PSY1011 Social Psychology Slides, 2025(1)

Course Overview

• Course Title: PSY1011 Social Cognition and Influence

• Lecturer: Dr. Swati Mujumdar (swati.mujumdar@monash.edu)

• Readings: Chapter 20: Attitudes and Social Cognition pages 1034 – 1069

Acknowledgement of Country

• Monash University acknowledges the unceded lands of the Kulin Nations and respects their Elders, past and present.

Research in Social Psychology

• Current Research Areas:

  • Personality traits as predictors of academic success.

  • Collaborative Online Interactive Learning (COIL).

  • Mapping Educational Uncertainty Stimuli for health professions curriculum development.

• Emotional Intelligence Findings:

  • Assumed to play a significant role in relationship satisfaction; however, findings did not support this.

  • Sample: Heterosexual couples of Australian descent, ages 25-40.

• Impact of Facebook on Body Image:

  • Studied men and women aged 25-35 in Australia; results indicated both genders are equally affected.

Learning Outcomes

• Upon completion, students should be able to:

  • Define social psychology.

  • Understand attitudes and their influence on social cognition.

  • Grasp the importance of persuasion in changing attitudes.

  • Explain concepts of prejudice, discrimination, and racism.

  • Discuss attribution and the fundamental attribution error.

What is Social Psychology?

• Definition: The study of how people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by other people’s actual, imagined, or implied presence (Allport, 1985).

• Focus Areas:

  • Behavior

  • Beliefs

  • Attitudes (positive and negative)

The Need to Belong

• Need to Belong Theory (Baumeister & Leary, 1995):

  • Humans have a biological need for interpersonal bonds, which is evolutionarily adaptive.

• Consequences of Social Exclusion:

  • Mood and anxiety problems.

  • Engagement in unhealthy behaviors.

  • Increased aggression.

Social Structure and Connectivity

• Interesting Fact:

  • Humans are predisposed to forming intimate personal networks.

  • Magic Numbers:

    • 150 extensions and 6 connections away from any person globally.

Current Social Dynamics

• Six Degrees of Separation:

  • Continued relevance in the 21st century.

  • Impact of social networking sites like LinkedIn and Facebook on connections.

Understanding Attitudes

• Definition: Derived from Latin 'aptus', a psychological tendency reflected by evaluating an entity favorably or unfavorably (Eagly & Chaiken, 1993).

• Nature: Relatively stable dispositions.

The Three-Component Attitude Model

• Components:

  • Cognition (C): Thoughts about the attitude object.

  • Affect (A): Feelings towards the attitude object.

  • Behavior (B): Actions or intentions towards the attitude object.

Attitude Characteristics

• Attitude Strength:

  • Influences consistency and persistence over time.

• Attitude Importance:

  • The significance of the attitude to an individual.

• Attitude Accessibility:

  • The ease with which attitudes can be activated from memory.

Types of Attitudes

• Implicit Attitudes: Formed without conscious awareness (e.g., Implicit Association Test).

• Explicit Attitudes: Formed deliberately and easily reported (e.g., surveys).

• Cognitive Complexity: The dimensions on which attitudes vary.

• Attitudinal Ambivalence: Conflicting feelings regarding an attitude.

• Attitudinal Coherence: The internal consistency of the attitude.

Attitudes and Behavior

• Relationship:

  • Attitudes don't always predict behavior directly (e.g., LaPiere's 1930 study).

  • For predictive accuracy:

    • Attitudes must be accessible.

    • Similar attitudes among people.

    • Stronger attitudes correlate more with behavior.

• Theory of Planned Behavior (Fishbein & Ajzen, 2010): Links beliefs, attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control to actions.

LaPiere's Experiment

• Explored why questionnaire responses did not align with actual behaviors.

• Discussed conclusions regarding attitude behaviors.

Attitude Change and Persuasion

• Yale Attitude Change Approach: Factors affecting persuasion.

  • Source credibility.

  • Message content and emotional appeal.

  • Audience characteristics.

Elaboration Likelihood Model

• Cacioppo, Petty and Crites (1993): Two routes of persuasion.

  • Central Route: More convincing due to in-depth processing.

  • Peripheral Route: Less convincing, basic arguments.

Conservation Psychology

• Study of human-nature relationships.

• Encourages natural resource conservation, addressing climate change as a behavioral issue.

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

• People strive for consistency among attitudes and beliefs to avoid dissonance.

• Example: Reconciling liking a friend despite their negative behavior towards another person.

• Dissonance is particularly relevant in decision-making and problem-solving contexts.

Self-Perception Theory

• Bem (1967): When uncertain about feelings, individuals infer their emotions from their behaviors.

Cultural Influences on Dissonance

• Individualistic Cultures: Strong self-esteem tied to personal choices, leading to potential attitude change.

• Collectivist Cultures: Self-esteem linked to societal expectations, causing cultural dissonance.

Social Cognition Overview

• Examines how individuals think about themselves and the world.

• Cognitive Psychology Basis: Memories are interconnected and organized as schemas.

Perceiving Others

• First Impressions: Initial evaluations can influence subsequent perceptions.

• Halo Effect: Positive attributes linked to overall impressions, e.g., beauty associated with goodness.

Prejudice and Stereotypes

• Stereotype Defined: Overgeneralized belief about a group's characteristics.

• Prejudice: Negative attitudes typically influenced by adaptive conservatism, in-group bias, and out-group homogeneity.

Types of Prejudice

• Includes racism, sexism, religious prejudice, homophobia, and prejudice against minority groups.

Reducing Prejudice

• Contact Hypothesis: Proposes that increased intergroup contact can reduce prejudice, requiring equal status and cooperation opportunities.

Understanding Racism

• Subtle vs. Explicit Racism: The spectrum of racism from implicit biases to overt discrimination.

Ostracism

• Experience of being excluded can distressingly affect belonging, self-esteem, control, and meaning.

Attribution Theory

• Process of explaining the reasons behind behaviors: personal vs. situational.

Types of Attribution

• Internal Attribution: Causes attributed to personal factors.

• External Attribution: Causes attributed to situational factors.

Fundamental Attribution Error

• Tendency to attribute others' behavior to internal factors while downplaying situational influences.

Actor-Observer Effect

• Focuses on differences in attribution between self and others, highlighting self-serving biases.

Conclusion

• Review of main concepts and their implications for social cognition and psychology.

• Encouraged discussion and questions.