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Social Psychology Summary - Numerus Fixus RuG Psychology
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Summary of the Social Psychology chapter for the numerus fixus test of the psychology course at the University of Groningen.
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INTRODUCTIE IN DE PSYCHOLOGIE HOOFDSTUK 12: SOCIALE PSYCHOLOGIEThe subfield of social psychology is concerned with how real or imagined others influence our thoughts,
feelings, and interactions.
HOW DOES GROUP MEMBERSHIP AFFECT PEOPLE?
Humans are described as social animals, because we have evolved to live in groups and therefore, we have to
adapt in ways that help us get along, fit in, and thrive in group contexts. According to the social brain
hypothesis primates (and therefor humans) have large prefrontal cortices because they live in complex groups
that change over time. Being a good group member requires primates to understand complex group behavior.
12.1 PEOPLE FAVOR THEIR OWN GROUP
Humans automatically form groups. The groups to which people belong are called ingroups, those they are not
a part of are outgroups. Some groups fight for the same resources, while others prefer trading.
People are likely to organize themselves into a group when two conditions are met: reciprocity, meaning that
people treat others as others treat them, and transitivity, meaning that friends generally share the same
opinions of other people. Beginning form infancy, humans readily differentiate between ingroups and
outgroups. People have the tendency to view outgroup members as less varied then ingroup members, this is
called the outgroup homogeneity effect. People also show a positivity bias for ingroup members.
Group memberships are an important part of social identities, and contribute to the members self-esteem. The
social identity theory states that people do not only identify with certain groups but also value those groups
and in doing so experience pride through their group membership. As people define themselves as members of
a group, they learn, mimic, and eventually internalize they ways members behave towards in- and outgroup
members. Ingroup favoritism is when people give a preferential treatment to ingroup members. This
difference is even apparent when the group difference is arbitrarily defined (minimal group paradigm). A
possible explanation could be that the limited resources should be kept in the ingroup. Another reasoning is
that the ingroup membership is so important that it is a way to signal how much a membership is worth.
People need to understand what other group members are thinking, and especially how they think about them.
Because if the groups’ social rules get violated, exclusion from the group could be fatal. The middle region of
the prefrontal cortex, called the medial prefrontal cortex is important for thinking about others, and especially
when thinking about in- or outgroups. It is more active when considering ingroups than the
(extreme)outgroups. The explanation for this could be that people see the ingroup members as more human
than outgroup members.
12.2 GROUPS INFLUENCE INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOR
People’s thoughts, emotions, and actions are strongly influence by the desire to be a good group member. The
influence is so strong that people would even exhibit behavior they would never do elsewise.
The risky-shift effect is that groups make riskier decisions than individuals do. On the other hand, if the initial
attitudes of the group members is more cautious, the group becomes even more cautious. This is called group
polarization. When groups make decisions, they usually chose the course of action that was initially favored by
the majority of the individuals of the group. Through mutual persuasion, the decision-making individuals come
to an agreement. Sometimes groups can end up making a bad decision because some individuals were
particularly concerned with preserving the group and maintaining its cohesiveness, called groupthink. It
typically occurs when the group is under intense pressure, facing external threats, and is biased to begin with.
Weighing the pros and cons can prevent groupthink.
, Social facilitation is that the presence of others generally enhances performance. It also occurs in other
animals. The modal for social facilitation goes as follows: presence of others generally generates arousal. This
arousal can enhance performance if you are already pretty good at the specific action, or impair the action if
you are not so good at it.
Social loafing is when people do not work as hard in a group as they would alone. The people do not feel
personally responsible for the outcome. When people know their individual performances can be monitored,
social loafing diminishes.
Deindividuation is when people are not self-aware and do not pay attention to personal standards when they
become part of a group. People are most individuated, meaning we have a sense of ourselves who are
responsible for the taken actions. Being aroused and anonymous can lead to deindividuation. When the sense
of identity is lost, we tend to act according to the expectations of the situation or the people around us. The
individuals make conscious decisions to commit these acts, but are also caught up in a loss of identity that can
influence their behavior in extreme ways.
12.3 PEOPLE CONFORM WITH OTHERS
When people conform, they alter their behaviors or opinions to match those of others or to match what is
expected from them. There are two primary reasons for conforming: normative influence happens when
people fit in with a group to avoid looking foolish. People can conform while believing the group is doing
something wrong this way. Informational influence occurs when there is uncertainty or ambiguity about what
is correct, appropriate, or expected, and look at others for cues about how to respond. You expect this
behavior to be the correct way to respond. Social norms are expected standards of conduct that influence
behavior.
People in a group learn information form others (informational influence), and alter their behavior to fit in
(normative influence). Those two forces combined leads to a group that is biased, has uniform beliefs, and has
forceful leadership. Groupthink can occur this way.
Social norms set expectations about behavior and consequences of deviating from those expectations. People
who go against the group could expect criticism, embarrassment, and ostracism. Factors that can decrease
conformity are group size (7 is max, higher than that, conformity does not increase), and lack of consensus
(even 1 person). Activity in the medial prefrontal cortex can predict people’s conforming behaviors.
12.4 CAN SOCIAL NORMS MARKETING REDUCE BINGE DRINKING?
The social norms in campaigns can also backfire on certain groups, because people go along with the crowd
when being normatively influenced (light drinkers being influenced to drink the average amount, which is more
than usual for them). Therefore, additional information needs to be given.
12.5 PEOPLE OBEY AUTHORITY FIGURES
Milgram was interested in determinants of obedience. His shock experiment changed the perspective of the
influence of people with authority. Ordinary people can be coerced into obedience by insisted authorities, even
when it is against the way they would normally behave. Certain factors determine how people are influenced
by obedience. The extend to which people are concerned about how others view them for example. Situation
and personality influence behavior. Participants of the experiment raised in obedience when the shock
frequency slowly increased, when the victims’ protesting started later, when orders help justify continuing and
when the experiment was conducted at a high-status school. When the participants could be seen or touched
by the learner, or when the orders were given through phone and thus the experimenter was not physically
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