Social Cognition
Social Cognition: My Q’s Name & describe the three components of the ABC Model of Attitudes. What is the difference between general attitudes and specific attitudes? What is the difference between central-route processing and peripheral-route processing?
Social Cognition Social cognition focuses on the ways people think about others and how our thoughts influence our behavior An attitude is a tendency to respond positively or negatively toward an idea, person, object or situation. Attitudes are learned through experiences and contact with others and are taught by parents, teachers and others of importance.
Attitudes are as Easy as ABC! The ABC model of Attitudes: A=Affective Component: the emotional component describing the way a person feels toward an object, a person, or a situation. B=Behavior Component: the action a person takes in regard to the person, object or situation. C=Cognitive Component: the way a person thins about the person, object, or situation.
More Attitude General Attitude: a person holds an attitude without reflecting it in his or her behavior and without seeing the contradiction. Example: A doctor who says to take care of your health, even though they do not take care of their own. Specific Attitude: an attitude that is more likely to be reflected in behavior: Example: A fan who loves Michigan football will watch Michigan football games, not Ohio State games.
Even More Attitude Attitudes are influenced by 1) direct contact, 2) direct instruction, 3) interaction with others, and 4) vicarious learning. Cognitive dissonance occurs when people do or say things that do not match their idea of themselves and thus they experience emotional discomfort. Example: A boy grows up in a vegetarian family, but works at a steakhouse. To reduce cognitive dissonance, a person can change behavior to match attitude, change attitude to match behavior, or form new cognitions to justify their behavior.
How Can Attitudes Be Changed? Persuasion is the process by which one person tries to change the belief, opinion, position, or course of action of another through argument, pleading or explanation. How easily people are persuaded depends on how they process information. In central route processing, people pay attention to the content of the persuasive message. In peripheral-route processing, people pay attention to factors not involved in the content of the message, such as appearance or length.
Attribution Theory Attribution is the process of explaining human behavior. Attribution theory explains how people make attributions. Situational cause explains that the behavior is caused by the situation the individual was in, or factors outside the individual. Dispositional cause explains that the behavior is due to personality or character, or other factors from within the individual. Fundamental attribution error is the tendency to overestimate the influence of internal factors and underestimate the external factors in determining the behavior of others.