Social Psychology NKU Home Northern Kentucky University 社会心理学家南大学北肯塔基大学.pptVIP

Social Psychology Conformity and Obedience Attribution Attraction What is social psychology? Social psychology: The interaction between the individual and his/her social world. “The purpose of psychology is to give us a completely different idea of the things we know best.” Why study it? To understand history World War two To be less naive. Conformity Obedience How products are sold To understand love. Questions to answer How does the social situation affect our behavior? What influences the judgment of others? What are the roots of violence and terrorism? Yielding to Others Conformity: A change of beliefs in order to follow a groups norms Informational social influence: Conform because other’s view and behaviors seem to be correct. a) Ambiguous b) Crisis c) Others are experts *Social comparison theory (Festinger): All people are driven to evaluate their abilities and opinions. Conformity Normative social influence: When we conform due to wanting to be liked or thought of positively. Solomon Ash experiment (1951) ? Asch experiment Used 7-9 people, only one a real subject Had people judging line lengths At first confederates told the truth Then they all began giving the same wrong answer (12/18 times) 123 subjects agreed with 36.8% of the erroneous selections. Conformity Conformity by Group Size Proportion conforming Conformity increases when: People are unsure of a situation People are of low group status People lack information The behavior is public Conformity and Compliance Reduced conformity: Writing answers (98% correct) and social support. Compliance: Change in behavior prompted by direct request. Six principles (Cialdini, 1994). Friendship/liking Commitment/consistency Scarcity Reciprocity Social validation Authority Compliance (and selling products) Foot-in-the-door technique: Insignificant request is followed by a larger request. Lottery example Car dealership example Lowball technique: Get someone to make an agreement then incre