PS102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 13: Cognitive Dissonance, Social Cognition
Document Summary
Explanations about what causes our own and other people"s behaviours and outcomes. People"s behaviour is caused by their personal characteristics. Under-taing situational factors only counts when we are assessing others. Depressed people = more personal attributions for failures. We are background - situation stands out. With time no effect - error is reduced. Attitudes: relatively stable and enduring evaluations of things and people. Affective: how we feel toward an object. Behavioural: how we behave towards an object. Cognitive: what we believe about an object. Negative feelings towards all members of a group. What happens when we hold two contradictory beliefs, or when we hold a belief that contradicts our behaviour. An uncomfortable state that occurs when our outward behaviour and beliefs do not match. Justify behaviour / cognition by changing the conflicting cognition. Justify behaviour / cognition by adding new cognitions. Ignore or deny information that conflicts with existing beliefs.
