MS

Social Psych

  • Attribution Theory–The idea that we give a casual explanation for someone’s behavior.
    • We credit that behavior either to the situation…or to the person’s disposition
    • Zimbardo’s Prison Experiment–the system giving unchecked power (become corrupt), or a person being inherently evil.
    • was my friend a jerk because she had a bad day or is just a bad person?
  • Fundamental Attribution Error–The tendency to underestimate the impact of a situation and overestimate the impact of personal disposition
    • How do you view your teacher’s behavior? You probably attribute it to their personality rather than their profession
    • Some teachers have things they are required to do. Something to take into consideration.
    • The hecticness when the traffic lights lost power yesterday and everybody thought they had the right of way.
  • Attribution at work:
    • Negative Behavior
    • Situational attribution (benefit of the doubt) —> tolerant reaction (proceed cautiously)
    • Dispositional attribution (road rage) —> Unfavorable reaction (could potentially create a dangerous situation)
    • Importance of first impression bias: Ambiguous information is interpreted in line with a first impression, and the initial schema is recalled better and more vividly than any later correction to it. Actions based on this impression may elicit behavior that confirms it.
    • Fundamental Attribution Error: Tendency to attribute behavior of others to internal factors
    • We are likely to think “they are an evil person” when someone does something bad to us rather than “they are having a bad day”
    • Actor-observer bias: tendency for actors to attribute their own behavior to external causes and for observers to attribute the behavior of others to internal factors
    • When you do well on the test, teacher doesn’t get credit for teaching well or making an easy test–you are the amazing one and the academic weapon. When you bomb the test, the teacher usually gets the blame and you aren’t the one who gets the blame.
    • Self-serving bias: Tendency to attribute one’s successes to internal factors and one’s failures to external factors
    • My successes are because of me, and my failures are because of things I can’t control. 
    • Unrealistic optimism: tendency to assume that positive events are more likely, and negative events are less likely, to occur to oneself than to others.
    • procrastinating preparing for the exam, thinking “oh I have enough time to study yada yada”
    • Murphy’s Law: “anything that can go wrong will go wrong”
  • Attitudes: a belief or feeling that predisposes one to respond in a particular way to something
    • sometimes very uncommon to see successful relationship between a Yankees and Red Sox fan.
    • Different attitudes can respond uniquely to a picture.
  • Central Route v. Peripheral: two cognitive pathways to affect attitudes
    • Central Route Persuasion: going directly through the rational mind, influencing attitudes with evidence and logic.
    • reason, logic, to get us to a certain decision
    • My product has been proven o be more effective
    • cost, insurance costs, safety rating, reliability, reviews, fuel efficiency (car)
    • Peripheral route persuasion: used when we try to hide something. Changing attitudes by going around their rational mind and appealing to fears, desires, associations.
    • trying to hit someone in a place where they haven’t paid attention.
    • People who buy my product are happy, attractive!
    • Color, fluffy dice, speed, sex appeal, more expensive than neighbors, big wheels (car)
  • Do our attitudes guide our actions?
    • only if:
    • external pressure is minimal
    • we are aware of our attitudes
    • the attitude is relevant to the behavior
  • Compliance strategies:
    • Door-in-the-face phenomenon: you go for a bigger ask than you want, with the intention of getting shot down, then following up for something smaller
    • Foot-in-the-door: a small ask, then continue to add on after and after.
    • Do the dishes first! (After doing dishes) ok now do this later (after doing this) now do this
    • Norms of reciprocity: if someone does something good for you, you will do it back. 
    • Set the table without being asked, then ask for extra video game time.  Do something without being asked, something out of the norm, and then ask for something from them. 
  • ***Cognitive Dissonance Theory***: People want to have consistent attitudes and behaviors…when they are not they experience dissonance (unpleasant tensions)
    • THOUGHT PROCESSES AND COGNITIVE PSYCH. NOT PSYCHOANALYSIS
    • Usually they will change their attitude
    • Belief that cheating on tests is bad, but you cheated on a test.
    • Teacher was bad, so it was okay that you cheated on the class.
    • You know you did something wrong, but you don’t like being wrong. SO you have to either change your beliefs or change your actions.
  • Belief: Smoking cigarettes is unhealthy
  • Action: I smoke cigarettes
  • Solution–can either change action or beliefs
    • Action: Smoking cigarettes is unhealthy, I don’t smoke cigarettes anymore
    • Belief: research on smoking isn’t conclusive. I’ll continue to smoke.
  • Self perception theory: People’s attitudes are developed by observing their own behavior
    • I love Frederick Backmann because I read a lot of his books
    • “case of self-perception”
    • behavior THEN decision. Cognitive Dissonance is BELIEF then TENSION then changing the action. There has to be discomfort in Cognitive Dissonance. Logical observations rise from self-perception theory
  • Ethnocentrism: tendency to believe your own culture is superior to other cultures and you use your own culture as the standard for judging other cultures.
    • Believing your culture is better than others, based on using your own culture and judging other people’s cultures.
    • The British drive on “the wrong side of the road” instead of saying the opposite side / left hand side
    • food preferences, religion, role of women in society, clothing choices.
  • In-Group Bias: Tendency to favor one’s own group over others (in-group vs. out-group), Us vs. Them.
    • Muzafer Sherif experiment / Realistic Conflict Theory / Robbers Cave Experiment
    • took 22 (11-12) boys, brought to summer camp, assigned them to groups A and B at random, required to compete against each other for prizes and limited resources.
    • Later created a situation where the two groups had to work in cooperation to solve a water crisis
    • Groups came to view each other more favorably
    • We can put aside differences and disagreements and solve problems.
    • Superordinate Goals–Shared goals that override differences among people and require cooperation.
      • Various groups come together to remove an oppressor, as colonial rule is removed, the groups will split back and begin fighting each other again. 
  • Phase 1: Bonding with each group. Low hostility
  • Phase 2: Group 1 v. Group 2, high hostility
  • Phase 3: Group 1 and Group 2: low hostility
  • Stereotypes: widely held beliefs that people have certain characteristics because of a membership in a particular group (schemas about the entire group)
    • Can be positive or negative
    • Intensified by our tendency to perceive “outgrip homogeneity”
    • one size fits all, explains “other race effect” or “own race bias”
    • Can become prejudicial which can be come discriminatory
  • Discrimination: Action towards an individual. 
  • Stereotypes lead to prejudice, which leads to discrimination,  which leads to stereotypes (big triangle!)
  • Just-world Phenomenon: tendency for people to believe the world is just and people get what they deserve.
    • Allows people to rationalize away injustice, often blaming victim
    • Homeless people must be lazy and wealthy people must be hard workers
  • Scapegoat Theory: Tendency to blame someone else for our own problems–allows us to explain our hardship or failure while maintaining our self image.
    • Problems of Germany post WWI will be pushed on the German Jewish citizens, not bad leadership with signing the Treaty of Versailles or going to war.
    • Often results in prejudice towards the group being blamed.