Lecture unit 3: Social Pychology

Question 1

What is the attribution theory concerned with?

Answer 1

how individuals interpret events and how this relates to their thinking and behavior.

Question 2

What does the attribution theory assume?

Answer 2

• Attribution theory assumes that people try to determine why people do what they do, they “attribute causes to behaviors”.
• The attributions people make greatly affect their thoughts, feelings, and future behavior.

Question 3

Why are attributions important in a business context?

Answer 3

In a business context, attributions are critical to management because
- perceived causes of behavior may influence managers’ and

• employees’ judgements and actions

Question 4

What are the most important factors affecting attributions for achievement according to Weiner?

Answer 4

• ability,
• effort,
• task difficulty and
• luck

Question 5

Name two related attribution theories of motivation. What do they include?

Answer 5

1. Intrapersonal theory: includes self-directed thoughts (e.g. expectancy of success) and self-directed emotions (e.g. pride, guilt, shame)
2. Interpersonal theory: comprises beliefs about the responsibility of others and other-directed affects of anger and sympathy (e.g. help-giving)

Question 6

What are the characteristics of intrapersonal behavior?

Answer 6

• Positive and negative outcomes give rise to general positive and negative emotions -> outcome-dependent affect
• Undesired and/or unexpected events promote causal search
• The cause selected is dependent on a variety of antecedents including social norms, past history, schematic beliefs and hedonic biases.

Question 7

What are the different antecedent (Vorrangene Ereignisse) that a cause is dependent on? [Intrapersonal theory]

Answer 7

The cause selected is dependent on a variety of antecedents including

• social norms
• past history
• schematic beliefs
• hedonic biases.

Question 8

What are the key causal properties of intrapersonal behavior? What do they refer to?

Answer 8

Locus, stability and control

• Causal locus refers to the location of a cause which is either within or outside of the actor.
• Causal stability refers to the duration of a cause
• Causal control is linked to causes which can be volitionally changed opposed to those that are uncontrollable

Question 9

What determines behavior according to the attributional theory of INTERpersonal behavior?

Answer 9

Behavior is determined by causal reasoning and responsibility inferences, along with their linked emotions.

Question 10

What is the situation called upper portion in the context interpersonal behavior? Name an example.

Answer 10

= situations in which the actor is personally responsible for a negative outcome

example: achievement failure:
the failed outcome is ascribed (zugeschrieben) to lack of effort

-> Effort is a controllable cause, and the person is held responsible.

Question 11

What is the situation called bottom portion in interpersonal behavior? Name an example.

Answer 11

= situations in which the actor is not held responsible

example: achievement failure: uncontrollable cause of failure is lack of aptitude

-> Aptitude (Begabung) is not controllable by the failing person and the person is not held responsible for the negative outcome.

Question 12

Name similarities of the Interpersonal theory and the Intrapersonal theory.

Answer 12

1. Motivational episodes are initiated with a prior outcome
2. there is a search for causality (given unexpected/negative event)
3. Cause selected is analyzed acc. his causal properties
4. This gives rise to emotions, which are linked to action

Question 13

Name differences between INTRApersonal theory and the INTERpersonal theory?

Answer 13

INTRApersonal:

• information used to make causal inferences: –>personal causes antecedents (Vorgeschichte) are more readily available (possibble of hedonic biasing)
• includes Locus and stability as well
• Emotions involve the self

INTERpersonal:

• Dimension of importance: Controllability
• Added step linking control to responsibility
• Emotions involve others

Question 14

Name two biases in Attribution

Answer 14

1.self-serving bias: seeing other peoples faults but overlooking the own personal faults

2.Fundamental attribution error:

• the tendency to believe that a behavior is due to a person‘s disposition,
• even when there are situational forces present that are sufficient to explain the behavior

Question 15

What are the theoretical applications of the attribution theories?

Answer 15

1. Attribution intervention techniques (e.g. elderly healthmaintenance)
2. Health programs (e.g. treatment of the mentally ill)
3. Marketing management: anger and complaint reductions (e.g. communication of flight delays)

Question 16

What does the Feelings-as-Information Theory conceptualize?

Answer 16

is a psychological framework model for conceptualizing the role of feelings in human judgment.

Question 17

What are the basic assumptions of the Feelings-as-Information Theory regarding the use of feelings?

Answer 17

• under certain conditions people use feelings as a basis for judgments
• provide us with rapid, reliable information about events and conditions (social environment) that shape our most important judgements
• Mood effects: P tend to judge more positively in a good mood than in a bad

Question 18

What do emotions provide us with according to the Feelings-as-Information Theory?

Answer 18

Emotions

• provide us with rapid, reliable information about events and conditions
• within our current social environment that shape our most important judgments.

Question 19

What is the mood effect in the context of the Feelings-as-Information Theory? basic assumptions

Answer 19

People tend to judge things more positively when they are in a good mood than when they are in a bad mood.

Question 20

What did experiments show regarding the Feeling-as-Informations theory?

Answer 20

• People attend to their momentary feelings as a source of information in forming judgments, asking themselves “How do I feel about this?
• Positive judgments happen more often under happy than under sad moods
• Discounting and augmentation effects highlight that people use feelings like any other source of information

Question 21

What are the core postulates of the Feelings-as-Information theory?

Answer 21

1. People attend to their feelings as a source of information
2. The impact of a given feeling depends on its perceived informational value for the task at hand
3. When feelings are used as information, their use follows the same principles as the use of any other type of information
4. Like any other information, feelings can serve as a basis of judgment and influence the choice of processing strategies

Question 22

What is mean with “People attend to their feelings as source of information” (Core postulates)

What are the different feelings types that provide information?

Answer 22

• emotions
• moods
• cognitive feelings
• bodily experiences

Question 23

Explain: “The impact of a given feeling depends on its perceived informational value for the task at hand” (Core Pustaltures)

Answer 23

• P experience their feelings as being about whatever is in the focus of attention –>perception that incidental feeliings are relevant
• When a feeling is attributed to an incidental cause –>its informational value is discounted (decreased importance)
• When a feeling is experienced despite perceived opposing forces, its informational value is augmented (increased importance)
• changes in one´s feelings are more informative than stable states

Question 24

Explain: “When feelings are used as information, their use follows the same principles as the use of any other type of information” (Core postulates)

Answer 24

• The impact of feelings increases with their perceived relevance
• Moods exert a stronger influence when people make decisions for themselves rather than others
• The impact of feelings decreases the more other relevant inputs are accessible
• People are less likely to rely on their feelings when they have high expertise in the domain of judgment
• The impact of feelings is more pronounced (betont) under conditions of low processing capacity or motivation

Question 25

When feelings are used as information, their use follows the same principles as the use of any other type of information" (**Core postulates**) -->**When** do **moods** exert a **stronger influence on decisions?**

Answer 25

- **Moods** exert a **stronger influence** when people make **decisions** for **themselves** rather than **others**

Question 26

When feelings are used as information, their use follows the same principles as the use of any other type of information" (**Core postulates**) -->What happens to the **impact of feelings as more relevant inputs are accessible?**

Answer 26

- The impact of feelings **decreases** the **more** other **relevant inputs** are **accessible**

Question 27

When feelings are used as information, their use follows the same principles as the use of any other type of information" (**Core postulates**) - How does expertise in the domain of judgment affect reliance on feelings? - Under what conditions is the impact of feelings more pronounced?

Answer 27

**Reliance**: - People are **less likely** to **rely** on their **feelings** when they have **high expertis**e in the *domain* of judgment _______ - The **impact of feelings** is more **pronounced** under conditions of **low processing capacity or motivation**

Question 28

**explain:** **Feelings can serve as a basis of judgement**and influence the choice of processing strategies: (**Core postulates**)

Answer 28

--> **feelings** serve as a **basis of judgment**

Question 29

**explain:** **Feelings** can serve as a basis of judgement and **influence the choice of processing strategies:** How do feelings influence how people process information? (Bottom-up or top-down)

Answer 29

- Feelings that **signal a “problematic”** situation foster an **analytic, bottom-up processing style** - **Feelings** that **signal** a “**benign” (non-threatening) situation** foster a **more global, top-down** processing **style** - **Feelings** provide a **fast indicator** of **which kind** the **current** situation is

Question 30

**Implications: Persuasion**: When are strong arguments more persuasive than weak arguments?

Answer 30

- when recipients **engage** in **systematic** message **elaboration** (deep, thoughtful and analytical process) - whereas **argument strength** exerts **little** **influence** when they **do not** (recipients are not critically evaluating the message content)

Question 31

**Implications: Persuasion** Communicators with strong and compelling arguments have little to gain from putting their audience into a good mood - **why?**

Answer 31

A **somber audience** (ernstes Publikum) is more **likely** to **elaborate** on the **substantive** **implications** of the message, facilitating its **long**-term **impact**

Question 32

**Implications: Persuasion**: What make message **scrutiny** less likly?

Answer 32

- **happy** feelings make **spontaneous** message **scrutiny** (Überprüfung) **less likely** - making smiles, jokes and upbeat colors promising tools, when **we have nothing compelling to say**

Question 33

**Stereoptyping and Impression Formation:** How do people form impressions of others? What are the two forms?

Answer 33

- by **attending** to their **specific behaviors** (**bottom-up** processing) or - by **drawing** on **stereotypic** **knowledge** about social categories (**top-down** processing)

Question 34

How does an happy and sad mood **influence stereotyping**?

Answer 34

- Perceivers in a **happy** mood are **more likely** to **draw** on the **person's category** **membership** - Perceivers in a **sad** mood are **more likely** to **elaborate** **individuating information** about the **target** person -->**People make more stereotypical** **judgements** under **happy** than under **sad moods**

Question 35

**INTER**personal Theory: What happens in the **bottom portion** when the cause selected is **not controllable**?

Answer 35

**Lack of responsibility** for failure gives rise to **sympathy and pity**; these emotions then promote prosocial responding