Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Training 1 - PDF

Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Session 1 1 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  Introduction 16.05 – 16.50 – Chapters 2, 3 16.50 – 17.00 – Break 17.00 – 17.25 – Chapter 4 17.25 – 17.30 – Break 17.30 – 18.15 – Chapters 5, 6 18....

Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Session 1 1 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  Introduction 16.05 – 16.50 – Chapters 2, 3 16.50 – 17.00 – Break 17.00 – 17.25 – Chapter 4 17.25 – 17.30 – Break 17.30 – 18.15 – Chapters 5, 6 18.15 – 18.20 – Break 18.20 – 18.45 – Chapter 7 18.45 – 19.00 – Summary and questions -> If you have questions afterwards email me: [email protected] 2 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  SESSION 1 Part 1: Research methods in Social Psychology Reserach strategies: (Chapter 2) - True Social Psychology Experiment – Constructs and hypotheses – Confederates – Unobtrusive measures - a method of making observations without the knowledge of those being observed – Cover story – Post-Experimental Inquiry – asking participants what they think the study was about – Informed Consent – Debriefing - Quasi experiment – no random allocation to conditions - Field study E.g. Bystander effect (the presence of others discourages an individual from intervening in an emergency situation) - Surveys - Qualitative research - textual and interpretative analysis (nonstatistical) 3 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  Validity of the study – Internal validity - observed relationship between independent and dependent variables reflects a causal relationship. THREAT: § experimental confounds – relationship you observed actually occurs due to the third variable – Construct validity - independent and dependent variables adequately capture constructs they represent. THREAT: § social desirability – participants answer is socially desirable ways § demand characteristics – something about your design or behaviour tells the participants what you are looking for § experimenter expectancy - you (uknowingly) bias the experiment towards what you expect to find – External validity - generalizability of a finding beyond the circumstances in which it was observed by the researcher. THREAT: § non-representative sample – e.g. you study Psychology student but generalize to the whole world 5 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  Data Collection Methods - Observational methods THREAT: Reactivity - individuals alter their performance or behavior due to the awareness that they are being observed - Self-report - Implicit Measures E.g. Measruing associations we are not aware of (IAT). - Physiological Measures Social neuroscience - measures mental and brain function to study social cognition, emotion, and behavior. 6 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Theories in social psychology offer propositions about the relation between …. and the possibility of deriving ….. from them. a) constructs, hypotheses b) previous experimental findings, hypotheses c) previous experimental findings, variables 7 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Theories in social psychology offer propositions about the relation between …. and the possibility of deriving ….. from them. a) constructs, hypotheses b) previous experimental findings, hypotheses c) previous experimental findings, variables 8 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology 3) A researcher induces a negative mood by showing participants a negative image, after which she asks them to complete a questionnaire. Another group does not get to see the negative images. How is this group that does not see the images called? a) experimental group b) control group c) quota sample 9 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology 3) A researcher induces a negative mood by showing participants a negative image, after which she asks them to complete a questionnaire. Another group does not get to see the negative images. How is this group that does not see the images called? a) experimental group b) control group c) quota sample 10 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology How does a quasi-experiment differ from a true randomized experiment? 11 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology How does a quasi-experiment differ from a true randomized experiment? A quasi-experiment has a natural allocation of participants to conditions 12 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology You are worried about demand characteristics in your experiment. What would you do to minimize the impact? 13 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology You are worried about demand characteristics in your experiment. What would you do to minimize the impact? demand characteristics – something about your design or behaviour tells the participants what you are looking for 14 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology You are worried about demand characteristics in your experiment. What would you do to minimize the impact? demand characteristics – something about your design or behaviour tells the participants what you are looking for - Use unobtrusive measures - Use a cover story - Use post-experimental enquiry 15 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Darley and Batson (1973) researched the bystander effect in a field study, specifically testing the idea that bystanders might not come to the assistance because helping is time-costly. What were their findings? a) They found that helping was significantly influenced by time pressure manipulation b) Being reminded of the parable of a “Good Samaritan” leads to less helpful behaviour c) Individual differences in religiosity predicted whether participants helped or not 16 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Darley and Batson (1973) researched the bystander effect in a field study, specifically testing the idea that bystanders might not come to the assistance because helping is time-costly. What were their findings? a) They found that helping was significantly influenced by time pressure manipulation b) Being reminded of the parable of a “Good Samaritan” leads to less helpful behaviour c) Individual differences in religiosity predicted whether participants helped or not 17 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  Social Perception (Chapter 3) Collecting and interpreting information about another person’s individual character. 18 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  How do we form impressions of what other people are like? Asch (1946) Person A Person B Intelligent Intelligent Skillful Skillful Industrious Industrious Determined Determined Practical Practical Warm Cold Warm/cold à Central traits Warm implies generous, wise, and good-natured Cold implies snobbish, calculating and unsympathetic e.g. practical à Peripheral traits a trait whose perceived presence does not significantly change the overall interpretation of a person’s personality. Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology 19  Important Concepts People actively construct meaning based on their ideas about how different personality characteristics hang together. These ideas are organized in Implicit Personality Theories. Self-fulfilling prophecy - the social perceiver’s initially incorrect beliefs about a target may cause that target to act in ways that objectively confirm those beliefs. E.g. Being rude to somone may cause them to behave in a rude way. 20 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  Attribution theories Attribution theories describe the process whereby social perceivers arrive at conclusions about the causes of another person’s behaviour; the observer explains an actor’s behaviour towards a human or non-human object (entity). 21 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  Kelly’s Covariation Model „Anna says that statistics is really boring.” Consensus Consistency Distinctiveness Attribution (across people) (across situations) (across objects) LOW HIGH LOW PERSON ATTRIBUTION 1. Your other friends don’t think Anna mentions that statistics is Anna considers many other Something about Anna makes her say statistics is boring. boring in many different courses boring. that statistics is boring. contexts. LOW LOW HIGH CONTEXT ATTRIBUTION 2. Your other friends don’t think Anna only says that statistics is Anna doesn’t usually consider Something about her brother being statistics is boring. boring when her brother is other things/courses boring. around makes Anna say that statistics around. is boring. HIGH HIGH HIGH ENTITY ATTRIBUTION 3. Everyone you know say statistics Anna mentions that statistics is Anna doesn’t usually consider Something about statistics makes is boring. boring in many different contexts other things/courses boring. Anna say that it is boring. LOW HIGH HIGH PERSON-ENTITY INTERACTION 4. Your other friends don’t think Anna mentions that statistics is Anna doesn’t usually consider ATTRIBUTION statistics is boring. boring in many different contexts other things/courses boring Something about statistics interacts with something about Anna. This intercation makes her say that statistics is boring. 22 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  Consensus Consistency Distinctiveness (across people) (across situations) (across objects) Attribution LOW HIGH LOW PERSON ATTRIBUTION LOW LOW HIGH CONTEXT ATTRIBUTION HIGH HIGH HIGH ENTITY ATTRIBUTION LOW HIGH HIGH PERSON-OBJECT INTERACTION ATTRIBUTION For example: John says that Laura is very smart. According to the Covariation Model, in order to conclude that Laura is actually smart (entity attribution), we need: 23 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  Consensus Consistency Distinctiveness Attribution (across people) (across situations) (across objects) LOW HIGH LOW PERSON ATTRIBUTION LOW LOW HIGH CONTEXT ATTRIBUTION HIGH HIGH HIGH OBJECT ATTRIBUTION LOW HIGH HIGH PERSON-OBJECT INTERACTION ATTRIBUTION For example: John says that Laura is very smart. According to the Covariation Model, in order to conclude that Laura is actually smart (entity attribution), we need: - High consensus: Other people also think that Laura is smart. - High consistency: John concluded that Laura is smart in many different contexts/situations. - High distinctiveness: John does not generally say that everyone is smart. However, this theory is somehow impractical as people rarely collect evidence so systematically. Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology 24  Correspondent Inference Theory (Jones & Davis, 1965) Observers consider the range of behavioural options that were available to the actor at the time of making a decision in order to work out the actor’s intention. They do it by the analysis of uncommon effects. Q: Why did your friend choose University A over B? University A University B Effects Good reputation Good reputation Common Sport facilities Sport facilities Common International students International students Common Located in a big city Located in the rural area Uncommon A: It seems to be because it’s located in a big city. This theory can only be applied to deliberate behaviours with prior knowledge of their consequences! 25 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  Theory of achievement-related attribution (Weiner 1979, 1985) Inferences about the causes of our success and failure directly affect future expectations, motivations and emotions. Why did I fail my exam? Internal (about me) External (about the circumstances) Stable Unstable Stable Unstable Controllable I do not have the I did put in enough I don’t have money to My tutor happened knowledge effort afford tutoring to be unavailable. Uncontrollable I am stupid I did not have The exam was unfair I was just unlucky enough energy Uncotrollable, Stable, Internal causes (I am stupid) à I should probably just give up. Controllable, Unstable, Internal causes (I didn’t put in enough effort) à I should study more next time. 26 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology James is a scientist whose paper has just been rejected. How will this failure impact James if he attributes it to internal, uncontrollable and stable causes? 27 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology James is a scientist whose paper has just been rejected. How will this failure impact James if he attributes it to internal, uncontrollable and stable causes? 28 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology James is a scientist whose paper has just been rejected. How will this failure impact James if he attributes it to internal, uncontrollable and stable causes? He may think that he is incompetent (internal, stable, uncontrollable). This may cause him not to try to get another one of his papers published. 29 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  Two-Factor Theory of Emotion Schachter’s theory (1964) - emotions depend upon the attributions we make for our bodily feelings rather than directly reflect these feelings themselves. 30 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  Biases Correspondence bias (attribution error) - tendency to attribute behavior of others to their personality. We overstimate the importance of the person and underestimate the importance of the situation. e.g. The waitress was rude to me because she is not a nice person NOT because she was just having a very difficult day. However, correspondence bias seems to only be true for Western (individualist) cultures, people in Eastern (collectivist) cultures are more likely to make situational attributions. 31 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  Biases Actor-observer effect – tendency to attribute our own behaviors externally and others’ behaviors internally. e.g. When another person cuts you off in traffic you tend to make a dispositional attribution – „He is a reckless person!” When you cut someone off in traffic you tend to make a situational attribution – „I was in a hurry and had a really bad day.” Note that we have more information about ourselves (contextual influence) than about others 32 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  Biases Self serving bias - we are more likely to attribute our successes internally and our failures externally in order to protect our self-esteem. e.g. „I passed my Social Psychology exam because I am smart and I failed my Developmental Psychology exam becasue the questions were unfair.” 33 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  Biases False consensus bias - the assumption that other people generally share one’s own personal attitudes, opinions, beliefs; claiming that ones attitudes constitute what is „normal”. e.g. You are terrified of public speaking. Hence, you assume that people who appear relaxed in this situations must be faking their good mood. You do not consider that public speaking may just not be scary for some people. Or: You want to get married before you turn 30 so you assume that this is a „normal” desire everyone share or should share and if they don’t, there is something wrong with them. 34 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology You are a new teacher. When having your first class you sweat and sttuter. Based on the actor- observer effect how may you and your students explain your behaviour? 35 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology You are a new teacher. When having your first class you sweat and sttuter. Based on the actor- observer effect how may you and your students explain your behaviour? Actor-observer effect - tendency to attribute our own behaviors externally and others’ behaviors internally. 36 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  You are a new teacher. When having your first class you sweat and sttuter. Based on the actor- observer effect how may you and your students explain your behaviour? Actor-observer effect - tendency to attribute our own behaviors externally and others’ behaviors internally. You: „I am nervous becasue this is my first day at work.” Students: e.g. „She/he is a shy person” 37 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Based on the self-serving bias, how will you explain that your job interview went very well and how will you explain that dinner you cooked later that day tasted really bad? 38 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Based on the self-serving bias, how will you explain that your job interview went very well and how will you explain that dinner you cooked later that day tasted really bad? Self serving bias - we are more likely to attribute our successes internally and our failures externally in order to protect our self-esteem. 39 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  Based on the self-serving bias, how will you explain that your job interview went very well and how will you explain that dinner you cooked later that day tasted really bad? Self serving bias - we are more likely to attribute our successes internally and our failures externally in order to protect our self-esteem. „The interview went well becasue I am competent person.” „Dinner tasted bad becasue I was distracted by the great news about my new job when cooking it.” 40 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology 41 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  Social cognition (Chapter 4) How do we make sense of ourselves and others in our world? 42 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  Dual-Processing Theories Automatic Process - a process that occurs without intention, effort or awareness and does not interfere with other concurrent cognitive processes; „jumping to conclusions”. Controlled Processing - a process that is intentional, under the individual’s volitional control, effortful and entailing conscious awareness; carefully building arguments. 43 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Schemas - mental structures that help organise and interpret information about behaviours, social roles, people, groups (stereotypes) and so on. Schemas take the form of general expectations learned through experience or socialization. e.g. You come to the restaurant, how do you know what to do? You see a skinhead running towards a man. What do you think will happen next? See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SsccRkLLzU&ab_channel=TheGuardian - Spontaneous encoding of the situation - the way in which we translate what we see into a digestible format to be stored in the mind. 44 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Cognitive heuristics (Kahnemann and Tversky, 1974) – mental shortcuts that allow people to make quick and efficient judgements. - representativeness heuristic - a tendency to place a person or an object in a category if the person or object is similar to our prototype for that category. E.g. John is a real nerd. What does he study? a.) communication b.) physics 45 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Cognitive heuristics (Kahnemann and Tversky, 1974) – mental shortcuts that allow people to make quick and efficient judgements. - representativeness heuristic - a tendency to place a person or an object in a category if the person or object is similar to our prototype for that category. E.g. John is a real nerd. What do you think he studies? a.) communication b.) physics - base rate information - information that gives us an idea about how frequent certain categories are in the general population. There are more communication students than physics students. Hence, the probability of John studying communication is objectively higher. 46 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Availability heuristic - allows us to draw upon information about how quickly information comes to mind about a particular event, to deduce the frequency or likelihood of that event. e.g. „My uncle smokes 4 packs a day and he is 97. I don’t think smoking is that bad after all”. What’s wrong with this reasoning? 47 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Availability heuristic - allows us to draw upon information about how quickly information comes to mind about a particular event, to deduce the frequency or likelihood of that event. e.g. „My uncle smokes 4 packs a day and he is 97. I don’t think smoking is that bad after all”. What’s wrong with this reasoning? The fact that this example comes to mind easily does not mean that it is an accurate estimation of likelihood. You give an individual example, when statistics based on research say that: „Tobacco kills up to half of its users” and „Tobacco kills more than 8 million people each year.” (WHO, 2020). Source: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/tobacco 48 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  Anchoring / Adjustment Heuristic describes an anchor that serves as a reference point in decision making. For instance, using a number or value as starting point to which we then make adjustments. The real estate agent says that the average price for a house like this in England is around £300,000. How much do you think the house is worth? a.) £150,000 b.) £250,000 c.) £320,000 d.) £400,000 The real estate agent says that a.) £150,000 the average price for a house b.) £250,000 Source: https://www.propertywire.com/news/uk/aver like this in England is around c.) £320,000 age-house-prices-england-wales-see- £200,000. How much do you d.) £400,000 biggest-rise-five-months/ think the house is worth? 49 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  Priming Exposure to one stimulus influences a response to a subsequent stimulus. For instance, Bargh et al. (1996) found that participants that were previously primed with elderly stereotypes walked down a hallway more slowly than neutral prime control participants. However, the effect was not replicated. Priming activates schemas that prepare us for particular action and social interaction. It is not necessarily always automatic and its effects may be more complex then initially thought. 50 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  Stereotype Suppression The act of trying to prevent an activated stereotype from impacting upon one’s judgements about a person from a stereotyped group. Ironic Processes of Mental Control Model suggests that instructions to suppress stereotyping actually increase stereotyping. This is based on the Rebound Effect, the effect when suppression attempts fail and suppressed stereotype returns to have an even greater impact. E.g. Don’t think about chocolate! 51 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  How goals can stop the stereotype from being activated in the first place Implicit goal operation If you are strongly motivated to treat people as equals (egalitarian), you automatically suppress stereotypes. Why? Because stereotype activation seems to be goal-dependent and arising from the interplay of a range of cognitive, motivational and biological factors. So your strong goal to not be racist may override racist stereotypes that come to mind. 52 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  Replacing stereotypic thoughts with egalitarian responses Dissociation model - automatic and controlled processes may be dissociated; automatic activation of a stereotype does not inevitably lead to stereotypic responding. In practice, this means that when people are committed to being non- prejudiced, but notice that they are indeed prejudiced, they feel guilty, become self-focused and direct their efforts at reducing this discrepancy. 53 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  The link between social perception and social behaviour is not inevitable! Behavioural control can be viewed as a battle between activated schemas, various environmental cues and internal goal states either promoting or inhibiting the occurrence of certain action patterns. 54 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology George says that people all over the world stop eating meat since he knows at least 10 people at his university who recently stoppped eating meat. This is an example of: 55 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology George says that people all over the world stop eating meat since he knows at least 10 people at his university who recently stoppped eating meat. This is an example of: Availability heuristic 56 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology „Donate money to our charity. Most people donate 20 euros.” This is an example of: 57 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology „Donate money to our charity. Most people donate 20 euros.” This is an example of: Anchoring 58 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology What can you do to stop stereotypes from guiding your behaviour? 59 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology What can you do to stop stereotypes from guiding your behaviour? Implicit goal operation If you are strongly motivated to treat people as equals (egalitarian), you automatically suppress stereotypes. Dissociation Model When people are committed to being non-prejudiced, but notice that they are indeed prejudiced, they feel guilty, become self-focused and direct their efforts at reducing this discrepancy. 60 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology The academic performance of certain students improved dramatically when teachers were led to believe that those students were intellectually gifted, regardless of true ability levels of the students. This result shows the importance of _____________ a) schemas and self-fulfilling prophecies b) information processing and base rates c) the in-group phenomenon 61 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology The academic performance of certain students improved dramatically when teachers were led to believe that those students were intellectually gifted, regardless of true ability levels of the students. This result shows the importance of _____________ a) schemas and self-fulfilling prophecies b) information processing and base rates c) the in-group phenomenon 62 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Zoe is in a fairly good mood. Consequently, we should expect her to show a(n) ________ in ________. a) increase; her use of heuristics b) decrease; her use of heuristics c) increase; effortful cognitive processing 63 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Zoe is in a fairly good mood. Consequently, we should expect her to show a(n) ________ in ________. a) increase; her use of heuristics b) decrease; her use of heuristics c) increase; effortful cognitive processing 64 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology 65 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  The Self (Chapter 5) The self that is expressed and experienced is highly variable and socially contextualized; shaped by an active social construal process. Self-Reference Effect - information related to the self is processed more thoroughly and more deeply, which aids better recall. E.g. If asked to remember a list of adjectives and rate how well they describe you, you will remeber these that describe you well the66 best. Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  How do we know ourselves? Personal Sources: Introspection - the process by which one observes and examines one’s internal states (mental and emotional) for behaving in a certain way. We usually know what we feel and think, and we can potentially learn more about ourselves that way but we don’t usually know why we think and feel something. 67 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Bem’s self-perception theory (1972) When inner states are ambiguous, people can infer these states by observing their own behaviour. E.g. You smile and whistle to yourself after taking a big exam so you infer you must be very relieved. People can engage in activities for either: extrinsic (for praise, esteem, money; in order to receive reward or avoid punishment) or intrinsic (for interest, challenge, enjoyment; for the sake of the activity iteslf) reasons - overjustification effect - the intrinsic motivation may diminish, because the activity has become associated with an external reward, e.g. children may find drawing less pleasant when they know they will receive a reward for their drawings. 68 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  How do we know ourselves? Social Sources: attachment processes – when a caregiver is responsive, we build a positive self- concept, but when caregiving is neglectful, we construct a negative self-concept and low self-esteem. reflected appraisals - inferences regarding others’ appraisals of us that we gain by observing other peoples’ reactions towards us and then internalize into our self- concept. social comparison - a process of comparing oneself with others in order to evaluate one’s own abilities and opinions. We make upward comparisons (people better than us) and downward comparisons (people worse than us). 69 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Working self-concept - subset of relevant self-knowledge that is activated and guides our behaviour in a given situation. E.g. If you are an only woman in a room full of man, your gender will become more important to your self-concept in this situation. If you are a religious person, this will likely be especially activated in church. 70 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Desired selves - contain our potential (possible selves), as well as the wishes and aspirations (ideal self), and the duties and obligations (ought self) that we, or significant others, hold for us. Ideal selves motivate us to work actively to attain our aspirations, and when we fall short of achieving them, we experience sadness, disappointment and depression. E.g. Working out to run a marathon Ought selves motivate us to avoid negative outcomes (e.g. punishment), and we feel anxiety, guilt and worry to the extent that we fail to meet our duties and obligations E.g. Feeling guilty after not helping a friend. 71 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  Independent vs. Interdependent self concepts Independent Self emphasizes autonomy and individualism and defines the self via internal attributes like traits (typical for Western, individualist cultures. Self-views are more consistent across social contexts. This self-concept makes it more likley to engage in self-enhancement. Interdependent Self stresses the connection to others and defines the self in terms of relationships with others (typical for collectivist cultures) 72 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  Self knowledge - recap à The Self-concept is a collection of all our self-experiences. à Self-knowledge can be categorised into two types: cognitive representation in the self-concept (self-schema) and affective evaluations of the self (self-esteem). à Not the entire self-concept is driving our feelings, thoughts and behaviours at all times, but rather activated parts of it à Cultures shape our self-concept and -esteem. à For all these processes, there is no specific „self-region” in the brain! 73 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Student A is from Germany, Student B is from China. What is each of them likely to answer to the question „Who are you”? 74 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Student A is from Germany, Student B is from Japan. What is each of them likely to answer to the question „Who are you”? 75 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Student A is from Germany, Student B is from Japan. What is each of them likely to answer to the question „Who are you”? Student A is likely to say e.g. a kind person, a football player, a great cook etc. Student B is liekly to say e.g. a good sister, brother, friends etc. 76 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Give an example of the situation, in which you demostrate the meaning of the working self- concept. 77 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Give an example of the situation, in which you demostrate the meaning of the working self- concept. Claire goes to her son’s graduation so she is highly aware of being a parent at this moment. Anna spents time with her grandparents and their friends who are all around 70 years old. Anna is highly aware of being a young person at this moment. 78 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology The Motivational Functions of the Self Self-Enhancement Motive - desire to enhance the positivity of our self-conceptions Self-enhancing illusions – positive illussions of the self superiority bias – „I am better than other people” better-than-average effect false consensus bias ingroup favouritism – believing that our group is superior to others We maintain an illusion of objectivity by selectively searching for a combining information that supports our desired conclusions. 79 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Self-handicapping - the tendency to engage in self-defeating behaviours in order to provide a subsequent excuse for failure and augment ability attributions in the case of success. E.g. John decides not to study for his exam and when he fails he says „I don’t care. I didn’t study at all anyway”. This way he doesn’t have to deal with a possible scenario in which he worked hard but failed anyway and can atttibute the failure to the lack of effort. Women seem to be less likely to self-handicap than men. 80 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  Role of Self-esteem The Sociometer Theory suggests that our feelings of self-esteem signal the degree to which we feel acceptance or rejection by other members of our social group. Feelings of self-esteem may thus act as a sociometer that helps us keep track of our social status. The Terror-Management Theory - We want to have high enough self- esteem to distance ourselves from our fear associated with death. For instance, we become invested in our culture, which provides our existence with meaning and order and with ways to achieve immortality 81 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  Low Self-Regard: Self-Verification Self-Verification Motive or motivation to affirm our firmly held beliefs about ourselves, arising from a desire for stable and coherent self-views, no matter if these beliefs are positive or negative. E.g. Lisa knows very well that she is terrible at writing. Her teacher gives her a good grade for her essay. How will she feel? a.) proud and satisfied b.) unsettled and dissatisfied Individuals with negative self-views still have self-enhancement tendencies but these tendencies may be overruled by more deliberate striving for self-verification. 82 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  The Regulatory Functions of the Self Self-Regulation Theory - Self-regulation is the process of controlling and directing one’s behaviour in order to achieve desired thoughts, feelings and goals. 1. We adopt some kind of standard. 2. Directing attention to the self leads us to monitor more closely whether our behaviour is in accordance with standards. 3. If the behaviour is not in line with a standard we need to change it so that it matches the standard. 83 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  Ego Depletion is the resulting temporary reduction of one’s self-regulatory capacities due to restricted energy resources after sustained self-control efforts. E.g. You stick to the diet the whole day, exhaust your willpower by dinner time and order pizza instead of eating a healthy meal you planned. 84 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Source: https://mint.intuit.com/blog/relationships/ego-depletion-5290/ Epley and Whitchurch (2008) found that participants identified attractively enhanced photographs of their own faces more readily compared to the actual photograph of their faces. Which process can account for these findings? a) Self-enhancement b) Self-monitoring c) Self-verification 85 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Epley and Whitchurch (2008) found that participants identified attractively enhanced photographs of their own faces more readily compared to the actual photograph of their faces. Which process can account for these findings? a) Self-enhancement b) Self-monitoring c) Self-verification 86 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Mark has a 7 for his exam. He calls Martha who always has lower grades than he does and asks: what was your grade? What is Mark doing here? 87 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Mark has a 7 for his exam. He calls Martha who always has lower grades than he does and asks: what was your grade? What is Mark doing here? making a downward comparison 88 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Vohos studied the eating behaviour of people who are constantly dieting (chronic dieters). They found that if these people said no to some delicious food the first time, they took even more the next time. Which process do the researchers ascribe this behaviour too? 89 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Vohos studied the eating behaviour of people who are constantly dieting (chronic dieters). They found that if these people said no to some delicious food the first time, they took even more the next time. Which process do the researchers ascribe this behaviour too? Ego depletion 90 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Explain and give an example of self- handicapping 91 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Explain and give an example of self-handicapping the tendency to engage in self-defeating behaviours in order to provide a subsequent excuse for failure and augment ability attributions in the case of success. e.g. not practicing before a test 92 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  Attitudes (Chapter 6) Attitude – an overall evaluation of an object that is based on cognitive, affective and behavioural information; making an evaluative judgement about a stimulus object. Attitudes differ in valence and strength, and any stimulus that can be evaluated along a dimension of favourability can be conceptualized as an attitude object. 93 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  Multicomponent Model of Attitude (ABC Model) A model of attitude that conceptualizes attitudes as summary evaluations that have cognitive, affective and behavioural antecedents. The content of an attitude influences persuasion. 94 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  Cognitive component - refers to beliefs, thoughts and attributes we associate with a particular object. In many cases, a person’s attitude might be based primarily upon a consideration of the positive and negative attributes of the attitude object. E.g. I am going to buy a car, which seem to be the safest. 95 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  Affective component of attitude - the feelings or emotions associated with an attitude object. E.g. pairing a face with a positive stimulus (e.g. a cute kitten) makes you later evaluate the face more positively 96 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology – The Mere Exposure Effect suggests an increase in liking for an object as a result of being repeatedly exposed to it. E.g. You see a person in the lecture hall every week. Even though you never talk and they are a stranger to you, you still may like them better at the end of the year after seeing them repeatedly. 97 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  Behavioural component of attitude - past behaviours (also present and future anticipated behaviours) associated with an attitude object. Bem’s (1972) self-perception theory - when inner states are ambiguous, people can infer these states by observing their own behaviour. Even a mere belief in having performed a behaviour is sufficient to shape attitudes. E.g. People might infer that they have a negative attitude towards nuclear power plants if they recall having previously signed a petition against having a nuclear power plant built near their neighbourhood. 98 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Festinger (1954) also proposed that people can change their attitudes in order to be consistent with behaviours that they have performed. E.g. People might convince themselves that they like a boring task if they have just been given a small (rather than large) payment to tell others that the tasks are great. Why? To reduce cognitive disonance (an aversive state which motivates individuals to reduce it) – „I wouldn’t lie to others that a boring task is interesting for just 2 euros. It would make me feel bad about myself to know that I can just easily lie when given so little money. Therefore, I must think the task is actually interesting. That’s why I said that to others”. 99 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  The Structure of Attitudes One-Dimensional Perspective on Attitudes - positive and negative elements can be considered as being opposite ends of a single dimension Two-dimensional perspective on attitudes - a perspective that perceives positive and negative elements as stored along separate dimensions. This can result in attitudinal ambivalence, a state that occurs when an individual both likes and dislikes an attitude object. E.g. Someone might love the taste of chocolate cake, but dislike that it can make them gain weight. Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology 100 When do Attitudes predict Behaviour? 1. When there is correspondence between attitudinal and behavioural measures. e.g. - What is your attitude towards religion? vs - What is your attitude towards church attendance? Or LaPiere (1934), a study measuring prejudice towards Chinese people in the US in the 1930s - Would you serve a Chinese couple? vs - Would you serve a Chinese couple accompanied by an American professor? 101 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology 2. It depends upon the domain of behaviour Topics vary in the degree to which opinions predict actions. e.g. The relation between political party attitudes and voting behaviour tends to be very high. However, there is a low correlation between individuals’ attitudes towards blood donation and the act of donating blood. VS 102 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology 3. It depends upon the strength of the attitude A number of studies have demonstrated that strong attitudes (highly accessible) are more likely than weak attitudes to predict behaviour. e.g. In a study asking about support for president Reagan, some participants had very accessible (i.e. strong) attitudes towards Reagan, whereas other participants’ attitudes were less accessible (i.e. weak). Extremely positive VS Positive 103 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  Models of attitude–behaviour relations (deliberate behaviours) Theory of reasoned action (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975) The immediate predictor (or determinant) of individuals’ behaviour is their intention. There were two determinants of intentions: attitudes and subjective norms. The attitude component refers to the individual’s attitude towards the behaviour – whether the person thinks that performing the behaviour is good or bad. Subjective norms refer to an individual’s beliefs about how significant others view the relevant behaviour. 104 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  Theory of planned behaviour - an extension to the theory of reasoned action that includes the concept of perceived behavioural control. Perceived behavioural control influences behaviour in two ways: - intention to engage in a particular behaviour is affected by perceived confidence in the ability to perform the action, - perceived behavioural control can have a direct effect on behaviour. E.g. while individuals may believe that they can perform the relevant behaviour, their perception may not be accurate. 105 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Implementation intentions ‘if–then’ plans that specify a behaviour; “when I encounter the situational context A, I will perform behaviour B”. E.g. ‘On the first day of the new semester, when I return from Christmas holidays, I will start revising for my exams’. There are different phases to changing behaviour: unmotivated -> considering -> preparing -> starting -> pulling through An attitude is important for starting to change behaviour. After having started to change, the perceived control becomes more important. 106 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Attitudinal ambivalence can be best explained with ….. a) a one-dimensional perspective b) both a one- and two-dimensional perspective c) a two-dimensional perspective 107 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Attitudinal ambivalence can be best explained with ….. a) a one-dimensional perspective b) both a one- and two-dimensional perspective c) a two-dimensional perspective 108 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Carla listens to the radio about 7 hours a day at work. This means she hears the track of the week about 4 times a day for the whole week. Based on the 'mere exposure effect', Carla should feel …. about the track. a) negative b) first positive, then negative c) positive 109 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Carla listens to the radio about 7 hours a day at work. This means she hears the track of the week about 4 times a day for the whole week. Based on the 'mere exposure effect', Carla should feel …. about the track. a) negative b) first positive, then negative c) positive 110 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Marta is doing her bachelor thesis in which she asks people whether they are religious (=attitude) and then measures people's actual church attendance every Sunday (=behaviour). She is having trouble finding a relation between her attitude measure and behaviour. What would you advice Marta to pay more attention to? 111 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Marta is doing her bachelor thesis in which she asks people whether they are religious (=attitude) and then measures people's actual church attendance every Sunday (=behaviour). She is having trouble finding a relation between her attitude measure and behaviour. What would you advice Marta to pay more attention to? the correspondence between attitudes and behavioural measures 112 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology When do attitudes predict behaviour? 113 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology When do attitudes predict behaviour? - When there is correspondence between attitudinal and behavioural measures. - It depends upon the domain of behaviour - It depends upon the strength of the attitude - (It depends on personality) 114 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology The multicomponent model of attitudes asserts that attitudes have the following components a) subjective norm, perceived behav. Control, behav. Intentions b) reflective, impulsive, affective c) cognitive, affective, behavioural 115 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology The multicomponent model of attitudes asserts that attitudes have the following components a) subjective norm, perceived behav. Control, behav. Intentions b) reflective, impulsive, affective c) cognitive, affective, behavioural 116 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Which of below is not going to induce heuristic processing: a) time pressure b) lack of self relevance c) knowledge 117 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Which of below is not going to induce heuristic processing: a) time pressure b) lack of self relevance c) knowledge 118 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology 119 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  Attitude and Behaviour Change Persuasion is the use of communication to change the beliefs, attitudes and behaviours of others. 120 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  Theories of Systematic Processing Systematic processing is thorough, detailed processing of information; relies on ability and effort. Information Processing Model by McGuire (1969, 1985) Persuasive impact of a message is the product of at least 5 steps: Attention (I pay attention to what you are saying) Comprehension (I understand what you mean) Yielding (I believe you/I am persuaded) Retention (I remember what you said later on and it influences my attitude) Behaviour (I change my behaviour becasue of what you said). However, message reception (retention) was not found to correlate significantly with attitude change. 121 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology The Cognitive Response Model by Greenwald The impact of distraction on attitude change depends on the favourably of the thoughts produced by the message. If the thoughts It’s not the are unfavourable, information distraction itself that persuades youenhances persuasion. If the thoughts but your own areelaboration favourable, on distraction it: inhibits persuasion. Further thinking about the information Relating it to past knowledge Relate it to your self-concept 122 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  The Dual-Process Theory - suggests two models of information processing, a systematic and non- systematic one. It is the extension of the cognitive response model. Recipients may take shortcuts and accept or reject the recommendation of a communicator without scrutinising the arguments. Dual Processing Models 2 Models: - The Heuristic-Systematic Model (HSM) - Elaboration Likelihood Model 123 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology The probability that a recipient will critically evaluate arguments contained in a message. – Processing motivation is important because such elaboration requires time and effort. (central route to persuasion) – Processing ability is important because, in order to be able to scrutinize arguments, a person needs both issue-relevant knowledge and sufficient time (peripheral route to persuasion) 124 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology àWhen motivation and ability are high, systematic processing is likely, àWhen motivation and ability are low, individuals rely on heuristic cues. à Heuristic Processing: Changing attitudes without thinking about the arguments, due to lack time, knowledge 125 or importance. Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Processing Ability and Attitude Change Repetition of messages consisting of strong arguments should enhance attitude change (if participants are motivated to think!) Repetition of messages consisting of weak arguments should reduce attitude change Processing Motivation and Attitude Change Personal Relevance of the communication is the most influential determinant of a person’s motivation to think about the arguments in a message. low-involvement participants may rely on the source credibility highly involved participants form their attitudes based on their evaluation of the argument 126 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Processing Intensity and Stability of Change - Persuasion induced by systematic processing is more persistent over time. It forms strong attitudes that are: more resistant to counterattitudinal appeal, more likely to influence information processing, more likely to guide behaviour. - Attitudes formed by non-systematic processing tend to be relatively weak 127 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Counter-Attitudinal Behaviour and Attitude Change Counter-Attitudinal Behaviour is behaviour (usually induced by monetary incentives or threats) that is inconsistent with the actor’s attitude or beliefs. Changing their attitude may go like this: 1. In 1980s some people reluctantly used their belts because of the sanctions 2. Eventually, they found seatbelts much less restrictive than they anticipated 3. Thus, they may have realized that their negative attitude towards seatbelt use was unjustified. 4. Wearing seatbelts turned into an automatic behaviour. 128 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Cognitive Dissonance Theory - assumes that dissonance is an aversive state which motivates individuals to reduce it (e.g. by changing beliefs, attitudes or behaviour, and searching for consonant, or avoiding dissonant, information). E.g. If drivers use seatbelts to avoid paying a fine, their behaviour is not completely voluntary. And yet, since they could have decided to risk the fine, it is still a free decision. Dissonance would be greater the less severe these sanctions. If death was the penalty for not using one’s seatbelt, few seatbelt users would feel dissonance. If the penalty was $1, people who comply would probably feel considerable dissonance (A fine of $1 is not a very substantial justification to do something you don’t want to do). To resolve the dissonance they could change their attitudes -> „I must support wearing seatbelts after all”. 129 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  In a classic experiment studying cogn. Dissonance (Festinger) participants were presented with a very boring task. They were then asked whether they would like to help the experimenter by recruiting future ppt. Participants were either offered 1 or 20€ to do so. Which participants experienced the most dissonance? a) those who were offered 1€ b) those who were offered 20€ c) only those ppt. Who refused to help experienced no dissonance 130 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  In a classic experiment studying cogn. Dissonance (Festinger) participants were presented with a very boring task. They were then asked whether they would like to help the experimenter by recruiting future ppt. Participants were either offered 1 or 20€ to do so. Which participants experienced the most dissonance? a) those who were offered 1€ b) those who were offered 20€ c) only those ppt. Who refused to help experienced no dissonance 131 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology In a well-known study by Petty, Cacioppo et al., students are given weak vs. strong arguments in favor of a new exam that is to be implemented. These arguments are provided by an expert (teacher) or a non-expert (another student) source. The personal relevance of the exam is varied. Which of the below is likely to shape the attitudes of those students for whom this exam is highly personally relevant? a) whether the source is an expert, or not (expertise) b) strength of arguments provided in combination with an expert source (argument quality + expertise) c) strength of arguments provided (argument quality) 132 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology In a well-known study by Petty, Cacioppo et al., students are given weak vs. strong arguments in favor of a new exam that is to be implemented. These arguments are provided by an expert (teacher) or a non-expert (another student) source. The personal relevance of the exam is varied. Which of the below is likely to shape the attitudes of those students for whom this exam is highly personally relevant? a) whether the source is an expert, or not (expertise) b) strength of arguments provided in combination with an expert source (argument quality + expertise) c) strength of arguments provided (argument quality) 133 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Which of the following phrases does not correctly describe systematic processing? a) it is thorough b) it is heuristic c) it relies on ability d) it relies on effort 134 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Which of the following phrases does not correctly describe systematic processing? a) it is thorough b) it is heuristic c) it relies on ability d) it relies on effort 135 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology 136 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Training 2 137 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  Session 2 Chapter 8: Social Influence 138 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  Introduction 16.05 – 17.00 – Chapters 8, 10 17.00 – 17.05 – Break 17.05 – 17.20 – Chapter 11 17.20 – 17.30 – Break 17.30 – 18.15 – Chapters 12, 13 18.15 – 18.20 – Break 18.20 – 18.45 – Chapter 14 18.45 – 19.00 – Summary and questions -> If you have questions afterwards email me: [email protected] 139 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  Incidental Social Influence Mere Presence and Drive Theory (Zajonc, 1965) - mere presence of others leads to improved performance on well-learned or easy tasks (social facilitation), but to impaired performance on tasks which are not (yet) well-learned (social inhibition). 140 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Hull–Spence drive theory - the physical presence of others of the same species leads to an innate increase in arousal - increased drive increases the probability of dominant responses at the expense of non-dominant responses. Evaluation apprehension Task performers have learned to associate the presence of other people with performance evaluation which, in turn, is linked to the anticipation of positive or negative outcomes. 141 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology e.g. John is a professional cyclist and he performs even better during races when a crowd is cheering for him. Adam performs worse when is expected to solve a novel math problem with all the other students looking. 142 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  Social Norms Social influence - change of attitudes, beliefs, opinions, values and behaviour as a result of being exposed to other individuals’ attitudes. Norms - belief systems about how (not) to behave, that guide behaviour and reflect group members’ shared expectations E.g. You need to wait in line even when you are in a hurry. If you don’t people waiting will likely tell you off. 144 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  Norms Descriptive Norms Injunctive norms inform us about how others specify what behaviour will act in similar situations should be performed e.g. when visiting a place e.g. most English people of throw off layers of clothing religious worship, one as soon as the sun comes should keep quiet and be out in summer respectful 145 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Norm Formation and Transmission Norms are communicated through: deliberate instruction, demonstrations, rituals and so on (e.g. we are taught how to behave in places of religious worship), more passively, via nonverbal behaviours and implicit activation of normative standards (e.g. you are visiting a church on holiday and realize from people’s frowns and gestures that you are immodestly dressed and should cover up) by inferring the norm from the behaviour of others around us (e.g. you are visiting a mosque and you see that everyone else has removed their shoes, so you remove yours). 146 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology Influence via Social Norms in more Social Settings A study showed that people were more likely to drop litter into a littered environment than into a clean environment. In Stanford Prison Experiment, a situation encouraged the development of new norms of behaviour, disinhibiting traditionally disapproved ways of treating others. This was also a result of deindividuation (state in which individuals are deprived of their sense of individual identity). 147 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  Social Influence Normative Influence - Conforming to the positive expectations of others, avoiding behaving in ways that will lead to social punishment. Accuracy is less important. e.g. Teenager changing the way he dresses to impress his friends. Informational Influence - Accepting the information obtained from others as evidence about reality. The main goal is to make accurate and valid judgments. e.g. A student changes her mind after a group discussion. Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology 148  Deliberate Social Influence Compliance - a response whereby the target of influence agrees to a request from the influence source (also refers to change in behaviour to match a norm without change on a private level). Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology 149 – Door-in-The-Face Technique - people are more likely to agree to a small request after they have refused a large request. E.g. After your friend disagrees to write your bachelor thesis for you, you ask if they could at least help you with the data analysis (feeling that you owe the person after disagreeing to the first request) 150 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology – Foot-in-the-door Technique - compliance technique in which the requester first asks for a small favour that is almost certain to be granted, then follows this up with a request for a larger, related favour E.g. You are asked to wear a charity t-shirt at an event and after a week asked to donate to the same charity (wanting to be consistent) 151 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology – Lowballing technique - compliance to an initial attempt is followed by a more costly and less beneficial version of the same request. E.g. A car dealer offers you a car at very attractive price and after you agree to buy says that the price actually higher due to additional costs (psychological commitment) 152 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology The influence of numerical majorities and minorities majority influence (conformity) - social influence resulting from exposure to the opinions of a majority, or the majority of one’s group. minority influence (innovation) situation in which either an individual or a group in a numerical minority can influence the majority. consistency: the need for the minority to respond with the same response to the same issue over time (Moscovici, 1976) Conversion theory: we react differently when we notice we are different from the majority vs a minority Majority: comparison self-group. “Am I doing it right?” Minority: validation others. “Why are they different?” 153 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  Group decisions Group Polarization - tendency to make decisions that are more extreme than the average of group members’ initial positions, in the direction already favoured by the group. Persuasive arguments Social comparison Self-categorization Groupthink - a syndrome of poor group decision-making in which members of a cohesive ingroup strive for unanimity at the expense of a realistic appraisal of alternative courses of action. 154 Social and Cross-Cultural Psychology  Obedience to authority - complying with orders from a person of higher social status within a defined hierarchy or chain of command. Escalation of commitment - gradual increments Immediacy of authority figure Legitimacy e.g. Look Milgram Experiment or Nazis in Nurenberg trials. à „Normal people commiting horrendous crimes” Milgram Experiment, 1961