Social Psychology - Attitudes and Persuasion

Question 1

Attitudes and Persuasion Experiment

Answer 1

How to change people’s beliefs and persuading people (attitude and attitude change)

Group that was paid $1 as opposed to $20, enjoyed the experiment more

Question 2

Cognitive Dissonance

Answer 2

We feel discomfort when holding two conflicting beliefs simutaneously, or when our beliefs contradict our behaviours

We are strongly motivated to reduce discomfort and contradictory behaviours and beliefs

• Feeling discomfort when our behaviours contradict our beliefs
• Also happens when we hold two viewpoints that are conflicting
• We are strongly motivated to reduce feelings of dissonance
• Ways of alleviating dissonance:
  
  • E.g. coping strategies in stress is similar to coping feelings of dissonance
• People change their beliefs when their behaviour contradicts it (way of alleviate dissonance)
• We also could come up with excuses (removing contradiction) –> changing how we think about our beliefs
• Rationalization of the contradiction in order to justified their behaviour … (removes contradiction)
  Dissonance between two different beliefs:
• We have two beliefs that we hold that have contradiction with another
• Beliefs can be changed but behaviours cant… people need to either change their beliefs or change their behaviour
• E.g doing something that you don’t like or believe in, as part of initiation to a group… people have stronger bonds to that group and they identify more to the group if they had to do something they didn’t want to do
• Subjecting people to mildly uncomfortable states as part of gaining membership makes stronger connection between the person and the group
• You generate an additional belief of alleviating dissonance
• People come to the fact to change their beliefs about a situation and convince themselves that they like it because money cannot justify
• Experiment: rewarding people for actions they take changes how they think about those actions
• Giving praise to children who go draw
• Frequency of drawing goes down when children expect a reward from drawing (they don’t do it for fun anymore unless they get a reward, and don’t produce the behaviour if they don’t get the reward)
• Intrinsic motivators: motivators for doing things for self-satisfaction
• External motivated: external motivation like money for doing the behaviour
• If reinforcement is applied to an intrinsic motivator behaviour, then the behaviour shifts to externally motivating and the behaviour becomes motivated by the reward instead of self-satisfaction
• Should not praise or reward a child for doing a good behaviour because then they don’t do it unless they’re rewarded .. You have to provide ample opportunity to practice (give them more) but you do not reward them for doing it… you let their intrinsic motivation drive them
• When reinforcement is predictable, then the behaviour will go down and will decrease interest in the task and changes motivation to social reinforcement
  Make sure praise / social reinforcement is random (variable) not fixed [intermittent schedule]

Question 3

Extrinsic Motivators

Answer 3

Being given external rewards changes how we feel aboutt the things we do

Ex. Children were more excited and wanted to draw when they were rewarded as opposed to kids who weren’t

Question 4

3 Methods of Persuasion

Answer 4

People in sales can use many tricks rooted in Psychology to sell products to customers

FOOT IN DOOR
Ppl are more likely to agree to requests if you say “Can i have a second of your time”

Or when you get someone to make a confirmatory remark “Are you a fan of harry potter?”

DOOR IN THE FACE
People are more likely to agree to a small request if they are first presented with a large request

“Will you watch the lord of the rings with me?” “How about the first one?”

This works by setting peoples expectations high and then aiming lower

“Can you do me a HUGE favour?”

LOWBALLING
People will agree to things with a high cost/investment if you can first coerce them into agreeing to something similar at a lower cost.

“Well the car is only 20k.” And then going back and saying “Actually my manager says its 24k, would you still want it?