Famous Psychologists & Some Famous Studies

published what is thought to be the first study of social psychology: he investigated the effect of competition on performance and found that ppl perform better on familiar tasks when in the presence of others

psychologist who published one of the first texts in social psychology

sociologist who published one of the first texts ins social psychology

reinforcement theory: social approvals influence behavior; e.g. conversations are steered by feedback

Balance Theory: Balance exists when all three (person, other person, idea/thing) fit together harmoniously

Cognitive Dissonance Theory: the conflict that you feel when you attitudes are not in synch with your behaviors; changing behavior/attitude can aid in feeling better

Boring Tasks Study & Cognitive Dissonance: ppl asked to do a boring task & paid either $1 or $20 to tell ppl that it was fun. when behavior can be justified by means of external inducements ($20), no need to change internal cognitions. However, if justification is minimal, you will reduce your dissonance by changing your thoughts (ppl paid little money actually thought it was fun)

Self-Perception theory: ppl infer what their attitudes are based upon observations of their own behavior. Boring Task study example: $1 person must have really had some fun (or changed belief, because why would they lie for a dollar); $20 said whatever b/c of compensation; Difference btw this and Festingers study--> no state of discomfort

Sleeper effect study based on message from a credible source and a non-credible source: it implied that propaganda from an unreliable source might be ineffective at first, but it would sleep in the background, and eventually—after the memory for the source was gone—the information from an unreliable source might be just as persuasive as information from an expert source

Elaboration Likelihood Model of Persuasion: Two routes to persuasion, central and peripheral.

Studied how psychological inoculation could help ppl resist persuasion.

Social Comparison theory: ppl evaluate their opinions and abilities by comparing them to those of other ppl

Studied the relationship between anxiety and the need for affiliation; The greater the anxiety the greater desire to affiliate