Introduction to Psychology 9th Edition PDF

Introduction Stereotypes Behavior in Groups Lawrence Graham wanted to get a job at a country The touch foo...

Introduction Stereotypes Behavior in Groups Lawrence Graham wanted to get a job at a country The touch football game had been Why did he club and had phoned numerous clubs to set up per- Why did the going on for years and was consid- take a $90,000 sonal interviews. Here’s what happened when he girls turn ered a rite of passage for incoming pay cut? arrived for one of his interviews. violent? seniors. During the game, some “We don’t have any job openings—and if you don’t minor hazing usually took place, leave the building, I will have to call security,” the receptionist such as senior girls dumping various kinds of food said at the first club Graham visited. (ketchup, whipped cream, syrup) on junior girls. For this “But I just spoke to Donna, your dining game, the time and place were kept secret from school manager, and she said to come by and dis- administrators. Also, several parents arranged to have cuss the waiter job.” kegs at their homes so that the underage girls could “Sorry, but there are no jobs and no one drink beer before going to the game. here named Donna” (Graham, 1995, p. 4). About 10 minutes into the junior-senior touch football Graham finally got two job offers and decided game, something happened and the game turned ugly on the exclusive Greenwich Country Club. This and violent. The senior girls started to act in violent ways club had been in existence for 100 years and was the that just happened to be videotaped by another student. country club in the very affluent, prestigious, and Later, as CNN played the tape over and over, everyone A posh country White town of Greenwich, Connecticut. The club’s wondered how these particular senior girls, who came club would offer members included a former president, a number of high- from a well-to-do Chicago suburb and went to a good Graham only the job of a busboy. ranking government officials, and dozens of Fortune 500 high school, could have done such disgusting things. executives, bankers, and Wall Street lawyers. Although Graham wanted a job as a waiter, he was hired to be a busboy. Except when one of the members wanted something and deliberately looked for him, Graham’s job as a busboy made him quite invisible and able to over- hear members’ conversations. “Here, busboy. Here, busboy,” a woman called out. “Busboy, my coffee is cold. Give me a refill.” Senior girls “Certainly, I would be happy to,” said Graham. engage in Before he returned to the kitchen, Graham heard the woman say to her violent hazing of juniors companion, “My goodness. Did you hear that? That busboy has diction like while about an educated White person” (Graham, 1995, p. 12). 100 watch. In real life, Lawrence Graham was a Harvard Law School graduate, had a job as an associate in a New York law firm, and earned $105,000 a year. According to the video (above illustration) and police Although he was ready to move up the social ladder, Graham, who is Afri- reports, junior girls were beaten, slapped, kicked, splat- can American, received no invitations to join a country club, as his White tered in the eyes with Tabasco sauce and vinegar, hit associates did. So to find out what goes on in country clubs that do not admit with buckets, covered with animal intestines and urine, African Americans, he got in the only way he could, as a busboy making $7 and smeared with blood, fish guts, mud, and feces. Five an hour. girls ended up in the hospital, some requiring stitches. Graham’s example points out how people often make judgments about During the violent hazing, about a hundred students just others on the basis of physical appearance and accompanying stereotypes, stood and watched, not trying to stop the brawl (L. Black which are both major topics of social psychology. & Flynn, 2003). What kind of group pressure causes Social psychology is a broad field whose goals are to understand and explain how normal people to submit to being hazed, and what kind our thoughts, feelings, perceptions, and behaviors are influenced by the presence of, of group pressure turns normal people into violent and or interactions with, others. ugly hazers? One relatively new, rapidly growing, and important subarea of social psychology is cognitive social psychology. What’s Coming Cognitive social psychology is a subarea of social psychology that focuses on We’ll discuss how we perceive people, how we explain how cognitive processes, such as perceiving, retrieving, and interpreting information the causes of our behaviors, why we develop attitudes, Photo Credit: © Ted Hardin about social interactions and events, affect emotions and behaviors and how emotions and how we respond to persuasion. We’ll also explore a and behaviors affect cognitions (Roese, 2001). variety of social influences and group behaviors, such as Social psychologists study how we form impressions and perceive others, what makes hazing so popular, how we respond to group how we form attitudes and stereotypes, how we evaluate social interactions, pressures, what motivates us to help others, and why we and why racism exists—all of which are involved in Lawrence Graham’s behave aggressively. story. We’ll begin with Graham’s story, which raises the Another major topic of social psychology is how people behave in groups. question of how we form impressions of others. INTRODUCTION 581 A. Perceiving Others Person Perception How do you Compare the photo of Lawrence Graham on the left with that on the right. In the left photo, 3 Influence on behavior. Your first impressions will influence how you would like or interact with a person. For example, if form first your first impression is that Graham is your first impression of Graham is as a $7-an- impressions? a busboy or waiter, while hour busboy, you would interact very differently in the right photo, than if your impression of him was as a your first impression is that Graham is a con- $105,000-a-year professional working for a fident businessman or professional. Your first large corporation. impressions, which were formed in seconds, with little conscious thought, and were biased 4 Effects of race. Researchers found that by your past experiences, are part of person members of one race generally recognize perception. At country clubs, Graham was faces of their own race more accurately Person perception refers to seeing someone and Graham was actually a graduate than faces of other races (Ferguson et al., offered jobs as of Harvard Law then forming impressions and making judgments about a busperson. School. 2001). This means we may perceive faces that person’s likability and the kind of person he or she that are racially different from our own in Photo Credits: top left and right, © Ted Hardin; bottom left, Courtesy of Dr. Victor Johnston, from “Why We Feel”; bottom center, © Ismael Lopez/Photolibrary; is, such as guessing his or her intentions, traits, and behaviors. a biased way because they do not appear as distinct as faces As you formed a first impression of Graham from each photo, four from our own race. Further evidence of racial bias occurring in factors influenced your judgment (L. S. Newman, 2001). first impressions is found in research showing that the area of 1 Physical appearance. Your initial impressions and judgments of a the brain associated with emotional vigilance becomes more activated when White people view photos of unfamiliar Black, person are influenced and biased by a person’s physical appearance. as compared to unfamiliar White, faces (Fiske, 2006). For example, Graham makes a very different first impression when he Researchers report that first impressions, such as the one you looks like a busboy or a professional. make of Graham, usually occur automatically and function to 2 Need to explain. You don’t just look at a person, but rather you try influence or bias future social interactions in a positive or nega- to explain why he looks, dresses, or behaves in a certain way. You might tive direction (Andersen et al., 2007; L. S. Newman, 2001). One explain that Graham-as-busboy is working his way through college, factor that plays a major role in person perception, especially while Graham-as-professional is successfully developing his career. forming first impressions, is physical attractiveness. Physical Appearance Researchers found that, for better or worse, a about 0.90) among Whites, African Americans, Asians, and His- What person’s looks matter, since people who are panics about which faces of adults and children are and are not makes a face judged more physically attractive generally attractive (Langlois et al., 2000). According to evolutionary psy- attractive? make more favorable impressions (D. K. Mar- chologists, judging and valuing attractiveness may have evolved cus & Miller, 2003). To determine why a face is and become a “built-in” ability because attractiveness was a judged attractive, researchers created faces by combining and aver- visible sign of a person having good genes, being healthy, and aging physical features taken from different faces. Researchers could becoming a good mate (Lie, 2009; Quill, 2009). make faces more or less attractive by averaging more According to evolutionary psychologists, men (32) or fewer (16) faces (Langlois et al., 1994). For are most attracted to youthful women who have an example, the face in the left photo, which was rated “hourglass figure” (hips larger than waist), which very attractive, was actually created by averaging signals a childbirth advantage. Women are most thousands of faces (Johnston, 2000). It turns out attracted to men who have masculine faces, that average faces are more attractive than the with a larger jaw and great- originals, and the preference for average faces er muscle mass, which begins in infancy, as babies stare at composite faces suggests higher testos- How attractive bottom right, © Dave Falk/Getty Images is this woman? longer (Langlois, 2009).When faces of attractive terone levels (Jayson, women were shown to heterosexual men, the men’s 2009a). Interestingly, brain scans showed that looking at attractive faces activated the when women are ovulat- brain’s reward/pleasure center (p. 330), the same center that is acti- ing, which is the most fer- vated by food, sex, and drugs (cocaine) (Aharon et al., 2001). tile time in their monthly Evolution. Some researchers believe that physical attraction is cycle, their preference for completely instinctual and not based on logic. Research suggests more masculine faces that some physical characteristics are considered more universally Women prefer and masculine bodies Men prefer women attractive (Jayson, 2009a). For example, researchers found that both men with more intensifies (Gangestad, with “hourglass masculine faces. figures.” within and across cultures, there is strong agreement (correlation 2009). 582 MODULE 25 SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY  Stereotypes On the right are photos less controlling groups more negatively than members What could of actors who played the of more powerful or more controlling groups. bias medical roles of patients complain- Stereotypes played an important role in the treatment? ing of chest pains. While study we just described. Although the actor- describing their symp- patients reported the same symptoms and should toms, the actor-patients were videotaped. These have received about the same kinds of treatment, videotapes were shown to over 700 physicians physicians were 40% less likely to recommend who were asked to recommend treatments. sophisticated medical tests for women and Afri- Because the actor-patients all described the same can Americans compared to White men (Schul- physical symptoms, all the physicians should have man et al., 1999). More recent research also found generally recommended the same treatments. that African Americans were less likely than However, physicians recommended different Whites to receive expensive medical procedures treatments that depended on the physicians’ par- (USA Today, 2005). ticular sexual and racial stereotypes (Schulman These studies show that racial and sexual stereo- Which of these individuals received et al., 1999). types, which may occur automatically and without Journal of Medicine, 2/5/99, pp. 621–622. Copyright © 1999, Massachusetts Medical Society. Reprinted by permission of publisher and Interactive Drama; bottom left the best treatment for heart problems? Photo Credits: top, From “The Effect of Race and Sex on Physicians’ Recommendations for Cardiac Catheterization” by K. A. Schulman et al., 1999, The New England Stereotypes are widely held beliefs that people awareness, may bias the physicians’ perceptions have certain traits because they belong to a particular group. Stereotypes and judgments (Andersen et al., 2007). As you’ll see next, once are often inaccurate and frequently portray the members of less powerful, negative stereotypes are formed, they are difficult to change. Development of Stereotypes Functions of Stereotypes Psychologists believe that we develop stereotypes when parents, Social cognitive psychologists suggest that, just as we have devel- peers, teachers, and others reward us with social approval for hold- oped physical tools, such as hammers and saws, to help us build ing certain attitudes and beliefs. There are also cultural pressures to things more efficiently, we have also developed cognitive tools, adopt certain values and beliefs about members of different groups. such as stereotypes, to help us think and make decisions more For example, in the weight-conscious culture of the United States, efficiently. For example, instead of having to analyze in detail the there is an emphasis on being thin (see Module 15), so we might person in the photo below, you immediately notice the person’s expect a negative stereotype to apply to people who are overweight. unique characteristics, assign the person to a social group, such as In fact, research shows that people have a significant bias against teenage-punker, and use the information stored in your “teenage- hiring overweight job applicants, especially overweight women punker” stereotype: disregards standard social customs and fash- (Pingitore et al., 1994). Other research shows that after taking into ions, is independent, dislikes authority, goes to rave parties, account factors such as age, race, and sex, people who are perceived experiments with drugs, and so on. This example shows that ster- as more attractive make more money (Judge et al., 2009). Another eotypes are frequently used because they serve at least two major study found that in a trivia competition, a situation in which work- functions (Banaji, 2005; D. J. Schneider, 2004). ing with a partner with a high IQ provides a distinct advantage, Thought-saving device. Stereotypes help us Why don’t adults like me? people are willing to sacrifice 12 IQ points in a partner to have one conserve time and energy when making deci- who is thin (Caruso, 2009). These biases are sions in social situations. By using stereotypes, Why do you think examples of negative stereotypes, which are often we make quick (and sometimes inaccurate) I wasn’t hired? accompanied by prejudice and discrimination. decisions and thus save time and energy by not Prejudice refers to an unfair, biased, or intoler- having to analyze an overwhelming amount of ant attitude toward another group of people. personal and social information. An example of prejudice is believing that Alertness and survival. Recent neurological overweight women are not as intelligent, com- research found that the sight of a stranger of another petent, or capable as women of normal weight. race leads to heightened physiological arousal, Discrimination refers to specific unfair behav- which likely reflects unconscious biases and a iors exhibited toward members of a group. natural awareness of individuals of unfamiliar groups (such as race) An employer’s bias against hiring overweight (A. Olsson et al., 2005). Thus, one function of stereotypes is to make applicants is an example of discrimination. us alert and cautious around members of an unfamiliar group. The history of the United States provides many examples of rac- However, a major problem with stereotypes is they are very dif- ist and sexist cultural stereotypes, such as beliefs that women are ficult to change because they occur automatically and without our and right, © PhotoDisc, Inc. not smart enough to vote and that African Americans are inferior awareness of having used them to make judgments (D. J. Schneider, to Whites (Swim et al., 1995). Research shows that some stereo- 2004). Another reason stereotypes are difficult to change is that we types, including racial prejudice, are so much a part of our society often dismiss information that contradicts or doesn’t fit our stereo- that they begin developing as early as 6 years of age (A. S. Baron & types (Banaji, 2006). This means biased stereotypes can live on and Banaji, 2006). lead to inaccurate judgments and decisions in social situations. One reason we frequently use stereotypes to make judgments Another view of stereotypes is they are like having information about people is that stereotypes save us thinking time. categories in the brain, which are called schemas, our next topic. A. PERCEIVING OTHERS 583 A. Perceiving Others Schemas When Dr. Harriet Hall received her careers. While married to a civilian, she was not allowed to live in base How are medical degree in 1970, few women housing or receive the dependent allowances that her male colleagues schemas like were in medicine and even fewer got because wives were classified as dependents and husbands social filters? women joined the militar y. were not (H. A. Hall, 2008). One reason people responded to Dr. Hall was the only female Dr. Hall in sexist ways is they had developed mental categories, doctor at David Grant USAF Medical Center and the called schemas. only female military doctor in Spain. Throughout her Schemas are mental categories that, like computer files, contain career, she had to fight for acceptance from just about knowledge about people, events, and concepts. Because schemas affect everyone. Even a 3-year-old daughter of a patient said, what we attend to and how we interpret things, schemas can influence, “Oh, Daddy! That’s not a doctor, that’s a lady.” After bias, and distort our thoughts, perceptions, and social behaviors. spending several years as a medical officer in Spain, Sexist schemas of women working in medical fields and in she returned to the United States, learned to fly, and the military put women like Dr. Hall at a disadvantage com- became a f light surgeon. Dr. Hall earned a pilot’s Why was Dr. Hall pared to their male colleagues. Even today, successful women shown less respect license despite being told “women aren’t supposed to than her male peers? in male-dominated fields are often regarded more negatively fly,” a phrase she chose as the title of her memoirs. than their male colleagues (M. E. Heilman & Okimoto, 2007). With such exceptional accomplishments, Dr. Hall had For instance, researchers asked participants to read memos announcing the to tolerate prejudice and discrimination simply because hiring of a new executive. One group read a description about a male execu- she chose to work in a male-dominated field. For instance, tive, and another group read the same description about a female executive. when she applied for specialty training as a radiologist, she People viewed the male leader as professional, capable, and likable, and the was rejected because the program gave preference to males, female leader as mean, ruthless, and stubborn. Thus, schemas influence our as females were not considered to have stable, long-term thoughts, behaviors, and feelings toward others (J. E. Young et al., 2006). Kinds of Schemas Advantages and Disadvantages Schemas are part of social cognition, which studies There are two disadvantages of schemas. First, sche- how and what people learn about social relationships. mas may restrict, bias, or distort what we attend to Photo Credits: top, Courtesy of Dr. Harriet Hall; bottom left, © PhotoDisc, Inc.; right, © arabianEye/Photolibrary Schemas, which are like hundreds of different infor- and remember and thus cause us to over- mation files in your brain, are generally divided into look important information (Devine et four types: person, role, event, and self schemas. al., 1994). For example, if your self Person schemas include our judgments about the traits schema is being a good student, you Person schema has that we and others possess. may not pay attention to suggestions information on how to act with a new date. For example, when meeting someone new, we may from parents or teachers that may rely on person schemas to provide general informa- make you a better student. tion about that person. Person schemas that contain general information about The second disadvantage is that people who have membership in groups are stereotypes (Wyer, 2007). schemas are resistant to change Your person Role schemas are based on the jobs people perform or the social positions they because we genera lly select and schema may hold. attend to information that supports cause you to The reason you often ask “What do you do?” is so you can use your role our schemas and deny information reject valid criticisms of schemas to provide missing information about the person and provide mental that is inconsistent with them (Mac- your work. shortcuts about what you might say or how you might act in social situations. rae & Bodenhausen, 2000). For exam- Event schemas, also called scripts, contain behaviors that we associate with famil- ple, you might pay attention to positive comments on iar activities, events, or procedures. a class paper and reject any constructive suggestions The event schema for graduation is to celebrate getting your degree. In con- about ways to improve your writing skills. trast, the event schema for a college class is to be silent, pay attention, and take Schemas also have advantages. For example, if notes. Event schemas help us know what to expect and provide guidelines on someone says “I’m a freshman,” you use your “fresh- how to behave in different kinds of situations. man schema,” which contains information about Self schemas contain personal information about ourselves, and this information how freshmen think and behave, to help you analyze influences, modifies, and distorts what we perceive and remember and how we behave. and respond appropriately in this particular social What’s interesting about our self schemas is that they overemphasize our situation. Schemas also provide guidelines for how good points, which explains why being criticized in public easily hurts our to behave in various social events (event schemas) feelings. and help us explain the social behavior of others (role We especially look for information or feedback to support our schemas and schemas) (J. A. Howard & Renfrow, 2006). Explaining tend to disregard information that doesn’t (Wyer, 2007). For this reason, once social behavior is one of the most intriguing areas of schemas are formed, they are difficult to change (J. E. Young et al., 2006). social cognition, and it’s our next topic. 584 MODULE 25 SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY  B. Attributions Definition After 13 seasons and 2,000 games in discrimination suit because, as Pam says, “Baseball wasn’t What is the minor leagues, this umpire was ready for a woman umpire no matter how good she was” unusual about passed over for promotion to the (S. Reed & Stambler, 1992). Because I’m a this umpire? major leagues and released. An woman, I wasn’t Most sports fans would have an expla- evaluation report by the Office promoted. nation as to why Pam Postema was not for Umpire Development claimed that this umpire’s promoted to be an umpire in major work had “deteriorated in areas of enthusiasm and execu- league baseball. These kinds of explanations are called tion,” even though earlier in the season the rating had attributions. been “better than average.” What is unusual about this Attributions are things we point to as the causes of umpire is that she is a woman. Pam Postema (right photo) events, other people’s behaviors, and our own behaviors. claims the reason she was passed over for promotion and If you had to explain why there are no female umpires in released was that she was a woman and there are no major league baseball, you would choose between internal female umpires in major league baseball. She filed a sex and external attributions. Internal Versus External Kelley’s Model of Covariation A famous social psychologist, Fritz Heider (1958), How do we decide whether Pam was passed over for promotion because of dis- believed that we all function to some extent like social positional or situational factors? To answer this question, social psychologist psychologists as we try to explain everyday behaviors. Harold Kelley (1967) developed the covariation model. Heider was the first to distinguish between internal The covariation model, developed by Harold Kelley, says that, in making attributions, and external causes or attributions for behaviors. we should look for factors that are present when the behavior occurs and factors that are Internal attributions are explanations of behavior based absent when the behavior does not occur. on the internal characteristics or dispositions of the person Kelley proposed that, in explaining someone’s behavior, we should look for performing the behavior. They are sometimes referred to as information about three factors: consensus, consistency, and distinctiveness dispositional attributions. (Forster & Liberman, 2007). For example, if you used internal attributions to Consensus means determining whether other people engage in the same behavior in explain why Postema was not made a major league the same situation. umpire, you would point to her personal characteris- Consistency means determining whether the person engages in this behavior every tics or dispositions, such as saying that she was not a time he or she is in a particular situation. good judge of balls and strikes. Distinctiveness means determining how differently External attributions are expla- 1. HIGH CONSISTENCY the person behaves in one situation when nations of behavior based on the Pam performs about the same every time. compared to other situations. INTERNAL external circumstances or situations. 2. LOW DISTINCTIVENESS ATTRIBUTION They are sometimes called situation- Pam makes good decisions in calling Pam’s lack of strikes but not in calling base runners out. promotion is al attributions. due to her poor If you used external attribu- 3. LOW CONSENSUS umpiring skills. tions to explain why Postema was Pam does not show the same skills as other umpires. Photo Credits: top, © Bettmann/Corbis; bottom, © PhotoDisc, Inc. not promoted, you would point to external circumstances, such as 1. HIGH CONSISTENCY saying that major league baseball Pam performs about the same every time. EXTERNAL How do you decide if internal or is run by men, and they do not ATTRIBUTION external attributions apply to Pam? 2. LOW DISTINCTIVENESS want to have a woman umpire. Pam makes good decisions in all aspects Pam’s lack of T hus, ma k i ng i nterna l or of the game. promotion is In the examples on the left, we have due to discrimi- external attributions has impor- 3. LOW CONSENSUS nation by the applied the three factors in Kelley’s tant implications for personal Pam shows the same skills as other league. covariation model to Pam Postema’s and social behaviors (Derlega et umpires. situation. Notice that high consistency, al., 2005). For example, if you use low distinctiveness, and low consensus result in an internal attributions, you would say that Postema internal, or dispositional, attribution (fired because she’s a poor umpire). But does not have the skill or talent to be a major league high consistency, high distinctiveness, and high consensus result in an external umpire. If you use external attributions, you would or situational attribution (fired because of sexual discrimination). Thus, Kelley’s say that, although she has the skills, the league dis- covariation model helps us determine if Postema’s firing was due to internal or criminated against her because she is a woman. How external attributions (Ployhart et al., 2005). However, if we don’t follow Kelley’s people make the distinction between internal and model, we make errors in attributing causes. We’ll discuss three errors in mak- external attributions is a rather complicated process. ing attributions—that is, in deciding what caused what. B. AT T RIBU T ION S 585 B. Attributions Biases and Errors Most people have heard the term glass to senior-level positions because they I broke through Can we make ceiling, which refers to a real but the glass ceiling.lack skills and intelligence, which is an the wrong invisible barrier that keeps women internal or dispositional attribution, or attributions? and people of color from reaching because they face discrimination from senior-level the top positions in a business or White males, which is an external or situational attri- organization. Evidence that there is a thick glass ceiling is bution? Although Kelley’s covariation model would help clear because only 15 (3%) of Fortune magazine’s top 500 decide this issue, many want a quicker way and use the chairpersons are women and 95% of the senior managers cognitive miser model (S. E. Taylor, 1981). are White men (Y. Cole, 2009; Fortune, 2009). One woman who The cognitive miser model says that, in making attributions, people was successful in breaking the glass ceiling is Indra Nooyi (right feel they must conserve time and effort by taking cognitive shortcuts. photo), who became one of the first women of color to head a large We have discussed cognitive shortcuts that we use in selecting, organization. Through perseverance, hard work, and a winning gathering, remembering, and using information—for example, personality, she broke through the glass ceiling by becoming chief relying on stereotypes and schemas. Researchers have identified executive officer at PepsiCo, one of the world’s leading food and other cognitive shortcuts that we use in making attributions (Forgas beverage companies (Useem, 2008). Indra Nooyi is number 3 on et al., 2003; B. Weiner & Graham, 1999). Although these cognitive the Forbes list of the 100 most powerful women and is the highest- shortcuts are efficient, they may result in incorrect attributions. ranked female CEO (D. Jones, 2009). We’ll discuss three of the most common biases in making attri- Breaking through the glass ceiling involves decisions about butions: the fundamental attribution error, the actor- observer attributions. Do women and people of color fail to be appointed effect, and the self-serving bias. Fundamental Attribution Error Actor-Observer Effect Self-Serving Bias If you believe that women and people John angrily explains that he got to his When we look for the causes of our own behav- of color cannot break through the glass car to put more money in the meter just iors, such as why we received a good or bad grade ceiling because they lack the skills and as the police officer was driving away. on a test, we may make errors because of the self- intelligence to do so, you may be mak- John adds that he’s very responsible and serving bias (Fiedler, 2007; Mcallister et al., 2002). ing the fundamental attribution error the ticket was bad luck because he was The self-serving bias refers to explaining our suc- (Langdridge & Butt, 2004). only 45 seconds late. John says he got cesses by attributing them to our dispositions or per- The fundamental attribution error the ticket because the police officer was sonality traits and explaining our failures by attributing refers to our tendency, when we look for just being mean. John’s explanation is a them to the situations. causes of a person’s good example of the actor-observer The self-serving bias can be considered another behavior, to focus on When you effect (Malle, 2006). part of the actor-observer effect. According to explain someone’s the person’s dispo- behavior, you may The actor-observer effect refers to the the self-serving bias, if you get an A on an exam, Photo Credits: top, © Neville Elder/Corbis; bottom left and right, © PhotoDisc, Inc. sition or personality be wrong. tendency, when you are behaving (or acting), you tend to attribute your traits and overlook to attribute your own behavior to situational I didn’t do success to your personality well on this exam how the situation factors. However, when you are observing because the text traits or disposition, such as influenced the person’s others, you attribute another’s behav- was confusing. intelligence and persever- behavior. ior to his or her personality traits or ance. However, if you get a D An example of the disposition. on an exam, you tend to attri- fundamental attri- In the parking ticket exam- bute your failure to the situation, bution error would ple, John, the actor, attributes such as a difficult test or unfair be to conclude that women and peo- his getting the ticket to situ- questions. Thus, according to the ple of color cannot break through the ational factors, just having bad self-serving bias, we try to keep glass ceiling because of personal or luck, rather than to his own ourselves in the best possible dispositional factors, such as a lack behavior, being late. In addi- light by making different and of assertiveness or intelligence. How- tion, John, the observer, explains that even opposite attributions, depending on whether ever, the real reason may be not per- the police officer ticketed him because we have performed well or poorly (Mcallister sonal or dispositional factors but the of a dispositional or personality factor— et al., 2002). situation: 95% of senior management the officer was mean (Liberman et al., The three errors that we just discussed show in Fortune’s 1,000 top companies are 2007). The actor-observer effect is very the need to be on guard so that these errors don’t White men who may want to keep the common. You can tell if you’re making bias our attributions (Kenworthy & Miller, 2002). status quo and use subtle discrimi- it by putting yourself in the position of Although biased attributions can create prob- natory hiring practices to keep out the one you are observing (S. R. Wilson lems, they can also be an advantage when they help women and people of color. et al., 1997). us change our behaviors, as we’ll discuss next. 586 MODULE 25 SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY  C. Research Focus: Attributions & Grades Can Changing Attributions Change Grades? Perhaps 20% of the students back academically their second year, What I’m having problems with we counsel tell us about get- my grades and wonder if while others became discouraged and problems do ting poor grades in their I should drop out. dropped out of college. Researchers freshmen face? freshman year, and their rea- discovered many differences in stu- sons are very similar. Either dents’ attributions—that is, how students explained why they didn’t develop good study habits in high school they bounced back or dropped out. Because one goal of so they weren’t academically prepared for college or psychology is to apply scientific findings to real-world they spent too much time partying or dealing with problems, researchers used findings on attributions to stressful personal, social, or financial difficulties. develop a program for improving grades and lowering What is interesting is that some of the freshmen who the dropout rate (T. D. Wilson & Linville, 1982). Here’s got poor grades their first year were able to bounce what actually happened. Kinds of Attributions Results and Conclusions In explaining why a freshman is having academic problems, Researchers found that changing students’ attributions for poor researchers may point to personal or dispositional attributions, such academic performance from permanent to temporary had two as the lack of necessary academic skills. Or researchers may point to significant positive effects. external or situational attributions, such as pressures to party rather than study. Once a freshman has developed a pattern of getting poor Change in Grade Point Average after Program grades, another question is whether the causes are permanent or temporary. For example, if freshmen attributed their academic prob- Control lems to relatively permanent conditions, such as poor abilities, they would have little motivation and would expect little improvement. In Attributions addition, poor academic performance would make new students worried and anxious, which in turn would interfere with their ability –0.50 0.00 +0.50 to study. However, if freshmen attributed their academic problems to tem- First, in the graph above, notice that freshmen who were porary conditions, such as poor study habits, they could expect to told how to attribute their academic problems to temporary improve if they developed better study skills. Researchers thought conditions (attributions group) had a significant improvement that if they could change students’ attributions about poor academic in grade point averages one year after the completion of this performance and help them realize that it was a temporary rather program. than a permanent state, students could improve their grades. Second, as shown in the graph below, only 5% of freshmen who changed their attributions for poor academic performance Photo Credits: top, © Laurence Mouton/PhotoAlto/Corbis; bottom, © PhotoDisc, Inc. Method: Changing Attributions from permanent to temporary dropped out of college, while Researchers recruited freshmen who were having academic problems, 25% of those in the control group dropped out. such as scoring poorly on exams, not keeping up with assignments, and considering dropping out of college. These students were ran- Dropout Rate from College domly divided into two different groups. Students in the experimental group (attributions group) were given Control a number of procedures that changed their attributions about poor academic performance from a permanent cause to only a temporary Attributions condition. For example, students in the experi- I did terribly my mental group read a booklet about previous 5% 15% 25% freshman year but I got my act together freshmen who had similar academic problems and didn’t drop out. but showed improvement later in college. These From these data, researchers reached two important conclu- subjects watched videotapes of previous stu- sions. First, it is possible to change students’ attributions and dents who described very convincingly how their expectations about academic performance. Second, changing grade point averages had risen after their freshman students’ attributions and expectations actually improved aca- year. Next, these subjects were asked to write down demic performance and reduced the dropout rate (T. D. Wilson all the reasons they could think of why grade point & Linville, 1982). This study illustrates how social psychologists averages might improve after the freshman year. used the concept of attribution to solve a real-world problem The other group of freshmen with academic (Covington, 2000). problems did not receive any of this information and Next, we’ll discuss one of the most active areas of social cog- served as a control group. nition—forming and changing attitudes. C. R ESE A RCH FOCUS: AT T RIBU T ION S & GR A DES 587 D. Attitudes Definition The media regularly report on people’s Bo received no medical treatment for his diabetes, which doctors How much attitudes toward a wide range of hot top- said was an easily treatable problem. Records showed that as power do ics, such as politics, religion, drug use, many as 25 children in the congregation had died attitudes have? abortion, and sports. The concept in the past 20 years because they were treated with of attitude, which in the 1930s prayers instead of conventional medical help. was called the single most indispensable term in social In most states, immunity from prosecution is psychology (Allport, 1935), continues to be one of the granted to parents whose children sicken and die most studied concepts (Maio et al., 2006). if the parents’ religious beliefs permit only faith An attitude is any belief or opinion that includes an evalua- healing and not conventional medical treatment. tion of some object, person, or event along a continuum from Since Bo’s death, Oregon changed its law so that negative to positive and that predisposes us to act in a certain way They believed God parents who use religious beliefs to withhold healed and prayer was toward that object, person, or event. the only treatment. medical treatment and allow their children to die Attitudes can have a significant impact on behavior, as of a treatable medical illness can face criminal happened in the tragic death of an 11-year-old boy named Bo. An charges (M. A. Hamilton, 2005; Reaves, 2001). autopsy showed that Bo had died of complications from diabetes. Bo’s case, as well as our earlier discussion of suicide bombers After suffering painful symptoms for seven days, he went into a (p. 471), is an example of attitudes that have the power to influ- coma and died. At the time, he was 15–20 pounds underweight. ence life-and-death decisions. Attitudes influence a wide range Bo’s parents were members of the Followers of Christ Church in of behaviors and that is one reason billions of dollars are spent Oregon, and they believed that prayer is a substitute for conven- each year trying to measure and change attitudes and get people tional medical treatment. The leader of the church had preached to buy certain products or vote for particular candidates. Atti- that God would heal and that anyone seeking worldly (medical) tudes, which can have very powerful influences on our lives, have help was weak and lacked faith in God. Because of these attitudes, three components. Components of Attitudes If we closely examined Bo’s parents’ attitudes toward faith healing component), and behaviors (behavioral component) (Huskinson & and conventional medical treatment, we would find that attitudes Haddock, 2006; Maio & Haddock, 2007). influence their thoughts (cognitive component), feelings (affective 1 Cognitive Component 2 Affective Component 3 Behavioral Component Bo’s parents did not Bo’s parents were fearful of seeking conven- The parents’ positive attitude toward approve of conven- tional medical treatment because it meant using prayer alone and their negative tional medical treat- going against God’s will. The parents’ fear- attitude toward seeking ment for t heir son ful feelings illustrate the affective compo- conventional medical because they believed nent of attitudes, which involves emotional treatment resulted in that only prayers were needed since God feelings that can be weak or strong, positive their not calling a medi- does the healing (if that is His/Her will) and or negative. For example, Bo’s parents had cal doctor. The parents’ that seeking medical treatment indicated a strong positive feelings refusal to call a medical lack of faith in God. The parents’ beliefs about using only prayers to doctor illustrates the illustrate the cognitive component of atti- treat their son’s medical behavioral component tudes, which includes both thoughts and problem and strong fearful of attitudes, which involves performing beliefs that are involved in evaluating some or negative feelings about or not performing some behavior. object, person, or idea. seeking conventional medi- In some cases, engaging in some beha- An attitude’s cognitive component can cal treatment. vior can influence the formation of an range from a very negative evaluation to a Researchers found that attitude (Maio et al., 2006). For example, very positive one. For example, Bo’s parents both beliefs and feelings are involved in having a good or bad experience in doing have a very positive belief in faith healing how we form attitudes (Maio et al., 2006). something (snowboarding, sky diving, and a very negative evaluation of conven- For example, beliefs may be more impor- using drugs, going to concerts) may result tional medical treatment. tant in forming political attitudes, such as in a positive or negative attitude toward We have many attitudes that show our whom to vote for, while feelings may be that activity. likes and dislikes, and often these attitudes more important in forming dietary atti- Attitudes can have weak to strong and are automatically triggered, without con- tudes, such as deciding to eat dog or horse positive to negative inf luences on our scious thought on our part (Fabrigar et al., meat, which is considered very appetizing behaviors. 2005). in some cultures. Changing attitudes is our next topic. 588 MODULE 25 SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY  Attitude Change At one time, Floyd Cochran (right photo) members of Aryan Nation hating the son he loved. Floyd resolved What made was an out-and-out hatemonger who was a his personal dilemma by renouncing his White supremacist values a skinhead leader of the neo-Nazi group, Ar yan and abandoning the hate organizations. I was a racist reform? Nation, in Idaho. His goal was to exter- until my values He now speaks out against hate and rac- minate everyone who wasn’t White. hurt my son. ism (Charmoli, 2006). He constantly preached hatred, and he recruited many Why did Floyd radically change his White youths to help him “spread the hate like a disease” attitudes, from preaching hate and rac- (Cochran, 2007). Then, as he was preparing for the annual ism to denouncing these beliefs? We’ll discuss two Hitler Youth Festival, a group of White supremacists told popular theories that explain why people change their him that his 4-year-old son must be euthanized because attitudes: the theory of cognitive dissonance and self- he was born with a birth defect. Floyd found himself perception theory (Harmon-Jones & Harmon Jones, caught between his own years of preaching hate and 2002; Petty et al., 1997). Cognitive Dissonance Self-Perception Theory After a group of White supremacists told him his son must be euthanized, Perhaps subjects in the previous experiment came to Floyd’s life became one big conflict. He had spent most of his adult life practic- believe their own lies (task was interesting) after ing racism and hate, but now his own personal values were causing him great engaging in counterattitudinal behavior not to anguish. Floyd found himself in the middle of a very troubling inconsistency, reduce cognitive dissonance but because of changing which Leon Festinger (1957) called cognitive dissonance. their own self-perceptions. Cognitive dissonance refers to a state of unpleasant psychological tension that Self-perception theory says that we first observe or motivates us to reduce our cognitive inconsistencies by making our beliefs more consis- perceive our own behavior and then, as a result, we change tent with our behavior. our attitudes. There are two main ways to reduce cognitive dissonance—that is, to make Daryl Bem (1967), who developed self-perception our beliefs and attitudes consistent with our behavior (Andersen et al., 2007). theory, would explain that subjects paid only $1 for Adding or changing beliefs. We can reduce cognitive dissonance by add- lying would recall their behavior and conclude that ing new beliefs or changing old beliefs and making them consistent with our they would never have lied for only $1, so the task behavior. In Floyd’s case, cognitive dissonance was created by the conflict must have actually been interesting. between being told the son he loved must be euthanized and his own racist and At first glance, cognitive dissonance theory and hate-filled beliefs. To decrease his cognitive dissonance, Floyd renounced his self-perception theory seem to be similar, since hateful beliefs so that his attitudes became consistent with his behavior, which they both indicate that if we say something, it must was loving his son regardless of his birth defect. be true. However, each theory points to a different Counterattitudinal behavior. Another way we can reduce reason. According to cognitive dissonance theory, cognitive dissonance is by engaging in opposite or counter- the belief “if I said it, it must be true” occurs because attitudinal behavior (Leippe & Eisenstadt, 1994). we are trying to reduce the inconsistency in our Counterattitudinal behavior involves taking a public position beliefs and behaviors. In compari- that runs counter to your private attitude. son, according to self-perception A classic study by Festinger and Carlsmith (1959) illustrates theory, concluding “if I said it, how counterattitudinal behavior works. In this study, subjects it must be true” simply ref lects were asked to do an extremely boring task, such as turning another way of explaining our own Did he change his racist pegs in a board. At the end of the task, the experimenter asked behaviors. attitudes to the subjects to help out by telling the next group of subjects Self-perception theory also chal- resolve his how interesting the task was. Subjects were asked to lie about lenges the traditional assumption cognitive Did he change dissonance? the task and say it was interesting, which is engaging in coun- that attitudes give rise to behavior. his racist terattitudinal behavior. For saying the task was interesting, According to self-perception the- attitudes some subjects received $1 and some received $20. Sometime later, the origi- ory, behaviors give rise to attitudes. because he Photo Credit: Courtesy of Floyd Cochran spoke against nal subjects were asked how much they had liked the boring task. A curious For example, after Floyd began racism? finding emerged. Subjects paid just $1 had a more favorable attitude about the speaking out against racism, his boring task than those who were paid $20. That’s because subjects paid $20 felt attitudes changed radically. Researchers have shown they were paid well for lying. Subjects paid $1 had no good reason for lying, that behavior can inf luence attitudes (Leippe & and so, to resolve the cognitive dissonance between what they’d said (it was Eisenstadt, 1994; Van Laar et al., 2005). interesting) and what they felt (it was boring), they convinced themselves that We may change our own attitudes in response to the task was somewhat interesting. This shows that engaging in opposite or cognitive dissonance or self-perception. However, counterattitudinal behaviors can change attitudes. However, there’s a different others are continually trying to change our attitudes explanation for this experiment’s results. through various forms of persuasion, our next topic. D. AT T I T UDES 589 D. Attitudes Persuasion Political candidates spend much of their time, energy, and money to appear honest, and what arguments to use. We’ll begin with trying to persuade people to vote for them. What politicians have choosing between two different routes—central or peripheral to decide is whether to use an intellectual or emotional appeal, how (Maio & Haddock, 2007; Petty & Cacioppo, 1986). Central Route Peripheral Route If the audience is interested in thinking about the real If the audience is more interested in the candidate’s personality or image, a issues, a politician might best use the central route. politician might seek votes using the peripheral route. The central route for persuasion pres- The peripheral route for persuasion emphasizes emotion- ents information with strong arguments, I think logical I think emotional al appeal, focuses on personal traits, and generates positive arguments and and personal analyses, facts, and logic. hard facts appeals work feelings. A political candidate using the central work best. best. The peripheral route assumes that not all voters will route for persuasion should present clear, spend the time and energy to digest or discuss the issues. detailed information about his or her views and Instead, some audiences are more interested in the candidate’s accomplishments and should appear honest and ability to generate excitement and support by giving an ener- credible by demonstrating knowledge and com- getic and enthusiastic speech (Priester & Petty, 1995). This route mitment to the issues and pointing out the oppo- involves bands, banners, parties, and personal appearances, which nents’ records (Priester & Petty, 1995). build an inviting and exciting image and create a positive attitude Politicians should choose the central route toward the candidate. If audiences like the candidate’s image, they when they are trying to persuade voters who will more likely agree with the candidate’s views (Carlson, 1990). have a high need to know the facts and issues The peripheral route is more concerned with style and image, (Cacioppo & Petty, 1982). The central route and the central route is more concerned with substance and ideas. for persuasion works with people who think Researchers generally find that the central route produces more about and analyze the issues. However, not all voters can enduring results, while the peripheral route produces more transient results be persuaded by the central route. For some, a peripheral (Maio & Haddock, 2007; Perloff, 2002). Whether the central or peripheral route for persuasion is the better method. route is used, a number of specific elements are important in persuasion. Elements of Persuasion Figuring out which elements are important in persuading people program identified a number of important elements in persuasion, was begun in the 1950s by the Yale Communication Program, which including the source, message, and audience (Jacks & Cameron, is still considered one of the best models. This communication 2003; Petty et al., 1997). Source. One element in Message. Another element of persuasion involves the content of Audience. Another element of being persuading someone to the message. If the persuader is using the central route, the mes- an effective persuader involves know- adopt your point of view sages will contain convincing and understandable ing the characteristics of the audience. Photo Credits: top, © Steve Pope/Landov; bottom, © Scott Gries/Getty Images involves the source of the facts. If the facts are complicated, a written message For example, audiences who are inter- message. We are more likely is better than a spoken one (Chaiken & Eagly, 1976). ested in facts are best persuaded using to believe sources who have If the persuader is using the peripheral route, the central route, while audiences a sense of authority, appear the messages should be designed to arouse emotion, interested in personal traits are best honest and trustworthy, sentiment, and loyalty. Television infomercials use persuaded using the peripheral route. Why is “The have expertise and credibi- the peripheral approach by having an attractive Daily Show” If the audience is leaning toward the lity, and are attractive and and likable demonstrator show how you will look news host persuader, a one-sided message is best; likable (Priester & Petty, or feel better by buying and using a particular Jon Stewart if an audience is leaning away from the worth 1995). For example, re- product. However, using fearful messages to per- millions? persuader, a two-sided message is best. searchers found that good- suade people, such as showing blackened lungs to Thus, persuasion is a complicated looking TV fund-raisers get smokers to