13.3 Social cognition and motivation

Social cognition and motivation shape our interactions and drive our social behaviors. From forming impressions to making decisions, our minds use shortcuts and biases that influence how we perceive others and navigate social situations.

Our need for social approval, status, and belonging motivates us to seek positive interactions and manage our reputations. We constantly compare ourselves to others, shaping our self-concept and driving us to improve or maintain our social standing.

Cognitive Processes in Social Interaction

Social Perception and Attribution

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• Social perception forms impressions, judgments, and inferences about others based on observable behaviors and characteristics
  • Involves interpreting facial expressions, body language, and verbal cues
  • Influenced by cultural norms and personal experiences
• Fundamental attribution error overestimates internal factors and underestimates external factors when explaining others' behaviors
  • Example: Assuming a coworker's tardiness stems from laziness rather than considering potential traffic issues
• Schema theory explains how pre-existing mental frameworks influence interpretation and organization of social information
  • Schemas act as cognitive shortcuts for processing new information
  • Can lead to biased interpretations when encountering information that doesn't fit existing schemas

Cognitive Biases and Heuristics

• Heuristics serve as mental shortcuts in social decision-making processes
  • Availability heuristic relies on immediate examples that come to mind (recent news stories shaping perceptions of crime rates)
  • Representativeness heuristic judges probability based on how closely something matches a prototype (stereotyping based on appearance)
• Cognitive biases affect social perception and decision-making
  • Confirmation bias seeks information confirming pre-existing beliefs (selectively reading news articles that align with political views)
  • Self-serving bias attributes positive outcomes to internal factors and negative outcomes to external factors (crediting personal skills for job promotion but blaming bad luck for failure)
• Dual-process theory of social cognition distinguishes between automatic and controlled processing
  • System 1: Intuitive, fast, and effortless processing (snap judgments about strangers)
  • System 2: Reflective, slow, and effortful processing (carefully considering multiple perspectives in a complex social situation)

Social Categorization and Stereotyping

• Social categorization simplifies complex social environments by grouping individuals based on shared characteristics
  • Helps manage large amounts of social information efficiently
  • Can lead to oversimplification and loss of individual nuances
• Stereotyping applies generalized beliefs about a group to individual members
  • Can be both positive and negative (Asians are good at math, women are nurturing)
  • Often based on limited information or overgeneralization
• Prejudice and discrimination can result from rigid categorization and stereotyping
  • Prejudice involves negative attitudes or feelings towards a group
  • Discrimination translates prejudiced attitudes into actions or behaviors
• Strategies to reduce stereotyping and prejudice
  • Increasing intergroup contact under positive conditions
  • Promoting individuating information to challenge group-based assumptions

Social Rewards and Motivation

Social Reinforcement and Learning

• Social reinforcement theory posits behaviors followed by positive social outcomes are more likely to be repeated
  • Positive reinforcement: Praise for helping a classmate increases likelihood of future helping behavior
  • Negative reinforcement: Avoiding social situations to escape anxiety reinforces social withdrawal
• Social learning theory emphasizes importance of observing and modeling behaviors of others
  • Bandura's Bobo doll experiment demonstrated children imitating aggressive behaviors observed in adults
  • Role models significantly influence behavior acquisition (parents, peers, media figures)
• Cultural differences influence interpretation and impact of social rewards
  • Individualistic cultures may emphasize personal achievement and recognition
  • Collectivistic cultures may prioritize group harmony and fulfilling social obligations

Social Approval and Rejection

• Social approval activates brain's reward centers, influencing motivation and behavior
  • Neuroimaging studies show increased activity in the ventral striatum during social approval
  • Likes on social media posts trigger dopamine release, reinforcing posting behavior
• Social exclusion and rejection trigger negative emotional responses
  • Activates similar brain regions as physical pain (anterior cingulate cortex)
  • Can lead to decreased self-esteem, increased aggression, or social withdrawal
• Reputation management motivates individuals to maintain or enhance social standing
  • Engaging in prosocial behaviors to improve social image
  • Avoiding actions that could damage reputation within valued social groups

Social Exchange and Status

• Social exchange theory explains how individuals weigh costs and benefits of social interactions
  • People tend to seek relationships and interactions with favorable cost-benefit ratios
  • Reciprocity norm influences expectations of give-and-take in social exchanges
• Social status concerns drive behavior to maintain or improve position within groups
  • Pursuing education or career advancement to increase social standing
  • Conspicuous consumption to signal wealth and status (luxury goods, expensive hobbies)
• Power dynamics in social relationships influence motivation and behavior
  • Those with higher status may exert more influence on group decisions
  • Lower status individuals may engage in ingratiation or conformity to gain acceptance

Social Comparison and Self-Evaluation

Types of Social Comparison

• Social comparison theory proposes individuals evaluate abilities and opinions by comparing to others
  • Festinger's original theory focused on comparison with similar others
  • Later research expanded to include upward and downward comparisons
• Upward social comparisons involve comparing oneself to those perceived as better
  • Can motivate self-improvement (aspiring to emulate a successful mentor)
  • May lead to feelings of inadequacy or lower self-esteem if perceived gap is too large
• Downward social comparisons involve comparing oneself to those perceived as worse off
  • Can enhance self-esteem (feeling grateful for one's circumstances compared to less fortunate)
  • May reduce motivation for improvement if used excessively

Self-Discrepancy and Relative Deprivation

• Self-discrepancy theory describes how differences between actual, ideal, and ought selves influence motivation
  • Actual self: Current attributes and characteristics
  • Ideal self: Aspirational qualities one hopes to possess
  • Ought self: Qualities one believes they should possess based on obligations or responsibilities
• Relative deprivation explains how perceived discrepancies motivate goal-directed behavior
  • Occurs when individuals feel they lack desired resources compared to a reference group
  • Can lead to feelings of resentment, anger, or increased motivation to change circumstances
• Self-evaluation maintenance model balances desire for self-enhancement with maintaining relationships
  • Individuals may downplay their own abilities in domains important to close others
  • Seeking to excel in different domains than close others to avoid competition

Cultural Influences on Social Comparison

• Individualistic cultures may emphasize personal achievement in social comparisons
  • Focus on standing out and surpassing others in valued domains
  • Greater emphasis on self-improvement motivated by upward comparisons
• Collectivistic cultures may prioritize group harmony in social comparisons
  • Greater emphasis on fitting in and maintaining group cohesion
  • May engage in self-effacement to avoid appearing boastful or disrupting group dynamics
• Cross-cultural differences in self-enhancement and self-criticism
  • Western cultures tend to exhibit self-enhancement bias in social comparisons
  • East Asian cultures may demonstrate self-criticism as a motivational strategy

Social Identity and Behavior

Group Membership and Self-Concept

• Social identity theory explains how individuals categorize themselves and others into social groups
  • Ingroups: Groups to which an individual belongs and identifies with
  • Outgroups: Groups to which an individual does not belong or identify with
• Individuals derive self-esteem and motivation from group membership
  • Positive distinctiveness: Seeking to view one's group as superior to outgroups
  • Group success and achievements contribute to individual self-worth
• Ingroup favoritism describes tendency to favor members of one's own group
  • Allocating more resources or opportunities to ingroup members
  • Judging ingroup members more positively than outgroup members

Group Dynamics and Behavior

• Group polarization occurs when discussions lead to more extreme attitudes or decisions
  • Can result in "groupthink" where dissenting opinions are suppressed
  • Example: Jury deliberations leading to harsher sentences than individual jurors would impose
• Conformity and obedience demonstrate how social pressure influences individual behavior
  • Asch conformity experiments showed individuals conforming to incorrect group judgments
  • Milgram obedience studies revealed high levels of compliance with authority figures
• Social identity model of deindividuation effects (SIDE) explains anonymity's impact in groups
  • Anonymity can increase adherence to group norms (online forums, social media)
  • Reduced individual accountability may lead to more extreme behavior (cyberbullying)

Intergroup Relations and Collective Behavior

• Intergroup conflict and competition strengthen ingroup cohesion and motivation
  • Robbers Cave experiment demonstrated how competition creates hostility between groups
  • Common enemy or shared threat can unify diverse groups (national unity during wartime)
• Collective efficacy describes shared beliefs in a group's capabilities
  • Influences group motivation and goal-directed behavior
  • High collective efficacy associated with better team performance and resilience
• Strategies for improving intergroup relations
  • Contact hypothesis: Positive intergroup contact reduces prejudice under certain conditions
  • Superordinate goals: Creating shared objectives that require cooperation between groups
• Social movements demonstrate collective behavior driven by shared identity and goals
  • Civil rights movements, environmental activism, political revolutions