UNIT 2 UNDERSTANDING AND EVALUATING the SOCIAL WORLD

2.1 SELF & its Processes: SELF-CONCEPT, SELF ESTEEM & SELF PRESENTATION
2.2 SOCIAL IDENTITY & its FUNCTIONS. SOCIAL COGNTION & SOCIAL PERCEPTION
2.3 ATTITUDES, ATTITUDE-BEHAVIOUR LINK; STRATEGIES for ATTITUDE CHANGE

ATIKA TEWARI
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
SELF CONCEPT

• It refers to our understanding about us. It provides a clue to what he or she thinks about them. Each individual

has a self concept of themselves which consists of those characteristics which they feel are important and

related to them self and is their identity.

• It is related to our capabilities, nature, personality and other personal characteristics which help us to define

who we are. Further, our self concept is also dependent on situation, that is, we react differently in different

situation.

• For example, beliefs such as "I am a good friend" or "I am a kind person" are part of an overall self-concept.
SELF ESTEEM

• Self-esteem refers to the judgments and evaluations we make of our concept of self. It

is an evaluation of our self, e.g. Are you honest…dishonest; good….bad? or Who are

you? Like our self-concept, self-esteem also differs from situation to situation and

across our lifetime.

• Self-esteem is one of the contributing factors toward our self-concept while self-

perception also plays a significant role in developing our sense of self.

SELF PRESENTATION

• Self presentation is any behavior or action made with the intention to

influence or change how other people see you.

• Anytime we're trying to get people to think of us a certain way, it's an act

of self presentation. Generally speaking, we work to present ourselves as

favorably as possible.
• Edward Jones and Thane Pittman (1982) described five self-presentation strategies, each of which

is expected to create a resulting emotion in the other person.

 The goal of ingratiation is to create liking by using flattery or charm.

 The goal of intimidation is to create fear by showing that you can be aggressive.

 The goal of exemplification is to create guilt by showing that you are a better person than the other.

 The goal of supplication is to create pity by indicating to others that you are helpless and needy.

 The goal of self-promotion is to create respect by persuading others that you are competent.
SOCIAL IDENTITY AND ITS FUNCTIONS.

SOCIAL COGNTION AND SOCIAL

PERCEPTION
SOCIAL IDENTITY

• Social identity theory, introduced by social psychologists Henri Tajfel and John

Turner in the 1970s, describes the cognitive processes related to social identity and

how social identity impacts intergroup behavior.

• Social identity theory is built on three key cognitive components: social categorization,

social identification, and social comparison.

SOCIAL IDENTITY FUNCTIONS

Adams and Marshall (1996) gave 5 functions of social identity:

 Structure: Identities provide a ‘framework of rules’, used to guide behavior when playing certain roles, that helps us

understand our relationship to others.

 Goals: We develop a sense of purpose by setting goals for our behavior. A ‘student identity’, for example, involves the

desire to achieve goals like educational qualifications.

 Personal control: Identities provide a measure of ‘active self-regulation’ in terms of deciding what we want to achieve

and how we plan to achieve it. An A-level student, for example, understands the need to take notes to help them

remember the things they might be tested on in an exam.

Harmony: When adopting a particular identity (such as teacher or student) we have to ensure the

commitments we make (the things others expect from us) are consistent with our personal values

and beliefs. A teacher or student who sees education as a waste of time is unlikely to be able to

successfully perform this particular role.

Futures: Identities allow us to ‘see where we are going’ in terms of likely or hoped-for outcomes

(what we want to achieve). A student identity, for example, has a future orientation: the role may be

performed to achieve the goal of going to university, which requires the passing of A-level exams,

with the eventual aim of securing a particular type of employment.

SOCIAL COGNTION

 According to American Psychological Association (APA) Social Cognition is how people perceive, think about,

interpret, categorize, and judge their own social behaviors and those of others.

 According to Baron, ‘Social Cognition refers to the manner in which we interpret, analyze , remember and use

information about social world.’

 There are two basic ways to make sense of social world around us:

• Automatic Thought / Processing

• Controlled Thoughts / Processing

Basic advantages of Automatics Processing in Social Cognition are :

 It need very little or no efforts.

 It can be very efficient.

 It can lead to satisfactory judgements

For Example :

• Heuristics means simple rule of thumb which are quick & effortless.

• Schemas are mental frameworks that help us to organize social information, and that guide our actions and the

processing of information relevant to those contexts.

CONTROLLING THOUGHT/PROCESSING in SOCIAL COGNTION

• It occurs when something unexpected happens.

• Unexpected events often triggers such careful, systematic, logical effortful thought.

ERRORS IN SOCIAL COGNTION

1. Tilts or tendencies- we are subject to a wide range of tendencies which can lead to errors. For example- tendency to

be optimistic. Career path to pursue; whom to marry; picking stocks to invest – our actions often reflect overconfidence

& optimism.

2. Optimistic bias–a powerful predisposition to overlook risks and expect things to turn out well.
3. Overconfidence barrier– To have greater confidence in our beliefs or judgments than is justified. lacking critical

information i.e. we do not know enough to know what we have missed.

4. Planning fallacy—our tendency to believe that we can get more done in a given period of time than we actually can,

or that a given job will take less time than it really will. For example- schedules for public works like new roads,

airports, bridges, etc

5. Counterfactual Thinking – Situation specific. The tendency to imagine other outcomes in a situation than the ones

that actually occurred (“What might have been”). It can affect our sympathy for people who have experienced

negative outcomes. But upward counterfactuals can also motivate us to perform better in the future in hope of

avoiding the outcome that did occur.

Social Perception

 Social perception is a term used in social psychology to refer to the process

of interpreting and making judgments about the behavior and characteristics

of other people. It involves using information gathered through observation

and interaction with others to form impressions, make inferences, and

understand social situations.

 Social perception can be influenced by various factors, such as the physical

appearance, facial expressions, and nonverbal behavior of others, as well as the

social context in which interactions take place. The accuracy of social

perception can have significant implications for social relationships, as it affects

the quality of interpersonal communication, the formation of friendships and

romantic relationships, and the effectiveness of social influence and persuasion.

• Theory's of Social Perception

 There are several theories of social perception in social psychology:

 Attribution Theory: This theory focuses on how people explain the behavior of others by attributing it

to either internal factors (such as personality traits or abilities) or external factors (such as situational

factors or luck).

 Social Identity Theory: This theory proposes that people categorize themselves and others into social

groups based on shared characteristics such as race, gender, religion, and nationality. These group

identities can influence how people perceive and interact with others.
Cognitive Dissonance Theory: This theory suggests that people experience psychological

discomfort when their beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors are inconsistent with one another. To

reduce this discomfort, people may adjust their perceptions or attitudes to align with their

behaviors.

Social Comparison Theory: This theory explains how people evaluate their own abilities,

opinions, and behaviors by comparing themselves to others. People may use social

comparison to validate their own beliefs and behaviors or to improve their self-esteem.
Stereotype Content Model: This theory proposes that people

categorize others into social groups based on two dimensions: warmth

(whether the group is friendly and trustworthy) and competence

(whether the group is skilled and capable). These perceptions of

warmth and competence can influence how people perceive and

interact with members of different social groups.

Functions of Social Perception

 Forming Impressions: Social perception helps people form initial impressions of others based on

their appearance, behavior, and other social cues. These impressions can guide subsequent

interactions and influence how people perceive and respond to others over time.

 Understanding Social Situations: Social perception helps people understand the social context in

which interactions take place, including the roles and expectations of different individuals and

groups. This understanding can help people navigate complex social situations and communicate

effectively with others.

Making Judgments: Social perception allows people to make judgments and attributions about

the behavior of others, such as whether someone is trustworthy, competent, or likeable. These

judgments can guide subsequent interactions and influence the outcomes of social interactions.

Facilitating Social Influence: Social perception can influence the extent to which people are

influenced by others, such as by shaping their attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. By understanding

how others perceive them, people can tailor their communication strategies to be more persuasive

and effective.
Enhancing Social Identity: Social perception can strengthen people’s sense of social identity by

reinforcing their membership in certain groups and distinguishing them from others. This can

foster feelings of belonging and social connection, which can have important psychological and

social benefits.
ATTITUDE, ATTITUDE-BEHAVIOR LINK;

STRATEGIES FOR ATTITUDE CHANGE

ATTITUDE

Attitudes as a learned tendency to evaluate things in a certain way. This can include evaluations of

people, issues, objects, or events.

Such evaluations are often positive or negative, but they can also be uncertain at times.

For example, you might have mixed feelings about a particular person or issue. Researchers

also suggest that there are several different characteristics that make up attitudes.
The components of attitudes are sometimes referred to as the ABC's of attitude.

Three Components of Attitude

Affective Component: How the object, person, issue, or event makes you feel

Cognitive Component: Your thoughts and beliefs about the subject

Behavioral Component: How attitude influences your behavior

Attitudes and Behavior

A theory that explains conditions when attitudes influence behavior.

Attitude refers to how someone feels about something. For example, a

student having a negative outlook toward math class. A behavior is how

someone acts in response to their feelings. For example, the student's action

of skipping math class.

 Theories of Attitude Change

 Cognitive Dissonance

 Imagine the following situation: You've always placed a high value on financial security, but you start dating someone

very financially unstable. You have two options to reduce the tension caused by conflicting beliefs and behavior.

 You can end the relationship and seek a more financially secure partner, or you can de-emphasize the importance of

fiscal stability.

 NOTE: In order to minimize the cognitive dissonance between your conflicting attitude and behavior, you either

have to change the attitude or change your actions.

Learning Theory

 Classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and observational learning can be used to

bring about attitude change.

 Classical conditioning can be used to create positive emotional reactions to an object, person, or

event by associating positive feelings with the target object.

 Operant conditioning can be used to strengthen desirable attitudes and weaken undesirable ones.

 People can also change their attitudes after observing the behavior of others.
 Elaboration Likelihood Theory

This theory of persuasion suggests that people can alter their attitudes in two ways. First, they can

be motivated to listen and think about the message, thus leading to an attitude shift.

Or, they might be influenced by the characteristics of the speaker, leading to a temporary or

surface shift in attitude. Messages that are thought-provoking and that appeal to logic are more

likely to lead to permanent changes in attitudes.

 STRATEGIES FOR ATTITUDE CHANGE

 Reciprocity: People tend to reciprocate kind gestures or favors. Utilizing this principle can foster positive attitude changes.

 Consistency and Commitment: Encouraging individuals to take small, initial steps towards a desired attitude change can promote

long-term commitment to the change.

 Social Proof: Demonstrating that others with similar attitudes have already changed can lead to a snowball effect, encouraging more

people to follow suit.

 Authority: People often respect and are influenced by authoritative figures. Expert endorsements and credible sources can sway

attitudes effectively.

 Scarcity: Creating a sense of limited availability can make the desired attitude change appear more valuable and urgent.
Thank
you!