Social Psychology
Study through experimentation of
how we think about, influence,
and relate to other people
• Describe 4 behaviors you have
witnessed or performed in the last few
days.
• Give details. Who was there? What
was said? How did you/they feel? How
did you/they look? Where did it happen?
Etc.
Focus: Thinking
• How is our behavior related to our
cognition?
• Why do people act the way they do?
• Impact of social influences.
Focus: Thinking
• Attribution Theory
– Evaluating someone else’s behavior
– Is the behavior due to the situation or the
person’s disposition?
– Dispositional Attribution (Internal)
– Situational Attribution (External)
– Often leads to bias and other errors
• Fundamental Attribution Error
– Can have long lasting impacts
Focus: Thinking
• Attitudes and Actions
– Does what we think affect what we do, or does
what we do affect what we think?
– Attitudes Predicts Behavior
• Central Route Persuasion
• Peripheral Route Persuasion
– Behavior Predicts Attitude
• Foot-In-The-Door Phenomenon
• Door-In-The-Face Phenomenon
Focus: Thinking
• Attitudes and Your Life
– Role
• Set of norms about a social position describing
how you are supposed to behave
Focus: Thinking
• Attitudes don’t match actions
– Causes tension, stress, anxiety
– Cognitive Dissonance
• Uncomfortable feeling caused by holding
conflicting ideas at the same time
Evaluate This!!!
• A very good friend of your randomly
gets angry with you, how would you
explain his/her behavior? If the same
friend randomly does something nice for
you how would you explain the
behavior?
Evaluate This!!!
• If someone you have recently gotten to
know walks by you in the hall and
doesn’t say hello (even as you try to say
hello to them), what do you think about
this person? Why?
Evaluate This!!!
• Are your thoughts about your good
friend’s behavior different than your
thoughts about someone you’re only
acquainted with? Why or why not?