313392 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Groupthink, Fundamental Attribution Error, Fritz Heider
Topic of Social Psychology in Psychology
1. Social psychology is the scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one
another.
• Afte studig ho people eplai othes’ ehaio, Fitz Heide 1 poposed
an attribution theory, the theo that e eplai soeoe’s ehaio editig
eithe the situatio o the peso’s dispositio.
o Fundamental attribution error is the tendency for observers, when
aalzig othes’ ehaio, to udeestiate the ipat of the situatio
and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition.
2. Attitudes are feelings, often influenced by our beliefs, that predispose us to respond in a
particular way to objects, people, and events.
• Peripheral route persuasion occurs when people are influenced by incidental
ues, suh as a speake’s attatieess.
• Central route persuasion occurs when interested people focus on the arguments
and respond with favorable thoughts.
• The foot-in-the-door phenomenon is the tendency for people who have first
agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request.
3. A role is a set of expectations (norms) about a social position, defining how those in the
position ought to behave.
• In one famous and controversial study, male college students volunteered to
spend time in a simulated prison. Stanford psychologist Philip Zimbardo (1972)
randomly assigned some volunteers to be guards. He gave them uniforms, clubs,
and whistles and instructed them to enforce certain rules. Others became
prisoners, locked in barren cells and forced to wear humiliating outfits. For a day
or two, the volunteers self-osiousl plaed thei oles. The the siulatio
became real—too real.
4. Cognitive dissonance theory is the theory that we act to reduce the discomfort
(dissonance) we feel when two of our thoughts (cognitions) are inconsistent.
• For example, when we become aware that our attitudes and our actions clash, we
can reduce the resulting dissonance by changing our attitudes.
• In one experiment, you might agree for a measly $2 to help a researcher by
itig a essa that suppots soethig ou do’t eliee i pehaps a tuitio
increase). Feeling responsible for the statements (which are inconsistent with
your attitudes), you would probably feel dissonance, especially if you thought
your essay might influence an administrator. To reduce the uncomfortable
tension, you might start believing your disingenuous words.
5. Culture is the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group
of people and transmitted from one generation to the next.
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• Each cultural group evolves its own norms, understood rules for accepted and
epeted ehaio. Nos pesie pope ehaio.
6. Conformity is adjusting our behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard.
• Normative social influence is ifluee esultig fo a peso’s desie to gai
approval or avoid disapproval.
• Informational social influence is ifluee esultig fo oe’s illigess to
aept othes’ opiions about reality.
7. I “tale Milga’s 1, 1 faous ad otoesial epeiets o oediee, he
found obedience was the highest when:
• The person giving the orders was close at hand and was perceived to be a
legitimate authority figure.
• The authority figure was supported by a powerful or prestigious institution.
• The victim was depersonalized or at a distance, even in another room.
• There were no role models for defiance.
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8. Social facilitation is improved performance on simple or well-learned tasks in the presence
of others.
• In contrast, social loafing is the tendency for people in a group to exert less effort
when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal than when
individually accountable.
• Deindividuation refers to the loss of self-awareness and self-restraint occurring in
group situations that foster arousal and anonymity.
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Document Summary
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