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Social Psychology
By Reece Groves

Table of contents

What is Social Psychology..3

What Ive Learnt4

Social Perception and Misperception..5-6

The psychology of self preservation and persuasion..7-14

Obedience, Conformity and deindividuation...15-19

What is social psychology?

Social psychology is the scientific study of how people think

about, influence, and relate to one another.

Social psychologists typically explain human behaviors as a

result of the interaction of mental statuses and immediate
social situations.

What Ive learnt

Social Perceptions and Misperceptions.

The psychology of self preservation and persuasion.

Obedience, Conformity and De-individuation.

Social Perception and

Misperception

In daily life we typically assume.

but perceptions and misperceptions are powerfully influenced by:

what we happen to be saying

contextual factors

past experiences

expectations

motivations

and many other factors

Social Perceptions and

Misperceptions

In other words our experience of reality is psychologically

constructed.

We often see what we want to see and not what we dont want
to see.

Social Perception: refers to the initial stages in the processing

of information that culminates in the accurate analysis of
disposition and intentions of other individuals.

Social Misperception: refers to the understanding and

perceiving of other individuals incorrectly.

The Psychology of Self-preservation

and Persuasion

Attribution Theory: a theory about how people make 'causal

attributions' or causal explanations, for behavior

Understanding Attributions is useful:

It can help us avoid conflict

It can improve relationships

It can increase productivity

It can heighten job satisfaction

It can lead to self- understanding

The Psychology of Self-preservation

and Persuasion

Causal attributions are based on:

Consensus - do other people usually respond similarly

Distinctiveness- Do other situations elicit the same behavior

Consistency- does the same thing happen time after time

The Psychology of Self-preservation

and Persuasion

An example of Causal attribution- suppose you the only person

who performed well on a variety of test over a range of
occasions

That would be:

Low consensus ( you're the only such person)

Low distinctiveness (it happens with a variety of test)

High consistency ( occurs over a range of occasions )

The Psychology of Self-preservation

and Persuasion

Key Parts of Cognitive Dissonance Theory:

The act of holding two incompatible thoughts which creates a

sense of internal discomfort, or "dissonance.

People try to reduce or avoid these feelings of dissonance

Individuals come to 'know' their own attitudes, emotions, and

other internal states partially by inferring them form
observations of their own behavior and the circumstances in
which their behavior occurs.

To the extent that internal cues are weak, ambiguous, or

uninterpretable, the individual is functionally in the same
positions as an outside observer.

The Psychology of Self-preservation

and Persuasion

If you want to be persuasive, it is good to:

Discuss counter-arguments to your position.

Use a central or peripheral route to persuasion.

Scare the receiver with a scare-based appeal.

The Psychology of Self-preservation

and Persuasion

When discussing counter-arguments they should be used

when:

Salient and noticeable

The receiver is highly intelligent or opposed to your position

In such cases, it's best to present a two-sided appeal

In a two-sided appeal, you raise counter-arguments and then
explain why they're not convincing.

The Psychology of Self-preservation

and Persuasion

Central: routes to persuasion are based on facts, statistics and

arguments and work best when the receiver is highly involved.

Peripheral: routes to persuasion use beautiful music, idyllic

settings, attractive models, or other incidental cues and work
best when the receiver isn't too involved or critical.

The Psychology of Self-preservation

and Persuasion

Fear appeals: can be very effective as long as you give people

specific steps they can take to avoid whatever the threat is.

If you just scare people without saying how to avoid the threat,
fear appeals can backfire and lead to denial of the threat

Obedience, Conformity and Deindividuation

Obedience is compliance with commands given by an authority

figure.

In the 1960s, the social psychologist Stanley Milgram did a

famous research study called the obedience study. It showed
that people have a strong tendency to comply with authority
figures.

Obedience, Conformity and Deindividuation

It was found that obedience was highest when:

Commands were given by an authority figure rather than a

volunteer

The experiments were done at a prestigious institution

The authority figure was present in the room with the subject

The learner was in another room

The subject did not see other subjects disobeying commands

Obedience, Conformity and Deindividuation

Conformity: a change in behavior or belief as a result of social

pressure.

Giving in to the group can be negative or positive.

Conformity is more likely to occur when the majority is made up

of in-group e.g. friends and family rather than out-group,
strangers.

Conformity can be seen mostly in terms of culture and beliefs, or

collectivist cultures.

This is more common as people in collectivist cultures and open to

conformity, see it as harmony within a group. Whereas individualist
see it as more of a negative thing, changing yourself to fit in.

Obedience, Conformity and Deindividuation

De-individuation: occurs when 'individuals are not seen or paid

attention to as individuals. The members do not feel that they
should stand out as individuals and there is a reduction of
inner restraints against doing various things.

Positive: Dancing, singing or performing

Negative: Lynchings, gang rapes, riots, stealing, cheating

Obedience, Conformity and Deindividuation

Conditions that can increase chances of de-individuation:

Anonymity

Groups size and activity

Physical and mental arousal

Altered time perspectives

Physical environment

Altered states of consciousness

Thank You For Listening