Module 41 - Social Thinking

social psychology

scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another, deals with social interactions, their origins, and effects on individuals

social psychologists

use scientific methods to study how people think about, influence, and relate to one another

study social influences that explain why the same person will act differently in different situations

attribution theory

suggests one attempts to understand behavior of others by attributing feelings, beliefs, and intentions to them

theorized by Frtiz Heider

ex. if someone is smiling = perceived as happy

two types:

distributional

situational

distributional attribution

stable enduring traits —> personality

situational attribution

the situation —> how we act in different environments

fundamental attribution error

tendency for observers, when analyzing others’ behavior, to underestimate impact of the situation and to overestimate impact of personal disposition

ex. speeding on the highway —> reaction is to swear + curse, but if we’re late for class —> its okay (based on situation)

doesn’t consider context

Napolitan and colleagues

students attributed behavior of others to personal traits, even when they were told that behavior was part of an experimental situation

told to act a certain way, but personality still shines through

factors that affect our attributions

culture

whose behavior

culture

westerners (personal traits) versus people in China and Japan (power of situation)

whose behavior

personal behavior of those found in different contexts (sensitive to situational behavioral changes) versus strangers behaving badly (fundamental attribution error)

when we see bad behavior in other people = correlated with their personality, when we see it in ourselves = correlates to the situation

exceptions to attributions

personal deliberate and admirable actions are often attributed to our own good reasons, not the situation

with age, we tend to attribute of our younger selves’ behavior mostly to traits

how attributions matter

explaining others’ actions and attributing them to the person or the situation can have important real-life effects

ex. conservatives = consider issues as more individual

liberal = consider issues are more situational

attitude

feelings, often influenced by our beliefs, that predispose us to respond in a particular way to objects, people, and events

attitude may shift if not socially favored

situational factors (social pressures)

can override attitude-behavior connection

politicians voting as supporters demand, despite privately disagreeing

actions

attitude affects _____

ex. situational factors/social pressures

behavior

attitudes are especially likely to affect _____

more stable attitudes tend to reappear

when external influences are minimal

when attitude is stable, specific to the behavior, and easily recalled

attitudes

actions can modify ______

ex. foot-in-the-door phenomenon

foot-in-the-door phenomenon

tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request

baby steps are needed, big request is unlikely to be completed without them

ex. team member —> shift lead —> manager

behavior

attitudes follow ____

ex. cooperative actions

cooperative actions

feed mutual liking —> such attitudes, in turn, promote positive behavior

ex. those performed by people on sports teams

role

set of expectations (norms) about a social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave

over time, it defines the players, as they jump into the day-to-day work and follow the social cues in their new environment

thoughts, feelings, and attitudes shift to better fit

cognitive dissonance

attitudes and actions don’t coincide

we could be thinking one thing, and act the other —> minimizes tension and discomfort

we act to reduce the discomfort (dissonance) we feel when two of our thoughts (cognitions) clash —> looking for relief from tension

specific brain regions become active when people experience this

through this, we often bring attitudes into line with our actions (attitudes-follow-principle)

persuasion

others trying to influence our actions and change our attitudes

efforts generally take two forms:

peripheral route

central route

with time and this, attitudes can change dramatically

peripheral route persuasion

occurs when people are influenced by attention getting cues, such as a speaker’s attractiveness

central route persuasion

occurs when interested people focus on the arguments and evidence and respond with careful, favorable thoughts

ex. give advice by respected people

big ideas of social psychology

we construct our social reality

our social intuitions are often powerful but sometimes perilous

social influences shape our behavior

personal attitudes and dispositions also shape behavior

social behavior is biologically rooted

social psychology’s principles are applicable in everyday life