Social behaviour, Attitudes,

Stereotypes, discrimination
Social psychology- is the scientific study of the ways in which
thoughts, feelings and behaviours of an individual are
influenced by the real, imagined or inferred behaviour of
characteristics of other people.
Social psychology- social psychologists focus on individuals
and how they perceive, interact with, and influence each
other. They study how individuals exert influence on groups
and how group situations affect the behaviour of individual.
Social behaviour
A behaviour is always to be taken transactionally: i.e. never as
of the organism alone, any more than of the environment
alone, but always as of the organic-environmental situation,
which organisms and environmental objects taken as
equally its aspect.
Social behaviour: behaviour comes in many forms:
blinking, reading, dancing, shooting and rioting.
Social behaviour is that part of behaviour that is
particularly social is oriented towards other selves.
Social behaviour apprehends another as a perceiving,
thinking, moral, intentional and behaving person;
involves expectations about the other`s acts and
actions; and manifests an intention to invoke in another
self certain experiences and intentions.
What differentiates social from nonsocial behaviour, is
whether another self is taken into account in ones`acts,
actions or practices. Examples:
- Dodging and waving through a crowd is not a social
behaviour, usually. Others are considered as mere
physical objects, as human barriers with certain
reflexes.
- Keeping in step in a parade is not social behaviour.
Other members are physical objects with which to
coordinate one`s movements.
- Surgical operation is not social behaviour. The patient
is only a biophysical objects with certain associated
potentialities and disposition.
However let the actor become involved with another`s
self, as a person pushing through a crowd recognising a
friend, a marcher believing another is trying to get
him/her out of step, or a surgeon operating on his/her
son and the whole meaning of the situation changes.
.
 Attitudes Definition
• Are long- lasting patterns of feelings and beliefs about
other people, ideas and objects, which are based in a
person`s past experiences and shape his or her future
behaviour.
• Can be defined as a measure of people`s like and dislike
of an object. The object may be a real object, a person,
or a behaviour like `healthy eating`.
• Is the tendency to think, feel and act positively or
negatively toward objects in the environment.
• The expectancy-value model suggests that attitudes are
the product of expectancy about an object and the
value given to that object.
 Attitudes cont
- Are shaped by how a person perceives other
people,
- how other perceive him or her and
- How the person thinks others see him or her (e.g.
Your university roommate can initiate your
appreciation of rhumba, as well as relatives)
Dimensions of attitudes
 Conviction
• Strongly held attitudes about as specific topic is
known as a conviction.
• Convictions are long- lasting and resistant to
change.
 Forming attitudes
• People are not born with specific attitudes toward
specific objects, but their attitudes about new
objects begin to appear in early childhood and
continue to emerge throughout life.
• Attitudes are learned through modelling
(observational learning) as well as through classical
or operant conditioning. They are also subject to
the mere-exposure effect: all else being equal,
attitudes toward an object will become more
positive the more frequently people are exposed
to it.
 Attitudes and behaviour
• Attitudes are better predictors of behaviour when they
are strong and there are few competing outside
influences such as conflicting advertising appeals and
advice from friends.
• Attitudes people consider personally important (those in
which they have a vested interest) are more likely to be
shown in behaviour and stay intact, regardless of how
situations change over time.
• When they specific and the situation requiring a decision
closely matches the situation to which the attitude
applies.
• When they are accessible that is, clearly stated and
easily remembered.
Role – playing affects Attitudes ( Behaviour can
determine attitudes.
A role is a set of explanations (norms) about a social
position, defining how those in the position ought
to behave. When one adopts a new role – when
one becomes a college student, marry or begins a
new job – one strives to follow the social
prescriptions.
• At first the behaviours may feel phony because one
is acting a role. But before long, what began as
play-acting in the theatre of life becomes part and
parcel of the individual.
 Attitudes and behaviour continues
• Researchers have confirmed this effect by
assessing people`s attitudes before and after they
adopt a new role, sometimes in laboratory
situations, sometimes in everyday situations such
as before and after taking a job.
Philip Zimbardo`s experiment
• One by one the prisoners broke down, rebelled or
become passively resigned causing Zimbardo to call
off the just after 6 days
• Psychologists add a cautionary note some people
succumb to the situation and others do not. People
and situation interact. When put in with rotten
apples, some people, but not others, become bad
apples.
Cognitive approaches to changes attitudes
Two ways can be used to influence attitudes:
- Central route to persuasion: occurs when
interested people focus on the arguments and
respond with favourable thoughts. Such route to
persuasion mostly occurs when people are
naturally analytical or involved in the issue
(message is important, logical and convincing).
- Peripheral route to persuasion- occurs when
people are influenced by incidental cues such a
speaker`s attractiveness. It occurs when issues do
not engage systematic thinking. Is more emotional
Techniques for inducing attitude change
• Foot – in- the door technique
- To get someone to change an attitude or grant you a
favour begin by asking for a small attitude change or
small favour ( ask for 1 Kwacha today, ask for 2 Kwacha
next week).
- The person who grants you a small request is likely to
grant you a bigger request. Only works when the small
request was granted and there has been a passage of
time.
- Door- in- the face technique
- Ask for something outrageous, and then ask for
something much smaller and reasonable.
 Persuading people to change their behaviour
• Towards health problems
- Make sure the message is clear, relevant to them,
and easy to remember.
- Think of whether it is better to emphasise the gains
or losses associated with their current behaviour and
desired behaviour.
- Pay attention to your own persuasive power based
on your qualification, occupational status and
credibility.
- Be aware of how your self-presentation can influence
patients` perceptions of your status and credibility.
Prejudice, stereotypes and discrimination
• Prejudice is a negative evaluation of an entire
group of people typically based on unfavourable
and often wrong stereotypes about the group.
• It is making a decision about a person or group of
people without sufficient knowledge basically
prejudging.
- They are learned and not born being prejudice.
E.g. We may shy away from people with a history of
mental illness or physical disability because we
are afraid they may harm us.
Prejudice, stereotypes and discrimination
• Stereotypes
- Are fixed, overly simple, and often erroneous ideas
about the traits, perception and behaviours of groups of
people. Assume that all members of a group are alike.
• Stereotypes can occur within different ethnic groups,
social classes, religious groups and opposite sexes: E.g.
lower class people are uneducated, Jewish people are
good with money, men are stronger than women.
• Stereotype occur without our awareness: Some
advertisements show mothers serving meals to their
families (but very few show fathers doing this)
Prejudice, stereotypes and discrimination
• Stereotypes often shared by many people, can lead to
prejudice.
- Prejudice, as an attitude, is composed of a cognitive
belief ( all Xs are stupid), an emotional element (I hate
those Xs) and often a behaviour ( I am doing
everything in my power to keep those Xs out of my
neighbourhood).
- When prejudice is translated into behaviour it is known
as discrimination
• Behaviour targeted at individuals or groups and
intended to hold them apart and treat them differently.
• Discrimination is the behavioural component or different
actions taken toward members of a specific social group.
- Types of discrimination
• Individual discrimination
Refers to the discrimination against one person by another.
It is a personal act of discrimination caused by certain
negative attitudes toward another person.
• Institutional discrimination
is any systematic or functional practices that discriminate
or manifest unequal treatment because of race, colour,
nationality, origin, religion or gender. An example would
be exclusion of women from certain job specialities
Prejudice and discrimination can interact in such
a way that one can be evident without the other.
Presence of Prejudice
Presence of discrimination An employer believes that
non-whites cannot do
quality work and does not
promote them, regardless of
their performance.
Absence of discrimination An employer believes that
non-whites cannot do
quality work but promotes
them on the basis of their
performance rather than
following preconceived
ideas.
Absence of Prejudice
An employer believes that all
people can do quality work
but does not promote
minorities because of long-
held company policies.
An employer believes that all
people can do quality work
and promotes people on the
basis of their performance
on the job.
 Avoid discrimination, racism and careless assumptions in
medicine
• Be aware of your attitudes toward different
groups of people – particular professions in
healthcare.
• Ensure that your attitudes do not affect your
treatment of different patients.
• Remember that people`s behaviour is often due
to history of current social circumstances – do not
assume people are instrinically difficult or badly
motivated.
GROUPS
A group could be defined as a gathering of two or
more people who have a common interest.
Levin define a group as consisting several
interdependent people who have emotional ties and
interact on a regular basis.
Groups are usually created by people sharing a
common interest or background.
Groups satisfy members` needs for social contact and
professional development, mutual support and
religious orientation.
Groups affect people`s thoughts, feelings and
behaviour.
What do groups do?
Groups facilitate social influence and conformity
Social psychology`s great lesson in the enormous
power of social influence. The influence can be
seen in conformity, compliance and group
behaviour. Armed with social influence principles,
advertisers, fund-raisers, and campaign workers
aim to sway people`s decisions to buy, donate, to
vote.
Social influence: changes in a person`s behaviour
induced by the actions of another person
(someone
Conformity
Behaviour is contagious. Consider:
- A cluster of people stand gazing upward and passerby
pause to do likewise.
- Baristas and street musicians know to “seed” their tip
containers with money to suggest that others have given.
- One person laughs, coughs or yawns and others in the
group soon do the same.
- Sickness cane also be psychologically contagious.
Human beings are natural mimics – an effect Tanya
Chartrand and John Bargh have called the chameleon
effect. Unconsciously mimicking others` expressions,
postures and voice tones helps us feel what they are
feeling. This helps explain why we feel happier around
happy people than around depressed ones.
Group pressure and conformity
Conformity – adjusting our behaviour or thinking toward some
group standard (a change in behaviour and/or belief to
conform to a group norm as a result of real or imagined group
pressure). Asch demonstrated this effect in his study. People
were tested in groups, one test participant and several
confederate. His study 75% of participants conformed to
confederates` judgements.
Factors in conformity
- One is made to feel incompetent or insecure
- The group has at least three people.
- The group is unanimous. (the dissent of just one person
greatly increases social change.
- One admires the group`s status and attractiveness
- One has made no prior commitment to any response.
- Others in the group observe one`s behaviour.
- One`s culture strongly encourages respect for social
standards.
- Mode of responding: more participants disagreed when
judgements were given by secret ballot than given out loud.
Reasons for conforming
- Normative social influence: influence resulting from a
person`s desire to gain approval and avoid disapproval of
others.
- Informational social influence: influence resulting from
one`s need for information in situations in which the correct
action or judgement is uncertain. (influence resulting from
one`s willingness to accept others` opinions about reality)
Individual behaviour in the presence of Others
Appropriately, social psychology`s first experiments
focused on the simplest of all questions about
social behaviour.
- Social facilitation: the presence of others leads to
heightened arousal, in which one`s performance of
simpler, familiar tasks is improved and one`s
performance on more difficult, unfamiliar tasks is
adversely affected. (stronger responses on simple
or well-learned tasks in the presence of others).
When others observe us, we become aroused. This
arousal strengthens the most likely response- the
correct one on an easy task, an incorrect on a difficult
task. Thus when one is being observed, one perform
well-learned tasks more quickly and accurately and
unmastered tasks less quickly and accurately .
Social loafing: the tendency for people in a group to
exert less effort when pooling their efforts towards
attaining a common goal than when individually
accountable. (the tendency to exert less effort when
working in a group toward a common goal than when
individually working toward the same goal.
Deindividuation: the loss of self-awareness and self-
restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and
anonymity. It entails abandoning normal restraints to the
power of the group. To be deindividuated is to be less self-
conscious and less restrained. The result cane be uninhibited
behaviour ranging from food fight in the dinning hall or
screaming at a basketball referee to vandalism or rioting.
Effects of group interaction.
Research shows that interacting with others similarly both bad
and good effects.
Group polarization: the enhancement of a group`s prevailing
inclinations through discussion within a group. Or the
strengthening of a group`s prevailing opinion about a topic
following group discussion about the topic. Group
polarization can have beneficial results, as when it amplifies a
sought after
spiritual awareness or reinforces the resolve of those in a self-
help group, or strengthens feelings of tolerance in a low-
prejudice group. It can also have dire consequences.
The internet provides a medium for group polarization. Its
tens of thousands of virtual groups enable bereaved
parents, peacemakers and teachers to find solace and
support from kindred spirits. But the internet also enables
people who share interest in government conspiracy, white
supremacy, or citizen militias to find one another and to
find support for their shared suspicions.
Groupthink: the mode of thinking that occurs when the
desire for harmony in a decision-making overrides a
realistic appraisal of alternatives. ( a mode of group
thinking that impairs decision making because the desire
for group harmony overrides a realistic
appraisal of the possible decision alternatives).
Overall goal is to have a conflict free and unified group.
Negative consequences of the Groupthink:
- Collective rationalisation – group believe it cannot fail no
matter what.
- Mindguards- disseminate only positive information about
the group. Negative information is withheld from those
close to the leadership.
- Belief in the inherent morality of the group – protect self
esteem and reputation of the group is highly valued.
Bystander effect: the probability of a person`s helping in an
emergency is greater when there are no other bystanders
than when there are bystanders.
The best odds of our helping someone occur when:
- The person appears to need and deserve help.
- The person is in some way similar to us
- Observing someone else being helpful.
- Not in a hurry
- When one is in a small town or rural area
- When one is feeling guilty
- When is focused on others and not preoccupied
- When one is in a good mood.
 References
• Ayers, S., de Visser, R. (2011). Psychology for
Medicine. London. Sage Publications.
• Bernstein, D.A., Penner, L.A., Clarke-Stewart, A.,
Roy, E.J. (2008). Psychology. Boston. Houghton
Mifflin Company.