12.2 Self-Presentation - Psychology 2e

Introduction

• Social Psychology: Study of how individuals affect each other's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
• Discusses situational perspectives and the influence of environment and culture on behavior.
• Focus on situational forces: social roles, social norms, and scripts.

Key Concepts

Social Roles

• Definition: Expected behavior patterns in specific settings or groups.
• Examples: Student, parent, teacher, employee, etc.
• Culturally shared knowledge dictates expected behavior.
• Behavior varies with context (e.g., family vs. workplace).

Social Norms

• Definition: Group expectations for appropriate behavior.
• Present in various settings: colleges, workplaces, families, etc.
• Influence on behavior, dress, speech, and interactions.

Scripts

• Definition: Knowledge of expected sequence of events in specific settings.
• Examples: First day of school, restaurant etiquette.
• Cultural differences in scripts (e.g., eye contact in the US vs. 'psst' in Brazil for server’s attention).

Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment

• Conducted by Philip Zimbardo at Stanford University in 1971.
• Purpose: Study the psychological effects of perceived power.
• Participants: 24 male college students randomly assigned as prisoners or guards.
• Findings:
  • Participants adopted roles zealously.
  • Guards displayed sadistic behavior; prisoners showed anxiety and hopelessness.
  • Experiment terminated after 6 days due to ethical concerns and participant distress.
• Criticisms:
  • Recruitment and random assignment methods.
  • Experimenter's influence on expected behaviors.
  • Lack of successful replication in subsequent studies.
• Parallel with the Abu Ghraib prison abuses in Iraq (2003-2004).

Learning Objectives

• Describe how social roles and norms influence behavior.
• Define and understand the concept of scripts.
• Analyze the findings and critiques of Zimbardo's experiment.

Additional Resources

• NPR interview with Philip Zimbardo discussing parallels between his experiment and Abu Ghraib.

Citation

• OpenStax Psychology 2e, by Rose M. Spielman, William J. Jenkins, Marilyn D. Lovett.
• Book available for free under Creative Commons Attribution License.