Explaining social behaviour
Social psychology studies how the real or imagined presence of other people affects our thoughts, feelings and behaviour. Examples: we work faster on easy tasks when others watch (social facilitation), and we help strangers in need (pro-social behaviour).
Social cognition
Social cognition is how we collect, store and use information about people.
- Schemas: mental folders of organised ideas about people, events or roles. A prototype is the best example of a group; a stereotype is a schema about a whole group.
- Impression formation: building a picture of a person from a few traits. Primacy effect: first information counts most. Recency effect: last information counts most. Halo effect: one good trait makes us think the person is good in all ways. Warm/cold traits change the whole impression.
- Attribution: giving a cause for behaviour. Internal (the person: effort, ability) or external (the situation: luck, task difficulty). The fundamental attribution error is blaming a person's traits too much. The actor-observer effect: for our own failures we blame the situation; for others', their traits.
What is an attitude? The ABC components
An attitude is a state of mind β a set of views or thoughts about a topic (the attitude object) that has a feeling and an action tendency attached.
- A β Affective: the feeling (like/dislike).
- B β Behavioural: the tendency to act in a certain way.
- C β Cognitive: the thought or belief.
Attitudes are different from beliefs (only the cognitive part) and values (beliefs about what "should" be, like honesty).
Features of attitudes
- Valence: positive or negative.
- Extremeness: how strongly positive or negative.
- Simplicity or complexity (multiplexity): one attitude, or many attitudes inside a broad one (e.g. health includes diet, exercise, sleep).
- Centrality: how central it is to one's attitude system. Central attitudes are hard to change and affect many others.
How attitudes are formed
- Learning by association: a kind teacher makes us like her subject (classical conditioning).
- Reward and punishment: praised for exercising β positive attitude to fitness.
- Modelling: copying parents, teachers or stars.
- Group or cultural norms: unwritten rules of our group shape what we like.
- Exposure to information: books, media and the internet give facts and views.
Other factors: family and school environment, reference groups, personal experience, and media.
How attitudes change
Balance theory (Fritz Heider)
Think of a triangle: P (person), O (other person), X (topic). Each link is + or β. If the number of minus signs is odd (1 or 3), the triangle is unbalanced and one attitude tends to change.
Cognitive dissonance (Leon Festinger)
Two clashing thoughts ("smoking harms" and "I smoke") create discomfort (dissonance). We change one thought or action to feel consistent again.
Two-step concept (S. M. Mohsin)
Step 1: the target identifies with and likes the source. Step 2: the source shows a change in attitude; the target follows.
Factors that affect change
- Existing attitude: extreme, central, simple ones change less.
- Source: credible (expert) and attractive sources persuade more.
- Message: enough facts, rational vs emotional appeal, motives it touches, how it is delivered (face-to-face works well).
- Target: persuasibility, strong prejudice, self-esteem and intelligence.
Change may be congruent (same direction, stronger) or incongruent (opposite direction). Incongruent change is harder.
Link between attitude and behaviour
Attitudes predict behaviour better when: the attitude is strong and central; the person is aware of it; there is little outside pressure (e.g. group norms); the behaviour is not being watched by others; and the person has a direct, positive or negative experience with the object. In a classic 1930s study (Richard LaPiere), hotel owners wrote that they would refuse a Chinese couple, yet had actually served them β attitude and behaviour did not match. Sometimes behaviour shapes attitude too (Bem's self-perception idea).
Try it
In free play, set PβO "+", PβX "+", OβX "β". Predict: balanced or not? Check. Now find two different ways to balance it by changing just one sign. At home, write one attitude of yours in ABC form, and one person who helped form it (which of the five ways?).
Key formulas and definitions
- Attitude = A (affective) + B (behavioural) + C (cognitive)
- Features: valence Β· extremeness Β· simplicity/complexity Β· centrality
- P-O-X: odd number of "β" = unbalanced (Heider)
- Dissonance: clashing thoughts β discomfort β change one (Festinger)
- Two-step: identify with source β follow its change (Mohsin)
Worked examples
1. Split this into ABC: "I believe exercise keeps me healthy, I enjoy it, and I jog every morning."
C (cognitive) = exercise keeps me healthy; A (affective) = I enjoy it; B (behavioural) = I jog every morning.
2. Ravi (P) likes Aman (O) (+). Ravi supports girls' education (X) (+). Aman opposes it (β). Is it balanced? What might happen?
Signs: +, +, β β one minus (odd) β unbalanced. Ravi may start disliking Aman, change his own view, or (best) persuade Aman to support girls' education.
3. Seema thinks eating junk food is unhealthy but eats it daily. What does she feel and how might she reduce it?
Cognitive dissonance. She may stop eating junk food, or tell herself "a little is okay" to reduce discomfort.
4. Karan says his friend failed because he is lazy, but says his own failure was due to a tough paper. Name the effect.
Actor-observer effect: internal cause for others, external cause for oneself.
Common mistakes
- Thinking an attitude is only a belief. It also has feeling and action parts.
- Saying the triangle is balanced whenever there is a minus sign. Count: odd minuses = unbalanced.
- Mixing Heider (balance) with Festinger (dissonance).
- Believing attitudes always predict behaviour. They do only under some conditions.