Download Inferring the Causes of Behaviour: Attribution

Inferring the Causes of Behaviour:
Attribution
• Attribution is the process by which a
person infers other people’s motives or
intentions
• Attribution must take into account
internal as well as external causes of
behaviour
Why People Make Attributions
• People use attributions to maintain a
sense of control over their environment
• Knowledge about the causes of events
helps predict and control similar events
in the future
Errors in Attribution
• Errors or bias can
occur in making
attributions about the
behaviour of others
• Sometimes errors
occur because people
use mental shortcuts
that are not accurate
The Fundamental Attribution
Error
• When people commit the fundamental
attribution error, they assume people’s
behaviour is caused by their internal
dispositions and situational influences
are underestimated
The Actor-Observer Effect
• The actor-observer
effect is the tendency
to attribute the
behaviour of others to
internal causes
• One’s own behaviour
is attributed to
situational causes
The Self-Serving Bias
•
•
The self-serving bias
is the tendency for
people to feel their
positive behaviours
are due to their
internal traits
At the same time, they
blame their failures
and shortcomings on
external, situational
factors
Social Influence
• Social influence refers to the ways
people alter the attitudes or behaviours
of others
– Conformity
– Obedience
Conformity
• When a person changes her or his
attitudes or behaviours so they are
consistent with those of other people or
norms, the person is exhibiting
conformity
Conformity
• Solomon Asch found that
people in a group adopt
its standards
• Seven to nine people
were asked to judge
which of three lines
matched a standard line
• Only one group member,
the “naïve” participant,
was really unaware of the
purpose of the study
• The other “participants”
deliberately gave false
answers
• Asch found some naïve
participants would go
along with the group,
even when the answer
they gave was obviously
wrong
Asch & Sharif
Conformity and Independence
How Do Groups Cause
Conformity?
• One factor that leads to
• Another important
conformity is the amount
of information available
when a decision is made
• When people are
uncertain of how to
behave in an ambiguous
situation, they seek the
opinions of others
variable is the relative
competence of the group
• Conformity increases if
people feel group
members are more
competent than they are
How Do Groups Cause
Conformity?
• Position within a
group also affects
behaviour
• The public nature of
behaviour also
determines behaviour
• The more secure
• People are more
one’s status, the more
likely to make
independently one will
decisions inconsistent
behave
with the group if
decisions are private
Remember the video?
Why Do People Conform?
• The social conformity
approach states that
people conform to avoid
the stigma of being wrong
or deviant
• Attribution also explains
conformity
• When a person can
identify causes for group
behaviour they disagree
with, conformity
decreases
Why Do People Conform?
• Independence can
explain conformity (or
lack of it)
• But, independence can
be risky, and be seen as
deviant
• Last, conformity can be
due to expediency
• It is efficient to go along
with people one trusts
Not Conforming
• Dissenting opinions help
counteract group
influence and conformity
• A consistent opposing
voice can exert subtle
influence
• It can foster a sense of
liberation, even when the
opposition has little status
or power
Obedience
•
Obedience is compliance
with the orders of another
person or group
•
Classic studies of
obedience were
performed by Stanley
Milgram
•
Milgram told participants
they would be
participating in a study of
the effects of punishment
on learning
Obedience Study - Milgram
Obedience
• Their task was to
administer electric
shock to a “learner,” but
in reality, the “learner”
was a confederate
• Milgram found that 65%
of all participants could
be coaxed to deliver
every level of shock
Figure 13.7 Milgram’s Obedience Study
Explaining Milgram’s Results
• Milgram may have found high
obedience because his participants
were volunteers
• Other researchers found that obedience
to authority is not specific to Western
culture, and that it applies to men and
women, and younger and older
individuals
Ethical Issues
• Milgram’s study raised
ethical issues
• To ensure that there are
no long-lasting ill effects
from participating in a
study, participants are
debriefed
• Debriefing means
informing participants
about the true nature of
a study after its
completion
The Bystander Effect
• The bystander effect is
that as the number of
people present at an
emergency increases,
people often watch, but
do not help
• Latané and Darley found
that before deciding to
help, people must decide
if there is actually an
emergency
The Bystander Effect
• People may also
experience diffusion
of responsibility
(feeling they cannot
be held responsible
for not helping)
– E.g. Kitty Genovese
Murder
Latane` and Darley
Relationships and Attraction
• Interpersonal
attraction is the
tendency of one
person to evaluate
another in a positive
way
Proximity
• Decades of research
show that the closer
people are
geographically, the
more likely they will
become attracted to
one another
Interpersonal attraction
Physical Attractiveness
•
Many studies show that
people are romantically
attracted to those they
find physically attractive
•
People assume attractive
individuals have more
positive traits and
characteristics
•
More power, status, and
competence is ascribed to
physically attractive
individuals
Attitude Similarity and Attraction
• If you perceive
someone’s attitudes
as similar to your
own, the probability of
liking that person
increases
Intimate Relationships and Love
•
Intimacy is a state in which
each person in a
relationship is willing to selfdisclose and express
important feelings and
information to the other
person
•
The process of disclosure
makes each person feel
valued and cared for
Intimate Relationships and Love
• Men tend to be more self-disclosing
with a woman than another man
• Men are less likely to be self-disclosing
and intimate
What is love?