• branch of psychology that studies how a person’s thoughts, feelings, and behavior are influenced by the presence of other people and by the social and physical environment

• and individuals unique sense of identity that has been influenced by social, cultural, psychological experiences; your sense of who you are in relation to other people

• the mental processes people use to make sense of their social environment

• the effect of situational factors and other people on an individual's behavior

• the “rules” or expectations, for appropriate behavior in a particular situation

• the mental process of categorizing people into groups or social categories on the basis of their shared characteristics

• deliberate, conscious mental processes involved in perceptions, judgement, decisions, and reasoning

• automatic, nonconscious mental processes that influence perceptions, judgements, decision, and reasoning.

• the mental process of inferring the causes of people’s behavior, including one’s own. Also refers to the explanation made for a particular behavior

• the tendency to attribute the behavior of others to internal, personal characteristics, while ignoring or underestimating the effects of external, situational factors

• the tendency to blame an innocent victim of misfortune for having somehow caused the problem or for not having taken steps to avoid or prevent it. 

• the tendency to overestimate one’s ability to have forseen or predicted the outcome of an event

• the assumption that the world is fair and that therefore people get what they deserve and deserve what they get

• the tendency to attribute successful outcomes of one’s own behavior to internal causes and unsuccessful outcome to external, situational causes.

• a learned tendency to evaluate some object, person, or issue in a particular way; such evaluations may be positive, negative, or ambivalent 

• an unpleasant state of psychological tension (dissonance) occurring when two thoughts or perceptions (cognitions) are inconsistent; results from awareness that attitudes and behavior conflict

• a negative attitude towards people who belong to a specific social group

• a social group to which one belongs

• a social group to which one does not belong

• the tendency to see members of out-groups as very similar to one another

• preferences and biases toward particular groups that are automatic. spontaneous, unintentional, and often unconscious; measured with the Implicit Association Test.

• behavior that is motivated by the desire to gain social acceptance and approval

• behavior that is motivated by the desire to be correct.

• the performance of a behavior in response to a direct command

• helping one another with no expectation of personal reward or benefit

• any behavior that helps another, whether the underlying motive is self-serving ot selfless 

• a phenomenon in which the greater the number of people present, the less likely the individual is to help someone in distress

• a phenomenon in which the presence of other people makes it less likely that any individual will help someone in distress because the obligation to intervene is shared amongst all the onlookers

• verbal or physical behavior intended to cause harm to other people

• the deliberate attempt to influence the attitudes or behavior of another person in a situation in which that person has some freedom of choice.

- situations matter- but often we fail to notice

- we construct our social reality

• change one of your conditions (thoughts)

• change your behavior

• step 1: notice the event

• step 2: interpret the event as an emergency

• step 3: assume responsibility

• if others in a group are all answering a question out loud wrongly, you are more likely to conform to their wrong answer even though you know it is wrong

• 65% compliance until 450 volts

• certain things reduced compliance

• Milgram's obedience research:

• A is affective: prejudice

• B is behavior

• C is stereotype

- categorical thinking

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• ingroup bias

• we minimize the difference within categories (outgroup homogeneity)

• consequences of categorical thinking:

• 150 ms

what other branch of psychology do social psychologists use to study and understand that behavior?

• could have received favorable treatment their whole life

• other research suggests that seeing attractiveness evokes a widely distributed neural network involving perceptual decision making and reward circuit.  

why might attractive people tend to be happier, have higher self-esteem, intelligence, and other desirable personality traits?

• cognitive component: beliefs, thoughts, ideas about the attitude subject

• emotional component: feelings and emotions about the attitude subject

• behavioral component: predisposition to act a particular way

• 3 components of attitude: 

• when you are facing a unanimous group of at least 4 or 5 people

• when you must give your response in front of the group

• when you have not already expressed commitment to a different idea or opinion

• when you find the tasks to be ambiguous or difficult

• when you doubt your abilities or knowledge in the situation

• when you are strongly attracted to a group and want to be a member of it

When are you more likely to conform to a group?

• Ordinary people are likely to follow orders given by an authority figure, even to the extent of killing an innocent human being.  Obedience to authority is ingrained in us all from the way we are brought up.

• People tend to obey orders from other people if they recognize their authority as morally right and/or legally based. This response to legitimate authority is learned in a variety of situations, for example in the family, school, and workplace.

• performing the experiment at an office building and not a university

• having the teacher and learner in the same room

• forcing teachers to force the learner’s hand down on a “shock plate”

• experimenter leave the lab and gives the instruction to the teacher over the phone

• the experimenter leaves and an ordinary man replaces give the orders to the teacher

• teacher first observes two other teachers rebel and refuse to continue

• teachers free to choose chock level

• personality factors: example being someone that is more empathetic

• the “feel good, do good” effect

• feeling guilty

• seeing others who are willing to help

• perceiving the other person as deserving help

• knowing how to help

• having a more personalized relationship

• a dangerous situation 

  Identify factors that increase the likelihood that a person will help a stranger.

• the presence of other people

• being in a big city or a small town

• vague or ambiguous situations: Example being thinking a fight on the street is just a lovers quarrel 

• when the personal costs of helping outweighs the benefits: example being the possibility of dying

Identify factors that decrease the likelihood that a person will help a stranger.

• biological influences on aggression:

• genes and brain structure

• biochemical structures: Ex: hormones and alcohol abuse

• psychological influences on aggression:

• learning: violent act are often learned from someone else

• frustration

• gender and cultural influences on aggression

What factors increase the likelihood of aggression?

• the rule of reciprocity: 

• the door-in-the-face technique:
• the foot-in-the door technique:

• if someone gives you something or does you a favor, you feel the need to return the favor

• the rule of reciprocity: 

• you start off with a small that someone is sure to give you so that you can “get your foot in the door” and then ask for a much larger request which pressures the person into accepting it

• act motivated purely by the desire to help someone in need

• falls under prosocial behavior: any behavior that helps another, whether the underlying motive is self-serving ot selfless  

What are the characteristics of an altruistic act?

• you can be born with genes that make them more inclined to be aggressive

What is the influence of genes and brain structure on aggressive behavior?

• we create a halo around a person making it harder for new information to change the way we think about someone from our originator impression

• take off the blinders

• don't assume that everything is okay

• stop diffusion of responsibility

• How to be a good Samaritan: