages of Prejudice

• Antilocution: Negative speech (jokes, insults).
• Avoidance: Excluding a group.
• Discrimination: Denying rights or opportunities.
• Physical attack: Violence against the group.
• Extermination: Genocide or extreme harm.

Allport's Contact Hypothesis

• Interacting with different groups reduces prejudice under the right conditions (equal status, cooperation, common goals).

Parasocial Contact

• Exposure to diverse groups through media reduces prejudice.
• Media representation has the opportunity to diminish stereotypes.

Social Identity Theory and Prejudice

• People form in-groups and out-groups to boost self-esteem.
• Favoring the in-group leads to negative views of the out-group.

In-Group and Out-Group

• In-group: A social group a person identifies with and belongs to.
• Out-group: Any group a person does not belong to or identify with, viewed with suspicion or hostility.

Realistic Conflict Theory

• Realistic conflict theory suggests that prejudice arises when groups compete for limited resources, causing hostility and discrimination.

Sherif's 'Robber's Cave' Study

• Boys at a summer camp developed hostility when split into competitive groups.
• Cooperation reduced conflict, demonstrating competition fosters prejudice, but cooperation can reduce it.

Criticisms of Realistic Conflict Theory

• Ignores non-economic factors as prejudice exists without direct competition.
• Overemphasizes competition as conflicts arise from historical or ideological differences.
• Simplistic view doesn't explain the persistence of prejudice when competition ends.
• Limited generalizability since the Robber's Cave study used young boys in an artificial setting.