Social Psychology

Social Psychology: the study of how we think about, influence and relate to one another

Social thinking: how we think about one another

Attribution theory: the idea that we give a casual explanation for someone's behavior
-we credit that behavior either to the situation or...
-to the person's disposition
Ex: Was my friend a jerk because she had a bad day or is just a bad person

Fundamental attribution error: the tendency to underestimate the impact of a situation and overestimate the impact of person disposition
Ex: how do you view your teacher's behavior? You probably attribute it to their personality other than their profession

Attitudes: a belief or feeling that predisposes one to respond in a particular way to something

Do our attitudes guide out actions?
Only if...
-external pressure is minimal
-we are aware of our attitudes
-the attitude is relevant to the behavior

Foot in the door phenomenon: the tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request

Door in face phenomenon: the tendency for people who say no to a huge request, to comply with a smaller one

Zimbardo prison study: role playing affects attitudes. What do you think happened when college students were made to take on the roles of prison guards and inmates

Cognitive dissonance theory: we do not like when we have either conflicting attitudes or when our attitudes do not match our actions
-when they clash, we will change our attitudes