Social Psychology Part 1 PDF

Social Psychology Part 1 Learning Outcomes Define social psychology Discuss how groups can help or hurt Social loafing, deindividuation, group polarization, groupthink Discuss how obedience and conformity influence us Milgram experiment, Asch line experiment,...

Social Psychology Part 1 Learning Outcomes Define social psychology Discuss how groups can help or hurt Social loafing, deindividuation, group polarization, groupthink Discuss how obedience and conformity influence us Milgram experiment, Asch line experiment, Discuss the bystander effect What Is Social Psychology?  Social psychology studies other people’s influence on thoughts, feelings, and actions  Social psychologists are interested in:  How does someone else’s behavior affect our own?  Do we behave differently in groups?  What (and how) do we think about other people? Why do we care?  Connections to others are a fundamental human motive, and is key for survival  We’re built to have a need to belong How Other People Influence Us The Influence of Others  How do we act around others?  It depends!  How do you act around your friends?  How do you act around your family?  1897 – Norman Triplett noticed bicycle racers had better times in competitions vs alone Presence of others increases physiological arousal. Social Facilitation  Social Facilitation- the strengthening of the dominant responses in the presence of others Well Learned Response Presence Heightened Aided of Others Arousal New Response Harmed  Hypothetical Situation  Graded final research project  Pick a topic  Summarize research  Propose a research question  Design a study  Collect data, analyze  Present results to class  Which would you want it to be?  Group or individual project?  Groups  Groups- collection of two or more people doing or being something together  Why do we need groups? Goal 1: Get things done Goal 2: Make accurate decisions Problem with Goal 1  Socialloafing- reducing one’s effort when in a group  E.g., tug of war  People loaf less when: Task is meaningful Work with friends rather than strangers Personal efforts are identifiable  Another Problem with Goal 1  Deindividuation- the loss of self-awareness and lack of accountability in a group  Happens when we feel more anonymous At night, in costume, online  Results? More social loafing More antisocial behavior  Problem with Goal 2  Group Polarization- tendency for group discussions to strengthen initial leaning  Discussion leads to people becoming more polarized  Example: considering getting a cat or dog?  Discussing with cat lovers vs dog lovers  After discussion, the Attitudes toward cats/dogs Favor group that initially cats favors cats will feel even more favorable No to cats after preference discussion Conversely, the group that initially favored dogs will feel even Favor more favorable dogs toward dogs after Before After discussion Group Group Discussion Discussion  Problem with Goal 2  Why do groups polarize after discussion?  Attitude polarization- the more we think about an attitude, the stronger we feel about it Sense of security Power and safety in numbers Members feel more right Social pressure/conformity Go along to get along  Another Problem with Goal 2  Groupthink- thinking in a group that occurs when agreement becomes dominant rather than a realistic appraisal of alternative actions  Can cause bad decisions  Don’t generate or evaluate different perspectives  Realexamples: Challenger space shuttle explosion, Salem witch trials, Nazi Germany, etc.  Preventing Groupthink How to prevent groupthink? Have heterogeneous groups Several advantages: People more likely to share ideas Get different perspectives Prevent groupthink Disadvantage: Difficult to get people to agree Assign a devil’s advocate  Group s Goal 1: Goal 2: Get things Make done accurate decisions Possible Possible problems? problems? Social Group Groupthink Loafing Deindividuatio polarization n Obedience and Comformity Social Influence  Conformity- changing behavior to match opinions and behaviors of others  Obedience- changing behavior in direct response to an order from an authority Conformity  We conform to others for different reasons  Normative influence: we go along with the crowd to avoid looking foolish/be accepted  The way we dress, the way we talk, the things we talk about  Informationalinfluence: we go along with the crowd because we assume it is correct  Asch conformity study (1955, 1956)  Thebigger the crowd, the more powerful the effect  Conformity: Normative Influences  Asch line study (1955)  Followed group’s errors 37% of the time  Conformity increases as group size increases  Dissension reduces conformity  Rarely made errors when they wrote down answers  Obedience  After World War II, many war criminals testified that they were “just following orders”  Surely that can’t be true!  In the 1960’s, Stanley Milgram created a study to see how far people would go to “just follow orders”  The Experiment  Participants were told that they would ask another participant a series of questions  Ifthe other participant got it wrong, they would give them an (increasingly stronger) electric shock  But the participant answering the questions was actually an actor!  Many of his replies were pre-recorded  No one was actually getting shocked The Experiment (methods)  The switchboard started with “slight shock”, then “moderate shock”  15 Volts – 75 Volts  Towards the end, the switchboard was labelled “DANGER! SEVERE SHOCK” and “XXX”  375 Volts – 450 Volts  As the shocks got louder, the actor began making uncomfortable sounds, then shouts, then screams to stop, and then nothing.  At what point would a normal person stop shocking the actor? 15 – 450 Volts?  At what point would YOU stop shocking the actor?  Obedience: Milgram’s Study  Results  Psychiatrists predict.1% (1 in 1000) would go to 450 volts  Actual results 80% went past 150v 62.5% went to lethal 450v  Replicated MANY times Milgram’s Findings  Milgram concluded that obedience was more a function of the situation than of the personalities of the participants. Some psychologists have questioned Milgram’s conclusion regarding personality traits. They note that certain traits increase obedience and a willingness to inflict pain on others. – hostility – Narcissism Positive Side of Social Influence  Conformity  Affiliation  Greater conformity leads to better group functioning  Obedience  Organizes large groups  Keepssociety running smoothly Bystander Effect  Have you ever seen someone hurt, upset, or in danger in a public place?  What do most people do?  The Bystander Effect: the failure to offer help when others are present  Came to the national consciousness with the murder of Kitty Genovese  38 witnesses, but no one called for help or did anything while Genovese was murdered in an alley  This effect has been replicated in several studies! Latane & Darley- 5 Steps to Helping  1) Notice an emergency  2) Interpret as an emergency  3) Take responsibility  4) Decide how to help  5) Help  Presence of others can interfere with any of these steps!  Latane & Darley- 5 Steps to Helping  Smoke study (Darley & Latane, 1968)  Participants fill out surveys in room either alone or with 2 others  Smoke begins pouring into room  What do they do?  Alone: Get help  With others: Less seek help  With other who don’t care: rarely seek help Bystander Effect  Paradoxical claim – the more people around to help, the less likely we are to help Bystander effect – why?  1. Diffusion of responsibility  “someone else will get help”, the more others around, the higher that “probability”  2. Fear of social blunders  We don’t want to look foolish  3. Anonymity  We are less likely to help if think we are anonymous  If you need help point to and identify someone to help you  4. Mental calculations of risk  How much harm do I present for myself by helping? What do I lose by helping? Learning Outcomes Define social psychology Discuss how groups can help or hurt Social loafing, deindividuation, group polarization, groupthink Discuss how obedience and conformity influence us Milgram experiment, Asch line experiment, Discuss the bystander effect