36 Describe an attitude or tendency you would like to change Using the attitudesfollowbehavior principle how might you go about changing that attitude Social Psychology Textbook pp722734 ID: 417758
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Slide1
Preview p.36
Describe an
attitude or tendency you would like to
change.
Using the attitudes-follow-behavior principle, how might you go about changing that attitude?Slide2
Social Psychology
Textbook pp.722-734
Notebook p.
37Slide3
Social Psychology
The
study of how
we think about, influence, and relate to one another.
(how do we explain mass suicides, prisoner abuse, brainwashing, and other shocking phenomena)Slide4
Attitudes influence actions…
Attribution
Theory
(Fritz
Heider) – people usually attribute others’ behavior to either their
internal dispositions or their
external
situations.Slide5
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.
External (situational)
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)
They won because they put in a great deal of effort and practice.
Internal (dispositional)Slide6
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.Slide7
Our attributions have consequences. Slide8Slide9
Do our attitudes influence actions?Slide10
…or do our actions influence attitudes?
Cognitive dissonance
is the
discomfort
caused by holding two contradictory beliefs or performing an action contradictory to our beliefs. Slide11
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. Slide12
Examples of Actions influences Attitudes:
Foot-in-the-door phenomenon
– the tendency for people who agree to a small request to comply later with a larger one (examples,
“Drive carefully
”, Korean War
,)Slide13
Effort justification
– the tendency to find something more attractive if you have to work hard to achieve it.
T
his
is cognitive dissonance. If I am willing to be spanked for a
fraternity, then I must be crazy
. Therefore, this must be the coolest fraternity ever!Can you think of a personal example of this and share it with your partner?Slide14
Zimbardo’s
Stanfor
d
Prison Experiment (1971)
The Power of the Situation:
http
://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RazP8D-Mfe8Slide15
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?Slide16
ConformitySlide17Slide18Slide19
Social Pressures Can Create Dissonance and Lead to Conformity
Seven factors that increase conformity (Asch):
Subject feels insecure
The group has at least 3 people.
The group is unanimous.
Subject admires the group.
Subject has made no prior commitment to any response
Others observe the subject’s behavior.
The culture encourages respect for social standards.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYIh4MkcfJASlide20
So what can I do to make sure my 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) Slide21
Process p.36
How have you conformed to group pressure without seriously considering alternatives? Be specific.Slide22