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The Power of the Situation Chapter 16

The Power of the Situation Chapter 16. Music: “He Got Game” Public Enemy. Agenda. 1. Social Psychology: A) Definition B) Roles and Rules: Zimbardo’s Prison Experiment 2. Conformity: Asch’s Experiments 3. Obedience to Authority: A) Milgram’s Experiment B) Foot-in-the-door phenomena

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The Power of the Situation Chapter 16

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  1. The Power of the SituationChapter 16 Music: “He Got Game” Public Enemy

  2. Agenda • 1. Social Psychology: • A) Definition • B) Roles and Rules: • Zimbardo’s Prison Experiment • 2. Conformity: • Asch’s Experiments • 3. Obedience to Authority: • A) Milgram’s Experiment • B) Foot-in-the-door phenomena • 4. Attribution Error • 5. Deception in Psychological Studies • 6. Movie: “Power of the Situation” DVD # 10683

  3. Reminder: Online Course Evaluation! • Check the course website for the link Thank You!

  4. 1. Social Psychology: • A): Definition • Scientific study of how individuals behave, think and feel in social situations • How we are affected by the actual, or implied presence of others (p. 664) • How we relate to one another (next week) • How social pressures can exert significant influence on behaviour (this week) • E.g. Influence of cults; Jonestown mass suicide • B) Social Roles and Rules • Social role: • Socially defined pattern of behavior that is expected of a person when functioning in a given setting • See social schemas (p. 666) • E.g. Guards vs. prisoners

  5. B) Zimbardo’s Prison Experiment (1973) • Corruption in prisons: • Bad seeds, or bad soil? • Study: • 22 subjects screened for psychological maturity and health • Randomly assigned to role of guard or prisoner • Guards: • worked 8-hour shift • Wore uniform, whistle and club • Task=maintain reasonable degree of order • Prisoners: • stayed in mock prison 24hrs/day • Wore degrading uniform • Depersonalized • Lived in bare cells without personal belongings/dehumanized • Therefore, no moral considerations apply?

  6. B) Zimbardo’s Experiment (cont’d) • Results: • After 6 days of role simulation: • Indoctrination into roles that could not be attributed to personal dispositions • Guards devised cruel routines • Prisoners broke down • Study had to be called off. • Prisoner abuse • Process of deindividuation, devaluation of the prisoners, and power differential • Prisons are “bad soil” • http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5474164325345921501 • 2. Conformity • Adjusting our behavior or thinking to bring it in line with some group standard • Solomon Asch’s experiment (early 50’s) • People can be led to say “black” • when they see “white” • Why do we conform?

  7. 2. Factors that promote conformity: • Group size (p. 688) • Group unanimity • Ambiguity of situation • You identify with group members/ In group pressure • Also see “groupthink” (p. 695)

  8. 3. Obedience to Authority: • Would you electrocute a stranger? • A) Milgram’s study: • http://tinyurl.com/2njwm9 • Emerged from a need to understand the Holocaust and the ways in which obedience could lead to the death of millions of people • Details on the experimental situation provided in lecture • Conclusions: • Ordinary people, following authority, can become agents of aggression • Legitimate authority: • Someone who has the right to dictate behavior within a particular setting. • Conditions for disobedience: • Experimenter left the room or was replaced by an ordinary man • The victim was right there in the room • Participant worked with peers who refused to go further

  9. 3. b) Foot-in-the-door technique • Get people to comply to small requests, and you will be more likely to have them comply to greater requests later (p. 703) • Study in California: • (Described in class) • Lawn sign: 17% say “yes” • #1 License plate sticker: 65% say “yes” • #2 Lawn sign: 76% say “yes”

  10. 4. Attribution Error • Attribution Dimensions: • Internal/external; stable/unstable (Fig. 16.3, p. 670)

  11. 4. Fundamental Attribution Error: • More likely to make internal attribution and underestimate situational influences for others’ behaviour (p. 671)

  12. 4. Attribution Error • Why do we blame the victim? • Just world hypothesis: • World is fair and we get what we deserve • Also called defensive attribution bias (p. 672) • Self-Serving Bias: • Tendency to make internal attributions for positive events, and external ones for negative events that happen to us (except for depressives) • Conclusions: • The power of explanations

  13. 5. Ethics of Deception • Is it acceptable for psychologists to lie to subjects in the name of research? • Pros: • Cons: • Ethics committees: Now require deception to be kept to a minimum, and to be justified.

  14. 5. Movie: “Power of the Situation” • Excellent film, with several clips from studies described in this lecture • Available at the Sound and Moving Image Library in Scott (DVD # 10683) • 2 exam questions will be extracted from this movie

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