Module 40-Social Thinking
Attribution Theory
1. Fritz Heider (1958) proposed 2. We can attribute the behavior to the person's stable, enduring traits (a dispositional attribution), or we can attribute it to the situation (a situational attribution).
Central Route Persuasion
attitude change path in which interested people focus on the arguments and respond with favorable thoughts
According to _____ theory, people explain behavior by crediting either the situation or the person's disposition.
attribution
Dispositional Attribution
behavior attributed to a person's stable, enduring traits
Situational Attribution
behavior attributed to a situation
Laureen is somewhat troubled by her failure to quit smoking when she knows how destructive it may be to her health. She tells herself that the cigarettes she smokes are so light and low in tar and nicotine that they are probably unlikely to do much damage. Which theory BEST explains why Laureen adopts this attitude?
cognitive dissonance theory
door-in-the-face effect:
***when an unreasonable request is denied (door in the face), a follow-up moderate request becomes more acceptable Example: "Could you volunteer daily for the next two weeks? "Could you volunteer for the next 30 minutes?"
Civil Rights Act of 1964
1. In the years that followed, White Americans expressed diminishing racial prejudice. 2. As Americans in different regions came to act more alike—thanks to more uniform national standards against discrimination—they began to think more alike. 3. Moral actions strengthen moral convictions.
Dr. Pena is conducting research about how people form impressions of others and how they interpret one another's behavior in a variety of situations. Dr. Pena is probably a _____ psychologist.
social
t is an election year, and a volunteer asks if you would put a small 1-foot sign in your yard. You agree. The next week, your wife cannot believe you agreed to let the volunteer put a new 3-foot sign on the front lawn. This technique is known as:
the foot-in-the-door phenomenon.
Summer watches as a student stumbles and drops her books in the hall. If she demonstrates the fundamental attribution error, how would Summer explain the student's behavior?
She is a clumsy person.
fundamental attribution error
We overestimate the influence of personality and underestimate the influence of situations.
Peripheral Route Persuasion
attitude change path in which people are influenced by incidental cues, such as a speaker's attractiveness
A student's statement that his professor gave him a bad grade because she does not like him is a(n):
attribution
After giving in to an order to harm an innocent victim—by making nasty comments or delivering presumed electric shocks—_________________________________.
people begin to disparage their victim.
Westerners more often attribute behavior to ________________________.
people's personal traits
Alexandra wants to buy a new car before she goes off to college. She wants one that looks good and has a nice stereo system so that she can listen to her favorite music while driving to class. Which form of persuasion would probably be more convincing to her?
peripheral route persuasion
In Britain, India, Australia, and the United States, ____________________ have tended to attribute responsibility to the __________________________ of the poor and unemployed.
political conservatives personal dispositions ******* "People make their own choices. Those who take initiative can still get ahead."
Laxmi is a mother. The responsibilities and expectations associated with this position constitute a social:
role
foot-in-the-door phenomenon:
the tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request
Ashanti has strong feelings about the administration's policies regarding refugee families seeking asylum in the United States. These feelings reflect Ashanti's political beliefs and may cause her to attend a protest in her town in the near future. Ashanti's feelings, beliefs, and actions reflect what social psychologists call a(n):
attitude
Based on her experience, Nadine tends to view the supporters of a particular political party somewhat negatively. Nadine has a(n):
attitude
In social-psychological terms, Rubia develops a(n) _____ when she tries to explain her neighbor's irritating actions.
attribution
Political liberals, and those not primed to consider the power of choice, are more likely to ____________________________.
blame past and present situations
What we do, we gradually become:
Every time we act like the people around us, we slightly change ourselves to be more like them, and less like who we used to be.
Many have made people feel responsible for behavior that
clashed with their attitudes and had foreseeable consequences.
An ad agency creates two ads for a particular car. One stresses the car's safety and gas mileage; the other simply shows how much fun it is to drive. The first ad relies on _____ route persuasion and the second on _____ route persuasion.
central; peripheral
When we explain our own behavior, we are sensitive to _________________.
how behavior changes with the situation
Attitudes are especially likely to affect behavior when external influences are ___________, and when the attitude is __________, specific to the ______________, and ______________________.
minimal stable behavior easily recalled
We also are sensitive to the power of the situation when we explain the behavior of people _______________________________________.
we have seen in many different contexts
cognitive dissonance
when we become aware that our attitudes and actions don't coincide, we experience tension, or cognitive dissonance
Does the attitudes-follow-behavior principle works with good deeds?
yes
You would probably be LEAST likely to commit the fundamental attribution error in explaining why:
you failed a college exam.
Maria recently graduated college and is now a professor at a university. This is her first semester at her new job. Maria makes sure that she dresses the part of a professor, taking ideas of attire from the professors she had as a college student. She also makes sure that she behaves as a professor. Maria likely feels like:
she is acting a role.
During the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, Elsa voices concern that many people in her town gather in groups to socialize, visit open businesses unnecessarily, and fail to wear face masks. Her friend explains this behavior by citing the low rate of infection in their area and inconsistent messages from the media and from political leaders. Elsa's friend is making a(n) _____ attribution for townspeople's behavior.
situational
Evan's father yells at him for being 5 minutes late for tee time. Rather than believe his father is a rude jerk, he decides that he may be having difficulties at his job. This means he makes a _____ attribution about his behavior.
situational
Curtis usually does very well on tests, but he failed his most recent vocabulary exam. His teacher was very upset by Curtis's performance and decided that Curtis must be sick or have some type of problem that affected his ability to study for the test. In this example, the teacher made a(n) _____ about Curtis's test performance.
situational attribution
Dr. Scholz is reading an article describing research in which investigators examined how the presence of other people influenced participants' performance on a variety of tasks. Dr. Scholz is MOST likely reading the Journal of Research in _____ Psychology.
social
People in China and Japan are more sensitive to __________________.
the power of the situation
A student fails to speak or raise his hand in class all semester. The teacher assumes that the student is exceptionally shy. The teacher is illustrating the:
fundamental attribution error.
People frequently fail to consider the influence of external circumstances on others' behavior. This is the:
fundamental attribution error.
Barry is watching golf and sees Tiger Woods scowl after a missed putt. He would be making the fundamental attribution error if he assumed that Woods:
has an angry and volatile personality.
A meme suggests that fascism does not begin with gas ovens; rather, it begins when ordinary citizens are persuaded to commit smaller acts of aggression or hatred toward others. The meme MOST specifically calls attention to:
the foot-in-the-door phenomenon.
Yung is driving to campus one day when another car cuts him off and speeds ahead. Immediately, he yells out "Crazy driver!," not realizing that the person may be rushing to get to the hospital. Yung's judgment BEST illustrates:
the fundamental attribution error.
The less coerced and more responsible we feel for a troubling act, _____________________.
the more dissonance we feel.
cognitive dissonance theory
the theory that we act to reduce the discomfort (dissonance) we feel when two of our thoughts (cognitions) are inconsistent. For example, when our awareness of our attitudes and of our actions clash, we can reduce the resulting dissonance by changing our attitudes
Cognitive dissonance theory states that in order to reduce dissonance, individuals:
try to align their attitudes and behavior.
Two important exceptions to our usual view of our own actions:
1. Our deliberate and admirable actions we often attribute to our own good reasons, not to the situation 2. And as we age, we tend to attribute our younger selves' behavior mostly to our traits ******In 5 or 10 years, your current self may seem like another person.
James usually does very well on tests, but he was up all night before his psychology midterm cleaning his flooded basement, and he therefore failed his exam. He tried to explain his situation to his teacher, but she thought that James's performance was caused by a tendency to avoid studying, and she did not want to hear his excuse. The teacher incorrectly made a(n) _____ attribution about James's test performance.
dispositional
Peripheral route persuasion uses attention-getting cues to trigger speedy, emotion-based judgments.
Vaccine-Autism Myth 1. One experiment gave some people information that debunked the vaccines-cause-autism myth 2. Others were shown photos of unvaccinated children suffering mumps, measles, or rubella, along with a parent's description of measles. 3. Only those given the vivid photos and description became more supportive of vaccines
Marci suggests that the aggressiveness of her sister's new friend is the result of the friend's abuse during childhood. Marci's inference about the cause of the girl's behavior is an example of:
an attribution
Nora has strong feelings about the presence of the Confederate flag outside public buildings in her town. These feelings stem in part from her political beliefs, and they may influence her voting behavior in the near future. Nora has a(n):
attitude
People in many nations responded to the 2020 coronavirus pandemic by buying large quantities of specific items, such as toilet paper. Attempts to explain this behavior MOST directly involve the process of:
attribution
The foot-in-the-door tactic has helped _________________________.
boost charitable contributions, blood donations, and U.S. school desegregation.
The more dissonance we feel, the more motivated we are to find and project consistency, such as
changing our attitudes to help justify the act.
Janelle yells at Jason for being 10 minutes late for lunch. Rather than believe that Janelle is a rude jerk, Jason decides that she may be having difficulties with her partner. Jason's explanation of Janelle's behavior _____ the fundamental attribution error because it is based on Janelle's _____.
does not reflect; situation
step-by-step role playing used to train torturers
early 1970s, the Greek military government eased men into their roles. 1. a trainee played the role of guard outside an interrogation cell (foot-in-the-door step) 2. then he stood guard inside 3. Only then was he ready to become actively involved in the questioning-and-torture role.
You are trying to convince your parents to send you to Europe. First, you ask them for a small favor (a bus ticket to a local city), hoping that later they will be more willing to send you on the longer trip. This technique is known as the _____ phenomenon.
foot-in-the-door
What Factors Affect Our Attributions?
1. culture 2. who (Which person in the situation is exhibiting the behavior?)
As David approaches the counter at the Department of Motor Vehicles, the clerk yells at David for having waited in the wrong line. David is convinced that the clerk should find another line of work—one in which his angry personality traits will not interfere with his job. However, David disregards the possibility that the department is short of help that day. David has just fallen prey to _____.
the fundamental attribution error
A job applicant is 5 minutes late for an interview. The interviewer assumes that the applicant is unconscientious and fails to consider that she may have had difficulty finding a parking spot. The interviewer is demonstrating:
the fundamental attribution error.
A political scientist explains a politician's popularity by citing the trait of authoritarianism among his supporters rather than by noting the economic uncertainty they face. The scientist may be reflecting:
the fundamental attribution error.
A teacher explains a student's antisocial and destructive behavior by suggesting that the student has a rebellious nature rather than by suggesting that the student is experiencing peer pressure to perform antisocial acts. The teacher's explanation BEST reflects:
the fundamental attribution error.
Julio is waiting for a ride-share driver to arrive. Tracking the driver using his phone, Julio sees that the driver is taking a circuitous route. Julio immediately thinks that the driver is unintelligent. He fails to consider the possibility that traffic conditions or road construction may account for the driver's unusual route. Julio is demonstrating: Please choose the correct answer from the following choices, and then select the submit answer button. social loafing.
the fundamental attribution error.
Rhys submits a major report to his boss ahead of the deadline. His boss assumes that Rhys is conscientious rather than that he simply had more time than usual to devote to the assignment. This example illustrates:
the fundamental attribution error.
Some ____________ college women report having experienced a man misattributing her friendliness as a sexual come-on.
7 in 10
_____ conducted the Stanford prison study of social roles.
Philip Zimbardo
"Fake it until you make it" is a saying of Alcoholics Anonymous and represents:
the power of acting a new role.
Implications of attitudes-follow-behavior principle:
1. We cannot directly control all our feelings, but we can influence them by altering our behavior. 2. If we are depressed, we can alter our attributions and explain events in more positive terms, with more self-acceptance and fewer self-put-downs 3. If we are unloving, we can become more loving by behaving as if we were—by doing thoughtful things, expressing affection, giving affirmation. 4. Each time you ask yourself, 'How should I act?, you are also asking, 'Who is the person I want to become?' 5. That helps explain why teens' doing volunteer work promotes a compassionate identity. 6. Act as if you like someone, and you soon may. Pretense can become reality. 7. Conduct sculpts character. What we do we become.
Role Playing Affects Attitudes
1. When you adopt a new role you strive to follow the social prescriptions. 2. At first, your behaviors may feel phony, because you are acting a role. Soldiers may at first feel they are playing war games. 3. Before long what began as play acting in the theater of life becomes you.
College Student Example of Cognitive Dissonance
1. college student agrees to a small sum of money to write an essay supporting something they don't believe in (perhaps a tuition increase). 2. feeling responsible for their written statements (which are inconsistent with their actual attitudes), the college student would probably feel dissonance, especially if the college student thought their essay might influence an administrator. 3. To reduce the uncomfortable tension, the college student might start believing their own phony words. 4. It's as if we rationalize, "If I chose to do it (or say it), I must believe in it." 5. The less coerced and more responsible we feel for a troubling act, the more dissonance we feel. 6. The more dissonance we feel, the more motivated we are to find and project consistency, such as changing our attitudes to help justify the act.
Attitudes
1. feelings, often influenced by our beliefs, that predispose our reactions to objects, people, and events. 2. attitudes affect actions (Hateful attitudes feed violent behavior.) 3. actions affect our attitudes (much as our emotional expressions affect our emotions).
Person and situation interact.
1. person and situation work together to influence how people think, feel, and behave 2. different people respond differently to the same situation 3. In real-life atrocity-producing situations, some people have succumbed to the situation and others have not.
attitudes follow behavior
1. we stand up for what we believe 2. we also will more strongly believe in what we have stood up for
In one study, ____________________________ to a violent offender who a scientist testified had a gene that altered brain areas related to aggressiveness.
181 U.S. state judges gave lighter sentences
In one study of German men, military training toughened their personalities, leaving them less agreeable even ______ later, after leaving the military.
5 years
One experiment used vivid, easily recalled information to convince White sun-tanning college students that repeated tanning put them at risk for future skin cancer. One month later, _______ percent of the participants, and only ________ percent of those in a control group, had lighter skin.
72 % 16 % ***Changed attitudes (about skin cancer risk) changed behavior (less tanning).
To get people to agree to something big, start small and build.
A trivial act makes the next act easier. A small lie paves the way to a bigger lie. Fibbers may become frauds. Succumb to a temptation and the next temptation becomes harder to resist.
Example of Foot-in-the-Door Phenomenon
During the Korean war, many U.S. prisoners were held in Chinese communist war camps. The captors secured prisoners' collaboration in various activities, ranging from simple tasks (running errands to gain privileges) to more serious actions (false confessions, informing on other prisoners, and divulging U.S. military information). After doing so, the prisoners sometimes adjusted their beliefs to be more consistent with their public acts. When the war ended, 21 prisoners chose to stay with the communists. Some others returned home convinced that communism was good for Asia (though not actually "brainwashed," as has often been said). The captors began with harmless requests, such as copying a trivial statement, but gradually escalated their demands. The next statement to be copied might list flaws of capitalism. Then, to gain privileges, the prisoners would move up to participating in group discussions, writing self-criticisms, and, finally, uttering public confessions.
CENTRAL ROUTE PERSUASION
EXAMPLES 1. To persuade buyers to purchase a new gadget, an ad might itemize all the latest features. 2. To marshal support for climate change intervention, effective arguments have focused on the accumulating greenhouse gases, melting arctic ice, rising world temperatures and seas, and increasing extreme weather.
PERIPHERAL ROUTE PERSUASION Endorsements by beautiful or famous people can also influence people, whether to choose a political candidate or to buy the latest personal care product.
EXAMPLES: 1. when environmental activist and actor Cate Blanchett urges action to counter climate change disaster 2. when Pope Francis (2015) states that "Climate change is a global problem with grave implications," they hope to harness their appeal for peripheral route persuasion. 3. The same is true of advertisements that use heart-tugging imagery to sell products.
Which statement reflects the fundamental attribution error? (a) Eryn cheated on the exam because the test was much more difficult than she had anticipated. (b) Eryn cheated on the exam because she did not have time to study. (c) Eryn cheated on the exam because the test was so important to her grade point average. (d) Eryn cheated on the exam because she is dishonest.
Eryn cheated on the exam because she is dishonest.
We more often commit the fundamental attribution error when a stranger acts badly.
Having only seen that enraged fan screaming at the referee in the heat of competition, we may assume he is an angry person. But outside the stadium, he may be a good neighbor and a great parent.
Doing becomes believing:
In dozens of experiments, researchers have coaxed people into acting against their attitudes or violating their moral standards After giving in to an order to harm an innocent victim—by making nasty comments or delivering presumed electric shocks—people begin to disparage their victim. After speaking or writing on behalf of a position they have qualms about, they begin to believe their own words.
Rhonda has just learned that her neighbor Patricia was involved in an automobile accident at a nearby intersection. The tendency to make the fundamental attribution error may lead Rhonda to conclude that:
Patricia's recklessness has finally gotten her into trouble.
Would taking an observer's viewpoint make us more aware of our own behavior?
Researchers tested this idea by using separate cameras to film two people interacting. When they showed each person a replay of the interaction—filmed from the other person's perspective—participants credited their own behavior more to their disposition (personal character), much as an observer typically would.
In one classic experiment, researchers sought permission to place a large "Drive Carefully" sign in people's front yards .
The 17 percent rate of agreement soared to 76 percent among those who first did a small favor—placing a 3-inch-high "Be a Safe Driver" sign in their window.
In experiments, those who reflect on the power of choice—either by recalling their own choices or by taking note of another's choices—become ___________________________.
more likely to think that people get what they deserve
Central route persuasion works well for people who are ___________________-or involved in an issue because it offers evidence and arguments that trigger careful thinking. And because it is more thoughtful and less superficial, it is __________________________.
naturally analytical more durable
Attitudes affect our behavior. But situational factors, such as ___________________, can override the attitude-behavior connection
strong social pressures
In experiments that asked people to view scenes, such as a big fish swimming among smaller fish and plants, Americans focused more on ______________________. Japanese viewers focused more on the ________________.
the attributes of the big fish the scene-the situation
Tim's new roommate Jaxon leaves dirty laundry all over his room, and Tim assumes he must be a slob. Tim ignores the fact that Jaxon is currently studying for finals and working 30 hours per week. Tim is demonstrating:
the fundamental attribution error.
While eating at a café, Janet sees a server's serving tray tilt, and the food and beverages spill onto four people. "What a careless, clumsy idiot," Janet mumbles to herself as she resumes eating. Janet has just committed:
the fundamental attribution error.
