 When Rowland first met Jacob, Jacob wasn’t feeling well and threw up on Rowland’s shoes.

According to research on first impressions, we would expect Rowland to develop a negative

impression of Jacob because of the negative first experience with him. The first impression is
formed quickly and is difficult to change

 Gena is in a bad mood because she is convinced that she won’t like her blind date, Pat. When Pat
arrives, he is outgoing and considerate, but Gena is short-tempered and rude to him. Soon Pat
becomes irritable and ends the date early. Gina’s prediction that she wouldn’t have a good time
came true mainly because of a self-fulfilling prophecy. The change in her date’s behavior was
probably due to a self-fulfilling prophecy

 “I earned an A on my history test because I studied hard and I’m smart, but I failed my hilosophy
test because its questions were poorly worded and the teacher doesn’t like me.” This statement
is an example of self-serving bias. A self-serving bias is the tendency to take credit for success
and blame external causes for failures

 Richard is listening to a student government leader suggest that professors on campus should
stop giving grades. Richard is most likely to be convinced if the speaker presents evidence that
eliminating grades does not hurt students’ job prospects. Richard will more likely be persuaded
by evidence from the presenter (central route) since he is personally involved in the content of
the presenter’s message.

 Rachel and Matteus listen to a boring lecture. Afterward, Rachel is offered $100 and Matteus is
offered $1 to tell the lecturer’s next class that the lecture was interesting and fun. Both agree to
do so. According to cognitive dissonance theory, we would expect real attitude change about the
lecture to occur in Matteus, but not Rachel. The amount of money Matteus received was too
small to justify lying about what he thought about the lecture, so he changed his attitude toward
the lecture, thus making his attitude consistent with his behaviour

 Rhona, a pretty woman with conservative political views, has just moved into an apartment
building on campus. All else being equal, which neighbor will Rhona probably like the most?
Shauna, president of the Young Conservatives club. People tend to like others who have
attitudes similar to their own, especially attitudes about other people.

 When her best friend stopped by with a Christmas gift, Jen was upset because she had nothing
to give in return. Jen was uncomfortable because she had violated the reciprocity norm. A
particularly powerful norm is reciprocity, the tendency to respond to others as they have acted
toward you.

 When groups fail to consider all the facts and all their options, when they share similar biases,
and when they are pressured to reach an agreement, they often make poor decisions because of
a phenomenon called groupthink. groupthink impairs a group’s ability to realistically evaluate
options and their own decisions
 One explanation for foot-in-the-door’s effectiveness is that our general desire to behave in a
consistent fashion makes it hard for us to refuse subsequent requests. When you give in to the
initial small request, your self-image changes ever so slightly. Having already complied, you
are now the type of person who complies with requests made by this person or group. Because
your self-image has changed, you now feel compelled to behave consistently with this new self-
image. Recall that to not act in accordance with one’s attitudes would likely produce dissonance.
So when the person or group makes a subsequent request, to deny it would mean going against
one’s self-image and perhaps feeling dissonance. Therefore, compliance is more likely. When a
clever manipulator gets a person to give in on a small matter, it does indeed seem to lead to a
greater chance of future compliance

 Thelma recently discovered that her favorite actress supports a radical political group that
Thelma despises. According to dissonance theory, what is most likely to happen in this situation?
She will begin to like the actress less.

 It is also possible that we are attracted to similar others because finding ourselves
Attracted to dissimilar others might produce dissonance. For example, if you were attracted to
Someone who did not share your spiritual views, the conflict between your attitudes about the
person and your attitudes about spirituality might produce dissonance. In the face of this
dissonance, it might be easier to change your attitudes about the person (as opposed to your
spirituality), lessening your attraction to him or her and reducing the dissonance. Overall, it is
more comfortable to be attracted to those who share our attitudes.

 A politician is attempting to persuade people to vote for her in an upcoming election. With
which of the following types of arguments would you expect her to have the most success in
winning over a sceptical audience? A two-sided argument explaining why voters should vote for
her, as well as some concerns they may have about voting for her.

 Assuming that your professor is a happy person because she was smiling today in class is most
likely an example of the fundamental attribution error

 Believing that your roommate is to blame for your poor performance on your history exam is
most likely an example of the self-serving bias

 Living and working in close proximity to someone is likely to increase our liking for that person
because of the mere exposure effect.

 Cognitive dissonance theory suggests that we commonly change our attitudes to keep em
consistent with our behaviours. we typically change our attitudes and not our behavior to
reduce cognitive dissonance

 An aversive initiation creates dissonance between the two thoughts: ‘I knowingly underwent a
painful experience to join this group’ and ‘Some aspects of this group are not that great’ (since
group life is usually a mixture of positive and negative aspects). As an initiation is public and
cannot be denied, I can reduce dissonance by revising my opinion of the group – downplaying
negative aspects and focusing on positive aspects. The outcome for me is a more favourable
evaluation of the group and thus greater commitment.
 By getting someone to behave in a certain way, we may actually be able to change their
underlying attitudes. This path to attitude change is the focus of cognitive dissonance,

 A key premise of cognitive dissonance is that people actively organise their cognitions and will
change them to make them consistent with what they are feeling or with how they are acting

 One of your friends tells you, “I didn’t like the environmental-awareness presentation today.
First of all it was too long, not to mention the person that gave it was drinking out of a
polystyrene cup and drove away in a huge SUV.” What kind of processing might your friend be
using? peripheral-route processing

 Which of the following people would probably not be a primecandidate for membership into a
cult? a. lewis, who is mad at the world, especially his parents
b. leticia, who is open to new ideas and wants world peace and harmony among people
c. lauren, who is under a lot of stress and dissatisfied with her life
d. lawrence, who has only has a high school diploma but tends to be independent and happy with
his life

 Suppose you have a favourable attitude about sunbathing, but you learn that overexposure to
the sun’s ultraviolet rays is the leading cause of skin cancer. The discrepancy between your pre-
existing attitude and your new knowledge may create a state of cognitive dissonance. To resolve
the dissonance in an adaptive way, you might change your attitude about sunbathing from
positive to negative, or you might bring in a third cognition: “Sunbathing is relatively safe, in
moderation, if I use a sunscreen lotion.” But the dissonance-reducing drive, like other drives,
does not always function adaptively. Just as our hunger can lead us to eat things that aren’t
good for us, our dissonance-reducing drive can lead us to reduce dissonance in illogical and
maladaptive ways.

 one of our clever students declared that he now understands why everyone likes parties with
lots of alcohol. Like the acetominophen, alcohol reduces the pain caused by the cognitive
dissonance associated with sex in a casual, hookup environment. What do you think? Do you
agree?

 Each time we meet someone who does not conform to our prejudiced views, we experience
dissonance—“I thought all gay men were eff eminate. This guy is a deep-voiced, professional
athlete. I’m confused.” To resolve the dissonance, we can maintain our stereotypes by saying,
“This gay man is an exception to the rule.” However, if we continue our contact with a large
variety of gay men, or when the media portray numerous instances of nonstereotypical
gay individuals, this “exception to the rule” defense eventually breaks down, the need for
cognitive consistency rises, and attitude change (prejudice reduction) is likely to happen.

 People are more satisfied with relationships when they have a somewhat idealized perception of
their partner This makes sense in light of research on cognitive dissonance. Idealizing our mates
allows us to believe we have a good deal— and thereby avoid any cognitive dissonance that
might arise when we see an attractive alternative.
 From the biological perspective, evolution suggests that we are attracted to characteristics that
indicate better health, genes, and fertility. Another biological factor, the body chemical oxytocin,
is known to be important in forming both parental and romantic attachments. Next, looking at

 it from a psychological perspective, we’re most attracted to people who are similar to us—who
share our interested and attitudes, as well as social and ethnic backgrounds. In short, we like
people who think, feel, and behave like us (to a certain extent, anyway!). Finally, from a social
approach, there are numerous cultural diff erences in certain aspects of what is considered
attractive (for example, preferences for body size and shape). In addition, proximity (a major
factor in attraction) is also socially influenced—where we live, work and go to school all have an
impact on whom we meet and see frequently.

 Suppose, for example, Linda has been dating Justin for a few weeks. She was really interested in
him when they began dating, but he has seemed somewhat unenthusiastic, often preferring to
go out with his buddies on weekends. Whether Linda is free to date other people is ambiguous;
they are involved enough to suggest otherwise, but Justin’s level of commitment hardly seems
to imply an exclusive relationship. The plot thickens when Bob asks her out for Saturday night.
Bob seems like a nice enough guy, and Linda has no intention of spending the evening at home
while Justin spends Another night out with the boys, so she accepts. Then she begins to worry
whether she has made The right choice—a phenomenon called postdecision regret. The tension
she experiences may lead Her to convince herself that Bob is more attractive than he is—
essentially justifying a choice she has made that is inconsistent with another choice, dating
Justin. She may also talk with her friends about the situation in a way that solicits a particular
answer—for example, talking only to friends who dislike the way Justin has treated her or
“talking up” Bob’s virtues. These are examples of postdecision dissonance reduction—or
dissonance reduction after the fact.

 Suppose, for example, you chose to buy a car against a friend’s advice. Why might you be overly
defensive about the car? It is assumed that when a person’s cognitions about his or her behavior
and relevant attitudes are dissonant—they do not follow one to the next—an aversive state
arises that the person is motivated to reduce. Dissonance-reducing activities modify this
unpleasant state. In the case of your car, being defensive—overstating its value—makes you
feel better about going against your friend’s advice. (Dissonance also might lead you to think
less well of your friend.)

 let’s return to the attitudes you might express toward yourself if you eat a slice of cake at your
boss’s birthday party. According to dissonance theory, you need to resolve the inconsistency
between your vow (“I won’t consume any extra calories”) and your behavior (eating a piece of
cake). There are many things you can do to avoid feeling bad: Perhaps you’d reason, “I can’t
afford to have my boss be angry at me by declining a piece of cake.” Similarly, according to
self-perception theory, you look at your behavior to calculate your attitude. If you think,
“Because I ate cake, my boss’s birthday must have been very important,” you’ll also escape any
negative impact on your self-esteem