Social Psychology Essay

Submitted By alex.m.roberson
Words: 802
Pages: 4

Social Psychology * Social Cognition * Impression Formation * Social schema** * Attribution * Fundamental Attribution** * Defense Attribution** * Just World Attribution * Mistaken belief that bad things happen to bad people * Why do we do this? –Helps us feel safer and better about ourselves, we always ask what they did wrong, bad things do still happen to good people * Persuasion * Trying to change your attitudes * Factors in persuasion: * Source of message- who is doing the persuading? We are more likely to be persuaded, if we think the source is an expert and if the source is trustworthy * Receiver of the message-us, Our intelligence and mood play a role in if we get persuaded * Message itself, If the message addresses the competition, that will persuade us more than if it wasn’t mentioned * Prejudice & Discrimination * Prejudice= attitudes, Discrimination= Actions, You can have one without the other * Sources of Prejudice * Frustration-Aggression Theory- When we get frustrated, we tend to get aggression, when we feel financial/economic frustration-makes us feel the most aggressive * Authoritarian Personality- One of those people who always think they are right no matter what, at times they are able to get people to follow them * Cognitive Over-Simplifications- Saying that you are thinking too simply about the situation, haven’t considered all of the evidence or facts, If one person does it-then all must (Women drivers) * Reducing Prejudice & Discrimination * Try to make sure groups have equal status (All have equal time to talk, ect.) * Making sure people with different groups have one-to-one contact with each other * Make sure people have a chance to work together towards a common goal * Social Influence * Process by which individuals or groups affect our attitudes * Cultural Influence * How we are most influenced * What is culture? * Cultural Norms- shared ideas about how to behave * Conformity * Conflict between individual and group; resolved by individual yielding * Talking about conformity, talking about unwritten/unspoken rules/social norms * Ex: Hand washing study-Went to public restrooms and averaged how many people washed your hands when they thought no one was watching- 16%, when they knew someone was with them- 92%, big example of conformity * Ex: Asch’s conformity studies- Getting groups of people that know what is going on and then have a couple people who have no clue. Everyone saying one thing, will they conform? 70% of people did * Compliance * Changing your behavior after an explicit request, spoken out loud and adds pressure on your action * Ex: “Can you hold the elevator? Can you loan my $5? Will you not smoke in here?” * Ex: Zimbardo’s prison study-If he asks subjects something, would they do it, acting either like prisoners or prison guards- they complied more than no one ever expected, had to call it off early * Obedience * Following direct commands (Most powerful form of social influence) * Ex: Milgram’s obedience study- would people obey Milgram when ordered to keep shocking someone or would they stop