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Psychology Applied to Modern Life, Eighth Edition, Weiten and Lloyd
Chapter 6
Chapter 6
Social Thinking and Social
Influence
Psychology Applied to Modern Life, Eighth Edition, Weiten and Lloyd
Chapter 6
Forming Impressions of Others
•
As we engage in person perception, “the
process of forming impressions of others”, we
rely on five key sources of information.
1. Appearance.
2. Verbal behavior.
3. Actions.
4. Nonverbal messages (e.g., facial
expressions, body language and gestures).
5. Situations.
Psychology Applied to Modern Life, Eighth Edition, Weiten and Lloyd
Chapter 6
Forming Impressions of Others (cont.)
•
Snap judgments vs. Systematic judgments.
– Snap judgments about others that are
made quickly, are based on limited
information and are not very accurate.
– They are “shortcuts” that rely on automatic
processing, and are used when we are not
motivated to form an accurate impression of
another person.
Psychology Applied to Modern Life, Eighth Edition, Weiten and Lloyd
Chapter 6
Forming Impressions of Others (cont.)
•
Snap judgments vs. Systematic judgments.
(cont.)
– Systematic judgments require more
controlled processing and tend to occur
when forming impressions of others that can
affect our happiness or welfare.
Psychology Applied to Modern Life, Eighth Edition, Weiten and Lloyd
Chapter 6
Forming Impressions of Others (cont.)
•
Attributions about others’ behavior fall into
two categories:
1. Internal attributions – when people
attribute the cause of others’ behavior to
personal dispositions, traits, abilities or
feelings.
2. External attributions – when people
attribute the cause of others’ behavior to
situational demands or environmental
constraints.
Psychology Applied to Modern Life, Eighth Edition, Weiten and Lloyd
Chapter 6
Forming Impressions of Others (cont.)
•
Attributions (cont.)
– We are most likely to make attributions
about others’ behavior when:
•
Others behave in unexpected or
negative ways.
•
•
When events are personally relevant.
When we are suspicious about others’
motives.
Psychology Applied to Modern Life, Eighth Edition, Weiten and Lloyd
Chapter 6
Forming Impressions of Others (cont.)
•
Perceiver expectations.
– How we expect others to behave can
influence our actual perceptions of them.
– Confirmation bias – occurs when we
behave toward others in ways that confirm
our expectations about them.
– Self-fulfilling prophecies – occurs when
expectations about a person cause the
person to actually behave in ways that
confirm the expectations.
Psychology Applied to Modern Life, Eighth Edition, Weiten and Lloyd
Chapter 6
Forming Impressions of Others (cont.)
•
There are three steps involved in selffulfilling prophecies (see Figure 6.2).
1. The perceiver has an initial impression of
someone.
2. The perceiver behaves toward the target
person in a manner that is consistent with
their impression.
3. The target person adjusts their behavior to
fit our expectation, which confirms the
perceiver’s impression of the person.
Psychology Applied to Modern Life, Eighth Edition, Weiten and Lloyd
Chapter 6
Figure 6.2
Psychology Applied to Modern Life, Eighth Edition, Weiten and Lloyd
Chapter 6
Forming Impressions of Others (cont.)
•
Cognitive distortions.
– Social categorizations – are cognitive
“shortcuts” in which we categorize people
on the basis of nationality, race, gender,
etc.
•
People perceive similar individuals to
be members of their ingroup (us) and
dissimilar people to be members of the
outgroup (them).
Psychology Applied to Modern Life, Eighth Edition, Weiten and Lloyd
Chapter 6
Forming Impressions of Others (cont.)
– Social categorizations (cont.)
• Categorizing has three important parts:
1. People have more negative attitudes
toward outgroup members.
2. People see outgroup members as
more alike than they really are (the
“homogeneity effect”).
3. The visibility of outgroup members is
heightened when they comprise the
minority in a crowd.
Psychology Applied to Modern Life, Eighth Edition, Weiten and Lloyd
Chapter 6
Forming Impressions of Others (cont.)
•
•
Stereotypes – “are widely held beliefs that
people have certain characteristics because
of their membership in a particular group”.
Stereotypes persist because of:
– Simplicity. They are less effortful,
cognitively. But, the tradeoff for simplicity
is inaccuracy.
– Confirmation bias.
– Self-fulfilling prophecy.
Psychology Applied to Modern Life, Eighth Edition, Weiten and Lloyd
Chapter 6
Forming Impressions of Others (cont.)
•
•
•
The fundamental attribution error – refers
to “the tendency to explain other people’s
behavior as the result of personal, rather
than situational, factors”.
Making attributions requires two steps:
1. Focusing on the person (making an
internal attribution).
2. Taking the situation into account (allowing
for external attributions).
The second step is more effortful, so we
often skip it (see Figure 6.4).
Psychology Applied to Modern Life, Eighth Edition, Weiten and Lloyd
Chapter 6
Figure 6.4
Psychology Applied to Modern Life, Eighth Edition, Weiten and Lloyd
Chapter 6
Forming Impressions of Others (cont.)
•
A defensive attribution – is “the tendency to
blame victims for their misfortune, so that one
feels less likely to be victimized in a similar
way”.
Psychology Applied to Modern Life, Eighth Edition, Weiten and Lloyd
Chapter 6
Forming Impressions of Others (cont.)
•
Key themes in person perception:
– Efficiency – when forming impressions of
others, we default to automatic processing.
– Selectivity – we “see what we expect to
see” by focusing on aspects of the person
that confirm our expectations (see Figure
6.5).
– Consistency – First impressions do matter!
Once a perceiver has formed an impression
of someone, they tune out subsequent
information. This is called the primacy
effect.
Psychology Applied to Modern Life, Eighth Edition, Weiten and Lloyd
Chapter 6
Figure 6.5
Psychology Applied to Modern Life, Eighth Edition, Weiten and Lloyd
Chapter 6
The Problem of Prejudice
•
•
Prejudice – “is a negative attitude toward
members of a group”.
Discrimination – “involves behaving
differently, usually unfairly, toward the
members of a group”.
•
Prejudice and discrimination often go
together, but this is not always the case
(see Figure 6.6).
Psychology Applied to Modern Life, Eighth Edition, Weiten and Lloyd
Chapter 6
Figure 6.6
Psychology Applied to Modern Life, Eighth Edition, Weiten and Lloyd
Chapter 6
The Problem of Prejudice (cont.)
•
“Old-Fashioned” vs. Modern Discrimination.
– “Old-Fashioned”, or overt, discrimination has
declined in recent years, but a more subtle
(“modern”) form of discrimination has
emerged.
– Modern discrimination occurs when
“people privately harbor negative attitudes
toward minority groups, but express them
only when they feel such views are justified,
or that it’s safe to do so” (see Figure 6.7).
Psychology Applied to Modern Life, Eighth Edition, Weiten and Lloyd
Chapter 6
The Problem of Prejudice (cont.)
•
Causes of prejudice:
1. The authoritarian personality, a
“personality type characterized by prejudice
toward any group perceived to be different
from themselves”.
2. Cognitive distortions and expectations
such as stereotyping, fundamental
attribution error, defensive attributions and
expectations.
Psychology Applied to Modern Life, Eighth Edition, Weiten and Lloyd
Chapter 6
The Problem of Prejudice (cont.)
•
Causes of prejudice: (cont.)
3. Competition between groups –
perceived threats to one’s group, such as
conflict over scarce resources, causes
prejudice against outgroup members.
4. Threats to social identity – when the
collective self-esteem of a group is
threatened, two response may occur:
•
•
Ingroup favortism, or
Outgroup denogration.
Psychology Applied to Modern Life, Eighth Edition, Weiten and Lloyd
Chapter 6
The Problem of Prejudice (cont.)
•
Reducing prejudice.
– Cognitive strategies – make an effort to
override stereotypes by using controlled
processing.
– Intergroup contact.
• Superordinate goals – “goals that
require two or more groups to work
together to achieve mutual ends” can
reduce intergroup hostility.
Psychology Applied to Modern Life, Eighth Edition, Weiten and Lloyd
Chapter 6
The Power of Persuasion
•
Persuasion – “involves the communication
of arguments and information intended to
change another person’s attitudes”.
– Attitudes – include “beliefs and feelings
about people, objects and ideas”.
Psychology Applied to Modern Life, Eighth Edition, Weiten and Lloyd
Chapter 6
The Power of Persuasion (cont.)
•
The elements of the persuasion process (see
Figure 6.9).
1. The source is “the person who sends a
communication”.
2. The receiver is “the person to who the
message is sent”.
3. The message is “the information
transmitted by the source”.
4. The channel is “the medium through
which the message is sent”.
Psychology Applied to Modern Life, Eighth Edition, Weiten and Lloyd
Chapter 6
Figure 6.9
Psychology Applied to Modern Life, Eighth Edition, Weiten and Lloyd
Chapter 6
The Power of Persuasion (cont.)
•
Source factors.
– Persuasion is more effective when:
1. The source has high credibility.
Sources are deemed credible if they
have expertise and are trustworthy.
2. The source is likable. Likability is
increased when the source is attractive,
and/or similar to the receiver.
Psychology Applied to Modern Life, Eighth Edition, Weiten and Lloyd
Chapter 6
The Power of Persuasion (cont.)
•
Message factors.
– Messages are most effective when:
1. Two-sided arguments are used. This
also increases credibility.
2. Persuaders use emotional appeals to
shift attitudes.
3. They create positive feelings in the
receiver.
Psychology Applied to Modern Life, Eighth Edition, Weiten and Lloyd
Chapter 6
The Power of Persuasion (cont.)
•
Receiver factors.
1. Forewarning reduces the impact of
arguments on receivers.
2. Receivers are harder to persuade when
the message content is incompatible with
existing beliefs.
Psychology Applied to Modern Life, Eighth Edition, Weiten and Lloyd
Chapter 6
The Power of Persuasion (cont.)
•
The whys of persuasion.
– According to the elaboration likelihood
model, “our thoughts about a persuasive
message, not the message itself,
determines whether attitudes will change”.
• Messages can be perceived either
through a peripheral route (not
mindful processing) or central route
(mindful processing). (See Figure
6.10.)
Psychology Applied to Modern Life, Eighth Edition, Weiten and Lloyd
Chapter 6
Figure 6.10
Psychology Applied to Modern Life, Eighth Edition, Weiten and Lloyd
Chapter 6
The Power of Persuasion (cont.)
•
Peripheral versus central routes (cont.)
– Messages perceived through central
routes are usually more effective, longerlasting and a better predictor of behavior.
– For the central route to override the
peripheral route:
1. The receiver must be motivated to
process the persuasive message.
2. Receivers must be able to grasp the
persuasive message.
Psychology Applied to Modern Life, Eighth Edition, Weiten and Lloyd
Chapter 6
The Power of Social Pressure
•
Conformity and compliance pressures.
– Conformity – “occurs when people yield
to real or imagined social pressure.”
– Compliance – “occurs when people yield
to social pressure in their public behavior,
even though their private beliefs have not
changed.”
Psychology Applied to Modern Life, Eighth Edition, Weiten and Lloyd
Chapter 6
The Power of Social Pressure (cont.)
•
The dynamics of conformity.
– Solomon Asch’s (1955) classic study
demonstrated that people conformed
easily to wrong answers given by others in
a mock perception test (see Figure 6.11).
– Conformity also increased, to a point, as
group size increased, peaking at seven
members.
Psychology Applied to Modern Life, Eighth Edition, Weiten and Lloyd
Chapter 6
The Power of Social Pressure (cont.)
•
The whys of conformity.
– Normative influence – “operates when
people conform to social norms for fear of
negative social consequences”.
– Informational influence – “operates
when people look to others for how to
behave in ambiguous situations”.
Psychology Applied to Modern Life, Eighth Edition, Weiten and Lloyd
Chapter 6
The Power of Social Pressure (cont.)
•
The whys of conformity. (cont.)
– Three motives underlie conformity:
1. Positive self-evaluations.
2. Having good relationships with others.
– Both of the above are normativebased motives.
3. Better understanding a situation to
reduce uncertainty.
– This is an information-based motive.
Psychology Applied to Modern Life, Eighth Edition, Weiten and Lloyd
Chapter 6
The Power of Social Pressure (cont.)
•
Tips for resisting conformity pressures.
– Pay more attention to social forces
operating on you.
– Identify someone in the group whose
views match yours.
– Bring along a friend with similar views if
you know you will confront pressure.
Psychology Applied to Modern Life, Eighth Edition, Weiten and Lloyd
Chapter 6
The Power of Social Pressure (cont.)
•
Pressure from authority figures.
– Obedience – “is a form of compliance that
occurs when people follow direct
commands, usually from someone in a
position of authority”.
– Stanley Milgram’s classic study (1963)
demonstrated that people’s tendency to
obey is strong, even if they are asked to
harm another person (see Figure 6.13).
Psychology Applied to Modern Life, Eighth Edition, Weiten and Lloyd
Chapter 6
Figure 6.13
Psychology Applied to Modern Life, Eighth Edition, Weiten and Lloyd
Chapter 6
The Power of Social Pressure (cont.)
•
The causes of obedience.
– Human behavior is determined more by
the power of the situation than by the
character of the person.
– However, authoritarian personality types
are more likely to be obedient.
– Conformity is also more common in
collectivist, than in individualistic, cultures.
Psychology Applied to Modern Life, Eighth Edition, Weiten and Lloyd
Chapter 6
Application: Seeing Through Compliance Tactics
•
The Consistency Principle states that “once
people agree to something, they will tend to
stick with it”. Two common techniques are:
1. The foot-in-the-door technique – “getting
people to agree to a small request so that
they agree to a larger request later (see
Figure 6.14a).
2. The lowball technique – “getting someone
to commit to an attractive proposition before
its hidden costs are revealed”.
Psychology Applied to Modern Life, Eighth Edition, Weiten and Lloyd
Chapter 6
Seeing Through Compliance Tactics (cont.)
•
•
The reciprocity principle exploits the tendency
for people to think they should pay back in kind
what they receive from others.
This works even when:
– The gift is uninvited;
– The gift comes from someone you dislike;
– Or the gift results in an uneven exchange.
Psychology Applied to Modern Life, Eighth Edition, Weiten and Lloyd
Chapter 6
Seeing Through Compliance Tactics (cont.)
•
Tactics that exploit the reciprocity principle:
1. The door-in-the-face technique – “make a
large request that is likely to be turned down
in order to increase the chances that people
will agree to a smaller request later” (see
Figure 6.14b).
2. Distribution of “free” samples.
3. Providing a “free trial” of a product.
Psychology Applied to Modern Life, Eighth Edition, Weiten and Lloyd
Chapter 6
Figure 6.14
Psychology Applied to Modern Life, Eighth Edition, Weiten and Lloyd
Chapter 6
Seeing Through Compliance Tactics (cont.)
•
The scarcity principle:
– People believe that if something is scarce, it
must be good, and they are more likely to
buy it.
– This can be exploited by ads claiming:
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•
•
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“Limited supply available”.
“For a limited time only”.
Order “while they last”, and
“Time is running out”.