Social Judgment Theory Essay

This theory was first created by Ajzen and Fishbein in 1980. This theory provides a framework to study the attitudes that support behaviours and suggests that the most important determinate of an individual’s behaviour is their behavioural intent. This is the individual’s intention to preform a certain behaviour, which is formed from a combination of their attitude towards the behaviour and the subject norm. (The subject norm is the individual’s perception of what others expect them to do).

Salomon E. Asch in his essay “Opinions and Social Pressure” conducted an experiment to determine effects of group pressure towards an individual and concluded that there is a very strong tendency to conformity even when doing so conflicting with their own senses of morality. In the experiment a group of young students have to compare length of lines on two different sheets of paper. On one of them there is a sample single line and on the other one there are three lines only one of which is same size as the sample line from the first sheet. People taking part in this experiment are instructed to point at lines that are the same length. At first, during the experiment the group is

20. ____ is based on the notion that people make implicit social comparisons with others when making ratings on scales, rather than relying on direct inferences about a private, personal value system (Peng, Nisbett, & Wong, 1997).

This essay aims to explore and describe some of the key studies within Social Psychology and show why social psychology is still important within the science of psychology today. Social psychology was once described by Allport (as cited in Lindzey & Aronson, 1985, p.5) as, “the scientific study of how people’s thoughts, feelings and behaviours are influenced by the actual, imagined or implied presence of others”. One of the first psychologists to study social psychology was Kurt Lewin. Lewin is considered the “father of social psychology” by many as he took a stand against the dominant behaviourist approach during the 1920’s through his belief that interaction between the individual and their environment is key to affecting behaviour, rather than environment alone. His revolutionary ideas matured into the study of group dynamics, which is widely used by many organisations today (Collin, 2012).

The Social Cognitive Theory identifies the influences of peers, family members, personal characteristics and societal norms and culture as the main determinants of a person’s opinion (Hastings, 2007, Bandura, 1986). It identifies the reciprocal relationship between personal and environmental factors as an important factor that affect a person’s beliefs, opinions and behaviours toward a certain social issue. The concept of Social Cognitive Theory points out that, to change the perceptions and behaviour of the target

According to the Yale Attitude Change Approach, individuals are more persuaded by messages which do not seem to be designed to influence them. If the argument presented by the politician is intended to persuade the audience into voting for them or conforming to their belief system, then it will be a fail. Another reason why the argument may not have persuaded or convinced the audience is due to the period in which it was articulated. If the speeches are to be given back to back and there will be a delay before people have time to make up their minds, then it is best if the judicious political argument is presented first. Under these conditions, the primacy effect is likely to take place where individuals will remember the first thing that they

In social psychology, the phrase person perception has historically referred to the perception of others that leads to judgments of traits and dispositions. Fritz Heider proposed that people can attribute the behaviors of others to factors that are internal (personality, dispositions, etc.) or external (situational constraints), but that people are prone to make internal attributions (Ickes, 2000). These basic observations affected decades of research and provided an important foundation for two related theories, in particular. Harold Kelley’s covariation model, for example, described how people discern the attitudes of others based on simple factors surrounding observed behaviors (Sadalla et al, 1994). Similarly, Edward E. Jones

This source was written by Madelijn Strick, Rob W. Holland, Rick Van Baaren, and Ad Van Knippenberg. Madelijn Strick is a psychologist at Utrecht University and has a PhD in social psychology. She works at Radboud University teaching social influences and consumer behavior. Her main interest is in human emotions and decision making. She was awarded “best dissertation award” of the Dutch Association of Social Psychology. She and along with the other authors are trying to figure out how people make personal decisions. This shows her credibility for writing this article. Rob W. Holland also has a PhD from Radboud University and is a professor in Nijmegen. He was also awarded the “best dissertation award” for his research on the influence of attitudes and behaviors as a function of motivational orientation.

Theory of Planned Behavior is influenced by an individual’s attitude towards a health behavior (Cameron, Ginsburg, Westhoff, Mendez, & Roque, 2012). The Theory of Planned Behavior according to Glanz, Rimer, & Viswanath, (2008), provides a systematic method that helps determine the issues that are most important to a person’s decisions after having performed a specific behavior. The constructs obtained in the Theory of Planned Behavior are: attitudes, behavioral intentions, subjective norms, social norms, perceived power, and perceived behavioral control (Boston University School of Public Health,

Third, that majority of people will be motivated to reduce dissonance though self-justification and fourth, conditions whereby self-esteem differences moderate the reduction of dissonance using either direct or indirect strategies (Stone & Cooper, 2001). The SSM will then be contrasted between the three contemporary models, self-concept, new look and self- affliction. Before applying SSM to Australia’s attitudes towards Global Warming.

“Never judge others. You both know good and well how unexpected events can change who a person is. Always keep that in mind. You never know what someone else is experiencing within their own life,” Colleen Hoover once stated, yet we look down on others. Hierarchy, a system or organization in which people or groups are ranked one above the other according to status or authority, jealousy, the outside, and assumption are just a few of the trillions of reasons why people look down upon other people? It's just our human nature.

The Hypothesis of the first study is, there is an alteration in an individual’s self-prospection when greeted with responses, whether it be negative or positive.

Theory of Planned Behavior is influenced by an individual’s attitude towards a health behavior (Cameron, Ginsburg, Westhoff, Mendez, & Roque, 2012). The Theory of Planned Behavior according to Glanz, Rimer, & Viswanath, (2008), provides a systematic method that helps determine the issues that are most important to a person’s decisions after having performed a specific behavior. The constructs obtained in the Theory of Planned Behavior are: attitudes, behavioral intentions, subjective norms, social norms, perceived power, and perceived behavioral control (Boston University School of Public Health,

Though in the case of general beliefs about morality, ethics, or values in life, the suspension of judgments could be effective in relieving individuals from painstaking striving to achieve or attain certain ethical goals or values, I nevertheless have less faith that the suspending judgments would likewise benefit us in achieving freedom from disturbance in particular situations. For in refusing to pass judgments on appearances in particular situations, we might find it exceedingly difficult, if at all possible, to affectively assess the best course of action to take, or the implications of our actions may have for our

The word “judgment” can have multiple definitions; however, for the purpose of this essay, the Dictionary.com definition is referred to. Judgment defined by Dictionary.com is the process of forming an opinion or evaluation by discerning and comparing. Therefore, judgements form when an individual compares their definition of what is acceptable to that of the person they are analyzing. Using this type of judgement, an individual can quickly form a surface based opinion about an individual and determine whether