Download Ch. 20 PPT - Reading Community Schools

Chapter 20: Social Cognition
Social Psychology
• The study of the manner in which
personality, attitudes, motivations, and
behavior of the individual influence and
are influenced by social groups
• So in the study of social psych we must
look at:
– The individual
– Relation between individual and others
– Group behavior
The Individual
• We think that we are awesome!
• We think everybody notices us
• We think that our beliefs and actions make
sense
I’m Awesome
• We systematically rate ourselves as better
than average at things like:
– Student
– Friend
– Lover
– Driver
• We aren’t sure why
– Nature of Feedback?
– Differing criteria for goodness?
– Need to feel good about self
Everyone Notices Me
• Spotlight effect – we
tend to believe that the
spotlight shined
brighter on us than it
really does.
• The Ugly Shirt
experiment
Transparency Effect
• We think we are more transparent than we
really are.
1. Have you been to London?
Yes, I have been to London
No, I have not been to London
2. Do you have a younger sibling?
Yes, I have a younger sibling.
No, I do not have a younger sibling
3. Do you like sushi?
Yes, I like sushi
No, I do not like sushi
We believe what we do makes
sense.
• We believe that our attitudes are
reasonable and that our behaviors are in
keeping with our beliefs
Social Cognition
• The study of how information about people
is processed and stored
• Our thoughts, perceptions, and beliefs
about people are influenced by the social
context in which we interact with them
20.1 Attitudes
• Beliefs or feelings about objects, people,
and events
• Attitudes can affect behavior
• Generally stable but can be changed
Attitude Development Conditioning
• Authority figures positively reinforce
behaviors and beliefs that align with their
own
Attitude Development –
Observational Learning
• We acquire attitudes by observing others
Attitude Development –
Cognitive Evaluation
• We evaluate information or evidence
before forming our beliefs
• We are especially likely to do this if we
think we will have to justify our beliefs
Attitude Development – Cognitive
Anchors
• We form some of our beliefs early in
childhood
• These beliefs stay with us throughout our
lives
• Contrary attitudes may be rejected
Attitudes and Behavior
• Sometimes align other times do not
When Behavior Follows Attitude
• Behavior more likely to align with attitudes
when the behavior is specifically tied to
that attitude
• Stronger attitudes = behavior more likely
• More likely to act according to beliefs if
there is a vested interest
• More likely to act according to attitudes
that you are aware of
When Attitudes Follow Behavior
• Likely occurs when we behave contrary to
our beliefs
• Cognitive dissonance may cause a shift in
beliefs
Cognitive Dissonance Theory
• Leon Festinger
• Internal inconsistency causes dissonance
• We work to reduce dissonance
– We avoid inconsistent info
– We change attitudes to mesh with decisions
Cognitive Dissonance
• Subjects did a boring task.
• Subjects were then paid
either $1 or $20 to tell the
next subject that the task
was enjoyable.
• Subjects receiving $1 rated
the task as more enjoyable
than those receiving $20.
• Why? They were less able
to justify their action (lying
to the next subject) than
those receiving $20, so they
had to change their attitude
about the task.
20.2 Persuasion
• A direct attempt to influence other
people’s attitudes
Methods of Persuasion
• Central route
– Uses evidence and logic
– The message is most important factor
• Peripheral route
– Indirect approach
– Associates objects, people, or events with
positive or negative cues
– Many factors are important
The Message
• Repeated exposure leads to more
favorable views
• The way the message is presented is also
important
The Message - Two Sided
Arguments
• Both sides of the argument are presented
• The opposing views are discredited
• More effective than one sided arguments
The Message – Emotional Appeals
• Utilizes feelings of desire, loyalty, and fear
to persuade
The Messenger
• Employs people who are more persuasive:
– Experts
– The Trustworthy
– Attractive People
– People with similar qualities to the target
audience
– People without a vested interest
The Situation
• Putting people in a good mood makes
them more easily persuaded
The Audience
• Different approaches work better with
different audiences
– Emotion works on kids
– Logic on adults
Saying No
• Sales resistance – some people have no
trouble saying no others fall for any pitch
– High resistance correlates with high selfesteem and low social anxiety
– Low resistance correlates with low selfesteem and high social anxiety (they are also
more likely to be persuaded to engage in
behaviors that go against beliefs)
The Pitch
Your group is responsible for creating an advertising campaign for
one of the three products provided. During your pitch you will
present the following:
1. A tag line – Think about all the big brands and companies;
each has an advertising phrase you remember. Come up
with a great one sentence line to help the audience relate
the product to something appealing.
2. A print ad – Using white butcher or poster paper, design a
magazine ad.
3. A radio or television ad – Create a written pitch for a media
ad that includes a description of the set up and action as
well as any important dialogue. Casting descriptions are
also useful.
20.3 Prejudice
• Generalized attitude towards a specific
group of people
First Impressions
• We form first impressions quickly
• They are important (confirmation bias)
• They can actually have an effect on other
– Self Fulfilling Prophecy
– Pygmalion Effect
Stereotypes
• Unchanging, oversimplified, usually
distorted beliefs about a group of people
– Developed to help us organize social
information
– We assume those different from us are similar
to each other
– Harmful because people aren’t judged as
individuals
– Can lead to incorrect interpretations of
behavior
Discrimination
• Unfair treatment of individuals because the
are members of a specific group
Causes of Prejudice
• Exaggerating Differences
• Justifying Economic Status – successful
believe that those less well to do are
inferior
• Social Learning – we acquire prejudicial
ideas from parents and others
Causes of Prejudice
• Victimization – some who are victims of
prejudice try to regain a sense of power by
belittling others
• Scapegoating
– Scapegoat – individual or group that is
blamed for the problems of others
– Usually too weak to defend themselves or
don’t fight back
Overcoming Prejudice
•
•
•
•
•
Difficult
Increased contact
Speaking up
Being an example
Avoiding discrimination
20.4 Social Perception
• The ways we see other people
Primacy and Recency
• We form opinions about people based on
our first impressions (often influenced by
looks)
• These tend to have lasting effects
• Recency effect occurs when we change
our opinion about others
Attribution Theory
• We explain the behavior of others
differently than our own behavior
• We can attribute behavior to:
– Dispositional (personality) factors
– Situational (external) factors
Fritz Heider
Actor-Observer Bias
• We tend to attribute others behavior to
dispositional factors (they did it because
they’re not nice)
• We attribute our own behavior to
situational factors (I am usually nice, the
situation is to blame for my behavior)
Fundamental Attribution Error
• Our tendency to overestimate dispositional
causes for another’s behavior and to
underestimate the situational causes
Self-Serving Bias
• We attribute our own successes to
dispositional factors (I won cause I’m the
best!)
• We attribute our failures to situational
factors (I lost cause he cheated)
Nonverbal Communication
• We are influenced by forms of unspoken
communication like:
– Facial expression
– Gestures
– Posture and distance
• We are not always aware of using it
Physical Contact
• Degree to which it is used varies between
sexes and cultures
• Can be effective and persuasive
Eye Contact
• Can be revealing
• Can be indication of truthfulness
• Gazing – a steady intent look conveys
liking
• Staring – perceived as anger, makes
people uncomfortable
20.5 Interpersonal Attraction
What Contributes to Attraction
So how do we find the
person that we will
love forever?
Several factors contribute to
attraction
Physical Appearance
• Attractiveness varies from person to
person, but there are some universals
Universals of Beauty
• We tend to like large eyes, high
cheekbones, and narrow jaws
• Notions of beauty seem to be ingrained –
babies show preference for looking at
more attractive faces.
Differences in Body Shape
Preferences
• Body shape preferences vary widely
• Fallon and Rozin study – men tend to think
their body shape is close to the ideal,
women tend to think they are heavier than
the ideal
• Men like women shorter than themselves
women like taller men
Similarity in Physical
Attractiveness
• Matching Hypothesis – people tend to
choose partners who are the same level of
attractiveness as themselves
Other Similarities
• We tend to pick people with the same
demographics (race, age, education,
religion, etc.)
WHY?
– We tend to live amongst people like
ourselves
– People with similar characteristics have
similar attitudes which is appealing
Proximity
• We tend to fall for people who live close by
• Ohio study
Competence

We like people who are competent


But not so competent that they make us feel
bad about ourselves
The pratfall effect
Reciprocity
• Is the mutual exchange of feelings or
attitudes
• We respond to people who seem to like us
Misattribution of Arousal
• Situations occur that cause arousal
• The source is unclear
• You attribute the feelings to attraction
– Famous Studies
• Rickety Bridge
• Painful Shock
• Playboy Centerfolds
Gain Loss Effect
• Gain (romance novel effect)
– We are more attracted to people who have
increasingly high regard for us
– We prefer them over a person who has always
held us in high regard
• Loss
– If someone is always mean they loose the power
to hurt you
– Someone who had always been good to you
really has the power to hurt you
Friendship
• People with whom we share affection,
respect and trust
• We choose based on proximity, attraction,
reciprocity, and similarity
Love
• The word love has a
wide variety of
definitions. To
describe these,
Robert Sternberg
created the
Triangular model of
love.
Love
• Intimacy - Closeness, sharing, and caring
• Passion - Feelings of romantic and
sexual attraction
• Commitment – in it for the long haul
• Love changes and deepens over time