{"id":314,"date":"2015-02-06T23:15:43","date_gmt":"2015-02-06T23:15:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.candelalearning.com\/ospsych\/?post_type=chapter&#038;p=314"},"modified":"2016-11-17T04:13:00","modified_gmt":"2016-11-17T04:13:00","slug":"self-presentation","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-intropsychmaster\/chapter\/self-presentation\/","title":{"raw":"Self-presentation","rendered":"Self-presentation"},"content":{"raw":"<div class=\"bcc-box bcc-highlight\">\r\n<h3>Learning Objectives<\/h3>\r\nBy the end of this section, you will be able to:\r\n<ul>\r\n \t<li>Describe social roles and how they influence behavior<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Explain what social norms are and how they influence behavior<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Define script<\/li>\r\n \t<li>Describe the findings of Zimbardo\u2019s Stanford prison experiment<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n<\/div>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<p id=\"fs-idm43897888\">As you\u2019ve learned, social psychology is the study of how people affect one another\u2019s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. We have discussed situational perspectives and social psychology\u2019s emphasis on the ways in which a person\u2019s environment, including culture and other social influences, affect behavior. In this section, we examine situational forces that have a strong influence on human behavior including social roles, social norms, and scripts. We discuss how humans use the social environment as a source of information, or cues, on how to behave. Situational influences on our behavior have important consequences, such as whether we will help a stranger in an emergency or how we would behave in an unfamiliar environment.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<section id=\"fs-idp92592592\" data-depth=\"1\">\r\n<h2><\/h2>\r\n<h2>SOCIAL ROLES<\/h2>\r\n<p id=\"fs-idp12393008\">One major social determinant of human behavior is our social roles. A <span data-type=\"term\">social role<\/span> is a pattern of behavior that is expected of a person in a given setting or group (Hare, 2003). Each one of us has several social roles. You may be, at the same time, a student, a parent, an aspiring teacher, a son or daughter, a spouse, and a lifeguard. How do these social roles influence your behavior? Social roles are defined by culturally shared knowledge. That is, nearly everyone in a given culture knows what behavior is expected of a person in a given role. For example, what is the social role for a student? If you look around a college classroom you will likely see students engaging in studious behavior, taking notes, listening to the professor, reading the textbook, and sitting quietly at their desks (<a class=\"autogenerated-content\" href=\"#CNX_Psych_12_02_classroom\">[link]<\/a>). Of course you may see students deviating from the expected studious behavior such as texting on their phones or using Facebook on their laptops, but in all cases, the students that you observe are attending class\u2014a part of the social role of students.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<figure id=\"CNX_Psych_12_02_classroom\">\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"\" align=\"alignright\" width=\"325\"]<img src=\"https:\/\/textimgs.s3.amazonaws.com\/ospsych\/m49116\/CNX_Psych_12_02_classroom.jpg#fixme\" alt=\"A photograph shows students in a classroom.\" width=\"325\" height=\"244\" data-media-type=\"image\/jpeg\" \/> Being a student is just one of the many social roles you have. (credit: \u201cUniversity of Michigan MSIS\u201d\/Flickr)[\/caption]\r\n\r\n<\/figure>\r\n<p id=\"fs-idp19254336\">Social roles, and our related behavior, can vary across different settings. How do you behave when you are engaging in the role of son or daughter and attending a family function? Now imagine how you behave when you are engaged in the role of employee at your workplace. It is very likely that your behavior will be different. Perhaps you are more relaxed and outgoing with your family, making jokes and doing silly things. But at your workplace you might speak more professionally, and although you may be friendly, you are also serious and focused on getting the work completed. These are examples of how our social roles influence and often dictate our behavior to the extent that identity and personality can vary with context (that is, in different social groups) (Malloy, Albright, Kenny, Agatstein &amp; Winquist, 1997).<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/section><section id=\"fs-idm103473056\" data-depth=\"1\">\r\n<h2><\/h2>\r\n<h2>SOCIAL NORMS<\/h2>\r\n<p id=\"fs-idm56991008\">As discussed previously, social roles are defined by a culture\u2019s shared knowledge of what is expected behavior of an individual in a specific role. This shared knowledge comes from social norms. A <span data-type=\"term\">social norm<\/span> is a group\u2019s expectation of what is appropriate and acceptable behavior for its members\u2014how they are supposed to behave and think (Deutsch &amp; Gerard, 1955; Berkowitz, 2004). How are we expected to act? What are we expected to talk about? What are we expected to wear? In our discussion of social roles we noted that colleges have social norms for students\u2019 behavior in the role of student and workplaces have social norms for employees\u2019 behaviors in the role of employee. Social norms are everywhere including in families, gangs, and on social media outlets. What are some social norms on Facebook?<\/p>\r\n\r\n<div id=\"fs-idp5095520\" class=\"psychology connect-the-concepts\" data-type=\"note\" data-label=\"Connect the Concepts\">\r\n<div data-type=\"title\"><\/div>\r\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" data-type=\"title\">\r\n<div data-type=\"title\"><strong>Connect the Concepts: Tweens, Teens, and Social Norms<\/strong><\/div>\r\n<p id=\"fs-idp69075744\">My 11-year-old daughter, Jessica, recently told me she needed shorts and shirts for the summer, and that she wanted me to take her to a store at the mall that is popular with preteens and teens to buy them. I have noticed that many girls have clothes from that store, so I tried teasing her. I said, \u201cAll the shirts say \u2018Aero\u2019 on the front. If you are wearing a shirt like that and you have a substitute teacher, and the other girls are all wearing that type of shirt, won\u2019t the substitute teacher think you are all named \u2018Aero\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\r\n<p id=\"fs-idp76952192\">My daughter replied, in typical 11-year-old fashion, \u201cMom, you are not funny. Can we please go shopping?\u201d<\/p>\r\n<p id=\"fs-idm62726864\">I tried a different tactic. I asked Jessica if having clothing from that particular store will make her popular. She replied, \u201cNo, it will not make me popular. It is what the popular kids wear. It will make me feel happier.\u201d How can a label or name brand make someone feel happier?\r\nThink back to what you\u2019ve learned about <span class=\"no-emphasis\" data-type=\"term\">lifespan development<\/span>. What is it about pre-teens and young teens that make them want to fit in (<a class=\"autogenerated-content\" href=\"#CNX_Psych_12_02_preteens\">[link]<\/a>)? Does this change over time? Think back to your high school experience, or look around your college campus. What is the main name brand clothing you see? What messages do we get from the media about how to fit in?<\/p>\r\n\r\n<figure id=\"CNX_Psych_12_02_preteens\"><figcaption><\/figcaption>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"325\"]<img src=\"https:\/\/textimgs.s3.amazonaws.com\/ospsych\/m49116\/CNX_Psych_12_02_preteens.jpg#fixme\" alt=\"A photograph shows a group of young people dressed similarly.\" width=\"325\" height=\"244\" data-media-type=\"image\/jpeg\" \/> Young people struggle to become independent at the same time they are desperately trying to fit in with their peers. (credit: Monica Arellano-Ongpin)[\/caption]\r\n\r\n<\/figure><\/div>\r\n<div data-type=\"title\"><\/div>\r\n<div data-type=\"title\"><\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/section><section id=\"fs-idp49450224\" data-depth=\"1\">\r\n<h2>SCRIPTS<\/h2>\r\n<p id=\"fs-idm75799856\">Because of social roles, people tend to know what behavior is expected of them in specific, familiar settings. A <span data-type=\"term\">script<\/span> is a person\u2019s knowledge about the sequence of events expected in a specific setting (Schank &amp; Abelson, 1977). How do you act on the first day of school, when you walk into an elevator, or are at a restaurant? For example, at a restaurant in the United States, if we want the server\u2019s attention, we try to make eye contact. In Brazil, you would make the sound \u201cpsst\u201d to get the server\u2019s attention. You can see the cultural differences in scripts. To an American, saying \u201cpsst\u201d to a server might seem rude, yet to a Brazilian, trying to make eye contact might not seem an effective strategy. Scripts are important sources of information to guide behavior in given situations. Can you imagine being in an unfamiliar situation and not having a script for how to behave? This could be uncomfortable and confusing. How could you find out about social norms in an unfamiliar culture?<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/section><section id=\"fs-idp18857232\" data-depth=\"1\">\r\n<h2>ZIMBARDO\u2019S STANFORD PRISON EXPERIMENT<\/h2>\r\n<p id=\"fs-idp90217408\">The famous <span data-type=\"term\">Stanford prison experiment<\/span>, conducted by social psychologist Philip <span class=\"no-emphasis\" data-type=\"term\">Zimbardo<\/span> and his colleagues at Stanford University, demonstrated the power of social roles, social norms, and scripts. In the summer of 1971, an advertisement was placed in a California newspaper asking for male volunteers to participate in a study about the psychological effects of prison life. More than 70 men volunteered, and these volunteers then underwent psychological testing to eliminate candidates who had underlying psychiatric issues, medical issues, or a history of crime or drug abuse. The pool of volunteers was whittled down to 24 healthy male college students. Each student was paid $15 per day and was randomly assigned to play the role of either a prisoner or a guard in the study. Based on what you have learned about research methods, why is it important that participants were randomly assigned?<\/p>\r\n<p id=\"fs-idm40032192\">A mock prison was constructed in the basement of the psychology building at Stanford. Participants assigned to play the role of prisoners were \u201carrested\u201d at their homes by Palo Alto police officers, booked at a police station, and subsequently taken to the mock prison. The experiment was scheduled to run for several weeks. To the surprise of the researchers, both the \u201cprisoners\u201d and \u201cguards\u201d assumed their roles with zeal. In fact, on day 2, some of the prisoners revolted, and the guards quelled the rebellion by threatening the prisoners with night sticks. In a relatively short time, the guards came to harass the prisoners in an increasingly sadistic manner, through a complete lack of privacy, lack of basic comforts such as mattresses to sleep on, and through degrading chores and late-night counts.<\/p>\r\n<p id=\"fs-idp70030256\">The prisoners, in turn, began to show signs of severe anxiety and hopelessness\u2014they began tolerating the guards\u2019 abuse. Even the Stanford professor who designed the study and was the head researcher, Philip Zimbardo, found himself acting as if the prison was real and his role, as prison supervisor, was real as well. After only six days, the experiment had to be ended due to the participants\u2019 deteriorating behavior. Zimbardo explained,<\/p>\r\n\r\n<blockquote id=\"fs-idm33713824\">At this point it became clear that we had to end the study. We had created an overwhelmingly powerful situation\u2014a situation in which prisoners were withdrawing and behaving in pathological ways, and in which some of the guards were behaving sadistically. Even the \u201cgood\u201d guards felt helpless to intervene, and none of the guards quit while the study was in progress. Indeed, it should be noted that no guard ever came late for his shift, called in sick, left early, or demanded extra pay for overtime work. (Zimbardo, 2013)<\/blockquote>\r\n<p id=\"fs-idp1841888\">The Stanford prison experiment demonstrated the power of social roles, norms, and scripts in affecting human behavior. The guards and prisoners enacted their social roles by engaging in behaviors appropriate to the roles: The guards gave orders and the prisoners followed orders. Social norms require guards to be authoritarian and prisoners to be submissive. When prisoners rebelled, they violated these social norms, which led to upheaval. The specific acts engaged by the guards and the prisoners derived from scripts. For example, guards degraded the prisoners by forcing them do push-ups and by removing all privacy. Prisoners rebelled by throwing pillows and trashing their cells. Some prisoners became so immersed in their roles that they exhibited symptoms of mental breakdown; however, according to Zimbardo, none of the participants suffered long term harm (Alexander, 2001).<\/p>\r\n<p id=\"fs-idm1820944\">The Stanford Prison Experiment has some parallels with the abuse of prisoners of war by U.S. Army troops and CIA personnel at the Abu Ghraib prison in 2003 and 2004. The offenses at Abu <span class=\"no-emphasis\" data-type=\"term\">Ghraib<\/span> were documented by photographs of the abuse, some taken by the abusers themselves (<a class=\"autogenerated-content\" href=\"#CNX_Psych_12_02_AbuGhraib\">[link]<\/a>).<\/p>\r\n\r\n<figure id=\"CNX_Psych_12_02_AbuGhraib\"><figcaption><\/figcaption>\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"244\"]<img src=\"https:\/\/textimgs.s3.amazonaws.com\/ospsych\/m49116\/CNX_Psych_12_02_AbuGhraib.jpg#fixme\" alt=\"A photograph shows a person standing on a box with arms held out. The person is covered in shawl-like attire and a full hood that covers the face completely.\" width=\"244\" height=\"324\" data-media-type=\"image\/jpeg\" \/> Iraqi prisoners of war were abused by their American captors in Abu Ghraib prison, during the second Iraq war. (credit: United States Department of Defense)[\/caption]\r\n\r\n<\/figure>\r\n<div id=\"fs-idp91430304\" class=\"psychology link-to-learning textbox\" data-type=\"note\" data-label=\"Link to Learning\">\r\n\r\n<em><strong>Link to Learning<\/strong><\/em>\r\n<p id=\"fs-idm80246832\">Visit this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/templates\/story\/story.php?storyId=1870756\" target=\"_blank\">website<\/a> to hear an NPR interview with Philip <span class=\"no-emphasis\" data-type=\"term\">Zimbardo<\/span> where he discusses the parallels between the Stanford prison experiment and the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/section><section id=\"fs-idm88112144\" class=\"summary\" data-depth=\"1\">\r\n<h2><\/h2>\r\n<h2>Summary<\/h2>\r\n<p id=\"fs-idp55565904\">Human behavior is largely influenced by our social roles, norms, and scripts. In order to know how to act in a given situation, we have shared cultural knowledge of how to behave depending on our role in society. Social norms dictate the behavior that is appropriate or inappropriate for each role. Each social role has scripts that help humans learn the sequence of appropriate behaviors in a given setting. The famous Stanford prison experiment is an example of how the power of the situation can dictate the social roles, norms, and scripts we follow in a given situation, even if this behavior is contrary to our typical behavior.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/section><section id=\"fs-idm47167296\" class=\"review-questions\" data-depth=\"1\">\r\n<h2><\/h2>\r\nhttps:\/\/oea.herokuapp.com\/assessments\/1344\r\n\r\n<\/section><section id=\"fs-idp9587376\" class=\"critical-thinking\" data-depth=\"1\">\r\n<div class=\"bcc-box bcc-info\">\r\n<h3>Self Check Questions<\/h3>\r\n<section id=\"self-check-questions\"><section id=\"fs-idp9587376\" class=\"critical-thinking\" data-depth=\"1\">\r\n<h4 data-type=\"title\"><em><strong>Critical Thinking Questions<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\r\n<div id=\"fs-idm40491760\" data-type=\"exercise\">\r\n<div id=\"fs-idp12332544\" data-type=\"problem\">\r\n<p id=\"fs-idp92092592\">1. Why didn\u2019t the \u201cgood\u201d guards in the Stanford prison experiment object to other guards\u2019 abusive behavior? Were the student prisoners simply weak people? Why didn\u2019t they object to being abused?<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div id=\"fs-idp12052752\" data-type=\"exercise\">\r\n<div id=\"fs-idp3025632\" data-type=\"problem\">\r\n<p id=\"fs-idm44845584\">2. Describe how social roles, social norms, and scripts were evident in the Stanford prison experiment. How can this experiment be applied to everyday life? Are there any more recent examples where people started fulfilling a role and became abusive?<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/section><section id=\"fs-idp92690736\" class=\"personal-application\" data-depth=\"1\">\r\n<h4 data-type=\"title\"><em><strong>Personal Application Questions<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\r\n<div id=\"fs-idp46938096\" data-type=\"exercise\">\r\n<div id=\"fs-idm1867200\" data-type=\"problem\">\r\n<p id=\"fs-idp21250800\">3. Try attending a religious service very different from your own and see how you feel and behave without knowing the appropriate script. Or, try attending an important, personal event that you have never attended before, such as a bar mitzvah (a coming-of-age ritual in Jewish culture), a quincea\u00f1era (in some Latin American cultures a party is given to a girl who is turning 15 years old), a wedding, a funeral, or a sporting event new to you, such as horse racing or bull riding. Observe and record your feelings and behaviors in this unfamiliar setting for which you lack the appropriate script. Do you silently observe the action, or do you ask another person for help interpreting the behaviors of people at the event? Describe in what ways your behavior would change if you were to attend a similar event in the future?<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<div id=\"fs-idp16213808\" data-type=\"exercise\">\r\n<div id=\"fs-idp77186016\" data-type=\"problem\">\r\n<p id=\"fs-idp28395600\">4. Name and describe at least three social roles you have adopted for yourself. Why did you adopt these roles? What are some roles that are expected of you, but that you try to resist?<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/section><\/section><\/div>\r\n<h3><\/h3>\r\n<div class=\"bcc-box bcc-info\"><section id=\"self-check-answers\">\r\n<div data-type=\"exercise\">\r\n<h3>Answers<\/h3>\r\n<div id=\"fs-idp19246608\" data-type=\"solution\">\r\n\r\n1. The good guards were fulfilling their social roles and they did not object to other guards\u2019 abusive behavior because of the power of the situation. In addition, the prison supervisor\u2019s behavior sanctioned the guards\u2019 negative treatment of prisoners. The prisoners were not weak people; they were recruited because they were healthy, mentally stable adults. The power of their social role influenced them to engage in subservient prisoner behavior. The script for prisoners is to accept abusive behavior from authority figures, especially for punishment, when they do not follow the rules.\r\n<p id=\"fs-idm55999728\">2. Social roles were in play as each participant acted out behaviors appropriate to his role as prisoner, guard, or supervisor. Scripts determined the specific behaviors the guards and prisoners displayed, such as humiliation and passivity. The social norms of a prison environment sanctions abuse of prisoners since they have lost many of their human rights and became the property of the government. This experiment can be applied to other situations in which social norms, roles, and scripts dictate our behavior, such as in mob behavior. A more recent example of similar behavior was the abuse of prisoners by American soldiers who were working as prison guards at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/section><\/div>\r\n<h3><\/h3>\r\n<div class=\"bcc-box bcc-success\"><section id=\"glossary\">\r\n<h3>Glossary<\/h3>\r\n<div id=\"fs-idm38991440\" data-type=\"definition\"><strong><span data-type=\"term\">script\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong>person\u2019s knowledge about the sequence of events in a specific setting<\/div>\r\n<div id=\"fs-idm13711920\" data-type=\"definition\"><strong><span data-type=\"term\">social norm\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong>group\u2019s expectations regarding what is appropriate and acceptable for the thoughts and behavior of its members<\/div>\r\n<div id=\"fs-idm38509040\" data-type=\"definition\"><strong><span data-type=\"term\">social role\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong>socially defined pattern of behavior that is expected of a person in a given setting or group<\/div>\r\n<div id=\"fs-idp16732352\" data-type=\"definition\"><strong><span data-type=\"term\">stanford prison experiment <\/span><\/strong>Stanford University conducted an experiment in a mock prison that demonstrated the power of social roles, social norms, and scripts<\/div>\r\n<\/section><\/div>\r\n<\/section>\r\n<div data-type=\"term\">\r\n<h2><\/h2>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n<div id=\"fs-idp19246608\" data-type=\"solution\"><\/div>\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n&nbsp;","rendered":"<div class=\"bcc-box bcc-highlight\">\n<h3>Learning Objectives<\/h3>\n<p>By the end of this section, you will be able to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Describe social roles and how they influence behavior<\/li>\n<li>Explain what social norms are and how they influence behavior<\/li>\n<li>Define script<\/li>\n<li>Describe the findings of Zimbardo\u2019s Stanford prison experiment<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p id=\"fs-idm43897888\">As you\u2019ve learned, social psychology is the study of how people affect one another\u2019s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. We have discussed situational perspectives and social psychology\u2019s emphasis on the ways in which a person\u2019s environment, including culture and other social influences, affect behavior. In this section, we examine situational forces that have a strong influence on human behavior including social roles, social norms, and scripts. We discuss how humans use the social environment as a source of information, or cues, on how to behave. Situational influences on our behavior have important consequences, such as whether we will help a stranger in an emergency or how we would behave in an unfamiliar environment.<\/p>\n<section id=\"fs-idp92592592\" data-depth=\"1\">\n<h2><\/h2>\n<h2>SOCIAL ROLES<\/h2>\n<p id=\"fs-idp12393008\">One major social determinant of human behavior is our social roles. A <span data-type=\"term\">social role<\/span> is a pattern of behavior that is expected of a person in a given setting or group (Hare, 2003). Each one of us has several social roles. You may be, at the same time, a student, a parent, an aspiring teacher, a son or daughter, a spouse, and a lifeguard. How do these social roles influence your behavior? Social roles are defined by culturally shared knowledge. That is, nearly everyone in a given culture knows what behavior is expected of a person in a given role. For example, what is the social role for a student? If you look around a college classroom you will likely see students engaging in studious behavior, taking notes, listening to the professor, reading the textbook, and sitting quietly at their desks (<a class=\"autogenerated-content\" href=\"#CNX_Psych_12_02_classroom\">[link]<\/a>). Of course you may see students deviating from the expected studious behavior such as texting on their phones or using Facebook on their laptops, but in all cases, the students that you observe are attending class\u2014a part of the social role of students.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"CNX_Psych_12_02_classroom\">\n<div style=\"width: 335px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/textimgs.s3.amazonaws.com\/ospsych\/m49116\/CNX_Psych_12_02_classroom.jpg#fixme\" alt=\"A photograph shows students in a classroom.\" width=\"325\" height=\"244\" data-media-type=\"image\/jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Being a student is just one of the many social roles you have. (credit: \u201cUniversity of Michigan MSIS\u201d\/Flickr)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p id=\"fs-idp19254336\">Social roles, and our related behavior, can vary across different settings. How do you behave when you are engaging in the role of son or daughter and attending a family function? Now imagine how you behave when you are engaged in the role of employee at your workplace. It is very likely that your behavior will be different. Perhaps you are more relaxed and outgoing with your family, making jokes and doing silly things. But at your workplace you might speak more professionally, and although you may be friendly, you are also serious and focused on getting the work completed. These are examples of how our social roles influence and often dictate our behavior to the extent that identity and personality can vary with context (that is, in different social groups) (Malloy, Albright, Kenny, Agatstein &amp; Winquist, 1997).<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"fs-idm103473056\" data-depth=\"1\">\n<h2><\/h2>\n<h2>SOCIAL NORMS<\/h2>\n<p id=\"fs-idm56991008\">As discussed previously, social roles are defined by a culture\u2019s shared knowledge of what is expected behavior of an individual in a specific role. This shared knowledge comes from social norms. A <span data-type=\"term\">social norm<\/span> is a group\u2019s expectation of what is appropriate and acceptable behavior for its members\u2014how they are supposed to behave and think (Deutsch &amp; Gerard, 1955; Berkowitz, 2004). How are we expected to act? What are we expected to talk about? What are we expected to wear? In our discussion of social roles we noted that colleges have social norms for students\u2019 behavior in the role of student and workplaces have social norms for employees\u2019 behaviors in the role of employee. Social norms are everywhere including in families, gangs, and on social media outlets. What are some social norms on Facebook?<\/p>\n<div id=\"fs-idp5095520\" class=\"psychology connect-the-concepts\" data-type=\"note\" data-label=\"Connect the Concepts\">\n<div data-type=\"title\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"textbox shaded\" data-type=\"title\">\n<div data-type=\"title\"><strong>Connect the Concepts: Tweens, Teens, and Social Norms<\/strong><\/div>\n<p id=\"fs-idp69075744\">My 11-year-old daughter, Jessica, recently told me she needed shorts and shirts for the summer, and that she wanted me to take her to a store at the mall that is popular with preteens and teens to buy them. I have noticed that many girls have clothes from that store, so I tried teasing her. I said, \u201cAll the shirts say \u2018Aero\u2019 on the front. If you are wearing a shirt like that and you have a substitute teacher, and the other girls are all wearing that type of shirt, won\u2019t the substitute teacher think you are all named \u2018Aero\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"fs-idp76952192\">My daughter replied, in typical 11-year-old fashion, \u201cMom, you are not funny. Can we please go shopping?\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"fs-idm62726864\">I tried a different tactic. I asked Jessica if having clothing from that particular store will make her popular. She replied, \u201cNo, it will not make me popular. It is what the popular kids wear. It will make me feel happier.\u201d How can a label or name brand make someone feel happier?<br \/>\nThink back to what you\u2019ve learned about <span class=\"no-emphasis\" data-type=\"term\">lifespan development<\/span>. What is it about pre-teens and young teens that make them want to fit in (<a class=\"autogenerated-content\" href=\"#CNX_Psych_12_02_preteens\">[link]<\/a>)? Does this change over time? Think back to your high school experience, or look around your college campus. What is the main name brand clothing you see? What messages do we get from the media about how to fit in?<\/p>\n<figure id=\"CNX_Psych_12_02_preteens\"><figcaption><\/figcaption><div style=\"width: 335px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/textimgs.s3.amazonaws.com\/ospsych\/m49116\/CNX_Psych_12_02_preteens.jpg#fixme\" alt=\"A photograph shows a group of young people dressed similarly.\" width=\"325\" height=\"244\" data-media-type=\"image\/jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Young people struggle to become independent at the same time they are desperately trying to fit in with their peers. (credit: Monica Arellano-Ongpin)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div data-type=\"title\"><\/div>\n<div data-type=\"title\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"fs-idp49450224\" data-depth=\"1\">\n<h2>SCRIPTS<\/h2>\n<p id=\"fs-idm75799856\">Because of social roles, people tend to know what behavior is expected of them in specific, familiar settings. A <span data-type=\"term\">script<\/span> is a person\u2019s knowledge about the sequence of events expected in a specific setting (Schank &amp; Abelson, 1977). How do you act on the first day of school, when you walk into an elevator, or are at a restaurant? For example, at a restaurant in the United States, if we want the server\u2019s attention, we try to make eye contact. In Brazil, you would make the sound \u201cpsst\u201d to get the server\u2019s attention. You can see the cultural differences in scripts. To an American, saying \u201cpsst\u201d to a server might seem rude, yet to a Brazilian, trying to make eye contact might not seem an effective strategy. Scripts are important sources of information to guide behavior in given situations. Can you imagine being in an unfamiliar situation and not having a script for how to behave? This could be uncomfortable and confusing. How could you find out about social norms in an unfamiliar culture?<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"fs-idp18857232\" data-depth=\"1\">\n<h2>ZIMBARDO\u2019S STANFORD PRISON EXPERIMENT<\/h2>\n<p id=\"fs-idp90217408\">The famous <span data-type=\"term\">Stanford prison experiment<\/span>, conducted by social psychologist Philip <span class=\"no-emphasis\" data-type=\"term\">Zimbardo<\/span> and his colleagues at Stanford University, demonstrated the power of social roles, social norms, and scripts. In the summer of 1971, an advertisement was placed in a California newspaper asking for male volunteers to participate in a study about the psychological effects of prison life. More than 70 men volunteered, and these volunteers then underwent psychological testing to eliminate candidates who had underlying psychiatric issues, medical issues, or a history of crime or drug abuse. The pool of volunteers was whittled down to 24 healthy male college students. Each student was paid $15 per day and was randomly assigned to play the role of either a prisoner or a guard in the study. Based on what you have learned about research methods, why is it important that participants were randomly assigned?<\/p>\n<p id=\"fs-idm40032192\">A mock prison was constructed in the basement of the psychology building at Stanford. Participants assigned to play the role of prisoners were \u201carrested\u201d at their homes by Palo Alto police officers, booked at a police station, and subsequently taken to the mock prison. The experiment was scheduled to run for several weeks. To the surprise of the researchers, both the \u201cprisoners\u201d and \u201cguards\u201d assumed their roles with zeal. In fact, on day 2, some of the prisoners revolted, and the guards quelled the rebellion by threatening the prisoners with night sticks. In a relatively short time, the guards came to harass the prisoners in an increasingly sadistic manner, through a complete lack of privacy, lack of basic comforts such as mattresses to sleep on, and through degrading chores and late-night counts.<\/p>\n<p id=\"fs-idp70030256\">The prisoners, in turn, began to show signs of severe anxiety and hopelessness\u2014they began tolerating the guards\u2019 abuse. Even the Stanford professor who designed the study and was the head researcher, Philip Zimbardo, found himself acting as if the prison was real and his role, as prison supervisor, was real as well. After only six days, the experiment had to be ended due to the participants\u2019 deteriorating behavior. Zimbardo explained,<\/p>\n<blockquote id=\"fs-idm33713824\"><p>At this point it became clear that we had to end the study. We had created an overwhelmingly powerful situation\u2014a situation in which prisoners were withdrawing and behaving in pathological ways, and in which some of the guards were behaving sadistically. Even the \u201cgood\u201d guards felt helpless to intervene, and none of the guards quit while the study was in progress. Indeed, it should be noted that no guard ever came late for his shift, called in sick, left early, or demanded extra pay for overtime work. (Zimbardo, 2013)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p id=\"fs-idp1841888\">The Stanford prison experiment demonstrated the power of social roles, norms, and scripts in affecting human behavior. The guards and prisoners enacted their social roles by engaging in behaviors appropriate to the roles: The guards gave orders and the prisoners followed orders. Social norms require guards to be authoritarian and prisoners to be submissive. When prisoners rebelled, they violated these social norms, which led to upheaval. The specific acts engaged by the guards and the prisoners derived from scripts. For example, guards degraded the prisoners by forcing them do push-ups and by removing all privacy. Prisoners rebelled by throwing pillows and trashing their cells. Some prisoners became so immersed in their roles that they exhibited symptoms of mental breakdown; however, according to Zimbardo, none of the participants suffered long term harm (Alexander, 2001).<\/p>\n<p id=\"fs-idm1820944\">The Stanford Prison Experiment has some parallels with the abuse of prisoners of war by U.S. Army troops and CIA personnel at the Abu Ghraib prison in 2003 and 2004. The offenses at Abu <span class=\"no-emphasis\" data-type=\"term\">Ghraib<\/span> were documented by photographs of the abuse, some taken by the abusers themselves (<a class=\"autogenerated-content\" href=\"#CNX_Psych_12_02_AbuGhraib\">[link]<\/a>).<\/p>\n<figure id=\"CNX_Psych_12_02_AbuGhraib\"><figcaption><\/figcaption><div style=\"width: 254px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/textimgs.s3.amazonaws.com\/ospsych\/m49116\/CNX_Psych_12_02_AbuGhraib.jpg#fixme\" alt=\"A photograph shows a person standing on a box with arms held out. The person is covered in shawl-like attire and a full hood that covers the face completely.\" width=\"244\" height=\"324\" data-media-type=\"image\/jpeg\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Iraqi prisoners of war were abused by their American captors in Abu Ghraib prison, during the second Iraq war. (credit: United States Department of Defense)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<div id=\"fs-idp91430304\" class=\"psychology link-to-learning textbox\" data-type=\"note\" data-label=\"Link to Learning\">\n<p><em><strong>Link to Learning<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p id=\"fs-idm80246832\">Visit this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/templates\/story\/story.php?storyId=1870756\" target=\"_blank\">website<\/a> to hear an NPR interview with Philip <span class=\"no-emphasis\" data-type=\"term\">Zimbardo<\/span> where he discusses the parallels between the Stanford prison experiment and the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"fs-idm88112144\" class=\"summary\" data-depth=\"1\">\n<h2><\/h2>\n<h2>Summary<\/h2>\n<p id=\"fs-idp55565904\">Human behavior is largely influenced by our social roles, norms, and scripts. In order to know how to act in a given situation, we have shared cultural knowledge of how to behave depending on our role in society. Social norms dictate the behavior that is appropriate or inappropriate for each role. Each social role has scripts that help humans learn the sequence of appropriate behaviors in a given setting. The famous Stanford prison experiment is an example of how the power of the situation can dictate the social roles, norms, and scripts we follow in a given situation, even if this behavior is contrary to our typical behavior.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"fs-idm47167296\" class=\"review-questions\" data-depth=\"1\">\n<h2><\/h2>\n<p><iframe src=\"https:\/\/lumenoea.herokuapp.com\/assessments\/load?src_url=https:\/\/lumenoea.herokuapp.com\/api\/assessments\/1344.xml&#38;results_end_point=https:\/\/lumenoea.herokuapp.com\/api&#38;assessment_id=1344&#38;confidence_levels=true&#38;enable_start=true&#38;eid=https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-intropsychmaster\/chapter\/self-presentation\/\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none;width:100%;height:100%;min-height:400px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"fs-idp9587376\" class=\"critical-thinking\" data-depth=\"1\">\n<div class=\"bcc-box bcc-info\">\n<h3>Self Check Questions<\/h3>\n<section id=\"self-check-questions\">\n<section id=\"fs-idp9587376\" class=\"critical-thinking\" data-depth=\"1\">\n<h4 data-type=\"title\"><em><strong>Critical Thinking Questions<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n<div id=\"fs-idm40491760\" data-type=\"exercise\">\n<div id=\"fs-idp12332544\" data-type=\"problem\">\n<p id=\"fs-idp92092592\">1. Why didn\u2019t the \u201cgood\u201d guards in the Stanford prison experiment object to other guards\u2019 abusive behavior? Were the student prisoners simply weak people? Why didn\u2019t they object to being abused?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"fs-idp12052752\" data-type=\"exercise\">\n<div id=\"fs-idp3025632\" data-type=\"problem\">\n<p id=\"fs-idm44845584\">2. Describe how social roles, social norms, and scripts were evident in the Stanford prison experiment. How can this experiment be applied to everyday life? Are there any more recent examples where people started fulfilling a role and became abusive?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<section id=\"fs-idp92690736\" class=\"personal-application\" data-depth=\"1\">\n<h4 data-type=\"title\"><em><strong>Personal Application Questions<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n<div id=\"fs-idp46938096\" data-type=\"exercise\">\n<div id=\"fs-idm1867200\" data-type=\"problem\">\n<p id=\"fs-idp21250800\">3. Try attending a religious service very different from your own and see how you feel and behave without knowing the appropriate script. Or, try attending an important, personal event that you have never attended before, such as a bar mitzvah (a coming-of-age ritual in Jewish culture), a quincea\u00f1era (in some Latin American cultures a party is given to a girl who is turning 15 years old), a wedding, a funeral, or a sporting event new to you, such as horse racing or bull riding. Observe and record your feelings and behaviors in this unfamiliar setting for which you lack the appropriate script. Do you silently observe the action, or do you ask another person for help interpreting the behaviors of people at the event? Describe in what ways your behavior would change if you were to attend a similar event in the future?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"fs-idp16213808\" data-type=\"exercise\">\n<div id=\"fs-idp77186016\" data-type=\"problem\">\n<p id=\"fs-idp28395600\">4. Name and describe at least three social roles you have adopted for yourself. Why did you adopt these roles? What are some roles that are expected of you, but that you try to resist?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<div class=\"bcc-box bcc-info\">\n<section id=\"self-check-answers\">\n<div data-type=\"exercise\">\n<h3>Answers<\/h3>\n<div id=\"fs-idp19246608\" data-type=\"solution\">\n<p>1. The good guards were fulfilling their social roles and they did not object to other guards\u2019 abusive behavior because of the power of the situation. In addition, the prison supervisor\u2019s behavior sanctioned the guards\u2019 negative treatment of prisoners. The prisoners were not weak people; they were recruited because they were healthy, mentally stable adults. The power of their social role influenced them to engage in subservient prisoner behavior. The script for prisoners is to accept abusive behavior from authority figures, especially for punishment, when they do not follow the rules.<\/p>\n<p id=\"fs-idm55999728\">2. Social roles were in play as each participant acted out behaviors appropriate to his role as prisoner, guard, or supervisor. Scripts determined the specific behaviors the guards and prisoners displayed, such as humiliation and passivity. The social norms of a prison environment sanctions abuse of prisoners since they have lost many of their human rights and became the property of the government. This experiment can be applied to other situations in which social norms, roles, and scripts dictate our behavior, such as in mob behavior. A more recent example of similar behavior was the abuse of prisoners by American soldiers who were working as prison guards at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<div class=\"bcc-box bcc-success\">\n<section id=\"glossary\">\n<h3>Glossary<\/h3>\n<div id=\"fs-idm38991440\" data-type=\"definition\"><strong><span data-type=\"term\">script\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong>person\u2019s knowledge about the sequence of events in a specific setting<\/div>\n<div id=\"fs-idm13711920\" data-type=\"definition\"><strong><span data-type=\"term\">social norm\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong>group\u2019s expectations regarding what is appropriate and acceptable for the thoughts and behavior of its members<\/div>\n<div id=\"fs-idm38509040\" data-type=\"definition\"><strong><span data-type=\"term\">social role\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong>socially defined pattern of behavior that is expected of a person in a given setting or group<\/div>\n<div id=\"fs-idp16732352\" data-type=\"definition\"><strong><span data-type=\"term\">stanford prison experiment <\/span><\/strong>Stanford University conducted an experiment in a mock prison that demonstrated the power of social roles, social norms, and scripts<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<div data-type=\"term\">\n<h2><\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"fs-idp19246608\" data-type=\"solution\"><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t <section class=\"citations-section\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t <h3>Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <div id=\"citation-list-314\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"licensing\"><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Shared previously<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Psychology. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: OpenStax College. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/cnx.org\/contents\/4abf04bf-93a0-45c3-9cbc-2cefd46e68cc@4.100:1\/Psychology\">http:\/\/cnx.org\/contents\/4abf04bf-93a0-45c3-9cbc-2cefd46e68cc@4.100:1\/Psychology<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/\">CC BY: Attribution<\/a><\/em>. <strong>License Terms<\/strong>: Download for free at http:\/\/cnx.org\/content\/col11629\/latest\/.<\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/section>","protected":false},"author":18,"menu_order":4,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Psychology\",\"author\":\"OpenStax College\",\"organization\":\"\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/cnx.org\/contents\/4abf04bf-93a0-45c3-9cbc-2cefd46e68cc@4.100:1\/Psychology\",\"project\":\"\",\"license\":\"cc-by\",\"license_terms\":\"Download for free at http:\/\/cnx.org\/content\/col11629\/latest\/.\"}]","CANDELA_OUTCOMES_GUID":"","pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-314","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry"],"part":522,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-intropsychmaster\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-intropsychmaster\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-intropsychmaster\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-intropsychmaster\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-intropsychmaster\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/314\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1715,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-intropsychmaster\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/314\/revisions\/1715"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-intropsychmaster\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/522"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-intropsychmaster\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/314\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-intropsychmaster\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-intropsychmaster\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=314"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-intropsychmaster\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=314"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-intropsychmaster\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}