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Social
Cognition
Social Psychology
• Examines the influence of social processes
on the way people
– Think
– Feel
– Behave
Social Cognition
• Social cognition refers to the processes by
which people make sense of
– Themselves
– Social interactions
– Relationships
Social Cognition
• Networks of association
– Suggests memories are stored in interconnected
nodes. Activation of one node spreads
activation to other nodes linked to it through
experience
– Activate “Notre Dame” and immediately
connect the term football
Social Cognition
• Schemas
– Organized patterns of thought that direct
attention, memory and interpretation
– Activation of the schema “State Trooper” leads
to immediately hitting the breaks on your car
– Schemas enable us to enter a new situation with
some idea of how to behave
Social Cognition
• Concepts
– Mental representations of categories (car)
– A novel stimuli involves comparing it to an
abstract prototype
• Car
• Truck
• Is an SUV (novel stimuli) a car or a truck
First Impressions
• Our first impression of someone serves as a
benchmark for all future evaluations of the person
• First impressions serve as a schema (how to
respond)
• Halo effect
– The tendency to assume that positive qualities cluster
together
– The halo effect is also referred to as :what is beautiful is
good”
First Impressions
• Physically attractive people are assumed to be:
– Warm
– Friendly
– Intelligent
• Those who perceive themselves as attractive tend
to report being:
– More extroverted
– Socially comfortable
– Mentally healthy
Stereotypes and Prejudice
• Stereotypes involve characteristics attributed to
people based on their membership in specific
groups
• Often precludes receptiveness to new information
• A rigid schema
• Athletes= Not serious about academics
• Irish= Drink too much
Prejudice & Discrimination
• Prejudice
– Involves judging people based on stereotypes
– A way of thinking
• Discrimination
– Behaviors that follow from prejudicial
evaluations or attitudes
– Involves actually doing something
Prejudice & Discrimination
• We are all prejudice
– We prefer those who are similar to ourselves
– We prefer the known to the unknown
• Our prejudices do not need to dictate our behavior
• The more we are aware of our prejudices the
better able we are to control for discriminating
behavior
Authoritarian Personality
• Characterized by a tendency to hate people who
are different or downtrodden
• Those with an authoritarian personality tend to
have a dominant, stern and sometimes sadistic
father and a submissive mother
• Authoritarian individuals tend to displace or
project their rage towards their father onto
vulnerable groups
Subtle Racism
• Overt racism is often met with public
disapproval
• Subtle racism involves desire by racist to
express their hatreds in socially acceptable
ways
– Low expectations of performance
– Express more subtle stereotypes
Explicit and Implicit Racism
• As explicit racism becomes more and more social
unacceptable implicit racism becomes more
evident
• Unconscious slips of the tongue
• Harsher criminal sentences for blacks than whites
• Whites less helpful to blacks than to whites
Prejudice & Social Conditions
• Prejudice is more a social condition than a
personality dynamic
• Prejudice is transmitted from one generation to
another within social groups
• Prejudicial social attitudes serve to preserve the
benefits for the dominant classes
– Haves and have-nots tend to differ in color, religion or
ethnicity
Ingroups & Outgroups
• Ingroup
– Those who are members of a reference group
– Fraternity
• Outgroup
– Those who are not member of a reference group
• Members of an ingroup tend to perceive those who
are not as very homogenous
Social Identity Theory
• Social identity theory suggests we derive part of
our identity from the groups to which we belong
• Suggests that we will strive to maintain positive
feelings about the ingroup and negative feelings
for the outgroup
• Hatred towards the outgroup can become an
important part of our identity
– I exist to hate them
Attributions
• Attribution
– The process of inferring the causes of one’s
own and others’ mental states and behaviors
– Why did I do that
– Why did s/he say that
– We constantly think about the “whys” of our
social interactions
External v. Internal Attributions
• External attributions
– The situation caused (is responsible for) the behavior
• Internal attributions
– The person is responsible for the behavior
• Attributional style
– Habitual ways of making attributions
– Either external or internal
Attributions
• Consensus
– The way most people respond
– External attribution
• Consistency
– Refers to the way a given individual responds in the same way the
same stimulus
– Internal attribution
– Consistency across time
• Distinctiveness
– Refers to an individual’s likelihood to respond a given way to
many different stimuli
– Consistency across situations
Attributions
• Discounting
– Occurs when we discount one variable
(internal) because we know that others may be
contribution to the behavior in question
– Discount partner’s rude behavior due to some
circumstance at work
• Augmentation
– Increase (augment) an internal attribution for
behavior despite powerful situational factors
Intuitive Science
• People base their attributions by observing the covariation of situations, behaviors and specific
people
• To what extent does the presence of one variable
predict the presence of another variable
• Intuitive scientists
– Our tendency to rely on intuitive theories, frame
hypotheses, collect data about ourselves and others, and
draw conclusion as best we can
Correspondence Bias
• Tendency to assume other people’s behavior
corresponds to their internal states rather
than external situations
– Assume internal attributions rather than
possible external causes
• Also known as the fundamental attribution
error
Self-Serving Bias
• Our tendency to see ourselves in a more
positive light than others see us
• Our need for self-enhancement tends to blur
our objectivity
• More prevalent in Western individualist
focused societies
Faulty Cognitions
• Cognitive Bias
– Stereotyping
– Similar to the availability heuristic
• Motivational Bias
– We base our attributions to meet our needs, wishes and
goals
• Confirmation bias
– Our tendency to seek out information that confirms
one’s hypotheses
Attitudes
• Attitude
– An association between an act or object and an
evaluation of the act or object
• Attitude strength
– Durability & impact of an attitude on behavior
• Attitude importance
– Degree of importance of the act or object
• Attitude accessibility
– The ease with which an attitude comes to mind
Attitudes
• Explicit attitudes
– We are consciously aware of our attitude
• Implicit attitudes
– Regulate thought and behavior at an
unconscious level. We respond automatically
Attitudes
• Attitude ambivalence
– Degree to which an object generates conflicting
attitudes
• Attitude coherence
– Degree to which an attitude is internally
consistent
Attitudes and Behavior
• Attitudes do not accurately predict behavior
– A positive attitude towards exercise doesn’t
necessarily translate into one actually
exercising
• Specific attitudes predict behavior much
better than generalized attitudes
– Brand specificity
Attitudes and Behavior
• Attitudes are only one factor among many that
influence behavior
– I have a favorable attitude towards mushrooms but
would never eat them around my friends
• Attitudes will better predict behavior if members
of one’s reference group share the attitudes
• Implicit attitudes impact behavior in ways a
person is unaware of
Attitudes and Behavior
• Strongly held attitudes predict behavior
better than attitudes that generate less
passion
• Attitudes acquired through personal
experience are more likely to influence
behavior than attitudes acquired on more
abstract levels
Persuasion
• Persuasion
– Involves a deliberate efforts to change an
attitude
• Components of persuasion
– Credible source (expert knowledge)
– Message
• Receptiveness of receiver to the message
• Fear appeals
Attitudes and Behavior
• Components of persuasion
– Channel
• Words/images
• Medium
– Context
• Background setting for delivering message
• Politicians use of the national flag at events
– Receiver
• Strength of attitude by the receiver
• Need for cognition
Elaboration Model
• The Elaboration Likelihood Model of Persuasion
suggests that knowing how to appeal to people
requires figuring out the likelihood that they will
think about (evaluate) the arguments presented
• Central Route
– Appeals to those who think carefully about the message
• Volvo adds that focus on safety
• Peripheral Route
– Appeals to those less likely to think carefully about the
message
• Ford Mustang adds that focus on sex appeal
Cognitive Dissonance
• Cognitive dissonance refers to a perceived
difference between
– An attitude and a behavior
– An attitude and a new piece of information
• When cognitive dissonance occurs
something has to give
– Change attitude
– Change behavior
Cognitive Dissonance
• Dissonance reduction
– Involves our efforts to reduce cognitive
dissonance
• Self-perception theory
– Suggests that individuals infer their attitudes,
emotions, and other internal states by observing
their own behavior
Cognitive Dissonance
• Self-presentation theory
– Suggests that what appear to be changes in
attitudes are really only changes in reported
attitudes
• I’m saying what you want to hear
• Dissonance and culture
– May be a distinctively Western culture way of
thinking
The Self & Self-Concept
• Self
– The person including mental processes, body
and personality characteristics
• Self-concept
– A person’s concept of herself, a schema that
guides the way we think about and remember
information relevant to ourselves
Self-Esteem
• Self-esteem
– A person’s evaluation of himself, how much he likes
and respects the self
• General
• Specific
• Self-handicapping
– The process by which we set ourselves up to fail when
success is uncertain
– A means to preserve our self-esteem
– Success would mean one is worthy, thus impacting
one’s low self-esteem
Self-Consistency
• Refers to consistency of feedback of either a
positive or negative nature
• Those with low self-esteem tend to avoid
those who speak positive of them
• Positive remarks creates cognitive
dissonance with their low self-esteem
Self-Presentation
(Impression Management)
• Refers to how we present ourselves to others
• Involves dress, language, and other behaviors
• Self-presentation predicaments
– Situations that threaten the image we would like to
project
• Changing presentation for a job interview
Self-monitoring
• Refers to the individual differences in how
well we manage our self-presentations
• High self-monitors
– Carefully read and respond to social settings
• Low self-monitors
– Do not read social settings very well
Self-concepts
• Actual self
– Our views of how we actually are
• Ideal self
– Hopes, aspirations, and wishes that define the way we
would like to be
• Ought self
– Duties, obligations, and responsibilities that define the
way the person should be