Social Influences on Beliefs and Behavior (Ch. 8 pg. 270-276)

1. Social Influences on Beliefs and Behavior (Ch. 8 pg. 270-276) You are about to learn….. Two general ways that people explain their own or other peoples behavior– and why it matters. Three self serving biases in how people think about themselves and the world. Why most people will believe outright lies and nonsensical statements if they are repeated often enough. Whether certain fundamental political and religious attitudes have a genetic component.

2. Social Influences on Beliefs and Behavior • Social Psychologist  • Interested in what people do in social situations. • What goes on in people heads while they are doing it.

3. Social Influences on Beliefs and Behavior • Social Psychologist • Researchers in the area of social cognition  • Social cognition- An area in social psychology concerned with social influences on thought, memory, perception, and beliefs.

4. Social Influences on Beliefs and Behavior • Attributions  • Attribution Theory – The theory that people are motivated to explain their own and other peoples behavior by attributing causes of that behavior to a situation or disposition.

5. Social Influences on Beliefs and Behavior • Attributions • Two types of attribution  • Situational attribution • Dispositional attribution

6. Social Influences on Beliefs and Behavior • Attributions • Two types of attribution • When people are trying to explain someone else’s, they tend to over-estimate the influence of the situation • Fundamental attribution error- the tendency in explaining other peoples behavior to overestimate personality factors and underestimate the influence of the situation. • The impulse to explain other peoples behavior in terms of their personalities is so strong that we do it even when we know that the other person was required to behave in a certain way.

7. Fundamental Attribution Error Attribution Situational Dispositional May lead to Fundamental attribution error

8. Social Influences on Beliefs and Behavior • Cognitive biases  Def. Just-world-hypothesis- The notion that people need to believe the world is fair and that justice is served. • 1) The bias to choose the most flattering and forgiving attributions of our own biases. • Choose attributions that are favorable to them. • 2) The bias that we are better, kinder, smarter, and kinder that others. • Holier-than-though effect • Tendency of people to be overall optimistic about our own abilities. • 3)The bias to believe that the world is fair. • Justice usually prevails • Good people are rewarded and the bad are punished • Blaming the victim • Attributions can have huge consequences.

9. Social Influences on Beliefs and Behavior • Cognitive biases • Attitudes  • A belief about people, groups, ideas, or activities. Explicit • We are aware of them • Shape conscious decisions and actions Implicit • Unaware of them • Influence behavior( unrecognizable) • Change with new experiences and consistency

10. Social Influences on Beliefs and Behavior • Cognitive biases • Attitudes • Shifting opinions and Bedrock Bellers • Everyday people are trying to influence your attitudes. • They use repeated ideas • Repeated exposure is enough to make someone feel positive about it. • More repetition increases rated validity.

11. Social Influences on Beliefs and Behavior • Cognitive biases • Attitudes • Shifting opinions and Bedrock Bellers Def. Cognitive Dissonance- A state of tension that occurs when a person simultaneously holds two cognitions that are psychologically inconstant. Familiarity effect: The tendency of people to feel more positive toward a person, item, product or stimulus. The more familiar they are with it. Validity effect: The tendency of people to believe that a statement is true or valid simply because it has been repeated. • Religion: some people accept the fact that people believe in dif. Things, while others believe that theirs should prevail, causing conflict  Terrorism and war

12. Biology and Beliefs • Many attitudes result from learning and experience • Behavioral genetics: some personality traits are heritable

13. Biology and Beliefs • Two traits • “openness to experience” • “Conscientiousness” • Religious affiliations= not heritable • Persons depth toward their religious affiliations does have a genetic component. • Political Affiliation= not heritable.

14. Core sets of attitudes • 1) Whether a person advocated social change or supports the system as it is. • 2)Whether a person thinks inequality is a result of human policies and can be overcome or is inevitable and should be accepted as a part of the natural order.

15. Scenarios • Imagine that someone took your family hostage. How would you feel? What would you do to get them back? Imagine that the people who took your family hostage told you that the way to get them back would be to blow up the twin towers. Would you do it? Would you risk the lives of other and yourself to save the people you love? • In Gaza, there is a cult of The Suicide Bomber. There is no higher fashion statement then a bomb around your belt. The Martyr is worshipped. A Martyr is a person who makes great sacrifices or suffers much in order to further a belief, cause, or principle. There is no higher honor than to become a Martyr. • How would you feel if you had a loved one that was killed or seriously injured in 9/11? Would you be able to forgive the people who did it? Would you step into the mind of the people responsible to understand why they did it? Or would you just do anything possible to get revenge? How would it make you feel if you later found out that they only did it to help their loved ones as well or were forced to do it because of religious beliefs? Before we judge the people responsible we need to look deeper into the mind of a suicide bomber.