TO STUDY Concepts in Social Psychology DEINDIVIDUATION2.docx

Concepts in Social Psychology 15 February 2024 Objectives At the end of this lecture participants will be able to: Define some key concepts in Social Psychology Identify theories which under-pin selected key concepts in Social Psychology Explain how concepts can be applied in the general population....

Concepts in Social Psychology 15 February 2024 Objectives At the end of this lecture participants will be able to: Define some key concepts in Social Psychology Identify theories which under-pin selected key concepts in Social Psychology Explain how concepts can be applied in the general population. Key Concepts in Social Psychology Deindividuation Prejudice Discrimination Racism Stereotypes Aggression Persuasion Deindividuation Deindividuation: is a phenomenon in which people engage in seemingly impulsive, deviant, and sometimes violent acts in situations in which they believe they cannot be personally identified (e.g., in groups and crowds and on the Internet. The term deindividuation was coined by the American Social Psychologist Leon Festinger in the 1950's. Some deindividuated situations can reduce accountability because people who are hidden within a group cannot be easily traced or blamed for their actions. Thus, the effects of deindividuation are sometimes viewed as socially undesirable (e.g., rioting). However, research has shown that deindividuation also strengthens adherence to group norms Sometimes those norms conflict with the norms of society at large, but they are not always negative. Indeed, the effects of deindividuation can be rather inconsequential (e.g., “letting loose” on the dance floor) or even positive (e.g., helping people). In the 1960’s and 70’s the American Psychologist Philip Zimbardo investigated the variables that lead to deindividuation and the behaviours that result from it. According to Zimbardo, factors leading to a state of deindividuation include anonymity; shared, diffused, or abandoned responsibility; altered temporal perspective (so that the individual focuses more on the here and now than on the past or present); physiological arousal; sensory overload; novel or unstructured situations; and altered states of consciousness such as those brought about by the use of alcohol or drugs. Zimbardo claimed that those factors and others act to minimize self-observation and evaluation, reduce concern for social evaluation, and weaken controls based on feelings of guilt, shame, fear, and commitment. Thus, thresholds for expressing inhibited behaviours are lowered, and those behaviours are typically impulsive and often negative and antisocial. Prejudice Is defined as an attitude toward people based on their membership in a group (e.g., their racial group, gender, nationality even the college they attend). Critical to prejudice is an inflexibility in the reaction to the target person, whereby the responses to the target are not ‘based on the target’s behaviors or characteristics (good or bad) but instead are based on the target’s membership in a group. Prejudice is most often negative, although it is also possible to be positively prejudiced. Prejudice involves three key components: Emotional response an emotional response to members of the group; This refers to the feelings that an individual might have towards members of a particular group. These emotions can be negative (such as fear, disgust, or hatred) or positive (such as admiration or affection), and they often arise from stereotypes or past experiences. Beliefs: beliefs about the abilities, behaviors, and characteristics of group members; These are the assumptions or convictions about the abilities, behaviors, and characteristics of group members. These beliefs, often in the form of stereotypes, can be overgeneralized, inaccurate, and resistant to change. and Behaviors: This involves actions directed at group members, which can range from subtle forms of discrimination to overt acts of aggression. These behaviors are often influenced by the individual’s emotional responses and beliefs. For example, imagine that a person was negatively prejudiced against people from country x. That person may feel angry, anxious, or disgusted when he or she interacts with people from country X. In addition, the person may believe that people from country X are stupid, lazy, or untrustworthy. The person may also try to keep people from country X from visiting his or her own country. A person who is prejudiced toward a group may not engage in all three types of responses. For example, it is possible to have prejudiced thoughts and feelings but never engage in prejudiced behavior. Prejudiced responses toward others can range from making unfair judgments and harbouring unkind feelings to brutal attacks and, at its most extreme, genocide. Prejudice can be overt and unmistakable, but it can also be subtle and difficult to detect. Prejudice takes many forms, and the nature of prejudice can change over time. For example, many social psychologists argue that in response to social and legal pressure, most White Americans have learned to conceal overt expressions of prejudice toward Black people and instead express prejudice in indirect and subtle ways. Thus, social psychologists argue that prejudice has gone underground and, therefore, may be particularly pernicious and difficult to eradicate. Goal of studying prejudice The ultimate goal of those who study prejudice is to find ways to promote intergroup harmony and encourage people to treat others based on individual characteristics and not group membership. Social psychologists have uncovered some potential routes to prejudice reduction. For example, forming friendships with people from another social group is strongly related to positive attitudes toward that group. Also, getting people to reframe their views of “us” and “them” into “we” can decrease prejudice. Although progress has been made, much remains to be understood about the elimination of prejudice. Discrimination Discrimination is the phenomenon of treating a person differently from other persons based on group membership and an individual's possession of certain characteristics such as age, class, gender, race, religion, and sexuality. Discriminatory behavior can take various forms from relatively mild behavior, such as social avoidance, to acts of violence, including hate crimes and genocide. Social psychologists study several aspects of discrimination, including overt or old-fashioned discrimination and subtle or modern forms. For example, overt discrimination might involve explicitly excluding job applicants who are women or people of color. Subtle discrimination occurs when, for example, the job interviewer unwittingly might sit farther away, not make eye contact, and conduct a shorter interview with a job applicant who is a woman or person of color. Social psychologists distinguish individual discrimination from institutional discrimination. Individual discrimination, which is typically studied by social psychologists, includes discriminatory behavior by one person toward another. Institutional discrimination can take the form of government-sponsored laws and practices such as the Jim Crow laws during the post- Emancipation era in the United States that legally segregated Blacks and Whites in public places and denied African Americans many civil rights One issue worth noting is that discrimination, because it is behavior, tends to be illegal, whereas stereotyping and prejudice (thoughts and feelings) are not. In other words, a supervisor might believe women are not fit for management positions, but it is only when and if that supervisor treats women and men differently (e.g., in hires or promotions) that legality becomes relevant. Racism Racism is the systematic implementation of a doctrine of racial supremacy that maintains the superiority of one race over another. Racial supremacy is the hallmark of racism, but it is also often characterized by a belief that racial groups are genetically isolated, biologically based entities that exist in nature. Racists believe that the biology of their group has afforded them greater intellect and moral fiber than the biology of other groups, and, therefore, they must control the behaviors of members of lesser groups to maintain the purity (and supremacy) of their own group. Racism builds upon prejudice and discrimination, phenomena that have been studied in social psychology for more than 100 years. Prejudice is the affect or emotion, usually negative, an individual feels toward members of a particular racial group. For instance, the negative attitudes regarding Arab Americans that surfaced in response to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks can be thought of as prejudice. Stereotypes Stereotypes are generalized beliefs about the characteristics that are associated with the members of a social group. In 1922, the journalist Walter Lippmann first popularized the term stereotype, which he described as the image people have in their heads of what a social group is like. Early researchers examined the content of social stereotypes by asking people to indicate which psychological traits they associate with various ethnic and national groups (e.g., Germans, Blacks, Jews). This research indicated that there was a good deal of consensus in the public's image of these social groups, with generally strong agreement about which characteristics are typical of each group. There was also a tendency for these "pictures in our heads" to contain more negative than positive characteristics. Origins of Stereotypes Recent research shows that stereotypes tend to cluster around two broad themes. One theme concerns competence: Are members of the group smart and successful? The second theme concerns warmth: Are members of the group likeable, friendly, and unthreatening? Perhaps unsurprisingly, members of the dominant (majority) social group tend to regard their own group as both competent and warm. Many other groups are regarded with a mixture of ambivalent stereotypes. Some groups, such as women and the elderly, are commonly seen as being quite warm but lacking competence, whereas other groups, such as Asians and Jews, tend to be seen by the majority group as being quite competent but lacking in warmth. Only relatively few groups (e.g., the homeless, drug addicts) are seen as lacking on both dimensions. In general, however, this research confirms that the stereotypes of many social groups are marked by at least one negative theme. Consequences of Stereotyping When a person encounters a member of a stereotyped group, the stereotypes associated with that group may be automatically activated; that is, the specific characteristics that are seen as typical of the group may become more accessible in the person's mind. This process of stereotype activation can happen even in cases in which a person does not personally endorse or accept the stereotype as accurate. As long as there is an association between the group and the stereotypic characteristic stored in memory (e.g., from frequent exposure to common cultural images of a group), the stereotype can become activated upon encountering a member of the stereotyped social group. If this happens, the stereotype can exert a host of effects on the way this person is perceived and treated. Most of these effects occur rapidly, involuntarily, and often without any awareness that they are taking place. Once activated, stereotypes can exert a host of important effects on the way a person sees the world. For example, once a stereotype is activated, it can bias the way the person interprets ambiguous behavior. If one holds the stereotype that Arabs are dangerous, then even fairly mundane behavior by an Arab (or someone who looks vaguely like an Arab) can take on seemingly sinister overtones in one's Stereotypes Implications Stereotypes play an important role in how people perceive and form impressions of others. Once an individual is categorized as a member of a particular group, he or she can come to be judged in terms of group-based expectations. In the absence of clear disconfirmation, the person can easily be seen as a "typical" member of that group, interchangeable with other group members. In contrast to such category-based impressions, perceivers can instead judge individuals on the basis of personal attributes, some of which may be typical of their group, but many of which are not. This process of individuation, though escaping the risks of inaccurate or exaggerated stereo-typing, requires a much larger investment of time and energy. Coping Strategies to Reduce Stereotype Emerging studies on how to reduce stereotype threat identify a range of methods- the most obvious being changing the stereotype. Ultimately, this is the way to eliminate the problem once and for all. But changing stereotypes sadly often takes time. While we are working on it, there are techniques to help us cope. For example, visible, accessible and relevant role models are important. One study reported a positive "Obama effect" on African Americans. Whenever Obama drew press attention for positive, stereotype-defying reasons, stereotype threat effects were markedly reduced in black Americans' exam performance. Another method is to buffer the threat through shifting self perceptions to positive group identity or self affirmation. For example, Asian women underperformed on maths tests when reminded of their gender identity but not when reminded of their Asian identity. This is because Asian individuals are stereotypically seen as good at maths. In the same way, many of us belong to a few different groups - it is sometimes worth shifting the focus towards the one which gives us strength. Finally, merely being aware of the damaging effects that stereotypes can have can help us reinterpret the anxiety and makes us more likely to perform better. We may not be able to avoid stereotypes completely and immediately, but we can try to clear the air of them. Aggression Social psychologist define aggression as behavior that is intended to harm another individual who does not wish to be harmed (Baron & Richardson, 1994). Because it involves the perception of intent, what looks like aggression from one point of view may not look that way from another, and the same harmful behavior may or may not be considered aggressive depending on its intent. Intentional harm is, however, perceived as worse than unintentional harm, even when the harms are identical. This definition rules out some behaviors that we might normally think are aggressive. For instance, a rugby player who accidentally breaks the arm of another player or a driver who accidentally hits a pedestrian would not by our definition be displaying aggression because although harm was done, there was no intent to harm. A salesperson who attempts to make a sale through repeated phone calls is not aggressive because he is not intending any harm (we might say this behavior is "assertive" rather than aggressive). And not all intentional behaviors that hurt others are aggressive behaviors. A dentist might intentionally give a patient a painful injection of a painkiller, but the goal is to prevent further pain during the procedure. Although the player whose arm is broken in a rugby match may attribute hostile intent, the other player may claim that the injury was not intended. Within the legal system, juries and judges are frequently asked to determine whether harm was done intentionally. Aggression & Violence Social psychologists use the term violence to refer to aggression that has extreme physical harm, such as injury or death, as its goal. Thus violence is a subset of aggression. All violent acts are aggressive, Only acts that are intended to cause extreme physical damage, such as murder, assault, rape, and robbery, are violent. Slapping someone really hard across the face might be violent, but calling people names would only be aggressive. Social psychologists agree that aggression can be verbal as well as physical. Therefore, slinging insults at a friend is definitely aggressive, according to our definition, just as hitting someone is. Physical aggression is aggression that involves harming others physically-for instance hitting, kicking, stabbing, or shooting them. Nonphysical aggression is aggression that does not involve physical harm. Nonphysical aggression includes verbal aggression(yelling, screaming, swearing, and name calling) and relational or social aggression, which is defined as intentionally harming another person's social relationships, · Types of Non Physical Aggression Gossiping Spreading rumours Criticizing other people behind their backs Bullying Leaving others out of a group or otherwise ostracizing them Turning people against each other Dismissing the opinions of others "Stealing" a boyfriend or girlfriend Threatening to break up with partner if the partner does not comply Flirting with another person to make a partner jealous The afore mentioned list (adapted from Archer & Coyne, 2005) are some examples of the types of nonphysical aggression that have been observed in children and adults. One reason that people may use nonphysical rather than physical aggression is that it is more subtle. When we use these techniques, we may be able to better get away with it-we can be aggressive without appearing to others to be aggressing. Although the negative outcomes of physical aggression are perhaps more obvious, nonphysical aggression also has costs to the victim. Craig (1998) found that children who were victims of bullying showed more depression, loneliness, peer rejection, and anxiety in comparison to other children. Recently, there has been an increase in school bullying through cyberbullying-aggression inflicted through the use of computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices (). Cyberbullying can be directed at anyone. Hinduja and Patchin (2009) found that youth who report being victims of cyberbullying experience a variety of stresses from it, including psychological disorders, alcohol use, and in extreme cases, suicide. In addition to its emotional toll, cyberbullying also negatively affects students' participation in, and success at, school. Terrorism as Instrumental Aggression There is perhaps no clearer example of the prevalence of violence in our everyday lives than the increase in terrorism that has been observed in the past decade ( )These terrorist attacks have occurred in many countries across the world, in both Eastern as well as Western cultures. Even affluent Western democracies such as Denmark, Italy, Spain, France, Canada, and the United States have experienced terrorism, which has killed thousands of people, primarily innocent civilians. Terrorists use tactics such as killing civilians to create publicity for their causes and to lead the governments of the countries that are attacked to over-respond to the threats (-) Persuasion Persuasion is a method of changing a person's cognitions, feelings, behaviors, or general evaluations (attitudes) toward some object, issue, or person. Although any change technique is sometimes referred to as persuasion regardless of the target of influence, the term more commonly refers to a method of change in which a person is deliberately presented with a message containing information intended to alter some general evaluative judgment (e.g.,capital punishment is bad). Self-persuasion can occur when people generate their own messages in favour of or against something. Persuasive communication is readily used by advertisers, salespeople, politicians, ministers, attorneys, and people in everyday situations to produce change in others. In democratic societies, persuasion has replaced coercion as the primary means of influence. Effective Communicators as Persuaders In order to be effective persuaders, we must first get people's attention, then send an effective message to them, and then ensure that they process the message in the way we would like them to. Furthermore, to accomplish these goals, persuaders must consider the cognitive, affective, and behavioral aspects of their methods. Persuaders also must understand how the communication they are presenting relates to the message recipient-his or her motivations, desires, and goals. Research has demonstrated that the same message will be more effective if is delivered by a more persuasive communicator. In general, we can say that communicators are more effective when they help their recipients feel good about themselves that is, by appealing to self-concern. For instance, attractive communicators are frequently more effective persuaders than are unattractive communicators. Attractive communicators create a positive association with the product they are trying to sell and put us in a good mood, which makes us more likely to accept their messages. And as the many marketers who include free gifts, such as mailing labels or small toys, in their requests for charitable donations well know, we are more likely to respond to communicators who offer us something personally beneficial We're also more persuaded by people who are similar to us in terms of opinions and values than by those whom we perceive as being different. This is of course why advertisements targeted at teenagers frequently use teenagers to present the message, and why advertisements targeted at the elderly use older communicators When communicators are perceived as attractive and similar to us, we tend to like them. And we also tend to trust the people that we like. People such as the media mogul Oprah Winfrey, tennis star Roger Federer, and the musician Bono have been used as communicators for products in part because we see them as trustworthy and thus likely to present an unbiased message Trustworthy communicators are effective because they allow us to feel good about ourselves when we accept their message, often without critically evaluating its content. Expert communicators may sometimes be perceived as trustworthy because they know a lot about the product they are selling. Preventing Persuasion It is also useful to develop techniques that prevent attitude change. If one is hoping that someone will never puff that first cigarette, then one might need to put some strategies in place to prevent that from happening. One approach to improving an individual's ability to resist persuasion is to help the person create a strong attitude. Strong attitudes are more difficult to change than are weak attitudes, and we are more likely to act on our strong attitudes. This suggests that parents might need to help their children consider all the reasons that she should know not to smoke and develop strong negative affect about smoking One method of increasing attitude strength involves forewarning: giving people a chance to develop a resistance to persuasion by reminding them that they might someday receive a persuasive message, and allowing them to practice how they will respond to influence attempts(-) One's parents might want to try the forewarning approach. After the forewarning, when a child hears the smoking message from his or her peers, he or she may be less influenced by it because He or she was aware ahead of time that the persuasion would likely occur and had already considered how to resist it.