Chapter 9

Social Psychology
 2 of 26

Social Psychology

Social Psychology: Scientific study of how we influence one

anothers behavior and thinking.
 3 of 26

Topics to Explore

1. How others influence our behavior

2. How others influence our thinking
 Part 1
How Others Influence
Our Behavior
 5 of 26

Social Influence

Social Influence: Changes in a persons behavior induced

by the actions of another person. (Someone else influences
your decision)

Conformity: A change in behavior and/or belief to conform

to a group norm as a result of real or imagined group
pressure
 6 of 26

The Sherif Study

Participants in dark room asked to estimate how far a point of light

moved. The light actually did not move, but due to the autokinetic
effect, it appeared to.

When participants were alone, the estimates differed greatly.

However, when participants were in a group, the estimates came
to agree.

Informational social influence: Influence stemming from the

need for information in situations in which the correct action or
judgment is uncertain.
 7 of 26

The Asch Study

People were tested in groups, one test participant and several

confederates. Each was asked to judge which of three
comparison lines was the same length as the standard line. The
test participant was asked last, after the confederates had
answered.
 8 of 26

The Asch Study, continued

75% of participants conformed to confederates judgments

at least some of the time.
Overall, 37% of judgments conformed.
Normative social influence: influence stemming from our
desire to gain the approval and to avoid the disapproval of
others.
 9 of 26

Situational Factors in Conformity

Unanimity of the group: It was easier for participants not to
conform if just one other person disagreed with the group.
Mode of responding: More participants disagreed when
judgments were given by secret ballot than given out loud.
Status: greater conformity was shown by participants of lower
status than the other group members or participants who
wants to be part of the group.
 10 of 26

Why We Comply

Compliance: acting in accordance with a direct request from

another person or group.
Foot-in-the-door technique: compliance to a large request
is gained by preceding it with a very small request.
Door-in-the-face technique: compliance is gained by
starting with a large, unreasonable request that is turned
down, and then following it with a smaller, more reasonable
request.
 11 of 26

More Compliance Techniques

The low-ball technique: compliance to a costly request is
gained by first getting compliance to an attractive, less costly
request but then reneging on it (introductory offers)
The thats-not-all technique: compliance to a planned
second request with additional benefits is gained by presenting
this request before a response can be made to a first request
(Ron Popeil)
 12 of 26

Obedience to Authority

Obedience: Following the commands of a person in authority.

Classic Milgram study: Volunteer told to teach another

person (actually an accomplice in the experiment) word pairs
by applying an electric shock each time the learner was
wrong. The learner also told the volunteer that he had a heart
condition.

65% obeyed by going all the way to 450 volts on the shock
machine even though the learner eventually could not answer
any more questions.
 13 of 26

Results of Milgrams Study

 14 of 26

Situational Factors in Obedience

Obedience to authority
was lowered by:
increased personal
contact with victim
social support of others
(e.g., two volunteers
working together)
Authority figure
appearing more
disreputable
Disagreement between
2 authority figures
 15 of 26

Group Influence
Social Facilitation: the presence of others leads to
heightened arousal, in which our performance of simpler,
familiar tasks is improved and our performance of more
difficult, unfamiliar tasks is adversely affected.
Social loafing: tendency to exert less effort when working in
a group toward a common goal than when individually working
toward the same goal.
Diffusion of responsibility: the lessening of a sense of
individual responsibility for a task when responsibility is
shared among members of a group.
 16 of 26

Group Influence, continued

Deindividuation: the loss of self-awareness and self-restraint
in a group situation that fosters arousal and anonymity
Group polarization: the strengthening of a groups prevailing
opinion about a topic following group discussion about the topic.
Groupthink: a mode of group thinking that impairs decision
making because the desire for group harmony overrides a
realistic appraisal of the possible decision alternatives.
Bystander effect: the probability of a persons helping in an
emergency is greater when there are no other bystanders than
when there are bystanders.
 17 of 26

Offering Help: Decision Tree

Number of Bystanders
18 of 26

& Offers of Help

 Part 2
How Others Influence
Our Thinking
 20 of 26

Attribution Theory

Attribution: the process by which we explain our own

behavior and that of others. We can attribute behavior to:
External Causes (situational): Ones that lie outside of a
person
Internal Causes (dispositional): Ones that lie within a
person
 Attributions We Make
21 of 26

About Ourselves
Actor-observer bias: the tendency to overestimate
situational influences on our own behavior, but to overestimate
dispositional influences on the behavior of others
Self-serving bias: the tendency to make attributions so that
one can perceive oneself favorably
False-consensus effect: tendency to overestimate the
commonality of ones opinions and unsuccessful behaviors
(but not successful behaviors)
False uniqueness effect: tendency to underestimate the
commonality of ones abilities and successful behaviors
 Attributions We Make
22 of 26

About Others
Fundamental attribution error: the tendency as an observer
to overestimate dispositional influences (internal causes) and
underestimate situational influences (external causes) upon
others behavior
Just world hypothesis: the assumption that the world is just
and that people get what they deserve
Primacy effect: information gathered early is weighted more
heavily than information gathered later in forming an
impression of another person (I.e., first impressions count!)
Self-fulfilling prophecy: our behavior leads a person to act in
accordance with our expectations for that person
 23 of 26

Cognitive Dissonance
Cognitive Dissonance (Festinger): discomfort caused by
inconsistencies between attitudes and behavior
We need to have consistency in our thoughts, perceptions,
and images of ourselves
Underlies attempts to convince ourselves we did the right
thing
Justification: Degree to which ones actions are justified by
rewards or other circumstances
 24 of 26

Example of Cognitive Dissonance

 25 of 26

Bems Self-Perception Theory

Self-Perception Theory: a theory which assumes that when
we are unsure of our attitudes, we infer them by examining our
behavior and the context in which it occurs
According to Bem, people dont change their attitude because
of their behavior (Festingers position), but rather use their
behavior to infer their attitude.
 26 of 26

Social Roles

Social Role: Patterns of behavior expected of people in various

social positions (e.g. daughter, mother, teacher, President (!)).
Ascribed Role: Assigned to a person or not under personal
control
Achieved Role: Attained voluntarily or by special effort:
teacher, mayor, President
Role Conflict: When two or more roles make conflicting
demands on behavior
Role-playing: When taking on a role, we tend to take on the
attitudes and behaviors associated with that role. (Zimbardos
prisoner study)