Socio-cultural Cognition (4.1) 1. Describe the role of situational and dispositional factors in explaining behaviour. 2. Discuss two errors in attributions. (for example, fundamental attribution error, illusory correlation, self‑serving bias). 3. Evaluate social identity theory, making reference to relevant studies. 4. Explain the formation of stereotypes and their effect on behaviour. Social Norms (4.2) 1. Explain social learning theory, making reference to two relevant studies. 2. Discuss the use of compliance techniques. ( for example, lowballing, foot‑in‑the‑door, reciprocity) 3. Evaluate research on conformity to group norms. 4. Discuss factors influencing conformity. (for example, culture, groupthink, risky shift, minority influence). Cultural Norms (4.2) 5. Define the terms culture and cultural norms. 6. Examine the role of two cultural dimensions on behaviour. (for example, individualism/collectivism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, Confucian dynamism, masculinity/femininity). 7. Using one or more examples, explain emic and etic concepts.

 But why?  Sales tactics are always carefully examined on the basis of what would most likely persuade customers to buy specific products.

1.Authority 2.Commitment 3.Liking 4.Reciprocity 5. Scarcity 6. Social Proof Robert Cialdini (one of leading researchers in the psychology of persuasion)

 People comply more often with those in positions of some authority. Advertisers use famous people to brand their product so that people associate the brand with the famous person. E.g. – Can you think of any?

 Once people have agreed to something, either by their behavior or by a statement of belief, they are likely to comply with similar requests.  Lewin (1951): Goal gradients – the longer people commit to something, the less likely they are to abandon the goal  (low-balling) – stay tuned!

 People comply with requests from people they like.

 Reciprocity: People often feel the need to ‘return a favor’. E.g. Bazaar in Instanbul  Reciprocity Principal – the social norm that we should treat others the way they treat us. (We feel we ‘owe’ the individual who appears to be expending a great deal of time and effort on us) - trained from childhood to abide by this rule  Exchange Theory – we analyze all interactions and situations according to a profit-cost analysis (how many cups of coffee = how many carpets)

 Arousal of feelings of guilt plays another key role  Lynn and McCall (1998) – when restaurant customers given a mint or sweet with bill, the size of tip they leave increases  Reciprocity does not always involve giving gifts. Can also be because one feels that the other person has already compromised on what he or she wanted, and that this compromise should be acknowledged with some behaviour. (Again, principle is: we feel we owe the other person a social debt)

 Opportunities seem more valuable to people when they are less readily available. This is why there are so many ‘last chance’ and ‘limited time offer...’ sales.

 People view a behavior as correct if they see others performing it. Social affirmation.

 Door-in-the-face: request made that will surely be let down. Then a second request is made which asks less of someone. ◦ Cialdini et al. (1975) – juvenile delinquents zoo ◦ See this in real life: salesperson lowers price of a product or service because customer thinks it is too expensive

Foot-in-the-door: getting people to make a commitment to something small, with the hope of persuading them to agree to something larger  Ex. Sign a petition (hoping to get person to later support that cause in, say, upcoming elections)  Dickerson et al. (1992): conserve water in dormitory showers (signing a poster)

Low-balling: persuasion technique in which an item or service is offered at a lower price than is actually intended to be charged, after which the price is raised to increase profits.  Cialdini et al. (1974) – University setting (psych students volunteering for cognition study…7am)

Hazing: series of initiation rites in order to join an exclusive group (such as a sports team) or a college fraternity.  Similar to initiation rites in African societies (young men entering adulthood); also military training (humiliation and overcoming difficulty)  Participant must rationalize that it is “worth it” to be part of the group – sense of accomplishment when completed (they are ‘owed’ respect)  Aronson and Mills (1959) – experiment to see if someone who has had to endure trouble or pain to join a group will value it more highly (female college students – sex discussion group) ◦ Gerard and Mathewson (1966) – women with electric shocks found their group interesting, intelligent and desirable ◦ Both of these studies have clear ethical problems associated with them (e.g. deliberately inducing pain)….unlikely repeated today