Social Psychology

1. Social Psychology The study of how we think about, influence and relate to one another.

2. Don’t give me attitude!!! • We are always talking about attitude…but what are we talking about?? • Attitude • A set of beliefs and feelings (usually liking or disliking something) • We have attitudes towards almost everything and these attitudes are very judgmental (either positive or negative)

3. Attitudes cont.. Researching attitudes are a really big deal in psychology and marketing • A company wants you to develop a favorable attitude toward their product and a negative attitude towards the competition • And they spend a whole lot of money to get this done • Example – Coke vs. Pepsi

4. Attitudes • A belief or feeling that predisposes one to respond in a particular way to something. How might different attitudes respond to this picture?

5. 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.

6. Attitudes

7. Advertisers are well aware of a psychological concept meant to change our attitudes called the… Mere-exposure effect • States that the more you are exposed to something the more you will come to like it • That is why every other commercial is for some type of great tasting fast food!!! • And to some small extent why psych is your favorite class….right??? But it is not just amount of commercials you see, but who is in them….

8. There is a lot of research into this, but to make a long story short… • attractive (hot) people are more persuasive communicators • People look at hot (and famous) people and say… • (1) I want to be like them or • (2) I want to be with them

9. Two Pathways to Persuasion Not only does attractiveness of the person influence attitudes, but so does the technique used in persuasion Two ways or routes to persuade a person to change their attitude • Central Route to Persuasion (also know as Elaboration Likelihood Model) • and the Peripheral Route

10. Central Route to Persuasion (ELM) (remember techniques, used to change or influence someone’s attitude on something) • The individual is presented with data and facts and is motivated to evaluate the content and arrive at an attitude changing conclusion So persuasion is based on… the content of the message, reason, and thinking about the facts and information

11. Peripheral Route to Persuasion • The person focuses on surface characteristics of the message, such as its length or the credibility of the source • the individual is encouraged to not look at the content but at the source

12. Central vs. Peripheral Think about political campaigns or TV commercials How does Central vs. Peripheral play out?? • Central • Inspires thoughtful consideration of arguments and evidence • Presents strong arguments, facts, and logic • Peripheral • Associates objects with positive or negative cues such as looks or tastes • Hopes to persuade through emotional appeal This theory is useful in the study of attitude change, as it helps define under what conditions people are likely to pay attention to content over style

13. But there are other variables when Influencing People • Message Variables • One-sided vs. • Two-sided arguments • Repetition • Source Variables • Credibility • Likeability • Similarity • Recipient Variables • Intelligence • Self-confidence • Mood Persuasion

14. Attitude and Behavior • We use to assume that if you knew someone’s attitude, then you could predict their behavior • If I knew that Dennis hated video games, I could then predict that he would not buy an X-box. • But research has showed us that sometimes our attitudes or thoughts do not perfectly predict or match behavior • What are we to do in such cases?? • How can I iron out the kinks between my cognition and my behavior? …for example…

15. What happens when we become aware that our attitudes don’t match or actions?

16. Cognitive Dissonance Theory • We do not like when we have either conflicting attitudes or when our attitudes do not match our actions. • When they clash, we will change our attitude to create balance.

17. I believe spanking kids is wrong, so I will always stop myself from spanking them. (my behavior matches my attitude) • However, I found myself spanking my child one night for using my play-station and when I was done I felt sick…why?? • When people’s attitudes and their behaviors do not match, they experience an uncomfortable mental tension called Cognitive Dissonance • Theory based on the idea that people are motivated to have consistent attitudes and behaviors The dissonance will often motivate people to change either their attitude or behavior to match the other and to create balance

18. For Example • Jamie thinks studying is only for geeks. • If he then studies 8 hours for a AP Psych exam, his attitude will not match his actions and he will experience what?? • cognitive dissonance • Since Jamie cannot change his actions (he has already studied for 8 hours) the only way to reduce the dissonance is to change his attitude and decide that studying does not necessarily make someone a geek • Be aware that this change in attitude does NOT occur in conscious awareness – you may not be aware that it is happening

19. Ways of Reducing Cognitive Dissonance Discrepant Attitudes and Behaviors Attitude: “I believe people should donate blood.” Behavior: “I never donate blood.” Cognitive Dissonance Ways of reducing dissonance Change Attitude “Giving blood is not that important. They must have all the blood they need” Change Behavior Giving blood at the next blood drive Use self-justification “I’d give blood if only it didn’t take so long.” Ignore the Inconsistencies “I’m too busy to think about it now.”

20. Cognitive Dissonance Theory

21. Cognitive Dissonance Theory • How does cognitive dissonance theory play a part in pledging a fraternity?

22. Compliance Strategies • Sometimes people us compliance strategies to change others behaviors • Compliance Strategies • A technique to get others to do what you want them to do • There are three common compliance strategies you should know, many of you use them daily already and if you don’t, learn to use them wisely…

23. 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 you want to borrow $120 from a friend to pay for prom don’t ask for it all at once…If I you ask your friend for a dollar, what can happen next?

24. Door-in-face Phenomenon • The tendency for people who say no to a huge request, to comply with a smaller one. If I ask my parent for a new car? NO But they may let me buy a 72 inch TV .

25. Zimbardo Prison Study Role playing affects attitudes. What do you think happened when college students were made to take on the roles of prison guards and inmates.

26. Norms of Reciprocity • It is common courtesy to think that when someone does something nice for you, it is your duty to do something in return • Here I make dinner for my wife and give her a day at the spa, then ask for my new TV • Charities try this all the time…they just don’t know me very well…

27. How do you try to explain someone’s behavior?? Let’s say that your friend walks by you in the hall without saying hi after you go out of the way to get her attention • Attribution Theory • A technique that tries to explain how we determine the cause for what we observe (or other’s behaviors) In this case there are basically two ways this theory would view her behavior

28. Attribution Theory Was my friend a jerk because she had a bad day or is she just a bad person?

29. Attribution Theory • We credit someone’s behavior either to the situation (a product of the environment) • We call that situational attribution • or…. • We credit someone’s behavior to the person’s internal factors such as needs or traits • We call that personal or dispositionalattribution

30. The most common type of attribution error is called …Fundamental Attribution Error The tendency to underestimate the impact of a situation and overestimate the impact of personal dispositionin others behavior. How do you view your teacher’s behavior? You probably attribute it to their personality rather than their profession.

31. Attribution At Work

32. The Effects of Attribution • Social Effects • Political Effects • Workplace Effects

33. Another attribution error we make is called…the Actor-Observer Effect • The tendency to attribute the causes of one’s own behavior to situational factors while attributing the causes of other people’s behavior to internal factors of dispositions • The opposite of FAE

34. Not only are we biased in how we attribute behaviors, but we are biased in just about everything about us. • Self-serving bias • The tendency to take credit for good outcomes and to try to explain away our failures • If I coach the football team and we win, it is because of my great coaching. • When we lose it is 1. the bad playing conditions, or 2. lack of team talent