During Weeks 2 to 6, you will create the Litera

Attitudes and Beliefs.html

Attitudes and Beliefs

Myers (2008) defines an attitude as "an efficient way to size up the world. When we respond quickly to something, the way we feel about it can guide how we react." Why is it then that we do not react to incidents or situations based purely on our attitude? Why does there seem to be a buffer between an individual’s attitudes and actions?

One of the best examples demonstrating a disconnect between attitudes, beliefs, and actual behavior is smoking. Although there are reasons or at least a rationale why people smoke, the question is, what is their true attitude regarding smoking? Is it that, even after knowing that smoking is unhealthy, people do not consider it to be as risky as serious and chronic diseases? Or is it that individuals consider smoking a pleasurable experience that reduces stress, helps them lose weight, or is a social norm?

Young and Borland (2008) conducted a study to analyze why individuals are unsuccessful in quitting smoking. The researchers used information from the International Tobacco Control Four Country Survey (ITC-4)—a random survey of adult smokers (8,000 participants), 18 years or older, in four countries (the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia). Follow-up contacts were made on an average of seven months over several years. The study used the information regarding the individuals’ attempts to quit smoking to understand their behaviors and functional beliefs regarding quitting, such as stress management, weight control, life enhancement, and social enhancement. The study concluded that individuals are successful in quitting smoking only if they change their attitudes and social or psychological beliefs regarding smoking.

Myers, D. (2008). Social psychology (9th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill.

Young, H., & Borland, R. (2008). Functional beliefs about smoking and quitting activity among adult smokers in four countries. Findings from the International Tobacco Control Four-Country Survey. Health Psychology, 27(3S), 216–223.

Self-Serving Bias.html

Self-Serving Bias

One of the most common laboratories used in psychology is the college classroom. Innumerable studies in psychology are tested using college students as participants. However, there is some skepticism related to the use of college classrooms as psychology labs. One of the main reasons is that often what is being studied is not adequately or appropriately represented by the group being used. Such inappropriate representation of the population being studied is considered a selection bias.

The study by Smith (2005), however, posed a different perspective. Similar to other researchers, Smith also studied college students. After the completion of the study, Smith mentioned some interesting facts and ideas regarding a student's success or nonsuccess in the study. Smith used an extensive literature review to point out several issues students had in the classroom, including some of the interaction issues between students and instructors. Although Smith’s review didn’t supply any real new information, it was a good review of social psychological and theoretical viewpoints within the context of a classroom setting. According to Smith, a student's success or nonsuccess in the study was based on the principles of a self-handicapping and self-serving bias.

As discussed earlier, Myers (2008) defined self-handicapping as “protecting one’s self image with behaviors that create a handy excuse for later failure” and a self-serving bias as “the tendency to perceive oneself favorably.” Have you ever said or heard someone say, “I have just too much work right now to study for this exam” or “I am not good at mathematics, so I will never get statistics”? These are actually ways that people self-handicap. If you aim low, what you do accomplish seems much higher than expected. Smith used this sort of explanatory style in his article.

Next, let’s discuss self-presentation.

Myers, D. (2008). Social psychology (9th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill.

Smith, R. (2005). The classroom as a social psychology laboratory. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 24(1), 62–71.

Self-Presentation.html

Self-Presentation

Myers (2009) defines self-presentation as “the act of expressing oneself and behaving in ways designed to create a favorable impression or an impression that corresponds wot one’s ideals.

Some common questions that can lead to a study based on self-presentation include:

• What is the purpose of self-presentation?
• In what situations would it be appropriate or inappropriate?

The next question that arises is, how do you develop a research project based on a topic on self-presentation? One way to look at impression management and self-presentation is to observe and analyze how people manipulate or even fake their behavior or actions to improve a situation.

Let's discuss a study conducted by Mueller-Hanson, Heggestad, and Thornton III to examine why people tend to fake their responses on personality or job-fit questionnaires.

View the PDF transcript for Study on Self-Presentation

Myers, D. (2008). Social psychology (9th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill.

Mueller-Hanson, R., Heggestad, E., & Thornton III, G. (2006). Individual differences in impression management: An exploration of the psychological process of underlying faking. Psychology Science, 48(3),288–312.