collective cultures

Contextual Studies on Collective Cultures

  • Research conducted in China and Japan focusing on collectivist cultures.
  • Collectivist Cultures:
    • Tend to favor external attributions for behaviors.
    • Example: Providing individuals the benefit of the doubt in interpreting actions.

Influences on Attitudes

  • People often attribute their behavior to external or internal reasons:
    • External Reasons: Applying blame or praise toward outside factors when things go wrong.
    • Internal Reasons: Personal beliefs or traits being acknowledged when outcomes are positive.

Components Affecting Attitude

  1. Affective component:

    • Related to emotions; represents how one feels about something.
    • Example: Advertising plays on emotional response to products.
    • Question to consider: Do you feel positive or negative towards an ad?

  2. Cognitive component:

    • Pertains to knowledge and beliefs; what one thinks they know.
    • Example: Evaluating a product based on personal research or opinions.

  3. Behavioral motivation:

    • Influenced by feelings and beliefs, dictating the approach toward a subject or individual.
    • Example: Choosing to seek out a supportive social group or avoiding others based on past interactions.

Implicit and Explicit Attitudes

  • Implicit Attitudes:

    • Often subconscious; not directly observable or acknowledged by the individual.
    • Can be assessed through implicit association tests (IAT), which measure reaction times rather than direct questioning.
    • Subjects may deny holding negative attitudes, yet tests might reveal the opposite.

  • Explicit Attitudes:

    • Conscious, reported beliefs about issues or groups.
    • Generally easier to change as individuals are aware of them.

The Process of Change in Attitude

  • The act of persuasion can influence attitudes in two primary ways:
    1. Peripheral Route:
    • Leads to temporary change based on superficial factors, such as emotional appeal or attractiveness of the speaker.
    • Example: Being swayed by an advertisement due to celebrity endorsement rather than the product's actual benefits.
    1. Central Route:
    • Involves deep engagement and genuine change in attitude; requires thoughtful consideration of information presented.
    • Example: Revising your opinion on climate change after thorough research and persuasive arguments.

Cognitive Dissonance Experiment

  • Classic study involving a task where participants were asked to rotate pegs on a board.
  • Participants divided into three groups:
    1. Control Group: No payment or persuasion.
    2. $1 Group: Participants paid $1 to convince others the task was enjoyable.
    3. $20 Group: Participants paid $20 for the same task.
Findings:
  • Those in the $1 Group adjusted their attitudes positively because the small payment created a conflict between their experience and what they reported.
  • $20 Group: Did not exhibit similar change, as the payment was sufficient to absolve cognitive dissonance (no need to alter attitudes).
  • Key Insight: Cognitive Dissonance Theory suggests individuals alter their beliefs to align with actions when the reward is insufficient to justify those actions.

Social Norms and Behavior

  • Social Norms: Influence behavior in social contexts significantly.
  • Conformity:
    • The act of aligning attitudes or behaviors with those in a group.
    • Can occur due to uncertainty or a desire to fit in with peers.

Classic Conformity Experiment by Solomon Asch:

  • Participants tasked with judging line lengths along with confederates giving incorrect answers intentionally.
  • Results showed:
    • Over 50% of participants conformed to the group’s wrong answer during critical trials.
    • The presence of a partner who also provided the correct answer drastically reduced rates of conformity to about 5%.
  • Conclusion: Group influence is strong; however, it diminishes when unity among group members is broken.

Obedience and Authority

  • Milgram’s Obedience Experiment:
    • Examined how individuals respond to authoritative commands.
    • Subjects believed they were administering shocks to another participant.
    • Key factors impacting obedience:
    1. Proximity: Being physically closer to the perceived victim decreases willingness to follow orders (e.g., lowered shock levels).
    2. Authority's Context: Setting of the experiment influenced participants’ compliance; a prestigious environment increases conformity.
  • Ethical Implications: Raises questions about the extent of obedience individuals will display under authority, even to harmful extents.

Motivation to Help and Evolutionary Roots

  • Explored through comparison of behavior in chimpanzees versus human children.
  • Human children show a greater inclination to help others, suggesting deep evolutionary roots in social behavior.
  • Discussed the idea of genetic relatedness encouraging altruistic behavior (e.g., helping relatives survive).