SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

Course Code: PSY101

Lecture Prepared by
FARIEA BAKUL
 SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
Social psychology is the scientific study of how people’s thoughts,
feelings, and actions are affected by others.

 Social psychologists consider the kinds and causes of the individual’s

behavior in social situations. They examine how the nature of
situations in which we find ourselves influences our behavior in
important ways.

 The broad scope of social psychology is conveyed by the kinds of

questions social psychologists ask, such as: How can we convince
people to change their attitudes or adopt new ideas and values? In
what ways do we come to understand what others are like? How are
we influenced by what others do and think?
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ATTITUDE
Attitudes are evaluations of a particular person, behavior, belief, or
concept.
Persuasion is the process of changing attitudes, one of the central
concepts of social psychology. The Routes of persuasion are describes
below-
 SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
ATTITUDE
 Not surprisingly, attitudes influence behavior.
 The strength of the link between particular attitudes and behavior
varies, of course, but generally people strive for consistency between
their attitudes and their behavior.
 Furthermore, people hold fairly consistent attitudes.

Cognitive Dissonance occurs when a person holds two contradictory

attitudes or thoughts.
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ATTITUDE
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SOCIAL COGNITION
The cognitive processes by which people understand and make sense of
others and themselves. It is the understanding of what others are like!

 People have highly developed SCHEMAS, sets of cognitions about

people and social experiences.
 Those schemas organize information stored in memory; represent in
our minds the way the social world operates; and give us a
framework to recognize, categorize, and recall information relating to
social stimuli such as people and groups.
 We typically hold schemas for specific types of people (teacher).
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SOCIAL COGNITION
Central traits are the major traits considered in forming overall
impressions of others or Impression Formation.
 We make impressions remarkably quickly.
 As we gain more experience with people and see them exhibiting
behavior in a variety of situations, our impressions of them become
more complex.
 Our schemas are susceptible to error. Mood affects how we perceive
others. Happy people form more favorable impressions and make more
positive judgments than people who are in a bad mood.
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SOCIAL INFLUENCE AND GROUPS
SOCIAL INFLUENCE, the process by which the actions of an individual or
group affect the behavior of others, a person would almost always
choose the first option.

GROUPS consist of two or more people who (1) interact with one
another; (2) perceive themselves as part of a group; and (3) are
interdependent.
 Groups develop and hold norms, expectations regarding behavior
appropriate to the group.
 Groups exert considerable social influence over individuals.
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SOCIAL INFLUENCE AND GROUPS (characteristics)
1. Group Conformity is a change in behavior or attitudes brought about
by a desire to follow the beliefs or standards of other people. Subtle
or even unspoken social pressure results in conformity.

 Characteristics- the more attractive a group appears to its members,

the greater its ability to produce conformity.
 The situation- in which the individual is responding effects Conformity.
It is considerably higher when people must respond publicly than it is
when they can do so privately.
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SOCIAL INFLUENCE AND GROUPS (characteristics)

 Unanimity- Groups that unanimously support a position show the most

pronounced conformity pressures. A group member whose dissenting
views make nonconformity to the group easier.

GROUPTHINK is a type of thinking in which group members share such a

strong motivation to achieve consensus that they lose the ability to
critically evaluate alternative points of view.
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SOCIAL INFLUENCE AND GROUPS (characteristics)

2. GROUP COMPLIANCE is the behavior that occurs in response to direct

social pressure. In some situations social pressure is much more
obvious with direct, explicit pressure to endorse a particular point of
view or behave in a certain way.
 Techniques to gain compliance-
Foot-in-the-door technique- A salesperson comes to your door and
asks you to accept a small sample. You agree, thinking you have nothing
to lose. A little later a larger request comes; because you have already
agreed to the first one, you have a hard time turning it down. A
persuasive technique used to pressure anyone for compliance to a
group.
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SOCIAL INFLUENCE AND GROUPS (characteristics)
 Door-in-the-face technique- someone makes a large request, expects
it to be refused, and follows it with a smaller one. This strategy, which
is the opposite of the foot-in-the-door approach, has also proved to be
effective.
 That’s-not-all technique- In this technique, a salesperson offers you a
deal at an inflated price. But immediately after the initial offer, the
salesperson offers an incentive, discount, or bonus to clinch the deal.
Although it sounds transparent, this practice can be quite effective.
 Not-so-free sample- If you ever receive a free sample, keep in mind
that it comes with a psychological cost.
Compliance techniques are used to gently lead people toward agreement
with a request.
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SOCIAL INFLUENCE AND GROUPS (characteristics)

3. OBEDIENCE is the change in behavior in response to the commands of

others.
Although obedience is considerably less common than conformity and
compliance, it does occur in several specific kinds of relationships.
For example, we may show obedience to our bosses, teachers, or
parents merely because of the power they hold to reward or punish us.
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POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE SOCIAL BEHAVIOR

1. LIKING AND LOVING have become a major focus of interest for social
psychologists in terms of Positive Social Behavior.
 Known more formally as the study of interpersonal attraction or
close relationships, this area addresses the factors that lead to
positive feelings for others.
 Proximity, Mere exposure, Similarity, Physical Attractive are the
factors why we might like and love someone.
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POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE SOCIAL BEHAVIOR

The way we love are as follows-

 Passionate (or romantic) love- A state of intense absorption in
someone that includes intense physiological arousal, psychological
interest, and caring for the needs of another.

 Companionate love- is the strong affection we have for those with

whom our lives are deeply involved. The love we feel for our parents,
other family members, and even some close friends
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POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE SOCIAL BEHAVIOR
2. Helping behavior (altruism), or prosocial
behavior as it is more formally known, has
been considered under many different
conditions.
Altruism is helping behavior that is beneficial
to others but clearly requires self-sacrifice.
 people who put themselves at mortal risk to
help strangers escape from the burning
World Trade Center towers during the 9/11
terrorist attack would be considered
altruistic.
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POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE SOCIAL BEHAVIOR

AGGRESSION (negative social behavior) is intentional injury of or harm

to another person.
 Aggression on a societal level (war, invasion, assassination).
 Aggression on an individual level (crime, child abuse, and the many
petty cruelties humans are capable of inflicting on one another).

The longer the energy builds up, the greater the amount of the
aggression displayed when it is discharged.
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POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE SOCIAL BEHAVIOR

FRUSTRATION-AGGRESSION APPROACHES: Aggression as a reaction to

frustration- It suggests that frustration (the reaction to the thwarting or
blocking of goals) produces anger, which leads to a readiness to act
aggressively.

 Is road rage a result of frustration? According to frustration-

aggression approaches, frustration is a likely cause.