Lesson 15: Social and Cultural Psychology

Attention

"Please allow me to introduce myself.  I am a man of wealth and taste."  

You may recognize these stanzas as the beginning lyrics of the classic Rolling Stone song, “Sympathy for the Devil.”  But, what if you hadn’t heard of the song?  Who would you imagine to be this man?  What if I told you he was a Mexican whose father immigrated to Mexico after fleeing the Ottoman Empire, alone and speaking no English? What if I told you that he is the world’s richest man, with a net worth of $60 Billion, surpassing both Bill Gates and Warren Buffet? (Carlos Slim Helu is, in fact, the world’s richest man according to Forbes Magazine).

Carlos Slim Helu, The Richest Man in the World
Mexican Telecom tycoon owning over 200 companies!

We also have developed stereotypes based on our exposure and subjective experience in the world.  Understanding our perceptions and feelings and how they influence our behavior is a key part of social psychology.  Other related concepts in social psychology include schemas or set beliefs about others, attributions (what we believe to be the causes of events and behavior) and attitudes.
The field of social psychology has grown and developed over the years and now includes the subarea of cognitive social psychology.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this lesson's material, students will be able to:

• Describe examples of stereotypes, the "halo effect", and personal bias
• Describe the factors associated with conformity in group situations

Teaching

Perceiving Others

• Physical Appearance
• Stereotypes
  • Function: Thought saving and Survival
  • Schemas
    • Person Schema
    • Role Schema
    • Event Schema
    • Self Schema
  • Prejudice
  • Discrimination

Attributions

• Internal and External Attributions
• Fundamental Attribution Error
• Why did you get the grade that you did in this class?

Attitudes

• Cognitive component
• Affective component
• Behavioral component

Assessment

Lesson 15 Assessment

In this assessment you are asked to answer the following questions:

1. Describe a situation in which you have a bias and relate to your life experiences that have brought about this bias (you will need to look up and understand the concept of "bias" to answer this question)
2. Describe a scene in your life where you, or someone around you, applied a "stereotype". Be sure that you describe what the stereotype is and why it is not necessarily true.

Lesson 15 Discussion

Read up on the concept of conformity. Describe a situation and reflect on the group factors that influenced your actions. Keep in mind, that to be influenced by a group and go along with them is not a "bad" thing.

Example: Let's say that you joined a new club and when you went to the first meeting you found out that you had to wear a strange outfit and recite certain text passages. So...you go along...the question is WHY did you go along...what group factors related to Social Psychology are at play