Attitude

 Attitude
 An enduring system of positive or negative beliefs
(the cognitive component), affective feelings and
emotions, and action tendencies toward an object, a
person or a group of persons.
 Persuasion: changing attitudes
Persuasion is the process of changing attitudes.
 Factors by which attitudes can be changed
 Message source
 Characteristics of the person who delivers the

message, known as the attitude communicator

(e.g., attractiveness, experience, trustworthiness)
Attitude
 Characteristics of the target (e.g., gender,
intelligence)-- intelligent people are more resistant
to persuasion than those who are less intelligent.
women are somewhat more easily persuaded than
men, particularly when they have less knowledge
about the message’s topic.
 Characteristics of the message– two-sided

messages (communicator’s position and the

target’s position) and fear-producing messages (“If
you don’t practice safer sex, you’ll get AIDS”) are
more effective
Stereotype, Prejudice & Discrimination
 Stereotypes
 A set of generalized beliefs and expectations (negative or positive)
about a particular group and its members
 Prejudice
 An evaluation of a person (negative or positive) based on his/her
membership in a particular group.
 Prejudice is a feeling about a person based on his/her
membership in a group.
 Common stereotypes and forms of prejudice involve race, religion,
ethnicity, and gender. Over the years, various groups have been
called “lazy” or “shrewd” or “cruel” with varying degrees of
regularity by those who are not members of that group.
 Discrimination
 Negative behavior directed toward individuals on the basis of their
membership in a particular group.
The Foundations of Prejudice
 Social learning approaches
 People’sfeelings about members of various groups
are shaped by the behavior of parents, other adults,
and peers
 Through observations and imitation

 Social identity theory

 We use group membership as a source of pride and
self-worth
Reducing the Consequences of
Prejudice and Discrimination
 Increasing contact between the target of
stereotyping and the holder of the stereotype
 Making values and norms against prejudice
more conspicuous (visible or attracting attention)
 Providing information about the objects of
stereotyping
Sex and Gender
 Sex:
 biological maleness or femaleness including
intersex (reproductive differences based on
genitalia, chromosomes, hormones); also, sexual
behaviors of intercourse/masturbation
 Gender:
 psychological and sociocultural meanings added to
biological sex
 the sense of maleness or femaleness related to our
membership in a given society
 gender underlies assumptions regarding
‘masculine’ or ‘feminine’ behavior
Dimensions of Gender
 Gender Identity:
 Gender identity is self-defined.
 Self-identification as either a
man or a woman
 Gender Role:
 Gender role is socially-defined.
 The set of expectations, defined
by a particular society, that
indicate what is appropriate
behavior for men and women.
Dimensions of Gender
(Cont.)
Gender Dimensions Male Female

1. Gender identity Perceives self Perceives self

as male as female

2. Gender role Masculine Feminine

Dimensions of Gender
(Cont.)
 Gender Role:

In spite of numerous
differences among
cultures, research has
found strong
similarities in the
content of gender
stereotypes. (Source:
Williams &
Best, 1990)
Gender Role Development
 Social-learning theory suggests
gender roles develop as children:
 receive rewards/ punishments

for gender role behaviors and

attitudes.
 watch and imitate the
behaviors and attitudes of
others.
Gender Role Development
(Cont.)
 Cognitive-developmental theory suggests
children form gender schemas (mental images or
frameworks) of correct behaviors for boys versus
girls.
Gender Differences
 Personality: Aggression
 Men exhibit greater physical aggressiveness.
 Women are higher on relational aggression (in
which harm is caused by damaging someone's
relationships or social status).
 Cognitive abilities
 Women score higher on verbal skills.
 Men score higher on math and visuospatial skills.
Gender Differences (Cont.)

Boys from age 2 tend to be more aggressive than girls, a pattern

that continues throughout the life span.
Gender Differences (Cont.)

Male first-year college students are much more likely than female first-
year college students to rate themselves as above average in academic
ability, mathematical ability, and emotional health. (Source: From
Astin, A. W., Korn, W. S., & Berz, E. R. (2004).
Gender Differences
 Spatial Cognition
o There are sex differences in spatial cognition that
may have been selected for through the course of
evolution.
o Males needed to develop spatial abilities in order
to navigate (Geary, 2007).
o Sex differences in map reading and mental
rotation have been found in preschool years.
o Mental rotation differences may exist in

infancy.
Gender Differences
 Spatial Cognition
o According to meta-analyses, the magnitude of
sex differences is very small.
o Only 1 to 5% of the difference is due to gender.
o Mental rotation is especially prominent.
o Females show better performance in object and
location memory.
o May be due to evolution…role as gatherers.
o Must be able to perceive small stimulus

differences.
Gender Differences
 Spatial Cognition
o Differential experiences may also play a role.
o Newcombe et al. (1983) asked college students to
classify activities as masculine, feminine, or neutral.
o Tasks with high spatial content were considered
masculine.
o They found a gender difference on a test with strong
spatial components.
o The more spatial activities one engages in, the
greater one’s spatial ability.
Sources/Causes of Gender
Differences:
 Biological Factors
 Women perform better on tasks involving verbal skill
and muscular coordination during periods when their
production of estrogen, the female sex hormone, is
relatively high compared with periods when it is low.
 Women perform better on tasks involving spatial
relationships when the estrogen level is relatively low
(Kimura, 1999; Rosenberg & Park, 2002).
 Men tend to be more aggressive, competitive, and
prone to taking risks than women are.
Sources/Causes of Gender
Differences (Cont.)
 Biological Factors
 Testosterone, an endogenous hormone, which is higher in
males than females, regulates sex drive and appears to
germinate seeds of personality; a higher level of
testosterone makes the person more dominant, sexually
more active and aggressive.
 A significant male bias in the initiation of kissing and a
significant bias in head-turning to the right in both kiss
initiators and kiss recipients, with a tendency among kiss
recipients to match their partners’ head-turning direction
(Karim et al. 2017: The right way to kiss: directionality
bias in head-turning during kissing).
Sources/Causes of Gender
Differences (Cont.)
 The Social Environment
 From the moment of birth, boys receive an environment
different from girls.
 For example, boys and girls are given different kinds of
toys.
 Parents interact with their children differently,
depending on their sex.
 Fathers play more roughly with their infant sons than
with their infant daughters.
 Such differences in behavior produce different
socialization experiences for men and women.
Sources of Gender
Differences (Cont.)
 The Social Environment
 Socialization is the process by which an individual
learns the rules and norms of appropriate behavior for
men and women.
 According to the processes of social learning theory,
boys and girls are taught and rewarded for performing
the socially perceived appropriate behaviors for men
and for women, respectively (Archer & Lloyd, 2002;
Liben & Bigler, 2002; Leaper & Friedman, 2007).
Sources of Gender
Differences (Cont.)
 The Social Environment
 Boys receive significantly more praise, criticism, and
remedial help than girls do, whereas girls are more apt
(suitable) to be commended for their neatness.
 Society as a whole (including schools, colleges, and
medias such as television) communicates clear messages
to children as they are growing up.
 Socialization produces a gender schema, a mental
framework that organizes and guides a child’s
understanding of information relevant to gender.
Interpersonal Attraction and the
Development of Relationships
 Interpersonal attraction
 Positive feelings for others; liking and loving

 Liking: How do I like thee?

 Proximity-- If you live in a dormitory or an
apartment, consider the friends you made when
you first moved in. Chances are that you became
friendliest with those who lived geographically
closest to you.
Interpersonal Attraction and the
Development of Relationships
(Cont.)
 Mere exposure-- Repeated exposure to a person is
often sufficient to produce attraction. Interestingly,
repeated exposure to any stimulus—a person,
picture, compact disc, or virtually anything—
usually makes us like the stimulus more. Becoming
familiar with a person can evoke positive feelings;
we then transfer the positive feelings stemming
from familiarity to the person him- or herself.
Interpersonal Attraction and the
Development of Relationships
(Cont.)
 Similarity
 Reciprocity-of-liking effect
 We tend to like those who are similar to us.

Discovering that others have similar attitudes,

values, or traits promotes our liking for them.
One reason similarity increases the likelihood of
interpersonal attraction is that we assume people
with similar attitudes will evaluate us positively.
Interpersonal Attraction and the
Development of Relationships
(Cont.)
 Physical attractiveness
 For most people, the equation beautiful = good

is quite true. As a result, physically attractive

people are more popular than physically
unattractive ones, if all other factors are equal.
Interpersonal Attraction and the
Development of Relationships
(Cont.)
Love: How do I love thee?
 What is love?
 Love encompasses a variety of strong and
positive emotional and mental states, ranging
from the most sublime (great) virtue or good
habit, the deepest interpersonal affection and
to the simplest pleasure.
Love: How do I love thee?
(Cont.)
 Components of Love
 Psychologist Robert Sternberg proposes that love
consists of three components:
 Decision/commitment-- a component that involves
long-term feelings of commitment to maintain love.
 Intimacy-- feelings of closeness and connectedness

to another person.
 Passion-- intense motivational drives relating to

sex, physical closeness, and romance.

 Accordingto Sternberg, these three components
combine to produce the different types of love.
 Love: How do I love thee?
(Cont.)
 Components of Love

According to Sternberg, love has three main components: intimacy, passion, and
decision/commitment. Different combinations of these components can create other types of
love. Nonlove contains none of the three components.
See also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangular_theory_of_love
Love: How do I love thee?
(Cont.)
Types of Love
 Passionate (or romantic) love
 A state of intense absorption in someone that

includes intense physiological arousal,

psychological interest, and caring for the needs of
another
 Companionate love
 The strong affection that we have for those with

whom our lives are deeply involved.

 The love we feel for our parents, other family

members, and even some close friends falls into the

category of companionate love
Love: How do I love thee?
(Cont.)
Types of Love
 Fatuous love
 A form of love made up from only two of

three components, passion and commitment

(and excludes intimacy).
 Can be exemplified by a whirlwind courtship

and marriage—it has points of passion and

commitment but no intimacy.
 An example of this is "love at first sight.
Aggression & Prosocial Behavior
 Aggression
 Intentional injury or harm to another person
 Instinct approach/theory
 Freudian approach
 Aggression is primarily the outcome of innate—or

inborn—urges.
 Catharsis
 Process of releasing or discharging built up
aggressive energy
 Frustration-aggression approach/hypothesis
 Aggression as a reaction to frustration
 Frustration
 The thwarting or blocking of some ongoing, goal-
directed behavior
Aggression & Prosocial Behavior
(Cont.)

 Social
learning approaches
Learning to hurt others
Observation
Modeling, Imitation
Rewards, reinforcement
Helping Others: The Brighter
Side of Human Nature
 Prosocial behavior
 Helping behavior
 Altruism
 Helping behavior that is beneficial to others but
clearly requires self-sacrifice
 Diffusion of responsibility
 The tendency for people to feel that responsibility
for acting is shared, or diffused, among those
present
Helping Others: The Brighter
Side of Human Nature (Cont.)
 The basic steps of helping
Chapter Summary
Questions?