social psychology

scientific investiagtion of how thoughts, feelings and behaviour of individuals are influenced by actual, imagined or implied presence of others 

levels of anaylysis: 

• person to person
• group to person
• person to group
• group to group 

ethics:protection from harm, respect for privacy, deception, informed consent, debriefing

experiment methods: lab, field 

non experiment methods: archival research, case studies, survey 

Who are you? 

• identity and self conceptualsiations underpin every day life -> affects how humans engage with each other and their environment. 
• knowing who we are seperates 'us' from animals -> reflexivity - think about ourselves, about who we are, how we would like to be and how would like others to see us.
• recent revivial of research into the self -> today, research into self and identity is very popular. - ashmore + Jussim (1997) 31,000 ps publications over 20 year period.

understanding the self

• individual or collective? 

unique and private vs shared and inter related -> all share being a student as part of your current selves.

• self concept - > set of beliefs people have about themselves

• self
  - schemas 
  - conceptually similar to self concept
  - social cognitions that are used to process self relevent info -> different dimensions of the self 
  -> some people have clear conceptions of themselves on some dimensions but not others e.g they are schematic on some but not others
  -> self schematic on dimensions that are important to them
• can be linked to 'personality traits' 
• self - discrepancy theory (higgins) 3 types of schema: 
  1. actual self - how we currently are 
  2. ideal self - how we would like to be
  3. 'ought' self - how we think we should be

Interdependent + independence 

self defintion:( interdependent self) connected with others, embedded in social context, roles and                      relationships

                   :( independent self) unique, autonomous, seperate from context. Internal traits,                             feelings, thoughts and abilities

self structure: fluid and variable, changing across situations and relationships

                  : unitary and stable, constant across situations and relationships

self activities: belonging, fitting in, non confrontational promoting group goals and happiness.                             Acting aptly to group roles and norms

                  : being unique, self expressive, self assertive, direct, promoting own goals and                               difference from others. Acting true to internal beliefs

Self schemas

Factors that guide how we think we should feel/act/think in a given situation - different situations activate different aspects of the self. 

• the self made up of large number self schemas - having large number can be protective as its more likely we'll have some from which we can derive satisfaction in a given context 
• Triats that are consistant with self schemas are more likely to be noticed and recieve cognitive than aschematic traits 
• Intergrated self - schema seem to produce better outcomes in terms of mood stability

Symbolic Interactionism - emergence of self results from interactions with other people 

• use of consensual symbols
  - verbal and non verbal communication
  can be abstract rather than concrete e.g. thumbs up
  -symbols carry more meaning than on 
  
• social object (me) or social subject ( i ) 
• self concept constructed through eyes of others 

The Tice: 

• told to be emotionally stable (unresponsive) or emotionally responsive when answering questions through on intercom
• 2 conditions: believed nobody was watching them
                     believed they were being obseserved by clinical psychologist
• rated emotional responsiveness on scale 1 to 25
• public ratings were much more towards the extremes than private ratings
  - people dont see themselves how others really see them, but how they think others see them when in 'looking glass' scenarios 

self awareness 

• objective awarenes: being aware of personal characteristics, feeling and behaviour -> awareness of self as unique
  - comparisons are often made between how we want to be and how we really are 
  -can lead to feelings of inadequacy 
  - deinviduation -> block self awareness , inhibits ability to monitor behaviour maybe at play when people behave differently in crowds. 

private vs self awareness 

• private self - thoughts, feelings, attitudes etc -> personal aspects of self
  - private self consciousness -> chronic private self awareness, concern about private self- aim to match internalised standards likely to be consistant in attitudes
• public self 
  - public image
  aim to present self in postive light
  public self consciousness -> chronic concern about how one looks to others likely to conform to avoid negative evaluations from others

Self Discrepency theory 3 types of schema: 

• 1. actual self - how we currently are 
  2. ideal self - how we would like to be
  3. 'ought' self - how we think we should be
• failure to resolve discrepency 
  - actual - ideal -> dejected related emotions (stress)
  - actual - ought -> agitation related emotions (fear)
• self regulation - attempt to match behaviour with an ideal or ought standared of the self

self perception theory: 
normally we can know oursleves well because we hear our own thoughts - when these signals weak, we can make inferences about ourselves from our behaviour
- internal dispositional attributions 
- self perceptions can be influenced by imagined rather than actual behaviours

• Van Gyn, Wenger, Gaul found runners who imagined themselves sprint training performed better relative to controls
• imagery altered self perception which in turn, altered behaviour to be consistant with self perception 

- overjustification effect - no external determinants, assume free will was cause of behaviour

external rewards can reduce motivation and enjoyment -> lepper at al (1973) allowed children to draw some freely others for reward those who rewarded, subsequently spent less time drawing during play time

• - external rewards for intrinsically motivated tasks can reduce motivation and worsen performance 

  social comparison theory = learn about self through comparisons with others

• validates perceptions - howdo you know what you think its right? was i being unreasonable
  
• upward social comparisons - comparing self to someone who is percieved as better on a relevent dimension 
• downward social comparison - comparing self to someone who is percieved as worse in a relevent dimension
• downward vs upward
  - postive self concept vs low self esteem 

self evaluation maintenance model 

• to avoid negative effects of social comparisons on self esteem -> withdraw from relationship, downplay similarities
• medvec, madley and Gilovich: anaylsed facial expressions of olympic medal winners
  - bronze medalists more satisfied than silver medalists -> compared with gold winner wheresas bronze medalists compared with rest of the field

BIRGing: linking of self to desirable/ successful people/ groups to improv others impression of you

• once linked to a specific group, people tend to inernalise the attributions ascribed to that group (self categorisation theory, turner)
• Cialdini et a (1976) noted when asked about the result of a football game, ps would refer to team as us if won and they if lost
  

social identity theory - personal identity = self defined in terms of idiossyncratic personal relationships and traits 

• social identity - self defined in terms of group memberships 
  
• 46% americans describe being americans as most important thing in their life
• some social construcionists argue that the self is entirely situation
  - dependent
  - 'disposable selves' are constructed through talk 

which self? 

• individual self - personal traits 
• relational self - relationships with significant others
• collective self - group membership, differentiate us and them
• person - based social identifies - group properties internalised into own self concept
• relational social identities e.g teacher - student
• group - based social identities
• collective identities - group members actively contribute to forming the image group

self and self attributes as a function of social vs personal identity:

personal identity: (identity attributes) individual self - set of attributes unique to set and contrasted with other individuals 

                      :(individual relational self) - set of attributes specifying the relationship between                            self as a unique individual and others as individuals

social identity: collective self - set of attributes shared with others and contrasted with an out-                            group

                    : collective relational self - set of attributes specifying the relationship between self as an in- group member + specify others as in - group or out- group members 

Effects of group membership: 

• minimal group studies: group member is enticed based on trivial factors 
• Group members more likely than individuals to - discriminate against out group members, confrom to ingroup norms, favour in group in attitude and feeling, show belonging and loyalty
• effects generally very fast and automatic

social identity salience: basis of self conception is which identity is salient in any given situation 

• governed by social categorisation and the need to reduce uncertainty
• we each use cues based on limited info to make inferences about + categorise other people
• in doing so, we use cognitive prototypes
• metacontrast principle - maximise in group similarites and out group differences 

 consequences of SI salience 

• depersonalisation
  - no longer unique but embodiment of the categry prototype
  - think, feel, believe and behave in terms of prototype
  -strive for postive group membership
  -can affect self esteem 
  - if group universally low status which they feel is unfair, they may compete for higher status -> competition can range from rhetoric to terroism
  
  

self knowledge

• we are motivated to have accurate and valid info about ourselves
  - individuals can be selective about the info attended to
  - self reflection differs depending on motive 
  
• self assessment motive - find out novel info 
  
• self verification motive - find info that verifies what is already known
  - those with a negative self image seek confirmation too
• self enhancement motive - find info that helps to develop a positive image

Self esteem - feelings about and evaluation of self 

• subjective appraisals of the self are intrinsically positive or negative
  - rose tinted glassses view of self
• automatic egotism when threatened 
• enhancing triad - over emphasise good points and perceived control, and unrealistically optimistic 
• lecturers are also prone to postive bias - 94% rate themselves as above average
• self conceptual positivity bias is psychologically adaptive - those lacking such a bias are more prone to depression and mental illness

how do people boost self esteem? 

• take credit for success and deny blame for failures
• forget failure feedback more readily than success/praise
• accept praise uncritically but recieve criticsms sceptically 
• dismiss interpersonal criticism as motivated by prejudice
• perform a biased search for self knowledge
• place favourable spin on descriptors of self
• consider weaknesses as universally human and strengths as rare and disinctive

self esteem and social identity: by belonging to a group, the group status becomes attached to ones self concept

• outcomes of se and si interface are dependent on relative statuses of ingroup or outgroup
• ethinic and radical identity is significant source of self esteem mediated by social identity

characteristics of individuals with high self esteem:

• persistant and resiliant in the face of failure
• emotionally and affectively stable
• less flexible and malleable
• less easily persuaded and influenced no conflict between wanting and obtaining success and approval
• react positively to a happy and successful life
• thorough, consistent and stable self concept
• self enhancement motivational orientatinon

low self esteem

• vulnerable to impact of every day events
• wide swings in mood and affect
• flexible and malleable
• want success and apporval but are sceptical of it
• react negatively to a happy and successful life
• sketchy, inconsistant and unstable self concept
• self protective motivational oritentation

self esteem and fear of death: terror managment theory - > death our biggest fear + thinking about it produces 'paralysing terror' - people pursue high esteem in order to overcome their fear of death 

• greenberg et al - found people who had their self esteem raised by postive personality feedback showed less arousal and anxiety when watching a video about death 

self esteem and impression management: 
- People play different roles for different audiences
- strategic self - presentation motives - manipulates what others think of us 

• self promotion - persuade others you are competent
• intergratiation - get others to like you 
• intimidation - others to think you are dangerous
• exemplification - get others to regard you as morally respectable 
• supplication - others take pity on you 

- expressive self presentation - get social validation of self concept e.g naught children tend to only behave badly in public to enhance their self concept of a naughty child. 

efforts made by one or more individuals to change attitudes, beliefs, perceptions or behaviours of one or more others.

Types: compliance - superficial public change 

• often based on power relationship
  
• no internalisation - doesnt change underlying beliefs - usually persists only white behaviour under surveillance
• behaviour likely to revert in private

Conformity - internal cognitive shift 

• subjective acceptance based on social norms 
• some research suggests propensity to conform is based on individual differences, where as, other research highlights contextual factors as being key

why conform?
-Demand C                       -denial of awareness                  - task difficulty 
-doubt own judgement          - size of majority + unanimity   - collectivist vs indiviulistic cultures

 Factors influencing conformity? 

individual differences - low self esteem, need for social support/approval, need for self control, low IQ, high anxiety, low status

culture - higher in collectivist cultures than in individualistic cultures - 14% in belgian students to 58% in indian teachers in fiji 

Groupings -

• refernce groups - positive sense to seek to behave in accordance with social norms or negative
• membership groups - positive - source of conformity, negative - enormous coercive power to produce compliance, can be desirsed or undesired

Group size - conformity reaches full strength at 3- 5 group members

level agreement within group - any lack of unanimity is effective in over coming group influence, even when more wildly wrong than the majority 
- even competent members can influence reported judgements 

gender differences: women conform more than men. 
however, women genrally had more uncertainty/ less familiarity with situations in which they were shown to conform more than men.
- men conform less in public - resistant to influence in public setting
- confromity depended on sex stereotypicality of items -> women conformed on masculine items, men on feminine items and no gender differences for sex neutral items

process of conformity: dual process dependency model 2 processes: 
1. people influenced because need info to reduce ambiguity (info about reality) 
2. people influenceed because they seek social approval 

normative social influence - an influence to conform to positive expectation of others, to gain social approval or to avoid social disapproval
- group precieved to hold reward or coercive power 
- creates surface compliance 

Informational influence: An influence to accept into from another as evidence about reality, need to be right, group percieved to hold informational or expert power, true cognitive change - conversion

complaince techniques - 

• norm of reciprocity - returning a favour
  
• foot in the door - persuader gets you to comply with small request first and later presents a larger request 
• lowball technique - persuader gets you to commit to some action, then before actually perform the behaviour 
• door in the face - persuader makes large request, expecting you to reject it, then presents smaller request. 

Resisting social influence - need to maintain individuality -> desire for individuation, varies across cultures  
-desire for personal control -> strong desire less likely to conform. 

Types of power: 
reward power- ability to promise rewards for being compliant
coercive power - ability to give or threaten punishment for not being compliant
inforomational - targets beliefs that influencer has more info than themselves
expert - targets beliefs that influencer has more greater expertise + knowledge
legitimate - targets beliefs that influencer is authorised by recognised power
referent - target identification with, attraction to or respect for influence

Social identity theory: based on self categorisation, social comparison and construction of shared self definition.

• referent info influence = pressure to conform to group norm that defines oneself as group members 
  = people conform because they are group members, not to get info about reality or to gain social approval 
  
• group membership - sense of belonging, self defintion in terms of group, conformity, activation of metacontrast principle 
• normalisation - convergence due to compromise 
  - often take range of behavioural norms as frame of reference
  - behaviuour change with respect to eating habits was more influenced by a discussion to reach a consensus compared with an informational lecture

is social influence always one way? majority -> minority 
- miscovici argued there has been continuity bias in social research. - if this the case, may never be social change, need to conisder when minority can influence the majority 
-innovation = minority creates conflict which results in cognitive change (minoirty influence)

minority influence: evidence based on historical realities - suffragette movement, greenpeace
- can be easy to dismiss, discredit 
- not so easy if minority: stands up to majority - demonstrates consistant message
-shows genuine belief that majority should chnage. 

• consistency is key - but too much rigidity can be interpreted as dogmatic 
• dual process model: ,minnorities and majorities demonstrate and exert influence via different process 
  - majoity influence based around passive comaprison process which results in compliance but little change in attitude
  - minoity influence involves a validation process and results in a conversion effect - cognitive change/ restructuring
• attribution - effective minoirty influence views assigned to free will 
  - process assigning a cause to our own behaviour and that of others. 
• social impact theory - effect other people have on our attitudes + behaviours 
  - magnitude of impact is due to number of and immediacy of sources -> first source of influence has great impact, but subsequent ones and less and less 

social aggregates: people who share some connection but with no psychological value to that connection - same place, same time, no shared common fate
defining groups:
1. collection of individuals who are interesting with one another
2. collection of individuals who are interdependent
3. social unit consisting of 2 or more individuals who percieve themselves as belonging to a group 
4. collection of individuals who join together to achieve a goal
5. collection of individuals who influence each other 

In - groups - that we belong to
out groups - groups that we dont belong to and its members 
- these are social psychological conventions used to differentiate group members

Entitatvity - extent to which a group is perceieved as being coherent, distinct and unitary entity.
- can be low or high on this factor
- groups with clear structure, purpose + boundaries are highly entitative
- task group vs intimacy groups - low entitavity vs high intivity 
- less entitative if membership in their groups is determind by social category or they are transitory -> religious group + people waiting for a bus