Social psychology is the branch of psychology that investigates how the behaviour of individuals is affected by others and the social environment. Social behaviour is a crucial part of human life, extending beyond mere physical presence to include imagined or implied presence of others.
To understand human interaction, social psychologists study both social-cognitive processes and social behaviour, moving beyond common sense to explain how people observe, interpret, and make sense of their own and others' actions.
An attitude is a state of mind, a set of views, or thoughts regarding a specific topic (the 'attitude object') that possesses an evaluative feature (positive, negative, or neutral). It consists of three core components:
These are collectively known as the A-B-C components of attitude. While they are generally consistent, discrepancies can exist where thoughts do not align with emotions or actions.
| Concept | Definition | Characteristics |
|---|---|---|
| Attitudes | Evaluative states of mind with emotional and action tendencies. | Subject to change; direct behaviour. |
| Beliefs | The cognitive ground on which attitudes stand. | Represent subjective truths (e.g., belief in God). |
| Values | Attitudes or beliefs containing a moral 'should' or 'ought' aspect. | Highly central, stable, and difficult to change. |
Attitudes possess four significant features that determine their influence and stability:
Attitudes are primarily learned through social interaction and personal experiences. The key learning processes include:
Attitude change occurs through distinct cognitive and social processes, explained by three major concepts:
Case/Experiment Title: Telling a Lie for Twenty Dollars
Background/Subject: A group of students who participated in a highly boring experimental task.
Method/Procedure: Participants were asked to lie to waiting students, telling them the task was interesting. Half the participants were paid $1 for the lie, while the other half were paid $20. Later, all participants rated the actual interest level of the task.
Observations/Results: The $1 group rated the boring task as significantly more interesting than the $20 group. The $1 group experienced high cognitive dissonance because $1 was insufficient justification for lying, forcing them to change their attitude to align with their behaviour. The $20 group had sufficient external justification and felt no dissonance.
Psychological Inference: When external rewards are low, individuals experience greater cognitive dissonance, leading to internal attitude change to restore consistency.
Attitudes do not always predict actual behaviour. Consistency is highest when:
Case/Experiment Title: LaPiere's Attitude-Behaviour Consistency Study
Background/Subject: An American social psychologist, Richard LaPiere, and a Chinese couple travelling across the United States during a period of high anti-Chinese prejudice.
Method/Procedure: LaPiere accompanied the Chinese couple to various hotels and restaurants. Later, he sent questionnaires to the same establishments asking if they would accommodate Chinese guests.
Observations/Results: The couple was refused service only once in person. However, when surveyed later via questionnaire, a vast majority of the establishments stated they would refuse accommodation to Chinese guests.
Psychological Inference: Expressed attitudes (questionnaire responses) can differ drastically from actual behaviour (in-person accommodation), demonstrating that attitudes are not perfect predictors of actions.
Prejudices are typically negative attitudes directed toward a specific group, often based on stereotypes (overgeneralized, cognitive beliefs about the group's characteristics). When prejudice translates into negative actions, it becomes discrimination (the behavioural component).
Prejudice can be mitigated through targeted interventions: