SOCIAL PSYCH UCT TEST QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ALREADY PASSED
how people in one particular group act towards people in another group (race related issues in SA) -
Answers Intregroup relations
affect, behavior, cognition. - Answers Attitude
•Knowledge function -- help us explain/understand the general world around us.
•Utilitarian function-- avoid punishment, gain rewards. be politically correct and have views that match
up with social context.
•Value-expressive function- public statement want to express, individually.
•Ego-defensive function-- deeply rooted, difficult to change views (homophobia) - Answers KATZ- 4
functions of attitudes-
1.Evaluative: object is the end in itself-- attitude functions allow the individual access to the object itself.
•Experiential and specific (based on and restricted to a single object)
•Experiential and schematic (based on expreience with particular objects, but generalized to a class of
objects)
-ANTICIPATORY - based on expected rather than direct experience
2.Expressive (or symbolic) : object is a means to an end. Provides social support, increases self esteem,
reduce anxiety.
•Social-expressive- based on the individuals need to be accepted by others
•Value-expressive- based on indivduals need to define self by expressing important values and aligning
self with important reference groups
•Defensive- based on indivudals need to reduce anxiety associated with intrapsychic conflicts
STRATEGIES TO CHANGE ATTITUDES MUST CONSIDER WEATHER ATTITUDES ARE HELD FOR EVALUATIVE
OR EXPRESSIVE/SYMBOLIC REASONS! - Answers • HEREK- 2 kinds of attitudes.
***ATTITUDES FOLLOW BEHAVIOR***
•Humans want consistency between their cognitions (i.e. beliefs, values, opinions etc.)
,•Cognitive dissonance occurs when a person holds two cognitions (thoughts) that are psychologically
contradictory, which often results in feelings of anxiety
•Dissonance often occurs when a person has to choose bwteeen two incompatible beliefs or behaviours
•When dissonance occurs, the person often has to change something in order to reduce the anxiety
associated with the dissonance
•Three ways in which a person can reduce dissonance:
1.Reduce the importance attached to one or both of the cognitions;
2.Find or add new information that outweighs the dissonant beliefs;
3.Or, change one or both of the dissonant beliefs
• EXAMPLE: I want to lose weight for my wedding and I believe that eating chocolate and cake is going
to make me gain weight. But, I continue eating chocolate and cake. If I want to - Answers • Cognitive
Dissonance Theory: Leon Festinger (1957)
it is through behavior that we interpret and form attitudes!
same as cog dissonance but more simple
•The popular view is that it is our attitudes that influence how we behave. Self-perception Theory,
however, argues that this is not always the case and that, sometimes, it is through our behaviour and
how we interpret our behaviour that we form our attitudes
•Example: I don't have any thoughts or feelings towards dogs. However, on meeting a dog I feel anxious
and irritated and avoid interacting with the dog. Through my behaviour towards the dog, I come to the
conclusion that this must mean that I don't like dogs. - Answers • Self-perception Theory: Daryl Bem
(1967, 1972)
where are our behavior intentions at? attitude predicts behavior.
1. normative beleif
2. motivation to comply
,look at these two before taking action
•This theory argues that our attitudes don't predict our behaviour, but rather predicts our behavioural
intentions
•Our behavioural intent is caused by two factors: Attitudes and norms (i.e. the
expectations/thoughts/opinions/beliefs of those in our social world)
•EXAMPLE: I fall pregnant and my own attitudes towards terminating the pregnancy are pro-choice [i.e.
attitude]. But, my friends believe that abortion is immoral and wrong [i.e. norms].
•In terms of norms, it is our attitudes together with our subjective norms that play an integral role in
predicting our behavioural intentions
•Subjective norms involve two elements
1.Normative beliefs: What I think others will expect me to do. [From the above example, I think that my
friends would want me to not have an a - Answers • Theory of Reasoned Action: Fishbein and Ajzen
• refers to the ways in which people identify causes for things happening the way that they did -
Answers • ATTRIBUTIONS
• Characteristics of a person are the cause
• E.g. Their homework is late because they are lazy and couldn't care less about their academics. -
Answers • Dispositional factors: (ATTRIBUTIONS)
• Characteristics of a situation are the cause
• E.g. Their homework is late because their car must have broken down and they couldn't get to campus
on time.
• People are biased in their attributions
• Attributions are pervasive throughout social life - Answers External factors/Situational factors
(ATTRIBUTIONS)
Each theory focuses on different aspects of attributions and are complementary rather than competing
(i.e. the aims of each theory was not to disprove the other theories wrong, but rather to add something
to our understanding of attributions)
, Each theory is concerned with how attributions should take place logically and not all of the theories pay
attentions to the role of motivations or emotions in determining how attributions are made - Answers •
The term 'Attribution Theory' is an umbrella for a number of explanations/models that exist to explain
how people make attributions;
• People are motivated to make sense of the world and know what causes things to happen enables us
to predict what will happen or how someone may behave and/or make judgements about how we
should or will act
• This theory is interested in causality (what made something happen) and responsibility (what/who is
responsible for something happening)
• Causality: There are internal (personal) and external (situational) causes
• Levels of responsibility:
• Responsibility by association (weakest level)
• E.g. Your friend's diver's license is revoked because they were drinking and driving. Their parents
blame you as you are the friend and should have made sure they did not drink and drive. You are not
directly responsible, but are seen as responsible because of your association to the events/person
involved in the event.
• Causal responsibility
• E.g. The PSY2013F class performs poorly in their exam, because I did not expl - Answers •
COMMONSENSE PSYCHOLOGY - Fritz Heider
• The focus in this theory is on trying to explain why people make internal attributions
• This theory argues that people pay more attention to behaviour that is intentional (i.e. when someone
intended to do something, rather than behaviour that was thoughtless or accidental)
• This theory believes that we make internal attributions when we conclude that a person's behaviour is
related to their personality
• People make internal attributions under the following conditions:
• Choice: When we believe that the person's behaviour was freely chosen
• Expectedness of behaviour: When we expect a person to behave in a certain way, but they don't, we
often make internal attributions [E.g. My friend says he is vegan and I expect that he won't eat meat, but
how people in one particular group act towards people in another group (race related issues in SA) -
Answers Intregroup relations
affect, behavior, cognition. - Answers Attitude
•Knowledge function -- help us explain/understand the general world around us.
•Utilitarian function-- avoid punishment, gain rewards. be politically correct and have views that match
up with social context.
•Value-expressive function- public statement want to express, individually.
•Ego-defensive function-- deeply rooted, difficult to change views (homophobia) - Answers KATZ- 4
functions of attitudes-
1.Evaluative: object is the end in itself-- attitude functions allow the individual access to the object itself.
•Experiential and specific (based on and restricted to a single object)
•Experiential and schematic (based on expreience with particular objects, but generalized to a class of
objects)
-ANTICIPATORY - based on expected rather than direct experience
2.Expressive (or symbolic) : object is a means to an end. Provides social support, increases self esteem,
reduce anxiety.
•Social-expressive- based on the individuals need to be accepted by others
•Value-expressive- based on indivduals need to define self by expressing important values and aligning
self with important reference groups
•Defensive- based on indivudals need to reduce anxiety associated with intrapsychic conflicts
STRATEGIES TO CHANGE ATTITUDES MUST CONSIDER WEATHER ATTITUDES ARE HELD FOR EVALUATIVE
OR EXPRESSIVE/SYMBOLIC REASONS! - Answers • HEREK- 2 kinds of attitudes.
***ATTITUDES FOLLOW BEHAVIOR***
•Humans want consistency between their cognitions (i.e. beliefs, values, opinions etc.)
,•Cognitive dissonance occurs when a person holds two cognitions (thoughts) that are psychologically
contradictory, which often results in feelings of anxiety
•Dissonance often occurs when a person has to choose bwteeen two incompatible beliefs or behaviours
•When dissonance occurs, the person often has to change something in order to reduce the anxiety
associated with the dissonance
•Three ways in which a person can reduce dissonance:
1.Reduce the importance attached to one or both of the cognitions;
2.Find or add new information that outweighs the dissonant beliefs;
3.Or, change one or both of the dissonant beliefs
• EXAMPLE: I want to lose weight for my wedding and I believe that eating chocolate and cake is going
to make me gain weight. But, I continue eating chocolate and cake. If I want to - Answers • Cognitive
Dissonance Theory: Leon Festinger (1957)
it is through behavior that we interpret and form attitudes!
same as cog dissonance but more simple
•The popular view is that it is our attitudes that influence how we behave. Self-perception Theory,
however, argues that this is not always the case and that, sometimes, it is through our behaviour and
how we interpret our behaviour that we form our attitudes
•Example: I don't have any thoughts or feelings towards dogs. However, on meeting a dog I feel anxious
and irritated and avoid interacting with the dog. Through my behaviour towards the dog, I come to the
conclusion that this must mean that I don't like dogs. - Answers • Self-perception Theory: Daryl Bem
(1967, 1972)
where are our behavior intentions at? attitude predicts behavior.
1. normative beleif
2. motivation to comply
,look at these two before taking action
•This theory argues that our attitudes don't predict our behaviour, but rather predicts our behavioural
intentions
•Our behavioural intent is caused by two factors: Attitudes and norms (i.e. the
expectations/thoughts/opinions/beliefs of those in our social world)
•EXAMPLE: I fall pregnant and my own attitudes towards terminating the pregnancy are pro-choice [i.e.
attitude]. But, my friends believe that abortion is immoral and wrong [i.e. norms].
•In terms of norms, it is our attitudes together with our subjective norms that play an integral role in
predicting our behavioural intentions
•Subjective norms involve two elements
1.Normative beliefs: What I think others will expect me to do. [From the above example, I think that my
friends would want me to not have an a - Answers • Theory of Reasoned Action: Fishbein and Ajzen
• refers to the ways in which people identify causes for things happening the way that they did -
Answers • ATTRIBUTIONS
• Characteristics of a person are the cause
• E.g. Their homework is late because they are lazy and couldn't care less about their academics. -
Answers • Dispositional factors: (ATTRIBUTIONS)
• Characteristics of a situation are the cause
• E.g. Their homework is late because their car must have broken down and they couldn't get to campus
on time.
• People are biased in their attributions
• Attributions are pervasive throughout social life - Answers External factors/Situational factors
(ATTRIBUTIONS)
Each theory focuses on different aspects of attributions and are complementary rather than competing
(i.e. the aims of each theory was not to disprove the other theories wrong, but rather to add something
to our understanding of attributions)
, Each theory is concerned with how attributions should take place logically and not all of the theories pay
attentions to the role of motivations or emotions in determining how attributions are made - Answers •
The term 'Attribution Theory' is an umbrella for a number of explanations/models that exist to explain
how people make attributions;
• People are motivated to make sense of the world and know what causes things to happen enables us
to predict what will happen or how someone may behave and/or make judgements about how we
should or will act
• This theory is interested in causality (what made something happen) and responsibility (what/who is
responsible for something happening)
• Causality: There are internal (personal) and external (situational) causes
• Levels of responsibility:
• Responsibility by association (weakest level)
• E.g. Your friend's diver's license is revoked because they were drinking and driving. Their parents
blame you as you are the friend and should have made sure they did not drink and drive. You are not
directly responsible, but are seen as responsible because of your association to the events/person
involved in the event.
• Causal responsibility
• E.g. The PSY2013F class performs poorly in their exam, because I did not expl - Answers •
COMMONSENSE PSYCHOLOGY - Fritz Heider
• The focus in this theory is on trying to explain why people make internal attributions
• This theory argues that people pay more attention to behaviour that is intentional (i.e. when someone
intended to do something, rather than behaviour that was thoughtless or accidental)
• This theory believes that we make internal attributions when we conclude that a person's behaviour is
related to their personality
• People make internal attributions under the following conditions:
• Choice: When we believe that the person's behaviour was freely chosen
• Expectedness of behaviour: When we expect a person to behave in a certain way, but they don't, we
often make internal attributions [E.g. My friend says he is vegan and I expect that he won't eat meat, but
