Summary: Behavior and
Environment 1
Chapter 1: An invitation to social psychology
Social psychology: the scientific study of the feelings, thoughts, and behaviors of individuals in social
situations
Factors that shape our behavior:
- Distal factors:
o cultural background of an individual, parenting style etc.
o have indirect effect on behavior
- Proximal factors:
o immediate experiences, people around you, clothes someone is wearing etc.
o have very direct effect on behavior
The power of the situation:
- Kurt Lewin (founder of modern social psychology)
o Believed that the behavior of people is always a function of the field of forces in
which they find themselves
o In humans the field of forces is the social situation
o His formula: B = f (P, E)
o People often underestimate the situation/environment (E)
Bystander effect:
- The more people around that could help in an emergency case, the less likely someone
actually does help
Milgram Experiment:
- 80% of participants continued past the 150V level
- 62.5% went to the last level (450V)
- Average amount of shock given was 360V
- The step-by-step nature that led people to carry out the task was crucial
o Because they did not stop at 225V so why should they at 250V?!
Seminarians as Samaritans:
- Asked students about basis of religion to determine whether it was for personal salvation or
other moral and spiritual values
- After that they asked each seminarian to go to another building to deliver a short sermon
1
, - Multiple conditions:
o Some where told they had plenty of time
o Others were told they were already late and
should hurry
- On the way to deliver the sermon the seminarians passed a
man sitting in a doorway with his head down, coughing and
groaning in apparent need for help
- Nature of religious orientation was of no use in predicting whether the seminarians offered
help
- Whether seminarians were in hurry or not was a good predictor instead
The fundamental attribution error:
- Tendency to attribute behavior to the person and not to the situation
o People believe that dispositions (beliefs, values, personality traits etc.) are causes for
behavior
o Overemphasize dispositions and ignore situational factors
- How?
o 1. Perceiving the behavior
o 2. Categorizing the behavior
o 3. Correct for the situation
Here you can get away from the fundamental attribution error
Needs active and controlled thinking, not automatic
Channel factors:
- Small situational changes that “channel” our behavior (sometimes with serious
consequences)
Nudges
- Small, innocuous-seeming prompts that can have big effects on behavior
The role of construal:
- Gestalt psychology:
o Objects are perceived by active, usually nonconscious interpretation of what the
object represents
o Our judgements and beliefs are actively constructed from perceptions and thoughts
- Construal:
o Ones interpretation of or inference about the stimuli or situations that one confronts
Schemas:
- A knowledge structure consisting of any organized body of stored information that is used to
help in understanding events and helps to predict what might happen and how to behave
- Stored in long-term memory
- Knowledge includes features of the stimulus, connections between the features and specific
examples
- Schemas about:
2
, o Groups of people
o Personality traits
o Situations
o Specific individuals
o Ourselves
- Unconsciously affect our feelings, thoughts and behavior habitually
- Very functional but with both positive and negative outcomes
Stereotypes:
- A belief that certain attributes are characteristic of members of a particular group
Priming:
- Automatic and unconscious influence of a stimulus on our decisions and behavior
Dual-process models:
- System 1: (automatic)
o Unconscious, fast, associative, unintentional, effortless, can operate in parallel
o Give rise to implicit attitudes
- System 2: (reflective)
o Conscious, slow, intentional, effort (energy)
o Dependent on motivation and mental capacity
o Does not have much influence on decisions
o Results in explicit attitudes we are aware of and can express
Evolution and Human behavior: how we are the same
- Natural selection:
o Evolutionary process that molds animals and plants so that traits that enhance the
probability of survival and reproduction are passed on to subsequent generations
- Human universals:
o Many human behaviors and institutions are universal
Evolution and gender roles:
- Parental investment theory:
o Costs and benefits are associated with reproduction and the nurturing of offspring.
Because these costs and benefits are different for males and females, one gender will
normally value and invest more in each child than will the other
Naturalistic fallacy:
- Naturalistic fallacy: the claim that the way things are is the way they should be
- Even though we are biologically predisposed to do certain things it does not mean we should
stop controlling for them
3
, - Civilization is the attempt to do so and has brought rates of criminality down etc.
Culture and Human behavior: how we are different
Independent cultures Interdependent cultures
- Conception of the self as distinct from - Conception of the self as inextricably
others, with attributes that are constant linked to others, with attributes
- Insistence on ability to act on one’s own depending on the situation
- Need for individual distinctiveness - Preference for collective action
- Preference for achieved status based on - Desire for harmonious relations within
accomplishments the group
- Conviction that rules governing - Acceptance of hierarchy and ascribed
behavior should apply to everyone status based on age, group
membership, and other attributes
- Preference for rules that take context
and particular relationships into
account
Familialism:
- A social value defined by interpersonal warmth, closeness and support
- Part of interdependent cultures
- Enjoy greater well-being and stronger relationships but they also experience greater stress
when faced with moving away from family
Chapter 3: The social self
Paradox of the self:
- The self does not exist
o Rather large collection of mental processes that make up a sense of self
- You do not “own” yourself
o You are formed by social environment and you do not pull the strings
The self as a basic phenomenon:
- Fundamental distinction between yourself and the outside world/others
- The location of the boundary is not visible and we are not aware of it until it is violated
o It is physically AND socially defined
Two types of consciousness:
- Subjective self-awareness
o Unreflected
o More intuitive
o Basis of normal activity
o Have it in common with other animals
- Objective self-awareness
o Self-reflective
4
Environment 1
Chapter 1: An invitation to social psychology
Social psychology: the scientific study of the feelings, thoughts, and behaviors of individuals in social
situations
Factors that shape our behavior:
- Distal factors:
o cultural background of an individual, parenting style etc.
o have indirect effect on behavior
- Proximal factors:
o immediate experiences, people around you, clothes someone is wearing etc.
o have very direct effect on behavior
The power of the situation:
- Kurt Lewin (founder of modern social psychology)
o Believed that the behavior of people is always a function of the field of forces in
which they find themselves
o In humans the field of forces is the social situation
o His formula: B = f (P, E)
o People often underestimate the situation/environment (E)
Bystander effect:
- The more people around that could help in an emergency case, the less likely someone
actually does help
Milgram Experiment:
- 80% of participants continued past the 150V level
- 62.5% went to the last level (450V)
- Average amount of shock given was 360V
- The step-by-step nature that led people to carry out the task was crucial
o Because they did not stop at 225V so why should they at 250V?!
Seminarians as Samaritans:
- Asked students about basis of religion to determine whether it was for personal salvation or
other moral and spiritual values
- After that they asked each seminarian to go to another building to deliver a short sermon
1
, - Multiple conditions:
o Some where told they had plenty of time
o Others were told they were already late and
should hurry
- On the way to deliver the sermon the seminarians passed a
man sitting in a doorway with his head down, coughing and
groaning in apparent need for help
- Nature of religious orientation was of no use in predicting whether the seminarians offered
help
- Whether seminarians were in hurry or not was a good predictor instead
The fundamental attribution error:
- Tendency to attribute behavior to the person and not to the situation
o People believe that dispositions (beliefs, values, personality traits etc.) are causes for
behavior
o Overemphasize dispositions and ignore situational factors
- How?
o 1. Perceiving the behavior
o 2. Categorizing the behavior
o 3. Correct for the situation
Here you can get away from the fundamental attribution error
Needs active and controlled thinking, not automatic
Channel factors:
- Small situational changes that “channel” our behavior (sometimes with serious
consequences)
Nudges
- Small, innocuous-seeming prompts that can have big effects on behavior
The role of construal:
- Gestalt psychology:
o Objects are perceived by active, usually nonconscious interpretation of what the
object represents
o Our judgements and beliefs are actively constructed from perceptions and thoughts
- Construal:
o Ones interpretation of or inference about the stimuli or situations that one confronts
Schemas:
- A knowledge structure consisting of any organized body of stored information that is used to
help in understanding events and helps to predict what might happen and how to behave
- Stored in long-term memory
- Knowledge includes features of the stimulus, connections between the features and specific
examples
- Schemas about:
2
, o Groups of people
o Personality traits
o Situations
o Specific individuals
o Ourselves
- Unconsciously affect our feelings, thoughts and behavior habitually
- Very functional but with both positive and negative outcomes
Stereotypes:
- A belief that certain attributes are characteristic of members of a particular group
Priming:
- Automatic and unconscious influence of a stimulus on our decisions and behavior
Dual-process models:
- System 1: (automatic)
o Unconscious, fast, associative, unintentional, effortless, can operate in parallel
o Give rise to implicit attitudes
- System 2: (reflective)
o Conscious, slow, intentional, effort (energy)
o Dependent on motivation and mental capacity
o Does not have much influence on decisions
o Results in explicit attitudes we are aware of and can express
Evolution and Human behavior: how we are the same
- Natural selection:
o Evolutionary process that molds animals and plants so that traits that enhance the
probability of survival and reproduction are passed on to subsequent generations
- Human universals:
o Many human behaviors and institutions are universal
Evolution and gender roles:
- Parental investment theory:
o Costs and benefits are associated with reproduction and the nurturing of offspring.
Because these costs and benefits are different for males and females, one gender will
normally value and invest more in each child than will the other
Naturalistic fallacy:
- Naturalistic fallacy: the claim that the way things are is the way they should be
- Even though we are biologically predisposed to do certain things it does not mean we should
stop controlling for them
3
, - Civilization is the attempt to do so and has brought rates of criminality down etc.
Culture and Human behavior: how we are different
Independent cultures Interdependent cultures
- Conception of the self as distinct from - Conception of the self as inextricably
others, with attributes that are constant linked to others, with attributes
- Insistence on ability to act on one’s own depending on the situation
- Need for individual distinctiveness - Preference for collective action
- Preference for achieved status based on - Desire for harmonious relations within
accomplishments the group
- Conviction that rules governing - Acceptance of hierarchy and ascribed
behavior should apply to everyone status based on age, group
membership, and other attributes
- Preference for rules that take context
and particular relationships into
account
Familialism:
- A social value defined by interpersonal warmth, closeness and support
- Part of interdependent cultures
- Enjoy greater well-being and stronger relationships but they also experience greater stress
when faced with moving away from family
Chapter 3: The social self
Paradox of the self:
- The self does not exist
o Rather large collection of mental processes that make up a sense of self
- You do not “own” yourself
o You are formed by social environment and you do not pull the strings
The self as a basic phenomenon:
- Fundamental distinction between yourself and the outside world/others
- The location of the boundary is not visible and we are not aware of it until it is violated
o It is physically AND socially defined
Two types of consciousness:
- Subjective self-awareness
o Unreflected
o More intuitive
o Basis of normal activity
o Have it in common with other animals
- Objective self-awareness
o Self-reflective
4
