Social Psychology

Social Psychology: Personal Perspectives (Chapter 14)Lecture Outline:

Social CognitionAttributions and BiasesImpression management

Social Cognition: – How we perceive and interpret information

from ourselves and others• Cognitive-Consistency Theory:

– A match between thoughts and behaviors gives peace of mind.

• Conflict leads to cognitive dissonance:– As a student, I accidentally killed a rat, but

concluded they would have died soon anyway– Justification of effort: working hard to get an A

Self-perception theory• You infer your attitudes from your

behaviors• Roommate drags you to hockey games,

and you spend your whole time talking, yet you are now a “hockey fan”

• A dreary course you suffered through is recommended to a friend

• Impression management: Girl Guide cookies at an Apple Blossom tea

You are watching these job candidates in the waitingroom? Why are they behaving as they are?

Attributions: Explanations for behavior• “I don’t want to dance”. Why?

– Because I am a loser (personal attribution)– Because they are too wrapped up with their

friends (situational attribution)– I didn’t really want to (cognitive dissonance)

• Someone bumps you in line. Why?– Because they are an !@?&#!!.. This is a

fundamental attribution bias where we over-emphasize internal causes behavior

Self-serving bias• Internalize success and externalize

blame• Winning a hockey game because “we’re

a good team”, losing because they were “lucky” or you “did not get the bounces”

• Self-handicapping is the opposite, e.g., pass a test because “it was easy”, fail “because I am stupid”

How do you form impressions?• You meet

someone at a party. You form an initial impression of them. What is your initial impression based on?

Impression Formation• Primacy effect: Initial impressions matter

– Hard to get over bad start• Confirmation bias: We notice things

consistent with our beliefs – Teenagers “hang around and are up to no

good”– Leads to self-fulfilling prophecies

• Person-positivity bias: Individuals can be regarded more highly than groups