Chapter 14: Social Psychology
1. Introduction
1. We are social animals.
2. We are moved to love and to hate, drastically.
3. We almost always care what others think or what others do or say.
4. Social psychology is the study of how we think about, influence, and relate to others.
2. Attributing behavior to persons or to situations
1. Fritz Heider came up with the attribution theory which says people measure others’ behavior by either their internal disposition or the external situation that they’re in.
1. In other words, people behave due to their innate nature or because they’re caught up in the situation.
2. For example, a person may be quiet by nature, but in the right situation, may be very outgoing.
2. The fundamental attribution error is that we tend to overestimate a person’s natural personality and underestimate the position that they’re in.
1. An experiment with a set-up “mean or friendly” girl showed that we see behavior as being determined by one’s personality, not by the situation.
2. When we view others, it’s easy to fall into the fundamental attribution error trap. Studies show that when people have the situations reversed, they better see the situation from another’s point-of-view.
3. How we interpret another’s behavior has consequences—both good and/or bad.
1. We must be cautious in interpreting another person’s actions or inactions.
2. Politics comes into play when interpreting actions or inactions.
1. For instance, the author of the textbook's on which these notes are based seems to clearly hold the biased view of a political liberal. He suggests that a person’s place in life the result of things beyond his or her control.
1. From the liberal angle, the author argues that the people who stayed in New Orleans while Hurricane Katrina bore down on New Orleans. He suggests leniency for their inaction because they were “not offered bus transportation.”
2. The political liberal also suggests that society is the cause of crime and terrorism and that people must
1. We are social animals.
2. We are moved to love and to hate, drastically.
3. We almost always care what others think or what others do or say.
4. Social psychology is the study of how we think about, influence, and relate to others.
2. Attributing behavior to persons or to situations
1. Fritz Heider came up with the attribution theory which says people measure others’ behavior by either their internal disposition or the external situation that they’re in.
1. In other words, people behave due to their innate nature or because they’re caught up in the situation.
2. For example, a person may be quiet by nature, but in the right situation, may be very outgoing.
2. The fundamental attribution error is that we tend to overestimate a person’s natural personality and underestimate the position that they’re in.
1. An experiment with a set-up “mean or friendly” girl showed that we see behavior as being determined by one’s personality, not by the situation.
2. When we view others, it’s easy to fall into the fundamental attribution error trap. Studies show that when people have the situations reversed, they better see the situation from another’s point-of-view.
3. How we interpret another’s behavior has consequences—both good and/or bad.
1. We must be cautious in interpreting another person’s actions or inactions.
2. Politics comes into play when interpreting actions or inactions.
1. For instance, the author of the textbook's on which these notes are based seems to clearly hold the biased view of a political liberal. He suggests that a person’s place in life the result of things beyond his or her control.
1. From the liberal angle, the author argues that the people who stayed in New Orleans while Hurricane Katrina bore down on New Orleans. He suggests leniency for their inaction because they were “not offered bus transportation.”
2. The political liberal also suggests that society is the cause of crime and terrorism and that people must