Social Psychology Flashcards
How does the social situation affect our behaviour
CORE CONCEPT
We usually adapt our behaviour to the demands of the social situation , and in ambiguous situations we take our cues from the behaviour of others in that setting.
Social psychology
Understand behaviour within its social context
Social context includes:
- real, imagined, or symbolic presence of other people
- activities and interactions among people
- setting in which behaviour occurs
- expectations and social norms governing behaviour in a given setting
How does the social situation affect our behaviour?
SITUATIONISM
-external environment or behavioural context can both subtle and forceful effects on people’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviour
DISPOSITIONISM
-attributes behaviour to internal factors such as genes, PERSONALITY traits, and character qualities
Social standards of behaviour
SOCIAL ROLE
-several socially defined patterns of behaviour
-expected of persons in a given setting
SOCIAL NORMS
-a groups expectations regarding what is appropriate and acceptable from its members’ attitudes and behaviour
Social pressure
Sometimes super sensible:
- it bonds us together
- it is about fairness
- it is about a shared understanding of the world
The Asch experiment
About conformity
THEORY
-chameleon effect: conformity occurs when people’s moods, clothing styles, and leisure activities tend to mimic other people
-is the drive for conformity so great that we act in a way that is wrong even when we know it’s wrong
HYPOTHESIS
-when faced with a choice that is clearly incorrect, participants would be more likely to respond in the same manner as the rest of the group
EMPIRICAL TESTS
RESULTS
-3/4 of the participants confirmed to the false judgement of the group one or more times
-only 1/4 remained completely independent at all times
Groupthink and conditions to promote
In groupthink, members of the group attempt to confirm their opinions to what each believes to be the consensus of the group.
- directive leadership
- high group cohesiveness
- isolation of the group
- lack of norms requiring methodical procedure
- homogeneity of members’ social background and ideology
- high stress from external threats with low hope of a better solution than of the group leader
Obedience authority
Example Milgram experiment
An authority specifically commands us to change our behaviour, and we do.
Milgram asked participants to give electric shocks to somebody else as part of a learning experiment. Each time the learner (a confederate) got a wrong answer, the teacher was required to give a more intense shock.
Obedience contributing factors
- High status of the authority figure
- absence of a clear-out point for disobeying
- belief that the authority figure will take responsibility for actions
- barriers to empathy for victims
Approaches
Dispositional approach: internal characteristics of the individual (bad apple)
Situational approach: external characteristics of the situation (the bad apple barrel)
Systemic approach: broad influences-political, economics, legal (the bad barrel-makers)
Heroism
- in service to others in need
- engaged in voluntarily
- with recognition of possible risks/costs
- in witch the actor is willing to accept anticipated sacrifice
- without external gain anticipated at the time of the act
Types of heroism
Physical heroism
-duty bound (e.g., armed forces) OR non-duty-bound (e.g., civilian bystander who performs an emergency rescue)
Social heroism
-defy the system (e.g. whistleblower) OR defy reality/limits of the known world (e.g., an explorer who makes a discovery that changes humanity’s understanding of itself and/or the universe)
The call for heroism
Societies need to foster a ‘heroic imagination’ in their citizens as an antidote to evil.
Heroic imagination=a mental state of anticipation and readiness for any person to act heroically when opportunities arise.
The call to heroism steps included
- critically evaluate situations so that we don’t gloss over an emergency requiring our action
- developed personal hardiness necessary to stand firm for principles we cherish
- remain aware of the future and the past, not just the present
- resist the urge to rationalise inaction
- transcend anticipating negative consequences associated with some forms of heroism
Ethical considerations
- welfare/protection from harm (physical, psychological, social, economic, legal)
- voluntary participation
- informed consent
- deception
