Introduction to Attitude and Social Cognition

• Human behaviour is influenced by the social environment and interactions with others.
• Attitudes are learned tendencies to evaluate people, objects, or ideas positively or negatively.
• Social cognition involves how individuals perceive, interpret, and remember social information.
• Understanding attitudes and social cognition helps explain why people behave differently in similar situations.

Explaining Social Behaviour

Social Behaviour refers to any behaviour that occurs in the presence of others or is influenced by them, whether the presence is actual, imagined, or implied. It includes cooperation, competition, helping behaviour, aggression, and other forms of interpersonal interactions. Humans are social beings, and their thoughts, feelings, and actions are influenced by the social context, attitudes, and expectations of others.

Role of the Social Psychologist

• Social psychologists study human behaviour in social situations to understand how people think, feel, and act in groups.
• They examine the influence of dispositional (internal) factors and situational (external) factors on behaviour.
• Scientific study by social psychologists uses experiments, observations, and systematic analysis to explain social behaviour instead of relying solely on common sense.

Causes of Social Behaviour

1. Dispositional (Internal) Factors
   • Personal characteristics like traits, motives, attitudes, or personality influence behaviour.
   • Example: Helping someone in need because of empathy or a caring personality.
2. Situational (External) Factors
   • Influences from the environment, social roles, group norms, or peer pressure.
   • Example: Helping someone because it is expected by social norms or due to peer influence.

Both internal and external factors interact to shape human actions.

Social Cognition

• Social Cognition is the process of perceiving, interpreting, and remembering information about others.
• It includes:
  • Impression Formation – Developing opinions about others based on appearance, behaviour, or communication.
  • Attribution – Explaining causes of behaviour, which may be internal (dispositional) or external (situational).
  • Schemes – Mental frameworks used to organize social information and predict behaviour.

Influence of Others’ Presence

• The presence of others affects performance in different ways:
  • Social Facilitation – Performance improves in the presence of others (e.g., playing a game better in front of an audience).
  • Social Inhibition – Performance declines due to anxiety or evaluation apprehension (e.g., forgetting lines in a play).
• Social norms are shared rules about acceptable behaviour.
• Social roles define expected patterns of behaviour for individuals in specific positions (e.g., teacher, parent, student).

Pro-Social Behaviour

• Pro-social behaviour involves voluntary actions intended to benefit others or society, such as helping, sharing, or cooperating.
• Determined by empathy, attitudes, social norms, and situational factors.
• Encouraged by observing role models, social learning, and cultural expectations.

Nature and components of Attitude

• Attitude is a learned tendency to evaluate people, objects, ideas, or situations in a favourable, unfavourable, or neutral way.
• Attitudes are acquired through experience, observation, social interactions, and learning from family, peers, education, and media.
• They are relatively stable, but can change with new experiences, learning, reflection, or persuasive communication.
• Attitudes are evaluative, reflecting a person’s likes, dislikes, preferences, beliefs, and values.
• They guide thoughts, feelings, and behaviour and help individuals respond appropriately to social and cultural environments.
• Attitudes influence decision-making, social perception, interpersonal behaviour, and problem-solving.

Components of Attitude

• Affective Component (Feeling/Emotion): Refers to the emotional reactions toward an attitude object. Emotions can be positive, negative, or neutral.
• Behavioural Component (Action/Tendency to Act): Refers to the tendency to behave or actual behaviour toward an attitude object. Behaviour is influenced by attitude and situational factors.
• Cognitive Component (Beliefs/Thoughts): Refers to the beliefs, thoughts, or knowledge about an attitude object. It helps justify feelings and guide behaviour.

These components interact to form a coherent attitude, though inconsistencies can occur, leading to cognitive dissonance, which motivates attitude or behaviour adjustment.

Beliefs and Values

• Beliefs are convictions or assumptions about what is true, real, or possible, forming the cognitive foundation of attitudes.
• Values are core principles or standards guiding behaviour and decision-making, representing what is important or desirable in life.
• Together, beliefs and values shape the cognitive component of attitude and influence evaluation and social behaviour.

Four Significant Features of Attitudes

• Valence: Refers to the positive, negative, or neutral nature of an attitude, determining whether it reflects a favourable or unfavourable evaluation. Strong valence has a greater impact on decision-making and evaluation.
• Extremeness: Refers to the strength or intensity of an attitude. Extreme attitudes are firmly held and resistant to change, whereas mild attitudes are more flexible.
• Simplicity or Complexity: Indicates whether an attitude is simple (based on few beliefs) or complex (based on multiple beliefs, values, and experiences). Complex attitudes are multi-dimensional and consider various perspectives.
• Centrality: Refers to the importance of an attitude within an individual’s overall belief system. Central attitudes are highly significant and strongly influence social interactions and decision-making.

Importance of Understanding Attitudes

• Explains why individuals behave differently in similar situations.
• Helps in designing interventions and attitude-change programs.
• Influences pro-social behaviour, cooperation, social harmony, and conflict resolution.
• Aids in predicting behaviour, understanding social perception, and promoting positive social values.