1. Module 53 Social Thinking
Worth Publishers

2. Social Thinking Social Psychology Attribution Theory
scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another
Attribution Theory
tendency to give a causal explanation for someone’s behavior, often by crediting either the situation or the person’s disposition

3. Social Thinking
How we explain someone’s behavior affects how we react to it
Negative behavior
Situational attribution
“Maybe that driver is ill.”
Dispositional attribution
“Crazy driver!”
Tolerant reaction
(proceed cautiously, allow
driver a wide berth)
Unfavorable reaction
(speed up and race past the
other driver, give a dirty look)

4. Social Thinking Fundamental Attribution Error
tendency for observers, when analyzing another’s behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition
ex. You may notice that a co-worker is very quiet at work, while another talks all the time. You identify one as having a shy personality and the other as being very outgoing. Run into these co-workers at a party and they may act very different.

5. Social Thinking Attitude
belief and feeling that predisposes one to respond in a particular way to objects, people and events
Our behavior is affected by our inner attitudes as well as by external social influences
Internal
attitudes
External
influences
Behavior

6. Social Thinking Attitudes follow behavior
Cooperative actions feed mutual liking

7. Social Thinking Foot-in-the-Door Phenomenon
tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request
ex. Korean War – POWs
Sign experiment – Large ‘Drive Carefully’ vs. small 3-inch ‘Be a Safe Driver’ sign
At first only 17% said yes to large sign, nearly all of the others said yes to small sign
When asked to move from small to large sign 76% said yes.

8. Social Thinking Role set of expectations about a social position
defines how those in the position ought to behave
The Stanford Prison Experiment: A Simulation Study of the Psychology of Imprisonment
Prison BBC Documentary - (29 min)
Applications to Today - (13 min)

9. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gN-6nBs7sbI (7 min)
Social Thinking
Cognitive Dissonance Theory
(7 min)
we act to reduce the discomfort (dissonance) we feel when two of our thoughts (cognitions) are inconsistent
example- when we become aware that our attitudes and our actions clash, we can reduce the resulting dissonance by changing our attitudes

10. Social Thinking
Cognitive dissonance