SOCP311 (Prelims)
2. Cognitive Dissonance
What is Social Psychology?
- a feeling of mental discomfort leading to an
alteration in one of the attitudes, beliefs or
behaviors to reduce the discomfort and restore
balance.

The scientific study of how a person's behavior,
thoughts, and feelings are influenced by the
real, imagined or implied presence of others.
3. Psychology of Attitudes
Differences of Social Psychology from other Disciplines

- a relatively enduring organization of beliefs,
feelings, and behavioral tendencies towards
socially significant objects, groups, events or
symbols.
Focus on social nature of the individual person.
Two Assertions:
-Person is influenced by social environment.
-Individual actively construes social situations - We do
not respond to environments as they are but as we
interpret them to be.
Three Major Domains in Social Psychology
1. SOCIAL THINKING/COGNITIVE
- ways in which people think about
other people
o Perception
o Beliefs
o Attitudes
2. SOCIAL INFLUENCE
- ways in which a person’s behavior is
affected by the presence of others.
o Culture
o Pressure
o Persuasion
o People
3. SOCIAL CULTURE
o Prejudice
o Aggression
o Attraction & Intimacy
o Helping
Evidences of Social Psychology throughout History
European Social Psychology
-People in Groups, “Group Performance and leadership”
“Sociological” Social Psychology
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Asian Social Psychology
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- we learn about our own abilities and
attitudes by comparing ourselves with other
people.
o
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Upward social comparison
Downward social comparison
"Cultural"
focus on indigenous research, culture and
social behavior------ cultural idiosyncrasies
Sikolohiyang Pilipino
Hiya
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Shame. Shyness, timidity, embarrassment,
sensitivity to others
Utang na Loob
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“Debt of Gratitude”
Reciprocity
Pakikisama
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North American Social Psychology
1. Social Comparison Theory
Social Identity Theory
Social Representations
Minority Influence
Smooth Interpersonal Relationship (SIR),
conformity, being/going along with
Kapwa
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Shared identity,
outsider (ibangtao) or
one-of-us (hindiibangtao).
Pakikiramdam
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sensitivity or heightened awareness, empathy
Social Psychology's Big Ideas
Research Methods in Social Psychology
WE CONSTRUCT OUR SOCIAL REALITY
Forming and Testing Hypothesis
We react differently because we think differently.
I.
Objective reality
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Beliefs about others
Beliefs about ourselves
II.
OUR SOCIAL INTUITIONS ARE OFTEN POWERFUL BUT
SOMETIMES PERILOUS
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LOCALITY
EDUCATIONAL LEVEL
SUBSCRIBED MEDIA
CULTURE
ETHNICITY
Social Behavior Is Biologically Rooted
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Evolutionary psychology
Natural selection predisposes our actions and
reactions
Social neuroscience examines how the brain
mediates social processes and behavior.
We are bio-psycho-social organisms
PERSONAL ATTITUDES AND DISPOSITIONS SHAPE OUR
BEHAVIOR
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- Integrated set of principles that
explain and predict observed events
Hypotheses
-Testable proposition that describes a
relationship that may exist between
events
Correlation Research
Dual processing
o Conscious and deliberate
o Unconscious and automatic
Detecting Natural Association
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SOCIAL INFLUENCES SHAPE OUR BEHAVIOR
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Theory
Internal forces
 Inner attitudes about specific
situations
Personality dispositions
 Different people may react
differently while facing the
same situation
SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY’S PRINCIPLES ARE APPLICABLE IN
EVERYDAY LIFE
How to know ourselves better Implications for human
health Implications for judicial procedures Influencing
behaviors
Location
-Laboratory (Controlled situation)

Field (Everyday situations)
-Naturally occurring relationships among
variables
**** Allows us to predict but not tell whether changing
one variable will cause changes in another.
Survey research -
written questionnaire, personal
interviews, or focus group.
Random sample
Disadvantage – Social desirability
Experimental Research - Searching for Cause and Effect
- Control: Manipulating variables
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Independent variable
-Experimental factor that a researcher manipulates
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Dependent variable
-Variable being measured; depends on manipulations of
the independent variable
ETHICS OF EXPERIMENTATION
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Mundane realism
Experimental realism
Deception
Demand characteristics
Informed consent
Debriefing
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The SELF in a Social World
Complete the sentence. “I am__________________. “
The answers define your self concept.
Self-Concept
- Answers to “WHO AM I?”
- How and how accurately, do we know our selves?
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“Self concept is a set of collection of ideas, images,
beliefs, or schemas a person has about the self,
comprises the multidimensional and multifaceted selfconcept.” (Markus & Wurf, 2017).
Elements of your Self-Concept
Schema
 Mental templates by which we organize our
worlds)
 We bolster our self-schema by remembering
things better that are consistent with it.
(Kilstrom & Cantor, ’84)
Self-schema
 Beliefs about self that organize and guide the
processing of self-relevant information.
 Our perceiving ourselves as athletic,
overweight, smart etc.
Possible Selves
-Images of what we dream of or dread
becoming in the future.
-Our possible selves includes our vision of self
we dream of becoming-------- the rich , the thin
self, the passionately loved and loving self.
-It also include the self we fear--- like becoming
unemployed , the unloved self, the academically
failed self.
Development of the Social Self
 The self has become a major social
psychological focus because it helps organize
our thinking and guide our social behavior
 Studies of twins point to genetic influences on
personality and self-concept, but social
experience also plays a part . Among these
influences are the following:
o The roles we play
o The social identities we form
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The comparisons we make with others
How other people judge us
The surrounding culture
The Roles We Play
-Whenever we enact a new role, we
initially feel self-conscious.
-Role playing becomes reality.
Social Comparison
-evaluating one's abilities and opinions
by comparing oneself with others.
-it can diminish our satisfaction. When
we experience an increase in affluence,
status, or achievement, we ”compare
upward”--- we raise the standards by
which we evaluate our attainments.
Success and Failure
-Self –concept is fed not only by our
roles, our social identity, and our
comparisons but also by our daily
experience.
-To undertake challenging yet realistic
tasks and to succeed is to feel more
competent.
Other people’s judgements - When people think
well of us, it help us think well of ourselves.
Looking glass self - described our use of how we
think others perceive us as a
mirror for perceiving ourselves.
1.Spotlights and Illusion
 Spotlights
o Spotlight effect (Lawson, ‘2010)
- Belief that others are paying
more attention to one’s
appearance and behavior than
they really are.
 Illusions
o Illusion of transparency (Stavitsky &
Gilovich, 2003)
-Illusion that our concealed
emotions leak out and can be
easily read by others.
SELF AND CULTURE
How did you complete the “I am___” statement?
Take time to answer this question…
Are your answers more relational (collectivist) or about
self (individualist)?
Individualism
 Concept of giving priority to one’s own goals
over group goals and defining one’s identity in
terms of personal attributes rather than group
identifications
o Independent self
o Western cultures
 identity is self-contained. Becoming an adult
means separating from parents, becoming selfreliant, and defining one’s personal,
independent self. One’s identity—as a unique
individual with abilities, traits, values, and
dreams—remains fairly constant.
Collectivism
 Giving priority to the goals of one’s group and
defining one’s identity accordingly
o Interdependent self
 In these cultures, people are more self critical
and focus less on positive self views (Heine et
al., 1999).
 Asian, African, and Central and South American
cultures
Thought ? Can you think of groupings other than just
national cultures?
Culture and Cognition
-Richard Nisbett’s The Geography of Thought
(2003)
 Contends that collectivism results in different
ways of thinking
 Asians tend to think more in relationships than
Americans
 Americans see choices as expressions of
themselves
Culture and Self-Esteem
 In collectivist cultures
-Self-concept is context-specific rather
than stable
-Conflict takes place between groups
-Persist more when failing
 In individualistic cultures
-Self-esteem is more personal and less
relational
-Persist more when winning
-Conflict takes place between
individuals
Self-Knowledge
 Explaining Our Behavior
o Do we know what affects our mood?
 Predicting Our Behavior
o Can your roommate predict the
longevity of your romantic relationship
better than you? (McDonald & Ross,
‘97)
 Planning fallacy
o Tendency to underestimate how long it
will take to complete a task
o What are the implications for goal
setting
o In job or in school?
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Predicting Our Feelings (Gilbert & Wilson)
o Studies of “affective forecasting”
reveal people have the greatest
difficulty predicting the intensity and
the duration of their future emotions.
o People mis predict how they would feel
some time after a romantic breakup,
receiving a gift, losing an election,
winning a game, and being insulted
(Gilbert & Ebert, 2002;)
o
Asked how they would feel if asked
sexually harassing questions on a job
interview, most women studied by Julie
Woodzicka and Marianne LaFrance
(2001) said they would feel angry.
When asked such questions, however,
women more often experienced fear
o
Impact bias
-overestimating the enduring impact of
emotion-causing events.
Immune Neglect
-Tendency to underestimate the speed &
strength of the “Psychological Immune System”.
o
SELF-ESTEEM
-Our overall self-evaluation or sense of selfworth.
o What are your “domains” of SE
(Crocker & Wolfe)
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(Attractive/smart/athletic/rich/loved?)
o Or is it “bottom up”? (Brown &
Dutton?)
- [GENERAL WAY]
o Feedback is best when it is true and
specific
- Leads to high “self-efficacy”
- General praise…”you can do
anything you want”
 Can lead to
unrealistic
optimism?
 Competence
feedback -> High
Self-efficacy
o Which do better? Those failing
were told “feel great about
yourself-hold your head high” or
“taking control will help”
o (Forsyth et al., 2007)
Self Esteem Motivation
 Self-esteem maintenance
o Self-esteem feelings are radars for
social rejection
o Self-esteem threats occur among
friends whose successes can be more
threatening than that of strangers
o
o
We want to avoid social rejection,
consequently, it motivates us to act
with greater sensitivity to others’
expectations.
Social acceptance= Increase Self-Esteem
;Social reject Decrease Self-Esteem.
Self-Esteem is bound by the standards
of the society.
In times of failures, self-esteem people
sustain their self worth by perceiving
other people as failing, too, and by
exaggerating their superiority over
others.
The “Dark Side” of Self Esteem
 Hitler had very high self-esteem,” note
Baumeister and co-authors (2003).
 Teen males who engage in sexual activity at an
“inappropriately young age” tend to have
higher than average self-esteem.
 So do teen gang leaders, extreme
ethnocentrists, terrorists, and men in prison for
committing violent crimes
 Narcissist
o Narcissists usually have high
selfesteem, but they are missing the
piece about caring for others ( Campbell
& others, 2002).
 Although narcissists are often outgoing and
charming early on, their self-centeredness often
leads to relationship problems in the long run (
Campbell, 2005).
 The link between narcissism and problematic
social relations led Delroy Paulhus and Kevin
Williams (2002) to include narcissism in “The
Dark Triad” of negative traits, along with
Machiavellianism (manipulativeness) and anti
social psychopathy.
 Over time: College students’ (Twenge, ’06)
o Narcissism
o Empathy
 High narcissisim > more
“hooking up”, gambling,
cheating
 Me generation
 Need for autonomy/ competence/
relationships (E. Deci)
Perceived Self-Control
 Effortful self-control depletes our limited
willpower reserves… controlling emotions
during upsetting film resulted in
o Showing more aggression and fighting
with their partner
o Became less restrained in sexual
thoughts and behaviors
 (DeWall et al., ’07 Finkel and
Campbell, ’01)
 Our brain’s “central executive” consumes
available blood sugar when engaged in selfcontrol.
Self-Efficacy (Albert Bandura)
 What’s the difference between selfesteem and
self-efficacy?
 How competent we feel on a task
o Leads us to set challenging goals and to
persist
o Competency + persistence =
accomplishment / self confidence
 …if you have control over the
outcome!
Locus of Control (Julian rotter)
 Who would you rather dance with?
 Extent to which people perceive outcomes as
internally controllable by their own efforts and
actions or as externally controlled by chance or
outside forces
Learned Helplessness vs. Self-Determination
Learned Helplessness
-Hopelessness and resignation learned when a
human or animal perceives no control over
repeated bad events
 Martin Saligman
Self-Determination
-Development of self-discipline in one area of your
life may cause self-control in other areas as well
 Edward Deci
The Costs of Excess Choice
 Excess Freedom
o Too many choices can lead to
dissatisfaction with our final choice
o People tend to be generally happier
with decisions when they can’t undo
them
Self-Serving Bias
 Tendency to perceive oneself favorably
 Explaining positive and negative events
 Self-serving attributions
 Tendency to attribute positive outcomes to
oneself and negative outcomes to other factors
 Contribute to marital discord, worker
dissatisfaction, and bargaining impasses How
so?
o I got an “A” in social ψ
o Dr. Mitchell gave me a “C” in social ψ
o “only others fall prey to the self serving
bias!”
Can We All Be Better than Average?
 Most people see themselves as better than the
average person on the following dimensions
o Subjective, (e.g., “disciplined”) vs.
Observable (“punctual)
 Socially desirable, Common
dimensions
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Unrealistic Optimism
o Is on the rise
o Illusory optimism increases our
vulnerability
 Remember the tendency to
underestimate the strength of
situational cues on our ability to
self-control?
Defensive Pessimism (Julie Norem, ‘2000)
o Adaptive value of anticipating problems
and harnessing one’s anxiety to
motivate effective action
False Consensus Effect
o Tendency to overestimate the
commonality of one’s opinions and
one’s undesirable or unsuccessful
behaviors
 Why do you think integrity tests
for employment work?
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False Uniqueness Effect
o Tendency to underestimate the
commonality of one’s abilities and one’s
desirable or successful behaviors
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Explaining Self-Serving Bias
o Self-serving bias is a by-product of how
we process and remember information
about ourselves
Self-Serving Bias may be
o Adaptive
 Protects people from
depression
 Depressed people may be more
in tune with reality!
o Maladaptive
 Group-serving bias
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Self-Presentation (Barry Schlenker)
 Wanting to present a desired image both to an
external audience (other people) and to an
internal audience (ourselves)
o Self-Handicapping (fear of failure)
-Protecting one’s self-image
with behaviors that create a
handy excuse for later failure
o Self-Monitoring
-Tendency to act like social
chameleons