1. You’ve Got an Attitude!

2. Survey
Fill out the questionnaire using Miley Cyrus or Donald Trump as your inspiration.

3. What might this driver be thinking about the negative behavior ahead of him?

4. Attribution Theory (Fritz Heider)
Situation = environmental factors
external
Disposition = traits or personality factors
Internal/innate
We tend to give a causal explanation for someone’s behavior; often crediting:

5. Attribution Handout
How many times did you circle “depends on the situation” for yourself compared to the other person?
Why does this happen?
Focus more on the person than situation.
Culture – Collective vs. Individualistic

6. Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE)
(FAE) Tendency to over estimate the Disposition/Trait & under estimate the Situation
Actor-Observer Bias
“We” (Actor) attribute our behavior to the situation
“They” (Observer) attribute our behavior to our disposition.
The actor-observer bias increases in situations where the outcomes are negative.
A-O Bias decreases if you like someone.
Essentially, people tend to make different attributions depending upon whether they are the actor in a situation or the observer.

7. Attributions Continued
Self-Serving Bias
The tendency to view positives about ourselves as dispositional (innate traits)
Also the tendency to view negatives about ourselves as situational.
Why do we think like this?
This helps to protect our ego. It also enables us to confirm that we are meeting our goals.
How might the Self-Serving Bias influence what each of these students think contributed to their grade?

8. Self Fulfilling Prophecy
Self Fulfilling Prophecy: Negative thoughts predict negative behaviors.
Pygmalion effect, or Rosenthal effect
Higher expectation = higher performance
In other words, what you believe will come true because you will subconsciously and consciously act in ways that cause the event to happen. Self-fulfilling prophecies are powerful, and real.
Additionally, interpretations of things like "good" and "bad" tend to be weighted by one’s expectations. The person, who is going to have a bad day for example, might miss the bus because he is grumbling about the evil portents for the day. He might seem negative or depressed at work, which might fuel nasty responses from co-workers. As the day gets worse, the person may then return home to fighting children, an unmade dinner or a fight with a spouse. All things will be interpreted in a negative light.

9. The Highway Man! Read the story and answer the questions!
Why do you think people have a tendency to blame the victim?
If the story was about a widow who was crossing the river to work to support her children, would that have changed your ranking? Why or why not?
How do attributions and attribution errors explain your ranking of these characters?
How can individuals change their errors in attributions?

10. Attributions Continued
Just World Belief:
We tend to believe that the world is, on the whole, fair, and that wrongs will be punished and rights rewarded at some time in the future.
“You get what you deserve, and you deserve what you get!”
A number of studies have shown beliefs that people who suffer deserve it and have brought their ills upon themselves.
A common belief is that homeless people are obviously lazy, while rich people probably got their wealth through hard work.

11. How Correlated are Actions and Attitudes?

12. Attitudes & Behaviors may not be as correlated as you think!
Read the description of the psychology experiment & answer the question.
When we feel less coerced & more responsible for troubling actions we feel greater cognitive dissonance.
Rationalization: protects our ego; If we choose to do/say it, we must believe it.
Cognitive Dissonance Theory: When attitudes and behaviors do not match it creates stress. Especially when you feel responsible for your behavior!!
What causes changes in our attitudes?
Persuasion
Credibility
Likability
Attractiveness