Attitude

-Attitude• Attitude refers to evaluation of things. • The things can be concrete objects like cars or ideas like Marxism. • Attitudes have: ➢ an affective component ➢ a cognitive component ➢ a behavioral component • Self-monitoring acts to keep our attitudes in line with our behavior. • The link between Attitudes & Behavior is weak because of: ➢ Presence of other cognitions ➢ Social pressure ➢ Forgetting attitude at time of acting  Attitude change can occur through: ➢ Self-monitoring ➢ Experience ➢ persuasion ➢ Cognitive Dissonance • Cognitive Dissonance (Festinger, 1957) • Attitudes are influenced by Cognitive Dissonance • Cognitive Dissonance is a state of discomfort and tension which arises when we realize that two or more of our cognitions are inconsistent with each other. • People seek to reduce Cognitive Dissonance. • Attitudes are measurable • Scales for measurement of attitudes include: ➢ Thurston scales (“agree X disagree” response on presented statements). 1|Page ➢ Likert scales (“strongly agree – agree – undecided – disagree – strongly disagree” responses with presented statements). ➢ Semantic differential scale (rating on bipolar 7-point scales e.g. strong-weak; good-bad).  Attribution Theory: ➢ A theory about the way people decide on the motives of others, and of themselves. ➢ or the processes by which individuals explain the causes of behavior and events. ➢ Attribution may be caused by: o the Situations are in (Situational Attribution) o the personality (Constitutional, Dispositional Attribution) ➢ Judgment of behavior of people is based on: ▪ Consensus ▪ Distinctiveness ▪ Consistency  Impression Formation ➢ People often form impressions of others from irrelevant or unimportant material. ➢ Impression management: people tend to control the impressions others form about them. ➢ Stereotypes refer to generalizations based on such large categories of people. ➢ Generalizations are almost certain to be wrong ➢ Impressions can sometimes become “self-fulfilling prophecies.  Social Attraction Social attraction towards other people is an almost a universal feature of mankind that depends on: • Proximity • Exposure • Physical attraction • Holding similar views • Self-disclosure 2|Page  Leadership ➢ Leadership is the process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the achievement of a common task. ➢ No set of characteristics which make a person a leader. ➢ Qualities demanded of a leader depend on the situation. ➢ Combination of individual’s qualities and the situation makes someone an effective leader. ➢ Leadership is strongly related to “power”: o Legitimate power (power flowing from a role or job) o Reward power (control over the rewarding of others e.g., having a lot of money) o Expert power (is attained by the manager due to his or her own talents such as skills, knowledge, abilities, or previous experience.)  Conformity ➢ Conformity is the tendency to agree with others in a group. ➢ Conformity is determined by: • Need for social approval • Informational influence (tendency to validate our understanding of the world against that of others) • Obedience • Social pressure • Cohesive group  Group effect on Behavior • Social facilitation - The mere presence of others may improve performance on simple welllearned tasks. • Social inhibition - Presence of others inhibits learning complex tasks. - Groups are often thought of as making “lowest common denominator” decisions of being devoted to compromise. 3|Page  Risky shift ➢ Risky shift refers to the phenomenon where a group makes a decision that carries inherently higher risk than a decision that each of the individuals would have made on their own. ➢ Once a group of people start a discussion on a topic, their positions and opinions become polarized and more extreme. Those in the middle, the moderates, are either pushed to one extreme or the other or become silenced.  Eye contact ➢ Eye contact occurs when two people look at each other's eyes at the same time. ➢ Eye contact is a form of “non-verbal communication” and is thought to have a large influence on ‘’social behavior”. ➢ The act is a meaningful and important sign of confidence and social communication. ➢ Different cultures have different rules of eye contact and these can lead to erroneous misunderstandings, with religious and social differences often altering its meaning greatly.  Intra-group & Inter-group Behavior ➢ People join the group to get: o Social reward o Prestige o Achieve things o Forced to join ➢ Group cohesiveness is tendency for members to want to remain as group members ➢ The more rewarding the group the more cohesive it tends to be. ➢ Group cohesiveness tends to be reinforced when the group is competing against other groups. ➢ Group cohesiveness is often matched by an increase in positive cognitions about one’s own group and negative cognitions towards other groups perceived as rivals. 4|Page ➢ Under some circumstances, negative cognitions. about the outgroup can run to outright hostility. ➢ Identification to a group identifies non-members (the out-group). This have negative consequences and it can produce prejudice. ➢ Prejudice is mainly based on stereotypes about out-group members. ➢ Prejudice may be reduced when members of two ethnic groups are of equal socioeconomic status. ➢ Prejudice may be reduced by getting members of different groups to work co-operatively together on tasks.  Altruism (Helping others) ➢ Altruism refers to behavior of people to help others while not receiving a gain themselves. ➢ Altruism boosts self-esteem by complying with a social norm that values helping others. ➢ Altruism may result from Empathy (our ability to identify with other people and their sufferings). ➢ Altruism reflects “reciprocity” (refers to responding to a positive action with another positive action, rewarding kind actions).  The Self (the “I”) • Self-concept A subjective idea about who are we. • Self-recognition The ability to recognize our-selves as being distinguishable from others. • Self-image The sort of person we think we are (good or bad). • Self-esteem How favorably or unfavorably we evaluate ourselves as influenced by our early upbringing and social comparisons. 5|Page  Values and Norms ➢ Values refer to collective belief about what is right, good and desirable that has developed within a social group. ➢ Norms refer to expected ways of behaving in specific situations which reflect the values of the group. ➢ Values and norms help to regulate individual’s behavior by defining certain goals and the means of attaining them. ➢ Individuals learn values and norms through the process of socialization.  Anomie ➢ Anomie refers to a state of “normlessness” or lack of the usual ethical standards in an individual or group. ➢ Anomie is a "condition in which society provides little moral guidance to individuals”. ➢ It is the breakdown of social bonds between an individual and the community. ➢ Delinquency, crime, and suicide are often reactions to anomie ➢ Anomie is associated with considerable psychological distress: o Acute anomie is caused by sudden change or crisis (migration, bereavement, redundancy) which places the individual in an unfamiliar situation. o Chronic anomie refers to circumstances where the rules of a social group have become unclear to individuals or do not provide means of meeting aspirations (long term unemployment or homelessness). o  Socialization Socialization is the process by which individuals learn values and norms: ▪ Primary socialization – It is the informal process through which children learn to be competent members of their social groups (ethnic, religious, class). – largely takes place in the family. 6|Page ▪ Secondary socialization: --Is a more formal process through which individuals learn the norms associated with roles in society.  Social Role • Social Role: is the pattern of behavior associated with a position or status in society (teacher, client, daughter). • It can be described in terms of: ➢ behavior towards others (obligations) expected of the individual occupying the position, and ➢ the behavior from others (rights) expected in return.  Role Conflict ➢ Conflict among the roles begins because of the human desire to reach success, and because of the pressure put on an individual by two imposing and incompatible demands competing against each other. ➢ The effects of role conflict are related to individual personality characteristics and interpersonal relations. ➢ Role conflict may create considerable anxiety and a sense of inadequacy and failure in never living up to expectations.  Deviance & Stigma ➢ Deviant behavior is a behavior which contravenes the norms and values of the group and leads to social disapproval and may be stigmatizing. ➢ Stigma refers to an attribute of an individual which makes possessor as unacceptable, inferior and spoils identity.  Social Control ➢ Once deviance has been identified, mechanisms of social control are called upon to correct at and to stop from spreading, these may involve sanctions. ➢ Sanctions are designated to maintain and enforce the norms and values of a social group 7|Page ➢ Through the process of socialization and the mechanisms of social control, the beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors of the individual are shaped and patterned according to the values, norms and roles of the social group.  Social Structure ➢ Social structure refers to the broad arrangement of social groups within a society. ➢ Social structure is the organized pattern of social relationships and social institutions that together compose society. ➢ Social class is one example of social structure. ➢ Social class as a social structure, it guides and shapes human behavior at all levels, no matter how overtly visible or invisible it is at any given time.  Household & Family ➢ Household is a domestic unit consisting of the members of a family who live together along with nonrelatives such as servants. ➢ Defined in terms of residence ➢ Family defined in terms of kinship, marriage or parenthood o Nuclear family: refers to parents and children o Extended family: includes other people related by blood or marriage  Social Integration ➢ Social integration refers to the cohesion within a social group or community created by ties between individuals involving reciprocal responsibilities and mutual obligations. ➢ Main integrating factors in society include: o Marriage o Employment o Religious affiliations o Voluntary or political organizations 8|Page Past papers: ✓ all true about attitude change except: type of the message is not important for the persuasion. ✓ Doesn’t lead to change in attitudes – personal traits or novelty. ✓ Causes social attraction – self disclosure. ✓ Social norms affect – intentional behaviour. ✓ A state of “normlessness” or lack of the usual ethical standards in an individual or group – Anomie ✓ Anomie is related to – deviance. 9|Page