Psychology 2720A/B : social psych.doc

• School: Western University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: Psychology 2720A/B
• Professor: All

Document Summary

Attribution: cognitive appraisal that assigns causes to events. Self esteem (how we feel) & self concept (who am i) are effected by attribution: Did poorly on a test: i"m dumb (internal) vs the test was unfair (external) Body language analysis different meanings of: i didn"t say you stole the wallet. Important: reading/understanding, complements verbal info, building interpersonal relationships. Cognitive balance (your friend likes sham-wow, you like sham-wow) Valence transfer - (dislike people who beat up hookers, dislike sham-wow) Cognitions that are logically inconsistent make people feel bad. To reduce aversive arousal, people will change one of the dissonant cognitions. If cant change, add extra to rationalize behavior. Are made aware they have not always exhibited that behavior in the past. Influence attitudes and beh. only if all four: the problem is severe, you are susceptible to the problem, the recommended behaviors will be effective to avoid the problem, you are capable of performing the behavior.