SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGYThe study of how we think about, influence and relate to one another.

SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY INCLUDES

Attitude Aggression Attraction Group Behavior

SOCIAL THINKING

How do we think about one another? Social thinking involves thinking about

others, especially when they engage in doing things that are unexpected. Does her warmth reflect romantic interest or is

that how she relates to everyone? Does his absenteeism signify illness, laziness, or

stressful work environment? Was the horror of 9/11 the work of crazed people

or of ordinary people corrupted by life events?

ATTRIBUTING BEHAVIOR TO PERSONS OR TO SITUATIONS

Attribution Theory Fritz Heider (1958)

suggested that we have a tendency to give casual explanations for someone’s behavior, often by crediting either the situation or the person’s disposition.

Was my friend a jerk because she had a bad day or is just a bad person?

DISPOSITIONAL ATTRIBUTION VS. SITUATIONAL ATTRIBUTION

A teacher may wonder whether a child’s hostility reflects an aggressive personality (dispositional attribution) or is a reaction to stress or abuse (a situational attribution).

What do you think? In groups answer the 3 questions about

dispositional attribution and situational attribution.

Fundamental Attribution Error• The tendency to

underestimate the impact of a situation and overestimate the impact of personal disposition.

• Individualistic vs. Collectivistic Cultures

• Disposition vs situation

• False Consensus Effect

• Self-Serving Bias

How do you view your teacher’s behavior?

You probably attribute it to their personality rather than their profession.

But do you really know? When you start a

romance, you assume that they agree with your world views….honeymoon period.

If you win it is because you are awesome…if you lose, it must have been the coach or weather or….

ATTRIBUTION CHECK IN:

Listen to this and decide what types of attributions the actors and observers made in the following situation: The story:

In 1979, rock fans were waiting to get into a concert by The Who. When the Coliseum doors were opened, several fans were trampled to death. Time magazine later received a letter from an outside observer and one from an actor participant.

The question to Consider: How do their attributions differ?

ATTRIBUTION CHECK IN:

Listen to this and decide what types of attributions the actors and observers made in the following situation: The Observer’s Letter:

“The violently destructive message that The Who and other rock groups deliver leaves me little surprised that they attract a mob that will trample human being to death to gain better seats. Of greater concern is a respected news magazine’s adulation of this sick phenomenon.”

The Actor’s Letter: “ While standing in the crowd at Riverfront Coliseum, I

distinctly remember feeling that I was being punished for being a rock fan. My sister and I joked about this, unaware of the horror happening around us. Later, those jokes came back to us grimly as we watched the news. How many lives will be lost before the punitive and inhuman policy of festival seating at rock concerts are outlawed?”

ATTITUDES AND ACTIONS

A belief and feeling that predisposes a person to respond in a particular way to objects, other people, and events. If we believe a person is mean, we may feel

dislike for the person and act in an unfriendly manner.

Our attitudes predict our behaviors imperfectly because other factors, including the external situation, also influence behavior.

DO OUR ATTITUDES GUIDE OUR ACTIONS?Only if…. External pressure is minimal. We are aware of our attitudes. The attitude is relevant to the behavior.

More often, our actions affect our attitudes.

Attitudes Can Affect Action

Not only do people stand for what they believe in (attitude), they start believing in

what they stand for.

Cooperative actions can lead to mutual liking (beliefs).

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COMPLIANCE STRATEGIES

Foot-in-the-door phenomenon

Door-in-the-face phenomenon

Norms of reciprocity Attitudes-follow-behavior

principle works for good as well as bad deeds

Moral action strengthens moral convictions

FOOT-IN-THE-DOOR PHENOMENON

The tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request.If I give out an answer on a quiz,

what happens next?

DOOR-IN-FACE PHENOMENONThe tendency for people who say no to a huge request, to comply with a smaller one.

If I (Miss Sherwood) ask my dad for the 1952 Topps Mantle card ($15k) he will say? NO

But he may let me buy a new xbox game instead.

ZIMBARDO’S PRISON STUDY Philip Zimbardo has

students at Stanford U play the roles of prisoner and prison guards in the basement of psychology building.

They were given uniforms and numbers for each prisoner.

What do you think happened?

ROLES AFFECT ATTITUDES

Similarly to Zimbardo’s experiment this happened in real life in 2004 with Abu Ghraib Prison

Reminded that good apples can go bad

Zimbardo said this about the soldiers in Abu Ghraib Prison “When ordinary people are put in a novel, evil

place, such as most prisons, situations win, people lose.”

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WE BECOME AWARE THAT OUR ATTITUDES DON’T MATCH OR ACTIONS?

ATTITUDE AND BEHAVIOR• Do attitudes tell us about

someone’s behavior?Cognitive Dissonance

Theory• People want to have

consistent attitudes and behaviors….when they are not they experience dissonance (unpleasant tension).

• Usually they will change their attitude.

You have a belief that cheating on tests is bad.

But you cheat on a test!!!

The teacher was really bad so in that class it is OK.

COGNITIVE DISSOANCE THEORY

The theory that we act to reduce the discomfort (dissonance) we feel when two of our thoughts (cognitions) are inconsistent.

EXAMPLES OF COGNITIVE DISSONANCE

Smokers find all kinds of reasons to explain away their unhealthy habit. The alternative is to feel a great deal

of dissonance

Consider someone who buys an expensive car but discovers that it is not comfortable on long drives. Dissonance exists between their beliefs that they have

bought a good car and that a good car should be comfortable.

Dissonance could be eliminated by deciding that it does not matter since the car is mainly used for short trips (reducing the importance of the dissonant belief) or focusing on the cars strengths such as safety, appearance, handling (thereby adding more consonant beliefs).

The dissonance could also be eliminated by getting rid of the car, but this behavior is a lot harder to achieve than changing beliefs.

COGNITIVE DISSONANCE THEORY During college fraternity

pledging, first year students run through activities designated to test their limits. One pledge was told to dig his

“own grave”. After he complied with orders to lay in it, the walls collapsed and suffocated him before his fraternity brothers could get him out.

Another pledge choked to death after repeatedly trying to swallow a large slab of raw liver soaked in oil.

Why do hazing activities persist?

How does cognitive dissonance theory play a part in pledging a fraternity?

COGNITIVE DISSONANCE THEORY CHECK IN

Point to Remember: Cruel acts shape the self. But so do act of good

will. Act as though you like someone, and you soon will.

Changing our behavior can change how we think about others and how we feel about ourselves.

Take the “Who Said It Quiz” Read the famous quotes and decide who said it

WHO SAID IT

Read each quote and decide who said it.

This is an exercise, in considering what we think we know. It is an exercise in responding to cognitive dissonance.

Each of us including me, enters social justice learning with more learning to do. We are socialized to believe we have a deeper understanding of the world around us that we really have.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS FROM WHO SAID IT

Which of these quotations do you find most surprising, considering its source? Why?

Why have the views of some of these people been erased from mainstream history? Who is served by this white-washing?

What questions has this quiz raised for you regarding what you think you know about history?

How might acquiring the new knowledge presented by the quiz inform the way you react to other new information you come across?