Social thinking and influence

• Social thinking


  How we perceive ourselves and others, interpreting social cues (body language)
• Social psychology


  Scientific study of how people think and behave in social situations
• More than one person in a specific setting is a social setting
• Culture


  Ongoing pattern of life passed from one generation to the next
• Culture


  • Language
  • Celebrating CNY
• Social status


  Level of social power and importance a person holds in society or communities
• Autokinetic effect


  Apparent movement of a stationary pinpoint
• Norm


  Accepted but usually unspoken, standard of appropriate behavior
• Social comparison


  Filling the gap between who you will compare yourself to, to see if your performance is good or bad
• Downward comparison


  Occurs when you compare yourself to those who are less fortunate or perform worse than you
• Upward comparison


  Comparison with people who perform better, role models
• Attribution theory


  When incidents happen we naturally try to find reasons for these situations
• Consistency


  Consistently behaving in a way so it counts as a personality trait
• Distinctiveness


  Behavior that occurs only under certain circumstances, not a personality trait
• Internal attribution


  Values
• External attribution


  Factors that are beyond your control (e.g., environment)
• Attitude


  Positive or negative, learned tendencies towards people, objects, or institutions
• Belief component


  Beliefs about an object, person, or attitude shaped by personal experience
• Attitude formation (external factors)

  1. Direct contact

  2. Interaction with others

  3. Group membership

  4. Child rearing

  5. Mass media

  6. Mean worldview
• Direct contact


  Experiences with an object or person
• Chance conditioning


  Condition that occurs by chance, creating a positive attitude
• Interaction with others


  You are influenced by society around you
• Group membership


  Social influences from a certain group
• Child rearing


  Effects of upbringing by parents, beliefs, and values
• Mass media


  Media that reach large audiences
• Mean worldview


  Frequently watching news highlighting crimes and violence can develop a distrustful view of the world
• Social influence


  How others affect our thoughts or behaviors
• Conformity


  When you agree with others to fit in
• Coercion


  Forcing someone to fit in
• Brainwashing


  Forcing someone to change their belief and attitude with extreme pressure
• Brainwashing steps


  1. Unfreezing

  2. Change

  3. Refreezing
• Unfreezing


  Torturing physically and psychologically forcing them to comply
• Change


  When a person reaches breaking point and lets go of their previous ideas
• Refreezing


  New beliefs are reinforced and solidified
• Types of social power

  Reward power<|>Coercive power<|>Legitimate power<|>Referent power<|>Expert power
• Reward power


  Someone gives you something good when you do what they want
• Coercive power


  You will be punished if you don’t do what they want
• Legitimate power


  You follow someone because they have a rightful position of authority
• Referent power


  Following someone's behavior because you admire them
• Expert power


  When you have special knowledge or skills, you can influence others