Social Psychology: Structured Study Notes

Social Psychology

Introduction to Social Psychology

Social psychology examines how social situations influence individuals' thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. It explores the reasons behind people's actions in social contexts and the psychological mechanisms that drive group dynamics.

• Need to Belong Theory: Humans have a biologically-based need for interpersonal connection. Isolation can lead to increased anxiety, abnormal eating, reduced intelligence, and other negative outcomes (e.g., solitary confinement).

Situational Influences on Behavior

Social situations shape individual behavior through various mechanisms, including mimicry, social norms, and social roles.

• Mimicry: Adopting behaviors, emotional displays, and facial expressions of others.

• Social Norms: Unwritten guidelines for behavior in social situations; implicit and emerge naturally.

• Social Roles: Guidelines for specific positions within a group, often defined by labels.

• Ostracism: Being ignored or excluded from social contact; a powerful social regulator linked to increased aggression and distress (e.g., school shooters).

Social Comparison Theory

Individuals evaluate their abilities and beliefs by comparing themselves to others.

• Upward Comparison: Comparing oneself to someone "better"; can inspire motivation or trigger envy.

• Downward Comparison: Comparing oneself to someone "worse off"; can boost self-esteem or create complacency.

Attribution Theory

Attributions are explanations for why people behave as they do. They can be internal (dispositional) or external (situational).

• Internal Attributions: Based on qualities or actions of the individual (e.g., intelligence, personality).

• External Attributions: Based on context or environment (e.g., time of day, experiences).

• Fundamental Attribution Error: Tendency to attribute others' actions to their character, ignoring situational factors.

• Actor-Observer Bias: Tendency to explain one's own behavior with external factors, but others' behavior with internal factors.

Example: If someone fails a test, we may assume they are lazy (internal), but if we fail, we blame external circumstances.

Just-World Hypothesis

The belief that people get the outcomes they deserve, based on the assumption that the world is fair. This can lead to victim blaming.

• Applications: Crime, poverty, illness, natural disasters, and sexual harassment.

Social Influence

Social influence refers to the ways people alter their behavior due to the presence or actions of others.

• Conformity: Changing behavior due to group pressure. Influenced by group size, familiarity, ambiguity of task, and public responses.

• Groupthink: Group decision-making style where concurrence is prioritized over critical thinking. More likely with strong leaders or homogenous groups.

• Deindividuation: Loss of individuality and reduction of normal constraints against deviant behavior (e.g., "mob mentality").

• Compliance: Submitting to direct social pressure. Techniques include:

  • Foot-in-the-door: Small request followed by larger one.

  • Door-in-the-face: Large request followed by a reasonable one.

  • Low-ball: Low price followed by additional costs.

• Obedience: Following direct orders from authority. Essential in daily life but problematic when unquestioned.

Milgram Paradigm: Classic study on obedience; found that proximity to authority and victim affects obedience levels.

Helping and Harming Others

Social psychology investigates prosocial behavior (helping) and aggression (harming).

• Prosocial Behavior: Actions that benefit others (helping, giving, sharing, cooperating).

• Situational Influences: People are more likely to help when escape is difficult, victim characteristics are favorable, mood is positive, role models are present, conformity is high, and they are not in a hurry.

• Bystander Effect: The presence of more people reduces the likelihood of helping due to diffusion of responsibility.

Five Steps to Helping in an Emergency

• Notice the event

• Understand that it is an emergency

• Take responsibility

• Know how to help

• Help

• Altruism: Helping others without conscious regard for self-interest.

• Norms of Reciprocity: Helping with the expectation of future help.

Aggression, Attitudes, and Prejudice

Aggression is any behavior intended to harm another. Attitudes are overall evaluations, and prejudice involves negative attitudes toward groups.

• Hostile vs. Instrumental Aggression: Hostile is driven by anger; instrumental is goal-oriented.

• Frustration-Aggression Theory: Frustration from blocked goals leads to aggression.

• Evolutionary Theory: Aggression serves adaptive functions.

• Situational Influences: Media, aggressive cues, arousal, substances, and temperature can increase aggression.

Attitudes and Persuasion

Attitudes consist of affective, behavioral, and cognitive components. Persuasion aims to change attitudes and behavior.

• Elaboration Likelihood Model: Dual process model with two routes:

  • Central Route: Focuses on informational content; used when motivation and ability are high.

  • Peripheral Route: Focuses on surface aspects (e.g., attractiveness, credibility); used when motivation or ability is low.

• Peripheral Cues: Credibility, attractiveness, expertise, humor, ratings, endorsements.

• Source Characteristics: Expertise and trustworthiness encourage peripheral processing.

• Message Characteristics: Two-sided messages are more effective; emotional appeals can arouse specific emotions.

• Audience Characteristics: Young adults, low self-esteem, low intelligence, and high self-monitoring are more easily persuaded.

Cognitive Dissonance

Cognitive dissonance is the unpleasant tension from conflicting thoughts or beliefs. Individuals are motivated to reduce dissonance.

• Change behavior

• Change cognitions through rationalizing or denial

• Add a new cognition

Prejudice and Discrimination

Prejudice is a negative attitude toward individuals based on group membership. Stereotypes are specific beliefs, and discrimination is negative action.

• Adaptive Conservatism: Evolutionary predisposition to distrust unfamiliar individuals.

• In-group Bias: Favoring one's own group.

• Out-group Bias: Viewing outsiders as highly similar.

• Explicit Prejudice: Openly admitted negative feelings.

• Implicit Prejudice: Automatic, unconscious biases measured by tools like the Implicit Association Test (IAT).

Table: Prejudice, Stereotype, and Discrimination

Term	Definition	Example
Prejudice	Negative attitude toward a group	"I hate people who own small white dogs"
Stereotype	Specific belief about a group	"People who own small white dogs are arrogant"
Discrimination	Negative action toward a group	"I would never hire someone who owns a small white dog"

Nature and Roots of Prejudice

Prejudice is learned through parents, school, and media. It is shaped by observational learning and socialization.

• Scapegoat Hypothesis: Prejudice arises from the need to blame other groups for misfortunes.

• Just-World Hypothesis: Assumption that the world is fair leads to victim blaming.

• Other Factors: Conformity, scarcity, extrinsic vs. intrinsic religiosity.

Implicit Bias and Media Representation

Implicit bias affects policing and media depictions. Studies show racial disparities in police decisions and media portrayals.

• Shooter Bias: Officers more likely to shoot unarmed Black suspects due to unconscious associations.

• Media Analyses: White players receive more positive descriptions; Black players are described in passive or negative terms.

Robber's Cave Study

The Robber's Cave Study investigated intergroup conflict and cooperation among boys at a summer camp.

• Phase 1: Group formation (Rattlers & Eagles).

• Phase 2: Competition led to hostility and in-group favoritism.

• Phase 3: Superordinate goals reduced tension and promoted cooperation.

Key Finding: Competition increases hostility; shared goals promote friendship.

Additional info: The notes have been expanded with academic context and examples for clarity and completeness.