Social Cognition Chapter 20

Section 1: Attitudes Attitudes are beliefs and feelings about objects, people and events that lead people to behave in certain ways.

How attitudes Develop  Factors that play a role in attitude development include:  Conditioning, or the ways that we are reinforced as we grow up, plays an important role in developing attitudes.  People often develop attitudes about what is positive or negative by observing others, or through observational learning.  People form attitudes on the basis of their evaluation of information. This process is known as cognitive evaluation.  Attitudes formed early tend to serve as cognitive anchors that keep people from adopting different attitudes.

Attitudes and behavior  Behavior tends to be linked with attitudes. However, the link between attitudes and behavior is not always strong.  Behavior is likely to follow attitudes when the attitudes are specific, strongly held, personally relevant and verbalized.  Example: You believe strongly in protecting the planet, so you choose to recycle.  Attitudes often follow behavior to reduce cognitive dissonance.  Example: You know you need to get 8 hrs of sleep, however your work schedule does not allow enough time, so you convince yourself that you only need 6 hrs.

Section 2: Persuasion Persuasion – a direct attempt to influence other people’s attitudes

Methods of Persuasion Central Route: uses evidence and logical arguments to persuade people Example: “Great Grains cereal is good for you because it is high in fiber and ….” Peripheral Route: attempts to associate objects, people or events with positive or negative feelings.

Message  Repeated exposure to a stimulus eventually results in a more favorable attitude toward that stimulus.  Some ways of presenting a persuasive message can be especially effective: 1. Two - Sided Argument – present both sides of argument in order to discredit opponents views 2. Emotional Appeals - persuade by arousing feelings such as loyalty, desire, or fear. Example: Montana anti-Crystal Methamphetamine billboards

Messenger People tend to be more persuasive if they are: 1. Experts (ex doctors recommend..) 2. Trustworthy (ex. Oprah’s book club…) 3. Physically attractive (ex. pick one) 4. Similar to audience in ethnicity, age and other physical characteristics

Situation People are more easily persuaded when they are in a good mood

Audience Differences in age, sex and other characteristics of intended audience influence how the message should be delivered to be the most persuasive.

Saying no to persuasive Messages Some people are less easily persuaded than others. These people are said to have sales resistance. People with sales resistance typically have high self esteem and low social anxiety. People with low self esteem and high social anxiety tend to be more easily persuaded.

Section 3: prejudice Prejudice – generalized attitude toward a specific group of people Literally means to prejudge People who are prejudiced judge other people on the basis of their group membership rather than as individuals.

Stereotypes - unchanging, oversimplified and usually distorted beliefs about groups of people. People tend to develop stereotypes in an effort to simplify and organize information about the people around them Stereotypes are harmful because they ignore the individual nature of people

Discrimination While prejudices are beliefs, they can lead to discrimination Discrimination – the unfair treatment of individuals because they are members of a particular group

Causes of prejudice Exaggerating Differences – assume those that are different in some ways are more different than they really are Justifying Economic Status – rich may see poor as lazy, which may make it to pay low wages Social Learning – acquire prejudicial attitudes of family members, peers

Causes of prejudice Victimization – victims of prejudice may treat those lower than themselves in much the same way in order to gain feeling or power, self-worth Scapegoating – aggression toward individual or group blamed for a problem

Overcoming prejudice Increased contact between members of different groups Speak up against prejudice Consciously avoiding allowing prejudicial attitudes to turn into discrimination

Section 4: Social Perception Social Perception – refers to ways in which people perceive one another

Primacy and Recency Effects Primacy Effect – tendency for people to form opinions of others on the basis of first impressions How future behaviors are interpreted is often influenced by first impressions

Primacy and Recency Effects Recency Effect – occurs when people change their opinions of others on the basis of recent interactions instead of holding on to their first impressions

Attribution Theory - people tend to explain the behavior of others in terms of either dispositional, or personality, factors or in terms of situational, or external factors

Actor – Observer Bias - people tend to attribute the behavior of others to dispositional, or personality, factors, and attribute their own behavior to situational, or external, factors. - We are more likely to recognize the complexity of our own personality, and realize that our behavior is not necessarily indicative of who we are

Fundamental Attribution Error - tendency to overestimate the effect of dispositional cases for another person’s behavior, and to underestimate the effect of the situation

Self-Serving Bias People are more likely to attribute their own successes to dispositional, or personality factors Less likely to attribute their failures to personality factors, more likely to attribute them to the situation

Nonverbal Communication Examples: facial expressions, gestures, posture We use interpretation of body language to pick up on unspoken thoughts or feelings that we do not have access to

Physical Contact Touching is one way in which people communicate nonverbally Interpretation of touch depends on many factors

Eye Contact Direct eye contact – talker is usually telling the truth Avoidance of eye contact – may indicate lying Gazing – steady, intent looks, conveys eagerness or attention Staring – fixed, wide eyes, tends to be interpreted as anger

Section 5: Interpersonal Attraction Attraction – attitude of liking Leads to friendship or love Factors that attract us include: 1. Appearance 2. Similarity to ourselves 3. Evidence that our attraction is returned

Physical Appearance People’s ideas of what is attractive differ Universals of Beauty: studies find we are attracted to people who are smiling, have large eyes, high cheekbones, narrow jaws Study found that infants found faces attractive that adults also rated as attractive This evidence suggests we may be born with a predisposition to find certain types of physical features attractive

Difference in Body Shape Preference Great variation in preferences for body shape Men tend to view themselves as closer to ideal body shape than women Studies found that many men prefer their partners to be shorter, women prefer their men to be taller

Similarity and Reciprocity In general, we are more attracted to people who are like us

Similarity in Physical Attractiveness Matching Hypothesis – people tend to choose as friends and partners those who are similar to themselves in attractiveness This may be caused by fear of rejection

Similarity in other Characteristics We are most likely to choose friends and partners who are similar to us in part because we are most likely to live around these people In addition, people tend to be attracted to those with similar attitudes

Reciprocity - mutual exchange of feelings or attitudes We are more likely to like people who we believe like us

Friendship Friends tend to be people: 1. With whom we have frequent contact 2. Who we find attractive 3. Who approve of us 4. Who are similar to us in important ways, such as attitudes

Love Used in different contexts. For example: 1. Parents and children 2. Partners 3. Patriotism 4. Activities one is passionate about

Sternberg’s Triangular Model of Love Identifies seven types of love relationships 1. Intimacy: closeness and caring 2. Passion: feelings of romantic and sexual attraction 3. Commitment: want to be together for better or worse Consummate (complete) love is made up of all three = intimacy + passion + commitment