MASTER OF SCIENCE (M.Sc.

) IN
PSYCHOLOGY

SEMESTER-I

103 - SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY-I

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DIRECTOR
SCHOOL OF DISTANCE EDUCATION
ANDHRA UNIVERSITY, VISAKHAPATNAM – 530 003

SCHOOL OF DISTANCE EDUCATION

ANDHRA UNIVERSITY
VISAKHAPATNAM
ANDHRA PRADESH
 Authors

Dr. V.Harilakshmi
Dr. Veena Sairam
Mrs. B. Nalini
 Paper- 103 : Social Psychology – I
SYLLABUS

Unit - I
The definition of the field of social Psychology
History of social Psychology and Social Psychology in India
Unit - II
Research Methods in social Psychology: Systematic observation,
correlation method and the experimental method.

Unit - III
Social Perception
Nonverbal communication. Attribution impression formation
and management.

UNIT-IV

Social cognition. Affect and cognition Schemes and stereotypes.

Interpersonal, attraction. Friendship, love and relationships.

Unit - V

Attitudes Definition formation of attitudes, theories of attitude

change, prejudice and discrimination
 INDEX
Lesson No. Title Page No.

1. The Definition and Field of Social Psychology ........................... 1

2. History of Social Psychology-I .................................................... 5

3. History of Social Psychology-II ................................................. 11

4. Social Psychology in India ........................................................ 18

5. Research Methods in Social Psychology ................................. 26

6. Social Perception: Non-verbal Communication ........................ 33

7. Social Perception: Impression Formation and Management ... 39

8. Social Perception: Attribution ................................................... 43

9. Social Cognition: Affect and Cognition ..................................... 50

10. Social Cognition: Schemas and Stereotypes ........................... 55

11. Social Cognition :Interpersonal Attraction ................................ 60

12. Social Cognition: Friendship, Love and Relationships ............. 65

13. Attitudes: Definition and Formation .......................................... 72

14. Attitudes: Theories of Attitude Change .................................... 78

15. Attitudes: Prejudice and Discrimination …………………………85

 Chapter - 1

THE DEFINITION OF THE FIELD OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

1.0 Objectives

1. You will gain an understanding of the definition of social psychology

2. You will also know the scope of social psychology

1.1 Social Psychology: A working definition

Social psychology is the scientific field that seeks to understand the

nature and causes of individual behaviour and thought in social situations. The

core values that all fields must adopt to be considered scientific in nature

include accuracy, objectivity, skepticism and open-mindedness. Accuracy is a

commitment to gathering and evaluating information about the world in as

careful, precise, and error-free a manner as possible. Objectivity is a

commitment to obtaining and evaluating such information in a manner that is as

free from bias as humanly possible. Skepticism is a commitment to accepting

findings as accurate only to the extent that they have been verified over and

over again. Open- mindedness is a commitment to changing one’s views-even

views that are strongly held if existing evidence suggests that these views are in

accurate.

1
 Social psychology as a field is deeply committed to these values and

applies them in its efforts to understand the nature of social behaviour and

social thought. For this reason, it makes sense to describe our field as scientific

in orientation.

Societies differ greatly in terms of their views concerning courtship and

marriage; yet it is still individuals who fall in love. Similarly, societies vary greatly

in terms of their overall levels of violence; yet it is still individuals who perform

aggressive actions or refrain from doing so. The same argument applies to

virtually all other aspects of social behaviour, from prejudice to helping: the

actions are performed by, and thoughts occur in the minds of, individuals.

Because of this basic fact, the focus, in social psychology, is squarely on

individuals. Social psychologists, realize, of course, that individuals do not exist

in isolation from social and cultural influences -far from it. But the field’s major

interest lies in understanding the factors that shape the actions and thoughts of

individual humans in social settings.

Social psychologists are primarily interested in understanding the wide

range of conditions that shape the social behaviour and thought of individuals-

their actions, feelings, beliefs, memories, and inferences-concerning other

persons. A huge number of factors play a role in this regard.

We are strongly affected by the actions of other persons and their

appearances. Even their names can have strong effects on our reactions to them,

and on their perceptions of themselves. Cognitive processes to play a crucial

role in social behaviour and social thought. Social psychologists are well aware

2
of the importance of such processes and realize that in order to understand

people’s behaviour in social situations, we must understand their thinking about

such situations - construals, as they are often termed. Research findings

indicate that even the physical environment does influence our feelings,

thoughts, and behaviour, sociological variables certainly fall within the realm of

modern social psychology. There are also small samples of aspects of social

behaviour that can be influenced by cultural factors. By culture we simply mean

the organized system of shared meanings, perceptions, and beliefs held by

persons belonging to any group. Attention to the effects of cultural factors is an

increasingly important trend in social psychology as our field attempts to take

account of the growing cultural diversity in many different countries.

Many social psychologists have come to believe that our preferences,

behaviours, emotional reactions and even attitudes are affected to some extent

by our biological inheritance. The view that genetic factors play an important

role in social behaviour is represented in social psychology by the evolutionary

perspective. This perspective suggests that natural selection can play a role in

shaping various aspects of social behaviour and social thought as well as

physical characteristics. Natural selection is the process whereby biological

features or patterns of behaviour that help organisms reproduce - get their

genes into the next generation-tend to spread throughout a species overtime. In

essence, if some characteristic that is genetically determined increases the

chances that organisms will reproduce, it becomes increasingly common in

succeeding generations. Social psychologists who adopt the evolutionary

perspective suggest that this process applies to at least some aspects of social

3
behaviour. Because the evolutionary perspective makes many intriguing

predictions about social behavior and thought, it has gained increasing

recognition in social psychology.

1.2 Summary

Social psychology focuses mainly on understanding the causes of social

behaviour and social thought-on identifying factors that shape our feelings,

behavior and thought in social situations. It seeks to accomplish this goal

through the use of scientific methods, and it takes care full note of the fact that

social behavior and thought are influenced by a wide range of social, cognitive,

environmental, cultural and biological factors.

1.3 Key terms

Culture, Evolutionary perspective, Natural selection, Social psychology.

1.4 Unit-end questions

1. Definesocialpsychology.Whatarethevariablesstudiedinsocialpsychology?

2. What are the assumptions of social psychology?

1.5 Source

Baron, R.A., &Byrne, D. (2000). Social Psychology. New Delhi: Pearson

Education.

*****

4
 Chapter - 2

HISTORY OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY - I

2.0 Objective

1. You will know the roots of social psychology and the gradual evolution of

social psychology into a distinct branch.

2.1 Early Beginnings

It is difficult to set any beginning point for social psychology. It can

perhaps be said to have begun when man first developed symbolic terms to

deal with his relations with others, which undoubtedly occurred in prehistoric

times. The word social itself comes from the Latin socialis, which has roots that

go back as far as linguistic history can take us to Sanskrit, in which the word

sacati means “he follows or accompanies.” Sacati is, in turn, related to words in

Greek and the Romance languages that have to do with association, following

sharing, and simpler concepts.

The appearance of Western civilization, as indicated by the construction

of cities, is said to have taken place in the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates

5
Rivers. The stability and success of these early settlements was undoubtedly

assured by the fact that their people had developed a written language enabling

them to record social norms in the form of laws and regulations. These laws

were codified about 2000 B.C., and issued by the reigning king, Hammurabi, in

what is probably the first social document. The Code of Hammurabi is

particularly notable in that it promulgated a social order based on the rights of

the individual, as protected by the authority of the state. It doubtless influenced

the formulation of laws included in the first five books of the Bible, which

appeared about the first millennium before the present era. The relationship

between the individual and society also interested the Greeks, especially the

Athenians. The chief figures here are Solon, whose code of laws was a marked

step in the direction of democracy, and Plato and Aristotle, who each wrote on

political matters.

Concern about man’s relation to man appears in the writings of many

philosophers and theologians during the centuries that followed. The British

philosophers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries speculated about the

motives of social behaviour. Thomas Hobbes about power, Adam Smith about

self-interest and Jeremy Bentham about pleasure.

2.2 The appearance of sociology

Auguste Comte, the French mathematician and philosopher, writing

about the middle of the nineteenth century, stated that he was going to write a

6
treatise on social psychology (Le systeme de morale positive), but he died

before he could carry out his intention. He is also credited with being the

founder of sociology; his System edepolitique positive expounds the view that

man is both the cause and the consequence of society. Later in the century,

other scholars began to subject social behavior to a scientific scrutiny.

CharlesDarwinincludedsocialformsofbehaviourinhisDescentofmanin1871andin

1893 Herbert Spencer published his Study of sociology The next few decades

saw a great deal of activity on the part of sociologists. Gustave Le Bon

published his classic book on crowds and their behaviour in 1895. Both he and

Emile Durkheim maintained that human behavior is dominated by a group mind.

Charles Horton Cooley and George Herbert Mead, both American sociologists,

disputed this idea and developed theories with respect to the development of

the self, which in turn, contributed to the self theories that personality

psychologists proposed during the 1940’s and1950’s.

2.3 Contributions of psychologists

We have given particular emphasis to the work of sociologists, in as

much as psychologists played only a minor part in the early development of

social psychology. The first psychologists to show an interest in social

behaviour were Heymann Steinthal and Moritz Lazarus, who were active in

developing folk psychology in Germany during the 1860’s. They founded a

journal that reported folklore, but their work was directed toward mysticism and

philosophy, as they speculated about the thought processes of primitive people.

7
Wilhelm Wundt, the father of experimental psychology, also wrote extensively

on folk psychology and the evolution of culture.

William McDougall, a British psychologist, published his Introduction to

Social Psychology in 1908, the same year that an American sociologist Edward

A. Ross also published a Social Psychology. McDougall’s social psychology

was focused on the individual, in contrast to the development of social

psychological thought up to that point, but it proposed that social behaviour

could be explained largely in terms of instincts. Although McDougall’s approach

was welcomed at first, within a couple of decades it had been largely discarded

by social psychologists. The publication of Floyd H. Allport’s Social Psychology

in 1924 marked the beginning of what might be called the modern era in social

psychology. All port accepted the individual approach to social behavior

proposed by McDougall and rejected the group mind idea that had been a

recurring theme in the writings of European sociologists and psychologists, but

he refused to accept the instinctual theories of McDougall, preferring to view

social behavior as the result of what he called pre potent reflexes, which are

modified through conditioning. This contribution not only made his work

consistent with the behaviouristic psychology of the day, but also stimulated a

line of research found today in studies of social learning. The publication of

Allport’s book also marked a turning point in social psychology, because it was

the first social treatise to be based on results of experimentation rather than on

observation, theorizing, and speculation. It thus initiated a trend that has

8
become a major approach in social psychology today.

Scientific experimentation in social psychology first began in 1898, when

Norman Triplett found that children winding up reels of string to which flags had

been attached worked faster when they were with others than when they were

alone. This group effect on individual behaviour was also observed by Walther

Moede, a German psychologist, who noted that hand grip strength and pain

endurance were greater when subjects were with others than when they were

alone. However, it was Allport’s report of experiments measuring the influence

of the group on individual behavior that attracted the interest of experimentally

minded psychologists and led to what we recognize today as experimental

socialpsychology.Twoclassicstudiesduringthe1930’saremilepostsinthisdevelopm

ent trend. One is the study of the development of social norms conducted by

Muzafer Sherif and the other is the study of social climates by Kurt Lewin and

his associates.

2.4 Summary

Social psychology may be said to have begun with the first codes of laws

regulating social behaviour. British philosophers of the seventeenth and

eighteenth centuries speculated about the motives of social behaviour, but it

was not until the nineteenth century that scholars directed serious study to

sociology and cultural anthropology. The first formal works in social psychology

appeared early in this century and were largely of a speculative and theoretical

9
nature. Scientific experimentation in social psychology began in 1898, but the

first book in the field was not published until1924.

2.5 Unit-end questions

1. Trace the early beginnings of social psychology.

2. Describe the appearance of sociology and the contributions of

psychologists to social psychology.

2.6 Source

Lindgren, H.C. (1962). An Introduction to Social Psychology. New Delhi:

Wiley Eastern Limited.

*****

10
 Chapter - 3

HISTORY OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY - II

3.0 Objectives

1. You will be able to trace out the emergence of modern social psychology

2. You will also appreciate the problem of relevance in the study of social

psychological issues.

3.1 Recent Events

Social psychology has gone through a number of major changes in the

last thirty or forty years. The most noticeable trend has been the growing

importance of the experimental approach since its beginnings in the 1920’s.

Another trend has been the development of personality psychology, an area of

interest shared by both clinical and social psychologists. The growing interest in

both personality and social psychology led Morton Prince in 1921 to change the

title of his Journal of abnormal psychology to the Journal of abnormal

11
psychology and social psychology, later shortened to the Journal of abnormal

and social psychology. Under the latter title, the journal played a leading role in

the field of social psychology until 1965, when it once again became the Journal

of abnormal psychology and the American Psychological Associated started the

Journal of personality and social psychology to serve as the major vehicle for

research in these overlapping fields. The Journal of social psychology was

founded by Carl Murch is on and John Dewey in 1929 to serve as an additional

resource for this growing area of research interest. The years since World War

II have seen an increase in the number of journals devoted to various aspects

of social psychology. Human relations, the Journal of experimental social

psychology, and the Journal of conflict resolution are three examples.

Social psychology has also branched out in to applied fields. In 1935

George Gallup began sampling public opinion by polling stratified samples of

the public. The same year saw the founding of the Society for the Psychological

Study of Social Issues, now a division of the American Psychological

Association. There has also been an increasing amount of cross-fertilization

between social psychology and industrial psychology. The classic study of

production and morale at the Hawthorne plan to f the Western Electric

Company in the late 1920’s and early 1930’s was essentially a field study of

social behaviour, and much of the work and the research conducted by

industrial psychologists today can be called applied social psychology.

Educational psychology has also moved from an earlier preoccupation with

problems of measurement, coupled with attempts to apply rather narrowly

12
defined principles of learning as developed in psychological laboratories, to a

concept of the class room and the school a social situations. Developmental,

clinical, Counseling psychologists are also making more extensive use of data

derived from research in social psychology.

Although the majority of studies in social psychology were carried out

by psychologists, sociologists continued to play an active role in the field. Their

major contributions have been in the form of theory building. There have been

the contributions of Robert K. Merton to role theory, as well as the concepts of

position, status, and role that were particularly emphasized in the work of Talcott

Parsons and Edward Shils. Sociologists have also done some important field

research with results of considerable psychological importance. Perhaps the

most significant of these are the studies of social class conducted by Lloyd

Warner and his associates in the 1930’s and 1940’s.

Studies of social status showed that people in different social classes

have different beliefs, attitudes, values, and patterns of behavior and that each

social class is, in effect, a kind of subculture within the larger national culture.

The importance of culture as a social variable was largely revealed by cultural

anthropologists, who were studying primitive peoples long before sociology or

social psychology, became academic disciplines. Most of the early research was

descriptive, but after World War I anthropologists began to write about topics of

psychological interest. Bronislaw Malinowski observed behavioral trends among

tribes in the Western Pacific that raised questions about the general applicability

13
of Freud’s theories of personality development. Ruth Benedict and Margaret

Mead drew conclusions from their studies of primitive societies that challenged

assumptions about human behaviour based on American and European

norms. A number of cultural anthropologists, including Margaret Mead have

also turned their attention to psychological aspects of the cultures of technically

advanced nations. Ralph Linton has synthesized much of the work of cultural

anthropologists and psychologists in his work on the cultural aspects of

personality.

3.2 The problem of relevance

Like other scientists today, social psychologists have been subjected to a

great deal of pressure to be socially relevant-that is, to get peace candidate

selected, to reduce international tensions, to eliminate poverty and race

prejudice, to solve urban spread and other ecological problems, to make public

education a more meaningful experience, and to help a harassed society cope

with delinquency and drug use. The pressure to be relevant has been partly

internal, because the majority of social psychologists are politically liberal, with

active social consciences, and partly external, in the form of exhortation from

other social scientists. There are other factors, of course. Investigations in social

psychology are concerned with interpersonal relations, attitudes and values,

inter group friction, social influence-in other words, behavioural dimensions that

are basic to all social difficulties, it is, for example, difficult to be involved in

studying problems related to aggression and prejudice without becoming

14
concerned about the implications of one’s findings on society. As a result of

these interests and involvements, a great many social psychologists have tried

to find ways in which their activities as behavioural scientists could be related to

some kind of activity outside the context of the laboratory and the classroom.

The Society for Study of Social Issues and the Journal of conflict resolution are

two expressions of this attempt to find relevance: another is the active

participation of social psychologists in such organizations as Americans for

Democratic Action, the American Civil Liberties Union, and the American

Federation of Scientists.

There have been some very positive gains as a result of social

psychologists’ involvement in social problem solving. For one thing, they have

learned a great deal. Involvement in relevant problems has given psychologists

a greater degree of awareness as to the dimensions of problems in the real

world outside the class room and the laboratory.

Aside from the learning experience, however, the attempts of social

psychologists to become involved in the solution of social problems have often

been disappointing. Part of this disappointment has come from the awareness

that there are a great many facets of social problems that have not been

adequately researched, and they find themselves with few hard data to serve as

a basis for action. The roles social psychologists play as scientists also lead

them to be tentative about thier findings and theories and to remember that the

field of science is littered with the discarded hulks of obsolete truths. Another

15
disappointment comes when social psychologists learn that their suggestions

and interpretations are often ignored or neglected both by social planners and

by the public at large. The findings of social psychologists threaten people

because, if they were implemented, vested interests would be challenged.

Furthermore, conclusions based on psychological research sometimes run

counter to common sense and the conventional wisdom.

In spite of these obstacles and problems, social psychologists as

individuals have something unusual to offer, especially in times of social

change. Such periods are both stressful and painful, and people tend to cling to

slogans and catch words that are apparently profound. If we are to understand

the implications of the events around us and our relationship to them, what we

need are not answers, but questions and this is where social psychologists can

make their best contribution.

3.3 Summary

Scientific experimentation in social psychology began in 1898, but the

first book in the field was not published until 1924. Since that date social

psychology has undergone a rapid expansion and now has become a source

area for a number of fields in the behavioural sciences, including public opinion

sampling, educational psychology, industrial psychology, and personality. Today,

many social psychologists are concerned about the social relevance of their work,

and are attempting to find some way to communicate their findings and insights

16
to the general public and to decision makers, in the hope that matters of policy

may be influenced. Although such attempts have not generally been very

successful, they have introduced social psychologists to real-life problems

outside the laboratory and classroom, and this encounter has led to a greater

sophistication and a broader awareness of the complexities of such problems.

3.4 Unit-end Questions

1. What are the recent trends in social psychological research?

2. Describe the problem of relevance faced by social psychologists in times

of rapid social change.

3.5 Source

Lindgren, H.C. (1962). An Introduction to Social Psychology. New Delhi:

Wiley Eastern Limited.

*****

17
 Chapter - 4

SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY IN INDIA

4.0 Objectives

1. You will understand the evolution of social psychology in India.

2. You will be able to appreciate the changing trends in social psychology

from the ancient to the recent times.

4.1 Social Psychology in India

What constitutes traditional social psychology in the West can be

rechristened as modem social psychology in India. Ancient social psychology is

largely a derivative of scriptures like the Dharma shastras, Nitishastra, Smritis,

Arthashastra, Mahabharata and Puranas. The concepts and principles of social

psychology inherent in these texts not only mirrored Indian society but also

proscribed models of social behavior till the beginning of the twentieth century.

Historically speaking, sociology and social anthropology have a much

18
longer history in India than social psychology. For the British, India was a very

different society, a mystical world of sadhus, snake charmers and supernatural.

The unique system of caste, religion, tribal and rural communities, rituals,

beliefs and traditions were baffling to an Englishman. It had no parallel in the

experiences of western societies. Erring in dealing with people without any

knowledge of their social background quite often created trouble for them. The

first freedom struggle of 1857 was largely due to this ignorance on the part of

the British who failed to fathom the consequences of violating cultural norms.

For the smooth functioning of the colonial administration, it was imperative for

them to learn about Indian customs and traditions. The British supported

sociological and anthropological studies and by the turn of the twentieth century

these disciplines became an integral part of Indian academics. Social

psychological research did not have that advantage and was largely ignored by

the colonial rulers.

What is today known as social psychology has its origins in the first

psychology department established at Calcutta University. N.N. Sengupta, the

first chairman of the department, had worked with Hugo Munsternberg at

Harvard University. Though his basic training was in experimental psychology,

he was deeply interested in the study of Indian society. When Sengupta moved

to Lucknow University, he worked with the eminent sociologist Radhakamal

Mukherjee to produce a book on social psychology in 1928.The book was

published from London and coming soon after Allport’s book, it was widely

noticed by the academic community.

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 This fine precedence of scholars from sociology and psychology working

together was, however, not followed in most of the later work in social

psychology in India. Rather, It proved to be an exception to the rule. In the

formative years, and even later, there was rarely any systematic academic

exchange between sociology and psychology. As a consequence, social

psychology could never become a bridge between the two sister disciplines.

Social psychology within the sociological tradition was well established in India.

Using its methods of survey and participant observation it focused on Indian

social institutions and their relation with social role specific behaviour. Its

analysis of primary and secondary data was very much in the tradition of Marx,

Durkheim, Manneheim and other European sociologists. Social psychologists

trained in psychology followed primarily the American tradition with its emphasis

on methodological sophistication. In only a few cases psychologists attempted

to study Indian customs, traditions, thinking and social institutions. The distance

between the two disciplines widened further with Indian psychologists making

all out efforts to establish psychology as a scientific discipline. They were

greatly inspired by the work done in the West.

For example, Bartlett developed the technique of serial reproduction to

study reconstructive memory of events, as it is transmitted from one person to

another in daily life. Jamuna Prasad used this technique to study the great

earthquake in Bihar in 1934. He collected and analyzed rumors. This, together

20
with the work of Durganand Sinha formed the basis of Festinger’s theory of

cognitive dissonance.

Barring a few experimental studies, most of the social psychological

studies of this time were logical analyses of various social phenomena. Before

independence social psychology was less popular than general and clinical

psychology.

After independence, Prime Minister Nehru was keen to put India on par

with the West as far as economic development was concerned. He considered

the adoption of Western science and technology as the panacea for the rapid

socioeconomic growth of the country. As a result, there was wholesale import of

Western science, a phenomenon, which affected psychology as well. Many

academic exchange programmes were launched, under which a large number

of Indian scholars went abroad for higher studies and many distinguished

Western scholars visited India. As a case in point, greatly disturbed by the mass

scale communal violence during India’s partition, Nehru sought the help of

UNESCO to conduct a large-scale study on communalism and social violence.

Gardner Murphy, part of the UNESCO team, traveled to India and many Indian

psychologists worked with him to understand the social psychological

consequences of communal hatred. These researches are summarized in

Murphy’s book, In the minds of men. With the establishment of the Indian

Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) in 1969, this and other areas were

given the necessary direction and support.

21
 In later years, Indian social psychologists continued to work in the areas of

prejudice, stereotypes, and social attitudes. Large-scale surveys were

conducted using various attitude measures. With increasing emphasis on public

awareness programmes for health, family planning, agricultural innovations,

attitude change became a major topic of research. The Western experience

revealed a close link between attitude change and desired social change for

development. Knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) studies became very

popular. Attitudes and stereotypes were the main areas of research as there

was plenty of scope for experimental work.

That social psychology was gaining in popularity in India was evident

from the surveys conducted from time to time .During the 1920-67 period, social

psychology ranked first accounting for 16 per cent of all publications. One-fifth of

all publications till the first two decades of independence were in the area of

social psychology, three-fourths of which were from the post-independence

period. The period hardly saw any experimental work. Publications in social

psychology increased from 19.2 percent in 1951-55 to 29.97 percent in 1972-

75.This quantum of publications, however, did not increase in the following

decades. What was clearly noticeable in later years was an upsurge in

experimental work in social psychology. The workshop organized by Pandey in

1979 on experimental social psychology in India was a major landmark in the

progress of social psychology, and a serious debate was initiated on disciplinary

growth.

22
 The initial research on group psychology tried to establish a causal

relationship between the presence of a group and individual performance along

the lines of Allport’s work. This area became popular in later years with the focus

on examining group processes. Work was done in the areas of intergroup

relations, prolonged deprivation, ingratiation and leadership in which the

influence of social groups on individual behaviour was investigated. Recently,

the interest has shifted to the study of ethnic identities, the rise of depressed

classes and other related topics. In much of this research, efforts are made to

establish linkages between macro level variables and micro level variables. The

approach and methodology remain consistent with the individualistic social

psychology of the American variety.

Another area, which enjoyed continued popularity was achievement

motivation. Numerous scales were constructed to measure achievement

motivation of school and college students. In the early 1960’s McClelland’sn-

Ach theory attracted the attention of a large number of Indian psychologists.

Some of them were convinced by his argument that an important cause of

India’s under development was the low achievement level of its people. The

Small Scale Industrial Training Institute was set up in Kakinada, Andhra

Pradesh, where many Indian psychologists collaborated with McClelland to

provide entrepreneurial training along the lines of his theory. Work in the area of

achievement motivation took a different turn in the 1980s with the focus shifting

to understanding the meaning of achievement in Indian culture.

23
 By the end of 1970s, there was a growing disillusionment in social

psychology in India with the applicability of Western theories. There was

mounting evidence that the social psychological theories developed in the West

did not provide solutions to the complex problems of social change and

development facing the country. It was urged that the Scientific understanding of

Indian social reality should benefit from the vast treasure house of traditional

psychological knowledge accumulated over centuries. The development of an

indigenous psychology with its own paradigm was called for.

In the first CSSR Survey of Research in Psychology, there was only one

chapter on social psychology. In the Third Survey one of the three volumes was

exclusively devoted to social psychological issues, covering the period 1977-86.

The survey highlighted the increasing research interest and popularity of this

discipline in India. Clinical, social, personality and organizational areas

accounted for 70 per cent of all publications.

4.2 Summary

What constitutes traditional social psychology in the West can be

rechristened as modern social psychology in India. Ancient social psychology is

largely a derivative of scriptures. What is today known as social psychology has

its origins in the first psychology department established at Calcutta University.

Social psychology within the sociological tradition was well established in India.

Using its methods of survey and participant observation it focused on Indian

24
social institutions and their relation with social role specific behaviour. Social

psychologists trained in psychology followed primarily the American tradition

with its emphasis on methodological sophistication.

With the establishment of the Indian Council of Social Science Research

(ICSSR) in 1969, social psychology was given the necessary direction and

support. In later years, Indian social psychologists continued to work in the

areas of prejudice, stereotypes, and social attitudes. Large-scale surveys were

conducted using various attitude measures. With increasing emphasis on public

awareness programmes for health, family planning, agricultural innovations,

attitude change became a major topic of research. By the end of 1970s, there

was a growing disillusionment in social psychology in India with the applicability of

Western theories. The development of an indigenous psychology with its own

paradigm was called for.

4.3 Unit-end questions

1. Trace the evolution of social psychology from ancient scriptures to

indigenization.

4.4 Source

Dalal, A.K., & Mishra, G. (Eds.). (2001). New Directions in Indian

Psychology: Social Psychology. New Delhi: Sage.

*****

25
 Chapter - 5

RESEARCH METHODS IN SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

5.0 Objectives

1. You will know the various methods in social psychology

2. You will be able to appreciate the advantages and disadvantages of the

various methods of social psychology

5.1 Systematic observation: Describing the world around us

One basic technique for studying social behaviour is systematic

observation - carefully observing behaviour as it occurs. It is observation

accompanied by careful and accurate measurement. Naturalistic observation

in systematic observation is the observation of behaviour in natural settings.

The researcher would simply notice what was happening in various contexts;

she or he would make no attempt to change the behavior of the persons being

observed. Such observation requires that the researcher take great pains to

avoid influencing the person in any way. Thus, the researcher would try to be as

26
in conspicuous as possible, and might even try to hide behind natural barriers.

Another technique that is often included under the heading of

systematic observation is known as the survey method. Here, researchers ask

large numbers of persons to respond to questions about their attitudes or

behaviour. Surveys are used for many purposes. Social psychologists

sometimes use this method to measure attitudes concerning social issues - for

instance, national health care or affirmative action programmes. Scientists

and practitioners in other fields use the survey method to measure voting

preferences prior to elections and to assess consumer reactions to new

products.

Surveys offer several advantages. Information can be gathered about

thousands or even hundreds of thousands of persons with relative ease.

Further, since surveys can be constructed quickly, public opinion on issues can

be obtained rapidly-very soon after the issues arise. In order to be useful as a

research tool, though, a survey must meet certain requirements. First, there is

the question of sampling-the persons who participate must be representative of

the larger population about which conclusions are to be drawn. If this condition

is not met, serious errors can result. Yet another issue that must be carefully

addressed with respect to surveys is the way in which the items are worded, as

they can exert strong effects on the outcomes obtained.

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5.2 Correlation: The search for relationships

At various times, you have probably noticed that some events appear to

be related to each other: as one changes, the other appears to change, too.

The term correlation refers to a tendency for one aspect of the world to change

as the other changes. From the point of view of science, the existence of a

correlation between two variables can be very useful. This is so because when

a correlation exists, it is possible to predict one variable from information about

one or more other variables. The ability to make such predictions is one

important goal of all branches of science, including social psychology. Being

able to make accurate predictions can be very useful.

The stronger the correlation between the variables in question, the more

accurate the predictions. Correlations can range from 0 to-1.00 or +1.00; the

greater the departure from 0, the stronger the correlation. Positive numbers

mean that as one variable increases, the other increases too. Negative

numbers indicate that as one variable increases, the other decreases.

These basic facts underlie an important method of research sometimes

used by social psychologists: the correlational method. In this approach, social

psychologists attempt to determine whether, and to what extent, different

variables are related to each other. This involves making careful observations of

each variable, and then performing appropriate statistical tests to determine

whether and to what degree the variables are correlated.

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 However, even a strong correlation between two variables does not

necessarily mean that one causes the other. Despite this major drawback, the

correlational method of research is sometimes very useful to social psychologists.

It can be used in natural settings, and it is often highly efficient :a large amount

of information can be obtained in a relatively short period of time. However, the

fact that it is generally not conclusive with respect to cause-and-effect

relationship is a serious flaw.

5.3 The Experimental method: Knowledge through systematic intervention

The correlational method of research is very useful from the point of view

of one important goal of science: the ability to make accurate predictions. It is

less useful, though, from the point of view of reaching yet another goal:

explanation. In order to attain the goal of explanation, social psychologists

employ a method of research known as experimentation or experimental method.

Experimentation involves the following strategy: One variable is changed

systematically, and the effects of these changes on one or more other variables

are carefully measured. If systematic changes in one variable produce changes

in another variable, it is possible to conclude with reasonable certainty that

there is indeed a causal relationship between these variables: that changes in

one do indeed cause changes in the other. Because the experimental method is

so valuable in answering this kind of question, it is frequently the method of

choice in social psychology. But there is no single best method of research.

Rather, social psychologists, like all other scientists, choose the method that is

29
most appropriate for studying a particular topic.

In its most basic form, the experimental method involves two key steps:

(1) the presence or strength of some variable believed to affect an aspect of

social behavior or thought is systematically altered and (2) the effect of such

alterations are carefully measured. The factor systematically varied by the

researcher is termed the independent variable, while the aspect of behaviour

studied is termed the dependent variable. In a simple experiment, then, different

groups of participants are exposed to contrasting levels of the independent

variable. The researcher then carefully measures the participants’ behavior to

determine whether it does in fact vary with these changes in the independent

variable. If it does-and if two other conditions are also met-the researcher can

tentatively conclude that the independent variable does indeed cause changes

in the aspect of behaviour being studied.

There are two requirements for the success of experimentation. The first

involves what is termed random assignment of participants to experimental

conditions. This requirement means that all participants in an experiment must

have an equal chance of being exposed to each level of the independent

variable. If participants are not randomly assigned to each condition, it may later

be impossible to determine if differences in their behaviour stem from

differences they brought with them to the study, from the impact of the

independent variable, or from both. The second condition essential for

successful experimentation is as follows: In so far as possible, all factors other

than the independent variable that might also affect participants’ behaviour must

30
be held constant. Otherwise the independent variableis said to be confounded

with another variable- one that is not under systematic investigation in the study.

When confounding occurs, the findings of an experiment may be largely

meaningless.

To avoid experimenter effects- unintended effects on participants’

behaviour produced by researchers - social psychologists often use a double-

blind procedure, in which the research assistants who have contact with

participants do not know the hypothesis under investigation. Since they don’t

the likelihood that they will influence results in subtle ways is reduced.

Because experimentation is often conducted in laboratory settings quite

different from the locations in which social behaviour actually occurs, the

question of external validity often arises. But when experimentation is used with

skill and care, it can yield results that help us answer complex questions about

social behavior and social thought. In some situations, experimentation simply

cannot be used because of practical or ethical considerations. So, also this

research could, theoretically, be conducted, there are practical barriers that

prevent it from actually taking place.

5.4 Summary

In systematic observation, behaviour is carefully observed and

recorded. Naturalistic observation involves observation conducted in the settings

where the behaviour naturally occurs. In the survey method, large numbers of

31
persons respond to questions about their attitudes or behaviour. In the

correlational method, researchers measure two or more variables to determine

if they are related to one another in anyway. The existence of even strong

correlations between variables does not indicate that they are causally related to

each other. Experimentation involves systematically altering one or more variables

in order to determine whether these alterations affect some aspect of behaviour.

Although It is a very powerful research tool, the experimental method is not

perfect. Further it cannot be used in some situations because of practical or

ethical considerations.

5.5 5.5 Key terms

Correlation, Experimentation, Systematic observation, Survey.

5.6 Unit-end Questions

1. Describe the method of systematic observation including the survey.

2. What is the correlation method? What are its advantages and limitations?

3. Isthemethodofexperimentationpracticalforallsocialpsychologicaluses?Explain

5.7 Source

Baron, R.A., &Byrne, D. (2000). Social Psychology. New Delhi: Pearson

Education.

*****

32
 Chapter - 6

SOCIAL PERCEPTION : NON VERBAL COMMUNICATION

6.0 Objectives

1. You will be able to unmask the face as facial expressions are clues to

other’s emotions

2. You will be able to understand non verbal communications such as

facial expression, eye contract, body movements and postures as

effective communication.

3. Unspoken language will be able to identify the applicably of the theory

called cognitive tuning model in various situations.

6.1 Social Perception

Social Perception is the process through which we seek to know and

understand other person’s behaviour.

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6.2 What is Nonverbal Communication

Nonverbal Communication involves an unspoken language official

expressions, eye contact, body movements, and postures. Social behaviour is

strongly affected by changing moods, shifting motions, fatigue, illness, drugs,

etc., which effects the nonverbal behaviour quite irresponsibly. Nonverbal

behaviour constitutes a silent but eloquent language, often more accurate and

un disguisable than verbal communication.

6.3 Basic Channels of Nonverbal Communication

You act differently when you are feeling happy than when you are feeling

sad. People tend to behave differently when experiencing different emotional

states. How do differences in one’s inner states i.e. emotions, feelings, and

moods-show up in their behaviour? This question relates to the basic channels

through which non verbal communication takes place. Research findings

indicate that information about our inners states is revealed through facial

expression, eye contact, body movements, postures and touching.

6.3.1 Facial Expression

The Roman orator Cicero stated that “The face is the image of the soul”

which means that human feelings and emotions are often reflected in the face,

and can be read there in as specific expressions. Although there is general

34
agreement among researchers that only a small number of emotions are

represented by distinct facial expressions others may occur in many

combinations. Often people actually show an enormous number of different

facial expressions. Six different basic emotions are represented clearly, and

from a very early age, on the human face: anger, fear, happiness, sadness,

surprise and disgust. Contempt is an emotion which is less consistent than the

other six emotions in formulating facial expressions.

6.3.2 Eye Contact

Ancient poets often describe the eyes as “Windows to the Soul” while

a high level of eye contact with others is usually interpreted as a sign of liking or

positing feeling there is one exception to this general rule. If another person

gazes at us continuously and maintains such contact regardless of what we do,

she or he can be said to be staring A stare is often interpreted as a sign of

anger or hostility. We often find this numerical cue gaze, disturbing. We may

also interpret a high level of gazing from another, as a sign of liking or

friendliness, also as “The Look Of Love” A high level of eye contact with

others is usually interpreted as a sign of liking or positive feelings, there is one

exception to this general rule. If another person gazes at us continuously and

maintains such contact regardless of what we do, she or he can be influencing

our behavior.

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6.3.3 Body Language: Gestures, Postures and Movements

Our current moods or emotions are often reflected in the positions,

postures and movements of our bodies. Together such non verbal behavior is

termed body language. Larger patterns of movements involving the whole body

can also be informative eg. touching, rubbing, or scratching orientations or

postures indicating distinct emotional states eg. threatening looks, open arms

posture etc.

More specific information about other’s feelings is often provided by

gestures. Gestures fall into several categories, but perhaps the most important

ones are emblems or body movements carrying specific meaning in a given

culture, but no meaning or another meaning in another culture eg. the thumsup

posture or palm up greeting posture in our culture means another thing for

tribals.

6.3.4 Touching: The most Intimate Nonverbal Cue

Depending upon the situational factors, touch can suggest affection, sexual

interest, dominance, caring or even aggression. Despite such complexities,

existing evidence indicates that when touching is considered appropriate, it

often produces positive reactions in the person’s being touched. Being touched

in an innocuous, non-threatening way, seemed to generate positive reactions

among the people being touched. Touching is a very powerful form of nonverbal

36
communication and should be reserved for persons we know well, and for

settings where this intimate from of behavior is considered appropriate.

6.4 The Cognitive Tuning Model Theory

Schwarz, 1990 formulated this theory suggesting that the nonverbal cue,

smile, on another person’s face informs us that the situation is safe. The

tendency of human beings is to not pay careful attention to the minor details of

messages and situations considered as safe. In contrast, negative affective

estates like seeing a frown on a person’s face, signals to us that the situation is

dangerous, and we tend to pay careful attention to the message and the minute

situational happenings. Eg. comparing election messages given with a smile

and a frown. Most people would remember better the message when the

speaker uses an angry voice and frowning facial expression.

6.5 Application of Nonverbal Cues for Individual Benefit

Lawyers often use nonverbal cues to influence juries. To minimize the

effects of these cues judges have sometimes imposed restrictions on the kind of

non verbal behaviour Lawyers can emit during trials.

37
6.6 Summary

The inner feelings of individuals are communicated by verbal language

but this may be masked at times. Non verbal cues helps us to know about other

persons through. However social perception \via facial expressions, eye

contact, and body language, gestures, postures and movements. Non verbal

behavior constitutes a silent but eloquent language. The information conveyed

by the body and face is often clear, un masked and easy to tune into with very

minimal levels of socio cultural awareness.

The basic channels of nonverbal communication are facial expression

eye contact, body movements, postures and touching.

6.7 Key terms

Staring, Body Language, Cognitive Tuning Mode

6.8 Unit End Questions

1. What is the role of contextual cues in interpreting facial expressions?

2. The range is immense in facial expressions: Explain?

3. Why do judges try curbing Lawyer’s body language antics -Explain?

6.9 Source

Baron, R.A., &Byrne, D. (2002). Social Psychology, New Delhi: Pearson Education.

*****

38
 Chapter - 7

SOCIAL PERCEPTION : IMPRESSION FORMATION

AND MANAGEMENT

7.0 Objectives

1. You will be able to understand the importance of creating a good

impression on others

2. You will be able to understand the management tactics which others use

to create a good impression on others

3. You will be able to identify the traits which individuals use to create

impression on others through Asch’s classic research.

7.1 Impression Formation

Most people are concerned with making good first impressions on others,

because they believe these create lasting effects during social interactions. First

impressions, It is widely believed are very important. Most of us assume that the

initial impression we make on others will shape the course of our future

relations with them in crucial ways. We strongly believe that such impressions

may be quite resistant to change once they are formed and these impressions

39
are not summary statements of their behavior traits.

We often combine pieces of diverse information about others into a

weighted average, in which each piece of information about another person is

weighted in terms of its relative importance. Research conducted from this

perspective focused on identifying the factors that influence this relative

weightage given to the total picture of impression formation.

7.2 Impression Management

It is defined as the fine art of looking good or the tactics of self

presentation for social advantage. The two important categories of techniques

often used by people to boost their self-image are 1) self enhancement or

efforts to increase ones own appeal to others and 2) other enhancement or

efforts to make the target person feel good in various ways eg. praise or flattery.

When impression formation happens, both the conscious and unconscious

processes are working dynamically.

7.3 Asch’s Research on Central and Peripheral Traits of Impression

Formation

Solomon Asch (1946) questioned how we perceive impressions, not as a

sum total of the individual parts, but as a whole, which might be holding a

dynamically different meaning compared to the individual part’s meaning. Asch

40
gave his subjects, lists of individual trait words such as

Eg. Intelligent-skillful- warm -determined -

cautious

Eg. Intelligent-skilful-cold-determined-cautious

The central words ‘warm’ and ‘cold’ differentiated the descriptive value of

the total impression made while describing a stranger. When subjects read the

list with the central word ‘warm’ they described a stronger as generous, happy,

good natured, sociable, popular etc., compared to having the central words as

‘cold’. By changing the order of descriptive words, up and down or to the right or

left a number of lists were examined by Asch. Asch concluded after intensive

study, that when two or more traits are understood to be long to one person,

they come into immediate interaction carrying relationship meanings which may

be unique and different from the individual words.

7.4 Social Impression Formations Are Accurate

Growing evidence suggests that our social perceptions are fairly reliable

and accurate when we judge others after a brief meeting or even by seeing a

photo. The physical and psychological traits seen to have a natural link of

confirming our expectations.

41
7.5 Summary

Itexplainshowthefirstimpressionformsandthetacticsthatothersusetoforma

good impression and manage others to create a good impression about oneself.

The importance of word interactions and the meanings covered as a group of

words are elaborated with the work of Asch.

7.6 Glossary

Self Enhancement, Other Enhancement

7.7 Unit end Questions

1. How do impressions develop about others? Explain briefly

2. Write a short note on the tactics of impression management and their

relative success?

3. Is impression management always a conscious process? Explain with

reference to Asch’s experiment.?

7.8 Source

Baron, R.A. Byrne, D., (2002), Social Psychology, New Delhi: Pearson

Education.

*****

42
 Chapter - 8

SOCIAL PERCEPTION : ATTRIBUTION

8.0 Objectives

1. You will be able to identify the causes of others behaviour and may gain

knowledge of their stable traits and dispositions.

2. You will be able to identify the frame works of causal attribution through

different theoretical ideas.

3. You will understand that attribution is subject to many potential sources

of error or bias.

8.1 What is Attribution

Accurate knowledge of other’s current moods or feelings can be useful

information to know because the causes behind their behaviour can be

assessed. It stems in large measure from our basic desire to understand cause

and effect relationships in the social world. The process through which we seek

to identify the causes of other’s behavior and gain knowledge of their stable

traits and dispositions is called attribution.

43
8.2 Theories of Attribution

Attribution is a complex process, and two classic theories of attribution

help us to make sense of the social world.

8.2.1 Jones and Davis’s (1965)

The theory of correspondent inference is concerned with how we decide,

on the basis of other’s overt actions, an inference that they posses specific

characteristics or dispositions that remain fairly stable overtime. However

individuals act in certain ways not because doing so reflects their own

performances or traits but because external factors leave them little choice. Eg.

A woman who is normally very well behaved, is observed to be surprisingly

pushing people at airport, because her plane is about to leave. We pay careful

attention to actions that involve what Jones and Davis term non-common-effect

that can be caused by one specific factor but not by others. E.g. When your

friend decides to marry a handsome, but boring unemployed rude man, you

attribute that she goes only for looks or external appearance.

We pay greater attention to actions that are high on this dimension and

are most likely to conclude that other’s behavior reflects their stable traits when

that behaviour

(1) is freely chosen

(2) yields distinctive, non common effects and

(3) is low in social desirability

.

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8.2.2 Kelley (1972)

Kelly theorizes that we are often interested in the question of whether

other’s behavior stemmed from internal or external causes. According to Kelley

in our attempts to answer the question ‘why’ about some one’s behaviour, we

focus on information relating to three major sources of information. First we

consider consensus or the extent to which other’s react to some stimulus or

event in the same manner as the person we are considering. The higher the

proportion of other people who react in the same way, the higher the consensus.

Second we consider consistency or the extent to which the person in question

reacts to the same stimulus or event in the same way on other occasions over

time, and thirdly we examine distinctiveness or the extent to which a person

reacts in a different manner to different stimuli or events.

8.2.3 Augmenting and Discounting Multiple Causes of behaviour

When two or more potential causes of said behavior exist, we tend to

downplay the importance of each cause, E.g. A woman exposes the identify of

a man with whom she had an affair, either because she wants to warn others, or

she wants to take revenge on the wife, or she is hurt by the way he handled her,

or she wants him to lose his prestige in society etc. The subtraction effect works

here and is known as the discounting principle.

The augmenting principle therefore is the tendency to attach greater

importance to potential cause of behaviour, if this behavior occurs despite the

presence of the other inhibitory cause Eg. When the women dares to expose

the identity of the man, at the risk of 7 spoiling her prestige in society, he must

45
have hurt her very deeply. This is the augmenting, attributional cause which

explains the ‘why’ of behaviour, by adding weightage to the facilitative cause,

compared to the other similar causes of said behaviour.

8.3 Basic Sources of Errors

8.3.1 Correspondence Bias

This is the tendency to explain other’s actions as stemming from

internal dispositions even in the presence of clear situational causes. This bias

seems to be so general in scope that many social psychologists refer to it as the

fundamental attribution error. The correspondence bias appears to be more

Common or strong in cultures that emphasize individual’s freedom.

Individualistic cultures such as those in, Western Europe, the United States and

Canada, less emphasize group membership, conformity and interdependence

compared to the Asian collective cultures. Eg. a man is labeled disorganized

and clumsy when he spills coffee and drops papers at meeting.

8.3.2 The Actor Observer Effect

This is the tendency to attribute our own behaviour mainly to situational

causes but the behaviour of others mainly to internal dispositional causes. Why

does the actor observer effect occur? In part, because we are quite capable of

tilting the balance of attributions in our favour. We are aware of the many

external factors affecting our own actions compared to the actions of other

persons. Thus we tend to perceive our own behavior as arising largely from

situational causes, but that of others as deriving mainly from their traits and

disposition. Eg. If we trip and fall on the road, we blame the sandals, a stone
46
etc., but others are clumsy when they trip and fall.

8.3.3 The Self-serving Bias

This is the tendency to attribute our own positive outcomes to internal

causes but negative to external factors. This is the self-serving bias which

appears to be both general in scope and powerful in its effects. Several

possibilities have been suggested regarding the tilt of attributions in our favour.

The Cognitive explanation points out to our basic nature to expect success

outcomes all the time. The motivational explanation points out our need to

protect and enhance our self-esteem, and our constant desire to look, good to

others. Eg. ‘An outstanding published paper’ credit goes to you. ‘A horrible

paper’ fault lies with lack of true. This self serving bias causes much friction in

group activities. Often we max attribute that groups major success was

facilitated by the role we played in the group.

8.4 Applications of Attribution Theory

8.4.1 Attribution and Depression

Depression is the most common psychological disorder. Although many

factors play a role in depression the one that has received increasing attention

is what might be termed as self defeating pattern of attributions. While most

persons show a tendency to attribute positive events to internal lasting a uses

and negative events to external temporary causes depressed persons show

precisely the opposite pattern. They attribute negative outcomes to lasting,

internal causes but attribute positive outcomes to temporary external causes.

47
8.4.2 Attribution and Rape

The innocent victims of rape were often held partly responsible for this

crime. It is assumed, that they somehow “asked for trouble”. Such tendencies

seem to stem partly from our strong desire to believe that the world is just and

that “good” people don’t suffer undeserved harm. It is estimated that in United

States a forced sexual intercourse-occurs every eleven minutes, Further, in a

national survey, approximately 15% of female college students reported that

they had been raped. In most cases, by persons they knew closely, these are

frightening statistics. However the tendency to attribute fault with the victims per

se, is also very strong in society.

8.5 Summary

Attribution is the process of inferring socially useful accurate knowledge

of others current moods or feeling. It is the process of identifying the causes of

other’s behavior and gaining knowledge of their stable traits and dispositions. Jones

and Davis(1965) and Kelley (1972) formulated important theoretical frame works to

explain how attributions are made in a social context. The errors or biases of attribution

are often tilted in favour of the self, especially when the Internal vs. External causes of

behavior have to be explained.

8.6 Key terms

Correspondent Inference, Non Common Effects, Consensus, Distinctiveness,

Discounting Principle, Augmenting Principle

48
8.7 Unit End Questions

1. Explain the different theories of attribution?

2. Explain the role of attribution in recommended punishment?

3. Explain the terms discounting principle and augmenting principle?

4. What are the basic sources of error in attribution?

8.8 Source

Baron, R.A. &Byrne, D. (2002) Social Psychology, New Delhi : Pearson Education.

****

49
 Chapter - 9

SOCIAL COGNITION : AFFECT AND COGNITION

9.0 Objectives

1. You will be able to understand how affect influences social cognition.

2. You will be able to understand how feelings shape thoughts and thoughts

shape feelings.

3. You will be able to understand with the affect infusion model the

mechanism through which affect influences social judgments.

9.1 Affect and Cognition

Affect influences cognition in several ways. Our current moods determine

our positive or negative reactions to new stimuli or persons, and the manner in

which we interpret analyse, remember and use information for social

interactions. There is a complex inter-play between our feelings and moods and

our perception and cognitions. This reciprocal interaction dynamically influences

the style of information processing we adopt. Eg. when we meet a person for

50
the first time immediately after we received some good news, we may

remember this person as friendly and good.

Research indicates that positive affect encourages us to adopt a flexible

creative style of thinking, while negative affect leads us to engage in more

systematic and careful processing. According to Stroessner and Mackie (1992)

S. Forgas (1998) people having a positive mood were more likely to show

attribution error of pointing out the consequences of others behaviour to be due

to internal dispositions, but when they were in a negative mood they blamed the

external situation factors to be responsible. Good mood let us focus on readily

available information (eg. person’s traits) where as negative mood helps us to

focus on careful analysis of the situation and therefore external variables catch

our attention.

Our memory is also influence by the inter-play between affect and

cognition mood dependant memory refers to what we remember while in a

given mood, to be dependent upon what we learned when previously in that

mood. The mood congruence effects help us to remember positive information,

when in a positive mood and negative information when in a negative mood.

According to Blaney (1986). Our moods also influenced our creativity. Happy

mood increased creativity ideas and associations.

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9.1.1 Mental Contamination

When emotion-stirring information is very strong, it leads to mental

contamination, where by our judgments, emotions or behaviours get influenced

by unconscious and uncontrollable thoughts. Eg. When a defendant’s previous

criminal record is presented in an emotion-generating manner (vicious attack on

a helpless woman with a child) it provokes an automatic uncontrolled thought of

accused being guilty than when the previous criminal record is presented

neutrally.

9.2 Influence of Cognition on Affect

As emotions influence our thoughts so also thoughts were found to

shape our feelings and attitudes. Our internal reactive states remain ambiguous

to us until we attach a thought process label to it. Eg. When we are always

thinking about one particular man in an aroused passionate thought form, we

may later label these thoughts as due to love.

Schemas or stereotypes are used to evaluate social beliefs and

categories, like, class, caste, religion, race etc. These schemes influence our

emotions and social reactions.

Our thoughts can be used facilitatively to influence our reactions to

emotion provoking events. Eg. anger can be reduced if we receive apologies or

reasonable explanations as to why the anger had occurred in the first place.

52
9.3 The Affect Infusion Model

Affect infusion model is a theory explaining the mechanism through

which affect influences social thoughts social judgments. It suggests that affect

infusion is higher when individuals engage in careful effortful thoughts than

when engaged in simple modes of thought, which occur in situations where

individuals make a judgment or decision recalling previous evaluations .Eg.

some taboos like ‘I hate ice-creams, fore person dieting, helps to make the right

choice quickly. Our affective states are more likely to influence our social

judgments and decisions when we engage in careful analytic thought than when

we engage in simpler and more automatic modes of thought. Cultural

differences have subtle effects on people’s appraisals of emotional experience.

Urbanization and religion may also play an important role in these differences.

9.4 Summary

Affect influences cognition in several ways. Our moods cause us to react

positively or negatively to new stimuli and determine how we store or remember

positive information when in a positive mood and negative information when in a

negative mood. How affect influences our social thoughts and actions is

explained with research findings. The influence that thoughts create on emotions

and how emotions influence the judgments and decisions we take is also

explained by the effect infusion model.

53
9.5 Key terms

Affect, Mood - Dependent Memory, Mood - Congruence Effects, Mental

contamination.

9.6 Unit End Questions

1. What is the connection between affect and cognition?

2. Describe affect infusion mode?

3. What is mood - dependent memory?

4. What is mental contamination?

9.7 Source

Baron, R.A., Byrne, D.,(2002),Social Psychology, NewDelhi: Pearson

Education.

*****

54
 Chapter - 10

SOCIAL COGNITION : SCHEMAS AND STEREOTYPES

10.0 Objectives

1. You will be able to organize social information through specific themes.

2. You will be able to understand how people act with aid of well developed

schemas.

3. Schemas help you to process information, in the face of disconfirming

information, which may distort our understanding of the social world.

4. You will understand the complex social world around us through

schemas whether they are related to person, roles and events.

10.1 What are Schemas

Schemas are mental frame works centering on a specific theme that

helps us to organize social information. A mental framework may be built up

through experience. Helps you to make sense of the social information you are

now encountering the behaviour of the person you have just met at a party.

Schemas exert powerful effects on several aspects of social cognition, and

therefore influence our social behaviour.

55
10.2 Types of Schemas

10.2.1 Person Schemas

Person Schemas are mental frame works which are suggesting that

certain traits and behaviors go together and that individuals having them

represent certain person types. Once such a schema comes into operation, you

don’t have to think very long or hard about the cause effect relationships in

social cognitions.

10.2.2 Role Schemas

Roles schemas contain information about how persons playing specific

roles generally act, and what they are like .For example, consider your schema

for professors. You except professors to stand in front of the room; to talk about

the topic of the course; and to answer the questions coming from students;

prepare students for exams, and so on. You don’t expect them to try to sell you

a product or to do magic tricks; such actions are definitely not part of your role

schema for professors.

10.2.3 Event Schemas

Even Schemas indicate what is expected to happen in a given setting.

Once established, schemas save us a great deal of mental efforts because they

tell us what to expect in a given situation, how other persons are likely to be

have what will happen, and in what order.

56
10.3 The Impact of Schemas on Social Cognition

Research findings suggest that they exert strong effects on three

processes i.e. Attention, encoding and retrieval of social information.

10.3.1 Attention

Attention refers to what information we notice. With respect to attention,

schemas often act as a kind of filter: only information consistent with them

“registers” and enters our conscious thoughts. Information that does not fit with

our schemas is often ignored. Unless it is so extreme that we cannot

accommodate it al social experiences are filtered though our attention schemas

only then it catches our attention.

10.3.2 Encoding

Encoding refers to the process through which information we notice gets

stored in memory. When the effects of schemas have been formed, information

consistent with them in easier to remember than information that is inconsistent.

Earlier in the process, however when schemas were first being formed,

information inconsistent with them may be more readily noticed and thus

encoded.

57
10.3.3 Retrieval

Retrieval refers to the process through which we recover information

from memory in order to use it in some manner. Schemas also influence what

information is retrieved from memory to the extent that schemas are activated

when we are trying to recall some information, that they earlier determined as

social reality.

10.3.4 The Self-confirming Nature of Schemas

Robert Rosenthal in 1956 researched on the effects of the self-fulfilling

prophecy effect of schemas.

According to him perceptions even ones that are false, strongly influence

the behavior of persons who are the targets of such perceptions this has

important implications for education and other applied fields.

The self-confirming nature of beliefs, during the depression of the 1930’s

was studied. Many people believed the rumors indicating that their banks would

fail. As a result, large numbers rushed to withdraw their deposits and actually

caused perfectly sound banks to fail. The same kind of self confirming effects are

often produced by schemas concerning social groups or individuals.

58
10.4 Summary

The social world suggests that we are far from perfect in our ability to

think clearly about other persons or situations without using schemas or themes

for understanding social diversity.

Schemas help us to reach accurate decisions or judgment about social

reality, with the three-way impact of schemas on alternation, encoding and

retrieval of information.

10.5 Glossary

Schemas, Perseverance Effect, Information Over-load

10.6 Unit End Questions

1. Explain the different types of schemas?

2. What is the impact of schemas on social cognition?

3. Explain self-fulfilling prophecies?

4. Define information over load and explain how schemas can help to

reduce the overload?

10.7 Source

Baron, R.A., Byrne, D., (2002) Social Psychology. New Delhi: Pearson

Education.

*****

59
 Chapter - 11

SOCIAL COGNITION : INTERPERSONAL ATTRACTION

11.0 Objectives

1. You will be able to understand the attitudes we form about people.

2. You will be able to understand the positive and negative affective states

that can influence interpersonal attraction either through direct effects or

through indirect effects.

3. You will be able to understand the wide spread application of the indirect

effects of emotional states on attraction.

11.1 What is Inter personal Attraction

When two people interact, liking vs. disliking is determined by similar

attitudes, believes, values etc. Similarities and positive evaluations are indicated

In what is said and done. To some extent differences in attraction are based on

the characteristics and actions of the individuals. To a degree attraction depends

on the person who is making the evaluation. Attraction also depends in part on

60
the similarities and differences between the evaluator and the person being

evaluated. Finally attraction is also influenced by the situational context in which

they are interacting.

11.2 Basic Factors Underlying Attraction

11.2.1 Repeated Unplanned Contacts Lead to Attraction

Two people tend to become acquainted if they are brought into regular

contact. Such contact is primarily based on physical proximity and proximity is

most often a function of the location of the environment. In attraction research,

the closeness between two individuals as residences, classroom seats, work

area, and so on are important. The closer the physical distance, the greater the

probability of the individuals’ coming into regular contacts and thus experiencing

repeated exposure and request contact with others. According to Zajonc’s

Theory, repeated exposure to any mildly negative, neutral, or positive stimulus

results in an increasingly positive evaluation of the stimulus. The general idea is

that we ordinarily respond with at least mild discomfort when we encounter

anyone or anything unfamiliar as strangers unfamiliar animals and unknown

food. If the people, animal, and food are encountered over and over however,

the new stimulus, gradually become a familiar stimulus.

Affect as the Basis for Attraction

The two important characteristics of affect are intensity and direction.

Positive emotions such as joy and excitement fall at one end of a single

61
continuum, with negative emotions such as depression and anxiety falling at the

opposite end. The intensity or strength of the emotion or affect, along with the

direction taken i.e. towards positive or negative ends of the continuum can be

easily assessed on these parameter dimensions. Research indicated, that

positive and negative emotions, represent two separate and independent

dimensions that are reflected in peoples self-ratings of their feelings and the

different brain structures that are activated by positive and negative emotions.

Affect can influence attraction in two different ways. A direct feeling or affect

occurs when another person says or does something that makes you feel good

or bad. An associated affect is much less obvious but yet prevalent. It occurs

when the other person is simply present when your feelings happen to be

positive or negative. You tend to evaluate the degree of attraction or repulsion for

that person based upon the previous affective state of associations you have

programmed that person with in memory.

11.2.3 Direct Reactions Effect of Affective State

Inter personal attraction is based on affective reactions to a persons

appearance, attitudes and other communication attributes. The more direct

reactions of affect on attraction are almost too obvious to require extensive

research. The hypothesis was tested in a laboratory experiment conducted by

Kleinke et al 1986 who found that attraction was positive toward a person who

said something simple and direct at first meeting and most negative towards a

62
person whose opening line was cute or flippant Eg. “Hi I am easy are you?”

Other investigators tested these effects by sending research assistants to visit

bars and try out the different kinds of opening statements on strangers. The

same results were obtained in bars as in the laboratory. Those who try to be too

cute actually annoy rather than amuse strangers and thus invite rejection.

11.3 Instant Cues to Inter personal Attractions

Inter personal attraction and inter personal judgments are based on

stereo types, and are strongly influenced by various observable characteristics

of those whom we meet. The most important being physical attractiveness.

Across cultures, people like and make positive attributions about attractive men

and women, of all ages, despite the caution of these assumptions and

attributions often being proved in accurate Physique, weight, height,

youthfulness, eye glasses, clothing, food preferences and other superficial

characteristics may influence inter personal evaluations.

11.4 Summary

Interpersonal attraction is determined by our feelings of positivity or

negativity, associated with people we constantly interact with and is rated on a

dimension of like to dislike, Proximity of the individuals and the associated

positive or negative affective states, influences the quality of attraction between

people, along with the stereo types and easily observable instant cues for

attraction.

63
11.5 Key terms

Attraction, Proximately, Repeated exposure, Stigma

11.6 Unit End Questions

1. What is inter personal attraction?

2. How do repeated unplanned contacts lead to attraction?

3. Write a short note on effects of proximity?

4. What is the relation between positive effect and politics?

11.7 Source

Baron, R.A. Byrne, D., (2002). Social Psychology, New Delhi: Pearson

Education.

*****

64
 Chapter - 12

SOCIAL COGNITION : FRIENDSHIP, LOVE AND

RELATIIONSHIPS

12.0 Objectives

1. You will be able to understand the characteristic common to all close

relationships.

2. You will be able to understand the attachment styles that operate in

friendship and relationships.

3. You will be able to understand the effects of romance, love and intimacy.

4. You will be able to understand the reason for conflicts in marriage.

12.1 Interdependent Relationships with Family and Friends

Close relationships are characterized by interdependence, in which two

people influence each other’s lives, focus their thoughts and emotions on each

other, and engage in joint activities.

One’s first relationships are within the family. On the basis of interactions

with the mother (or other care giver) the infant develops an attachment style that

65
is secure insecure- avoidant, or insecure-ambivalent. These styles are believed

to generalize to other interpersonal relationships throughout the individual’s life.

As adolescence approaches, teenagers begin to draw away from

parents, but only some of them can be described as “rebellious”. Many express

love and affection for their mother and father, in spite of attaching themselves

toppers.

Sibling relationships frequently involve a mixture of affection, hostility,

and rivalry. Siblings of both genders can be very close in childhood, drift apart in

adolescence and young adulthood, but then become close once again as they

grow older.

Friendships outside of the family begin in childhood and are based on the

degree of influence attraction felt. Many people are able to form a close

friendship that involves spending time together and interacting in various

situations, excluding others from the relationship and providing mutual

emotional support and engaging in self-disclosure.

At whatever age, attachment style seems to exert a major influence on

the ease with which people make friends, on the way they interact with people

and on their success in maintaining the relationships. Adult attachment style

can be characterized as the combination of a person’s level of self-esteem and

degree of interpersonal trust. This conceptualization yields four resulting styles

that are labeled as: secure, dismissing, fearful - avoidant, and preoccupied

attachment styles. Those who are secure are best able to form long-lasting,

committed, satisfying relationships.

66
 Loneliness occurs when a person has fewer and less satisfying

relationships that he or she desires. The result is depression, anxiety,

unhappiness, dissatisfaction, and self-blame. The causes of loneliness may

include an individual’s attachment style, a failure to develop adequate social

skills, and inappropriate cognitions about interpersonal interactions. Cognitive

therapy and social skills training are very helpful in bringing about change in

perceptions.

12.2 Romantic Relationships, Love and Physical Intimacy

One defining characteristic of romantic relationships is some degree of

physical intimacy, ranging from holding hands to sexual interactions. Romantic

relationships are influenced factors such as physical proximity, appearance, and

similarity. Added factors in romance are sexual attraction, the desire for total

acceptance from the other individual, and a touch of fantasy based on positive

illusions. Romantic relationships are very likely to start wherever people spend

time, Eg. In their neighborhoods, at school, or on the job.

Several varieties of love have been identified such as in passionate love

there is a sudden, over whelming emotional reaction. Companionate love is

based on close friendship, caring, mutual liking, and respect .Sternberg’s

triangular model of love described love as a blend of three possible

components: intimacy, passion, and decision /commitment.

67
 FIGURE 12.2 F

Liking = Intimacy
Alone (True friendship
without passion or
long-term commitment)
Romantic Love = Companionate Love =
Intimacy + Passion Intimacy + Commitment
(Lovers physically and (Long-term committed
emotionally attracted to each friendship such as marriage in
other but without commitment, which the passion faded)
as in a summer romance)

Consummate Love
= Intimacy +
Passion +
Commitment

(A complete love
consisting of all
three components
and ideal difficult
to attain)

Infatuation=PassionA Empty Love =

lone Decision / Commitment
(passionate,obsessivel Alone (decision to love
oveat first sight without another without intimacy
intimacy or or passion)
commitment)
Fatuous Love = Passion +
Commitment
(Commitment based on passion but
without time for intimacy to develop
shallow relationship such as a whirl
wind courtship)

68
 Sexual attitudes and sexual practices (along with), premarital sexual

interactions have become increasingly the norm among couples in close

relationships. The most permissive aspects of the new sexual attitudes have

become less attractive in the wake of negative subjective feelings involving

pressures to conform to the new sexual norms and the negative objectives and

consequences of unwanted pregnancies and incurable diseases such as genital

herpes and AIDS.

12.3 Marriage: Moving beyond Romance and Conflict management

Married couples are more similar in attitudes, values, interests, and other

attributes than would be expected by chance, and the greater the similarity the

more satisfying the marriage. Though the frequency of martial sex decreases

during the first four years of marriage, married couples are happier and

healthier compared to those who are single. Coping with the demands of a two

career family is a major challenge for couples in the present times. Marriages

may sometimes end in divorce, and the consequences are especially

devastating for children. Most married couples have some degree of conflict

and disagreement, and whether such difficulties are resolved constructively or

simply result in destructive interactions becomes a major factor to be assessed

for the success of the relationship.

Among the factors that lead to conflicts and which may affect the way

they are handled are the need to compromise, the relative numbers of costs

and benefits in the relationship, coping styles, the agreeableness of each,

sensitivity and attachment style, jealousy, dissimilarity, boredom, and the

presence of positive versus negative effect. However when marital dissatisfaction

becomes great, the individuals involved may generally respond either actively or

passively in moving toward restoring or ending the relationship. Most people

who divorce decide to remarry, especially men who outnumber women.

12.4 Summary

The interdependence of the thoughts and emotions of close relationships

within families and friendship is assessed, with reference to the attachment

style. Loneliness is recognized as a social problem of concern. Romantic

relationships and styles of love with physical intimacy were explored. Marriage

attributes were described and the importance of the conflict management was

stressed.

12.5 Key terms

Fearful Avoidant Attachment, Loneliness, Compassionate Love,

Decision/ Commitment.
12.6 Unit End Questions

1. Evaluate close relationships, friendship and adult attachment styles?

2. Write a short note on the term loneliness?

3. Describe the triangular model of love?

4. Explain why marriages lead to conflict?

12.7 Source

Baron, R.A, Byrne, D (2002) Social Psychology, New Delhi: Pearson

Education.

**3*8**
 Chapter – 13

ATTITUDES : DEFINITION AND FORMATION

13.0 Objectives

1. You will be able to understand how attitudes process social behavior and

affect behaviour strongly.

2. You will be able to compare yourself with others to determine whether

your view of social reality is or is not correct.

3. You will be able to understand the behavior of twins which suggests that

attitudes may also be influenced by genetic factors.

4. You will be able to understand the origins of attitudes, their strength and

importance and attitude specificity.

13.1 What Attitudes

Attitudes are our evaluation of virtually any aspect of the social world.

Once attitudes are established, they are usually very difficult to change.

Attitudes once formed often seem to operate as schemas, or cognitive

72
frameworks. Social psychologists have been interested in attitudes for several

decades because, it has been widely assumed that attitudes strongly affect

behavior.

13.2 Attitude Formation

Most social psychologists accept the view that attitudes are learned and

therefore their attention is focused on the processes through which attitudes are

acquired.

Social Learning: it is the process through which we acquire new information,

forms of behavior, or attitudes from other persons. One important source of our

attitudes are other persons. We acquire our attitudes by observing other’s

behaviour, as we socially interact with them. Social learning occurs through

social processes.

13.2.1 Classical conditioning: Learning Based on Association:

It is a basic principle of psychology that when one stimulus regularly

precedes another, the one that occurs first may soon become a signal for the

one that occurs immediately after. Individuals tend to expect that the second

stimulus will soon follow. Classical conditioning is a basic form of learning in

which one stimulus, initially a neutral one acquires the capacity to evoke

reactions through repeated pairing with the stronger attitude or another

stimulus. This becomes a signal for the presentation or occurrence of the other.

73
Eg. Amother’s frown and loud tone at seeing the servant, conditions the child to

use same body language with servant and develops an attitude that servants

should be bossed over.

13.2.2 Instrumental conditioning: Is determined by the Rewards and

Punishments that follow

This is a basic form of social learning in which responses that lead to

positive outcomes or those that permit avoidance of negative outcomes are

strengthened. This is also known as operant conditioning. Children are praised

or rewarded in various ways by their parents for behavior responses or their

verbal views. Parents and other adults play an active role in shaping

youngsters, by rewarding children with smiles or hugs for right behavior and

frowns or spanking for wrong behavior.

13.2.1 Observational learning: Learning by example

A third process through which attitudes are formed can operate even

when parents have no desire to transmit specific views to their children. Basic

form of learning in which individuals acquire new forms of behavior or thought is

through observing others. In many cases, children hear their parents say things

not intended for their ears, or observe their parents engaging in actions that

were prohibitive for children. This confuses the child, and affects the process of

attitude formation and thereby social behavior gets affected.

74
13.3 Social Comparison and Attitude Formation

Social comparison is a process through which we compare ourselves to

others in order to determine whether our view of social reality is or is not

accurate.

13.3.1 Genetic Factors and attitudes

We readily accept the fact that genetic factors can influence our height,

eye color and other physical traits. The idea that genetics might also play a role

in our thinking seems strange to say the least. If we remember that thought

occurs within the brain and that brain structure like every other par to four

bodies, is affected by genetic factors which importantly influences or attitudes

becomes easy to believe. The attitude of identical twins separated very early in

life is found to closely correlate with each other compared to other siblings or

even attitudes of non identical twins. This finding provides evidence for the view

that attitudes are influenced by genetic factors, at least to some extent.

13.5 Attitudes versus Actions: When Saying is definitely not doing

A social psychologist Richard T. Lapiere at Stanford University during the

1930’s conducted unique research, demonstrating that people’s attitudes are

not always reflected in their overt behaviour. His study initiated research on the

link between attitudes and behavior that continues up to the present time.

75
Virtually all restaurants, hotels and motels visited by Lapiere an American,

along with a young Chinese couple were offered courteous service. When

asked by mail, whether they would serve Chinese people more than 90 percent

of these established hotels said no. These findings suggest a sizable gap

between attitudes and behaviour.

13.6 Summary

Attitudes are the cognitive frameworks we acquire while interacting with

others and gathering new evaluations and information about sociability.

Attitudes are learnt from other persons we understand how attitudes and

behaviour continues to be socially determined and are also influenced by

genetic factors, at least to some extent.

13.7 Key terms

Attitudes, Social Learning, Subliminal Conditioning, Social Comparison

76
13.8 Unit End Questions

1. What are attitudes?

2. Explain the process of acquiring attitudes from others?

3. What is social comparison and attitudes formation?

13.9 Source

Baron, R.A, Byrne, D (2002) Social Psychology, New Delhi: Pearson

Education.

*****

77
 Chapter – I4

ATTITUDES : THEORIES OF ATTITUDE CHANGE

14.0 Objectives

1. You understand how attitude change or persuasion is necessary in society.

2. You will understand the different theories of effective persuasion.

3. You will understand the more effective techniques that lead to attitude

change.

4. You will understand how cognitive dissonance effects attitude change.

14.1 What is Attitude Change

Efforts to change others attitudes through the use of various kinds of

messages is called persuasion. We are constantly bombarded with numerous

messages of this type Eg. Billboards, radio and television, commercials,

newspaper and magazine advertisements, political speeches, appeals for

charity etc.

78
14.2 The Elements of Attitude change

According to Hovland, Janis and Kelley (1953), the key elements of persuasion

attempts, aimed at attitude change, are the ‘Source’ who directs a specific

‘message’ to some ‘audience’ (individual or group).

14.3 Early theories of Attitude change

14.3.1 Hovland and Weiss (1951) pointed out the attractiveness and expertise

of source as an important determiner of persuasion eg. Models or white-coated

expert’s messages are more inspiring to many people.

14.3.2 Walster and Festinger (1962) pointed that messages that do not appear

to be designed to change our attitudes often are found to be more successful,

than the ones that are obviously designed to reach the goal. Eg. ‘India Shines’

advertisement of BJP party, backfired in the elections.

14.3.3 Allyn and Festinger (1961) opined that people are more susceptible to

persuasion, when they are distracted by extraneous events, than when paying

full attention to what is being said. Also when audience holds attitudes contrary

to the persuader’s message, a two-sided message, presenting both sides of the

argument was found to be more effective than a one-sided persuasive

message.

79
14.3.4 Millereta! (1976) found that people who speak more rapidly were more

persuasive than those who speak more slowly.

14.3.5 Leventhal et al (1965) found that messages that arouse strong emotions

in the audience, especially fear, are more effectively received especially when

recommendations are given as to how to prevent or avoid the fearful events.

14.4 The Cognitive Approach to Persuasion

We process persuasive messages, in two distinct ways (1) Systematic

processing of messages involves careful consideration of content, and ideas.

(2) Heuristic processing or use of mental short cuts eg. Expert’s statements can

be trusted is less effort and provoked automatic reactions.

14.5 Elaboration Likelihood Model or Modem Theory of Persuasion

This explains how we use effortful type of systematic processing when

(1) our capacity is high, (Eg. Knowledge and/or time is more). (2) When the

issue is very important to us. (3) When we are strongly motivated to do so,

inspired by the (a) accuracy motivation need (b) the defensive motivation need

which determines our desire to hold views consistent with our interests or self

concept and (c) the impression motivation need, which helps us to process

80
messages where a positive favorable light is given to the self, in order to

impress others.

Contrarily we engage in heuristic processing often when we lack inability

or time, when the issue is relatively unimportant to us, and our motivation is also

low. Advertisers, politicians, sales persons, and those wishing to change our

attitudes prefer to push us into the heuristic mode of message processing as

attitudes are often easier to change when we think in this mode compared to

systematic mode.

14.6 Role of Non verbal Cues in Affecting Persuasion.

Modern theories of attitude change, suggest that when two speakers are

presenting an issue which is unimportant to you, you are prone to be influenced

by their nonverbal cues like smile, frown, fluency, nervousness, friendly

gestures etc. But if the issue is of great importance to you, you will listen

carefully and be more influenced by the speaker’s verbal arguments, compared

to the nonverbal ones and personal style.

14.7 Resistance to Persuasion or Attitude Change

Often we interpret the attempts and efforts made by others to change our

attitudes as loss of personal freedom and we may exhibit reactance or negative

reactions to the message, adopting the views opposite to those being thrust

81
upon us This resistance to persuasion increases with ‘fore warming’ or prior

knowledge that someone is trying to change our attitudes eg. Political

campaigns

Often we tend to avoid exposure to information that contradicts our

previous views Eg During the commercial breaks, we surf, the TV channels or

mute the TV sound This is known as ‘selective avoidance” Also we may

evaluate information that contradicts our attitudes as less reliable and

convincing due to “biased assimilation” Also “attitude polarization” is the

tendency to interpret mixed evidence, to strengthen our existing views, and

make them more extreme.

14.8 How our own Behaviour can Influence our Attitudes towards

Change, due to Cognitive Dissonance.

Cognitive dissonance is an unpleasant state that occurs when we

notice discrepancies between our attitudes or between our attitudes and

behaviour When we are pressurized to comply to external factors or do things

inconsistent with previously held attitudes dissonance is experienced. Eg. You

feel your friend’s vehicle colour is repulsive, but agree that ‘It’s Great’ in front of

him, this leads to dissonance. Dissonance strength varies according to the

number of reasons and the more number of the important reasons you have for

engaging in attitude discrepant behavior The more the important number of

reasons calling for attitude change the less dissonance is felt and vice versa

82
Therefore, research proves that the less leads to more is true, when attitude

changes occurs with less rewards and for small reasons, more dissonance is

felt Reminding people of their hypocrisy, or of not behaving in away consistent

with their espoused views, creates more dissonance and promotes beneficial

and desirable change in behavior. Eg. When children catch adults lying, adults

may stop lying. More emphatically, as the dissonance created is heavy

14.9 Summary

The fine art of persuasion or attitude change is elaborated by indicating the

elements of attitude change Empirical and theoretical research orientations are

indicated to provide accurate understanding of the cognitive thought processes

and non-verbal cues that effectively lead to persuasion or attitudinal change.

The role of cognitive dissonance is also clearly explained, highlighting the

resistance factors that often operate against persuasive messages

83
14.10 Key Terms

Persuasion, Reactance, Biased Assimilation, Attitude polarization.

Cognitive Dissonance

14.11 Unit End Questions

1. Define persuasion and explain its importance in society?

2. What are the theories of attitude change?

3. Define and explain dissonance?

14.12 Source

Baron, R.A., &Byrne, D. (2002). Social Psychology, New Delhi: Pearson

Education.

*****

84
 Chapter - 15

ATTITUDES : PREJUDICE AND DISCRIMINATION

15.0 Objectives

1. You will be able to understand the nature of prejudice.

2. You will be able to understand how prejudice occurs and persists.

3. You will be able to understand how prejudice leads to discrimination of

various social groups.

4. You will be able to understand how to counter the effects of prejudice

and discrimination.

15.1 What is prejudice?

Prejudice is the negative attitude one holds towards the members of

specific social groups. Thus individuals who are prejudiced towards particular

groups tend to process information about these specific groups differently from

the way they process information about their own group or the more favorable

85
other groups. Eg. Caste, Class, Religious or Sex group. Prejudice influences

our reactions to the targets groups, negatively.

15.1.1 Prejudice: Why it persists?

Research findings point to two explanations for the persistence of

prejudice. First, individuals hold prejudiced views because doing so allows

them to bolster their own self- image. When prejudiced individuals put down a

group towards whom they hold negative views, this allows them to affirm their

own self-worth and to feel superior in various ways. In other words, prejudice

may play an important role in protecting the self-concept of some persons.

Recent findings indicate that when their self-esteem is threatened; prejudiced

individuals derogate groups they dislike. This helps to boost or restore their

self-esteem. Eg. The inter-caste atrocities, directed especially towards the

lower castes, enhances the upper caste self-esteem.

15.1.2 Discrimination or Prejudice inaction

Discrimination is negative behavior directed towards members of social

groups who are the object of prejudice. Blatant forms of discrimination-have

decreased in recent years due to loud social pressure, fear of retaliation etc.

but have not disappeared. The expression of prejudice in civilized societies

has become increasingly suitable, but just as deadly, focusing on three major

components;

86
 (1) denial of discrimination

(2) antagonism to demands for equal treatment, and

(3) Resentment for special favors given to the prejudiced group.

15.1.3 The Subtle Forms of Discrimination which are often presented in a

camouflaged manner are:

a) Tokenism which according to Rosenthal et al (1982) involves performing

trivial positive actions for targets of prejudice, and using these as an

excuse or justification for later discrimination Eg. “I have employed two

people from this caste, in my office, so I have done enough, and proved

myself, kind of opinion.

b) Reverse discrimination which according to Chidester (1986) at first

glance appears to treat and evaluate the prejudiced people, in a

significantly, leaning-over- backwards, favorable manner, eg

.Prejudiced people receive, praise, jobs, promotions etc. sometimes

more conspicuously than others. The risk here involves the false

expectations of self-worth that may be promoted for these prejudiced

targets, which might vary from reality.

15.2 Sources of Prejudice

15.2.1 The Realistic Conflict Theory states that prejudice stems from direct

competition between social groups, over the scarce and valued resources, or

87
when they label each other as enemies. Eg. Indo-Pak reactions.

As competition persists, individuals come to perceive one another in

increasingly negative ways, sometimes leading to violence also. A classic

dramatic demonstration of this principle is provided by Sherifetal’s (1961) well

known field study. A special summer camp was arranged for 11 year old boys

at a remote area called ‘The Robber’s Cave’. They were divided into two

groups, and were given two separate dwelling cabins, far apart. The groups

called themselves Rattlers and Eagles and for one week were hiking,

swimming and were enjoying healthy togetherness. In the second week

competitions with prizes were introduced. First, it was limited to name-calling

and negative remarks, but soon escalated to attacking rival groups cabins,

using violence etc. Prejudice had set in very strongly and to reduce the

intergroup animosity, the researcher placed super- ordinate goals in front of

the two groups, that necessitated their working together. Eg. Restoring the

previously sabotaged water supply to the camp, repairing broken down truck

etc.

15.2.2 The Social Learning Theory states that children’s early experiences,

training and social cue reward systems for invitation become an important

basis for prejudice to be learned and propagated.

15.2.3 Social Categorizations or our tendency to divide the world into “us”

and “them” leads to attribution errors, or the tendency to view one’s own in-

group, much more favorably than the various out-groups. Recent findings

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indicate that perceived similarity to an out- group can reduce one’s prejudice

towards its members, unless they are viewed as a source of threat.

15.2.4 Social Cognition or processing of social information into stereotypes

suggests that all people belonging to a social group, show similar

characteristics. Information inconsistent with the stereotypes becomes hard to

accept. Recent findings indicate that prejudiced people respond more quickly

to stereo type related words, then less prejudiced people.

Other cognitive sources of prejudice include, illusory correlations or

overestimations of the strength of relationship links between social categories

and negative behaviours. Eg. People of caste ‘Y’ are mostly criminals.

The illusion of out group homogeneity is the tendency to perceive out

groups as more homogenous, “they are all the same” factor operates strongly

for them, whereas heterogeneous individual differences are recognized to

explain variations among in-group members.

15.2.5 Techniques for countering prejudice

Prejudice can be reduced by changing children’s early experiences with

right training by parents and significant adults. Direct contact between persons

from different groups helps. Knowing that one’s own-group member formed

friendship with out-group member also reduces prejudice. The boundaries

between ‘us’ and them can be shifted or re-categorized to include the former

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out groups into the ‘us’ category. The impact of stereotypes in societies should

be questioned and re-evaluated, besides focusing on other specific traits and

outcomes.

15.4 Prejudice Based on Gender

Prejudice based on gender affects more than half the human race,

especially with regard to the exaggerated gender stereo types, suggesting that

males and females posses sharply different patterns of traits and behavior.

Women activist movements reduced the blatant forms of discrimination but the

subtle forms continue. This leads to lowered confidence, perceptions and

expectations of women. Society is burdened often by negative reactions to

female leaders the glass ceiling effect operates for females occupying the top

most official positions and of-course sexual harassment is a prominent daily

hassle.

15.5 Summary

Prejudice is an attitude towards the member of some group based

solely on their membership in that group. How prejudice leads to

discrimination between certain groups in the society and the sources of

prejudice are identified. The prevalence of prejudice based on gender

worldwide is recognized and techniques for countering effects of prejudice are

discussed.

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15.6 Glossary

Tokenism, Reverse discrimination, glass ceiling.

15.7 UNIT END QUESTION

1. Write the nature and effects of prejudice and discrimination?

2. Define the terms tokenism and reverse discrimination?

3. What are the different sources of discrimination?

4. How can prejudice be reduced especially gender prejudice?

15.8 Source

Baron, R.A, Byrne, D (2002) Social Psychology, New Delhi: Pearson

Education.

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