Social Psychology: Chapter 4, 6 and 7 Review

Attitudes

Feelings, often influenced by our beliefs that predispose us to respond favorably or unfavorably to objects, people and events

ABC's of Attitudes:

A: Affect
B: Behavior
C: Cognition

Implicit Association Test

A computer-driven assessment of implicit attitudes using reaction time to measure automatic associations between attitude and evaluative words

Factors of Behavior Intention:

- Attitude to behavior
- Subjective norms
- Perceived control

Self-Presentation Theory

Assumes for strategic reasons, we express attitudes that make us appear consistent

Role-Playing

A set of norms that defines how people in a given social position ought to behave

Stanford Prison Experiment

A two-week test examining situational variables where participants were either guards or prisoners and, without prompting, acted in the roles they were assigned

Selective Exposure

Tendency to seek information and media that agrees with one's views and avoid dissonant information

Insufficient Justification

Reduction of dissonance by internally justifying one's behavior when external judgement is "insufficient"

Facial Feedback Effect

Tendency of facial expressions to trigger corresponding feelings such as fear, anger or happiness

Over-Justification Effect

The result of bribing people to do what they already enjoy doing, then seeing actions as externally controlled over intrinsically appealing

Self-Affirmation Theory

People often experience a self image threat after engaging in an undesirable behavior AND compensate by affirming or doing good deeds in another area of the self

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

Assumes that to reduce discomfort, we justify our actions to ourselves

Self-Perception Theory

Assumes that our actions are self-revealing so when uncertain about our feelings or beliefs, we analyze our own actions; people determine their attitudes and preferences by interpreting the meaning of their own behavior

Attitude often DOES NOT predict behavior because...

- Behavior and attitudes are under different influences (average behavior)
- Attitudes may not be behavior specific
- We typically only measure expressed/explicit attitudes

Attitudes CAN predict behavior when...

- Social influences on what we say are minor
- Other influences on behavior are minimal
- If the attitudes are strong, they're more reliable as a predictor (*especially* if from experience)
- Predicting the AVERAGE behavior

Examples of learned and/or acquired attitudes:

- Classical conditioning
- Operant conditioning
- Direct Experience

Functions of Attitudes:

1) Expressive/Instrumental
2) Value Expressive
3) Experimental Schematic/Knowledge
4) Defensive

Social Expressive/Instrumental

Function of attitude, allows one to gain favor with others by aligning with them
EX) Refusing vaccination because your social group refuses vaccination

Value Expressive

Function of attitude, allows for the expression of held values and ideals important to one's self concept
EX) Opposing capital punishment because it goes against expression of one's self values, "thou shalt not kill"

Knowledge Function

Function of Attitude, usually based on direct experience with the target, helping us target and structure our environment
EX) Holding negative attitudes toward dentists because of negative dentist experiences

Self-Justification Theory

Pertains mostly to inconsistencies between behavior and attitude: assumes that to reduce discomfort, we justify our actions to ourselves

Asch Study

Conformity Experiment: comparing a target line to 3 sample lines and asking which one aligns best to the target, studying the affects of group pressure acting on the true participant's response, the wrong answer

Sherif Study

Conformity Experiment: studied effects of social norms through the autokinetic effect of a light, perceived to be moving, creating a culture of successive participants giving incorrect light distances

Milgram Study

Role and Obedience Experiment: participants acted as a teacher to an unseen constituent who would pretend/act being shocked when intentionally giving the wrong answer. Participants would continuously increase the voltage at the perceived authority of the person conducting the experiment, despite the actor's screams.

Factors that increased Obedience:

- Closeness of the authority
- More legitimate authority figures
- Institutional authority
- Closeness of the victim (further away yielded higher __)

Factors that decrease Obedience:

- Victim's proximity (closer yielded less __)
- Less legitimate authority figures
- Effects of group influence (when the group refuses, individuals also refuse)

Factors that influence Conformity:

- Feelings of incompetence
- Larger __ with larger group sizes
- Unamity, if broken decreases __
- Cohesion, sense of "we"-ness in a group, the higher the cohesion, the more __
- Status
- Public versus private responses
- Prior commitment

Normative Influence

Asch's Study: based on a desire to fulfull other's expectations often to gain rewards/avoid punishment, comes from our desire to be LIKED

EX) "I can't say the objective fact because then I won't be liked by my group"

Informational Influence

Sherif's Study: accepting evidence about reality provided by others, comes from our desire to be CORRECT

EX) "I don't know what to do, but I want to be right. I'll say what my peers are saying"

Who Conforms?

- Collectivist cultures
- Women, norms dictate behavior

Reactance

Motive to protect/restore one's sense of freedom

EX) A parent-teen relationship having friction due to child's perception of identity as a young adult and the parent's perception of their child as still a child

Persuasion

Process by which causes change in behaviors, attitudes and/or beliefs

Central Route of Persuasion involves...

- Focusing on a strong argument
- Audience is motivated to think about the issue
- Explicit attitudes

Peripheral Route of Persuasion involves...

- Audience is influenced by cues that require little thinking
- Implicit attitudes

Four elements of the Persuasive Process:

1) The communicator
2) The message
3) How the message is communicated
4) The audience

Factors acting on the Communicator and their message:

- Their credibility
- Their trustworthiness
- Their attractiveness
- Their authority in a matter
- Whether or not the audience likes them

Social Proof or Validation

We are willing to comply if it is consistent with what similar others are doing

Door in Face Technique

Asking for a large request, knowing it will be denied, so that when asking for something smaller, it has a higher likelihood of compliance

Foot in Door Technique

When someone agrees to a small request, they are likely to agree to a larger request

EX) Grecian military and "How to make a Torturer"

The Message's Content can focus on...

Reason -> Use Central Route -> EX) Tuition increase to college students
Emotional -> Use Peripheral Route -> EX) Organ donor status

Effects of Arousing Fear:

- The more people are scared, the more they will respond to the message
- The message tends to be most effective if the solution is embedded in the message and is expressed as gain or loss
- When convincing to abstain from a negative behavior, people often deny that negative consequences will happen to them (like smoking)

Lowball Technique

People who agree to an initial request will often still comply when the requester ups the cost

EX) Car dealership marketing a car, no longer having the car, and being able to sell someone a different car for a higher price

One sided versus Two sided Arguments:

- If you have an agreeable audience, use a one sided
- When you are aware your argument has a counter or if your audience is disagreeable, use a two sided

Primary Effect

Two messages close in time presented with delayed response, the first message will be accepted

EX) Someone listing names and only remembering the first name on the list

Recency Effect

Two messages separated in time with an immediate response, the latest message will be accepted

EX) Someone getting the last word in being more memorable/agreeable

Channels of Communication:

- Face to face
- Written
- Video
- Experience based attitudes

Two Step Flow of Communication

The media influences social leaders, and the leaders then influence the audience

Generational Explanation

Older people keep attitudes they adopted when they were young; Their attitudes do not change (Most likely explanation)

Life Cycle Explanation

Attitudes change as people grow older

When Stimulating People's Thinking...

- Use rhetorical questions, Why? It kickstarts topic opinions and engages audience
- Present multiple speakers with the same message
- Make people feel responsible, like they could be proactive on an issue
- Repeat the message
- Get people's undivided attention, like how a TED talker uses humor or Hitler used minutes of standing in silence