Social Psychology The study of how we think

Social Psychology The study of how we think about, influence and relate to one another.

Social Thinking How do we think about one another?

Social Thinking 1. Does his absenteeism signify illness, laziness, or a stressful work atmosphere? 2. Was the horror of 9/11 the work of crazed evil people or ordinary people corrupted by life events? Social thinking involves thinking about others, especially when they engage in doing things that are unexpected.

Attributing Behavior to Persons or to Situations Fritz Heider http: //www. stedwards. edu Attribution Theory: Fritz Heider (1958) suggested that we have a tendency to give causal explanations for someone’s behavior, often by crediting either the situation or the person’s disposition.

Attributing Behavior to Persons or to Situations A teacher may wonder whether a child’s hostility reflects an aggressive personality (dispositional attribution) or is a reaction to stress or abuse (a situational attribution). http: //www. bootsnall. org Dispositions are enduring personality traits. So, if Joe is a quiet, shy, and introverted child, he is likely to be like that in a number of situations.

Attribution Theory • The idea that we give a casual explanation for someone's behavior. • We credit that behavior either to the situation or…. • To the person’s disposition. Was my friend a jerk because she had a bad day or is just a bad person?

Fundamental Attribution Error How do you view your teacher’s behavior? You probably attribute it to their personality rather than their profession. But do you really know? When you start a romance, you assume that they agree with your world views…. honeymoon period. • The tendency to underestimate the impact of a situation and overestimate the impact of personal disposition. • Individualistic vs. Collectivistic Cultures • Disposition vs situation • False Consensus Effect • Self-Serving Bias If you win it is because you are awesome…if you lose, it must have been the coach or weather or….

Attribution At Work

An attribution question • Why did some in New Orleans not evacuate before Hurricane Katrina? • Was it due to a personal disposition – Nothing can harm me – They’ll save me if I need it • Or…was it due to their inaction to the situation – Did not have a car – Not offered transportation

Attitude A belief and feeling that predisposes a person to respond in a particular way to objects, other people, and events. If we believe a person is mean, we may feel dislike for the person and act in an unfriendly manner. Activists, politicians, charities, advertisers, etc are constantly trying to change, influence or appeal to your attitudes Persuasion

Attitudes affect Actions Peripheral Route to Persuasion Central Route to Persuasion • Evaluates a message on surface level characteristics • Evaluates a message based on evidence and analysis of the argument • Passion or interest in the topic or deeper level understanding • Engages systematic thinking – Physical attractiveness – Background music or voice tone – Celebrity endorsement • Not that interested in the topic or low level understanding • Doesn’t engage systematic thinking

Do our attitudes guide our actions? Only if…. • External pressure is minimal. • We are aware of our attitudes. • The attitude is relevant to the behavior.

More often, our actions affect our attitudes.

Attitudes Can Affect Action Not only do people stand for what they believe in (attitude), they start believing in what they stand for. D. Mac. Donald/ Photo. Edit Cooperative actions can lead to mutual liking (beliefs).

Compliance Strategies • Foot-in-the-door phenomenon • Door-in-the-face phenomenon • Norms of reciprocity – Attitudes-follow-behavior principle works for good as well as bad deeds – Moral action strengthens moral convictions

Foot-in-the-door phenomenon • The tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request. If I give out an answer on a quiz, what happens next?

Door-in-face Phenomenon • The tendency for people who say no to a huge request, to comply with a smaller one. If I (Mrs. Gabehart) ask my husband for a new BMW (40 But he may let me buy a new outfit -50, 000) he will say NO!!!

Role playing • Role has a set • Feels phony at first of expectations, – Newly weds “playing house” a pattern for how you ought – Self conscious…Am I doing it right? to behave • As time passes it feels normal you assume the role – No longer self conscious

Zimbardo’s Prison Study • Philip Zimbardo has students at Stanford U play the roles of prisoner and prison guards in the basement of psychology building. • They were given uniforms and numbers for each prisoner. • What do you think happened?

Role Playing Affects Attitudes Zimbardo (1972) assigned the roles of guards and prisoners to random students and found that guards and prisoners developed role- appropriate attitudes. Showed how we deindividuate AND become the roles we are given. Originally published in the New Yorker Phillip G. Zimbardo, Inc. Bonus Opportunity online

What happens when we become aware that our attitudes don’t match or actions?

Attitude and Behavior You have a belief that cheating on tests is bad. But you cheat on a test!!! • Do attitudes tell us about someone’s behavior? Cognitive Dissonance Theory • People want to have consistent attitudes and behaviors…. when they are not they experience The teacher was dissonance (unpleasant really bad so in that class it is OK. tension). • Usually they will change their attitude.

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

Examples of Cognitive Dissonance • Smokers find all kinds of reasons explain away their unhealthy habit. – The alternative is to feel a great deal dissonance • Consider someone who buys an expensive car but discovers that it is not comfortable on long drives. to of – Dissonance exists between their beliefs that they have bought a good car and that a good car should be comfortable. – Dissonance could be eliminated by deciding that it does not matter since the car is mainly used for short trips (reducing the importance of the dissonant belief) or focusing on the cars strengths such as safety, appearance, handling (thereby adding more consonant beliefs). – The dissonance could also be eliminated by getting rid of the car, but this behavior is a lot harder to achieve than changing beliefs.