PSYC10004 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Stanford Prison Experiment, Contingency Theory, Microsoft Onenote
28 Jun 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
LECTURE 15 – SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY 6
WHAT IS A GROUP?
Two or more people who share a common definition and evaluation about themselves and
behave in accordance with the definition
oNot just a bunch of people
oSocial identity everyone shares understanding & it guides their behaviour
WHY ARE GROUPS IMPORTANT FOR HUMANS?
Task performance function (task group) – performing tasks that individuals cannot do by
themselves
Socio-emotional function (intimacy group) – providing social support (i.e. family)
Social identity function (social category) – provide social identity – “sense of belonging/meaning”
oServes through a larger group – e.g. uni student presents assumptions that you’re
studying, working part-time etc
THE SOCIAL BRAIN HYPOTHESIS
Group and brain = evolutionary linked
Group living evolutionary pressure for brain evolution (i.e. b/c we are living in a big group, our
brain evolved)
oPossible for maintenance of larger group
Neocortex size (relative to rest of brain – relevant for higher order info. Processing)
oCorrelated with average group size of species
Greater group size larger neocortex size (cultural evolution)
PROPERTIES AND STRUCTURES OF GROUPS
NORMS 1
Attitudinal and behavioural patterns characteristic of a group
oDescriptive – what people do do and think
oInjunctive – what people should do and think
Morals – e.g. shouldn’t steal
Provides uniformity about a group, similar – gives central tendency
NORMS 2
Taken for granted background norms become apparent when violated
oThings we know but not explicitly stated
oE.g. facing forward in an elevator, moving to sides
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
