Favorite concepts
1.
One of my favorite concepts from social psych is
Cognitive Dissonance Theory, which is the tendency for individuals to want and
to maintain consistency between their attitudes and behaviors (Festinger,
1957). When their attitudes and
behaviors don’t match, individuals feel discomfort, or dissonance, and attempt
to relieve it by changing their attitudes.
For instance, if you are trying to start an exercise routine and skip
one day, you might try to justify it by thinking, “I need a rest day” or “I am
too tired to work out!” In fact, when we
learned about cognitive dissonance theory on the first day of class, I liked it
so much that I named my blog after it. J
2.
Another one of my favorite concepts is the mindlessness phenomenon,
which is the tendency for individuals to comply with other’s requests just
because they say “because” (Langer, 1978).
For example, Langer and colleagues performed an experiment where they
asked individuals to cut in line at the copy machine. They either asked without justification (e.g.,
“May I use the copy machine”) or asked with justification. In addition, they split the justification
condition into two categories: reasonable (e.g., “…because I’m in a rush”) or
unreasonable (e.g., “…because I have to make copies”). Regardless of the reason, people complied
more so when a reason was given than not.
Surprisingly, people complied equally
when there was justification!! In other words, 94% complied when asked “…because
I’m in a rush” and 93% complied when asked “…because I have to make copies.” I
think that mindlessness is just so fascinating because people comply with (in
my opinion) a pretty stupid request just because they say “because”!
3.
Universal male is a concept of how sexes are presented in
society. It basically assumes that males
are the “universal standard” to which females are compared and are somewhat “other”
or “unnatural” (Tavris, 1992). I really
like this concept! I think it helps explain a situation I experienced in high
school: I was in the math club (nerdy,
haha!) and I ended up winning a few math contests. At our graduate recognition ceremony, the
head of the math club (a white, male professor) remarked about how I “broke
into the boy’s club,” insinuating that women were somewhat worse than men, in
terms of mathematics aptitude. Of
course, (I think) he meant this as a compliment, meaning I achieved above and
beyond (because women “aren’t as good as math”). The universal male helped to explain a lot of
my frustration as a woman in the sciences, who just happens to be good at math.
4.
The matching hypothesis is a tendency for individuals to
be attracted to others who are similar to them in physical attractiveness
(Feingold, 1988). I think it’s
interesting how individuals “end up” with someone of similar attractiveness,
like the activity we did in class! (I
actually did one of my research methods projects on this topic so this may be
effort justification talking. J)
5.
Psychological reactance is one of the coolest concepts. It is the tendency for individuals to rebel
or react against others when their freedom is threatened (Brehm & Brehm,
1981). I think this is so interesting
because I think it explains a lot of my arguments with my parents as a teenager. Just being told not to do something made me
want to do it more For instance, my dad always told me not to stay out past
midnight and often I’d stay out until 12:30! (Sorry, mom and dad, it was
psychological reactance!)
Favorite social psychologists
1.
I think Robert Cialdini is really cool! I really think
his research on persuasive techniques is so fascinating! I also like how he did
“undercover” research working in sales!
2.
Leon Festinger also tops my list of cool social
psychologists, simply because he theorized cognitive dissonance theory. I like how he tried to design the most boring
possible task and people said it was interesting, just because of dissonance! I also like social comparison theory because
it is just so, so simple!
3.
Elliott Aronson did a lot of really cool studies. I really like the Jigsaw Classroom study! In
addition, I thought his studies on cognitive dissonance. The toy study on insufficient
deterrence has a ton of implications for changing behavior! And the sex study on
effort justification is just kind of funny.
I think it was cleverly designed (like Festinger’s peg-turning study)
and it is funny that people would respond that a discussion of earthworm sex
was interesting!
4.
I really liked Muzafer Sherif’s Robbers cave
study. I think it has so many
implications for solving group conflict by making a superordinate goal! I also
really like his study on the autokinetic effect and conformity!
5.
Since we learned about his experiments in principles, I thought
that Stanley Milgram was really clever.
I think it is so interesting how people obeyed, even though they
believed that they were harming another individual! Learning more about it was especially
interesting, in light of what I learned when I studied abroad in Germany and
went to one of the concentration camps.
When there, I just couldn’t believe how someone could commit such
horrendous acts, so I think all of the research on obedience is just really fascinating.
References
Brehm, S. S., & Brehm, J.
W. (1981). Psychological reactance: A
theory of freedom and control (Vol. 26). New York: Academic Press.
Feingold, A. (1988). Matching
for attractiveness in romantic partners and same-sex friends: A meta-analysis
and theoretical critique. Psychological
Bulletin, 104(2), 226-235.
Festinger, L. (1957). A theory of cognitive
dissonance. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Langer, E. J., Blank, A., & Chanowitz, B.
(1978). The mindlessness of ostensibly thoughtful action: The role of"
placebic" information in interpersonal interaction. Journal of Personality
and Social Psychology, 36(6), 635-642.
Tavris, C. (1993). The mismeasure of woman. Feminism
& Psychology, 3(2), 149-168.
