Social Psychology Summary
Exam: Thursday 29 March 2018
INDEX
1. Introduction 2
2. Small Group Processes 4
3. The Self 8
4. Social Beliefs and Judgements 11
5. Attitudes and Behavior 15
6. Persuasion 19
7. Conformity and obedience 22
8. Aggression 26
9. Attraction and Intimacy 31
10. Genes, Culture, and Gender 35
11. Social Categorization and Social Identity 39
12. Prejudice, Intergroup Relations and Conflict 43
13. Helping 46
CLAIMER
This summary is made by a student!
Studying from it and relying on it for 100% is your own responsibility.
THANKS & GOOD LUCK!! J
J YOU CAN DO IT !!!! CA
, 2
Introduction (Chapter 1)
- Social psychology – the scientific study of how people think about, relate to and influence one another,
either interpersonally or within groups. E.g. topics of interest:
o Voting behavior
o Influence of terrorist strikes on relationships between subgroups in Netherlands
o Why do people study Psychology?
etc. etc…
Laymen (nonprofessionals) also have strong opinions on these things à based on speculations.
Professionals base opinions on facts, studies. They determine scientifically...
- If a proposition about human behavior is true or false (e.g. “opposite attract” or “beautiful people are
happier”;
- In what situations/under what circumstances;
- And why.
Levels of analysis
1 Intrapersonal processes 2 Interpersonal relations
e.g. stereotypes e.g. falling in love, aggressive behavior
J J+J
2 Intra-group processes 4 Intergroup relations
e.g. why do people in the same group e.g. aggression between groups (war), also one group
wear the same clothes? helping the other
J J J J J J J J J
J J J J J J
AXIOMS (ASSUMPTIONS) OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
AXIOM 1
Human cognition, emotion, and behavior = f(Person x Situation)
e.g.
§ Different people respond differently to the same situations
§ The same person responds differently to different situations
à People choose situations
à Situations choose people (e.g. tall player à rather professional basketball player than jockey)
à People change situations (e.g. the person that gets the party started)
à Situations change people
o Different situations activate different roles of a person
o How people perceive you depends on the context (e.g.
cheerleader effect: how attractive people find you depends on
the attractiveness of friends)
o Priming (visual/auditory)
The role of the person
Personality psychology
- Focus on stable psychological traits that shape behavior (extraversion, agreeableness, etc.)
Social neuroscience
- All our thoughts, emotions and behavior are rooted in the physiological matter of the brain
o E.g. people who vote conservatively have a larger amygdala
o “A healthy mind in a healthy body” ?!?! à NOT correct, suggests that mind and body are
separate (dualism), a thought that has been discarded long ago
, 3
Evolutionary psychology
- heritability of behavior
- many psychological tendencies evolved because they helped our ancestors survive a challenging
environment (e.g. automatic fear response to snakes but not flowers)
The role of the situations
Marketing
- influence of consumer choice
- persuasion via implicit (Coca-Cola vs Pepsi) or explicit (Mac vs Windows) processes
Group psychology
- conformity
- groups can make us do things we wouldn’t do by ourselves
- Terrorism: suicide bombings
Cultural psychology
- How does culture shape our feelings & behaviors?
o E.g. different attitudes towards death penalty in NL vs Texas
AXIOM 2
People construct their own social reality
- Human cognition, emotion and behavior is strongly influenced by the situation, or rather, by people’s
interpretation of the situation
o E.g. different perceptions of someone smiling at you
- “If people define situations as real, they are real in their consequences” (Thomas & Thomas, 1928)
- Good example: the movie about the triangles & the circle (Heider & Simmel, 1944). Looks like they
have feelings/motives à agency detection.
Consequences
1. Self-serving interpretations – we tend to favor groups that we belong to ourselves
2. Motivated reasoning – people selectively interpret evidence that supports their worldview
§ Subjective beliefs as objective truths
3. Ideological conflict – when parties experience their moral worldview as an objective truth à
difficult to compromise!
AXIOM 3
People are social animals
- Others influence most of what we think, feel and do
o E.g. “the waiting room” video
- “The need to belong”
o evolutionary adaptive
§ early ancestors lived as hunter-gatherers in difficult conditions
§ Cooperation + group life were essential for survival
o Psychological & Emotional well being
- Social Brain Hypothesis (Dumbar)
o Our complex human brain evolved as a result of our complex social life
o Figure: The more complex the group, the bigger the brain
- Herding instinct
o It is in our nature to desire meaningful relationships with others (romantic partners, friends,
colleagues etc.)
o Difference between needs (e.g. need to be on time) and instincts (need to belong)
, 4
- Violation need to belong à exclusion à painful
- Ostracism - form of exclusion
1. Study K.P. Williams
o Used Cyberball (virtual ball game in which you will be excluded)
o Showed: 4 needs to be threatened:
§ Need to belong
§ Need to control
§ Need for self-esteem
§ Need for meaningful existence
o Showed: ostracism activates dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex (dACC): Same area that activates
during physical pain
2. Does exclusion influence other components?
Does exclusion Social exclusion Social exclusion
decrease intelligence? and emotions and aggression
§ Last one (social exclusion vs aggression): “If you can’t joint hem, beat them”
• E.g. school shooters! Social outcasts, often bullied
Small Group Processes (Chapter 11)
Humans form groups (interests, sports, music etc.)
- Group – two or more people who interact with and influence one another
Properties of groups
- Cohesiveness holds a group together à “we” rather than “I”
- They are dynamic – social members influence each-others’ performance, opinions & decisions
- Hierarchical vs egalitarian
o Power differences (e.g. leaders, followers)
o Status differences (valued vs non-valued)
o These both also exist in egalitarian groups
Small group processes - the processes through which groups influence individuals
INFLUENCE OF GROUPS ON PERFORMANCE
- Social facilitation (Gordon Allport) – presence of others increases performance
o Bikers bike faster in groups than by themselves
o BUT Sometimes…
- Social inhibition – presence of others impairs performance
- Zajonc created a solution: Social Facilitation model
Facilitates dominant response
Presence of others à Arousal
Inhibits non-dominant response
So… in presence of others, well learned tasks are performed better, poorly learned tasks are worse.
Exam: Thursday 29 March 2018
INDEX
1. Introduction 2
2. Small Group Processes 4
3. The Self 8
4. Social Beliefs and Judgements 11
5. Attitudes and Behavior 15
6. Persuasion 19
7. Conformity and obedience 22
8. Aggression 26
9. Attraction and Intimacy 31
10. Genes, Culture, and Gender 35
11. Social Categorization and Social Identity 39
12. Prejudice, Intergroup Relations and Conflict 43
13. Helping 46
CLAIMER
This summary is made by a student!
Studying from it and relying on it for 100% is your own responsibility.
THANKS & GOOD LUCK!! J
J YOU CAN DO IT !!!! CA
, 2
Introduction (Chapter 1)
- Social psychology – the scientific study of how people think about, relate to and influence one another,
either interpersonally or within groups. E.g. topics of interest:
o Voting behavior
o Influence of terrorist strikes on relationships between subgroups in Netherlands
o Why do people study Psychology?
etc. etc…
Laymen (nonprofessionals) also have strong opinions on these things à based on speculations.
Professionals base opinions on facts, studies. They determine scientifically...
- If a proposition about human behavior is true or false (e.g. “opposite attract” or “beautiful people are
happier”;
- In what situations/under what circumstances;
- And why.
Levels of analysis
1 Intrapersonal processes 2 Interpersonal relations
e.g. stereotypes e.g. falling in love, aggressive behavior
J J+J
2 Intra-group processes 4 Intergroup relations
e.g. why do people in the same group e.g. aggression between groups (war), also one group
wear the same clothes? helping the other
J J J J J J J J J
J J J J J J
AXIOMS (ASSUMPTIONS) OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
AXIOM 1
Human cognition, emotion, and behavior = f(Person x Situation)
e.g.
§ Different people respond differently to the same situations
§ The same person responds differently to different situations
à People choose situations
à Situations choose people (e.g. tall player à rather professional basketball player than jockey)
à People change situations (e.g. the person that gets the party started)
à Situations change people
o Different situations activate different roles of a person
o How people perceive you depends on the context (e.g.
cheerleader effect: how attractive people find you depends on
the attractiveness of friends)
o Priming (visual/auditory)
The role of the person
Personality psychology
- Focus on stable psychological traits that shape behavior (extraversion, agreeableness, etc.)
Social neuroscience
- All our thoughts, emotions and behavior are rooted in the physiological matter of the brain
o E.g. people who vote conservatively have a larger amygdala
o “A healthy mind in a healthy body” ?!?! à NOT correct, suggests that mind and body are
separate (dualism), a thought that has been discarded long ago
, 3
Evolutionary psychology
- heritability of behavior
- many psychological tendencies evolved because they helped our ancestors survive a challenging
environment (e.g. automatic fear response to snakes but not flowers)
The role of the situations
Marketing
- influence of consumer choice
- persuasion via implicit (Coca-Cola vs Pepsi) or explicit (Mac vs Windows) processes
Group psychology
- conformity
- groups can make us do things we wouldn’t do by ourselves
- Terrorism: suicide bombings
Cultural psychology
- How does culture shape our feelings & behaviors?
o E.g. different attitudes towards death penalty in NL vs Texas
AXIOM 2
People construct their own social reality
- Human cognition, emotion and behavior is strongly influenced by the situation, or rather, by people’s
interpretation of the situation
o E.g. different perceptions of someone smiling at you
- “If people define situations as real, they are real in their consequences” (Thomas & Thomas, 1928)
- Good example: the movie about the triangles & the circle (Heider & Simmel, 1944). Looks like they
have feelings/motives à agency detection.
Consequences
1. Self-serving interpretations – we tend to favor groups that we belong to ourselves
2. Motivated reasoning – people selectively interpret evidence that supports their worldview
§ Subjective beliefs as objective truths
3. Ideological conflict – when parties experience their moral worldview as an objective truth à
difficult to compromise!
AXIOM 3
People are social animals
- Others influence most of what we think, feel and do
o E.g. “the waiting room” video
- “The need to belong”
o evolutionary adaptive
§ early ancestors lived as hunter-gatherers in difficult conditions
§ Cooperation + group life were essential for survival
o Psychological & Emotional well being
- Social Brain Hypothesis (Dumbar)
o Our complex human brain evolved as a result of our complex social life
o Figure: The more complex the group, the bigger the brain
- Herding instinct
o It is in our nature to desire meaningful relationships with others (romantic partners, friends,
colleagues etc.)
o Difference between needs (e.g. need to be on time) and instincts (need to belong)
, 4
- Violation need to belong à exclusion à painful
- Ostracism - form of exclusion
1. Study K.P. Williams
o Used Cyberball (virtual ball game in which you will be excluded)
o Showed: 4 needs to be threatened:
§ Need to belong
§ Need to control
§ Need for self-esteem
§ Need for meaningful existence
o Showed: ostracism activates dorsal Anterior Cingulate Cortex (dACC): Same area that activates
during physical pain
2. Does exclusion influence other components?
Does exclusion Social exclusion Social exclusion
decrease intelligence? and emotions and aggression
§ Last one (social exclusion vs aggression): “If you can’t joint hem, beat them”
• E.g. school shooters! Social outcasts, often bullied
Small Group Processes (Chapter 11)
Humans form groups (interests, sports, music etc.)
- Group – two or more people who interact with and influence one another
Properties of groups
- Cohesiveness holds a group together à “we” rather than “I”
- They are dynamic – social members influence each-others’ performance, opinions & decisions
- Hierarchical vs egalitarian
o Power differences (e.g. leaders, followers)
o Status differences (valued vs non-valued)
o These both also exist in egalitarian groups
Small group processes - the processes through which groups influence individuals
INFLUENCE OF GROUPS ON PERFORMANCE
- Social facilitation (Gordon Allport) – presence of others increases performance
o Bikers bike faster in groups than by themselves
o BUT Sometimes…
- Social inhibition – presence of others impairs performance
- Zajonc created a solution: Social Facilitation model
Facilitates dominant response
Presence of others à Arousal
Inhibits non-dominant response
So… in presence of others, well learned tasks are performed better, poorly learned tasks are worse.
