Psychology: Social Chapter 1
Axioms in Social Psychology 9/27/2010
A Definition of Social Psychology
The scientific study of how ______ __________influence our...
thoughts,
feelings,
& actions.
Axiom 1: Social Psychology is an experimentally based Science
As scientists, our goal is to find objective answers to a wide array of important questions: What are the factors that cause aggression? How might we reduce prejudice? What variables cause two people to like or love each other? Why do certain kinds of political advertisements work better than others?
Philosophers use ________ Personality psychologists use __________ _________. Sociologists consider the "psychology" of the _______ whereas social psychologists consider the psychology of the ____________ within the group.
How do others (non-social psychologists) answer these questions?
Scientific Method
One of the tasks of the social psychologist is to make educated guesses (____________) about the specific situations under which one outcome or the other would occur. Just as a physicist performs experiments to test hypotheses about the nature of the physical world, the social psychologist performs experiments to test hypotheses about the nature of the social world. The next task is to design _____________ experiments sophisticated enough to tease out the situations that would result in one or another outcome.
Axiom 2: The Power of Social Influence
When trying to convince people that their behavior is greatly influenced by the social environment, the social psychologist is up against a formidable barrier: All of us tend to explain people's __________ in terms of their _______________.
Fundamental Attribution Error The tendency to explain our own and other people's behavior entirely in terms of personality traits, thereby underestimating the power of social influence.
Underestimating the Power of Social Influence
When we underestimate the power of social influence, we gain a feeling of ______ ___________. Doing so gives the rest of us the feeling that we _______ ______ _________ in the repugnant behavior shown by others. Ironically, this in turn ____________ our personal vulnerability to possibly destructive social influence by lulling us into lowering our guard. By failing to fully appreciate the power of the situation, we tend to:
____________ complex situations which, ____________ our understanding of the true causes.
Underestimating the Power of Social Influence
Aspects of the social situation that may seem minor can have powerful effects, overwhelming the differences in ________ ____________. Personality differences do exist and frequently are of great importance. But social and environmental situations can be ___ ___________ that they have dramatic effects on almost everyone.
Axiom 3: The Power of Social Interpretation
To understand social influence it is more important to understand how people _______ ___ ________ (construe) the social world than it is to understand that world objectively.
Consider what happens in a murder trial.
Even when the prosecution presents compelling evidence, these __________ rest on a variety of events and perceptions that often bear no objective relevant evidence.
Did a key witness hesitate before answering, suggesting to some jurors that she might not be certain of her data? Or did some jurors consider the witness too remote, arrogant, certain of herself?
A special kind of construal is what Lee Ross calls "nave realism."
Nave Realism The conviction all of us have that we perceive things "as they really are."
Example: both Although Israelis and Palestinians understand intellectually that the other side perceives the issues differently, both sides resist compromise, fearing that their "biased" opponent will benefit more than they.
The Subjectivity of the Situation
Football Study (Hastorf & Cantrill)
Axiom Four: Construals are the result of Basic Human Motives
1. The need to _________________ 2. The need to __________________
Tension Between the Motives
Tension exists when our ___________ does not fit with our _________. Acknowledging major deficiencies in ourselves is ____ _____, even when the _____ is seeing the world inaccurately.
Why does hazing work?
Experiments demonstrated that the more ___________ the procedure the participants underwent to get into a group, the ________ they liked the group. The important points to remember here are: (1) That human beings are motivated to maintain a _______ _________ of themselves, in part by __________ their past behavior, and (2) That under certain specifiable conditions, this leads them to do things that at first glance might seem surprising or paradoxical.
Axiom Five: Cognitive Conservatism
Mental capacity is ________ and so shortcuts are __________. We are guided by __________ and stereotypes. These shortcuts are ________, but can also lead to _________ decision making.
Self-fulfilling Prophecy
Rosenthal & Jacobson (1968) found that a teacher who expects certain students to do well may cause those students to do better A self-fulfilling prophecy
How does such a self-fulfilling prophecy come about? Teaching expecting specific students to perform well often: More attention to them, Listen to them with more respect, Call on them more frequently, Encourage them, Try to teach them more challenging material. This, in turn, helps these students feel: Happier, More respected, More motivated, and smarter.
Darley and Gross (1983)
Participants came in to be part of a study on "teacher evaluation methods" They viewed a videotape of a 4th grade student ("Hannah") and were asked to evaluate her academic capabilities
Darley & Gross
What would be your expectations if Hannah lived here?
Darley and Gross (1983) Procedure
First video segment provided demographic information about Hannah
Low SES background High SES background
Second video segment participants watched Hannah respond to a 25 item achievement test
Designed to be ambiguous (she did well on some difficult problems, but missed some easy ones)
Darley and Gross (1983) Procedure
Following the video, participants rated Hannah's performance as well as her general academic abilities A control group was also included that received the demographic information but did not see the tape of her test performance, and made the same ability ratings
Darley and Gross (1983) Results
6 5 Grade level 4 3 2 1 0 Control Saw tape 3.9 4.8 4.2 3.1 Low SES High SES
Biased assimilation
Moral to Darley and Gross: Even when we "look" at all the evidence, we don't look at it in an ________________way We ______ our interpretation of the data through our own _________________ and expectations
Other Motives
A variety of motives influence what we think, feel, and do: ________ drives (e.g., hunger & thirst), __________ Desire for __________ (e.g., love, favors), Need for _________
Review the Five Axioms
Social Psychology is an Experimentally Based Science The Power of Social Influence The Power of Social Interpretation Construals are the Result of Basic Human Motives Cognitive Conservatism