Social and Personality PDF

Pillar 4: Social and Personality Chapter 11&12 Social Psychology vs Sociology: Social psychology: looks at how the individual thinks or relates to the group ○ Individuals and Experiments Sociology: how does the group interact, function, etc...

Pillar 4: Social and Personality Chapter 11&12 Social Psychology vs Sociology: Social psychology: looks at how the individual thinks or relates to the group ○ Individuals and Experiments Sociology: how does the group interact, function, etc ○ Groups of people and Field Research Chapter 12: Social Behavior Introduction: We are social animals – adaptive advantage We need others and share a social environment. This does not mean that we share the same interpretation of that reality. Social psychology: the study of ways in which thoughts, feelings, perceptions, motives, and behavior are influenced by interactions and transactions between people Social context: ○ Presence of others, interaction, setting of interaction, expectations and norms ○ Governs our behaviors through our social cognitions and the behaviors of others Social Cognition: Processes by which people come to understand others Human brain appears to be specialized for social cognition ○ Medial prefrontal cortex is active when people think about the attributes of other people, but not about inanimate objects ○ Remains active all the time, awake and asleep ○ Another person is the most important “object” that you will encounter in the environment ○ We spend a great deal of time analyzing and interpreting the behavior of others ○ Greatest benefits for survival and the greatest costs Social Cognition - Identity: Links social psychology and personality ○ Personal identity – values, experiences, ideas, relationships that are unique to you and may be most silent  Private experience of self Self concept: How would you explain yourself to someone ○ Social identity – public aspect of your identity based on observable grouping Publicly available expressions of self Creates identity contingencies (circumstances because of groups) Social Cognition - Stereotypes: Categorization is important in speeding up processing of information Stereotypes - closely tied to identity ○ Useful in interacting with others ○ Stereotypes can be inaccurate ○ Stereotypes can be overused Greater diversity in-group than out-group ○ Stereotypes can be self-perpetuating Perceptual confirmation Stereotype Threat: ○ Work of Claude Steele and colleagues over 30 years ○ Others develop expectations based on social identities ○ Imposed by others and fear of confirming the stereotype ○ Worry leads hypervigilance → rumination → interference with behavior ○ Ironically, the worry → fulfillment of the behavior ○ Motivation is important ○ Examples Social Cognition - Prejudice: Divisive attribute of culture ○ Learned attitude towards another group, involving negative feelings (dislike or fear) and negative beliefs (stereotypes) that justify the attitude ○ Behavioral intention to control, dominate or eliminate the other group Causes: ○ Dissimilarly and social distance ○ Economic competition ○ Scapegoating or blaming the innocent ○ Conformity to a social norm ○ Media stereotypes News after 9/11 depicting Muslims Social Cognition - Combating Prejudice: Sheriff”s Robbers Cave experiment – conflict over resources ○ 2 groups dubbed “eagles” and “rattlers” ○ Isolated from each other for about a week (unaware of the other group) ○ Competition ○ Near riot-like behavior, name calling, refused to eat with the other group ○ Many attempts to quiet hostility failed ○ Non-competitive situations – work together to fix a problem and compromise Education is possibly the least effective tool to overcome prejudice ○ People usually avoid or discount information Changing narratives – same experience regardless of social identity Legislation Social Cognition - Attribution Theory: If we turned off stereotypes, would people be better at judging others? ○ Judgment based on observable behaviors and then developing a casual reason for the behavior ○ What they did and why they did it leads to better judgment Actor-observer asymmetry ○ Own behavior – focused on the environment ○ Other behavior – focused on the actor Fundamental attribution error ○ Overestimate internal factors in other How do people make sense of their own and others’ behavior? ○ Inferences of causes of own and other’s behaviors ○ Try to identify reasons for behaviors Why do we do this? ○ To understand and to make predictions about others’ behaviors Is the process automatic or deliberate? Automatic “Covariation model of attribution”: What is stability of behavior? ○ Do they always do this in this situation? ○ Do others do this in this situation? ○ Do they do this in other situations? Social Cognition - Cognitive Dissonance: Festinger and Carlsmith (1959) ○ Had participants complete a boring task (move a dot into a box)  ○ Paid $1 or $20 for the task ○ How enjoyable was the study? Results: ○ Who do you think liked it the most? Cognitive Dissonance ○ Change behavior or change cognition ○ Which one is easier? Social Cognition - Self-serving Bias: What are your strengths and weaknesses? College Board asked a million high school students: ○ 70%: said they are above average in leadership ○ 100%: said they are above average for having a good relationship with others ○ 60%: said they are above average in athletics People judge themselves as above-average on favorable characteristics ○ Self-serving bias example Why? ○ Memory is selective ○ Protect self image of themselves and others Social Influence: Social influence: the control of one person’s behavior by another Human beings are not unique in their exercise of or susceptibility to social influence ○ Influence binds us together as a society ○ Without influence, there is no society, no altruism, no cooperation People have 3 basic wants that make them susceptible to social influence ○ 1. People have a hedonic motive or desire to experience pleasure and avoid pain People offer rewards and punishments to influence behavior ○ 2. People need approval or to be accepted Uniformities in certain behaviors are noted Observation of negative consequences Coercive power, painful Rs Ridicule Reeducation Rejection  ○ 3. People have a desire to be accurate Explicit rules of behavior Implicit rules of behavior Example: Spring (2017) the UK suffered a heat wave ○ Male students were not allowed to wear shorts as part of their uniform. Only long pants. ○ Some decided to wear skirts that were acceptable for female students ○ They were not punished but had to suffer the “snickers” of others Social Influence - Social Norms: Specific expectations for socially appropriate attitudes and behaviors that are embodied in the stated or implicit rules of the group Adjustment to norms occurs: ○ Uniformities – everyone acts this way ○ Negative consequences – or else Importance ○ Regulate interactions between people ○ Plan or script for situations ○ Boundaries on what is acceptable Newcomb at Bennington College in Vermont ○ Many of the first year students were more conservative than faculty ○ But graduated with more liberal social and political views ○ Primary reference group (seniors/juniors influence sophomores/freshman) ○ Greatest when in total situation ○ Isolated from contrary points of view Social Influence - Conformity: Tendency for a group of people to standardize opinions and behaviors Two forces lead to conformity ○ Informational – desire to be correct ○ Normative – wanting to be liked Sherif’s autokinetic effect ○ Norm crystallization – formation and solidification ○ Type of apparent motion of a light in a dark environment ○ Judge amount of movement ○ Variability in judgments, but stating judgment aloud influenced opinions Normative influence ○ Solomon Asch  ○ Judgments under physical conditions that were crystal clear ○ Procedure Group of confederates and 1 participant Judgment of line length Participants and confederates agreed on first 3 trials, but on 4th trial ○ Results: ¼ remained independent, while 50-80% conformed at least once with the confederates Impulse not to appear different Size of group (at least 3), ally, and size of discrepancy were important Conformity is more likely when… ○ Judgment is difficult or ambiguous ○ Group members are seen as competent ○ Responses are public ○ Majority is unanimous, but once broken, conformity disappears Social Influence - Obedience to authority Milgram experiment: ○ Learner (confederate) ○ Teachers (participants) ○ Authority (actor) ○ Level of shock (dependent variable) Results: ○ When asked, experts predicted that no one would exceed 150 volts ○ No one stopped below 300 volts ○ 65% went to the end, 450 volts ○ Most dissented, but few disobeyed ○ Why do we obey? ○ Peer modeled obedience by complying ○ Victim was remote from subject and could not be seen or heard ○ ‘Teacher’ was under direct surveillance ○ Authority figure has slightly higher status than subject (teacher) ○ No personality traits distinguish Social Influence - Diffusion of responsibility Latane and Darley ○ Kitty Genovese ○ Contrived emergencies ○ Good Samaritan study (1973)  Seminary students and hurry General conclusion – people are less likely to help if more people are part of the group and not in a hurry Diffusion in other areas ○ Clap softer in a group ○ Sing softer in a choir Social Behavior - Interpersonal attraction Human friendship is strongly influenced by environmental factors Theories of Liking: ○ Reward theory - We like those who give us maximum rewards at minimum cost ○ Proximity - Frequent contact is best predictor ○ Similarity - Attracted to most similar to self ○ Self-disclosure - More and more confidence ○ Physical attractiveness - more rewarding to associate with physically attractive people, halo effect of the beautiful Sternberg’s triangular theory of love ○ Passion – sexual passion and desire ○ Intimacy – honesty and understanding ○ Commitment – devotion and sacrifice  Chapter 11: Personality Aleksandr Kogan: Are Aleksandr Kogan and Sherlock Holmes right? ○ How much of your personality is reflected in your behavior? How much do you trust personality assessments? ○ How would you know if the assessment is true? What is the best theory for personality? ○ Should we use Facebook data to create or validate personality theories? Barnum Effect: Gullibly of believing vague (personality) descriptions are accurate ○ Also used in horoscopes and fortune telling Forer (1948): ○ Gave fake personality test for Intro Psy class ○ Then gave everyone same personality description ○ Asked students to rate accuracy on scale of 0-5 ○ Result: average 4.3 of 5; reported highly accurate description ○ Important description is vague; both pos/neg; so can find some pieces that fit Personality: Defined as the complex set of unique psychological qualities that influence an individual’s characteristic patterns of behavior, across time and situations Common to all theories: ○ Uniqueness of the individual – idiographic approach ○ Characteristic pattern of behaviors – nomothetic approach Origins in clinical/applied and theoretical work Psychodynamic Theories: Sigmund Freud ○ Educated as a medical doctor ○ Early work was in physiology Influenced by Darwin ○ Instincts are important ○ Sexual instinct – survival of the species ○ Aggressive instinct ○ Live long enough to reproduce ○ Balance between inner forces to survive and get along with others in society  Structure of Mind ○ Conscious – what you are aware of right now ○ Preconscious – just outside of consciousness but easily available to consciousness Who is your best friend? What did you have for dinner last night? ○ Unconscious – is not readily available to conscious Structure of Personality ○ Id – pleasure principle (completely unconscious, pure instinct) when you have to pee on a road trip and are finally able to go *sigh* = pleasure ○ Ego – reality principle You are thirsty and drink water ○ Superego – ego ideal Voice in the back of my head saying: “I raised you better.” Ego defenses ○ Anxiety is important ○ Repression ○ Projection ○ Denial - disbelief in result Age Stage Erogenous Adult Fixation Symbolic Zone Activity 0-1 year Oral Mouth Oral activities Gullibility, sarcasm 1-3 Anal Anus Bowel Overly problems, generous, constipation perfectionism 3-6 Phallic Genitals Oedipus Sexual complex deviance dysfunction 6-12 Latency None None Sublimation of energy 12+ Genital Genital None Mature, healthy individual Dreams and Determinism: All behaviors serve a purpose Parapraxes ○ Slips of the tongue and the pen ○ Forgetting information Dreams ○ Manifest content: what is actually there ○ Latent content: what does the dream really mean