PSYCH 1103 1st Edition Lecture 18 Outline of Last Lecture I. Attribution II. Kelley’s Attribution TheoryIII. Attribution errors a. Fundamental attribution errorb. Ultimate attribution errorc. Actor-observer effect d. Self-serving biasIV. Protective biases V. Attitudes VI. Attitudes and behavior VII. Attitude formation a. Early learning b. Mere exposurec. Operant conditioning d. Classical conditioning VIII. Attitude change IX. Cognitive dissonance theory Outline of Current Lecture I. Where’s the dissonance? II. Self-perception theorya. Daryl Bem III. Stereotypes and prejudice a. Processes that create attitudes also create stereotypes b. Effects of media on stereotypes c. Portrayal of women in the media d. Theories of prejudice Current LectureI. Where’s the dissonance?a. In cognitive dissonance theory, people assumed to:i. Recall previous behavior ii. Realign attitude to be more consistent iii. Dissonance is in conscious, explicit comparison b. Lieberman et ali. Compared anterograde amnesics and matched control subjects1. Can remember their past, but can’t make new memories ii. Amnesics should not show cognitive dissonance iii. Participants rated art prints iv. Given some filler tasks v. Choice between 2 to take one home vi. Re-rate the whole set vii. Cog-diss predicts that chosen should be rated higher now, non-chosen lower, but not for amnesics II. Self-perception theory a. Daryl Bem i. People do not have well-formed attitudes about many situations 1. Forest conservation 2. Electronic voting 3. Radiation therapy ii. If they act before consolidating an attitude, they reflect on that action to help establish the attitude 1. Self-perception of own behavior affects attitude iii. For example: gene vandalizes the athletic department’s storage shred. Later concludes they are jerks III. Stereotypes and prejudice a. The processes that create attitudes also create stereotypes i. Stereotypes: attitudes about a class of people 1. Negative: “Southerners are lazy.”2. Positive: “Asian Americans are highly intelligent.” 3. Problems arise in:a. Drawing conclusions about the whole group i. Limited, non-representative sample ii. Media influences b. Effects of media on stereotypes i. How many executives do you know?1. But we have strong impression of what they are likeii. Media may be one major source of these impressions 1. Media constantly presents information about social world c. Portrayal of women in the media i. Under-representation 1. 38% of main characters in TV storylinesii. Sexualization 1. 41% of video games women totally or partially nude 2. Although not involved in sex iii. Women (and men) represented in traditional roles (TV, movies) 1. Across cultures iv. Women tend to be represented in subordinate roles (TV, movies) 1. Not near the top of hierarchy d. Theories of prejudicei. Motivational theories 1. Prejudice may help people feel secure and fulfill a need forantagonism against others 2. Authoritarianism a. Personality type characterized by:i. Acceptance of traditional valuesii. Willingness to follow authority figures iii. Inclination to act aggressively to threats from out-group b. Prejudice against others part of keeping group safe 3. Others may also gain social identity from behavior against out-group ii. Cognitive theories 1. Categories and concepts are how we deal with the complex nature of the world a. Novel instance of a dog treated with concept for dog b. Concepts contain some generalization. Dogs are:i. Friendly ii. Fast iii. Fierce 2. Stereotypes and prejudice reflect inference from categories a. Old people are:i. Forgetful ii. Silly 3. Stereotypes reflect inference from “type of person” or social categories a. Based on unrepresentative sample 4. Generalization from category to single person a. Violates our desire to:i. Treat people as individuals ii. Form opinions based on individual merit 5. Implicit and explicit