PSY 311 - Units 6-9

Vocabulary for Adam Meade's Psychology 311 class at NC State University. Units 6-9 (Unfinished)

Cognitive Dissonance

The feeling of discomfort we experience when confronted with information implying that we may have behaved in ways that are irrational, immoral, or stupid.

Changing our behavior to align with the dissonant cognition

I make good decisions, but I smoke. I will stop smoking.

Justify our behavior through changing one of the dissonant cognitions

I am a good person, but I cheated on my taxes. It isn’t that big of a deal to cheat on taxes.

Justify our behavior by adding new cognitions

I am a good person that makes good decisions, but the world didn’t end when we thought it would. We saved the world.

Justify our behavior by altering its importance

It’s more important to stay relaxed and slim than to worry about Cancer.

Justify behavior by removing perceived choice

Smoking is the only way to calm my nerves

Self Affirmation

Distortions aimed at protecting one’s self-image as a sensible, competent person

Biased Info-Processing

pro and anti segregationists were presented with (a) plausible and (b) absurd arguments for both sides (1950s)

Post Decision Dissonance

dissonance aroused after making a decision, typically reduced by enhancing the attractiveness of the chosen alternative and devaluating the rejected alternatives

Permanence of The Decision

The more important decision, the greater the dissonance

Illusion of Irrevocability

individuals view a decision as irreversible, leading to increased commitment and reluctance to change, even when alternatives exist

Lowballing

a psychological persuasion technique that involves making an attractive initial offer, then making the terms less favorable

Reasons Lowballing Works

Perceived commitment, effort/time already spent,

Justification of Effort

the tendency for individuals to increase their liking for something they have worked hard to attain

External Justification

reason or explanation for dissonant personal behavior that resides outside the individual

Internal Justification

The reduction of dissonance by changing something about oneself

Counter-attitudinal Advocacy

When someone publicly advocates something that is counter to what they believe or how they actually behave, it arouses dissonance

Insufficient Punishment

The less severe you make the threat of punishment, the less external justification there is; the less external justification, the greater the need for internal justification.

Self-Persuasion

a long lasting form of attitude change that results from attempts at self-justification

Small reward → internal justification → lasting change

Ben Franklin Effect

Dissonance theory predicts we will like someone more after doing them a favor

Impact Bias

the human tendency to overestimate the intensity and duration of another's emotional reaction; that is, the inclination to assume the impact of future feeling states

Attitudes

evaluations of people, places, objects, ideas, etc.,

Explicit Attitudes

attitudes that we consciously endorse and can easily report. (Ex: opinion on the white cinder block walls)

Implicit Attitudes

attitudes that are involuntary, uncontrollable, and at tims unconscious (Ex: if we hire someone)

Behaviorally Based Attitude

an attitude based on observations of how one behaves toward an attitude object.

Cognitively Based Attitude

an attitude based primarily on people's beliefs about the properties of an attitude object.

Attitude Object

anything you hold an attitude about. (places, people, things, etc,.)

Affectively Based Attitude

an attitude based more on people's feelings and values than on their beliefs about the nature of an attitude object

Where do affectively based attitudes come from?

religious and moral beliefs, sensory reaction, aesthetic reaction, conditioning

Classical Conditioning

the phenomenon whereby a stimulus that elicits an emotional response is repeatedly paired with a neutral stimulus that does not until the neutral stimulus takes on the emotional properties of the first stimulus

Operant Conditioning

the phenomenon whereby behaviors that people freely choose to perform increase or decrease in frequency, depending on whether they are followed by positive reinforcement or punishment.

Persuasive Communication

communication advocating a particular side of an issue. If an attitude is cognitively based, try to change it with rational argument. If it is affectively based, try to change it with emotional appeals

Yale Attitude Change Approach

the theory that examines the conditions that make people most likely to change their attitudes in response to persuasive messages

Source Factors

Credibility, expertise, likability, similarity, trustworthiness, attractiveness

Message factors

Fear based, logic based, one-sided vs two-sided, number of strong/weak arguments, repetition

Channel Factors

In person, tv, radio, audiotape, computer

Receiver Factors

Personality, expectations, initial attitude, strength of preexisting attitudes

Elaboration Likelihood Model

an explanation of the two ways in which persuasive communications can cause attitude change

Central Route to Persuasion

when people are motivated and have the ability to pay attention to the arguments in the communication.

Peripheral Route to Persuasion

when people do not pay attention to the arguments but are swayed by surface characteristics

Fear Arousing Communications

persuasive messages that attempt to change people's attitudes by arousing fear

Heuristic-Systematic Model of Persuasion

an explanation of the two ways in which persuasive communications can cause attitude change.

Misattribution of feelings

Realtors baking bread during an open house

Attitude Inoculation

Making people immune to attempts to change their attitudes by initially exposing them to small doses of the arguments against their position.

Boomerang Reactance Theory

AKA “Reverse Psychology,” when someone feels as if their freedoms are threatened, an unpleasant state of reactance is aroused, which they can diminish by performing said behavior.

Attitude Accessibility

The strength of the association between an attitude object and a person’s evaluation of that objeTct, measured by the speed at which people can report how they feel about the object

Theory of Planned Behavior

the idea that the best predictors of a person’s planned, deliberate behavior are the person’s attitudes toward specific behaviors, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control.

Behavior Intention

the extent to which people say they are going to behave

Turnover Intention

in the next 6 months, how likely are you to quit your job?

Subjective norms

people’s beliefs about how other people they care about will view the behavior in question

Perceived behavioral control

the ease at which people believe they can perform the behavior

Subliminal Messages

words or pictures that are not consciously perceived but may nevertheless influence people’s judgments, attitudes, and behaviors (no evidence that they have any actual influence on behavior)

Conformity

a change in one’s behavior due to the real or imagined influence of other people

Obedience

acting in accord with a direct order

Compliance

conformity that involves publicly acting in accord with social pressure while privately disagreeing

Acceptance

conformity that involves both acting and believing in accord with social pressure

Informational Social Influence

seeing others as a source of information to guide our behavior. Ex: how to address people, what to eat with utensils

Why do we conform?

We believe that others’ interpretation of an ambiguous situation is more correct than ours.

Private Acceptance

conforming to other people’s behavior out of a genuine belief that what they are doing or saying is right

Public Compliance

conforming to other people’s behavior publicly without necessarily believing in what we are doing or saying

Contagion

the rapid spread of emotions or behaviors through a crowd

Mass Psychogenic Illness

the occurrence, in a group of people, of similar physical symptoms with no known physical cause. Ex: Dancing Plague, Tennessee “gas smell”

Informational Influence

People conform to the beliefs or actions of others because they believe those others have more knowledge or expertise

When will people conform to informational social influence?

When the situation is ambiguous, or a crisis, or when other people are experts.

Normative Influence

a social psychological phenomenon that occurs when people conform to group norms to gain social approval or avoid disapproval.

“My Lai” Key Takeaways

Ambiguity is the most crucial variable for determining how much people use each other as a source of information.

Social Norms

the implicit or explicit rules a group has for the acceptable beliefs, values, and behaviors of its members.

Ashe Line Study (1957)

An example of normative conformity

Social Impact Theory

the idea that conforming to social influence depends on the strength of the group’s importance, its immediacy, and the number of people in the groups

Group Cohesion

Groups of people where the people value the group. Normative pressures are much stronger in highly cohesive groups.

Idiosyncrasy credits

the tolerance a person earns, over time, by conforming to group norms; if enough idiosyncrasy credits are earned, the parson can, on occasion, behave deviantly without retribution from the group

Minority Influence

the case where a minority of group members influence the behavior or beliefs of the majority

Injunctive Norms

peoples perceptions of what behaviors are approved or disproved of by others

Descriptive Norms

people’s perceptions of how people behave in given situations, regardless of whether the behavior is approved of disapproved of by others

Descriptive vs Injunctive Norms

Descriptive - my parents do not smoke.

Injunctive - my parents think smoking is bad for one’s health

Food Supply and Body Type

As a culture's food supply reliability increases, the preference for a heavy to moderate body type decreases.

Behavioral Consistency

if you do something once, you are more likely to do it again