psych 100: social psychology

social psych

study of how ppl think about, influence & relate to other ppl

social cognition

area of social psych exploring how ppl select, interpret, remember & use social info

stereotype

a generalization about a group’s characteristics

• doesn’t consider any variations from one individual to another

attribution theory

Views people as motivated to discover the underlying causes of behaviour as part of their effort to make sense of the behaviour

3 dimensions of attribution (will be on exam)

1. internal/external causes

2. stable/unstable causes

3. controllable/uncontrollable causes

why ppl help & don’t help others

don’t help - bystander effect: ppl think someone else will help the emergency when there are other ppl present

do help - altruism: we help for their benefit.

persuasion strategies

• The Foot-in-the-door Strategy

• Involves making a smaller request at the beginning

• “Would you be interested in a three-month trial subscription to a magazine?”

• Save the biggest demand for last

• “how about a full year?”

• The Door-in-the-face Technique

• Involves making the biggest pitch first

• “Would you be interested in a full-year subscription?”

• Customer probably will reject

eg: shop charges expensive price for item then reduces the price for consumer

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

• Discomfort caused by two dissonant thoughts

• Thoughts of one’s attitude versus one’s behaviour

• eg: buying expensive shoes but still needing them