3. Social Beliefs and Judgments

BRAIN SYSTEMS (Kahneman, 2011)

System 1:

  • Functions automatically, out of awareness.

  • Implicit processes (intuition, gut feeling).

  • Examples: skills, conditioned dispositions.

System 2:

  • Requires conscious attention and effort.

  • Explicit processes (e.g., names, facts).

PRIMING

  • Activating specific associations in memory can influence thoughts/actions unconsciously.

  • Much of social information processing is automatic.

EMBODIED COGNITION

  • Bodily sensations influence cognitive preferences and social judgments.

  • Example: Shoppers carrying a basket are more likely to impulse buy unhealthy items (Van Den Bergh et al., 2011).

THE POWER OF INTUITION

  • First impressions often accurate; deeper knowledge enhances mind-reading ability.

    • Example: Traffic signals are swiftly reacted to.

  • Preconceptions' Danger: Sports fans see referees as biased. Political candidates view news media as unsympathetic.

BELIEF PERSEVERANCE

  • Persistence of initial beliefs despite discrediting. Illustrates how beliefs shape event constructions.

    • Example: Even after being shown evidence that their preferred political candidate made false statements, voters may continue to support that candidate, often rationalizing or ignoring the evidence presented.

CONSTRUCTING MEMORIES

  • Memory is not like a file cabinet; it is reconstructed during retrieval using current feelings and expectations.

  • Misinformation Effect: Incorporating misleading information into the memory of an event after witnessing it.

JUDGING OUR SOCIAL WORLD

INTUITION

  • Two modes of thinking: automatic (impulsive) and controlled (reflective).

  • Schemas guide perception and judgment.

  • Emotional reactions often precede deliberate thought.

OVERCONFIDENCE PHENOMENON

  • Tendency to overestimate accuracy of beliefs.

    • Examples: Stockbrokers, political figures, students overestimating their decisions or test performance.

NEGATIVITY BIAS

  • Negative information has a stronger impact than positive information.

  • Example: One negative comment can overshadow multiple positive ones.

MAGICAL THINKING

  • Presumption of logical connections between unrelated thoughts.

  • Laws of magical thinking: Presumption of logical connections between unrelated thoughts.

    • Law of Similarity: The belief that similar things share properties or are connected (e.g., voodoo dolls).

    • Law of Opposites: The idea that opposites can influence each other (e.g., wearing certain colors to ward off evil).

    • Law of Contagion: The belief that objects can carry properties from their former owners (e.g., wearing a celebrity's clothing can confer their traits or someone may refuse to use a second-hand object, like furniture or a car, because they believe it carries the negative energy or misfortune of its previous owner.).

ILLUSORY THINKING

  • Illusory Correlation: Seeing relationships where none exists.

  • Illusion of Control: Misperception of controllability over random events.

  • Regression Toward the Average: Extreme behaviors tend to return towards average levels.

    • For example, if a basketball player scores a lot of points in one game, they might score fewer points in the next game, closer to their average score

AVOIDING OVERCONFIDENCE

  • Key strategies:

    • Prompt feedback.

    • Break down tasks and estimate time required.

    • Consider reasons why judgments might be incorrect.

HEURISTICS

  • Heuristic: Mental shortcuts for quick, efficient judgments.

  • Representative Heuristic: Assuming someone belongs to a group based on similarity.

    • Example: If a person sees someone jogging, they might assume that person is health-conscious, even if they are just out for a leisurely run.

  • Availability Heuristic: Judging likelihood based on memory availability; vivid instances are often overvalued.

    • Example: After seeing news reports about airplane crashes, a person may overestimate the dangers of flying and be more anxious about taking a flight, despite statistics showing it is a safe mode of travel.

  • COUNTERFACTUAL THINKING: Imagining alternative outcomes that didn't happen. Example: Student regrets not achieving a higher grade on an easy subject.

EXPLAINING OUR SOCIAL WORLD

ATTRIBUTION THEORY

  • Framework for how we explain behavior:

    • Internal Attribution: Inferring behavior based on personality traits.

    • External Attribution: Inferring behavior based on situational factors.

NAÏVE PSYCHOLOGIST

  • Heider's view that everyone seeks to understand others' behavior through questioning.

CORRESPONDENT INFERENCE THEORY

  • We often assume behavior is stable and indicative of internal dispositions when certain conditions are met.

KELLY'S ATTRIBUTION THEORY

  • Analyzing behavior requires considering consistency, distinctiveness, and consensus.

FUNDAMENTAL ATTRIBUTION ERROR

  • Tendency to underplay situational influences while overemphasizing dispositional influences.

CAUSES OF ATTRIBUTION ERROR

  • Actor-observer difference and camera perspective bias lead to different interpretations of actions.

EXPECTATIONS IN SOCIAL JUDGMENTS

SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECY

  • Belief that enables its own fulfillment through resulting behaviors.

  • Teacher expectations can subconsciously confirm or influence student performance (e.g., Rena's story).

QUESTIONS?

  • "I like coffee because it gives me the illusion that I might be awake." - Lewis Black