Social Psychology Pt 1 (Nov 11) PDF

Social Psychology Professor Willroth Introduction to Psychology October 11, 2023 Week Overview Monday 11/11 Friday 11/15 Social Psychology Part 1 NO CLASS (Textbook Modules 40-41) Alternative Assignment on Quiz 8 Canv...

Social Psychology Professor Willroth Introduction to Psychology October 11, 2023 Week Overview Monday 11/11 Friday 11/15 Social Psychology Part 1 NO CLASS (Textbook Modules 40-41) Alternative Assignment on Quiz 8 Canvas Social Psychology Part 2 (Textbook Modules 42-43) Looking Ahead: Wednesday 11/13 Personality Psychology and Quiz 9 next week How many individual pieces of candy do you think are in this bag? Today’s Learning Goals 1. Describe what social psychology is and what social psychologists study. 2. Describe the processes by which people make sense of why events or actions occur. 3. Explain some of the ways that groups affect behavior. What is Social Psychology? the study of social interactions the social influences that explain why the same person might act differently in different situations Does the person or the situation cause behavior? How do we explain people’s behavior? Attribution: People’s explanation for why events or actions occur. Lexi is an unreliable friend. Lexi must have had an emergency.  Situational Internal Attributions Attributions when we tend to look at when we make the characteristics or judgements about the character of a behaviors based on the person to judge their occurring situation behavior Think, Pair, Share For each of the following scenarios, take turns sharing an internal attribution and an alternative external attribution for the person’s behavior. Scenarios A driver cuts you off in traffic, forcing you to slam on your brakes. You receive a failing grade on an exam. You meet someone new at a party and they seem to be the life of the party. They are talking to and laughing with everyone all night. Your friend gets really angry and yells at you. It seems like they are trying to pick a fight. You win three straight games in a row at your friend’s board game night. Fundamental Attribution Error the tendency to overemphasize traits and underestimate situational factors when explaining other’s behaviors  Biases in Attributions Actor-observer bias Self-serving bias the tendency to attribute the tendency to take one’s own behavior to personal credit for success situational factors but blame external causes for failure Observer Actor attributes attributes behavior to the behavior to the situation disposition of the  OUR ATTRIBUTIONS MATTER POVERTY Internal: External: “If you work hard, “Poverty is typically you can get the result of ahead.” structural inequities” Who is more likely to support legislation aimed at supporting people in poverty (e.g. food stamps, housing initiatives, etc.)? Groups that we belong to are ingroups. Groups that we do not belong to are outgroups.  Social identity theory states that group membership is an important part of how we view ourselves. We tend to view outgroup members as less varied than ingroup members and tend towards ingroup favoritism. *Even if groups are formed by chance!  Minimal Groups Paradigm Candy under-estimators Candy over-estimators  Ultimate Attribution Error Ingroup members Outgroup members receive little blame receive little credit for negative actions. for positive actions.  If the other person is A success A failure perceived to be: Like me Internal External attributions attributions Not like me External Internal attributions attributions How do groups affect behavior? Deindividuat ion When we are part of a large group, we experience reduced individuality, lower self-awareness, and less attention to personal standards Anonymity Heightened arousal Low accountability Crowds, riots, concerts, sporting events Groupthink poor decision-making when a group is trying to preserve its cohesiveness and maintain social harmony Occurs typically under intense pressure (external threats, strong opinions initially expressed from group leader) Social facilitation and Social loafing Social facilitation: the presence of other people changes performance Well-learned tasks are enhanced while poorly-learned tasks are impaired Social loafing: tendency for people to work less hard in a group than when working alone For example, usually group members in a group project often do not work as hard as they might if they were working alone Social facilitation Well-learned task In front of people, you may ride a bike well (well- learned task), but you may do worse than usual when Presence of an Increased audience arousal riding a unicycle (poorly- learned task) Poorly-learned task Social loafing  Faculty and Course Spotlight Social Psychology (L33 Psych 315) Attitudes and Social Cognition Laboratory Dr. Alan Lambert https://sites.wustl.edu/ajlambert/