Why people act in bad ways - situational or dispositional

Situation - environmental, external influences/causes on behavior

Disposition - personality factors, motive, or other internal causes influence behavior

(don't wave because tired, didn't notice you or because rude)

Actor-observer bias - view own behavior as situational and others as dispositional
Self-serving bias - personal success dispositional, failures as situational

Impression formation
Primacy effect - first impression more important than what comes later (reputation)
Attraction
    proximity - geographical closeness
    mere-exposure - repeated exposure
    reciprocity - like those who like us
    physical attractiveness - prefer, give more favorable qualities to

Conformity -
change/adopt attitude/behavior to be consistent with expectation or social norms
social norms - group's expectations regarding what is appropriate and acceptable for its members attitudes and behavior

Sherif - autokinetic studies - group of 3 light moving

Asch studies (1940, 1956) - line length - adopt the behavior, attitudes, and opinions of other members of a group - conformed even when clearly wrong - 3/4 conformed at least once, 1/3 on half or more of the critical trials

• size of the majority
• someone else dissent?
• Size of discrepancy between correct answer and majority's opinion

Teens who attend schools where majority opposed to smoking, drinking, drug use less likely to use those substances

Obedience - Milgram study

30 switches 15 volt steps to 450 volts

2/3 all the way, even when 150 learner asked to be released, 300 volts quit responding

beliefs about authority and science, experimenter assurance of acceptance of responsibility, closeness of experimenter and distance of learner, sequential nature of task

Cult mass suicides, soldiers "doing what told"

• peer modeled obedience
• victim was remote from subject
• teacher was under direct surveillance from authority figure
• subject acted as a bystander - assisting, not giving shocks
• authority figure had higher status (professor or doctor)
• least shock - when learner asked for it

Compliance - Acting in accordance with wishes, suggestions, or request of another person
Foot in the door – ask for small request then bigger one (students who did smaller study more likely to do larger, more invasive study)
Door in the face – make large, unreasonable request, then ask for smaller one (students who refused to do unpaid counselor task more likely to take kids to zoo)
Low ball – make initial attractive offer, then change details (change times to early morning – more likely to still do if initially agreed)

Bystander effect - inaction - number of bystanders increases, probability that victim will receive help decreases and help, if given, is delayed

Kitty Genovese, rape case in Boston, recently woman died on bridge

Experiment - person had seizure with either 2, 4 or 6 others

all part in 2 person w/in 160 sec intervened, 6 person, only 60% intervened

size of group - larger the group, less the intervention

diffusion of responsibility - dilution or weakening of each group member's obligation to act when responsibility is perceived to be shared with group members

someone else will help

become anonymous - reduced accountability

also conformity - others doing nothing, you do nothing

deindividuation - loss of individuality or depersonalization that comes from being in a group, increases destructive, aggressive, or deviant behavior

education can help - no personality differences between people who helped and didn't help - but helpers tended to have more medical, police, or first aid training - also education on bystander intervention

Princeton Theological Seminary - thought would be evaluation on quality of sermon on the parable of the Good Samaritan

as go to nearby building, pass by someone in obvious need of help (man slumped in doorway)

who helped?

How religious classmate was? How neurotic? How much in a hurry the person was? How old the individual was?

Time - if told late, only 10% helped, if told early 63% helped

How increase?

• ask for help
• reduce ambiguity of situation
• identify specific individuals

Prejudice and discrimination

negative attitude toward an individual based on his or her membership in a particular group

discrimination - negative action

Causes

• dissimilarity and social distance - similarity breeds liking, develop in and out groups
• make person seem less human (rats, etc.) - self esteem - rate self as better than others, extend to group (we won!)
• economic competition
• scapegoating - outgroup receives blame when people are threatened, lynchings related to cotton prices
• conformity to social norms - maintain conditions the way they are
• stereotypes - confirmation bias and self-fulfilling prophecies - Eliza Doolittle, (warm/cold experiment - using schema to interpret a person's actions)
• just world hypo - blaming the victim, must have done something to bring on misery
• group polarization - after discussion, push to extremes - tend to only hear one side, want to be approved of by others, one-upmanship who is most vigorous supporter, think group is more polar than actually is

Handcuffed, given a number, refer to jailers as sir

How can reduce conflict

Robbers Cave experiment - Sherif, set up camp so there are 2 groups, used within group activities to set up cohesiveness, 2 groups brought together for competitive activities with prizes for winners, one group in early, ate all of the good food

What helped?

• NOT bringing the groups together for pleasant social events (movies, etc.)
• remove rewards for competition (end games)
• set up situation that the groups had to work together - camp truck broke down

attitudes and behavior don't match - voluntarily cooperate with someone don't like, least painful way to reduce dissonance is to change attitude

cognitive dissonance study - peg study - $1 or $20, tell other person interesting, change attitude