Social psychology is presently dominated by cognitive theories that emphasize the importance of personal beliefs and in tellective processes as the immediate determinants of behavior. The present paper explores two areas of.research within this tra dition : (1) beliefs about the external world, and (2) beliefs about the self. The paper concludes with a brief critique of the cognitive approach to social psychology.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Abelson, R.P.Script processing in attitude formation and decision making. In Carroll, J. S. & Payne, J. W. (Eds.), Cognition and social behavior. Hillsdale, N. J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates , 1975.
2.
Ajzen, I.Intuitive theories of events and the effects of base-rate information . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1977, 35, 303-314.
3.
Aronson, E.Dissonance theory: Progress and problems. In Abelson, R. P., Aronson, E., McGuire, W. J., Newcomb, T. M., Rosenberg, M.J., & Tannenbaum, P. H.Theories of cognitive consistency: A sourcebook.
4.
Bandura, A. Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 1977, 84, 191-215.
5.
Bandura, A., Adams, N.E. & Beyer, J.Cognitive processes mediating behavioral change. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1977, 35, 125-139.
6.
Bem, D. J. Self-perception: An alternative interpretation of cognitive dissonance phenomena. Psychological Review, 1967, 74, 183-200.
7.
Bem, D.J.Self-perception theory. In Berkowitz, L. (Ed.), Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, (Vol. 6), New York: Academic Press, 1972.
8.
Bem, D.J. & Allen, A.On predicting some of the people some of the time: The search for cross-situational consistencies in behavior. Psychological Review, 1974, 81, 506-520.
9.
Borgida, E. & Nisbett, R.E.Scientific deduction: Evidence is not necessarily informative. A reply to Wells and Harvey. Unpublished manuscript, 1977.
10.
Burnstein, E. & Vinokur, A.Persuasive argumentation and social comparison as determinants of attitude polarization. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology , 1977, 13, 315-332.
11.
Darley, J.M. & Latane, B.Bystander intervention in emergencies: diffusion of responsibility . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology1968, 8, 377-383.
12.
Dawes, R.M.Shallow psychology. In Carroll, J. S. & Payne, J. W. (Eds.), Cognition and social behavior. Hillsdale, N. J. : Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1975.
13.
Eagly, A.H.Comprehensibility of persuasive arguments as a determinant of opinion change . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1974, 29, 758-773.
14.
Festinger, L.A theory of cognitive dissonance. Stanford, California : Stanford University Press, 1957 .
15.
Fischoff, B.Attribution theory and judgment under uncertainty. In J. H. Harvey & R. F. Kidd (Eds.), New directions in attribution research (Vol. 1). Hillsdale, N. J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers, 1976 .
16.
Fishbein, M. & Ajzen, I.Attitudes towards objects as predictors of single and multiple behavioral criteria. Psychological Review, 1974, 81, 59-74.
17.
Freedman, J.L. & Fraser, S.C.Compliance without pressure: The foot-in-the-door technique. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1966 , 4, 195-202.
18.
Gerard, H.B., Blevans, S.A. & Malcolm, T.Self-evaluation and the evaluation of choice alternatives. Journal of Personality, 1964, 32, 395-410.
19.
Greenwald, A.G.Cognitive learning, cognitive response to persuasion, and attitude change . In Greenwald, A. G., Brock, T. C. & Ostrom, J. M. (Eds.), Psychological Foundations of Attitudes. New York: Academic Press, 1968.
20.
Hansen, R.D. & Donoghue, J.M.The power of consensus: Information derived from one's own and others' behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1977, 35, 294-302.
21.
Jones, E.E. & Harris, V.A.The attribution of attitudes. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 1967, 3, 1-24.
22.
Kahneman, D. & Tversky, A.On the psychology of prediction. Psychological Review , 1973, 80, 237-251.
23.
Kelley, H.S.Attribution theory in social psychology. In D. Levine (Ed.), Nebraska Symposium on Motivation, 1967 , Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1967.
24.
Kelley, H.S.The processes of causal attribution. American Psychologist , 1973, 28, 107-128.
Linder, D.E.Cooper, J. & Jones, E.E.Decision freedom as a determinant of the role of incentive magnitude in attitude change. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 1967, 6, 245-254.
27.
Malewski, A.The influence of positive and negative self-evaluation on post-decisional dissonance. Polish Sociological Bulletin, 1962, 34, 39-49.
28.
Manis, M. & Dovalina, I.Base-rates can affect individual predictions. In preparation, 1977.
29.
Markus, H.Self-schemata and processing information about the self. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1977 , 35, 53-78.
30.
McArthur, L.A.The how and what of why: Some determinants and consequences of causal attribution . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 1972, 22, 171-193.
31.
McGowan, J. & Gormly, J.Validation of personality traits: A multicriteria approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1976 , 34, 791-795.
32.
McGuire, W.J.A syllogistic analysis of cognitive relationships. In Rosenberg, M. J., Hovland, C. I., McGuire, W. J., Abelson, R. P., & Brehm, J. W.Attitude organization and change. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1960.
33.
McGuire, W.J.Theory of the structure of human thought. In Abelson, R. P., Aronson, E., McGuire, W. J., Newcomb, T. M., Rosenberg, M. J. & Tannenbaum, P. H. (Rds.), Theories of Cognitive Consistency: A sourcebook. Chicago: Rand McNalley & Company, 1968.
34.
McGuire, W.J.Suspiciousness of experimenter's intent. In Rosenthal, R. and Rosnow, R. L. (Eds.), Artifact in behavioral research. New York : Academic Press, 1969.
35.
McGuire, W.J. & Padawer-Singer, T.Trait salience in the spontaneous self-concept . Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1976, 33, 743-754.
36.
Miller, R.L., Brickman, P., & Bolen, D.Attribution versus persuasion as a means of modifying behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1975 , 31, 430-441.
37.
Mischel, W.Personality and Assessment. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc. 1968.
38.
Nisbett, R.E. & Borgida, E.Attribution and the psychology of prediction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1975, 32, 932-943.
39.
Nisbett, R.E. & Wilson T.D.Telling more than we can know: Verbal reports on mental processes . Psychological Review, 1977, 84, 231-259.
40.
Orvis, B.R., Cunningham, J.D. & Kelley, H.H.A closer examination of causal inference: The roles of consensus, distinctiveness, and consistency information. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1975, 29, 426-434.
41.
Peterson, C.R. & Beach, L.R.Man as an intuitive statistician. Psychological Bulletin , 1967, 68, 29-46.
42.
Pryor, J.B. & Kriss, M.The cognitive dynamics of salience in the attribution process. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1977 , 35, 49-55.
43.
Rogers, C.R.Client-centered therapy: Its current practice, implications, and theory . Boston: Houghton, 1951.
44.
Rosen, N.A. & Wyer, R.S.Some further evidence for the "Socratic effect" using a subjective probability model of cognitive organization. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1972, 24, 420-424.
45.
Ross, L., Greene, D. & House, P.The "false consensus effect": An egocentric bias in social perception and attribution processes. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology , 1977, 13, 279-301.
46.
Ruble, D.N. & Feldman, N.S.Order of consensus, distinctiveness, and consistency information and causal attributions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 1976, 34, 930-937.
47.
Schacter, S. & Singer, J.E.Cognitive, social and physiological determinants of emotional stgte . Psychological Review, 1963, 69, 379-399.
48.
Schuman, H. & Johnson, M.P.Attitudes and behavior. In Annual Review of Sociology . 1976, (Vol. 2), 161-207.
Slovic, P. & Lichtenstein, S.Comparison of Bayesian and regression approaches to the study of human information processing in judgment. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, 1971, 6, 649-744.
51.
Storms, M.C.Videotape and the attribution process: Reversing actors' and observers' points of view. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 1973, 27, 165-175.
52.
Tversky, A. & Kahneman, D.The belief in the "law of small numbers." Psychological Bulletin , 1971, 76, 105-110.
53.
Tversky, A. & Kahneman, D.Judgement under uncertainty: Heuristics and biases. Science , 1974, 185, 1124-1131.
54.
Tversky, A. and Kahneman, D.Causal thinking in judgement under uncertainty. In B. Butts & J. Hintikka (Eds.), Logic, methodology, and philosophy of science . Dordrecht , Holland: D. Reidel , in press.
55.
Valins, S. & Ray, A.A.Effects of cognitive desensitization on avoidance behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1967 , 7, 345-350.
56.
Wicker, A.W.Attitudes vs. actions: The relationship of verbal and overt behavioral responses to attitude objects. Journal of Social Issues, 1969, 25, 41-78.
57.
Yandell, B. & Insko, C.I.Attribution of attitudes to speakers and listeners under assigned-behavior conditions: Does behavior engulf the field?Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 1977, 13, 269-278.
58.
Weiner, B.Achievement motivation and attribution theory. MorristowotNew Jersey: General Learning Press, 1974.
59.
Wells, G.L. & Harvey, J.H.Do people use consensus information in making causal attributions ? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1977, 35, 279-293.
60.
Wyer, R.S.Cognitive organization and change: An information processing approach . Potomac, Maryland: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.1974.
61.
Zanna, M.P. & Cooper, J.Dissonance and the attribution process. In J. H. Harvey, W. J. Ickes, & R. F. Kidd (Eds.), New directions in attribution research (Vol. 1), Hillsdale, N. J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers, 1976.
