Social Psychology Flashcards
Attitudes
A positive, negative or mixed reaction to a person, object or idea expressed at some level of intensity
Attitude accessibility
Strengths of the association between an attitude object and a person’s evaluation of the object
Highly accessible (strong) attitude comes to mind quickly
Theory of planned behaviour
Attitude toward behaviour
–> what i think of performing the behaviour
Subjective norms
–> what important others think of the behaviour
Perceived behavioural control
–> how easy it is to perform the behaviour
Persuasion
Persuasive communication
–> message or ad that promotes a particular view of a person, object, or idea
Factors:
- -> message
- -> source
- -> channel
- -> audience
Elaboration Likelihood Model (central route)
Person thinks carefully about a message
Influenced by the strength/quality of message
Long-lasting impact on behaviour
Elaboration Likelihood Model (peripheral model)
Person does not think critically about contents of message
Influenced by superficial cues
Weaker attitudes
Temporary impact on behaviour
Motivation to think
Personal relevance
–> will this issue/product impact my life?
Need for cognition
–> does a person generally like to think about things?
Ability to think
Distraction
Fatigue
Knowledge about the issue
Cognitive Dissonance Theory
Motivation to be consistent can influence attitudes
Two thoughts can be unrelated, consistent or inconsistent
People have three options:
- -> change their behaviour
- -> justify behaviour by changing one dissonant cognitions
- -> justify behaviour by adding new cognitions
Attribution
How people explain the causes of behaviour
Theories (Heider)
Personal attribution
–> an internal characteristic of the person caused the behaviour(e.g. personality, mood)
Situational attribution
–> an external factor caused the behaviour (e.g. task, other people)
Attributing outcomes to stable factors gives people a sense of predication and control
Fundamental Attribution Error
Tendency to overlook situational factors and instead make internal attributions for others’ behaviours
Prejudice (social categorisation)
Classification of people into groups on the basis of common attributes
Prejudice (stereotypes)
Beliefs that associate a whole group of people with certain traits
Prejudice (prejudice)
Negative feelings about others because of their connection to a social group
