Societal and Political Issues (Chapter 17) PDF

Societal and political issues (Chapter 17) Crowd behavior (LeBon, 1895) „Psychological crowd” 1. Anonymity 2. Contagion 3. Suggestibility Group mind: collective unconsciousness Deindividuation Zimbardo (1970): - More aggression Johnson & Downing (1979): - Less aggression SOCIAL NORMS ...

Societal and political issues (Chapter 17) Crowd behavior (LeBon, 1895) „Psychological crowd” 1. Anonymity 2. Contagion 3. Suggestibility Group mind: collective unconsciousness Deindividuation Zimbardo (1970): - More aggression Johnson & Downing (1979): - Less aggression SOCIAL NORMS  The Authoritarian personality (Adorno et al., 1950) Psychoanalytic explanations: Childhood traumas Repressive family Submission to authority Resistance to change Social, and economic Contempt and aggression explanations: to norm-violators Strict, disciplining Prejudice education Economic and political insecurities Obedience to legitimate authority Universal social norm Mostly in line with our attitudes Obedience to authority against our attitudes (Milgram, 1963) Variations to the Milgram study Proximity of the victim Proximity of the experimenter Presence of obedient others Presence of disobedient others The afterlife of Milgram’s study Not blind obedience, but: - Ideology -Internalization of goals -Engaged followership, rather than blind conformity Newcomb: Bennington Reference group’s long-term effect on attitudes study 1935-1939 Internalization (private conformity) Social categorization US THEM  Social identity theory (Tajfel, 1979) I = we Social Categorization Social Identity Comparison Contact hypothesis Allport, 1954 Optimal conditions - Cooperation - Common goals - Equal status - Supportive norms and authorities