The Need to Belong
The need to belong is a basic human motive.
When this need is not met, people will display depression, anxiety, efforts to restore relationships, and withdrawal.
Shyness and loneliness can be painful.
Types of Relationships
Exchange Relationships.
Communal Relationships.
Types of Relationships: Exchange Relationships
People expect and desire equity in a relationship.
Expect immediate repayment of benefits.
Strangers, acquaintances, business partners.
Types of Relationships: Communal Relationships
People expect and desire mutual responsiveness to each others needs.
Care for people without worrying about getting something for it.
Close friendships, romantic relationships, family.
Equity Theory
People are most satisfied with a relationship when the ratio between benefits and contributions is similar for both partners.
Inequitable relationships result in one person feeling over-benefitted or under-benefitted.
Equity does not equal equality.
Social Exchange Theory
Step 1: Calculate Costs and Benefits
Step 2: Compare to 'Comparison Level' (CL)--Your benefits.
Step 3: Compare to 'comparison level for alternatives' (CL-alt)--Other people you could date.
Step 4: Calculate Investments
Attachment Theory
Originally theorized in developmental psychology to explain how a child interacts with his/her parents (Bowlby, Ainsworth).
Similar patterns of attachment can develop in our adult relationships.
Often, these are the same patterns developed in infancy, but
Four Attachment Styles: Secure
Confident, comfortable with intimacy. Low on both anxiety and avoidance.
Four Attachment Styles: Anxious-Preoccupied
Seek out intimacy because they fear being abandoned. "Clingy.
Four Attachment Styles: Dismissive-Avoidant
Fear intimacy. Self-reliant, don't want to rely of others.
Four Attachment Styles: Fearful-Avoidant
Mixed feelings. Want to be close, but aren't comfortable with intimacy. High on both anxiety and avoidance.
What Predicts Attraction?
1. Familiarity
2. Physical Attractiveness
3. Similarity
4. Reciprocal Liking
5. Reactance
Familiarity: The Propinquity Effect
AKA The Proximity Effect.
The finding that the more we see and interact with people, the more likely they are to become our friends.
The single best predictor of attraction is physical proximity, or nearness!
Look around at your roommates, fellow dorm mat
The Mere Exposure Effect
The more often we are exposed to a stimulus, the more we come to like that stimulus.
Does not happen if you initially dislike the stimulus--must be at least neutral towards it.
Example: People like pictures of their mirror-image (what they usually see) an
Physical Attractiveness
We like attractive people!
Certain physical features of the face are reliably associated with judgments of attractiveness.
Women: big eyes, small nose, small chin, prominent cheekbones, narrow cheeks, high eyebrows, broad smile, large pupils.
Men: big eye
Symmetry
People prefer faces that are symmetrical, but the effect is relatively small.
May be evolutionary indicator of reproductive success.
Being Average
People seem to prefer faces that are average.
Computer programs make composites of faces.
The more faces included in the composite, the more attractive that averaged person is rated.
However, composites of attractive faces are rated as more attractive tha
Why do we like beautiful people?
It is inherently rewarding to be in the company of people who are attractive. (BIRGing)
'What is Beautiful is Good' Stereotype
Belief that attractive people also possess positive personality characteristics.
Also called the halo effect.
Is the stereotype accurate?
Good-looking people do have more friends, better social skills, and a more active sex life.
But beauty is not related
Attractiveness and Self-Fulfilling Prophecies
(Snyder, Tanke, and Berscheid, 1977)
Male participants talked to female participants over the phone.
Saw a picture of an attractive or unattractive female who they thought they would be talking to.
How did men act?
Formed more positive impressions of woma
Similarity
We tend to associate with others who are similar to ourselves.
Birds of a feather flock together.
Opposites don't seem to attract.
Can be similar on: (1) demographics, (2) attitudes, (3) attractiveness, (4) subjective experience.
Why do we like similar ot
The Matching Hypothesis
People are more likely to become romantically involved with others who are equivalent in their physical attractiveness.
Reciprocity/Reciprocal Liking
We like people who like us, or who like us back.
Usually flattered when someone likes you, even if you didn't initially like them.
Reciprocal liking can be a self-fulfilling prophecy.
(Curtis and Miller, 1986)
Subjects were paired up with one another. Exp
Reactance (Hard-to-get)
When we are told that we cannot have or do something, it often increases its desirability to us.
The "Romeo and Juliet" effect.
Playing "hard to get"--in moderation--often works.
Important to be externally hard to get--forbidden by outside forces.
Secrecy
Love
Love is difficult to define in the general sense, so it is broken down into more sensible components.
Sternberg's Triangular Theory of Love
Three basic components:
Passion: Arousal, sexual attraction.
Intimacy: Feelings of being close to and bonded with one's partner.
Commitment.
Passionate Love
Can sometimes misattribute feelings of physiological arousal: excitation transfer.
Shaky bridge study.
(Dutton and Aron, 1974)
Field study involving two bridges in British Columbia.
Shaky suspension bridge 230 feet above a river.
Wide, sturdy bridge 10 fe
Stereotype
A belief that associates a group of people with certain traits.
Overgeneralized and potentially inaccurate.
Not always negative or inaccurate.
Prejudice
A preconceived negative judgment towards persons based on their membership to a certain group.
An attitude.
Includes feelings, cognitions.
Discrimination
Negative behaviors toward other groups.
3 Perspectives to Prejudice and Discrimination
1. Economic Perspective
2. Motivational Perspective
3. Cognitive Perspective
3 Perspectives to Prejudice and Discrimination: Economic Perspective
Realistic Conflict Theory: direct competition for valuable but limited resources lead to conflict and prejudice.
In an economic sense, resources are always limited...(competition can be real or imagined).
Prejudiced attitudes increase in times of competit
3 Perspectives to Prejudice and Discrimination: Motivational Perspective
Don't need competition to have prejudice.
Just need to put people into different categories and prejudice will naturally follow.
Can put people in randomly assigned 'minimal groups' (eye color, estimation of dots) and still see bias.
Social Identity Theor
Social Identity Theory
(Tajfel and Turner)
People favor in-groups over out-groups to enhance their self-esteem.
Group membership has implications for "collective self."
"We" aspect of our self-concept.
We want to be members of the best group.
To achieve this we can enhance our
3 Perspectives to Prejudice and Discrimination: Cognitive Perspective
Stereotypes are useful because they allow us to process information efficiently.
If so, would be most likely to use them when tired, distracted, or mentally taxed.
Ex: Participants who were 'morning people' were more likely to use stereotypes at night; dr
Out-group Homogeneity Effect
The tendency to see out-group category members as all the same, while seeing in-group members as unique.
Ex: All people of Muslim faith are the same, but Christians are very different.
Two explanations for this effect:
Have less opportunities for learning
Subtyping
Create a special category for people so that we can explain away good outcomes.
Person is a special case.
Ex: President Obama.
Allows you to like one person but still dislike the general group.
Automaticity of Stereotypes
Automatic: nonconcious, unintentional, involuntary, effortless.
Controlled: conscious, intentional, voluntary, effortful.
Devine Dissociation Model Automatic and Controlled Components
(1989)
Automatic process: Stereotype Activation.
Everyone knowns the stereotypes for different groups.
These stereotypes are automatically activated whenever a cue is present, regardless of personal prejudice level.
Controlled process: Stereotype Applicat
Test of the Dissociation Model
Demonstration of Autonomic Processes:
Subliminally primed participants with either:
Words related to stereotype of African Americans (e.g., welfare, ghetto, basketball, jazz).
Or words unrelated to stereotype of African Americans (e.g., number, however, p
Stereotype Suppression
Macrae et al. (1994) asked the question: What happens if you just try really hard to suppress your stereotypes?
When we try to suppress a thought (e.g. pink elephants) it seems to pop up in our mind more.
Showed subjects a picture of "Ian," a skinhead.
As
Stereotype Activation
On Feb. 4, 1999, a black man was shot 41 times by NYC police because they believed he was holding a gun.
In fact, he was not armed and was holding a wallet.
Were the police more likely to think he was holding a gun because he was black?
Gun Experiment
(Pa
Stereotype Threat
A self-confirming apprehension that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype.
Steele and Aronson (1995): Gave Black and White college students items from the GRE test.
Some subjects were told the test measured general intelligence and some sub
How do we reduce prejudice?
Contact between groups?
Contact alone usually does not work unless several specific conditions are met:
1. Equal status of groups.
2. Shared goal that promotes in-group identity.
3. Broad social norms support contact.
4. One-on-one interactions.
Aggression
Behavior that is intended to physically or mentally harm another person who does not want to be harmed.
Rules out emotions and thoughts, wishes and desires.
Rules out accidents.
Rules out things like "Jackass" (the show/movie).
Types of Aggression
Instrumental Aggression.
Emotional Aggression.
Can be difficult to distinguish these.
Types of Aggression: Instrumental Aggression
Harm is inflicted as a means to a desired end.
If there was some other way to reach the desired goal, aggression would not occur.
Examples: killing someone for money, self-defense.
Types of Aggression: Emotional Aggression
Harm is inflicted for its own sake (solely to harm another person).
Examples: jealous lover killing parter in rage, revenge.
Situational Influences on Aggression
Immediate situational factors can increase aggression.
Situational Influences:
Hot weather.
Medial violence.
Guns.
Situational Influences on Aggression: Hot Weather
In 260 cities, 90+ degree temps predicted violent crimes (controlling for level of unemployment, per capita income, age of citizens).
Over 50 years, civil conflicts found to rise during El Nino years with hot and dry weather.
Causal evidence found.
Situational Influence on Aggression: Media Violence
Is media violence related to increased aggression?
Evidence is consistent over multiple methods:
Replicated correlations.
Laboratory experiments.
Longitudinal designs.
Field studies (e.g., examining aggression in a town with no TV)
Correlational evidence:
Situational Influences on Aggression: Guns
Weapons effect: Aggression increases when in the presence of guns.
Gun study.
(Klinesmith et al., 2006)
Males either held guns (pellet) or child's game for 15 minutes.
Found significant increase in testosterone (60% increase).
Found significant increase i
Culture and Aggression: Southern Culture vs. Norther Culture
'A culture of honor.'
Surveys of Northern and Southern men find that Southern men:
Endorse using aggression for self-protection.
Endorse using aggression against insults.
Endorse using aggression as a tool to teach children.
Nisbett (1993) chose Northern
Nature vs. Nurture Debate
1. Evolutionary Explanations
2. Biological Mechanisms
3. Social Learning Theory
Nature vs. Nurture Debate: Evolutionary Explanations
Aggression is innate because it allows us to survive and reproduce.
Accounts for some gender differences in aggression across species.
Male/male aggression due to challenged status and preferential mating.
Male/female aggression due to sexual jealousy.
Vi
Nature vs. Nurture Debate: Biological Mechanisms
Testosterone, the male sex hormone, is positively correlated with aggressive behavior.
However, aggression can produce temporary increases in testosterone, and stress can increase testosterone.
Transsexual individuals (transitioning from female-to-male) s
Nature vs. Nurture Debate: Social Learning Theory
We learn from the examples of others, as well as from rewards and punishments.
Bandura et al. (1961) Bobo doll study.
Models who aggress and are not punished are most likely to increase aggression among observers.
Socialization and Gender Differences.
Eve
Prosocial Behavior
Any act performed with the goal of benefiting another person.
Ex: Giving money to charity to go to benefit with celebrities.
Altruism
Unselfish behavior that benefits others without regard to consequences for oneself.
There is often a cost to oneself.
Ex: Giving money to charity anonymously, but is it truly altruistic?
Batson: A Case for Pure Altruism
Argued that there are multiple motivations to help someone.
1. Social reward: selfish motive.
Being esteemed or valued for helping.
Money, prizes.
2. Personal distress: selfish motive.
Cialdini: we help to reduce our own negative emotions.
Neuroscience: w
Two Components to Empathy
Cognitive:
Perspective taking (must see situation through someone else's eyes).
Emotional:
Empathic concern (e.g. sympathy, tenderness, focused on others).
Not personal distress (alarmed or upset).
Cialdini: Selfish Alternative
Negative state relief model: People help to counteract their own feelings of sadness.
Empathetic concern makes us feel sad, and we are motivated to increase our mood by helping.
Thus, you do feel empathy, but this also leads to your own sadness.
Helping and Shock Study
(Batson et al., 1991)
You and another "subject" show up for a learning experiment--you are chose to be the observer, the other is the learner.
The learner receives a number of painful shocks as you watch.
She stops at some point and tells of when a horse
Situational Influences on Helping
People are less likely to help when others are around.
38 people witnessed the murder of Kitty Genovese.
Incident inspired Latane and Darley (1970) to propose the Bystander Effect.
Latane and Darley (1970) proposed a 5-step model of situational variables.
Bystander Effect
The greater the number of bystanders who witness an emergency, the less likely any one of them is to help.
Seizure Study
(Latane and Darley, 1968)
Participants sat in individual cubicles. Were told that they would be participating in a group discussion of college life over an intercom with students in other cubicles.
Group size=2, 3, or 6 people.
One of the students in the
5 Step Model of Situational Variables: Stage #1 Problem
Not noticing the emergency.
If we don't know there is a problem, then we have no reason to help.
Possible reasons to not notice:
Distracted (Ex: noise, time, multiple people).
Own self-concerns (Ex: test is due; fight with a friend).
Good Samaritan Study
(Darley and Batson, 1973)
Seminary students were instructed to deliver a lecture across campus on either the good Samaritan Parable or seminary student jobs.
Students were told to leave immediately and:
Hurry, or you will be late.
You should get there rig
5 Step Model of Situational Variables: Stage #2 Problem
Not thinking it's an emergency.
When we are unsure of what's going on, we use other people to help us define reality.
Pluralistic ignorance.
"Where there's smoke, there's fire."
Smoky room study.
(Latane and Darley, 1970)
Subjects sat in a room with anoth
Pluralistic Ignorance
A phenomenon by which bystanders assume that nothing is wrong in an emergency because no one else looks concerned.
5 Step Model of Situational Variables: Stage #3 Problem
Not assuming responsibility.
We may realize there is a problem, but think someone else will take care of it.
Diffusion of Responsibility.
More likely when people feel anonymous or have distance from victim.
Can relate to Milgram's study (shock study)--som
Diffusion of Responsibility
Each bystander's individual sense of responsibility decreases as number of bystanders increase.
Ex: Kitty Genovese murder.
5 Step Model of Situational Variables: Stage #4 Problem
Not knowing what to do.
You could lack the knowledge of what to do or the competence to carry it out.
Bystanders who feel they have special skills to aid in an emergency are more likely to directly help.
5 Step Model of Situational Variables: Stage #5 Problem
Deciding not to help.
The costs of helping may outweigh the benefits of helping.
Danger to self.
Legal concerns.
Audience inhibition--fear of making a bad impression on others.
Victim Characteristics
More likely to help when victim is:
Clearly in need (ex: screaming).
Similar (ex: gender, race).
Physically attractive.
Showing low costs for helping (no blood, not aggressive).
Friendly.
"Deserving" of help--those who are not responsible for their troubl
Evolutionary Explanations
Kin selection.
Reciprocal helping.
Kin Selection
The idea that behaviors that help a genetic relative are favored by natural selection.
Would not be necessary to learn this from others--innate mechanism.
Remember--natural selection favors genes that promote our survival and probability of having childre
Reciprocal Helping
We help others because doing so will increase the likelihood that they will help us in the future.
'Norm of Reciprocity'--I help you, and you'll help me.
Assumes that those who understood this idea were more likely to survive and reproduce.
Mood and Helping
Mood: When we feel good, we do good
Ex: More helpful when weather is good, more helpful when we have pleasant smells around (in mall).
Coin and Mall Study
(Isen and Levine, 1972)
People in a mall used a pay phone.
They found a dime in the coin return or n