Summary of Applied social psychology: Understanding and managing social problems by Steg and Buunk - 1st edition

Introduction to Applied social psychology - Chapter 1

Social Problems, Human Cognition, and Behaviour

The science of social psychology aims to understand human social behaviour and the cognitions, emotions, and motivations related to it. Many societal problems have aspects that involve social psychology, making research in this field of utmost importance to solving major problems. Often, the solutions to and prevention of societal problems involves a change in attitudes, beliefs, behaviour, and lifestyles. Applied social psychologists focus on the aspects of social problems that can be improved through intervention. They examine which factors influence a particular behaviour and investigate which intervention techniques are appropriate and available.

Defining Applied Social Psychology

Social psychology is the field that attempts to gain a better understanding of the nature and causes of individual behaviour and thought in social settings. Applied social psychology is the systematic application of constructs, principles, theories, intervention techniques, and research findings of social psychology to the solving and understanding of social problems. Constructs are the individual psychological characteristics that are latent and observable only through the use of questionnaires (ex. Attitudes, values, and norms). Principles are statements that describe how psychological processes function (ex. the foot-in-the-door technique, cognitive dissonance, and the availability heuristic). Theories are integrated sets of principles describing, explaining, and predicting events based on observations. They cannot be considered facts or laws and must be tested.

Major Differences between Basic and Applied Social Psychology

1. While basic social psychologists focus on developing and testing theories, applied social psychologists focus on resolving and understanding practical problems. Therefore, theory development is not the main reason that applied social psychologists do research, and they can often use established theories to tackle problems.

2. Basic social psychologists follow a deductive approach, starting with a theory and examining how it can be used to understand behaviour. Applied social psychologists take an inductive approach, starting from specific problems and examining which theories are best to understand and explain the problem.

Applied studies can lead to theoretical breakthroughs and basic studies can often be conducted in applied settings, making a contribution to applied social psychology.

Basic and Applied Social Psychology

Theory Development and Testing

Both basic and applied social psychology are interested in the development and testing of theories. Theories can act as a framework to understand the causes of social problems and suggest techniques to resolve them. Applied social psychology can contribute to basic psychology, because studies conducted in the field provide valuable, practical proof.

Situational Factors

These are contextual factors that can affect our behaviour and thoughts. For instance, when the ambient temperature begins to rise, people become more aggressive.

Cultural Factors

These include cultural values that affect our behaviour and thoughts. Culture can be defined loosely as the system of shared meanings, perceptions, and beliefs held by people in a particular group. Social and cultural norms strongly affect behavior. For example, it used to be socially acceptable to smoke in the workplace, but such behaviour is now unheard of.

Biological Factors

These include the effect that biological processes and genetics have on behaviour and thinking. For example, we prefer characteristics in mates that are associated with reproductive capacity, even if we consciously do not want to have children.

Stanford Prison Experiment

In 1971, Zimbardo and colleagues conducted a prison experiment. 24 male college students participated, half assigned to be guards, the other half prisoners. The guards were not trained but told to do what they thought necessary to maintain order. Within a few days, those given the roles as guards became aggressive and sadistic, while those given prisoner roles became submissive and frightened. When they thought they were unsupervised, guards escalated their abuse and harassment of the prisoners. Arbitrary rules were challenged by no one. Due to the intensity of the participants’ reactions, the two-week experiment was shortened to 6 days.

City Dwellers

Robert Levine and colleagues studied 23 different cities to determine how friendly and helpful city dwellers were. They found that the more dense the population, the less friendly the inhabitants, regardless of culture. Stanley Milgram proposed the “stimulus-overload theory”, which suggests that residents of densely populated cities cope by keeping neighbours and strangers at a distance and ignoring things that happen on the street.

Features

Personal Values

Values play a role in applied social psychology, specifically in the decisions made over what problems and target groups should be studied. Psychologists should be aware of their own values and how these affect their work. While applied social psychologists strive to improve quality of life, there are many different opinions on what is necessary for a person’s quality of life. Some may strongly value freedom and choice, while others believe in more regulation. Values impact choice of study, but not method.

Theories, Intervention Techniques, Research Methods

With a problem-oriented, inductive approach, applied social psychologists are able to apply many theories, intervention techniques and research methods. Also, since social problems often have many causes, many variables must be considered. Some theories may be more applicable to a particular problem than others. For instance, anonymous behaviour is unlikely to be affected by social influence. In a case like that, theories like the theory of normative behaviour are less likely to apply. Similarly, intervention techniques must be appropriate to the problem. They tend to be more effective when they specifically address factors that contribute to the problem behaviour, and attempt to improve those factors that can be improved. Knowing which factors cause or inhibit certain behaviour is essential in choosing appropriate ways to deal with it.

Interdisciplinary

Since most social problems involve a diverse spectrum of factors, knowledge from many fields must be used when approaching these problems. While an applied social psychologist might not easily gain expertise in these useful fields, collaboration and consultation become useful tools. One problem that arises in interdisciplinary research is that terms and concepts vary in usage between fields, making communication sometimes difficult. Multidisciplinary teams need to take time to understand one another’s contributions, but what tends to result is a very practical solution that takes different perspectives and skills into account.

In the Field

Applied social psychologists are more likely to conduct field research. In this sort of research, results are more easily generated but causal relationships are more difficult to infer due to confounding variables.

Social Utility

The social utility of applied social psychology increases when research is directed on fixing the parts of the social problem where the greatest impact can be made. Another issue in social mobility is the ratio of cost-effectiveness of interventions: what results can be expected per money invested? Researchers try to ensure that their results are the strongest they can be, making the most practical difference. Since most applied research is conducted on the behest of an outside organization (like a local government or a sponsoring agency), there is often a time limit and a demand for results. This does, to some degree, limit the researchers: they have less opportunity to take risks and might have little time to think over their study design. When communicating the results of their work, they are more likely to be seen in specialized journals directed towards practitioners in the field of interest than in psychological journals directed towards other scientists. Because of the need for social utility, applied social psychologists often publish in popular magazines, mass media, and in popular lectures. These lectures and publications are often framed towards the uninformed and the policy-makers, and less concerned with the scientific point of view.

Applied Social Psychologists and their Roles

Research

Applied social psychological researchers conduct applied experiments. They study the causes of social problems, understand the most relevant influences on behaviour, and evaluate the effect of interventions on this behaviour. Some interventions (like information campaigns) can be effective when the problem is misinformation. However, when people’s behaviour does not result from ignorance, information campaigns will be ineffective.

Consulting

Applied social psychologists are commonly employed as consultants, concerned with tasks such as training, managing, marketing, and communication. Within government and business, courses run by applied social psychologists are valuable.

Policy Advising

Sometimes applied social psychologists are put to the task of advising policy-makers on ways to change cognitions and behaviour to improve various kinds of social problems.

Key Words

How to use Theory? - Chapter 2

Introduction

Human behaviour is the cause of social problems, meaning that solving the problem will require changing the behaviour. Because of this, applied social psychologists can be instrumental in social change. Understanding motivation is the key to addressing many social problems. Finding appropriate solutions often requires the use of the scientific method, and the evaluation of possible interventions for their practicality.

The Role of Theory

Theories are the main tools that applied social psychologists have for understanding and solving social problems, and are often the starting point for creating interventions. Without them, there is a tendency to use “common sense” and introspection on our own behaviour as if that may help understand others. This can misdirect efforts and deny helpful counter-intuitive results. Theories are useful in many ways in applied social psychology. They provide explanations for human behaviour. In having been subjected to scientific scrutiny and examined for logical consistency, theories are more scientifically useful than introspection. Good theories suggest ways in to change problem behaviour and tackle certain aspects of social problems. Theories also provide a shared language to discuss social problems, including words like attitude, reward, cost, attribution, social comparison, etc. In applied settings, theories become practical, tested in real environments and allowing a broader testing to be done. In doing this, constructs and principles of the theory must be operationalized to allow the hypothesis to be tested. An intervention can be implemented, followed by the systematic collection of data to see if the expected results occurred. The applied social psychologist might follow an action research model, in which case they would reanalyze the situation, adjust the intervention, implementing it again, and reassessing the usefulness of the theory.

Knowledge-Deficit Model of Behavioural Change

According to the knowledge-deficit model of behavioural change, inaction or undesirable behaviour is the result of a lack of knowledge. Based on this model, policy-makers and program planners often use an information or education campaign. However, it is often the case that it is not necessarily lack of knowledge, but rather lack of motivation that causes inaction. Information campaigns applied to the careless consumption of energy, cigarette smoking, and the effects of unhealthy lifestyles on diabetes failed to make a significant impact because the issue was motivational.

Principles, Constructs and Theories

A theory is an organized set of principles used to describe, explain, and predict observed events. It is not a fact, law, nor an observation. A theory is an idea that can be wrong and must be tested. Principles are used to describe a process and are often included in theories. A hypothesis is a testable prediction that is derived from a theory. It is specific and can be tested for accuracy. Models are frameworks that integrate theories and principles, describing multiple processes linked by a causal sequence. Constructs are the inferred affective, cognitive, and motivational aspects of behaviour, such as an attitude.

Rational Choice Theory

According to rational choice theory, individuals are motivated to act in ways that lead to personal rewards and to not act in ways that have personal costs (costs and rewards are constructs). This theory includes principles, each drawing on constructs. One principle is that we are motivated to act in ways that benefit us. Another is that we are motivated to avoid behaviour that negatively impacts us. Because individual perceptions differ, what motivates one person might not motivate another.

Theories of Social Psychology

Social Cognition

Theories involving social thinking deal with how people see themselves and their social world, including the way we organize, gather, and interpret information. Some theories in this section address attributions, attitudes, self-concept, and schemas. This is also known as social cognition and relies on many aspects of cognitive psychology.

Attribution Theory

The basic principle governing attribution theory is that when explaining behaviour, people make internal (related to the person) and external (related to the environment) attributions as to the cause of behaviour. In the tendency called the fundamental attribution error, people tend to attribute their own positive behaviour to internal causes and their negative behaviour to external causes. On the other hand, they explain the positive behaviour of others as a result of external factors and the negative behaviour as internal. For instance, if Jenny passes her test she will attribute that to her intelligence and hard work, but if she fails her test, she will attribute that to how unfairly the questions were phrased. Seeing another fail she might suggest that the person didn’t study hard or understand the material, but seeing them succeed, she might conclude that the test was easy. Generally, fundamental attribution error is good for self-esteem and allows us to quickly assess a situation. However, it can also cause bias and dysfunction in relationships.

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

An attitude is a favourable or unfavourable evaluation of an object, person, situation, or idea. Research has shown that changing attitudes does not necessarily produce a corresponding change in behaviour. This is illustrated in the common ineffectiveness of the knowledge-deficit model described earlier. People can think one way and act another. Festinger’s cognitive dissonance theory suggests that it is uncomfortable when our actions and attitudes do not align. When two elements of our attitudes, beliefs, or behaviour are dissonant, we are motivated to reduce this dissonance. This is dealt with in 3 ways:

1. The attitude changes

2. The behaviour changes

3. New cognitions are added to justify one of the dissonant elements

The third option allows us to behave the way we are used to even when our attitude has changed. Dissonance can be reduced when people feel they have less choice in a situation.

Theory of Planned Behaviour

The theory of planned behaviour (TPB) is a framework for understanding the relationship between attitudes and behaviours. It suggests that the best predictor of behaviour is the intention to act, caused by three constructs:

1. Attitude: the person’s evaluation of the behaviour.

2. Subjective norms: the person’s beliefs about what other respected people think they should do.

3. Perceived behavioural control: the person’s belief about how achievable the behaviour is.

This theory includes the compatibility principle, which suggests that attitudes, norms, behavioural control, intentions and behaviour should be assessed on the same level of measurement to determine behavioural intention.

Social Influence

Theories of social influence refer to the ways in which people can change the thoughts, feelings, and behaviour of themselves and others. Most applied social psychologists use theories of social influence in their attempts to solve social problems.

Imitation

Imitation is the replicating of another person’s actions. It seems to be innate, as even young infants mimic the facial expressions and attitudes of their parents. People tend to unconsciously imitate one another during social interaction.

Conformity

Conformity tends to be a conscious process of imitation in which a person changes his or her behaviour to be consistent with the real or imagined expectations of others. People who are rule-oriented will conform to rules when others are there to see them, but feel free to break the rules when alone. People who are role-oriented will follow the rules to the extent that they feel it is in their societal role. People who are value-oriented will follow the rules because they feel it is fundamentally right.

Compliance

Compliance is more direct than the subtle pressure of conformity – it results from a plainly stated request. People are more motivated to comply when the result of compliance aligns with the individual’s personal goals. This includes three possible goals:

1. The ambiguity of a situation may be reduced, resulting in a more accurate sense of reality. (accuracy)

2. Meaningful social relationships can be developed or preserved. (affiliation)

3. The person’s self-concept can be improved or maintained in a consistent and positive way.

Obedience

Obedience, unlike compliance, is when behaviour changes in response to an explicit demand. For instance, in the controversial study by Stanley Milgram, it was revealed that in the proper circumstances a person can be influenced to inflict harm on another. It was found that obedience is more likely when a person perceives that an order and the authority giving the order are legitimate.

Elaboration Likelihood Model

One theoretical perspective is the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) which suggests that there are different roots to persuasion. In the central route, the person pays attention to the specifics of the message, considers and elaborates on the merits of the message, and only succumbs to influence if they agree with the message. The peripheral route is used when messages are processed superficially, the specifics overlooked. A person can still be influenced in this way, usually when the message appeals to them. Thus, the central route is characterized by high elaboration and the peripheral by low elaboration. Central route processing results in stronger, more lasting influence.

Social Relationships

Us and Them

People have a tendency to distinguish between an in-group, “us”, and an out-group, “them”. We harbour a basic in-group bias, believing our own group to be superior. In times of uncertainty, we rely on these biases and heuristics. This can cause stereotypes (generalized beliefs about a person based on group membership). This is often automatic, making it difficult to put aside stereotypes when first encountering a person from the stereotyped group. However, when motivated not to stereotype, we are often able to counteract this tendency.

Prejudice and Discrimination

Prejudice is an unjustified negative attitude towards a person based on group membership. This is in danger of occurring when stereotypes are not kept in check. An intrinsically motivated person who personally believes prejudice is bad will actively avoid it. One can also be extrinsically motivated, worried about how their prejudice will be seen by others. When people act on prejudice, discrimination is the result. This is the unfair treatment of a person based on their group. The theory of identity maintenance suggests that discriminated groups tend to promote a positive collective identity that encourages pride in one’s differences, acting as a protective buffer against the possible negative impacts of discrimination.

The Contact Hypothesis

It has been found that certain circumstances can lead to more tense intergroup relations. For instance, when two groups are set into competition with one another, this is likely to lead to conflict. However, in activities that introduce a superordinate goal (a common good), hostility and conflict between the two groups will diminish. Contact theory suggests that contact between groups will reduce prejudice if the four criteria are met:

1. The groups have equal status.

2. They share common goals.

3. There is cooperation rather than competition between groups.

4. There is institutional support in the form of laws, customs, and authorities.

Dual Concern Model

When faced with a conflict of interest, the dual concern model contends that each party has concern for themselves and concern for the other. Low concern for self and high concern for other will cause a party to yield, and the opposite will cause a party to fight. High concern for self and other will lead to problem-solving behaviour.

Prosocial Action

Prosocial behaviour means acting in a manner that benefits others. There are relationship-mending prosocial behaviours (such as apologies, confession, reparation, conceding, and expressing guilt), and relationship-enhancing behaviours (such as politeness, helping, and trustworthiness). Helping is when one person tries to reduce another’s burden; altruism is acting to benefit another without personal benefit in exchange. Prosocial behaviour is a point of interest for applied social psychologists.

The Bystander Effect

In 1964, a woman called Kitty Genovese was stabbed to death. She could have been saved had any of the 38 people who heard her scream for help actually intervened. However, due to a phenomenon called the bystander effect, nobody did. Each individual felt a diffusion of responsibility: when the size of a group increases, the probability of the individual taking action decreases. Another principle in this is pluralistic ignorance: the tendency for people to look to others for examples of how to behave in an unfamiliar or ambiguous situation. When these combine, nobody acts. According to these principles, one solution has been to provide normative feedback (e.x. other students tend to disapprove of smoking) to lesson negative behaviours.

Things to Consider

Complex social problems are not always straightforward, but are multiply determined, including many variables that need to be addressed in seeking a solution. Because of this, it is unlikely that a single theory will be sufficient for most issues. Many elements of psychological theories are often needed, defying the boundary conditions of any single theory and making outcomes less predictable. Some theories are also more complex than others. Simple theories, like the motivational theory of David McClelland, are narrow in scope and can thus be useful in the single situation to which they apply. Some psychological theorists have broader theories, often so broad that they seem to apply to any situation (ex. Freud’s psychodynamic theory). These may be useful for understanding behaviour but not for solving problems on the practical level.

Prediction and Explanation

Another challenge is that prediction and explanation are not equally attainable within applied social psychology. Predictions (forecasts) are difficult to make; in many real-world situations, different theories lead to different predictions because of unclear boundary conditions. Furthermore, as many outcomes are based on an individual’s perceptions and interpretations of their situation, both the outcomes and the interpretation of these outcomes may be seen in different ways. Explanation is more straightforward (hindsight is 20/20!). It is relatively easy to explain why things happen.

Principles and Constructs

It is difficult to connect the principles and constructs of a theory to a real-world situation. To utilize the elements of a theory in coming up with an intervention, boundary conditions might require some stretching. This can be particularly challenging when theories deal with a static situation while a real situation is constantly changing. Connecting theories to interventions can sometimes take a leap of faith, though the scientific method allows for reflection of effectiveness after the intervention takes place.

Basic, Applied, and Use-Inspired Research

The work of applied social psychologists can be described as use-inspired. Any line of inquiry can be classified among two dimensions: the search for a fundamental understanding and a consideration of the usefulness of the research findings. Along these two dimensions, pure basic research is concerned only with fundamental understanding. Pure applied research is only concerned with use. However, a mixture is found in use-inspired basic research, which is concerned with both dimensions. This is where most applied social psychologists exist on the scale.

Key Words

How to apply Behaviour-Focused Intervention? - Chapter 3

Behaviour-Analysis Approach

The applied behaviour-analysis approach targets observable behaviour rather than internal events like cognition. This approach measures an observable behaviour or outcome as a dependent variable. It is based on B.F. Skinner’s behaviourist theory, which also suggests that we do what we do to gain positive consequences and avoid negative consequences. The most motivating consequences are those that occur soon and that are certain (ex. the soon and certain gratification of smoking outweighs the distant and uncertain possibility of lung cancer). One intervention based on this approach is to change the consequences of a behaviour (consequence). Anther intervention is to alter the environmental stimuli that occur before a behaviour (antecedent). Antecedents precede and direct behaviour. The three-term contingency is: antecedent-> behaviour -> consequence (ABC).

Behavioural Intervention

Strategies Using Antecedents

Antecedent strategies of intervention include education, verbal and written prompts, demonstrations, and commitment procedures.

Education

Education allows people to form a strong rationale for the requested change, making remote, uncertain and unknown consequences more “salient” to the audience. Training tends to add an element of role-playing and feedback to the education. Education and training delivered more personally has been found to be more effective than widespread broadcasting of information because it allows people to apply the information more directly to their own lives. While important, however, information alone is insufficient to change most behaviour, especially when the change requested is inconvenient.

Prompting

Prompts are written or verbal messages delivered in the place where the behaviour occurs, reminding the person to avoid the behaviour (antecedent). They are most effective when they meet these four criteria:

1. The target behaviour is clearly defined by the prompt.

2. The change is easy to perform.

3. The message is displayed where the target behaviour is performed.

4. The message is polite.

Demanding messages may backfire, causing a rebellious response called countercontrol, or psychological reactance. Prompts are simple to implement, low cost and tend to have an impact when implemented on a large scale.

Models

Modelling involves the demonstration of specific behaviours to the target audience. It is often more effect when the models receive an immediate reward after performing the behaviour. This has been shown to be effective, even when in the form of a video.

Commitment

Behavioural commitments involve asking an individual to formally agree to change their behaviour. The simple act of making a formal commitment causes people to feel obligated to change. This explained by the notion of rule-governed behaviour – having grown up learning that following rules leads to more positive consequences than breaking them, people learn a tendency for rule-following. Behavioural commitments are also linked to the norm of consistency, which pressures people to be internally and externally consistent.

Strategies Using Consequences

Penalty

After identifying undesirable behaviours, penalty strategies administer negative consequences to those who perform them. While favoured by governments, these strategies are problematic. They require constant monitoring and enforcement, the backup of authority, and can have a negative long-term effect on individual’s perceptions of the good behaviour they are supposed to emulate, associating it with punishment.

Reward

Behavioural psychologists typically favour the strategy of rewarding positive behaviour. Rewards can be verbal praise, money, merchandise, or special privileges. While these strategies also have problems, they have been proven effective. Rewards are consequences, but are often preceded by a message announcing the availability of a reward, called an incentive. An antecedent message announcing a penalty is a disincentive. Incentives and rewards are used frequently by employers to improve employee performance. Disadvantages to reward strategies include expenses, which can be high. An interesting disadavantage can be seen in the phenomenon of intrinsic motivation – when a certain behaviour is rewarded, that behaviour temporarily increases. However, when the reward is no longer given, the behaviour tends to drop to a lower frequency than before the intervention. This is because intrinsic motivation (doing something for its own sake) towards the task is decreased when individuals become extrinsically motivated (doing something for the sake of a reward).

Feedback

Feedback strategies provide participants with information about the rate or consequences of their behaviour, increasing the likelihood of behavioural change. This can be useful for a variety of problems, including energy consumption, smoking, and depression.

Interventions and Social Influence

There are six social-influence principles used by salesmen to increase sales: consistency, social proof, authority, liking, reciprocity, and scarcity. Robert Cialdini calls them compliance techniques. These are relevant because they can be used as intervention techniques.

Consistency

People have a strong desire for both internal and external consistency (as evidenced by the cognitive dissonance theory). The following sections explain ways in which the consistency principle can impact intervention techniques.

Foot in the Door Technique

The foot-in-the-door technique observes that people who comply with a small request are more likely to comply with a subsequent larger request. This is thought to be due to a desire for internal consistency – if I felt alright giving this person a glass of water, it should be okay to donate money to their charity, too!

Cognitive Dissonance

Cognitive dissonance is the uncomfortable tension when our beliefs and our actions don’t match, a state which we are highly motivated to reduce. Because this causes strong motivational reactions, it can be helpful in interventions to highlight and arouse dissonance, in ways sometimes as simple as getting people to reflect on the negative impact of their behaviour. Dissonance strategies have been found effective when applied to large-scale problems. The one downside to this strategy is that people may also reduce dissonance by changing their attitude, rather than their behaviour.

Commitment to the Public

As described previously, commitment strategies involve a person promising to change their behaviour. These work best when the commitment is active, public, and perceived as voluntary. In this way, breaking the commitment would produce the most dissonance. Voicing the commitment or signing a promise card makes the commitment feel more concrete and makes people more motivated to seem consistent to others. After the commitment is made, the new behaviour is often maintained. This is explained by the process of behavioural self-perception. The more often a person repeats a behaviour, the more it becomes part of their self-concept. Furthermore, people often infer their own attitudes from their overt behaviour – if you make a commitment to stop smoking, and then actively quit smoking, you might infer that you don’t want to smoke and think it is a bad habit.

The Hypocrisy Effect

Elliot Aronson developed a method for using cognitive dissonance called the hypocrisy effect. This involves obtaining a commitment from someone. That person is given an exercise that reminds them of their past failures to perform in ways consistent with their commitment. This makes hypocrisy salient and increases the likelihood that future behaviour aligns with the commitment. Combining commitment and cognitive dissonance strategies can be an effective application of the consistency principle.

Social Proof

The term social proof describes the compliance technique that involves showing evidence that other people behave in the desired way. People have a tendency to look to others in their social environment for cues as to how it is appropriate to behave and think. Social norms are these unwritten codes of conduct- descriptive norms are what people in the social group do, and injunctive norms are what people in the social group approve or disapprove. These do not always align, as in the case of energy conservation.

Normative Prompting

It is important when designing a campaign to consider the concept of social proof. For instance, if a sign attempts to discourage behaviour by outlining the scope of the problem, it often has the opposite of the intended effect. Knowledge that many people engage in a bad behaviour (littering, petty theft) is more likely to increase our bad behaviour.

Misperceived Norms

Oftentimes, an individual’s perception of social norms is not actually accurate. Many students overestimate the amount of alcohol that their peers drink and end up consuming more. Clarifying these norms through advertising is a good way to reduce bad behaviour caused by misperceived norms.

Personal Normative Feedback

Normative feedback compares an individual’s behaviour to the average behaviour of their social group as a way to personally correct abnormal undesirable behaviour.

The Social Norms Approach

Pluralistic ignorance is the belief that other people’s attitudes or beliefs are different when behaviour is identical. This corresponds with the fundamental attribution error, or the correspondence bias. In this theory, people see their negative behaviour as externally caused and their positive behaviour as internally caused, but attribute the behaviour of others in the opposite manner. Another contributor is the availability heuristic: people judge the probability of something occurring by how often they have seen it occurring. A college student who attends a lot of drinking parties will develop a skewed view of college students’ drinking habits because they draw on the wrong sample group.

Salient Participation

Interventions should be as salient as possible in social proof strategies.

Authority

People are more likely to comply with a request from someone they see as having authority than someone with less status. Uniforms and titles can help reinforce the presence of authority and enhance influence. Authority not only includes power, but also expertise. People use the opinions of experts as heuristics in making choices. Associating a request with the endorsement of an authority can increase the likelihood of compliance.

Liking

We are more likely to do things for people that we know and like. People tend to like those that are similar to them – salespeople often take advantage of this by pointing out similarities between them and their clients. Even fake similarities in name, birthday, and fingerprint types have an effect.

Identifying with Audience

Whenever possible, similarities between intervention agents and target audiences should be emphasized, and when choosing observational learning models, models should be similar to the target audience as well.

Block-leader Approach

Block-leaders are community members that serve as intervention agents within their own neighbourhoods, effective because they are similar to, and often liked by, their target audience.

Reciprocity

The reciprocity norm suggests that people feel the need to repay others for benefits received from them. Reciprocity strategies often involve giving someone a small token gift to encourage their donation or other reciprocal behaviour.

Antecedent Rewards

Offering a pre-behaviour reward (such as a free pen before someone fills out a survey) is often a useful alternative to normal incentive/reward systems.

Reciprocity

The reciprocity principle has been effectively used in behavioural prompts. For example, a hotel seeking to encourage visitors to reuse towels informed hotel guests that a donation to an environmental charity had already made in their honour, inviting guests to help recover the expense by reusing towels.

Scarcity

Scarcity can be linked to supply and demand – the rarer or more difficult to attain, the more valuable a thing is perceived to be.

Reactance Avoidance

Reactance is the tendency to act in ways to re-establish freedom when it becomes threatened or limited in some way. Freedom, like objects, becomes more desirable when limited. This is important to keep in mind in important compliance situations, like health and safety in the workplace. A non-threatening approach should be taken to avoid reactance.

Salient Losses

The threat of loss is often more motivationally powerful than the promise of a gain. This can be very useful – in an energy-efficiency campaign, it is sometimes more useful to point out how much money you might lose if you don’t switch to saving practices.

Appeals to Fear

Fear appeals are messages that attempt to change behaviour by highlighting negative consequences. The most successful fear appeals present a scary problem as well as an effective solution (arousing fear but providing an escape).

Key Words

How to design applied Social Psychological Research? - Chapter 4

Research Designs

Research Method Selection

When an applied topic is selected, an important issue to address is which research method to use. Many approaches exist, but there is rarely a single “right” decision. Each has advantages and disadvantages, and most choices involve some sort of trade-off. The most common trade-offs are represented as the “three-horned-dilemma”. There are three desirable qualities of a method: precision, generalizability to situations, and generalizability to people. Any attempt to maximise one of these qualities leads to the other two being compromised. Because it is impossible to create a perfect study, it is often best to use multiple studies in a research.

True Experiments

Defining Features

A true experiment tests the causal relationship between two or more variables using either manipulation or random assignment. Manipulation is the systematic tampering with one variable to observe the effects this may have on the other variables. The manipulate variable is the potential cause, and is usually called the independent variable, while the outcome variable is called the dependent variable. Random assignment ensures that every participant has an equal chance of being assigned to any condition in the experiment. This is essential because it allows for a rough estimate of group equality.

Advantages

True experiments are the most precise. They eliminate confounding variables so as to increase the clarity of the causal relationship. There are person confounds and procedural confounds. Person confounds occur when the presence of an individual difference influences outcome. Random assignment controls for this. Procedural confounds occur when the experimenter unwittingly manipulates two or more variables at once. This can usually be avoided with careful control of the experimental situation. Laboratory experiments have the advantage of diminishing noise, the variables that can influence a dependent variable but that remain consistent over different situations.

Precision and Statistics

True experiments allow researchers to study statistical interactions, which indicate that the effect an independent variable has on the dependent variable depends on another independent variable. For this, the 2x2 factorial design is a common study method in addressing social behaviour. In this design, the researcher looks at the independent and combined effects of two independent variables that each have two levels. Statistical interactions are useful for more complex conceptually related interactions. They are also useful because they identify the boundary conditions of a theory. This improves the applicability of the theory.

Disadvantages

True experiments are typically low in their ability to generalize to other people and to generalize to other situations. The generalizability to people is limited by the fact that experimenters generally use samples from homogenous populations (like university students) for both convenience reasons and to eliminate the noise that comes with a heterogeneous population. Furthermore, in the effort to remove noise, experimenters tend to conduct their research in sterile, unnatural environments. This makes it difficult to generalize results to real-world situations.

Minimizing Disadvantages

The reliance on convenience samples and contrived situations may limit the researcher, but there are still options available to reduce the disadvantages of true experiments. Of course, the challenge is that the researcher can rarely find a representative applied situation that will allow for effective generalization. In regards to generalizing to other people, researchers can sometimes conduct experiments in applied settings, or expand the sample list. While in individual studies they may need to keep the sample homogenous, they might choose to conduct a series of studies with different homogenous populations.

Realism

The general concern for generalizability comes from a desire for studies to yield realistic results. Studies high in mundane realism involve a setting similar to the real-world setting of the phenomenon being studied. The problem with this is that the research questions tend to be highly specific. A different type of realism is experimental or psychological realism. This is when a study situation might not seem like a real one, but feels like a real one. This involves inspiring the same emotions and psychological states as a real situation might inspire, without mimicking a real situation.

Correlational Research

Defining Features

Correlational research is used to investigate the relationship between different measured variables in natural situations. The researcher generates a fixed set of observations about a group of people. This approach does not manipulate variables – the researcher merely assesses and measures variables of interest as they naturally occur. To determine a correlation, the collected data must be statistically analyzed for a relationship that is either consistent or inconsistent with the hypothesis, usually computing a correlation coefficient. This ranges from -1 to +1 and indicates the magnitude and direction of the correlation. A positive correlation is when one variable increases, the other one also increases. The opposite occurs in a negative correlation. It is important not to confuse correlational research with correlational statistics.

Advantages

Correlational research maximises generalizability to situations. This is because the observed behaviours occur in natural settings, increasing the chances that results are representative. They can also act as a useful follow-up to test the generalizability of an experimental research to the real world. It is especially useful when researching un-manipulatable variables, like gender, personality, or ethically troublesome variables like reactions to stress and danger.

Disadvantages

The primary limitation of correlational research is that correlation does not equal causation. One cannot infer the cause of one variable on the basis of a correlational relationship. One issue is reverse causality – the causal relationship might be the inverse of what is expected (violent video games might not cause aggression; they might only be played by naturally aggressive kids). Another issue is the third variable problem – there might be a separate variable causing both of the observed variables. While high in generalizability to other situations, correlational studies are low in generalization to other people. Studies still rely on convenience sampling. There is still a pressure to use a homogenous sample and this also decreases generalizability.

Minimizing Disadvantages

The most common method of correcting for third-variable problems is to use covariates. This involves studying the effects of other plausible variables that may act as a third variable. While this cannot guarantee that the results are conclusive, nor establish causation, it still goes a long way to validating the results. It is also never possible to guess every possible third variable. In order to correct for the issue of reverse causality, researchers may pair the study with other research designs, such as a longitudinal study. This can control for prior levels of outcome, providing insurance against reverse causality. This is, however, limited. Another option is retrospective self-report.

Quasi-experiments

Defining Features

Quasi-experiments are something of a compromise between precision and generalizability to situations. Researchers only have partial control over independent variables. Random assignment is impossible as participants are placed into groups based on another naturally occurring criterion. Dependent variables and extraneous variables can be controlled. While there are many types of quasi-experimental designs, the most common is the person-by-treatment quasi-experiment. An independent variable (or treatment variable) is manipulated and the person variable is measured. This allows researchers in applied social psychology to examine how different people react to the same treatment. While they have less control than experiments, quasi-experiments can be more precise with the use of statistical covariates.

Advantages

Quasi-experimental designs offer a compromise between strict experiments and loose correlational studies. A quasi-experiment lends itself to natural measures and can be used to measure real-world behaviours that would be unethical to replicate in a lab.

Disadvantages

Quasi-experiments often include the shortcomings of correlational and experimental designs. Generalizability to people is also limited for the same reasons that it is limited in the other two designs.

Survey Research

Defining Features

Survey research addresses the need to generalize results to a particular population of people. Of course, to generalize from a sample to a population, one must have a representative sample. Survey research is the process of collecting information from a sample of people, selected for their ability to represent a larger population. This is different from a questionnaire in that a survey uses representative sampling. To ensure that a sample is representative, researchers may use random sampling within a particular population. This is often limited, however, by logistical problems. Another method is cluster sampling, which first randomly selects locations, then people within the locations (random U.S. high schools, with a random sample of students from each one). The error associated with a sample estimate is called sampling error. This is usually the discrepancy between the results of a representative sample and the results the full population would provide.

Advantages

Surveys are very effective ways of representing information about a large population, and as such, they are often used by politicians and governments, as well as by applied social scientists. They are flexible and efficient.

Disadvantages

As with the other research designs, survey design is unable to fulfill the three “horns” of research; while it can be generalized to people, it cannot be generalized to situations nor is it precise. It is costly in time and expense, and often requires the use of complex procedures. The questionnaires must be short and cannot go into much detail, so they are often used just for descriptive purposes.

Minimizing Disadvantages

It is best to pair the survey’s sampling procedure with a true experimental or a correlational design. Survey research itself, however, tends to stand on its own.

Programmatic Research

Researchers concerned with understanding the full nature of an applied problem typically engage in multi-method research, involving a number of studies that use different methods in order to form a more accurate picture of the problem at hand. No single study can answer all questions, and applied researchers must organize research programs that utilize the best of each method and correct for the worst.

Key Words

What about psychology and Economic Behaviour? - Chapter 5

Introduction

Utility Maximization

According to the principle of hedonic utility, the pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain explain all human behaviour. Utility, then, would be the main measure of pleasure. Hedonic calculus would compute utility by balancing pleasure and pain, creating a universal law of human nature from which an economic system could be derived. This concept was the brain-child of 19th century economists and was criticized by psychologists as being far too simplistic. Nevertheless, economists excluded psychological assumptions in a manner similar to that taken by behaviourism. Economists also shifted from cardinal utility, based on an individual’s ratings of options, towards ordinal utility, which is easier to measure because it automatically ranks options.

Anomalies

The theory of subjective expected utility (SEU) suggests that costs and benefits are multiplied by the perceived likelihood of their occurrence. Gains and losses are relative to a reference point – if you expect something and don’t get it, that’s as much of a loss as actually losing something. The prospect theory suggests that losses are more painful than gains are pleasurable, meaning that losing €100 the same day that you win €100 will not even things out. For economists, however, this would result in a neutral state of no change. Anomalies like this challenge the established economic paradigm. Behavioural economics and economic psychology seek to establish a new paradigm.

Personal, Situational, Social Reference

Personal

Personal reference is when one compares their present with their past welfare. We see things according to a reference point, and can feel positive or negative about something depending on how it is framed. If we receive a raise, it’s seen as positive until we find out it’s less than the rate of inflation. The welfare function of income suggests that people use their current income as a reference point when evaluating preferred income level – “sufficient” is almost always more than the current income. As people move into different income brackets, instead of being satisfied, they make a new reference point. Their preferences shift so that they consume more, and as such, feel less satisfied.

Social

Social reference also contributes with satisfaction to income level and consumption. We compare our own welfare with others. If we see others earning more for doing the same work, our satisfaction falters – we’ve performed a reference shift. Another aspect of social reference is altruism –the selfless concern to improve the welfare of other people. Traditional economic theory suggests that if people all pursue their own self-interests in transactions, eventually equilibrium will be found. When asked to allocate money between themselves and another, people tend to be more altruistic than the economic theory would suggest, often as a way to establish good working relations and ease economic transactions in the future in which they may not be the one in power. “Pay it forward”.

Situational

People react more negatively in a situation when they incur a loss than one in which they lose a gain. Situational reference involves comparing market cases and judging them on fairness. People see consumers as having the entitlement to make comparisons. Consumers typically consider it unfair if sellers take advantage of external situations to raise their prices. They also find it unfair if a company reduces wages in periods of high unemployment, even though market theory would both predict and advise these behaviours.

Aversion to Loss

Introduction

Loss aversion is a strong motivation, as loss is associated in our brains with danger. This is the same basic characteristic as prospect theory. If someone has time to adjust to a gain or loss, this new state becomes a reference point, meaning that an additional gain or loss will be judged relative to the new state. People take more risks to avoid loss – this translates to market scenarios when stock traders hold on to failing stocks for far too long. They also sell winning stocks too soon, in the disposition effect (they’d rather take a small gain than risk losing while waiting for a big gain).

Positive and Negative Framing

Framing strongly influences whether a certain situation is considered a loss or a gain. Framing medical statistics in “survivals” rather than “mortality rates” makes the procedures described seem safer and more of a gain than a loss.

Hedonic Framing

Hedonic framing is the process that individuals use to increase value by separating losses and gains. Integration means that losses and gains are expressed at once so that there is no time to adapt to a new reference point, while segregation involves telling the gain and loss with a time interval, to allow for adaptation.

Gains Segregation

An integrated gain has a smaller value than two separate gains - it’s better to give a big multi-part present in separate wrapped parts than as one whole.

Loss Integration

An integrated loss has a smaller negative value than separate losses – people prefer to receive one large bill than six smaller ones.

Loss Integration with Larger Gain

If you inform someone about a loss at the same time as informing them of a larger gain, they will see the loss as a diminished gain and feel less bad.

Gain Segregation from Larger Loss

A large loss can be more easily dealt with when segregated from a smaller gain presented as a “silver lining”.

Endowment

People don’t like giving away things they own- they often price their own things at a higher value than they would be willing to spend to acquire the same item. WTA (willing to accept) cost can be more than twice as high as WTP (willing to pay). According to the endowment effect, people prefer to keep what they have than exchange it for another product, probably because the loss is felt stronger than the gain.

Status Quo

When presented with many options, people prefer to maintain the status quo by going with the standard or comfortable choice. This might be partially due to laziness- people don’t want to bother learning about the other options. The status-quo bias and the endowment effect share an evaluation of public goods.

Sunk-Costs

The sunk cost effect is when, having already invested in a project, people are more willing to continue investing than accept failure and cut losses. This is much like taking a large risk to avoid a loss.

Time Preference

Time preference is the distinction between people who are more or less patient with their money. The more patient will invest, the less patient will spend. The sign effect suggests that gains are discounted more than losses as people want more compensation for delaying a gain than they would pay to delay a loss. Hyperbolic discounting describes time preferences with the present as a reference. The magnitude effect suggests that small sums are discounted more than large sums. The delay-speed-up asymmetry effect suggests that people want more compensation for delaying a gain than they would pay for speeding it up (to increase pleasant anticipation and decrease unpleasant dread). People prefer improved sequences –they’d rather get the loss over with and delay the gain.

New Rationality of Economic Behaviour

Studying heuristics and biases of economic actors helps explain economic behaviour and expose flaws in the current economic paradigm. Heuristics are search and decision rules and biases are attitude-based tendencies, both of which are used in every decision and impact our behaviour. They are related to unconscious thinking and can interfere with judgement and decision-making. The use of heuristics points to a new rationality in economic behaviour.

Applied Social Psychology

Cognitive, economic, and social psychological principles are now more often applied to economic behaviour. Applying social-psychological theories to economic research allows for a more realistic result.

Key Words

How to look at immigration? - Chapter 6

Migration and Cultural Diversity

Globally, there are around 191 million international migrants. North America and Oceania take the lead with Europe holding the largest number. In the United States, dominated by European Americans, the largest minorities are the Hispanic and African Americans. In Western Europe, most migrants come from the Mediterranean, South East Asia, and the Middle East. Canada has a very multicultural population, many coming from Europe, Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. Australia is the most English-dominated immigration country with more than 83% of the population coming from the British Isles.

Acculturation Theory

Acculturation is the process of adapting to a new culture. Models of acculturation fit into two categories – one-dimensional (seeing cultural change as linear) and multi-dimensional (seeing cultural change as an independent process).

One-Dimensional Models

The one-dimensional model saw immigrants as gradually giving up elements of their home culture to adopt customs and behaviours of their host culture. This used to be more appropriate when host cultures had more homogenous societies, the migrants formed a small minority, migrants were welcomed for moral reasons, and the cultural differences were small. In the US, another one-dimensional model was used- the melting pot. In this case there was a strong social pressure to conform to mainstream culture. This changed when mainstream culture became more heterogeneous, making it a mosaic rather than a melting pot. One-dimensional models have been shown to be too simplistic – identification with home culture and host culture are two independent influences, not existing on either sides of a single dimension.

Multidimensional Models

Multidimensional models assume that acculturation processes function in different domains: attitudes, behaviours, values, language, and cultural identity. A migrant might relate to their host culture to different degrees in these domains. Another assumption is that the orientation towards the home culture and the host culture are two separate domains- one might find it valuable to identify with each culture in some ways.

Berry’s Classification of Strategies Model

The four main acculturation strategies are:

1. Integration: maintain cultural identity but relate positively with host country

2. Assimilation: only positive relations with host country are important

3. Separation: only maintaining cultural identity

4. Marginalization: none of these are important

This model suggests that immigrants change in six areas of functioning, modifying their behaviour, attitudes and beliefs, and at times alternating between these acculturation strategies.

Criticism

Marginalization can’t exactly be called a strategy as it is usually involuntary. It is also possible that the immigrant has a individualistic acculturation strategy in which they selectively adopt elements from other cultures. Integration has found to be the most adaptive strategy.

Interactive Acculturation Model

This model recognizes that the host culture may hold certain expectations towards immigrants:

1. Segregation: Host believes immigrants should be separated from nationals.

2. Integration: Host believes it is important to maintain heritage but still adapt.

3. Assimilation: Host believes immigrants should abandon their heritage.

4. Exclusion: Host believes immigration poses a threat and should be stopped.

5. Individualism: Host believes individual should choose whatever strategy suits them.

Host and migrant strategy preferences sometimes clash. Immigrants tend to prefer integration while hosts tend to prefer assimilation. One problem that can arise is if the host strongly encourages assimilation, reactance can occur and lead to separation.

Social-Psychological Theories

Social-psychological theories of intergroup relations help us understand immigration situations. The contact hypothesis holds that negative attitudes from one group about another stem from unfamiliarity and ignorance. To diminish this, both groups should be united in cooperation and treated with equal status. Cultural similarity assures us of our own behaviour and values. Social identity theory suggests that individuals strive to have a positive identity, in which group membership plays an important part. Because of this they can maintain a positive self-identity by complimenting their in-group and insulting out-groups.

The instrumental model of group conflict suggests that intergroup antagonism occurs when access to resources is unequal and/or limited, especially if the inequality stems from social hierarchy. The salience of an out-group (the more noticeable and competitive it is) further affects conflict. In situations like this, a zero-sum outlook is taken on the out-group (they are taking what’s ours, not what’s free for the taking). This is a cognitive component of perceived threat. The common in-group identity model suggests that once people are defined as part of an in-group, they will be treated as such. The defining of an out-group person as an in-group member can be achieved by pointing out superordinate memberships (citizen of a nation, employee, etc.) and introducing a shared factor between the two groups (a shared fate).

Acculturation Research

Acculturation research has inspired social psychologists to extend their research to immigration and encouraged acculturation researchers to be more precise. A new concept in immigration theory is attachment, which deals with how people approach others in unfamiliar situations. The terms culture and identity are often interchangeable in acculturation research, something that makes it imprecise, and which psychologists have begun to refine and correct.

Interventions

Interventions use in improving intercultural relations and the situation of immigrants include:

1. Enhancing contact between in-group and out-group members by imposing a superordinate goal that fosters cooperation.

2. Reducing unnecessary social categorizations by creating superordinate memberships and minimising stereotyping.

3. Maintaining and accepting the cultural identity of all people involved.

4. Training focused on improving intercultural understanding and competencies in empathy, open-mindedness and other skills.

Applied Social Psychology and Immigration

Transnationalism

Globalization also has an influence on acculturation and intergroup relations. Transnational contact and an increasingly migrant world have had consequences on acculturation that are not yet being studied. One element of transnationalism is how immigrants maintain relations with people in both their home and host countries, often through telecommunications. This adds new dimensions to the acculturation strategies. In cases of integration, this means an extended cultural contact with home. In cases of segregation, a person might move into an ethnic enclave (like Chinatown or Little Italy) in which they can act and experience the world as if they were in their home country. This withdrawal can occur when there is too much pressure to assimilate or when the person experiences discrimination.

Demographics

Demographics are also changing as immigrant populations grow, making some cultures more heterogeneous. This can lead to new acculturation strategies. One of these strategies is creolization. When there is no clearly dominant group, two or more groups may merge to create a distinct culture. Creole cultures are often created by youth interactions that develop beyond a single generation. Another strategy is pluralism. This is when cultural maintenance and intergroup contact are both encouraged but no creolization occurs. National identity in multicultural societies is an important issue. Canada, for example, has a national identity founded on multicultural tolerance, a policy that allows immigrants to identify more with their host country.

Key Words

How to apply psychology in the Classroom? - Chapter 7

Introduction

Applied social psychology can be used to understand and further educational goals. It can increase student participation, improve attitudes, and have a great deal of positive influence. There is even a new branch of social psychology called educational social psychology.

Social Comparison

Social comparison is the process of thinking about other people in relation to the self (comparing your own behaviour with how you see others behaving). People rely on social comparison to form their self-image, even as young as preschool. This facilitates adaptation and learning. This begins at around age 6 or 7, and peaks around age 10. Children rank themselves according to those around them, and what they conclude can have a huge impact on how they view school and the world. Seeing other similar children excel at something can induce pride or jealousy. It can motivate a child to and, through observational learning, learn how to imitate the good behaviour. People also prefer to compare themselves with people who are similar to them on attributes related to the relevant behaviour. Social comparison follows a unidirectional drive upwards: most students prefer to compare themselves with students who perform better than them.

Upward Social Comparison

In a study of social comparison among Dutch secondary school children, a large majority of students compared themselves with other students of their own gender. They also usually compared themselves with students who were just above them on the grading scale. This is a slight upward comparison. Higher comparison levels are associated with higher grades, though it did not lower student’s comparative evaluation (how the students viewed their own relative place in the class). This is because upward comparison is usually also paired with downward comparison, as students look at worse performers and feel slightly better about their own performance. Students try to identify with the people above them (making friends) and distance themselves with people below them. Upward social comparison is only helpful because most kids have a mutable self-image; they see the possibility for positive change.

Academic Self-Concept and Intelligence

Entity vs. Incremental Intelligence Theories

Entity theorists believe that intelligence is a stable property. Incremental theorists believe that performance can be improved by experience and effort. Incremental theorists have been shown to be more optimistic and resilient when presented with failure, and there is evidence that even hearing the incremental theory makes children believe they can improve and actually positively effects performance. Students who hold an entity theory of intelligence who begin as poor performers continue to be poor; those who begin as high performers often fall down to low performance over the years as they lose confidence in their abilities.

Academic Self-Concept of Failure

Self-representations have an important impact on cognitive output. If a child does poorly at algebra, for example, he or she might incorporate that into their self-representation. On every task that reminds the student of their past failures (ex. an algebra test), they are prone to do poorly. The more frequent the failure, the more it can take on significance to the student and reduce interest and motivation in the subject. Sometimes having a reputation as a poor student can sabotage future performance. The conclusion that can be drawn is that teachers should try to teach their students the entity theory of intelligence and should not assume that poor performance means lack of necessary skills and aptitudes. This is especially important when diagnosing learning disabilities.

Self-Concept of Success and the BFLPE

In a phenomenon called the “big fish, little pond” effect (BFLPE), high-achieving students who are moved to higher-ability schools typically experience a lowering of their academic self-concept as they begin to compare themselves with other high-achieving children. BFLPE can affect academic choices, effort and achievement. It represents a counterbalancing of two opposing processes. The first, contrast, occurs when a student’s self-judgment moves from their environment (a higher-ability school) to the other students in their class. Assimilation occurs when self-evaluation moves towards context, for instance when a student takes their placement in a higher-ability school as a source of pride. Both contrast and assimilation can occur at once.

Stereotype Threat

Stereotype threat is a phenomenon in which a person’s performance might confirm a stereotype about the social group of which they are a part. For instance, after being told that girls don’t do as well at math as boys, girls tend to score lower than those who are not presented with the stereotype.

Classroom Climate

Classroom climate is another factor that can determine a student’s performance. This is the perceived ambiance or social atmosphere of the setting. Climate can be effected by a number of factors and can be toxic or supportive, a barrier or a benefit. Whether or not a subject is taught by a good teacher can strongly affect a student’s opinion of the subject. This has a great deal to do with classroom climate; in classrooms where the academic success of the children is displayed openly, the result is that students become more aggressive and less attentive to the other students. Minimizing competition and maximising collective activities is the key to improving a classroom’s atmosphere.

Key Words

How to apply psychology on environmental Issues? - Chapter 8

Introduction

Our physical environment has an important impact on our thoughts and behaviour, even in such basic details as ambient temperature. Furthermore, our behaviour has an impact on the environment as well. Environmental psychologists study the interactions of people and their environments. Many of the topics studied by environmental psychologists have social psychological aspects, and applied social psychology theories have been used to address environmental issues.

Environment affects Behaviour

Environment can have a positive of negative effect on experience and behaviour. Comfortable room temperature and windows that can be easily opened greatly improve work performance. Poor building design can lead to getting lost and feeling stressed in the hallways of a large office building. Objective factors like these combine with subjective factors to influence behaviour. For instance, people are usually less annoyed with loud noise if they have a positive attitude towards the source of the noise, can control it, or feel it has an important purpose. Because of this, solving environmental issues is not just a problem of changing exposure levels, but is also about targeting relevant social psychological factors that impact the way stressors affect people. Social design is architectural and environmental design that uses the help of environmental psychologists to achieve specific psychological goals.

Social Design and Hospitals

As an example for the proper use of social design, in designing a hospital courtyard, the architects wanted to use inexpensive and attractive brick for the pathways. However, the social designers discovered that patients in wheelchairs found the bumpy surfaces painful to wheel over, and the final design included smooth pathways. In a further example, one hospital wing (out of three) was renovated, and the effects this renovation had on behaviour were systematically measured and compared with the other two wings. It was found that this renovation greatly improved work ethic and social interaction in that wing.

Behaviour affects Environment

Behaviour

Human behaviour has an impact on the environment, with some of the most serious effects around the world being air pollution, noise annoyance, freshwater shortages, overfishing, and loss of biodiversity. In an attempt to prevent or at least slow down global warming, applied social psychologists have been looking into ways to improve the way people treat the environment, by understanding all the reasons why we behave how we do. Indirect energy use refers to the energy used to collect raw materials, manufacture, deliver, and dispose of material goods. This, combined with direct energy use, forms the carbon footprint of the individual. Gains in energy efficiency are often overtaken by growth in consumption levels. Effective interventions can be arrived at after considering which behaviour most significantly contributes to environmental problems, which factors cause the behaviour, and which interventions can be applied.

Environmental Behaviour

Environmental behaviour is that which changes the availability of materials and energy from the environment, or alters the structure of ecosystems and the biosphere. Almost all behaviour can be considered to fit this definition, but it is the task of applied social psychologists to discover which behaviour as the most impact, and to target that behaviour. Since pro-environmental behaviour is associated with high personal cost, it becomes pertinent to determine what conditions are needed to make a person sacrifice that cost.

Dilemmas

Commons dilemmas are situations that involve conflict between the individual and their environment. Driving your car is convenient, but negatively impacts the collective due to emissions, increased traffic, and need for parking. In the short term, driving a car would seem better to the individual, but in the long-run driving a car has a lasting negative impact on the environment (and thus society as a whole). However, if one individual cuts down on their energy use, this has little impact in the grand scheme of things – only if many other individuals cut down, too, will there be real change. Luckily, people don’t just think about their immediate convenience when making decisions. Many people go out of their way to make environmentally friendly choices and reduce their environmental impact. Social psychologists are interested in explaining why, and models that include morality as a factor are important towards this goal.

Norm Activation

The norm activation model (NAM) was developed to explain pro-social behaviour and can also be applied to pro-environmental behaviour. The model suggests that behaviour occurs according to personal feelings of moral obligation (personal norms). These morals are activated when people are aware of the consequences of their actions (AC), and believe that they can reverse these consequences (AR). The NAM is most applicable when the costs of the behaviour are low, as in the case of recycling. The higher the cost becomes, the more likely it is that the person will choose the self-serving behaviour. To justify this, self-serving denial, the denial of a moral obligation, allows the person to feel their behaviour is acceptable. There are four types of self-serving denial:

1. Environmental problems are distorted, disregarded or minimized through the selective collection of sources.

2. People might discount their liability for environmental problems, seeing their own contribution as small or irrelevant, blaming others (like corporations) instead.

3. They might deny their own ability to perform the action.

4. They might argue that their individual contribution will not be effective.

The NAM was later extended as the value-belief-norm theory of environmentalism (VBN).

Values

One way to measure how concerned people are with environmental issues is to use the NEP: new environmental paradigm. This measures fundamental beliefs people hold about how humans and the environment interact. Those who endorse NEP see humanity as limited and the balance of nature as delicate.

Features

Values are goals that apply to many situations, serving as a guiding principle in life. Values have four key features:

1. Values feature a strong belief in the desirability of the end-state (good health, world peace, friendly interactions).

2. Values are abstract enough that they can apply to multiple situations and affect many types of behaviour.

3. Values are used as guides to behaviour and judgment.

4. Values are ordered by priority, and if they conflict in any given situation, the strongest priority value takes precedence.

Value Orientations

There are three general value orientations relevant to environmental psychology:

1. Egoistic value orientation: personal outcomes should be maximized (power, wealth, ambition)

2. Altruistic value orientation: social welfare outcomes should be maximized (equality, justice, helpfulness)

3. Biospheric/ecocentric value orientation: concern for non-human species and nature (respecting the earth, animal rights, etc.)

In terms of engagement in pro-environmental behaviour, those with altruistic values will do so unless the behaviour conflicts with a humanitarian cause. Altruistic people are more likely to donate to humanitarian organizations while biospheric people are more likely to donate to environmental organizations.

Habits

While the NAM and the NEP assume that thought precedes behaviour, we often act habitually, without thinking. Habits are formed to simplify the way we live our everyday lives. Habits have three characteristics:

1. They are activated in order to achieve a specific goal.

2. When the outcome of the activity is positive, the more often that action will be activated.

3. The more frequently a behaviour is repeated, the more associations are made between the action and the goal.

This means that there is a cognitive structure that is learned and stored in memory, to be retrieved in the appropriate situation. Habits are goal-directed, automatic behaviours. The stronger the habit, the less reasoned the choices. When habits are strong, intention is not related to behaviour. Unfortunately, they are not always good habits

Promotion of Pro-Environmental Behaviour

Interventions will have more success if they target factors that encourage or inhibit pro-environmental behaviours. Two ways to change behaviour include changing people’s perceptions, or changing the consequences that follow the behaviour.

Changing Perceptions

Most perception-changing strategies (except for feedback) are antecedent strategies because they precede behaviour. Information campaigns aim to increase awareness of environmental problems and about behavioural consequences. This is effective in situations where the problem stems from ignorance. Feedback involves giving people information about how successful their behavioural changes have been, to make the impact of their behaviour more salient.

Changing Incentives

Since pro-environmental behaviour tends to come at personal cost, consequence strategies can be a useful way to counteract the negative impact of the costs. Pro-environmental behaviour might be rewarded, or anti-environmental behaviour might be punished. Three strategies can be considered:

1. Pricing policies: cost reduction of environmentally friendly behaviour.

2. Legal measures: Regulations and laws prohibiting anti-environmental behaviour.

3. Availability and quality of products: Easier access to environmentally friendly choices. (ex. closing off city centres to car traffic).

As mentioned previously, penalties are less effective than rewards.

Applied Social Psychology

Applied social psychology can work together with environmental scientists in order to determine which behaviours will have maximum impact. Feasibility and acceptability of environmental behaviours also needs to be addressed. Input from economists, medical professionals, and lawyers are all needed. Interdisciplinary work can be complicated and challenging but is often necessary for applied social psychologists.

Key Words

Are organizational Gender Issues real? - Chapter 9

Introduction

Gender involves not the physical sex but the expectations of an individual and others as to what it means to be a man or woman. This chapter is about gender in the workplace. Many differences between working men and women are negative for women. By better understanding the problems, applied social psychologists can work to lessen the gender gap.

The Genders at Work

Differences: Quantitative

1. More men hold a paying job that earns them an income.

2. Men continue working regardless of family situation.

3. Men work longer hours than women, more often full-time.

4. Women work less than men in general, and tend to have lower salaries.

Differences: Qualitative

1. Women tend to work in health care, social services, education, administration and retailing while men work as technicians, engineers, bankers, and managers.

2. Men tend to work at higher job levels than women, causing the “glass ceiling”.

Early Research

It used to be believed that women were not as smart or as physically fit as men. However, Helen Thompson in 1903 did a series of measurement tests in men and women, in things like motor ability, memory and reaction time. She found that differences were, at best, superficial and must be related more to social influences that begin in childhood. Leta Hollingworth in 1914 successfully contested the generally accepted notion that women’s performance goes down during menstruation. The conclusions of both studies revealed that gender differences were not as large as assumed, not as biological, and greatly influenced by social influences.

Stereotypes

Gender stereotypes are expectations about characteristics and behaviours of men and women. Most people have a few, and many are shared on a cross-cultural scale. Feminine stereotypes (communal) generally see the woman as helpful, social, and nurturing while masculine stereotypes (agentic) see men as aggressive, decisive, and independent. These stereotypes are also associated with occupations. Job level is also associated with gender stereotypes, as leaders are expected to have masculine traits. They are not only descriptive (how we perceive the genders) but also prescriptive (how we think the genders should be). The description-based bias leads to the expectation that women will not have the “masculine” qualities needed for a position. Prescriptive bias is when people present themselves in an opposite-gender way, which can cause them not to be hired. Stereotypes are based on general tendencies (in some cases) but cannot be used as a guide for dealing with individuals.

Career Choices

Vocational interests are based on capacities, traits, and personal experiences. There are slight differences between the genders on mathematical, visual-spatial, verbal, and language tasks, but not enough to explain gender discrepancies in occupational choices. Motivational differences might be more consequential.

Self-Efficacy

Self-efficacy is the belief in one’s capability to achieve a level of performance. They are task-specific, meaning that a person may be confident in their ability to cook a soufflé but not their ability to solve a difficult math equation. People also have generalized self-efficacy beliefs, related to their general ability to cope with life’s problems. In many cultures (but not all), women have, on average, lower generalized self-efficacy beliefs than men. It has been found that in achievement situations, women tend to take less challenging tasks even when they have just as much interest as men in completing the more challenging tasks. It seems that women focus on doing things right, whereas men focus on doing the right things for career advancement. This can hurt women’s chances for career progression.

Expectancies of Outcome

Outcome expectancies are the imagined consequences of performing a particular behaviour. Women tend to anticipate more educational and career barriers than men do, and are more aware of the impact having a family might have on their future. They also tend to gradually feel more confined by gender stereotypes.

Selection

Gender Typing of Applicants

Gender typing can occur when the recruiter or management in a company has gender-stereotyped views of the characteristics of men and women. This can create gender bias, in which selection decisions about men and women are based on these stereotypes. For example, a women who comes across as having more feminine traits is less likely to be considered for a “masculine” job, like upper management. This bias has a double standard, as women are allowed less latitude in personality than men.

Gender Typing of Jobs

The sex-matching model of gender typing is when jobs are typically associated with one of the genders. When one sex predominates in a certain job, success becomes associated with that sex and the associated gender characteristics. Applying for “masculine” jobs, women seem like they will not be as successful.

The Glass Ceiling

The glass ceiling refers to the invisible barrier that stops women from achieving top positions as often as men do.

Gender Typing of Leadership

Characteristics that people associate with leadership overwhelmingly fit male gender stereotypes. Furthermore, if women do manage to get into a leadership position, they are often negatively reviewed if they embody a male management style. However, this tendency might be changing as modern organizations are beginning to need more “female” qualities in management, such as a collaborative leadership style.

Gender Differences in Leadership

1n the 1980s, studies established a two-dimensional model of leadership divided into task-oriented leadership and interpersonal leadership. Task-oriented leadership involves having subordinates follow rules and maintaining high standards of performance. Interpersonal leadership involves helping and explaining things to subordinates, being friendly and available. In a lab situation, men tend to be more task-oriented and women more interpersonally oriented, although this difference has not been seen to exist in the real world. Women do tend to lean towards a democratic style while men lean towards an autocratic style. More recent leadership research has distinguished between transformational leadership (focusing on charisma, the ability to inspire and motivate employees) and transactional leadership (focussed on reward-incentives and performance monitoring). Women tend to use a transformational method, which has also been shown to be generally more effective as a motivator. In some situations, women have been found to be better leaders, although there are just as many situations where men have been found to be better.

Emergent Leadership

One of the most difficult aspects of the glass ceiling conundrum is that women have a harder time even being considered for a leadership position. While masculine traits are often sought out, women who display masculine traits tend to be regarded negatively by others, thus causing a more negative impact on the recruitment decision. A competent, assertive woman tends to get more disagreement and people may diminish the woman’s contributions. Furthermore, successful behaviours are attributed to different causes between the sexes. When women succeed at a task, people often attribute that to luck or extra effort. When they fail at something, it is attributed to their incompetence. The opposite is true for men, and since their successes are seen as due to internal traits of intelligence and competence, their successes are treated as more valid and representative than those of women. It is not only the business’s fault, of course. Women sometimes act according to stereotyped expectations, presenting themselves as less competent than they are to seem more feminine.

Structure and Culture

Structure

There are structural aspects to organizations that can affect power and ambition. For instance, the dominance of men in upper management means that the token group (women) feel exaggerated differences, heightened visibility, pressure to perform, and biased evaluation of their performance. This is something of a double standard as well, as men in female-dominated contexts don’t find these negative hindrances. This asymmetry might be caused by societal power differences between men and women. Also troubling is that because minority groups are more likely to be excluded from informal networks, women in higher management will fall victim to “boys clubs”, missing out on opportunities to contribute to business decisions made in informal environments, like the pub.

Culture

Organizational culture is the pattern of assumptions that an organization develops over time as a way to solve internal problems. This is taught to new employees as the “right way” to do things. This manifests in three ways:

1. Observable practices

2. Values

3. Underlying assumptions

In an organizational culture with a supportive work-family value, both men and women feel more attached to the organization. However, there are gender differences to other aspects of organizational culture. Men tend to prefer competitive organizations with strong work pressure and effort, though at the management level there is less difference. In organizations with a humane orientation, women are more likely to rise to upper management. This, though, depends on whether the organization’s practices reflect equality as well.

Interventions

The problem for applied social scientists is to find a way to diminish gender gaps and glass ceilings. Organizations can enhance women’s ability to participate in paid work by offering child-care or other family-friendly policies, such as flexible work hours. These chances need to be made for both genders to ensure that the message is not sent that women are expected to be primary family-supporters. Gender stereotyping is one of the most fundamental problems and the most difficult to combat. Training can be given to teach people to delay stereotyping, and bias-proof measures can be introduced to hiring procedures. Mentoring programs can help enhance the employee’s self-efficacy and help women break through the glass ceiling. One difficult method for women to confront the glass ceiling is to act feminine in daily communication but show competence and ensure that others are aware of her capacities. Self-efficacy training can be more effective than assertivity training, as it can help them make more advancing career choices.

Applied Social Psychology

Human Capital Theory (Economics)

Economics includes the human capital theory. This theory suggests that in each home, the spouses try to get the maximum outcome from their efforts. Since men are often older than women in a relationship, they tend to have more “human capital” in work experience, so women tend to get the task of maintaining the household and taking time off to raise children. Unfortunately, this means that a woman’s human capital in the workplace decreases over time due to non-use during career breaks. Even taking this assumption into account, however, women still earn even less than could be expected on the basis of their human capital.

Statistical Discrimination Theory (Economics)

According to the theory of statistical discrimination, employees prefer cheap and east rules to make hiring decisions and make decisions on easily assumed traits like gender, age, and race. Decisions then become based on expectations rather than reality, and so fall to biases.

Socialization Theory (Sociology)

Socialization theory recognizes that values and norms are learned in childhood that impact behaviour. Employers will take generalized norms and values about gender into account and assume that women will be less stable workers than men.

Key Words

What are health and Illness psychologically? - Chapter 10

Problems in the Field

Societal Burden: Unhealthy Behaviour

Life expectancy is the estimated number of years a child of a certain demographic will live. Life expectancy has increased on a global level, though healthy life expectancy is lower in developing countries than developed countries. Many factors threaten life expectancy. For instance, in developing countries child mortality, bad housing and malnutrition are factors. In developed countries, lifestyle choices like smoking tobacco and dietary choices can have a negative impact. Others include HIV-AIDS, obesity, and the possible future threat of infectious diseases and climate change. The behaviour of individuals is important in determining the health of a population. Behavioural choices are estimated to be responsible for more than 50% of the loss of healthy years in developing countries.

Societal Burden: Chronic Illness

In developed countries with improved medical care, people with chronic diseases live longer. A complicating factor is that roughly one third of patients with chronic illnesses don´t comply with their medical treatment.

Social Psychology and Health Issues

There are three ways that social psychologists can contribute to improvements in health and life expectancy:

1. Primary prevention: psychologists can study ways to prevent unhealthy behaviours and encourage healthy choices.

2. Promoting behavioural change in people who have unhealthy behaviours.

3. Promoting adherence to medical prescriptions and care regiments for the ill.

Understanding Health-Related Behaviours

Motivation and Self-Efficacy

Health-specific models of behaviour include the health belief model (HBM), the protection motivation theory (PMT), and the health action process approach (HAPA). They can be used to explain the psychology behind healthy choices. At the broadest level, they cover the psychological categories of motivation and self-efficacy expectations.

Motivation

The main reason not to do unhealthy things is to avoid sickness and pain. Whether or not a person is motivated in this regard relies somewhat on their risk perception of the health problem and their perceived vulnerability. This might be based on one’s personal history (the assumption that never having had a certain illness indicates some sort of invulnerability). It can also be based on family history. Lastly, people may use social comparison. This is called unrealistic optimism. Besides vulnerability, the perceived seriousness of a disease can alter a person’s motivation to take preventative action. If it is known that chlamydia is easily treatable, it is considered less serious. Only a combination of high vulnerability and high seriousness motivates prevention.

Fear

Another aspect of the perception of danger lies in the emotional response fear. Fear signals danger and motivates people to avoid it. Worry is the uncontrolled repetition of thoughts that accompanies fear, and can help remind a person of the danger of unhealthy behaviours. However, disengagement beliefs help lower fear without changing behaviour by helping preserve peace of mind. Furthermore, positive outcome expectations, the beliefs of what benefit quitting an unhealthy behaviour will have, impact the choice to change.

Self-Efficacy

Self-efficacy expectations reflect people’s belief in their own ability to do something. They are task-specific. One has to have a high enough level of self-efficacy expectations to be motivated to engage in a certain behaviour – if they don’t think they’ll succeed, then why bother? Estimates of self-efficacy come from enactive learning (when someone proves many times that they can do them) and from attributions of failure (whether someone attributes failure to their own efforts or success to their own efforts). Vicarious learning or modelling is another improver of self-efficacy as it shows something can be done.

Initiating and Implementing Behaviour

Motivation, unfortunately, is able to influence the formation of intentions, but not necessarily actions. People’s intentions do not specify where, when, and how they will initiate planned behaviour. Circumstantial and motivational factors may easily delay action. Implementation intentions involve a where and when and help people engage in behaviour when it’s not yet routine. Especially when implementation actions are written down the chance of them happening is increased. Another issue is that people sometimes do things without explicit intention, but out of behavioural willingness. This is the willingness to take a risk when the situation comes up, without having planned to. Depending on a person’s opinion of the prototype image of a person who engages in that behaviour will determine their willingness.

Behaviour While Sick

When it comes to illness, a huge number of patients do not regularly take their medication or medical advice. One factor is symptom perception. People search for whether the symptom is indicative of illness, and then decide whether to go to a doctor. Symptom perception depends on a person’s illness beliefs. A symptom like a headache may fit a patient’s idea of a serious illness, or may remind them of a hangover and cause them to take different action. People tend to prefer to “wait and see” in the face of uncertainty rather than seek medical advice.

Taking Your Medicine

The doctor-patient relationship effects likelihood of compliance to medical advice – what the doctor communicates and how they make the patient feel have a great deal to do with adherence. Furthermore, the social environment of the patient plays a role. Social support can provide people with emotional support and in some cases, tangible assistance. Friends and family can help the patient interpret their experiences. They can give instrumental support, like helping out with the household or directly influencing adherence to medication.

Stage Models

The previously mentioned social psychological variables generally do not change instantly- change takes time. Stage models suggest that people move through stages of behavioural change and movement through the stages is caused by psychological factors. The trans-theoretical model (TTM) distinguishes five stages of behavioural change:

1. Precontemplation: no motivation for change.

2. Contemplation: begin thinking about change but postponing action.

3. Preparation: plan to adopt new behaviour on a short-term basis.

4. Action: start to adopt new behaviour but must actively prevent relapse.

5. Maintenance: new behaviour is integrated into life.

One can move forward through stages, but cannot skip a stage. It often occurs that people regress to previous stages. People in different stages need different interventions.

Time-Based Research Methods

Many behavioural changes are tested longitudinally. In this case, since people are dynamic and their motivations may change from hour to hour, psychologists have been focusing on methods that provide frequent momentary assessments throughout a subject’s day. These can be in the form of diaries, forms, or even cellphone apps. Measurements can be objective or by self-report, they can be situational or with time intervals, and they can be initiated by the individual or the apparatus itself.

Promotion of Healthy Choices

In order to promote healthy behaviour it is important to provide people with information that can persuade them to improve this behaviour. This can be new information, or a message designed to put already known information into a more convincing light. A fear appeal must convince people that a threat is real and there are things they can do to fight against it.

Message Tailoring

Mass-media is good to spread information to many people, but this information might be less effective if it is too specific, because people will look for something to relate to. Computer technology allows information to be adapted to individuals. Computer-tailored persuasion takes into account age, name, gender, and other specifics about a person. It can provide relevant information that may convince the user to change their behaviour. It needs input of information, decision rules to determine responses, a library of messages, and a program to show the message. Three tailoring mechanisms can be distinguished:

1. Adaptation: information should be adapted to the specific individual, avoiding redundancy and irrelevancy.

2. Feedback: feedback always signals that it is directed towards the individual. It may be literal, comparative, or evaluative.

3. Personalization: recognizable individual features are incorporated into content information.

Message tailoring may enhance the central processing of information provided and trigger self-referent encoding. This processes the information in relation to personal memories, self-attributes and values.

Message Framing

Messages about healthy behaviours can be framed by promoting good behaviour (gain-framed approach) or by emphasizing the costs of not performing the good behaviour (loss-framed approach). In cases where the behaviour has a very certain outcome, people are more easily convinced when messages are gain-framed. In cases where the outcome is uncertain, people are more easily convinced with a loss-framed approach. Gain-framed is more effective when promoting prevention behaviours, and loss-framed when promoting detection behaviours.

Applied Social Psychology

Social psychologists work with healthcare professionals for information of what target behaviours should be analyzed. They can also provide other professionals with information and techniques to influence health problems.

Key Words

How to deal with mental Health? - Chapter 11

Introduction

This chapter focuses on only three mental health problems, which can be considered some of the most relevant (and prevalent), for social psychologists: body image, depression, and relationship problems.

Body Image

Body image is our internal representation of our appearance. Disturbance of body image is a continuum ranging from no disturbance to extreme disturbance, with most people somewhere in the middle. There is a discrepancy between real and perceived body image, especially in those with disturbed body image disorders.

Gender Differences

In general, women are more dissatisfied with their bodies than men are. This is usually about weight satisfaction – women tend to rate themselves as larger than they actually are and see the ideal as much thinner than they actually are. They assume that men find people attractive who are closer to their thin ideal. Men tend to be more satisfied with their bodies but put the ideal as someone more muscular and large than they are, and believe women want larger men than what women actually rate as attractive.

Consequences

The most common medical consequences of disturbed body image are anorexia nervosa (in which a person exercises excessively and severely restricts caloric intake even when underweight), bulimia nervosa (in which a person has bouts of uncontrolled binge-eating after which they purge or fast to compensate), and body dismorphic disorder (BDD) (in which the person is preoccupied with a slight or imagined defect in appearance).

Theoretical Explanations

Social Comparison

Social comparison theory suggests that people have a desire to evaluate their opinions and abilities based on those of others. There are lateral comparisons, when a person compares themself with similar people, upward comparisons where a person compares themself with people who are better off, and downward comparisons. Depending on whom people compare themselves with, they may feel either better or worse about their body image. In society, women, especially, are confronted with many examples of beauty ideals and often make upward comparisons that lead to low body image. People with low self-esteem make more comparisons and are less satisfied.

Schema

Schema theory suggests that people use schemas to interpret information and individuals have body image schemas that reflect their beliefs about the impact of appearance on self-image, happiness, and success. Body image evaluations are feelings of satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the body, and body image investments are the cognitive, emotional, and behavioural importance of body image in self-evaluation. Negative body image will likely not lead to medical issues if body image investments are low. However, if body image schemas are negatively laden, it can lead to eating disorders. People who suffer from eating disorders are appearance schematic.

Preventing Disturbed Body Image

Building self-esteem is an important way to prevent body-image problems. Physical exercise can temporarily reduce body image dissatisfaction by both causing real weight-loss, and increasing a sense of self-worth.

Depression

In Western society, roughly 17% of people experience depression in their lifetime. Depressed people experience feelings of sadness, apprehension, worthlessness, tiredness, and tend to withdraw from other people. A depressive episode can last more than six months.

Gender Differences

Women tend to be more likely than men to suffer from depression. This might have something to do with coping strategies learned in youth to deal with life’s stressors. The two major coping strategies are problem-focused coping, in which the person tries to alter the source of the stress, and emotion-focused coping, in which the individual tries to alter their emotional response to the stressor. Women tend to use the less effective emotion-focused coping method. This may be due to being raised to believe that women are “moodier” than men and not being effectively taught how to solve problems instead of brooding about them. The higher one’s level of masculinity, regardless of sex, the less depression and brooding is seen.

Social Comparison

Social comparison is also important in depression. Depressed individuals tend to make more upward comparisons, reinforcing feelings of inadequacy. When they do compare downward, they relate to their target, which also involves self-derogation. Depressed individuals interpret social comparison information in a less self-serving way than others. Such unfavourable strategies may stem from being taught to be too submissive in early parent-child interactions. This has led to an evolutionary psychological theory called involuntary subordinate strategies (ISS).

Preventing Depression

Depression can begin relatively young, so early prevention programs are important. Cognitive behavioural programs can help people identify pessimistic thoughts and learn to relax, regulate emotions, solve problems, make more decisions and successfully, assertively deal with conflict. Adults in especially at-risk target groups, like single mothers, can be taught to stop negative thought spirals and engage in positive self-talk. Downward social comparison can also temporarily alleviate depression.

Relationships

Divorce and marital problems are increasing. These can lead to many mental and physical health problems. Two relevant theories will be discussed here to highlight the importance of dealing with relationship issues.

Attachment

Attachment theory suggests that people unconsciously learn an attachment style in infancy that influences the way they deal with relationships later on in life. There are three attachment styles:

1. Secure attachment style: Carers are responsive, dependable, and available. The child will view others as trustworthy and have positive self-image.

2. Avoidant attachment style: Carers show rejection, neglect, or are abusive. The child will develop a cynical view of others as untrustworthy.

3. Anxious-ambivalent attachment style: Carers show an inconsistent responsiveness to the child’s needs, causing them to have a strong desire to be close to others but a fear that others will not respond.

Avoidant attachment style has been argued to be more complex, and can be split into two styles. In fearful attachment style, the person wants intimate relationships but avoids them for fear of being hurt. In dismissing attachment style, the person prefers freedom and independence over closeness with others.

Attachment and Relationship Quality

The four-group model of attachment includes these styles:

1. Secure: positive model of self, positive model of other

2. Dismissing: positive model of self, negative model of other

3. Preoccupied: negative model of self, positive model of other

4. Fearful: negative model of self, negative model of other

Attachment styles are often measured using a questionnaire. It has been found that people with secure attachment styles have higher levels of trust and satisfaction in their relationships. Preoccupied and avoidant attachment styles lead to distrust. Preoccupied and fearfully attached people experience higher than average blood pressure in the face of relationship stress, while dismissive people show less than average.

Social Exchange

The social exchange and interdependence theory suggests that people form and continue relationships on the basis of cost and reward reciprocity. Rewards and costs include love, sex, support, financial contributions, and household tasks. Feeling indebted to one’s partner or feeling one’s partner is in debt to one can cause guilt, obligation, and fear. Sex life lessens when there is a feeling on inequity in arousal. In social exchange theory, equitability and stability are key to satisfaction. Inequitable relationships often lead to an attempt to restore balance. This often presents itself in a demand-withdraw conflict. One partner demands, criticizes, or complains to get the other to change their behaviour, causing a defensive and increasingly passive response from their partner. The partner will withdraw further with every attempt. When women are getting the short end of the stick, this can lead to affairs as they try to take back some of the balance. Feelings of fairness are not based only on action, but also on how much actions are appreciated by the partner.

Exchange-Orientation

Individual differences in exchange orientation can influence relationship satisfaction. Exchange-oriented individuals will often look for a tit-for-tat exchange and weigh the actions of themselves and their spouse accordingly. They don’t like being in debt or having someone owe them. Highly exchange-oriented people have problems giving generously and receiving gratefully. This contributes to relationship dissatisfaction.

Problem Prevention

To prevent problems from the earliest age, altering parent-child interactions can be useful. In many countries, parenting courses are offered to new parents, especially useful for those in vulnerable situations or psychological conditions. From the social exchange perspective, programs that encourage spouses to discuss the distribution of tasks may prevent marital problems.

Applied Social Psychology

Social psychologists approach mental health problems from a different perspective than clinical health psychologists. Clinicians are often more focused on the treatment of specific and often extreme problems, while social psychologists look into the theories underlying such problems on a more generalized scale.

Key Words

How to deal with modern Organizations – Innovation and Comfort? - Chapter 12

Introduction

Modern organizations have many uses for social psychologists. Two important societal developments have taken place that change the way organizations function: a dynamic and increasingly ecologically aware market, and diversity through globalization and migration. This chapter deals with change and diversity as potential creativity boosters which can also endanger feelings of safety and belonging.

Social Context

Customers are individualistic and technological developments occur rapidly in our society. There are new demands and new needs. Organizational life has become less predictable, making employees and employers deal with new challenges. It is more difficult to make a modern workplace both safe and welcoming. It is important for businesses to know which changes improve happiness and which changes diminish happiness. Furthermore, the workforce as diversified with the addition of both women and more internationally and culturally varied people.

Active Exploration

Sometimes change can inspire employees and increase intrinsic motivation. New tasks activate different modes of information processing and tend to energize people who might have fallen into automatic behaviours. Automatism leads to context-insensitivity and rigid rule-following. Active processing occurs when people encounter new problems and generally make high quality decisions. This can be beneficial to group creativity and innovation. It is especially important in troubleshooting and decision-making contexts.

Diversity

Hearing information from many different sources can activate knowledge that might not normally be called up when dealing with a certain bit of information. Associative networks are connected structures of ideas that are semantically related. When people in a group have too much overlap of knowledge, the associative networks are limited and this can result in less creative solutions. Diversity leads to better group brainstorming.

Problems

While it is known that change and diversity lead to better results, conservatism in business and resistance to change are still very much present. Groups also tend to have a preference for ideas that are less “out-of-the-box” and more easily executed. Group members also tend to focus on common knowledge, shared by the other members of the group. This can decrease the quality of group decisions. The threat-rigidity effect, in which rigid thinking occurs in the face of a threat, can be caused by too much change and diversity at one time.

Social Identity

Social identity theory (SIT) assumes that people strive to strengthen self-esteem, how they feel about themselves in comparison to others. Individuals assimilate information about other in-group members (in-group assimilation) and contrast information about out-group members (out-group contrast). Organizations impact social identity by creating both a context and a set of rewarded goals. Identifying with your organization will cause you to work harder towards its goals and feel more satisfied with your working environment. If the organization begins to change, identification can be threatened. This can cause some people to stick rigidly to their old identities and adapt less easily to the changes. On a group level, strong social identities can cause strain when some members have characteristics that are not shared with the team. Subgroups can form (men vs. women, etc.) which can negatively affect group outcomes and result in low trust. “Us vs. them” thinking can lower work satisfaction and decrease creative solutions. While benefiting more from diverse input, group identity relies a lot on ideas that confirm social identities instead of exploration.

Dynamic Organizational Development

A theoretical outline of this dilemma could be summarized by the contrast between gaining new perspectives and the value of existing identities. One model stresses the importance of encouraging perceived communities in groups with more diversity. This can be done by creating superordinate goals, informing the group about other groups, and promoting equal status contact. Equal status allows a diverse group of people focus on similarities rather than differences. In colour-blind perspectives of diversity management, employers focus on treating all employees equally, diminishing acknowledgement of differences. The value-in-diversity approaches take the opposite stance, encouraging the use of difference strategically for the organization. When companies have an intercultural group climate, diversity is positively valued and uncertainty is tolerated. This makes differences into a positive thing which can stimulate well-being and performance.

Cohesion and Locomotion Goals

Group activities include two processes – locomotion and cohesion. Cohesion goals include the need for safety and belonging, while locomotion goals include the need to achieve group goals. Cohesion goals need to be fulfilled before locomotion goals can be addressed. Colour-blindness strategies promote cohesion while value-in-diversity strategies promote locomotion. External and internal threats influence which goals groups strive for.

Team Age

How long a team has been in existence is a context factor that influences the group’s focus. When groups have only been together a short time, cohesion tends to be the primary goal. Overtime, this is replaced by a focus in locomotion. If trust isn’t formed in the beginning phase, mistrust is more likely to occur later. If the opposite occurs and the group becomes similarity-focused early on, focus on differences later will cause groupthink. Groupthink is the tendency for members of a cohesive group to conform really strongly to the group norm, stopping critical thinking and discarding dissident ideas.

Intervention

Interventions can influence the maintenance of a balance between cohesion and locomotion, comfort and innovation. There are interventions directed at changing organizational team context and others directed at changing behaviour, cognitions, and affect.

Cohesion

Cohesion should be promoted when two groups need to merge into one, or when diversity causes subgroups to form. This can be done by uniting the groups through a common dress code, a group logo, or by defining superordinate goals. Cohesion can also be promoted by changing the nature of the task – focussing on communalities rather than differences. Communality-focused tasks involve shared information and a joint solution.

Locomotion

Locomotion can be encouraged by stimulating the expression of unique viewpoints. Assigning a “devil’s advocate” to contradict ideas can help. Honestly expressing disagreements is called authentic dissent. Sometimes a devil’s advocate may decrease authentic dissent and divergent thinking. To promote dissent, structured discussion and brainstorming methods can be used. Groups are encouraged to concentrate on the quantity rather than quality of ideas, not to criticize but to elaborate and build on the ideas of others. Another intervention is re-categorization which aims to make subgroup identities salient. Change can be inspired by introducing a “threat” in which the group members believe change needs to happen for the sake of the organization’s future.

Flexibility

Psychological safety and innovation are aspects of the organizational climate that can benefit locomotion and cohesion. Psychological safety ensures that people can take opportunistic risks and express opinions without fear of punishment. This promotes experimentation and learning. There are four aspects of an organizational climate that promote locomotion and cohesion:

1. Vision: valued outcomes with clear goals and motivation.

2. Participative safety: assurance that participation in decision-making will be non-threatening.

3. Task-orientation: people share a concern for excellence in task performance quality.

4. Support for innovation: attempts to do things differently are encouraged

The part of the social self that includes representations of relationships with others is called relational identity orientation. Making relationships salient in a group promotes mutual understanding and constructive collaboration.

Applied Social Psychology

Because economics is a large part of the organizational perspective, social-psychological analyses should be complemented with rational analyses of the expected utilities of strategic change.

Key Words

What are Politics in social Psychology? - Chapter 13

Introduction

Political psychology is a discipline which applies social psychology to politics. This chapter focuses on three central topics to political psychology: political leadership, voting behaviour, and ideology. Political psychology involves four types of studies:

1. Unrelated but applicable: Studies that are not about politics but have implications for the field of politics. (ex. Milgram experiment on obedience).

2. Political topic as subject of research

3. Studies on political phenomena that can also be applied outside politics.

4. “Truly” political research that addresses only the political sphere.

Leadership

Political leaders can have a big impact on what decisions a certain government makes. Personality may have something to do with this, so the question of whether the personalities of leaders should be investigated becomes an important one.

The Big Five

On general psychological theory that has been applied to the political domain is the big five (five factor) personality trait theory. This theory sees personality as composed of five dimensions: neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, openness to experiences, and conscientiousness. Normally, this would be assessed through a voluntary questionnaire. In the case of major leaders, this is rarely possible. It has been the case that informed people (friends or biographers) have filled in the questionnaire for the political leader. After determining the personality of presidents measured in this way, it was found that most characteristics did not correlate with greatness. The strongest was openness to experience.

Leadership Profiles

Content Analysis

A more effective way to study leadership is content analysis, the analysis of a politician’s body of speeches and biographical sources for cues that relate to personality characteristics. This has been done with American presidents in terms of motives (achievement, affiliation, and power motives). Popularity of the president was related to the motive scores as compared to the society of the time. Power motivation was correlated with perceived greatness and crisis-oriented policy-making.

Operational Code

An operational code is a leader’s belief systems about the world- whether political life is about harmony or conflict, the predictability and controllability of future events, and how to effectively pursue political goals. One study compared four European leaders and found that they had different leadership styles. Two of them were crusaders, more likely to seek conflict and opt for extreme measures. One was pragmatic, seeking environmental cues for information on how to act, while the other was interested in collaborating to come to a consensus position.

Decision Making in Crisis Situations

To understand decision making that occurs in crisis times, it is important to understand how politicians deal with public opinion and group processes. The prospect theory is a response to expected utility theory, in that decisions deviate from expected utility when the people making the decisions do not want to experience loss and when the risk is high. They will take a risk to prevent potential loss.

Groupthink Theory

According to groupthink theory, certain circumstances lead to poor group decision making. These include group cohesion, isolation, directive leadership, and stress. This can limit alternatives and cause initial decisions not to be critically assessed. Groupthink leads to the opposite of what is known to cause greatness: openness to ideas. One method to counteract groupthink is to encourage ingroup members to challenge dominant views, and to make a “second round” of discussion sometime after the decision seems to have been made.

Voting

Choosing to Vote

It is important to investigate why people vote, and how. What influences their choices? Who votes, and who abstains? There is a worry that people who need a voice (the economic underclass) might not vote, while people who are better off might both vote and donate money to political campaigns. Economists have given a lot of attention to the question of voters because people who choose to vote seem to defy rational choice theory. Even though the chance of making a real difference is small, people seem to vote out of a sense of civic duty. Social norms do not fit into economic decision-making models, so social psychologists can be of some help in explaining voter turnout.

Reasoned Action

The theory of reasoned action is a slightly modified version of the theory of planned behaviour. It holds that behaviour is determined by the intention to perform the behaviour, and that an intention comes from a person’s evaluations of consequences and their personal compliance with social influence. While attitude-behaviour models have given insight into strategic voting and voter attitudes, they do not provide the information electoral researchers are looking for.

The Michigan Model

The Michigan model of voting behaviour is more helpful. According to this model, political objects (candidates, issues) are perceived and evaluated. The orientations that result direct voters to one of the political parties. The University of Michigan group (Campbell, Converse, Miller and Stokes) distinguished six “partisan attitudes”, related specifically to American politics:

1. Characteristics of the Democratic candidate

2. Characteristics of the Republican candidate

3. Domestic policy issues

4. Foreign policy issues

5. Politically-involved groups

6. Parties’ past government management performance

These attitudes were influenced by party identification established early in adulthood. Party identification was found to stable, making it possible to distinguish between short-term and long-term factors.

Partisan Attitudes

While normal attitudes exist on the dimension of like-dislike, partisan attitudes exist on the dimensions of pro-Republican—pro-Democrat (in the American system). The Michigan model does not describe specific mental processes but acts as an explanation of voting behaviour. The Michigan model has been a basis for research in Europe, though it has been harder to establish stable party identification. Most European countries have far more than two parties, making the context significantly different.

Online Model

Memory-based judgments are made on information from memory stores, while online judgments are created and changed while relevant information is being processed and then stored. The online model of candidate evaluations suggests that when information about a candidate is processed it updates a sort of mental tally that is drawn upon during the voting process. While the specific information might be forgotten, its impact lasts. This model suggests that while voters may seem uninformed, they are often still using the information when making their decision, just in a less conscious way.

Ideology

One question that is important for researchers is whether people’s attitudes towards policies correlate with their left/right ideological orientation.

Non-Attitudes

It has been found that while it may seem that people would be consistent in their left or right approach to important issues, only about 10% of Americans used ideological constructs to form their opinions. It was concluded that asking questions on issues was actually a way of studying non-attitudes, apparent attitudes that have little meaning in the real world. The “end of ideology” idea suggests that after WWII, left-right ideologies began to play a less important role in politics. Political ideas lack consistency, people are unmoved by ideological ideals, and the politics of the left and right are no longer as different as they once were. While these arguments are compelling, it was found that the left/right continuum remains an important factor in European and American politics.

Values

Rokeach aimed to identify all major values across human cultures. The two closely related to left/right ideology are equality and freedom. Peoples ratings of their importance lead to four main political ideologies:

Rokeach suggested that in a society which puts equal value on both sides of the dimension, ideology would be one dimensional (as it now exists, left vs. right).

Post-Materialism

Inglehart suggested that aside from left/right, there is also materialism/post-materialism. This value hierarchy depends on the scarcity of goods required to satisfy needs. In this model, people raised in times of economic security are expected to put less value on financial security than those raised in times of economic hardship.

Prejudiced Thinking

Ideological orientations impact prejudice. The general authoritarian psychological orientation involves in-group glorification, prejudice against out-groups, and pseudo-conservatism. People who score high in right-wing authoritarianism also score high in prejudice. The social dominance orientation also correlates with prejudice.

Applied Social Psychology

Psychoanalysts and historians also look at political leadership, especially when addressing leadership of the past. In terms of social psychological interventions, some measures can increase turnout but the institutional context is much more important.

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