Psychology 324 Notes
Social Psychology
Please note that the work presented in these notes is not my own work but
compiles the work of Dr Swart and the recommended textbook namely,
Social Psychology by Michael A. Hogg and Graham M. Vaughan. Please read
the textbook and readings for further guidance J
⚠TW: I do swear in these notes for comical purposes ⚠
Highlighted in blue is people to study
Highlighted in green is a theory without a name
Highlighted in pink is the experiments
Underlined is important things to remember
Notes by Michaela Gonçalves : 22587934 1
,Table of Contents
CHAPTER FIVE- ATTITUDES ............................................................................................... 4
WHAT IS AN ATTITUDE? .............................................................................................................. 4
A BRIEF HISTORY OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY................................................................................ 4
ATTITUDE STRUCTURES .............................................................................................................. 4
ATTITUDE FUNCTIONS ................................................................................................................. 5
COGNITIVE CONSISTENCY THEORIES.......................................................................................... 5
EVALUATION OF ATTITUDES ........................................................................................................ 6
UNDERSTANDING THE LINK BETWEEN ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOUR ........................................ 6
IMPLICIT MEASURES OF ATTITUDES ........................................................................................... 6
BEHAVIOURAL APPROACHES........................................................................................................ 6
MEASURING ATTITUDES .............................................................................................................. 7
IMPLICIT ATTITUDES .................................................................................................................... 8
THE INCONSISTENCIES BETWEEN ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOURS ............................................ 8
THEORY OF REASONED ACTION .................................................................................................. 9
SUMMARY OF CHAPTER FIVE ............................................................................................ 9
CHAPTER SIX- PERSUASION AND ATTITUDE CHANGE ........................................... 11
PERSUASION ............................................................................................................................... 11
FEAR AND PERSUASION ............................................................................................................. 13
ARGUMENTS ................................................................................................................................ 13
COMPLIANCE AND CONFORMITY................................................................................................. 14
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AGE AND SUSCEPTIBILITY TO ATTITUDE CHANGE ............... 15
OTHER FACTORS THAT MAY INFLUENCE PERSUASION ............................................................. 16
COGNITIVE DISSONANCE ............................................................................................................ 16
SELF AFFIRMATION THEORY AND SELF PERCEPTION THEORY .............................................. 18
SUMMARY OF CHAPTER SIX ............................................................................................. 19
CHAPTER SEVEN – SOCIAL INFLUENCE ....................................................................... 20
COMPLIANCE AND CONFORMITY IN TERMS OF SOCIAL INFLUENCE ......................................... 20
SOCIAL NORMS ........................................................................................................................... 21
GROUP CHARACTERISTICS THAT INFLUENCE THE LIKELIHOOD OF CONFORMITY ................. 24
SOCIAL IDENTITY THEORY......................................................................................................... 25
MINORITY INFLUENCE ................................................................................................................ 25
SUMMARY OF CHAPTER SEVEN ...................................................................................... 28
CHAPTER EIGHT – PEOPLE IN GROUPS ........................................................................ 29
WHAT ARE GROUPS? .................................................................................................................. 29
GROUP COHESIVENESS .............................................................................................................. 31
Notes by Michaela Gonçalves : 22587934 2
,GROUP SOCIALISATION .............................................................................................................. 31
NORMS......................................................................................................................................... 33
ROLE EMERGENCE ..................................................................................................................... 33
SUBGROUPS ................................................................................................................................ 35
GROUP MEMBERS ....................................................................................................................... 35
SOCIAL FACILITATION ................................................................................................................ 36
SELF AWARENESS, SELF DISCREPANCY AND SELF PRESENTATION THEORY ....................... 38
LOSS WITHIN THE GROUP .......................................................................................................... 39
CHAPTER EIGHT SUMMARY.............................................................................................. 40
CHAPTER 10 – PREJUDICE AND DISCRIMINATION .................................................. 41
PREJUDICE .................................................................................................................................. 41
SEXISM ........................................................................................................................................ 42
FACEISM ...................................................................................................................................... 43
AGEISM........................................................................................................................................ 44
HOMOPHOBIA, PHYSICAL DISABILITIES AND MENTAL ILLNESS .............................................. 45
WHAT MAKES UP CONCEALED PREJUDICE AND DISCRIMINATION? ......................................... 45
WHY IS PREJUDICE AND STIGMATISM HARMFUL? .................................................................... 46
HOW DO PEOPLE DEAL WITH THE NEGATIVE IMPACT OF STEREOTYPES? .............................. 47
WHY DO PEOPLE DISCRIMINATE? .............................................................................................. 48
IDEOLOGY AND OTHER FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO PREJUDICE ...................................... 49
SUMMARY OF CHAPTER TEN ........................................................................................... 50
CHAPTER ELEVEN- INTERGROUP BEHAVIOUR .......................................................... 51
IN-GROUPS, OUT-GROUPS AND INTERGROUPS .......................................................................... 51
INJUSTICE ................................................................................................................................... 52
ETHNOCENTRISM ........................................................................................................................ 52
EXPERIMENTS ............................................................................................................................. 53
COMPETITIVE INTERGROUP BEHAVIOUR ................................................................................... 55
SOCIAL IDENTITY THEORY......................................................................................................... 56
SOCIAL CHANGE BELIEF SYSTEMS ........................................................................................... 56
OPTIMAL DISTINCTIVENESS....................................................................................................... 57
INTERGROUP EMOTIONS THEORY.............................................................................................. 58
COLLECTIVE GUILT AND COLLECTIVE SHAME .......................................................................... 58
DE-INDIVIDUATION ...................................................................................................................... 59
EMERGENT NORM THEORY ........................................................................................................ 59
INTERGROUP CONTACT THEORY ............................................................................................... 60
SOUTH AFRICAN CONTEXT ........................................................................................................ 62
SUMMARY OF CHAPTER ELEVEN.................................................................................... 64
Notes by Michaela Gonçalves : 22587934 3
, Chapter Five- Attitudes
Have you ever been in a fight with someone and they say “stop having such an
attitude”? Yeah me too. And then I kinda want to develop a worse attitude just
because they pointed it out.
What is an attitude?
Just like feelings, we cannot see an attitude physically in the sense that it is not
something we can hold or feel or smell… We can say that they are not directly
observable but they do precede behavior and assist us in decision making and
picking the best choice for us. Without attitudes, people would not be able to
construe and react to events, would struggle to make decisions and would have
trouble in making sense of relationships in our daily lives. Gordon Allport says that
“the concept of attitudes is probably the most distinctive and indispensable concept
in contemporary (American) Social Psychology”
A brief history of Social Psychology
(The main thing to focus on here would be what each of the time frames focuses
on… trust me)
1920’s and 30’s à Social psychology focused on how to measure attitudes and how
these measurements relate to behaviour
1950’s and 60’s à Social psychology focused on understanding the dynamics of
change in an individual’s behaviour
1980’s and 90’s à Social psychology focused on exploring the cognitive and social
structure and function of attitudes and attitude systems
2000’s and present à Social psychology has a focus on social neuroscience
Attitude Structures
When we really sit and think about what an attitude entails, we need to question
whether or not an attitude consists of the attitude on its own or whether it contains
multiple components. Louis Thurstone liked a one component attitude model which
states that an attitude is the degree of a positive or negative affect that is
associated with a psychological object.
Gordon Allport preferred a two component attitude model where he introduced to
the one component model, a mental state of readiness. He defines an attitude here
as a mental and neural state of readiness, organized through experience, exerting a
Notes by Michaela Gonçalves : 22587934 4
Social Psychology
Please note that the work presented in these notes is not my own work but
compiles the work of Dr Swart and the recommended textbook namely,
Social Psychology by Michael A. Hogg and Graham M. Vaughan. Please read
the textbook and readings for further guidance J
⚠TW: I do swear in these notes for comical purposes ⚠
Highlighted in blue is people to study
Highlighted in green is a theory without a name
Highlighted in pink is the experiments
Underlined is important things to remember
Notes by Michaela Gonçalves : 22587934 1
,Table of Contents
CHAPTER FIVE- ATTITUDES ............................................................................................... 4
WHAT IS AN ATTITUDE? .............................................................................................................. 4
A BRIEF HISTORY OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY................................................................................ 4
ATTITUDE STRUCTURES .............................................................................................................. 4
ATTITUDE FUNCTIONS ................................................................................................................. 5
COGNITIVE CONSISTENCY THEORIES.......................................................................................... 5
EVALUATION OF ATTITUDES ........................................................................................................ 6
UNDERSTANDING THE LINK BETWEEN ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOUR ........................................ 6
IMPLICIT MEASURES OF ATTITUDES ........................................................................................... 6
BEHAVIOURAL APPROACHES........................................................................................................ 6
MEASURING ATTITUDES .............................................................................................................. 7
IMPLICIT ATTITUDES .................................................................................................................... 8
THE INCONSISTENCIES BETWEEN ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOURS ............................................ 8
THEORY OF REASONED ACTION .................................................................................................. 9
SUMMARY OF CHAPTER FIVE ............................................................................................ 9
CHAPTER SIX- PERSUASION AND ATTITUDE CHANGE ........................................... 11
PERSUASION ............................................................................................................................... 11
FEAR AND PERSUASION ............................................................................................................. 13
ARGUMENTS ................................................................................................................................ 13
COMPLIANCE AND CONFORMITY................................................................................................. 14
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AGE AND SUSCEPTIBILITY TO ATTITUDE CHANGE ............... 15
OTHER FACTORS THAT MAY INFLUENCE PERSUASION ............................................................. 16
COGNITIVE DISSONANCE ............................................................................................................ 16
SELF AFFIRMATION THEORY AND SELF PERCEPTION THEORY .............................................. 18
SUMMARY OF CHAPTER SIX ............................................................................................. 19
CHAPTER SEVEN – SOCIAL INFLUENCE ....................................................................... 20
COMPLIANCE AND CONFORMITY IN TERMS OF SOCIAL INFLUENCE ......................................... 20
SOCIAL NORMS ........................................................................................................................... 21
GROUP CHARACTERISTICS THAT INFLUENCE THE LIKELIHOOD OF CONFORMITY ................. 24
SOCIAL IDENTITY THEORY......................................................................................................... 25
MINORITY INFLUENCE ................................................................................................................ 25
SUMMARY OF CHAPTER SEVEN ...................................................................................... 28
CHAPTER EIGHT – PEOPLE IN GROUPS ........................................................................ 29
WHAT ARE GROUPS? .................................................................................................................. 29
GROUP COHESIVENESS .............................................................................................................. 31
Notes by Michaela Gonçalves : 22587934 2
,GROUP SOCIALISATION .............................................................................................................. 31
NORMS......................................................................................................................................... 33
ROLE EMERGENCE ..................................................................................................................... 33
SUBGROUPS ................................................................................................................................ 35
GROUP MEMBERS ....................................................................................................................... 35
SOCIAL FACILITATION ................................................................................................................ 36
SELF AWARENESS, SELF DISCREPANCY AND SELF PRESENTATION THEORY ....................... 38
LOSS WITHIN THE GROUP .......................................................................................................... 39
CHAPTER EIGHT SUMMARY.............................................................................................. 40
CHAPTER 10 – PREJUDICE AND DISCRIMINATION .................................................. 41
PREJUDICE .................................................................................................................................. 41
SEXISM ........................................................................................................................................ 42
FACEISM ...................................................................................................................................... 43
AGEISM........................................................................................................................................ 44
HOMOPHOBIA, PHYSICAL DISABILITIES AND MENTAL ILLNESS .............................................. 45
WHAT MAKES UP CONCEALED PREJUDICE AND DISCRIMINATION? ......................................... 45
WHY IS PREJUDICE AND STIGMATISM HARMFUL? .................................................................... 46
HOW DO PEOPLE DEAL WITH THE NEGATIVE IMPACT OF STEREOTYPES? .............................. 47
WHY DO PEOPLE DISCRIMINATE? .............................................................................................. 48
IDEOLOGY AND OTHER FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO PREJUDICE ...................................... 49
SUMMARY OF CHAPTER TEN ........................................................................................... 50
CHAPTER ELEVEN- INTERGROUP BEHAVIOUR .......................................................... 51
IN-GROUPS, OUT-GROUPS AND INTERGROUPS .......................................................................... 51
INJUSTICE ................................................................................................................................... 52
ETHNOCENTRISM ........................................................................................................................ 52
EXPERIMENTS ............................................................................................................................. 53
COMPETITIVE INTERGROUP BEHAVIOUR ................................................................................... 55
SOCIAL IDENTITY THEORY......................................................................................................... 56
SOCIAL CHANGE BELIEF SYSTEMS ........................................................................................... 56
OPTIMAL DISTINCTIVENESS....................................................................................................... 57
INTERGROUP EMOTIONS THEORY.............................................................................................. 58
COLLECTIVE GUILT AND COLLECTIVE SHAME .......................................................................... 58
DE-INDIVIDUATION ...................................................................................................................... 59
EMERGENT NORM THEORY ........................................................................................................ 59
INTERGROUP CONTACT THEORY ............................................................................................... 60
SOUTH AFRICAN CONTEXT ........................................................................................................ 62
SUMMARY OF CHAPTER ELEVEN.................................................................................... 64
Notes by Michaela Gonçalves : 22587934 3
, Chapter Five- Attitudes
Have you ever been in a fight with someone and they say “stop having such an
attitude”? Yeah me too. And then I kinda want to develop a worse attitude just
because they pointed it out.
What is an attitude?
Just like feelings, we cannot see an attitude physically in the sense that it is not
something we can hold or feel or smell… We can say that they are not directly
observable but they do precede behavior and assist us in decision making and
picking the best choice for us. Without attitudes, people would not be able to
construe and react to events, would struggle to make decisions and would have
trouble in making sense of relationships in our daily lives. Gordon Allport says that
“the concept of attitudes is probably the most distinctive and indispensable concept
in contemporary (American) Social Psychology”
A brief history of Social Psychology
(The main thing to focus on here would be what each of the time frames focuses
on… trust me)
1920’s and 30’s à Social psychology focused on how to measure attitudes and how
these measurements relate to behaviour
1950’s and 60’s à Social psychology focused on understanding the dynamics of
change in an individual’s behaviour
1980’s and 90’s à Social psychology focused on exploring the cognitive and social
structure and function of attitudes and attitude systems
2000’s and present à Social psychology has a focus on social neuroscience
Attitude Structures
When we really sit and think about what an attitude entails, we need to question
whether or not an attitude consists of the attitude on its own or whether it contains
multiple components. Louis Thurstone liked a one component attitude model which
states that an attitude is the degree of a positive or negative affect that is
associated with a psychological object.
Gordon Allport preferred a two component attitude model where he introduced to
the one component model, a mental state of readiness. He defines an attitude here
as a mental and neural state of readiness, organized through experience, exerting a
Notes by Michaela Gonçalves : 22587934 4
