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Introduction  to  Social  Psychology  
1/6/15  
• Tips:  
o Exams:  derives  questions  from  lecture  and  textbook  
o Lecture  slides:  posted  online  
• Social  Psychology  Focal  Points:  
o Why  do  we  need  a  science  of  social  psychology?  
o What  is  social  psychology?  
o What  distinguishes  social  psychology  from  other  similar  disciplines?  
o What  does  social  psychology  study  and  how?  
• Example  questions:  
o What  makes  us  feel  attracted  to  another  person?  
§ Physical  proximity  
o Why  do  some  people  help  victims,  while  others  appear  to  do  nothing?  
o What  makes  a  good  leader?  
o What  is  happiness?  
• Folk  Wisdom/Contradictions  
o Examples:  
§ Absence  makes  the  heart  grow  fonder  
§ Out  of  sight,  out  of  mind  
o Common  Sense  Statements:  
§ Contradict  each  other  and  coexist  with  their  exact  opposites  
§ Full  of  biases  
• Speed  Dating  
o One  day  before:  “I  would  like  a  person  who  is  intelligent,  funny,  and  sincere
...
”  
o A  Month  Later:  “  I  like  an  intelligent,  funny,  and  sincere  person
...
”  
§ An  imagined  person:  the  police,  your  parents,  or  anyone  not  within  
close  physical  proximity  of  you
...
g
...
 12  hours)  
• Example:  Aggression  
o Conceptual  definition:  hostile  or  violent  behavior  or  attitudes  toward  another  
o Operational  definition:  administering  hot  sauce  to  someone  who  does  not  like  
spicy  food  
• Two  Types  of  Research  
o Correlational:    
§ “The  study  of  naturally  occurring  relationships  among  variables”  
§ Researchers  systematically  measure  the  relation  between  two  or  more  
variables  
§ To  what  degree  can  one  variable  be  predicted  by  the  other?  
• -­‐1
...
0  
§ Some  hypotheses  cannot  practically  or  ethically  be  tested  experimentally  

• Example:  gender  of  a  person  
§ Useful  for  establishing  that  two  variables  are  associated  
• But  correlation  is  not  causation  
§ What  Does  It  Mean?  
• Does  A  cause  B?  
• Does  B  cause  A?  
o Experimental  
§ With  experiments,  we  overcome  the  shortcomings  of  correlational  
designs
...
 sad  
• Overcomes  the  reverse  directionality  problem  
• Types  of  Manipulations  
o Between  Groups  
§ Each  person  experiences  only  one  level  of  
independent  variable  
§ For  example,  participant  either  listens  to  jokes  or  
not  
o Within  Groups  
§ Each  person  experiences  each  level  of  independent  
variable  
§ For  example,  if  participant  was  tested  one  day  in  the  
joke  condition,  and  another  day  in  the  no  joke  
condition  
§ Inferring  Causality  
• Through  manipulation  and  random  assignment…  
o We  can  be  confident  that  the  only  initial  difference  between  
groups  is  on  the  Independent  Variable  
o Any  subsequently  observed  differences  must  be  caused  by  
the  manipulated  change  in  IV  
§ Choosing  a  Method  
• Why  not  always  use  an  experiment?  
o Not  possible  to  randomly  assign  (e
...
,  socioeconomic  
status)  
o Ethical  considerations  (e
...
 smoking;  risky  sexual  behavior)  
o Culture  of  Honor  
§ Unpackaging  the  findings:  
• What  aspect  of  southern  culture  led  to  differences  in  homicide  
rate?  

§

§

§

§

o Poverty?  
o Hot  climate?  
o History  with  slavery?  
Summary  So  Far  
• The  South  is  more  violent  than  the  non-­‐South  
• The  usual  explanations  do  not  explain  this  violence  
What  is  the  impact  of  herding?  
• Wealth  is  portable  
o Cattle  can  be  stolen  
• Law  is  ineffective  
o Frontier—no  police  protection  
• Therefore,  must  keep  up  the  appearance  of  strength  
• “Honor:”  
o Respect  that  prevents  someone  from  being  taken  advantage  
of  
o Assumption  of  strength  
• Key  aspect  of  a  culture  of  honor:  
o Insults  must  be  dealt  with  swiftly  and  violently  
Survey  (correlational)  
• What  should  Fred  do  if  a  man…  
• How  would  you  feel  about  your  friend  if…  
o Looks  over  Fred’s  girlfriend  and  starts  talking  to  her  in  a  
suggestive  way  
o Insults  Fred’s  wife,  implying  that  she  has  loose  morals  
o Tells  others  behind  Fred’s  back  that  Fred  is  a  liar  and  a  
cheat  
o Sexually  assaults  16  year  old  daughter  
o Steals  Fred’s  wife  
“Honor”  Experiments  
• Ss  are  white,  non-­‐Hispanic,  non-­‐Jewish  male  UMich  students  
o
...
5  are  Southerners  
o Average  family  income  is  $85K  for  Northerners,  $95
...
g
...
g
...
Peripheral Traits
§ Solomon Asch (1946)
• Forming impression of others is more than adding together individual
information
o We form impression of the entire person based on the interaction
between different pieces of information
• Some pieces of information (central traits) are more important than others
(peripheral traits)
o Core: warmth and competence
• Heuristics
o “Mental shortcut” or “rule-of-thumb”
o Useful for living in a complex social world, but can lead to faulty beliefs and suboptimal
decisions
• Representativeness Heuristic
o The degree to which an event is similar in essential characteristics to its parent population
o Feminists seem to be the correct answer because they seem like representative of the
vivid description
• Availability Heuristic
o Are you more likely to be killed by a shark or a cow?
§ More people die from cows, but people are afraid of sharks
o Are you more afraid to drive or fly?
§ More people are afraid to fly than drive, even though flying is one of the safest
things to do
o Death by car accidents or death by strokes?
§ Do you live in fear of strokes?
• Availability Heuristic and Division of Labor
o Married students filled out a scale of what percentage of each job they vs
...
internal (personal)
o Internal attribution: behavior is caused by internal factors like personality, attitudes, etc
...

§ Etc
...


§ Etc
...
3 correlation between the attitudes and
attitude-relevant behavior
o When does behavior determine attitudes?
§ Self-perception theory
• Inferring our attitudes based on observations of our
behavior
o Initial ambiguity of attitude/feeling
o Behavior freely chosen
• If you’re smiling, you think things are funnier than
someone would if they were frowning
• Experiment: listen to tuition rates increase, forced to
nod/shake/still head, how do they feel about the
message
§ Self-presentation theory
• We behave a certain way to make a good
impression on others, and then express attitudes that
match those actions
• Female participants were told that they were going
to meet a man
o More desirable vs
...
modern women
§ Asked the women about their
traditional and modern views
§ Cognitive Dissonance
Cognitive Dissonance
o Tension experienced when holding two conflicting cognitions
§ Attitude
§ Belief
§ Behavior
o Leads to motivation to reduce the tension
o Dissonance reduction
§ Change action perception

• Denial
§ Change action
§ Change belief
o Experiment: induced compliance paradigm
§ Boring task
• Negative attitude
§ Behavior
• Lie: this task is interesting
§ Justification
• $1 (insufficient justification)
• $20 (sufficient justification)
o Effort justification
§ The more effort you put into something, the more inclined you are to like it
• You justify your actions
• Summary
o Where do attitudes come from?
§ Cognitive, affective, and behavioral sources
o How well do attitudes predict behavior? When?
o When and why does behavior determine attitudes?
§ Self-presentation theory
§ Cognitive dissonance theory
§ Self-perception theory
1/27/15  
Conformity  and  Obedience  
• What  is  conformity?  
o Conformity  
§ Submission  or  sensitivity?  
§ Compliance  or  responsiveness?  
• Social  Norms  
o Rules  or  guidelines  in  a  group  or  culture  about  what  behaviors  are  proper  and  
improper  
o Implicit  or  explicit  
§ Standing  for  national  anthem  
§ Leave  a  tip  for  waiters  
§ Dress  like  everyone  else  
§ Wait  our  turns  in  lines  
• Two  Classic  Conformity  Studies  
o Conformity:  tendency  to  change  perceptions,  opinions,  or  behavior  in  ways  that  are  
consistent  with  group  norms  
o Sherif’s  auto-­‐kinetic  effect  study  
§ Participant  in  dark  room  shown  a  single  point  of  light  
§ “How  far  is  it  moving?”  
§ Task:  Estimate  difference  that  light  moves  
• Difficult  and  ambiguous  task  
• Light  is  stationary  but  appears  to  move  
• Do  first  task  alone,  then  with  other  participants  in  the  room  
§ Eventually  came  to  a  consensus  

•

•

•

•

•

o Asch’s  line  judgment  study  
§ What  would  happen  if  the  answer  was  more  obvious?  
§ 6  confederates,  1  real  participant  
§ Confederates  start  out  picking  the  right  line  
§ Then,  confederates  pick  same,  wrong  line  
• Repeated  trials  
§ DV:  Will  real  participant  conform?  
§ About  half  the  time,  people  conform  sometimes,  but  not  always  
Would  You  Conform?  
o Prompts  us  to  consider  the  question,  would  you  uphold  your  own  beliefs  when  
others  around  you  disagree  strongly?  
o How  powerful  is  the  situation?  
Why  do  people  conform?  
o To  be  right:  informational  influence  
§ We  believe  others  are  correct  in  their  judgments  
• Contestants  on  Price  is  Right  
• Online  reviews  (e
...
,  Rotten  Tomatoes)  
o To  be  liked  or  to  fit  in:  Normative  influence  
§ We  fear  consequences  of  appearing  deviant  
• Dressing  up  
• Teenagers  and  fitting  in  
Sherif  vs
...
 make  them  scared  
§ Big  vs
...
 Two-­‐sided  appeal  
§ Primacy  vs
...
 Small  Discrepancy  
§ Big  discrepancy  
• Exercise  for  60  minutes  every  day  
• Works  best  if  it  is  a  credible  source  
o E
...
 Message  from  physiology  (or  other)  professor  
§ Small  discrepancy  
• Exercise  once  or  twice  a  week  
• Works  even  if  it  is  not  a  very  credible  source  
o E
...
 Message  from  a  random  person/friend  
o One-­‐sided  vs
...
 alone  
o Simple  tasks  where  the  “dominant”  or  response  is  correct,  increases:  
o Overlearned  
o Instinctual  
o Automated  
o Require  no  resources  
o Performance  heightened  when  person  is  a  little  anxious  
o And  decreases:  
o Complex  tasks  where  the  answer  is  not  obvious  
o Novel  
o Learned  
o Controlled  
o Require  cognitive  resources  
o Performance  suffers  when  person  is  a  little  anxious  
o Expertise  can  make  complex  tasks  simpler  
o Others’  presence  -­‐>  Arousal  -­‐>  Strengthens  dominant  response  
o Enhances  easy  behavior  
o Impairs  difficult  behavior  
o Why  are  we  aroused  in  the  presence  of  others?  
o Evaluation  apprehension  
§ Explains  why…  
• People  perform  when  partner  is  superior  
o Driven  by  distraction  
§ Explains  why…  
• Same  effects  are  seen  when  flashing  lights  are  present  
o Mere  presence  
§ Explains  why…  
• Color  preference  are  stronger  in  presence  of  others  
• Animals  show  the  effect  
• If  there  are  other  people  around,  you  exercise  more  and  better  
o Social  Facilitations  in  the  Real  World  
o Gyms  
o Office  buildings  
o Choking  based  on  Evaluation  Apprehension  
o If  it’s  a  home  game,  you  know  these  people  are  rooting  for  you,  so  you’ll  do  better  
o Social  Loafing  

o Pull  on  a  rope  in  a  tug-­‐of-­‐war  
§ IV:  Alone  or  
• One  person  behind  
• Two  people  behind  
• Three  people  behind  
§ DV:  How  hard  people  pull  
• Adding  one  person  decreased  performance  by  10%  
• Adding  two  more  people  decreased  by  17%  
• Then  it  levels  out  
o Participants  to  make  as  much  noise  as  possible,  wearing  blindfold  
§ IV:  Think  on  your  own  vs
...
 Kristin;  Tyrone  vs
...
 Modern  Racism  
• Old-­‐fashioned  racism:  ascribing  negative  traits  and  opposing  equal  rights  
Modern  Racism  

Discrimination  against  blacks  is  no  longer  a  problem  in  North  America  
Blacks  are  getting  too  demanding  in  their  push  for  equal  rights  
Over  the  past  few  years,  the  government  and  news  media  have  shown  more  respect  to  
blacks  than  they  deserve  
Benevolent  Sexism  
• Your  intentions  are  good,  but  you  start  with  the  idea  that  this  person  (or  type  of  person)  
needs  help  
Implicit  and  Explicit  Prejudice  
• Explicit  prejudice  is  something  we’re  aware  that  we  have  and  are  able  to  articulate  our  
views  
• Implicit  prejudice  can  be  negative  associations  toward  a  group  that  we  don’t  even  know  we  
have,  or  aren’t  willing  to  share  
Prejudice  or  Stereotyping  
 
2/19/15  
Prejudice  and  Stereotyping  
• Sources  of  Prejudice  
o Social:  unequal  status,  conformity,  institutional  
o Motivational  
o Cognitive  
• Motivational  Sources  
o Realistic  group  conflict  theory  
§ Prejudice  arises  when  groups  compete  for  scarce  resources  
§ Sherif  et  al
...
 
o  Ratio  of  good  to  bad  behaviors  is  exactly  the  same,  but  what  differed  is  how  much  
exposure  you  had  to  each  group  
o When  two  rare  events  co-­‐occur,  it  stands  out  to  us  
Cognitive  Sources:  Illusory  Correlations  
o The  tendency  for  people  to  overestimate  the  link  between  variables  that  are  only  
slightly  or  not  at  all  correlated  
o Tend  to  overestimate  the  association  between  variables  when  they’re  rare  
 Cognitive  Sources:  Confirmation  Bias  
o “White  men  can’t  jump,”  Stone  et  al
...
 Blue  eye  students  
§ Superior  kids  used  it  as  a  way  of  exerting  power  
§ Inferior  kids  came  to  believe  this  about  themselves  
§ Performance  reflects  self-­‐esteem  and  value  
Schelling  Demonstration  
o We  can  get  strong  segregation  with  a  small  bias  
§ 2/8  neighbors  to  be  of  similar  backgrounds  
Prejudice  and  Self-­‐Fulfilling  Prophecies  
o White  interviewers  rated  black  applicants  worse  than  white  applicants
...
 
Word,  Zanna,  &  Cooper  (1974)  
o How  adequate  is  the  applicant  for  the  job?  
§ When  white  people  were  treated  like  the  black  people  had  been  treated,  they  
performed  worse  in  the  job  interview!  
Stereotypes  and  Performance  
o What  is  the  effect  of  being  negatively  stereotyped  on  a  task  you’re  asked  to  perform?  
Stereotype  Threat  and  Academic  Achievement  
o Stereotype…?  

•

•

•

Steele  and  Aronson  (1995)  
o African-­‐American  and  European-­‐American  Stanford  Students  
o Make  racial  stereotype  of  intelligence  salient  
§ Diagnostic  of  ability  
§ Non-­‐diagnostic  (control)  
o Can  affect  any  group  for  which  strong,  well-­‐known  negative  stereotypes  are  relevant  
in  particular  settings  
o One  does  not  need  to  believe  in  a  negative  stereotype  for  it  to  have  an  effect  
§ Elderly  stereotype  and  memory  performance  
§ Women  in  STEM  
§ Men  in  test  of  emotional  intelligence  
Stereotypes  and  Multiple  Identities  
o People  have  multiple  identities…  
§ Stereotypes  sometimes  clash  
Shih,  Pittinsky,  and  Ambady  (1999)  
o IV:  Remind  Asian-­‐American  women  of  either  Asian  roots  or  gender  
§ When  reminded  of  Asian  identity—performed  better  than  control  
§ When  reminded  of  female  identity—performed  worse  than  control  

 
2/23/15  

Aggression  
•

•

•

•

•

Aggressive  Acts  
o Aggression:  Behavior  Intended  to  Harm  Someone  Physically  or  Psychologically  
§ Insulting  someone  
§ Hitting  others  in  a  rage  
§ In  sports  
Types  of  Aggression  
o Instrumental  -­‐  inflicting  harm  to  gain  something  valuable  
§ Mugging  
• Instrumental:  gaining  money  
§ War  between  nations  
• Instrumental:  retrieving  land,  etc
...
 
Examples  of  Aggression  
o Direct/Hostile:  Angry  driver  yells  obscenities  at  tailgater  
o Indirect/Hostile:  Upset  tenant  disparages  landlord  to  neighbors  
o Direct/Instrumental:  Shoot  somebody  in  order  to  obtain  $1,000,000  
o Indirect/Instrumental:  Start  rumor  to  break  up  relationship  so  you  gain  that  partner  
Sources  of  Aggression  

o Instinctive/natural    
§ Organisms  who  successfully  aggress  gian  resources  
§ Necessary  for  reproduction  
§ Most  violent  age  is  2  years  old*  
§ Evidence  
• Less  likely  to  aggress  against  kin  
• Prevalence  of  aggression  among  animals  suggests  that  it  has  some  
survival  value  
o Biological  
§ Theories  
• Hormones  contribute  to  aggression  
o Testosterone  
§ Positively  correlated  with  aggression  (bi-­‐directional)  
§ Elevated  levels  seen  in  people  convicted  of  violent  
crimes  
§ Sex  differences  in  aggression  
• Gender  and  Aggression  
o 85-­‐90%  of  homicides  are  committed  by  men  
o 90%  of  robberies  are  committed  by  men  
o 80%  of  assaults  are  committed  by  men  
o A  Note  On  Testosterone  and  Aggression  
§ There  is  a  large  body  of  work  showing  that  with  
domestic  violence,  women  are  about  equally  as  likely  to  
use  violence  as  men  
§ There  is  a  lot  of  evidence  that  women  experience  more  
injuries  compared  to  men  with  domestic  violence  
§ A  testosterone  dose  leads  to  more  aggression  when  
threatened  
o Environmental  Factors  
§ Aggression  increases  due  to  physical  pain  or  discomfort  (Anderson,  2001)  
§ During  hotter  times  
• Increases  in  domestic  violence  (Hsiang  et  al
...
?  
o Do  you  ever  feel  lonely  when  reading  a  book?  Not  really
...
 
• Why  do  we  do  this?  
o It  hurts  to  be  rejected,  so  we  conform  
o We  need  connections  

3/19/15  
Genes,  Culture,  and  Gender  
• Why  Are  We  The  Way  We  Are?  
o Evolution  
o Culture  
o Balance  between  fixed  traits  and  flexibility  
• How  Biological  Evolution  Works  
o Natural  Selection  
§ Individual  variability  in  traits  among  members  
§ Variability  in  traits  associated  with  different  survival  rates  
§ Traits  are  inherited  
o Sexual  Selection  
§ Those  who  can  attract  the  most  healthy  mates  will  have  the  most  offspring  
• Socialization  
o The  process  by  which  a  person  learns  a  particular  culture  
o How  the  psychological  change  occurs  
o This  includes:  
§ The  motivation  to  form  or  change  beliefs  
§ The  structure  of  the  beliefs  
§ And  something  else  (he  changed  the  slide  too  quickly)  
o Schemas  
§ Help  you  understand  the  world  
o Changing  Knowledge  
§ New  knowledge  is  required  
§ Do  you  change  and  adapt  your  structures?  
• Yes—when  you  are  ready  for  change  
• No—when  you  are  uncomfortable  with  change  
o Who  do  you  trust  for  knowledge?  
§ Childhood  
• Parents  are  ultimate  authority  
§ Adolescence  
• Peer  group  becomes  important  authority  
§ The  Self  
• Gradually  becomes  trusted  as  an  authority  
§ Balance  
• Different  sources  are  trusted  for  different  knowledge  
o Education—Source  of  Socialization  
§ Children  with  Educated  Parents  
• Hear  more  words  per  day  
• Have  their  questions  answered  in  a  more  elaborate  way  
• Are  less  likely  to  be  instructed  through  physical  means  (e
...
 pushing)  
§ Example:  Do  you  like  to  drink  alcohol?  
• Why?  
o Evolution  
o Culture  
• Why  do  cultures  differ?  
o Causes  of  Cultural  Variability  

Proximal  
• Direct  and  immediate  relations  
o I  don’t  like  the  taste,  and  I  don’t  drink  things  that  taste  badly  
§ Distal  
• Differences  that  lead  to  changes  over  time,  often  indirectly  
o Develops  over  time  
o Examples:  
§ Spanish  and  Incans  
• 1532  Battle  of  Cajamarca  
o Spanish  wants  to  conquer  the  Incans    
§ Incans  with  30,000  soldiers  
§ Spanish  had  168  soldiers  
• 106  on  foot,  62  on  horses  
o He  won  –  How?  
§ Tricked  the  Incans  into  thinking  it  was  a  meeting  
§ Incans,  instead  of  dressing  for  war,  dressed  to  show  off  
§ Spanish  overthrew  the  Incans,  killing  more  than  2000  
and  capturing  their  leader  
o “Hey,  you  can  win  him  back  if  you  give  us  your  gold
...
2  
§ What  else  is  happening?  
• Attractiveness  
o People  don’t  all  agree  on  who’s  attractive  
o People  are  trying  to  find  that  person  who  is  uniquely  valuable  to  them  
o Not  everybody’s  chasing  the  same  people  
• Individual  differences  in  the  way  you  go  about  mating  
o If  you  increase  the  pool,  will  people  match  slower  or  faster?  
§ Should  you  rush?  
§ Should  you  keep  your  options  open?  
§  
3/26/15  
• What  influences  attraction  and  why?  
o Proximity  
• Key  predictions  of  overall  life  satisfaction  
o Marriage  and  family  life  
§ Marriage  partner  helps  them  cope  with  life’s  struggles  
• Spouse  does  some  things  for  you  to  help  you  out  
• Thinks  that  one  does  for  other  people,  makes  them  feel  valuable  and  
useful  
o Top  10%  of  happy  people  alive  have  one  thing  in  common  

They  have  good  social  relationships  
• They’ve  made  those  relationships  meaningful,  reliable,  close,  and  
intimate  
With  whom  do  you  find  close  relations?  
o 270  MIT  students  randomly  assigned  to  apartments  within  17-­‐building  married  
student  housing  complex  
o With  whom  did  they  become  friends?  
§ 65%  of  friends  mentioned  were  from  the  same  building  
Proximity  
o The  role  of  familiarity  –  Mere  Exposure  Effect  
o What  about  social  stimuli?  
§ 4  confederates  in  classroom  
o Limits  to  proximity  
§ An  accentuator:    
• If  person  is  disagreeable,  proximity  hurts  
• If  person  is  NOT  disagreeable
...
7  
§ Men:  
• Jawline  
• Broad  forehead  
• Moderately  broad  shoulders  
§ What  really  matters  is  averageness  
§

•

•

•

•

o Why  do  we  care  about  physical  attractiveness  so  much?  
§ Evolutionary  explanation  beauty  signals  health  preference  is  hard-­‐wired  and  
adaptive  
§ Average  faces  look  more  familiar  to  us  
§ Stereotype:  what  is  beautiful  is  good  
o Hypothesis:  treatment  by  others  affects  social  skill  
§ Pairs  of  men  and  women  interact  over  phone  
§ Physical  attractiveness  was  manipulated  (random  assignment)  
o Fake-­‐attractive  photo  condition:  
§ Women  were  more  friendly  and  sociable  
o Fake-­‐unattractive  photo  condition:  
§ Women  were  cold  and  boring  
o Why?  Men’s  treatment  
§ Fake-­‐attractive  photo  condition:  men  were  more  sociable,  warm,  humorous,  
and  outgoing  
The  process:  Behavioral  Confirmation  
o Develop  social  skill  over  time  
§ Self-­‐fulfilling  prophecy:  men  expect  beautiful  woman  to  be  sociable  à  treat  
her  warmly  à  behave  according  to  beliefs  
o Men  and  women  are  more  similar  than  different  
§ Both  men  and  women  highly  value  kindness  and  intelligence  
§ Both  men  and  women  seek  closeness  and  financial  relationships  extremely  
important  
Similarity  
o Demographics  
§ Age,  ethnicity,  culture,  religion,  education,  etc
...
 46)  
§ Differences  
• Sexual  system  

• Symmetry  
• “Felt  security”  without  physical  contact  
o New  Typology  
§ Avoidance  vs
...
 Model  of  Others  
§ Low  anxious,  low  avoidance  
• Secure  attachment  
• Self,  comfortable  with  intimacy  and  autonomy,  trusting,  constructive  
attributions  and  behavior  
• Can  take  risks,  try  new  things,  have  an  open  mind  
§ High  anxious,  low  avoidance  
• Preoccupied  with  relationships  (intimate),  overly  seeks  intimacy,  
jealous,  clingy,  break-­‐ups,  engages  in  rumination  
• Natalie  Portman  asking  questions,  insecure,  but  he  loves  her  
§ Low  anxious,  high  avoidance  
• Secure  self,  not  trusting,  seeks  independence  and  distance,  casual  sex,  
break-­‐ups  
• Will  in  Good  Will  Hunting  
§ High  anxious,  high  avoidance  
• Preoccupied  with  relationships  (ruminates),  not  trusting,  avoids  
intimacy,  break-­‐ups  
o Why  Attachment  Matters  
§ Avoidance  à  
• Provide  less  support  to  partners  (Simpson  &  Rholes)  
• Less  frequent  intimate  sexual  activity  (Brassard,  Shaver,  and  Lussier),  
but  more  casual  sex  (Schmitt,  2005)  
• Attending  more  to  alternative  partners  (DeWall  et  al
...
,  2011)  
o Feels  as  though  that  relationship  is  too  clingy  or  eager  to  
commit  
§ Anxiety  à  
• Controlling,  intrusive  caregiving  (Feeney  &  Collins,  2004)  
• Sexual  activity  to  avoid  rejection,  feel  loved  (Mikulincer  &  Shaver,  
2007)  
• Perceiving  partners  as  inattentive,  reluctant  to  commit  (Kunce  &  
Shaver,  1994)  
• Over-­‐perceiving  conflict  in  relationship  (Campbell,  Simpson,  Boldry,  
and  Kasby,  2005)  
o Feels  as  though  that  person  is  reluctant  to  commit  
o Attachment  Over  Time  
§ How  we  are  treated  as  a  child  predicts  our  adult  relationship  
behavior/quality  (Conger  et  al)  
§ Longitudinal  study  (Zayas  et  al
...
 
• Infatuation  with  the  person,  can’t  stop  thinking  about  them,  desire  
them  to  be  near  you  
o Combinations  
§ Passion  +  Intimacy  without  Commitment  =  Romantic  Love  
• Summer  love  
§ Intimacy  +  Commitment  =  Companionate  love  
• Really  like  spending  time  with  
§ Passion  +  Commitment  =  Fatuous  Love  
• Lacking  
§ All  three  =  Consummate  Love  
• Passion,  motivated  to  see  them,  desire  to  be  with  them  physically,  
they  know  who  you  are  and  your  experiences,  and  you  have  
commitment  with  this  person  
§ None  =  no  love  
o Which  type  of  love?  
§ The  Notebook  (young):  romantic  love  
Romantic/Passionate  Love  
o Passionate  love  is  cross-­‐cultural  and  universal    
o What  is  passionate  love  like?  
§ Typical  features  include:  
• Swift  onset  
• Relatively  short  duration  (declines  over  time)  
• Idealization  of  the  beloved  
• Cognitive  preoccupation  with  (only)  the  beloved  

o

o

o

o

• Intense  emotions  (often  fluctuating)  
• Sexual  desire  
§ Jerry  Maguire  
Love  Over  Time  
§ Romantic  love  has  a  limited  life-­‐span  
• 18-­‐30  months  (Hazan,  1999)  
§ When  relationships  last,  companionate  love  appears  to  be  what  lasts…  
• Most  common  responses  among  couples  married  over  15  years  when  
asked  why  their  marriages  had  lasted  
o “My  spouse  is  my  best  friend
...
”  
• May  be  saying  “I’ve  felt  passion  for  other  people  in  life  as  well  but  I  did  
not  feel  this  sense  of  commitment  or  intimacy  as  I  do  with  this  
person
...
g
...
”)  (Tucker  &  Aron)  
The  Role  of  Novel,  Arousing  Activities  
§ “Exciting,”  novel  activities  (vs
...
 
Rusbult’s  Investment  Model  

Why  do  relationships  last?  
• Satisfaction  is  not  the  most  important  predictor  of  relationship  
stability  
• MUCH  more  important:  commitment  
§ What  is  Commitment?  
• Tendency  to  maintain  a  relationship,  to  feel  psychologically  attached  
to  it,  for  better  or  for  worse  (Rusbult)  
• Satisfaction  with  relationship,    
o Costs,  rewards,  comparison  level  
• Level  of  investment,    
o Related  to  all  the  things  you  would  lose  with  ending  the  
relationship  
§ House,  time  with  kids,  shared  friends,  status,  intimacy,  
comfortability,  etc
...
g
...
g
...
 He  found  your  name  
on  the  class  roster  
§ “I  don’t  know
...
 I  know  I  can,  but  
sometimes  I  on’t  feel  like  it,  so  most  of  the  notes  I  have  aren’t  good  to  study  
with
...
 Egoism  
o Altruistic  motivation  
§ Helping  purely  for  the  sake  of  providing  benefit  to  another  person  
• They  broke  their  hand,  you  give  them  notes  
o Egoistic  motivation  
§ Helping  in  order  to  obtain  rewards  or  avoid  punishments  
• They  give  you  pizza,  you  give  them  notes  
Group  Membership  
o We  help  in-­‐group  members  because  of  
§ Identification  and  similarity  (creates  empathy)  
§ Reciprocal  altruism  
o We  help  out-­‐group  members  because  of  
§ Humanitarian  values  (others  less  fortunate)  
 
Social  Exclusion  
o Social  reconnection  hypothesis  
§ Social  rejection  decreased  positive  ratings  and  prosocial  behavior  towards  
person  who  rejected  them  
• But  the  rejected  was  more  likely  to  help  others  
How  many  times  have  you  given  blood  in  your  lifetime?  
o Novice:  0-­‐3  times  
§ Why  did  you  give  blood?  
• It  makes  me  feel  good  
• To  help  friend  or  relative  
• Persuaded  by  others  
o Expert:  3+  times  
§ Why  did  you  give  blood?  
• As  a  service  to  the  community  
• To  help  humanity  
• Sense  of  duty  
o As  experience  with  blood  donation  increases,  motivation  often  changes  from  novice  
to  experienced  (E  to  A)
...
g
...
 We  often  
see  our  social,  economic,  and  political  norms  as  good  
§ This  can  lead  to  the  acceptance  of  inequalities  in  society  
• Can  lead  to  victim  blaming  
o (Stereotypical  Republican  mindset)  
o We  don’t  want  to  challenge  the  entire  belief  system  or  cultural  
structure  that  exists  
Dependence  on  the  Government  
§ If  people  don’t  know  a  lot  about  an  important  issue  (e
...
 a  conflict),  what  does  
it  make  sense  to  do?  
§ When  people  are  exposed  to  problems  that  seem  really  complex,  it  makes  
them  feel  helpless  
• This  makes  them  feel  dependent  on  the  government,  leading  them  to  
trust  what  the  government  tells  them,  and  makes  them  avoid  
information  about  the  situation  
Mass  Action  
§ 2001,  due  to  Foot  and  Mouth  disease,  millions  of  cattle  were  being  killed  
• Until  Phoenix,  12  day  old  cute  calf  made  it  to  the  news  
§ 2002,  a  dog  was  stranded  on  an  oil  tanker  –  recuers  spent  tens  of  thousands  
of  dollars  to  get  the  dog  off  the  tanker  

2005,  a  sparrow  knocked  over  23,000  dominoes  in  a  competition  in  the  
Netherlands,  and  was  shot
...
 Once  numbers  get  
large,  we  can  no  longer  imagine,  and  so  no  longer  feel  others’  suffering  in  the  same  
way  
o Has  to  become  personal  to  feel  empathy,  and  when  it’s  a  large  group,  it’s  hard  to  
become  personal  
§ The  death  of  one  man  is  a  tragedy;  the  death  of  millions  is  a  statistic  
• Joseph  Stalin  (allegedly)  
o Which  do  you  think  would  motivate  people  to  donate  more?  
§ Food  shortages  in  Malawi  are  affecting  more  than  3  million  children  
§ A  7-­‐year  old  girl  from  Malawi  Africa  who  suffers  from…  her  life  will  be  
changed  for  the  better  as  a  result  of  your  financial  gift…  
Creating  and  Spreading  Peace  and  Prosocial  Behavior  
o What  can  be  done?  
§ Can  having  power  ever  be  good?  
§ Recent  research  by  Galinsky  suggests  yes!  
§ Feeling  powerful  increases  our  tendency  to  act  
§ When  you  combine  high  power  with  perspective  taking,  people  seem  to  come  
up  with  better  
§ What  can  be  done  about  social  traps,  like  the  prisoner’s  dilemma  and  the  
tragedy  of  the  commons?  
§ Consistent  contributions  (people  who  almost  always  contribute  to  the  
common  good)  
• Often  portrayed  as  irrational  in  economics  and  Game  Theory  
§ Do  you  start  with  the  opinion  that  people  should  care  for  the  greater  good  of  
everyone  and  be  cooperative…  people  say  if  you’re  not,  you  hurt  everybody?  
§ We  have  a  conflict  between  short-­‐term  (self)  and  long-­‐term  (world)  goals  
Consistent  Contributors  
o People  who  are  consistently  prosocial  tend  to  get  those  results  in  return  as  well  
o Groups  with  a  consistent  contributor  contributed  more  
Apologies  
o People  often  think  that  if  they  apologize,  they  are  taking  blame  
o Apologies  appear  to  lead  to  
§ Doctors  getting  sued  less  for  malpractice  (Robbennolt,  2009)  
§ Drivers  getting  speeding  tickets  getting  asked  to  pay  less  (Day  &  Ross)  
§ Positive  effects  for  groups  who  experienced  historic  injustices  (as  long  as  the  
apology  addressed  their  needs  and  concerns—reparations  are  sometimes  
called  for)  
§

•

•

•

•

 
4/9/15  
• 36  Questions  to  Bring  You  Closer  Together  
o You  have  person-­‐specific  stereotypes  

More  likely  to  talk  to  someone  who  reminds  you  of  someone  or  something  or  
whom  you  have  something  in  common  with  (e
...
 shirt)  
o Why  don’t  we  talk  to  people  on  the  bus?  
§ Possible  rejection  
§ Fear  of  unpleasant  conversations  
o Conversations  on  the  Bus  
§ Most  people  were  in  a  better  mood  
o How  much  time  do  you  spend  talking  to  people  with  conversations  that  mean  
nothing?  
§ A  lot  
• Small  talk  
o How  do  you  make  more  friends?  
§ Ask  better  questions,  more  questions,  etc

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