Scribd
Upload
12 views

Chapter 13 Part I Cassidy

Social psychology examines how people influence each other's behaviors, beliefs, and attitudes through social influence. Key concepts include social comparison theory, conformity, and obedience to authority. Classic studies include Asch's conformity experiment showing people will conform to a unanimous wrong group, the Stanford Prison Experiment demonstrating how social roles shape behavior, and Milgram's study of obedience finding people will obey authority figures who instruct them to harm others. Group processes like groupthink can also impact decision making.

Uploaded by

rhammoud314
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
12 views

Chapter 13 Part I Cassidy

Social psychology examines how people influence each other's behaviors, beliefs, and attitudes through social influence. Key concepts include social comparison theory, conformity, and obedience to authority. Classic studies include Asch's conformity experiment showing people will conform to a unanimous wrong group, the Stanford Prison Experiment demonstrating how social roles shape behavior, and Milgram's study of obedience finding people will obey authority figures who instruct them to harm others. Group processes like groupthink can also impact decision making.

Uploaded by

rhammoud314
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 19

Social

Psychology
Chapter 13:
The power of social influence
Stanford Prison
01 Introduction 04 Experiment
What is social psychology Replicability in social
and social influence? psychology

02 Social Psychology Concepts 05 Groupthink


Social comparison theory, Decision making as a group,
fundamental attribution error cults

03 Conformity 06 Obedience
Asch’s conformity experiment, Milgram’s study of
deindividuation obedience
Introduction

Social Psychology = the study of


how people influence others’
behaviours, beliefs, and attitudes

Social Humans are a highly social


species

Influenc Social influence can be good or


bad

e
Humans as a social
species…
150 people is the approximate size of
most human social groups

Need-to-Belong theory  humans


have a biologically based need for
interpersonal connections
Social Comparison Theory
• We seek to evaluate our abilities and beliefs by
comparing them with those of others

• Upwards (superiors) and downward (inferiors)


social comparison

• Both can boost our self-concept

Social Contagion = we turn to others when a situation


is ambiguous to figure out what to believe or how to
behave

Mass Hysteria = contagious outbreak of irrational


behaviour that spreads  UFO outbreaks
URBAN LEGENDS

2016 Clown
Slender Man Wendigo Sightings
Fundamental Attribution Error
Attributions = assigning
causes to behaviour
● Internal attributions (e.g.,
personality)

● External attribution (e.g.,


situational factors)

● Tend to overestimate the


impact of dispositional
(internal) influences
Terms
● Compliance

= Doing what you have been asked to do by someone (not necessarily


an authority)
● Conformity

= Going along even though there has been no request that you do so
● Obedience

= Being given a direct order by somone in authority and doing it even


when you really don’t want
Conformity
The tendency to alter our behaviour
as a result of group pressure

Solomon Asch’s classic conformity


experiment (1955)

● Unanimity

● Difference in the wrong answer

● Size
Conformity
Findings from 60 years of research show
the phenomenon of conformity occurs
across experimental tasks, cultures, and
over time

● Low self-esteem makes you more


likely to conform

● Asian cultures more likely to conform

● No sex differences
DEINDIVIDUATI Concealing
ON
The tendency to engage in identity
Wearing a mask, darkness,
atypical behaviour when big problem in social media
stripped of your usual identity
Environment
• Become more vulnerable to Anonymity is easier in a crowd
social influence and social or when it is easy to get away
roles Lack of Individual
Responsibility
Being under the influence of
alcohol or drugs can lead to
deindividuation
Stanford Prison Experiment
● 24 male undergraduates randomly assigned to
“guard” or “prisoner”
● Both groups quickly took on their roles –

guards subjected prisoners to horrible


punishments, prisoners retaliated
● Guards felt in power, prisoners began to

experience distress/nervous breakdowns


● Planned to be 2 weeks, only lasted 6 days
Stanford Prison Experiment

STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES

● Incredibly influential ● Replicability


● Demonstrates influence of ● Experimental design - demand
individual differences on characteristics
conformity
● Participants – recruitment
● Guide for ethical standards issues
Groupthink
Groupthink = an emphasis on
group unanimity at the
expense of critical thinking
● Groups can rely on
”common knowledge”,
don’t gain unique
knowledge

● Extreme form = cults


Obedience
Adherence to instruction from those of
higher authority

● Essential ingredient in our daily


lives

● Can produce trouble when people


stop asking why they’re behaving
as others want them to
Milgram Study of Obedience
Stanley Milgram  graduate student of Solomon Asch,
wanted to know how the Holocaust could have occurred

• Designed a study to examine unquestioning orders


from an authority figure
• Volunteers signed up for the study and were met by a
lab instructor and another “volunteer” (actually a
confederate)
• “Teachers” (volunteers) were supposed to shock the
“leaners” (confederates) when they did not
successfully repeat words
• Shock level increased after every failure
Milgram Study of Obedience

Obedience…
Decreased Increased
With greater psychological With greater psychological
distance between the teacher distance between the teacher
(volunteer) and the and learner (e.g., teacher gives
experimenter (e.g., orders orders to another subject who
given to the teacher through then delivers the shock to the
the phone) learner)
Predictors of
Obedience:
• More morally advanced

• Level of authoritarianism

• No sex or cultural
differences
Do you have any questions?
Feel free to comment down below!

THAN [email protected]

KS! CREDITS: This presentation template was created by


Slidesgo, including icons by Flaticon, infographics &
images by Freepik and illustrations by Stories

You might also like