Social Psychology
The study of how we
think about, influence,
and relate to one another
(or how do we explain
mass suicides, prisoner
abuse at Abu Ghraib,
brainwashing, and other
shocking phenomena)
Attitudes influence actions…
Attribution Theory
(Fritz Heider) –
people usually
attribute others’
behavior to either
their internal
dispositions or
their external
situations.
Dispositional (internal) or
Situational (external)?
•
They won only because the best athletes on the
Central State’s teams were out with injuries – talk
about good fortune.
•
•
They won because they have some of the best talent
in the country.
•
•
Internal (dispositional)
Anybody could win this region; the competition is so far
below average in comparison to the rest of the country.
•
•
External (situational)
External (situational)
They won because they put in a great deal of effort
and practice.
•
Internal (dispositional)
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
he is a jerk.
• 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 I was
trying to avoid an animal in the road.
• Self-serving bias – crediting your own
successes to disposition, but attributing
your own failures to situation.
– Example: I won the game because
I’m talented.
I failed the test because
the questions were unfair.
…or actions influence attitudes?
Cognitive dissonance is the discomfort
caused by holding two contradictory
beliefs or performing an action
contradictory to our beliefs.
Cognitive Dissonance Theory
Cognitive dissonance theory states that we are
motivated to reduce this uncomfortable feeling
by changing our beliefs 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.
Social Pressures Can Create
Dissonance and Lead to
Conformity
Seven factors that increase conformity
(Asch):
1. Subject feels insecure
2. The group has at least 3 people.
3. The group is unanimous.
4. Subject admires the group.
5. Subject has made no prior commitment to
any response
6. Others observe the subject’s behavior.
7. The culture encourages respect for social
standards.
Examples of cognitive dissonance:
• Foot-in-the-door
phenomenon – 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)
Milgram Obedience Study
“Teacher” is the subject in the
experiment who
administers the “shocks”.
“Learner” is the confederate
that received the shocks
(when out of sight, the
learner was a tape
recording)
“Authority” is the person
administering the
experiment; says “please
go on”.
Milgram Obedience Study
Factors that increase
obedience:
1. Physical proximity of
authority figure.
2. Perceived legitimacy
of authority figure.
3. Distance or
depersonalization of
victim (learner).
4. Lack of a model for
defiance.
Milgram Obedience Study
Factors that did NOT
affect obedience:
1. Age
2. Profession
3. Gender
4. Mention by “learner”
of a “slight heart
condition”.
• Role playing subjects who play a
role often begin to
“become” the role
(Zimbardo’s prison
study)
• How can the subjects’
behavior in this study
be explained by
cognitive dissonance
theory?
• Effort justification – the tendency to find
something more attractive if you have to
work hard to achieve it.
– Again, this is cognitive dissonance. If I am willing to be spanked for a
lame fraternity, then I am the idiot. Therefore, this must be the coolest
fraternity ever!
– Can you think of a personal example of this and share it with your
partner?
So what can I do to make sure by
attitudes guide my actions?
• outside influences are minimal (i.e., avoid
peer pressure)
• the attitude is specific to the behavior (i.e.,
instead of “I won’t cheat”, think “I won’t
copy someone’s homework”.)
• we are mindful of our attitudes (i.e., wear a
ring or bracelet with a reminder of your
beliefs; promise ring, WWJD, Live Strong
bracelets)
Should I require you to sign
the honor pledge?