Myers 40: Social Thinking+

What do social psychologists study?

Role of Social psychologists

Define Social Psychology:

The scientific study of how individuals think, feel, and behave (interact) in social situations.

interactions between people and the influence of social factors on individual behavior.
crucial role in understanding human behavior within social contexts.

2. Social Psychology has this Focus on situational influences unlike __________

Unlike personality psychology, which emphasizes individual traits and characteristics, social psychology focuses on situational factors.
Social psychologists examine how the immediate environment, social norms, and external pressuresshape behavior.
conformity, obedience, compliance, and persuasion, where individuals may adjust their actions or beliefs to align with those of others.

5. Personality VS Social psychologists

Personality Psychologists:

Focus: Individual traits and characteristics.
Example: They might study how someone's empathy or altruism influences their likelihood of helping others.
Explanation: Personality psychologists look at what makes individuals unique and how these traits affect their behavior in different situations.

Social Psychologists:

Focus: Situational factors and social influences.
Example: They investigate how social norms or the bystander effect impact helping behavior.
Explanation: Social psychologists examine how the environment, social pressure, or group dynamics affect people's actions and decisions, regardless of individual traits.

6. Focus on Social Perception:

Social psychologists investigate how individuals perceive, interpret, and make judgments about themselves and others in social contexts.
This includes attribution theory, stereotyping, prejudice, and social cognition processes.

7. Applications of Social Psychology:

Social psychologists contribute to various fields, including health, business, law, and education — to understand and address real-world issues

8. Relationship with Sociology:

While sociology studies broader social structures and institutions, social psychology focuses on the individual within social contexts.

How do we tend to explain others’ behavior and our own?

The Fundamental Attribution Error

1. Attribution Theory:

Proposed by Fritz Heider in 1958.
Explains how we attribute behavior to either a person's stable traits (dispositional attribution) or the situation (situational attribution).

3. The Fundamental Attribution Error:

Defined by Ross in 1977
Describes the tendency to overestimate the influence of personality and underestimate the influence of situations when explaining others' behavior.

4. Illustrative Experiment — Napolitan and Goethals

Napolitan and Goethals (1979) conducted an experiment with college students.
Students interacted with a woman who acted either cold or warm.
Regardless of being informed that her behavior was scripted, students still attributed her behavior to her personal disposition — If she acted unfriendly, both decided she really was a cold person

5. The Fundamental Attribution Error:Impact on Impressions

Even when given information about situational factors affecting behavior, individuals tend to rely on dispositional attributions.
This can lead to misconceptions and misjudgments about others' personalities.

7. Application of Attribution Theory, what does it help us understand?:

Helps understand how people make sense of others' behavior in various contexts.
Raises awareness of biases in perception and judgment, emphasizing the importance of considering situational factors.
Understanding the fundamental attribution error reduce stereotypes and prejudice.

What Factors Affect Our Attributions?

1. Cultural Influence looking at China and Japan VS Westerners

Westerners tend to attribute behavior more to personal traits, while individuals in China and Japan are more sensitive to situational factors.
Fundamental attribution effect seen more with westerners
Studies show that cultural background shapes how people interpret and attribute behavior.
Americans tend to focus on the attributes of individuals, while Japanese viewers focus more on the overall scene or situation.

2. Contextual Factors:

Our attributions also depend on the context and the situation in which behavior occurs.

3. Does a person being a stranger or someone i know well matter?

When explaining our own behavior, we are sensitive to how behavior changes with different situations.
Similarly, we consider situational factors when explaining the behavior of people we know well or have observed in various contexts.
We are more prone to the fundamental attribution error when explaining the behavior of strangers or unfamiliar individuals.

4. Fundamental Attribution Error and Observer's Viewpoint:

Taking an observer's viewpoint can make us more aware of situational influences on behavior.
Studies demonstrate that viewing interactions from another person's perspective leads individuals to attribute their own behavior more to their disposition.
Perspective taking

5. Influence of Cameras:

Assessing actions from different camera perspectives affects our attributions of behavior.
Viewing a police officer's actions from a body cam perspective increases awareness of situational factors and enhances sympathy towards the officer rather than dash cam video

6. Past VS Current Self

We tend to attribute our deliberate and admirable actions to our own good reasons rather than to situational factors.
As we age, we attribute our past behavior mostly to our traits, viewing our younger selves as distinct from our current selves.

7. Implications:

Understanding the factors influencing attributions helps elucidate cultural differences and biases in perception.
Awareness of contextual influences on behavior can foster empathy and understanding in interpersonal interactions.

How Do Our Attributions Matter?

1. Influence on Real-Life Effects:

The way we explain others' actions, whether attributing them to the person or the situation, can have significant consequences in real-life scenarios.

2. Legal Implications:

In a study involving 181 U.S. state judges, lighter sentences were given to a violent offender when a scientist testified about a gene altering brain areas related to aggressiveness.
This demonstrates how attributions of behavior, such as considering genetic predispositions, can influence legal judgments.

3. Social Interactions with Men as Women

Women often experience men misattributing friendliness as a sexual come-on, highlighting the impact of attributions on interpersonal relationships.

4. Societal Attitudes and Political Ideologies:

Attribution of poverty and unemployment can vary based on political beliefs.
Political conservatives = attribute to personal dispositions — individual choices/initiative.
Political liberals = attribute to external factors (situational) — lack of opportunity and discrimination.

5. Influence of Choice Priming:

Reflecting on the power of choice, either by recalling personal choices or observing others', can lead individuals to believe that people get what they deserve.
when people think about choices—either their own or someone else's—it affects how they view the reasons behind people's actions
This suggests that attributions of behavior are influenced by people's beliefs about personal responsibility and the power of choice influence how they explain behavior.

How do attitudes and actions interact?

Define Attitudes

Definition:

Attitudes are feelings or evaluations, often influenced by our beliefs, that predispose us to respond in a particular way to objects, people, and events.
typically consist of cognitive, affective, and behavioral components

3. Influence on Reactions:

Attitudes shape our reactions and responses to various stimuli in our environment. (attitudes shape actions)
For example, if we perceive someone as threatening, our attitude of fear and anger towards them may lead us to act defensively.

4. Bidirectional Relationship with Behavior (actions):

The relationship between attitudes and behavior is bidirectional.
Attitudes affecting Actions: Our attitudes influence our actions and behaviors. For instance, hateful attitudes can lead to violent behavior.
Actions affecting attitudes: Conversely, our actions can also influence our attitudes. Just as our emotional expressions can affect our emotions, our behaviors can shape our attitudes over time.

7. Application in Behavior Change:

Understanding attitudes is essential in efforts to change behavior or attitudes towards specific issues.
Strategies such as persuasion and attitude change campaigns aim to modify attitudes to promote positive behaviors or beliefs.

Attitudes Affect Actions

1. Influence of Attitudes on Behavior:

Attitudes significantly influence our behavior, shaping how we act in various situations.
Our attitudes guide our actions, reflecting our beliefs, values, and emotional responses towards objects, people, and events.

2. Situational Factors and Attitude-Behavior Connection:

Despite the influence of attitudes, situational factors, such as strong social pressures, can override the connection between attitudes and behavior.
For example, politicians may vote according to the demands of their supporters, even if they personally disagree with those decisions.
Individuals may publicly express attitudes or behaviors that differ from their private beliefs or actions.

4. Conditions Favoring Attitude-Behavior Consistency:

Attitudes are more likely to influence behavior under certain conditions:
- External influences are minimal.
- The attitude is stable and specific to the behavior.
- The attitude is easily recalled and salient in the given situation.

5. Experiment for Attitude-Behavior Consistency:

An experiment used vivid and easily recalled information to convince sun-tanning college students about the risk of skin cancer associated with repeated tanning.
After one month, a significant portion of participants had lighter skin, demonstrating a change in behavior due to altered attitudes about skin cancer risk.

Actions Affect Attitudes

Evidence Supporting the Principle:

Attitudes can be influenced or shaped by our actions and behaviors.

Several lines of evidence confirm the notion that attitudes follow behavior:
- The Foot-in-the-Door Phenomenon: Small initial actions can lead to larger commitments and changes in attitude. For example, agreeing to a small request initially can make individuals more likely to agree to larger requests later.
- Role-Playing Affects Attitudes: Assuming a role or engaging in role-playing activities can influence attitudes towards the behaviors associated with that role.
- Cognitive Dissonance: When individuals experience conflicting beliefs or attitudes, they may experience discomfort, leading them to change their attitudes to alleviate this tension.

Cooperative Actions and Mutual Liking:

Cooperative actions, such as those performed by people on sports teams, can foster mutual liking and positive attitudes among team members.

Actions Affect Attitudes: THE FOOT-IN-THE-DOOR PHENOMENON

1. Definition:

The foot-in-the-door phenomenon refers to the tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request.
Compliance with small requests can lead to a shift in attitudes, making it easier for individuals to agree to larger requests later on.

6. Example Experiment: "Drive Carefully" sign

In the Freedman and Fraser (1966) study, individuals were more likely to agree to place a large "Drive Carefully" sign in their yard after initially agreeing to a small favor of placing a 3-inch-high "Be a Safe Driver" sign in their window.

Actions Affect Attitudes: ROLE-PLAYING AFFECTS ATTITUDES

1. Role Adoption and Social Prescriptions:

When individuals adopt a new role, such as becoming a college student, getting married, or starting a new job, they often strive to conform to the social expectations associated with that role overtime.

2. Transition from Acting to Becoming:

Initially, individuals may feel like they are "playing a role" in the theater of life, similar to soldiers who may perceive their actions as war games.
through gradual immersion and repetition, individuals internalize the behaviors associated with the role, and these behaviors become a part of their identity.

6. Definition of Role:

A role is defined as a set of expectations or norms about a social position, prescribing how individuals in that position should behave.

Actions Affect Attitudes: COGNITIVE DISSONANCE: RELIEF FROM TENSION

1. Cognitive Dissonance Theory:

Cognitive dissonance theory, proposed by Leon Festinger in 1957
suggests that when individuals become aware of inconsistencies between their attitudes and actions, they experience mental tension, or cognitive dissonance.
To reduce this discomfort, individuals often adjust their attitudes to align with their past actions.

2. Experiments Testing Cognitive Dissonance and Conclusion

Numerous experiments have been conducted to test cognitive dissonance theory.
Participants may be asked to engage in behaviors or express opinions that contradict their attitudes, leading to feelings of dissonance.
Conclusion: The less coerced and more responsible we feel for a troubling act, the more dissonance we feel. The more dissonance we feel, the more motivated we are to find and project consistency, such as changing our attitudes to help justify the act.

3. Dissonance Reduction Mechanisms:

Individuals seek to reduce cognitive dissonance through various mechanisms:
- Changing attitudes to align with actions: Individuals may begin to believe in or justify their actions by adjusting their attitudes to be consistent with their behavior. (cognitive dissonance)
- Rationalization: Individuals may come up with justifications or explanations for their actions to reduce the discomfort of dissonance.

4. Implications for Behavior Change:

The attitudes-follow-behavior principle suggests that individuals can influence their feelings and attitudes by altering their behavior.
By engaging in actions consistent with desired attitudes, individuals can gradually shape their beliefs and identities.
Not only can we think ourselves into action, we can act ourselves into a way of thinking.

6. William James' Perspective and connection

William James, in his Principles of Psychology (1890), emphasized the role of outward movements and behaviors in shaping emotional tendencies.
believed in Facial feedback effect

How do peripheral route persuasion and central route persuasion differ?

Definitions:

Peripheral Route Persuasion: Occurs when individuals are influenced by incidental cues or superficial factors, such as the attractiveness of the speaker or emotional appeals.
Central Route Persuasion: Occurs when individuals' thinking is influenced by careful consideration of evidence, arguments, and logical reasoning.

2. Characteristics:

Peripheral Route Persuasion:
- Relies on attention-getting cues.
- Triggers speedy, emotion-based judgments.
- Often utilizes superficial factors such as attractiveness or emotional appeals.
Central Route Persuasion:
- Provides evidence and logical arguments.
- Encourages careful thinking and analysis.
- Focuses on the quality and strength of arguments rather than superficial cues.

4. Effectiveness and Durability:

Peripheral Route Persuasion:
- Can be effective for individuals who are influenced by emotional appeals or superficial cues.
- May lead to quick decisions but may lack long-term durability.
Central Route Persuasion:
- More likely to be effective for individuals who engage in analytical thinking or are highly involved in the issue.
- Results in more thoughtful decision-making and is often more durable over time.

5. Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM):

The elaboration likelihood model explains how individuals process persuasive messages based on their level of involvement and motivation.
According to the ELM, central route persuasion occurs when individuals are motivated and able to process information deeply, while peripheral route persuasion occurs when individuals are less motivated or unable to process information deeply.

How to be persuasive .

DO NOT:

loudly argue your position before listening
humiliate people
bore people will complex info

DO:

identify shared values or goals
appeal to others admirable motives
make your message vivid
repeat your message
engage audience by restating your message