PSYC 3402 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Social Comparison Theory, Gun Control, Psych

• School: Northeastern University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 3402
• Professor: Karen Spikes

Document Summary

We view information that gives support to our attitudes as far more convincing and accurate than information that refutes our attitudes. First, they strongly influence our social thought (the ways in which we think about and process many kinds of social information). Thus, when defined as [such] evaluations of the world around us, attitudes may represent a very basic aspect of all forms of thought . Tendency to categorize things as positive and negative appears to be the initial step in our information processing. Second, it has been widely assumed that attitudes strongly affect behavior. Thus, if attitudes influence behavior, then knowing something about them can help us predict people"s behavior in a wide range of contexts. This is essential in our relations with other people because it affects our behavior. Almost certainly, you have views (attitudes) about all of these. Most people, and most social psychologists, accept the view that attitudes are learned!