social psych CH. 4,5,7

Self concept

overall set of beliefs we have about our personal attributes. emphasis on morality

Independent self

primarily defining yourself in terms of one’s own internal thoughts/feelings as well as actions, common in western cultures

interdependent self

primarily self determined in terms of one’s relationships to others, common in eastern cultures

Causal attribution

the mental process people use to decide why an event, action, or behavior occurred (external and internal)

introspection

looking inward & examining our thoughts/feelings/motives

Fritz Heider

Who is the father of attribution theory?

self perception

when attitudes, feelings, or other aspects of self-concept are uncertain, we infer their states by observing our own behaviors and the situations in which they occur

intrinsic motivation

engaging in an activity for enjoyment-not due to external pressure/reward

extrinsic motivation

engaging in activity to gain external rewards or avoid punishment

overjustification effect

when people see their behavior driven by extrinsic reasons, and therefore underestimate intrinsic reasons

self perception

study (Fazio, Effrein, Falender): respond to questions tapped into introversion vs extroversion, then score on a self assessment of intro/extroversion—> sustained effort can change your self perception of yourself

Leon Festinger

founder of social comparison

social comparison theory

the idea that we learn about our own abilities/attitudes by comparing ourselves to others

lateral social comparison

we want to accurately evaluate the self

upward social comparison

comparing ourselves that are better then us

we are motivated to improve by setting an attainable standard of excellence

downward social comparison

comparing ourselves to ppl worse than us

we want to feel better about ourselves

downward social comparison

study (pyszczynski) where people are told how they scored on a fake test and whether they wanted to se other’s relative scores→people who score low but did better than others more likely want to see others score

attitude

evaluations of people, objects or ideas

cognitively based attitude

attitudes based on thoughts/beliefs

affectively based attitude

attitude based on values/emotions

• not rational

• not logical

• linked to ppl’s values

behaviorally based attitudes

based on past behaviors/behavioral intentions through observations of how one behaves toward an object

explicit attitudes

attitudes we are aware of and can report

implicit attitudes

attitudes we are unaware of: can acquire when we are young, special connection with something that drives actions

attitudes differ from behavior

study (LaPiere) on chinese couple and receiving service during chinese exclusion act

Classical conditioning 

A stimulus that elicits an emotional response is accompanied by a neutral, nonemotional stimulus, and eventually, the neutral stimulus elicits the emotional response by itself (ex: nostalgia from smells) part of affectively based attitudes

operant conditioning

behaviors we freely form become more or less frequent, depending on whether they are followed by a reward or punishment (ex: child adopting parent’s racism) part of affectively based attitudes

predicting spontaneous behavior

• high accessibility

• important/strong

• personal experience

Implicit Association Test (IAT)

measure implicit vs explicit attitudes

implicit are impacted by childhood

study on implicit vs explicit attitudes on weight

attitude accessibility

strength of an association between an attitude of object and a person’s evaluation of that object, measured by the speed with which ppl can report how they feel abt the object,

• determined by the degree of experience

• used to predict spontaneous behaviors

theory of planned behavior

(Ajzen & Fishbein) idea that ppl’s intentions are the best predictors of their deliberate behaviors, which are determined by their attitudes towards specific behaviors, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control

specific attitudes

the more specific the attitude, the better the predictor

Study (Davidson & Jaccard): specific questions on birth control show that if you want to see if attitudes impact behavior, you need to ask the right questions

subjective norms

how important other people think about one’s behavior

perceived behavioral control

the extent one believes they can engage in the behavior

cognitive dissonance theory

attitudes conflict with behavior

persuasive communication

message advocating a side of an issue ex: speech, TV ad

Yale attitude change approach

Houland Study of conditions under which ppl are most likely to change their attitudes in response to persuasive messages—> credible, attractive speakers are more persuasive, messages that do not seem to be designed to influence, 2-side arguments, if distracted, 18-25 yr olds, moderate self esteem

Elaboration likelihood model of persuasion

Specifies when people will be influenced by what the speech says (logic of arguments) and when they will be influenced by more superficial characteristics (who gives a speech or how long it is) (centrally vs peripherally)

Central route to persuasion

When ppl have both motivation (interest in topic) and attention (no distractions) to elaborate on a persuasive communication, listen and think carefully

Peripheral route to persuasion

When people do not elaborate on arguments in a persuasive communication but instead swayed by more superficial cues

Elaboration likelihood model

Study on implementing a comprehensive major exam now vs 10 yrs later, varying expertise of the speaker and argument strength

Trustworthiness

Form of credibility that analyzes a communicators perceived intentions. Acting against self interest is a sign of trustworthiness (ex: John McKay voting against party leadership)

Sleeper effect

An initially discounted/rejected persuasive message becomes more persuasive with a delay

Study: Pratkins on the impact of source credibility on persuasion over time. The message is forgotten while the person remembers the message content.

Requirements of the sleeper effect

1. Think about a message

2. Given discounting cue

3. Acknowledge inaccuracy

Sleeper effect

Study where participants read a passage then discounts it, when asked abt the issue 6 weeks later more ppl remember the message not the discounted cue

Fear arousing communication

Must arouse fear (but not too much) and offer a means to avoid feared outcome to be persuasive

attitude inoculation

immune to change attitudes by initially exposing small doses of arguments beforehand (like vaccines) by McGuire

reactance theory

the idea that when people feel their freedom to perform a certain behavior is threatened, an unpleasant state of resistance is aroused, which they can reduce by performing the behavior

subliminal messages

words/pics that are not consciously perceived but may influence judgments, attitudes, behaviors (do not work in everyday life, but maybe in a lab, cannot act counter to people;s exsisting wishes/values

cultural social perception

study (Masuda) ameican rate caartoon characters depend on the central figure while japanese rating depend on expressions of the other character and eye track movement

fmri

examines where in the brain cultural experience predicts perceptual processing

ERP

provide more finegrained analysis of neural finding by measuring electrical activity

attribution theory

the study of how we infer the causes of other people’s behavior

Covariation method

a framework developed by Harold Kelley to determine what behavior is caused by through interaction between other variables that makes attribution (consistency, consensus, distinctiveness)

Consensus information

do other people behave that way in that situation?

high: most people behave like this

low: not many people behave like this

Distinctiveness information

does the person’s behavior occur only in the situation?

high: they don’t behave this way in other situations

low: they behave like this in many other situations

consistency

does the person usually behave like this in this situation?

high: they frequently behave this way

low: no pattern of behaving this way (external)

perceptual salience

people give more attributional weight to the things that are the focus of attention—often a person

Perceptual salience

study(Shelley Taylor and Susan Fiske) manipulated how participants can see the person—> those who they could see thought they contributed more to the convo

fundamental attribution error

study (Jones and Harris): judge personality based on writing. IV: chosen position vs assigned position. DV: estimate writer’s true attitude.

The two-step attribution process

by Daniel Gilbert

1. characterization: we make an internal attribution (automatic)

2. correction: we consider situational factors (controlled)

self-serving attributions

people’s tendency to take credit for their successes by making internal attributions but to blame the situation (or others) for their failures by making external attributions

bias blind spot

tendency to think that others are more susceptible to attributional biases than we are

implications of the correction step

1. we don’t/can’t always engage in correction (cognitive load, distraction)

2. considering situational factors does not mean we’ll always make an external situation

sense of self

animal mirror study if they recognize themselves

only human beings and great apes

4 main functions of the self

1. self knowledge

2. self control

3. impression management: way we present ourselves to other people

4. self-esteem

self awareness theory

idea that when people focus their attention on themselves, they evaluate + compare behavior to internal standards/values

• can boost morality, avoid temptation

• can be negative if unable to meet expectations

causal theories

theories about the causes of one’s own feelings/behaviors, often learned from culture (self perception theory)

Study: college students record daily moods—> werent accurate

two factor theory of emotion (stanley schachter)

the idea that emotional experience is the result of a 2 step self-perception process in which ppl first experience physiological arousal then seek an appropriate explanation for it

2 factor theory of emotion

study on anger arousal based on given epinephrine or a placebo—> shows that when aroused, you seek reasonable explanation for that arousal

misattribution of arousal

process where people make mistaken inferences about what is causing them to feel the way they do. study (donald) men mistake physical arousal with attraction

task contingent rewards

people rewarded simply for doing a task, regardless of quality

performance-contingent rewards

rewards for based on performance (less likely to decrease interest in a task, may even increase, can put more pressure)

upward social comparison

study on social media. more time on social media (comparing yourself)= less happy

implementation intentions

people’s specific plans about where, when, how they will fulfill a goal + avoid temptations

• arrange environments

• ensure well rested

• believe that willpower is unlimited

impression management

attempt by people to get others to see them as they want to be seen ex: david duke in politics to change public opinion

ingratiation

using flattery/praise to make yourself likable: giving compliments, agreeing with other’s side, offering sympathy—can backfire if sense insincere

self handicapping

strategy where ppl create obstacles/excuses for themselves so that they can do poorly on a task, they can avoid blaming themselves

behavioral self-handicapping

people act in ways that reduce likelihood that they will succeed, so if they fail, can blame obstacles (more common in men)

reported self handicapping

people devise ready made excuses in case they fail

self-handicapping

study (Bergla and Jones): difficulty of logic problems on choice of drug that either increase or decrease performance→ people who did impossible problems more likely to choose drug that decrease performance

heuristic systematic model of persuasion

peripheral routes to persuasion is like a heuristic or mental shortcut