Social and Organizational PsychologyIBP 2017-2018 Introduction:Social psychology: the scientific field that seeks to understand the nature and causes of individual behavior, feelings, and thoughts in social situationsFour of the most important values that all fields must adopt to be considered scientific in nature:Accuracy: Gathering and evaluating information about the world in as careful, precise, and error-free manner as possible Objectivity: Obtaining and evaluating information in a manner that is as free from bias as possibleSkepticism: Accepting findings as accurate only to the extent they have been verified over and over again Open-Mindedness: A commitment to changing one’s views if existing evidence suggests that these views are inaccurateWhy do social psychologists adopt the scientific method?Because “common sense” provides an unreliable guide to social behavior and because our personal thought is influenced by many potential sources of bias. Social Cognition:Social Cognition: how we think about other people and the social worldGiven our limited cognitive capacity, we often experience information overload. To cope with this condition, we use heuristics (simple rules of thumb for making decisions in a quick and relatively effortless manner)Heuristics:Representativeness: the more an individual seems to resemble, or match a given group, the more likely she or he is to belong to that groupAvailability: the easier it is to bring information to mind, the greater its impact on subsequent decisions or judgmentsAnchoring and adjustment: using a number or value as a starting point from which we then make adjustments.Example: portion size effect: the tendency to eat more when a larger portion of food is received than a smaller portion Status Quo: the way things are currently is better than any other alternativeSchemas: basic components of social cognition. These mental frameworks, formed through experience, help us...

IBP 2017-2018 The selfOften, others are better at predicting our behavior than us, because we know all our intentions and motives, they only see the outcomeHow we present ourselves:Self-promotion: present our most favorable self-aspectsSelf-verification: having others agree with us about ourselves, even the negative qualitiesIngratiation tactics: conveying our respect for othersSelf-depreciation: imply that we are not as good as the other personSelf-knowledgeIntrospection: the examination of one's own mental and emotional processesTricky because we often don’t have conscious access to the emotional factors that affect our behavioral choices, or to what actually brings us happinessWe may have difficulty predicting how we will feel in the futureThink of ourselves by taking an observer’s perspectiveWe see the self in more trait terms and less responsive to situations, as observers doPersonal-versus-social identity continuumPersonal identity level: based on intragroup comparison, we think of ourselves in terms of attributes that differentiate ourselves from other individualsSocial identity level: based on intergroup comparison, perceptions of ourselves are based on attributes that are shared with other group membersSelf-definitionsWhat aspect of the self is influential at any moment in time depends on:Context distinctiveness of the attributeimportance of the identity how others refer to usIf we expect others to reject us for an aspect of ourselves:We try to alter the part of the self that brings rejection, orWe rebel against those rejecting us by making that feature even more self-definingFuture possible selvesCan motivate us to attempt self-changeRole models: can represent future possible selves that we can attainAutobiographical memory: when people compare their present self to their past self, the further in the past that self is the more we...

Social and Organizational PsychologyIBP 2017-2018 Causes and Cures of Stereotyping, Prejudice, and Discrimination Discriminatory treatment can be:Short-term: minimal criteria such as being assigned to a group in classLong-term: ethnicity, gender, religion, and sexual orientation. Seen as legitimate: e.g. discrimination against single people (singlism)Seen as illegitimate: e.g.: sexual orientationPeople are risk averse with potential losses having greater psychological impact than potential gainsPeople who are more privileged in some way might be more against equality, as they perceive it as a potential loss (e.g. whites against blacks)Gender stereotypes: beliefs about the different attributes that males and females possessThe glass ceiling effect: when qualified women have disproportionate difficulty attaining high-level positionThe glass cliff effect: women are more likely to be appointed to leadership positions following a crisis and when there is greater risk of failureNegative stereotypes towards men too: such as being low on warmthTokenism: acceptance of only a few members of a particular groupIt maintains perceptions that the system is not discriminatory (belief in meritocracy) People who are hired as token representatives of their groups are perceived negatively by other members of the organizationThe person being in a leadership position might be undermined as simply being there to “fill the quota”ScalesObjective scales: the meaning is the same no matter who they are applied toSubjective scales: standards that can take on different meanings, depending on who they are applied toShifting standards: the idea that descriptions are made with reference to some standard of judgment, and that this standard may shift depending on the person or object being described (e.g. being tall means something different for children and adults)Stereotypes are resistant to change, but they are revised as the relations...

Social and Organizational PsychologyIBP 2017-2018 Social influenceSocial influence: efforts by one or more people to change the behavior, attitudes, or feelings of one or more othersForms of influence:Conformity ComplianceObedience Unintentional social influenceConformity: efforts to change others’ behavior through norms about how to behave in a given situationFirst systematically studied by Solomon AschFormal: as in speed limits, rules for playing gamesInformal: as in the general rule “ don’t stare at people on an elevator”Cohesiveness: degree of attraction felt by an individual toward some group, group size, and type of social norm operating in that situation Descriptive norms: describe what most people do in a given situation Injunctive norms: specify how people should behave in a given situationMotives to conform:The desire to be liked by others (normative social influence) the desire to be right or accurate (informational social influence)Motives to not conform:Being perceived as being higher in status than those who conformConformity can induce good people to perform bad actions (e.g.: Stanford prison experiment) Compliance: efforts to change others’ behavior through direct requestsFoot-in-the-door technique: presenting target people with a small request and then following up with a larger request Lowball procedure: After the customer accepts the good offer, something happens that makes it necessary for the salesperson to change the deal and make it less advantageous for the customerDoor-in-the-face: starting with a very large request and then, after this is rejected, shift to a smaller requestPlaying hard to get and the deadline technique: based on the principle of scarcity, where what is scarce or hard to obtain is seen as valuable Obedience: following direct orders or commands from others Many people obey orders from authorities, even if these orders require them to do harm (Milgram’s...

Social and Organizational PsychologyIBP 2017-2018 Aggression Aggression is the intentional infliction of harm on othersTheories:Drive theories of aggression: aggression stems from externally elicited drives to harm or injure othersThe frustration-aggression hypothesis: the suggestion that frustration is a very powerful determinant of aggression The general aggression model recognizes the importance of learning, various eliciting input variables, individual differences, affective states, and cognitive processes in aggressionFrustration is a strong elicitor of aggression only under certain limited conditions. In contrast, provocation from others is a powerful elicitor of aggressionExposure to media violence and playing violent video games increases aggressionMen appear to be more likely than women to engage in physical aggression, but the two genders do not differ significantly in terms of verbal aggressionWhen does aggression increase?High temperatures (unless it is too uncomfortable)When consuming alcoholThere is an availability of weaponsBullying: repeated aggression against individuals who are unable to defend themselves against such treatmentBullies and bully-victims appear to have lower self-esteem than children who are not involved in bullying In recent years, cyberbullying—bullying that occurs through electronic means has increasedCan be reduced by increased supervision by teachers, getting parents involved, and having popular peers serve as antibullying advocates Ways to reduce aggression:Inducing thoughts and feelings that are incompatible with anger or aggressionUsing cognitive techniques for changing the focus of your thought (e.g.: count to ten)Punishment is rarely effective in reducing aggression References:Baron, R., & Branscombe, N. (2016). Social psychology (14th edition) Harlow: Pearson Education Limited--Chapter 9 ...

Social and Organizational PsychologyIBP 2017-2018 Dealing with Adversity and Achieving a Happy Life Stress: a contributing factor to psychological and physical health problemsCan stem from traumatic events, or frequent daily hasslesInterferes with the operation of the body’s immune system, and can be measured at the cellular levelStress can be reduced by social supportLoneliness: when a person has fewer and less satisfying relationships than desiredIf you see your personality as “fixed”: you are likely to react to rejection by cutting yourself off from othersIf you perceive yourself as capable of change: experience rejection as an opportunity for future improvement or growthInterventions related to self-change help to improve people’s resilience in the face of stress and reduce the likelihood of depressionDiscriminationExperiencing discrimination based on disability, sexual minorities, and weight, is associated with harm to well-beingWeight discrimination predicts mortalityImproving mental healthRegular exerciseSocial support has shown to be beneficial for people with PTSDJoining groups can foster social connectedness and help prevent depressionPracticing self-forgivenessIs the legal system fair?Understand potential sources of error and bias within the current systemLineups used to identify criminal suspects are subject to bias if all the suspects are shown at once (simultaneous lineup)In legal proceedings, defendants’ race, gender, physical attractiveness, and socioeconomic status can influence jurors’ perceptions and judgmentsHappiness: often referred to as subjective well-being with four basic components:global life satisfactionsatisfaction with specific life domainsa high level of positive feelingsa minimum of negative feelings Several factors consistently account for a nations’ average happiness levels:degree of social supportper capita incomehealthy life expectancyfreedom to make life...