Social Psychology: attitudes & social cognitions Flashcards
Social pscyhology definition
examines influences of social processes on the way people think, feel, behave in a social context
= attitudes, perceptions, motives, group/intergroup, interpersonal processes
Attitudes
= + or - evaluation of people, objects, ideas
3 components of an attitude
- affective (emotional/evaluative)
- behavioural disposition
- cognitive belief
Attitudes
Role of attitudes
attitude strength = durability/impact
importance = personal relevance, psychosocial significance, more important = in strength
accessibility = eas of an attitude coming to mind, high = rapid/auto primed by evironment
cogntive complexity = intricacy of thoughts about different attitude objects
Attitudes
Attitudes and behaviour
not always indicative of behaviour
can predict actions IF attitude + action are both relatively specific
attitude is one of many influences
action is higher if part of a group with similar attitudes
shaped by personal experience = influence action
Attitudes
Changing attitudes - persuasion
= deliberate efforts to change attitude
- source
- message
- channel
- context
- receiver
Attitudes
Elaboration likelihood model
how likely it is that people will focus their cognitive process to elaborate on a persuasive message
central routes = think carefully, weigh argument, higher processing
peripheral routes = less rational, bypasses cortex straight to limbic system (gut, heart)
Attitudes: persuasian by own actions
DISSONANCE THEORY
Cognitive dissonance
= attitude change
state of conflict after making a decision, action, exposed to info that is contrary to beliefs ect
eg: smothing is dangerous BUT still smoke
conflict = psychological tension, motivates individual to change attitude to eliminate unpleasant feelings
Attitudes: persuasian by own actions
DISSONANCE THEORY
Dissonance reduction
decrease unpleasant feelings reinforce attitude change
- modify behaviour
- rationalise/defend attitude
- add cognitive consonant
- ignore dissonance
Attitudes: persuasian by own actions
SELF PERCEPTION THEORY (Bem)
people infer own attitudes, emotions, internal states by observing own behaviour
figure ourt WHY they act the way they do
- acting now
- acted in the past
ambiguous situations and unfamiliar events
Social cognition
Perceiving other people
first impressions = initial perception, affect future beliefs about them, frame of reference/schemas
halo effect = attribution of additional positive characteristics to someone who is physically attractive
minimal info = guide info processing about people + r/ships
Social cognition
Prejudice
schemas essential for social cognition
awry schematic processing = stereotypes/prejudice
prejudice IS an attitude (ABC)
prejudice = prejudgement, learned attitude, neg feelings/beliefs that justify attitude + behavioural intentionto avoid, control, dominate
Social cognition
Origins of prejudice
in-group bias
evaluation of own group as better
racism, sexism, ageism
Social cognition
Reversing prejudice
Muzafer Sherif = reducing hositlity requires contact AND cooperation to superordinate goals
contact hypotheses
Elliot Aronson = jigsaw classrooms
Social cognition
Attribution
attribution = process of inferring causes of mental states + behaviours of self and others
external attributions = behaviour due to the situation
internal attributions = behaviour reflects person
Social cognition
Attribution - intuitive psychologists
rely on intuitive theories, frame hypotheses, collect data on self/others, draw conclusions
dispositional + situational causes
Social cognition
Attribution Theory (Heider)
social perceiver uses info to generate casual explanations
making attributions relies on information:
- consensus - way most respond
- consistency - same responses/same stimulus
- distinctiveness - likelihood to respond same way to many different stimuli
Social cognition
Covariation attribution theory - Harold Kelley
dealing with uncertainty
Social cognition
Fundamental attribution error
= tendency to assum that other people’s behaviour corresponds to their internal states rather than external situations
underestimate situational factors
overestimate dispostional factors
aatirbute behaviour to personality
Social cognition
Self-serving bias
= when people view themselves in a more positive light than others see them
credit for success, deny responsibilities of failures
narcissistic
Social cognition
Roles of beliefs/expectancies
self-fulfilling prophecy = prediction modifies interactions, produce what is expected
behavioural conformity = perceiver expects a target to behave in a certain way, target acts, confirms perceivers prejudices/expectations
Interpersonal Processes
The power of situation
social rules = behavioural guidelines (explicit/implicit)
social norms = expectation a group has for its members
social role = social-defined pattern of behaviour
Interpersonal processes
Social influence - obedience
obedience = compliance with authority
Milgram experiments - how far people would go in obeying orders (shock an individual on command of another)
obedience paradigm
why? normative, informational, sources of info
Interpersonal processes
Conformity
= tendency for people to adopt behaviours, attitudes, values of other members of a group
information influence - adopting what others do in ambiguous situation
norm crystallisation - expectation of a group converges into common perspective
Interpersonal processes
Situational effects on pro-social behaviour
altruism = behaviour that helps other people without no apparent gain/with potential cost to oneself
athical hedonism = philosophical thoughts, all behaviour is/should be designed to inc own pleasure, dec pain
Interpersonal processes
Situational effects on pro-social behaviour
Bystander Intervention
Latane & Darley
form of altruism and willingness to assist someone in need
helps explain action/inaction in the presence of others
diffusion of responsibility = larger number of bystanders, dec sense of responsibility to act (equally responsible)
