● Social thinking and social influence
○ Social thinking-
● Social psychology- how we think about, influence, and relate to
one another
■ The fundamental attribution error
○ Attribution theory- the theory that we explain someone's
behavior by crediting either the situation or the person’s
disposition.
○ Fundamental attribution error- the tendency observers to
underestimate the impact of situation and think more about
the person’s personal disposition
● What factors affect our attributions
○ Eastern place emphasis on situation
○ Often happens with teachers- seeing out of context we are
surprised that they are chill
○ Explaining own behavior is more on disposition
● What are the consequences of our attributions
○ Important in determining people's intentions
○ Explaining poverty- cons vs lib
■ Attitudes and actions
○ Attitudes- feelings often influenced by our beliefs-
predispose how we respond to things
● Attitudes affect actions
○ Persuasion efforts
■ Peripheral route- not systematic- uni informative
cues to make fast choices
■ Central route- evidence and arguments
● Actions affect attitudes- works the other way around too- will more
strongly believe in what they have stood up for
○ The foot-in-the-door phenomenon- tendency for people
who have agreed to a small request to comply with a larger
request.
○ Role playing affects attitudes- set of expectations about a
social position, defining how those in the position ought to
behave
○ Cognitive dissonance: relief from tension- we act to reduce
the discomfort we feel when two of our thoughts are
inconsistent
○ Social influence
■ Cultural influence- culture- the behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and
traditions shared by a group of people from gen to gen
○ Preservation of innovation and division of labor
● Variation across cultures
, ○ Don’t notice when we follow, but we feel force when we run
against.
○ Norms- understood life rule for expected peace
● Variation over time- Happens at remarkable speeds, good and bad
■ Conformity: Complying with social pressures
● Automatic mimicry- behavior is contagious
○ Chameleon effect- automatic mimicry- imitating others
emotions, expressions, posters, voice tones
■ Empathize and mood linkage
● Conformity and social norms
○ Conformity- adjusting behavior or thinking toward some
group standard.
■ Normative- social pressure and rejection
■ Informational- information and accuracy
■ Obedience: following orders
○ Milgram experiment- people obey authority depending
■ Legitimacy and physical closeness
■ Figure supported by institution
■ Victim was depersonalized
■ No role models for defiance
● Lessons from the obedience studies
○ Strong social influences can make people adhere to
falsehood and be cruel
■ Group behavior
● Social facilitation- strengthened performance in others presence
○ Energizing effect of home audience
● Social loafing- less performance when in group effort
○ Less accountable, equal benefits
● Deindividuation- loss of self-awareness and constraint when in
group situations that foster anonymity and arousal
■ Group polarization- enhancements of a groups prevailing inclinations
through discussion within the group
○ Strong virtual effect- living in a bubble
● Groupthink- desire for harmony in groups overrides a realistic
appraisal of alternatives
● The power of individual-
○ Social control (power of situations) and person control (of
the individual) interact
○ Minority influence- ability of one to change the group- wll
make you influential
● Antisocial relations
○ Prejudice- prejudgement
■ How prejudiced are people- explicit and implicit forms
○ Social thinking-
● Social psychology- how we think about, influence, and relate to
one another
■ The fundamental attribution error
○ Attribution theory- the theory that we explain someone's
behavior by crediting either the situation or the person’s
disposition.
○ Fundamental attribution error- the tendency observers to
underestimate the impact of situation and think more about
the person’s personal disposition
● What factors affect our attributions
○ Eastern place emphasis on situation
○ Often happens with teachers- seeing out of context we are
surprised that they are chill
○ Explaining own behavior is more on disposition
● What are the consequences of our attributions
○ Important in determining people's intentions
○ Explaining poverty- cons vs lib
■ Attitudes and actions
○ Attitudes- feelings often influenced by our beliefs-
predispose how we respond to things
● Attitudes affect actions
○ Persuasion efforts
■ Peripheral route- not systematic- uni informative
cues to make fast choices
■ Central route- evidence and arguments
● Actions affect attitudes- works the other way around too- will more
strongly believe in what they have stood up for
○ The foot-in-the-door phenomenon- tendency for people
who have agreed to a small request to comply with a larger
request.
○ Role playing affects attitudes- set of expectations about a
social position, defining how those in the position ought to
behave
○ Cognitive dissonance: relief from tension- we act to reduce
the discomfort we feel when two of our thoughts are
inconsistent
○ Social influence
■ Cultural influence- culture- the behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and
traditions shared by a group of people from gen to gen
○ Preservation of innovation and division of labor
● Variation across cultures
, ○ Don’t notice when we follow, but we feel force when we run
against.
○ Norms- understood life rule for expected peace
● Variation over time- Happens at remarkable speeds, good and bad
■ Conformity: Complying with social pressures
● Automatic mimicry- behavior is contagious
○ Chameleon effect- automatic mimicry- imitating others
emotions, expressions, posters, voice tones
■ Empathize and mood linkage
● Conformity and social norms
○ Conformity- adjusting behavior or thinking toward some
group standard.
■ Normative- social pressure and rejection
■ Informational- information and accuracy
■ Obedience: following orders
○ Milgram experiment- people obey authority depending
■ Legitimacy and physical closeness
■ Figure supported by institution
■ Victim was depersonalized
■ No role models for defiance
● Lessons from the obedience studies
○ Strong social influences can make people adhere to
falsehood and be cruel
■ Group behavior
● Social facilitation- strengthened performance in others presence
○ Energizing effect of home audience
● Social loafing- less performance when in group effort
○ Less accountable, equal benefits
● Deindividuation- loss of self-awareness and constraint when in
group situations that foster anonymity and arousal
■ Group polarization- enhancements of a groups prevailing inclinations
through discussion within the group
○ Strong virtual effect- living in a bubble
● Groupthink- desire for harmony in groups overrides a realistic
appraisal of alternatives
● The power of individual-
○ Social control (power of situations) and person control (of
the individual) interact
○ Minority influence- ability of one to change the group- wll
make you influential
● Antisocial relations
○ Prejudice- prejudgement
■ How prejudiced are people- explicit and implicit forms
