Attribution Theory

• Attributing behavior of others to either internal disposition or external situations

• Dispositional Attribution– Based on a person’s

personality or characteristics

• Situational Attribution– Based on a person’s situation

or environment

Attribution Theory

• Fundamental Attribution Error– Make an attribution based on

disposition when attribution should be situational

• Self-serving Bias– Attributing one’s own behavior

to situations but other’s behavior is dispositional

Attribution Theory• Preexisting schema

– A set of belief’s about other’s that leads to attribution that conforms to your expectations

• Attractiveness Bias– The tendency to perceive

attractive people as more competent than others

Constructing Social Reality

• Pygmalion effect– The tendency for people to

behave according to the expectation of others

• Self-Fulfilling prophecy– A belief that causes itself to

become true

• Behavioral expectation effect– A person influences

another according to their own expectations

Conformity• A principle that requires

people to adjust their behavior or thinking to match a group standard

• Normative Social Influence– Influence that draws on a

person’s desire for approval or feeling of belonging to a group

• Asch’s Conformity Studies– Individuals will change their

answer if other’s are giving an answer different than their own

Conformity• Bystander Effect

– The likelihood of receiving help from a bystander

– Depends on the number of bystander’s available

• Reference Group– A group to which a person

feels affiliated– If one person conforms

than others will do the same

Milgram’s Obedience Studies• Teacher and learner

– Learner is asked questions and shocked for a wrong response

– Nothing was happening to the learner

– The real participant was the teacher

– 67% of individuals obeyed up to 450 volts

Milgrams Obedience Studies• Proximity of

researcher• Legitimacy of authority• Emotional distance to

the learner• No models of defiance• A bystander is present• Normative and

informational influence• Ingrained habit

Compliance• A change in a person's

behavior that occurs in response to a direct request

• Cognitive Dissonance– A disconnect between

internal attitudes and external behavior

• Lowball techniques– Offering an attractive deal,

only to change terms later

Compliance

• Bait-and-Switch technique– Offer something but then

substitute that offer with something else

• Foot-in-the-door technique– Compliance with a small

request increases likelihood of responding to a larger request

Compliance

• Shared identity– A feeling that you are similar

to others in feeling, thought and behavior

• Norm of reciprocity– A tendency to desire a return

of favors

• Door-in-the-face technique– Making a large request to

obtain compliance for a smaller request

Attitudes• An evaluative belief or

opinion about a person, object or idea

• Implicit attitude– An attitude that

automatically influences one’s reactions

• External attitude– An attitude that one

holds consciously and can report to others

Persuasion• A deliberate effort to change

an attitude or belief

• Central route– Paying attention to good

arguments that are personally relevant and appeal to reason

• Peripheral route– Evaluating an argument

based on tangential cues rather than the merits of the argument

Persuasion• Elaboration-Likelihood Model

– Central route -motivation is high– Peripheral route -motivation is low

• Perseverance Effect– It is difficult to shake an initial

impression

• Sleeper Effect– Forgetting the sources of unreliable

information – Remembering information as being

reliable

Group Influence

• Social Loafing– People believe that individual

efforts do not matter– Being only one member

makes effort less necessary

• Deindividuation– People in a group relinquish

personal responsibility

Group Influence

• Group polarization– The more members of a

group discuss their ideas the more extreme the ideas become

• Group think– A group members opinion

becomes indistinguishable from the group

Prejudice/Discrimination• Prejudice

– An attitude toward a particular group

• Discrimination– A behavior directed toward a

particular group

• In-group/Out-group phenomenon– A group that you are a part of

has more diversity than the group that you do not belong to

Stereotypes• A general belief about a

group of people• Stereotype threat

– A stereotyped group’s knowledge that they must work against stereotypes

• Helpful to understand how our world works in GENERAL

• Not helpful in understanding any one individual’s behavior

Aggression• Behavior intended to harm another

individual– Genetics– Alcohol and violence– Environmental

• Childhood experiences• Learned expectations of others

• Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis– An individuals becomes frustrated

when goals are not fulfilled– Resulting behavior is aggression

Altruism• Prosocial behavior carried out

without concerns for one’s own safety or self-interest

• Reciprocal altruism– The hope of some benefit in return

at some point in the future

• Egoism– The act of altruism with hope of

receiving some benefit in return

Altruism

• Collectivism– Altruism that benefits the entire

group

• Principlism– Altruism as a result of principle

• Why do we help?– Notice the situation– Identify as an emergency– Take responsibility– Decide on course of action