NCERT Class 12 Psychology: Chapter 6 - Attitude and Social Cognition
Introduction
Chapter 6 of the NCERT Class 12 Psychology textbook, "Attitude and Social Cognition," delves into understanding how attitudes are formed, changed, and measured, and how individuals perceive, think about, and relate to the social world. This chapter covers the essential concepts of attitudes, social cognition, and the processes that influence social behavior.
Attitude
Definition and Components of Attitude
Attitude refers to a psychological tendency expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favor or disfavor.
Components:
- Affective Component: This involves a person's feelings/emotions about the attitude object. For example, fear or hatred towards spiders.
- Behavioral Component: This refers to the way the attitude we have influences how we act or behave. For example, avoiding spiders because of fear.
- Cognitive Component: This involves a person's belief/knowledge about an attitude object. For example, believing that spiders are dangerous.
Formation of Attitudes
Attitudes can be formed through various processes:
- Direct Contact: Personal experience with the attitude object.
- Interaction with Others: Learning attitudes through discussions with others.
- Group Membership: Attitudes formed by conforming to group norms.
- Child Rearing: Influence of parents and caregivers on attitude formation.
- Media: Influence of media on shaping attitudes.
Attitude Change
Attitudes can be changed through various methods:
- Persuasion: The process of changing attitudes through information and arguments.
- Cognitive Dissonance: The discomfort experienced when holding conflicting cognitions, leading to attitude change to reduce the dissonance.
- Social Influence: Attitudes change due to the influence of others, including conformity, compliance, and obedience.
Social Cognition
Social cognition involves understanding how people process, store, and apply information about others and social situations. It focuses on the role that cognitive processes play in social interactions.
Schema
A schema is a cognitive framework or concept that helps organize and interpret information. Schemas influence what we pay attention to, the way we interpret events, and how we remember information.
- Types of Schemas: Person schemas, role schemas, event schemas (scripts), and self-schemas.
Heuristics
Heuristics are mental shortcuts that help with problem-solving and decision-making. Common heuristics include:
- Availability Heuristic: Judging the likelihood of an event based on how easily examples come to mind.
- Representativeness Heuristic: Judging the probability of an event by how similar it is to a prototype.
- Anchoring and Adjustment Heuristic: Making estimates by starting from an initial value and adjusting to yield the final answer.
Attribution
Attribution is the process of explaining the causes of behavior and events. There are two types of attributions:
- Internal Attribution: Attributing behavior to internal factors such as personality traits, attitudes, and abilities.
- External Attribution: Attributing behavior to external factors such as situational influences and environmental constraints.
Errors in Attribution
Common errors in attribution include:
- Fundamental Attribution Error: The tendency to overemphasize personal characteristics and ignore situational factors in judging others' behavior.
- Self-Serving Bias: The tendency to attribute successes to internal factors and failures to external factors.
Prejudice and Discrimination
Prejudice refers to preconceived opinions or attitudes about an individual or group that are not based on reason or actual experience. Discrimination involves behavior that treats people unequally based on their group membership.
Causes of Prejudice
- Social Learning: Prejudice is learned through socialization processes.
- Social Categorization: Dividing people into groups leads to in-group favoritism and out-group hostility.
- Intergroup Conflict: Competition and conflict between groups lead to prejudice.
Reducing Prejudice
- Intergroup Contact: Increased interaction between groups can reduce prejudice.
- Education: Teaching about the irrationality of prejudice and the value of diversity.
- Social Norms: Promoting norms that discourage prejudice and encourage equality.
Important Terminology and Definitions
- Attitude: A psychological tendency expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favor or disfavor.
- Schema: A cognitive framework or concept that helps organize and interpret information.
- Heuristics: Mental shortcuts that help with problem-solving and decision-making.
- Attribution: The process of explaining the causes of behavior and events.
- Prejudice: Preconceived opinions or attitudes about an individual or group that are not based on reason or actual experience.
- Discrimination: Behavior that treats people unequally based on their group membership.
- Fundamental Attribution Error: The tendency to overemphasize personal characteristics and ignore situational factors in judging others' behavior.
- Self-Serving Bias: The tendency to attribute successes to internal factors and failures to external factors.
Word Meanings
- Cognition: The mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses. (Hindi: अनुभूति)
- Persuasion: The action or process of convincing someone to believe or do something. (Hindi: मनाना)
- Dissonance: A lack of harmony or agreement. (Hindi: असंगति)
- Heuristic: A mental shortcut that allows people to solve problems and make judgments quickly and efficiently. (Hindi: अानुभविक)
- Attribution: The action of regarding something as being caused by a person or thing. (Hindi: आरोपण)
- Prejudice: Preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience. (Hindi: पूर्वाग्रह)
- Discrimination: Unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people, especially on the grounds of race, age, or sex. (Hindi: भेदभाव)
Practice Questions with Answers
Question 1:
Define attitude and its components.
Answer: Attitude refers to a psychological tendency expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favor or disfavor. The components of attitude are:
- Affective Component: Involves a person's feelings/emotions about the attitude object.
- Behavioral Component: Refers to the way the attitude influences behavior.
- Cognitive Component: Involves a person's belief/knowledge about an attitude object.
Question 2:
What are the different ways attitudes can be formed?
Answer: Attitudes can be formed through direct contact, interaction with others, group membership, child rearing, and media influence.
Question 3:
Explain the concept of cognitive dissonance.
Answer: Cognitive dissonance refers to the discomfort experienced when holding conflicting cognitions (e.g., beliefs, attitudes). To reduce this discomfort, individuals may change their attitudes or behaviors to align them.
Question 4:
What is social cognition?
Answer: Social cognition involves understanding how people process, store, and apply information about others and social situations. It focuses on the role cognitive processes play in social interactions.
Question 5:
Define schema and its types.
Answer: A schema is a cognitive framework or concept that helps organize and interpret information. Types of schemas include person schemas, role schemas, event schemas (scripts), and self-schemas.
Question 6:
What are heuristics and name some common types?
Answer: Heuristics are mental shortcuts that help with problem-solving and decision-making. Common types include availability heuristic, representativeness heuristic, and anchoring and adjustment heuristic.
Question 7:
What is attribution and its types?
Answer: Attribution is the process of explaining the causes of behavior and events. The types are internal attribution (attributing behavior to internal factors) and external attribution (attributing behavior to external factors).
Question 8:
Explain the fundamental attribution error.
Answer: The fundamental attribution error is the tendency to overemphasize personal characteristics and ignore situational factors when judging others' behavior.
Question 9:
What is self-serving bias?
Answer: Self-serving bias is the tendency to attribute successes to internal factors and failures to external factors.
Question 10:
Define prejudice and discrimination.
Answer: Prejudice refers to preconceived opinions or attitudes about an individual or group not based on reason or actual experience. Discrimination involves behavior that treats people unequally based on their group membership.
Question 11:
What are some causes of prejudice?
Answer: Causes of prejudice include social learning, social categorization, and intergroup conflict.
Question 12:
How can prejudice be reduced?
Answer: Prejudice can be reduced through intergroup contact, education, and promoting social norms that discourage prejudice and encourage equality.
Question 13:
What is the availability heuristic?
Answer: The availability heuristic is a mental shortcut that involves judging the likelihood of an event based on how easily examples come to mind.
Question 14:
Explain the concept of anchoring and adjustment heuristic.
Answer: The anchoring and adjustment heuristic involves making estimates by starting from an initial value (anchor) and adjusting to yield the final answer.
Question 15:
What is the representativeness heuristic?
Answer: The representativeness heuristic involves judging the probability of an event by how similar it is to a prototype.
Question 16:
Describe the process of social categorization.
Answer: Social categorization involves dividing people into groups based on shared characteristics, which can lead to in-group favoritism and out-group hostility.
Question 17:
What is the role of media in attitude formation?
Answer: Media plays a significant role in shaping attitudes by providing information, framing issues, and influencing perceptions through repeated exposure.
Question 18:
How do group norms influence attitudes?
Answer: Group norms influence attitudes by creating pressure to conform to the beliefs, values, and behaviors of the group, leading to attitude alignment.
Question 19:
What is meant by the term 'self-schema'?
Answer: Self-schema refers to the cognitive representations of the self, encompassing beliefs, memories, and generalizations about oneself that guide information processing.
Question 20:
Explain the difference between direct contact and interaction with others in attitude formation.
Answer: Direct contact involves forming attitudes through personal experience with the attitude object, while interaction with others involves learning attitudes through discussions and social interactions with others.