Comprehensive Notes: Social Psychology & Personality

High-Level Overview

Social psychology examines how individuals think about, influence, and relate to one another. It
bridges cognitive psychology (how we process information) with social influence (how others
affect us). The field explores three fundamental questions: How do we form impressions of
others? (attribution, attitudes), Why do we behave the way we do in social contexts?
(conformity, obedience, helping behavior), and What explains both our worst and best social
behaviors? (aggression vs. prosocial actions).

Personality psychology complements this by examining the stable patterns of thought, feeling,
and behavior that make individuals unique across situations. Together, these fields explain both
the power of situations to shape behavior and the enduring characteristics that make each
person distinct.

PART I: SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

1. FOUNDATIONAL CONCEPTS

Social Cognition

Definition: The application of cognitive processes (memory, perception, biases) to

understanding ourselves and others.

How it works: Humans act as "intuitive scientists," constantly collecting data about their
environment, forming hypotheses about others' behavior, and adjusting their actions
accordingly. We use mental shortcuts (heuristics) to navigate complex social information, but
these shortcuts can lead to systematic errors.

Why it matters: Social cognition explains why first impressions form quickly and why they're
resistant to change—it takes more cognitive effort to revise an initial hypothesis than to
maintain it.

Social Influence Theory

Definition: The principle that our feelings, beliefs, and behaviors are affected by the actual,
imagined, or implied presence of others.
Real-world example: People tend to eat more when dining with others than when eating alone,
demonstrating how mere presence alters behavior.

2. ATTRIBUTION THEORY

Core Framework

Attribution theory explains how we determine the causes of observed behavior—whether

someone's actions stem from their internal characteristics or external circumstances.

Types of Attributions

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Dimension Type Definition Example

Dispositional Behavior caused by internal "Charley is good at

Locus (Person) traits math"

Behavior caused by external

Locus Situational factors "The test was easy"

Cause is permanent/consistent "Charley has always

Stability Stable over time been a math whiz"

Cause is temporary/specific to "Charley studied hard

Stability Unstable one event for this one test"

Combined examples:

 Person-stable: "Charley is naturally gifted at math" (internal, permanent)

 Person-unstable: "Charley got lucky this time" (internal, temporary)

 Situation-stable: "Ms. Mahoney is an easy teacher" (external, permanent)

 Situation-unstable: "This particular test was unusually easy" (external, temporary)

Kelley's Covariation Model

Harold Kelley proposed three information sources we use to make attributions:

1. Consistency: Does the person act this way in this situation over time?

 High consistency: Charley always aces math tests → suggests internal cause

 Low consistency: This is Charley's first perfect score → suggests external cause

2. Distinctiveness: Does the person act differently in different situations?

 High distinctiveness: Charley only excels in math, not other subjects → suggests
situation-specific cause

 Low distinctiveness: Charley excels at everything → suggests internal ability

3. Consensus: How do others behave in the same situation?

 High consensus: Everyone aced the test → suggests easy test (situational)

 Low consensus: Only Charley aced it → suggests Charley's ability (dispositional)

Real-world application: When your colleague misses a deadline, you check: Does she always
miss deadlines? (consistency). Does she miss only writing deadlines or all deadlines?
(distinctiveness). Did everyone miss this deadline? (consensus).

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

Definition: A phenomenon where one person's expectations about another cause that person
to behave in ways that confirm the expectations.

Mechanism: Expectation → Treatment → Behavior change → Expectation confirmed

Classic Study: Rosenthal & Jacobson's "Pygmalion in the Classroom" (1968)

 Researchers gave elementary students a standard IQ test, then randomly selected some
students and told teachers these children were "intellectual bloomers" about to
experience significant growth

 These random students actually showed greater IQ gains than peers

 Mechanism: Teachers likely gave these students more attention, encouragement, and
challenging material, which improved their performance

Real-world example: If a manager believes an employee is high-potential, they may assign more
challenging projects, provide more mentorship, and offer more patience with mistakes—all of
which help that employee actually become high-performing.
3. ATTRIBUTIONAL BIASES

Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE)

Definition: The tendency to overestimate dispositional factors and underestimate situational

factors when explaining others' behavior.

Why it occurs:

 Perceptual salience: We see the person more clearly than the situation

 Cognitive economy: It's easier to attribute to stable traits than analyze complex
situations

 Information asymmetry: We lack access to others' situational constraints

Example: At a party, Claude seems unfriendly and leaves quickly. You conclude "Claude is rude"
(dispositional) rather than considering he just had a fight with his girlfriend or received bad
news (situational).

Actor-Observer Bias

Definition: The tendency to attribute our own behavior to situational factors while attributing
others' behavior to dispositional factors.

Why the difference: We have more information about our own past behavior across situations,
making us aware of our variability. We see ourselves in many contexts; we see others in limited
contexts.

Example: You trip and attribute it to the uneven sidewalk (situation). Someone else trips and
you think "they're clumsy" (disposition).

Cultural Variation in FAE

Critical caveat: The FAE is less common in collectivist cultures (Japan, Korea, China) than
individualistic cultures (USA, Western Europe).

Why: Collectivist cultures emphasize group harmony and situational constraints on behavior.
People in these cultures are socialized to attend more to context and relationships, making
them less likely to ignore situational factors.

False-Consensus Effect

Definition: The tendency to overestimate how many people share our beliefs, attitudes, or
behaviors.
Mechanism: We use our own perspective as an anchor and insufficiently adjust when
estimating others' views. We also tend to associate with similar others, creating an echo
chamber.

Example: Jamal hates horror movies and assumes "most people don't like them either." Sabrina
loves horror movies and assumes "most people enjoy a good scare."

Self-Serving Bias

Definition: The tendency to attribute successes to internal factors and failures to external
factors.

Function: Protects self-esteem and maintains positive self-concept.

Example: A basketball coach emphasizes her brilliant strategy after a championship win ("I
designed the perfect plays") but blames referee calls or player injuries after a first-round loss.

⚠️Distinction from Self-Fulfilling Prophecy:

 Self-serving bias: How we explain our own past behavior (attribution)

 Self-fulfilling prophecy: How expectations shape future behavior (prediction effect)

Just-World Belief (Just-World Phenomenon)

Definition: The belief that the world is fair and people get what they deserve.

Dark side: Leads to victim-blaming—assuming that bad things happen to people who did
something wrong.

Example: Believing unemployed people are lazy, or that assault victims "were asking for it" by
their clothing or behavior. This belief protects our sense of security: "If I behave well, bad things
won't happen to me."

4. ATTITUDE FORMATION AND CHANGE

What Are Attitudes?

Definition: Evaluative beliefs and feelings about objects, people, or ideas that predispose us to
respond positively or negatively.

Components:

 Cognitive: Beliefs about the object ("Exercise is healthy")

 Affective: Emotional reactions ("I feel good when I exercise")

  Behavioral: Predisposition to act ("I plan to exercise tomorrow")

Mere Exposure Effect

Definition: The phenomenon where repeated exposure to a stimulus increases liking for it.

Mechanism: Familiarity breeds comfort; novel stimuli may signal potential threat, while familiar
stimuli feel safe.

Application in advertising: Brands buy excessive ad space not to inform, but to create
familiarity. You're more likely to buy the chip brand you've seen 100 times than the unknown
alternative.

Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM)

A dual-process theory of persuasion:

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Processing
Route Depth When Used Characteristics

High
Deep, motivation/ability to Focuses on argument quality; creates
Central analytical process enduring attitude change

Low Focuses on surface cues

Shallow, motivation/ability to (attractiveness, credibility, emotions);
Peripheral heuristic process creates temporary attitude change

Example: Buying a car—central route: researching safety ratings, fuel efficiency, resale value.
Peripheral route: choosing because the ad featured your favorite celebrity or the car looks sleek.

Factors in Persuasion

Communicator Characteristics:

 Attractiveness: Halo effect—attractive people are perceived as more credible,

intelligent, and trustworthy

 Famous people: Transfer of positive feelings from celebrity to product

  Expertise: Credentials increase persuasiveness (doctors in pharmaceutical ads)

Audience Characteristics:

 Education level: More educated audiences are harder to persuade via peripheral cues

 Initial position: Those with extreme views are harder to move

Message Characteristics:

 One-sided vs. two-sided: Uninformed audiences → one-sided works best. Sophisticated

audiences → two-sided (acknowledging then refuting counterarguments) is more
credible

 Fear appeals: Moderate fear + specific action steps = effective. High fear without
solutions = defensive avoidance (people tune out)

5. ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOR

The Attitude-Behavior Gap

Attitudes predict behavior imperfectly. LaPiere's Study (1934) demonstrated this dramatically:

 Context: 1930s USA, widespread anti-Chinese prejudice

 Method: Traveled with Chinese couple to 251 hotels/restaurants; only 1 refused service

 Follow-up: Mailed establishments asking if they'd serve Chinese patrons; 92% said they
would refuse

 Conclusion: People's stated attitudes (what they say they'd do) diverged dramatically
from actual behavior

Why the gap?

 Social desirability bias in attitude reports

 Specific situations contain powerful situational pressures

 General attitudes don't predict specific behaviors well

Cognitive Dissonance Theory (Festinger)

Definition: The psychological tension produced when we hold inconsistent cognitions (attitudes,
beliefs, behaviors). We are motivated to reduce this discomfort.
Mechanism: When behavior and attitude conflict, and behavior can't be changed, attitude
changes to match behavior.

Classic Study: Festinger & Carlsmith (1959)

 Participants performed boring task (turning pegs), then asked to tell next "participant"
(confederate) it was enjoyable

 Condition 1: Paid $1 to lie

 Condition 2: Paid $20 to lie

 Result: $1 participants later rated task as actually more enjoyable than $20 participants

Why? $20 provided sufficient external justification for lying—"I did it for the money." $1 was
insufficient justification, creating dissonance: "I lied for almost nothing, so maybe it wasn't really
boring?" To reduce dissonance, they changed their attitude toward the task.

Real-world example: Hazing rituals. The more painful/embarrassing the initiation, the more
value members place on group membership (otherwise, why would they have endured it?).

6. COMPLIANCE STRATEGIES

Techniques to gain agreement to requests:

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Technique Mechanism Example

Foot-in-the- Small request → agreement → Ask to borrow $5, then after

door larger request agreement, ask for additional $15

Door-in-the- Large request → refusal → smaller Ask for $100, get refused, then ask
face request seems reasonable for $20

Norms of Give something → create Charity sends free address labels,

reciprocity obligation to return favor you feel compelled to donate
Social Traps: Situations where individual rational behavior leads to collective harm. Everyone
benefits from conservation, but each person's individual contribution is so small that acting in
self-interest (not conserving) seems logical. Result: collective environmental destruction.

7. STEREOTYPES, PREJUDICE, AND DISCRIMINATION

Definitions

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Term Definition Example

Cognitive: Beliefs about group

Stereotype characteristics "New Yorkers are pushy"

Affective: Undeserved negative Disliking someone because

Prejudice attitude toward a group they're from New York

Refusing to hire someone from

Discrimination Behavioral: Acting on prejudice New York

The vicious cycle: Stereotypes → prejudice → discrimination → confirmation of stereotypes

(through restricted opportunities) → strengthened prejudice

Explicit vs. Implicit Attitudes

 Explicit: Conscious, controllable, reportable on surveys

 Implicit: Unconscious, automatic, measured via reaction time (Implicit Association Test
—IAT)

Real-world impact: Someone may explicitly support equality (explicit attitude) while still
showing automatic negative associations with certain groups (implicit attitude), affecting split-
second decisions like hiring callbacks.

Ethnocentrism vs. Multiculturalism

 Ethnocentrism: Using one's own culture as the standard to judge others; viewing own
culture as superior
  Multiculturalism: Recognizing value in diverse cultural contributions

In-Group vs. Out-Group Dynamics

Out-Group Homogeneity Bias: Seeing members of other groups as more similar to each other
than they actually are.

Example: "All New Yorkers are the same" (pushy, loud) while recognizing diversity within your
own group (different personalities, backgrounds among people from your hometown).

In-Group Bias: Preferring members of one's own group.

Origin: We assume we're good people; people in our group must also be good.

Reducing Prejudice: Contact Theory

Requirements for effective contact:

1. Equal status between groups

2. Common goals (superordinate goals)

3. Intergroup cooperation (not competition)

4. Institutional support (authority figures endorse contact)

Sherif's Robbers Cave Study (1966):

 22 boys at summer camp divided into two groups (Eagles vs. Rattlers)

 Phase 1: Competition created hostility between groups

 Phase 2: Superordinate goals (fixing water supply, pulling stuck truck) required
cooperation

 Result: Intergroup hostility reduced through cooperative interdependence

8. AGGRESSION AND ANTISOCIAL BEHAVIOR

Types of Aggression

 Instrumental: Aggression as means to an end (child pushes another to take toy)

 Hostile: Aggression driven by anger, no clear goal (child hits another because frustrated)

Theories of Aggression
Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis: Frustration (blocking of goal) creates anger, which increases
likelihood of aggression.

Social Learning Theory (Bandura): Aggression learned through observation and imitation. Bobo
Doll Experiment (1963): Children who watched adults attack inflatable doll were more likely to
imitate that aggression when frustrated.

9. PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOR

Bystander Effect

Definition: The larger the number of people witnessing an emergency, the less likely any
individual is to help.

Mechanisms:

1. Diffusion of Responsibility: Responsibility spread across group; each person feels less
personally responsible

 Example: In a crowded street, everyone assumes someone else will call 911

2. Pluralistic Ignorance: Looking to others to interpret ambiguous situations; if no one

reacts, situation must not be serious

 Example: Smoke enters classroom; if no one reacts, each student concludes it's
not dangerous

Kitty Genovese Case (1964): Murder in NYC witnessed by ~38 neighbors, none intervened or
called police immediately. (Note: Historical details disputed, but launched bystander research.)

10. ATTRACTION

Key Factors

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Factor Explanation Example

Similarity We like those who share Friendships form between people with
 Factor Explanation Example

attitudes, values, backgrounds same hobbies

Physical closeness increases Dorm mates more likely to become

Proximity exposure and interaction friends than distant students

Reciprocal Knowing someone enjoys your company

Liking We like those who like us increases your attraction to them

Physical Attractiveness

 Halo effect: Attractive people assumed to have other positive traits (intelligence,
kindness, competence)

 Benefits extend beyond dating: Attractive people receive lighter legal sentences, better
job evaluations, more help from strangers

Love and Intimacy

Self-Disclosure: Sharing personal information with another; builds intimacy through reciprocity.

Process: Superficial disclosure → deeper disclosure → increased intimacy → trust →

relationship development

11. SOCIAL INFLUENCE: CONFORMITY AND OBEDIENCE

Social Facilitation vs. Impairment

 Social Facilitation: Presence of others improves performance on simple/well-learned

tasks (running faster, yelling louder)

 Social Impairment: Presence of others hurts performance on complex/new tasks

(difficult puzzles, new skills)

Explanation: Arousal from being watched enhances dominant responses (correct for easy tasks,
incorrect for hard tasks).

Social Comparison

 Upward: Comparing to those doing better → can inspire or depress

  Downward: Comparing to those doing worse → boosts self-esteem

Relative Deprivation: Feeling dissatisfied despite objective success because of upward

comparison to those doing even better.

Conformity

Two Types of Social Influence:

 Normative: Conforming to be liked/accepted (wear jeans to fit in)

 Informational: Conforming because group seems to have correct information (wear

bright clothes for midnight running club for safety)

Asch's Conformity Study (1951):

 Participants judged line lengths; confederates gave obviously wrong answers

 Results: ~75% conformed at least once; ~33% of wrong-answer trials showed conformity

 Factors increasing conformity: Unanimous group, 3+ members, ambiguous task, low

self-confidence

Obedience

Milgram's Shock Experiment (1974):

 Participants assigned "teacher" role; "learner" (confederate) in adjacent room

 Teacher administered supposed shocks (15-450V) for wrong answers

 Learner protested, screamed, eventually went silent

 Result: ~65% administered maximum shock despite distress

Factors reducing obedience:

 Experimenter left room (authority less present)

 Teacher had to touch learner (proximity increased empathy)

 Other "teachers" refused (disobedient models)

Ethical controversy: Would not pass modern IRB review due to psychological harm (participants
learned they could torture someone when ordered).

Deindividuation

Definition: Loss of self-awareness and restraint in group situations where anonymity and
arousal combine.
Zimbardo's Prison Experiment (1971):

 Stanford students randomly assigned "guard" or "prisoner" roles

 Prisoners arrested, deloused, given numbers; guards given uniforms, sunglasses

 Result: Guards became cruel, prisoners became distressed; experiment terminated early

 Demonstrated: Power of roles and deindividuation to transform behavior

12. GROUP DYNAMICS

Social Loafing

Definition: Reduced effort when working in groups compared to working alone.

Causes:

 Individual contributions less identifiable in groups

 Diffusion of responsibility

 Opportunity to "free ride" on others' efforts

Example: In a group project, some members contribute less because they know others will
compensate.

Group Polarization

Definition: Groups make more extreme decisions than individuals would make alone.

Mechanisms:

 Informational: Exposure to new arguments supporting initial position

 Normative: Shift toward perceived group norm to fit in

Example: A moderately conservative group becomes very conservative after discussion; a

moderately risky decision becomes very risky.

Groupthink (Janis)

Definition: Dysfunctional decision-making in cohesive groups where dissent is suppressed to

maintain harmony.

Symptoms:

 Illusion of invulnerability
  Belief in group's moral superiority

 Pressure on dissenters

 Self-censorship of doubts

 Illusion of unanimity

Historical example: Bay of Pigs invasion—Kennedy administration group failed to critically

evaluate plan due to desire for consensus.

PART II: PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY

13. FOUNDATIONS

Definition

Personality: The unique, relatively stable patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving that
characterize an individual and differentiate them from others.

Type A vs. Type B Personalities

 Type A: Time-urgent, competitive, easily angered; higher heart disease risk

 Type B: Relaxed, easygoing, less time-conscious

 Note: Not a continuum—some people fit neither type

14. PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORIES

Freud's Structural Model

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Componen
t Principle Contents Development

Id Pleasure principle Instincts, unconscious desires Present at birth

 Componen
t Principle Contents Development

Ego Reality principle Mediates between id and reality Ages 2-3

Superego Morality principle Conscience, ideals Age 5

Analogy: The id is like a demanding toddler ("I want candy now!"), the superego is like a strict
parent ("Candy is bad for you"), and the ego is the mediator ("You can have candy after
dinner").

Levels of Consciousness

 Conscious: Current thoughts

 Preconscious: Easily accessible memories (what you had for breakfast)

 Unconscious: Repressed thoughts, instincts, traumatic memories (inaccessible without

effort)

Defense Mechanisms

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Example: Biff dumped by

Mechanism Definition Muffy

Blocking threatening thoughts from "Who? I haven't thought

Repression awareness about her"

Denial Refusing to accept reality Still acts like they're together

Displacement Redirecting emotions to safer target Yells at little brother instead

Projection Attributing own feelings to others "Muffy still loves me"

 Example: Biff dumped by
Mechanism Definition Muffy

Reaction
formation Expressing opposite of true feeling Claims he hates Muffy

Reverting to earlier developmental Sleeps with childhood

Regression stage stuffed animal

"I can find someone better

Rationalization Creating logical excuses anyway"

Removing emotion, analyzing Researches teen breakups

Intellectualization intellectually academically

Channeling impulses into socially Writes poetry (healthy

Sublimation acceptable activities mechanism)

⚠️Common confusion:

 Displacement: A→B (angry at boss, yells at spouse)

 Projection: A believes B feels toward A what A feels toward B (I hate him → He hates
me)

Jung's Analytical Psychology

 Personal unconscious: Individual repressed memories (complexes)

 Collective unconscious: Inherited, species-wide unconscious containing archetypes

(universal symbols)

o Shadow: Dark side of personality

o Persona: Public mask we present

o Evidence: Common fears (darkness), circle symbolism across cultures

Adler's Individual Psychology

 Focus: Conscious ego, not unconscious

  Key concepts:

o Inferiority: Fear of failure motivating achievement

o Superiority: Drive to overcome inferiority

o Birth order: Position in family shapes personality

Projective Tests

Rationale: Ambiguous stimuli allow unconscious to "project" onto test.

Types:

 Rorschach Inkblot Test: Interpret inkblots; scoring considers content, location,

determinants (color, form, movement)

 Thematic Apperception Test (TAT): Create stories about ambiguous pictures

Criticism: Low reliability and validity; heavily dependent on interpreter's judgment.

15. HUMANISTIC THEORIES

Core Assumptions

 People are innately good

 Humans have free will (contrast with determinism of psychoanalysis/behaviorism)

 Focus on subjective experience and self-concept

Carl Rogers' Self-Theory

Key concepts:

 Self-concept: Global feeling about oneself

 Self-esteem: Evaluation of self-worth

 Self-actualization: Innate drive to reach full potential

 Unconditional positive regard: Complete acceptance without conditions

Critical condition for growth: Receiving unconditional positive regard from caregivers.
Conditional regard ("I'll love you if you get good grades") creates incongruence between real
self and ideal self, blocking actualization.

Criticism: Overly optimistic—difficult to explain evil actions if humans are inherently good.
16. TRAIT THEORIES

Nomothetic vs. Idiographic Approaches

 Nomothetic: Same traits describe all people (universal dimensions)

 Idiographic: Unique trait patterns for each individual

Major Trait Models

Eysenck's Two Dimensions:

 Introversion-Extraversion

 Stable-Unstable (neuroticism)

Cattell's 16 PF: 16 basic traits measured by questionnaire

The Big Five (OCEAN):

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Trait Description High Scorer Low Scorer

Artistic, Practical,
Openness Curiosity, creativity imaginative traditional

Organization, Disciplined, Spontaneous,

Conscientiousness dependability careful careless

Sociability, positive Outgoing, Reserved,

Extraversion emotionality energetic solitary

Competitive,
Agreeableness Cooperation, trust Kind, trusting skeptical
 Trait Description High Scorer Low Scorer

Neuroticism (Emotional Emotional instability, Anxious,

Stability) negative emotionality moody Calm, secure

Method: Factor analysis—statistical technique identifying clusters of correlated traits.

Allport's Personal Traits

 Cardinal: Dominates entire personality (rare)

 Central: Major characteristics

 Secondary: Situational-specific traits

Criticism of trait theory: Underestimates situational influence; behavior varies across contexts.

17. SOCIAL-COGNITIVE THEORIES

Bandura's Reciprocal Determinism

Triadic model: Person ↔ Environment ↔ Behavior (all influence each other)

Example: Friendly person (trait) → talks to many people (behavior) → attends parties
(environment) → parties reinforce friendliness → cycle continues

Self-Efficacy

Definition: Belief in one's ability to execute behaviors necessary to produce specific outcomes.

Impact: High self-efficacy → greater effort, persistence, resilience; predicts success beyond
actual ability.

Example: Two students with equal math ability; higher self-efficacy student expects to succeed,
tries harder, persists longer, actually does better.

Rotter's Locus of Control

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 Type Belief Correlates

Better health, academic achievement,

Internal Outcomes result from own actions political engagement

Externa Outcomes determined by luck, fate,

l powerful others Learned helplessness, passivity

Note: Correlational, not causal. Internals may actually have more control over environments,
creating their outcomes.

Explanatory Styles (Seligman)

Optimistic style:

 Good events: Internal, global, stable ("I'm smart; I'm good at many things; I'll continue
doing well")

 Bad events: External, specific, unstable ("That test was unfair; just this subject; I'll do
better next time")

Pessimistic style: Opposite pattern—personalizes failure, generalizes problems, sees them as

permanent.

Assessment Methods

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Method Type Pros Cons

Personality Objective, self- Standardized, Social desirability bias,

inventories (MMPI-2) report reliable lie scales needed

Rich data, Interviewer bias, lower

Interviews Subjective flexibility reliability

Behavioral observation Objective Direct Time-consuming,

 Method Type Pros Cons

measurement observer effects

The Barnum Effect

Definition: Tendency to accept vague, general personality descriptions as uniquely applicable to

oneself.

Origin: Named after P.T. Barnum ("There's a sucker born every minute")

Exploitation: Astrology, psychics, fortune tellers use vague statements ("You have a great need
for other people to like and admire you") that almost anyone will endorse as personally
accurate.

Defense: Be skeptical of quick personality assessments; legitimate psychology requires rigorous

measurement.