CAS PS 261 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Social Forces, Mindan
5 Mar 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
We intuitively judge the likelihood of things by how easily various instances come to mind. We carry readily available mental images of plane crashes and thus, most people fear flying more than driving. Actually, we are many times safer in a commercial plane than a motor vehicle: our social intuitions are noteworthy for both their powers and their perils. By identifying our intuition"s gifts and pitfalls, social psychologists aim to fortify our thinking: we misread our own minds; we deny being affected by things that do influence us. We mis-predict our feelings-how bad we"ll feel in a year from now, or even a week from now: our intuitions and unconscious information processing are routinely powerful and sometimes perilous. The nazis: other situations may elicit great generosity and compassion, ex. After natural disasters, affected countries are overwhelmed with donated items and offers of assistance: we adapt to our social contexts.
