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Social Psychology – Chapter 18
The study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another
Attitudes influence actions…
Attribution Theory (Fritz Heider) – people usually attribute others’ behavior to either their internal dispositions or
their external situations.
For each, indicate if the attribution is dispositional (also called internal) or situational (external).
1. They won only because the best athletes on the Central State’s teams were out with injuries – talk about good
fortune. ________________________
2. They won because they have some of the best talent in the country. ______________________
3. Anybody could win this region; the competition is so far below average in comparison to the rest of the
country. __________________
4. They won because they put in a great deal of effort and practice. ________________________________
Our attributions have consequences. The following attribution errors lead to overconfidence.
Fundamental Attribution Error – underestimating situational influences when evaluating the behavior of someone
else.
He swerved into my lane because ________________________________________________.
Actor-observer bias – attributing others’ behaviors to disposition but your own behaviors (even the same behaviors)
to situational factors.
Example: He swerved into my lane because he is a jerk, but I swerved into the next lane because
_____________________________________________________________________________.
Self-serving bias – crediting your own successes to disposition, but attributing your own failures to situation.
Example: I won the game because __________________________________________________________.
I failed the test because ___________________________________________________________.
…or actions influence attitudes?
Cognitive dissonance is the uncomfortable feeling caused by holding two contradictory beliefs or performing an
action contradictory to our beliefs.
Cognitive dissonance theory states that we are motivated to reduce this uncomfortable feeling by changing our
attitudes to match our actions. The dissonance (uncomfortable feeling) is less if we feel that we were forced to
perform the action. Thus, the larger the pressure used to elicit the overt behavior, the smaller the tendency to change
opinion.
Examples of cognitive dissonance:
1) Foot-in-the-door theory – the tendency for people who agree to a small request to comply later with a larger
one (examples, “please drive carefully”, Korean War, People’s Temple, training torturers, cheating)
2) Role playing - subjects who play a role often begin to “become” the role (Zimbardo’s prison study)
3) Effort justification – the tendency to find something more attractive if you have to work hard to achieve it.
So what can I do to make sure by attitudes guide my actions?
1. outside influences are minimal (i.e., avoid peer pressure)
2. the attitude is specific to the behavior (i.e., instead of “I won’t cheat”, think “I won’t copy someone’s
homework”.)
3. we are mindful of our attitudes (i.e., wear a ring or bracelet with a reminder of your beliefs; promise ring,
WWJD)
Should I require you to sign the honor pledge?
Group Influence
Question 1: Does the presence of others enhance or diminish performance?
Group Situation
Running a 50 meter
dash.
A group project for
class where
everyone gets the
same grade
Watching your
favorite basketball
team win the NCAA
tournament.
How is behavior
altered by presence of
others?
Work harder
Arousal
Sense of
Responsibility
Concept name
High
High
Social facilitation
Work less hard
Low
Low
Social loafing
Act crazy, uninhibited
High
Low
deindividuation
Social facilitation – the presence of others enhance performance (competitions, recitals, plays, speeches)
Social loafing – the presence of others diminishes performance (group project)
Deindividuation – the presence of others makes one act in unrestrained ways (fans at sports event)
Question 2: Who leans toward more cautious decisions: individuals or groups?
Group polarization – group discussion strengthens a group’s dominant point of view and produces a shift toward a
more extreme decision in that direction
groupthink – members of a group emphasize concurrence at the expense of critical thinking in arriving at a decision
Factors that contribute to groupthink:
1. high degree of group cohesiveness (people in the group like each other and the group)
2. group works in isolation
3. individual members don’t share information unique to them
4. high decision stress
5. Dominating leadership
6. lack of standard procedures for appraisal
Question 3: What is the best way persuade someone of your beliefs?
Persuasion – Two methods of persuading others:
 Central route to persuasion – the person ponders the content and logic of message.
o Example: You should buy this car because __________________________________________
 ____________________________________ -- the individual is encouraged to not look at the content of the
message, but at the source. Factors such as the attractiveness and expertise of the source, the mere number of
the arguments presented, stimuli such as music played with the ad, and _________________.
o Example: You should buy this type of car because _____________________________________
Attitudes changed through the __________________ route to persuasion are strong, stable, predictive of behavior
and resistant to change, while attitudes formed through the ___________________ route are weak. However, the
central route requires active processing. Thus, the peripheral route is more effective when the subject doesn’t want to
put forth the effort to process (such as for low-impact decisions, like what shoes to wear today).
o
o
Normative social influence - influence resulting from a desire to gain approval of others.
Informational social influence - influence resulting from one’s willingness to accept others’ opinions