Premium Essay

Attitudes and Social Cognition

In:

Submitted By sandesh999
Words 12835
Pages 52
ATTITUDES AND SOCIAL COGNITION

The Dark Side of Creativity: Original Thinkers Can Be More Dishonest
Francesca Gino
Harvard University

Dan Ariely
Duke University

Creativity is a common aspiration for individuals, organizations, and societies. Here, however, we test whether creativity increases dishonesty. We propose that a creative personality and a creative mindset promote individuals’ ability to justify their behavior, which, in turn, leads to unethical behavior. In 5 studies, we show that participants with creative personalities tended to cheat more than less creative individuals and that dispositional creativity is a better predictor of unethical behavior than intelligence (Experiment 1). In addition, we find that participants who were primed to think creatively were more likely to behave dishonestly than those in a control condition (Experiment 2) and that greater ability to justify their dishonest behavior explained the link between creativity and increased dishonesty (Experiments 3 and 4). Finally, we demonstrate that dispositional creativity moderates the influence of temporarily priming creativity on dishonest behavior (Experiment 5). The results provide evidence for an association between creativity and dishonesty, thus highlighting a dark side of creativity. Keywords: creativity, ethics, morality, moral flexibility, unethical behavior

Evil always turns up in this world through some genius or other. —Denis Diderot (1713–1784)

The ability to generate novel ideas and think creatively about problems has long been considered an important skill for individuals as well as for organizations and societies. Creative thinking allows individuals to solve problems effectively (Mumford & Gustafson, 1988) and to remain flexible (Flach, 1990) so that they can cope with the opportunities and changes in their day-to-day lives (Runco, 2004). At a more macro

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

P S Y C H 102 S.P.

...PSYCH 102 Social Psychology -The scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another Social Thinking How we think about others, especially when they do something unexpected Attributing Behavior to Persons vs. Situations Attribution Theory: -We have a tendency to give causal explanations for someone’s behavior -Often by crediting either the situation or the person’s disposition Examples: -Child misbehaving in class -attributed to child having ADHD or child having not learnt enough about discipline -Someone giving us a curt greeting -attributed to “they don’t like me/they don’t recognize me” -Person tripping on a sidewalk -attributed to them being clumsy Fundamental Attribution Error -The tendency to overestimate the impact of personal disposition, and underestimate the impact of the situations in explaining the behaviors of others Self-Serving Bias -People take credit for success, deny responsibility for failure Attitude -A belief and feeling that predisposes a Attitudes Can Affect Action -Our attitudes predict our behaviors -Imperfect predictor – other factors (example: external situation) also influence behavior -Not only do people stand for what they believe in (attitude), they start believing in what they stand for Example: Cooperative actions can lead to mutual liking (beliefs) -Food-in-the-Door Phenomenon: The tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later...

Words: 358 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Paper

...|Movies Illustrating Social Psychological Phenomenon: | |  | |Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory | |[pic] | |Issues dealing with prejudice, discrimination, attitudes, attitude change, person perception, self, social influence, helping behavior, | |empirical methods, parenting styles commentary, competition | | | |Lord of the Rings | |[pic] | |Issues dealing with attitudes, violence, deception, compliance, obedience, person perception, self, altruism, interpersonal attraction, | |personal relationships, helping behavior, aggression ...

Words: 1176 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Willy

...Sociology 1 Castelli Due Tuesday, Feb. 9 Overview In addition to entertaining us, movies offer detailed portrayals of human social behavior. Your task in this assignment is to analyze -- from a social-psychological perspective -- the behaviors and events depicted in one of the films listed below. You are not being asked to critique the film in terms of its value as a work of art or as entertainment. Rather, you should think carefully about the human actions and events portrayed in the film. Assignment Choose one of the films listed below. Most should be available at any video rental store. View the film you choose at least once. (Two viewings may offer an advantage). Then, after reviewing your notes and readings, identify 2 different social-psychological principles that appear to be operating in the events or individuals depicted in the film . For each principle that you identify: (a) Provide a clip to show in class. You may assume that we will have internet access, or you can bring in a DVD (or even a VHS tape), or you may create the entire presentation on DVD to show in class. (b) describe in detail the social-psychological principle you believe is relevant. Your job here is to demonstrate that you understand the principle or theory, and that you can describe it in your own words. You don’t need to do library research for this – using your text or your lecture notes as resources is fine. You need you to show us that you have a good understanding of the concept/principle...

Words: 1832 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Social Psychology Assignment

...africa Social Psychology assignment 1 Race relations in South africa Social Psychology assignment 1 Table of contents Contents 1. Introduction: 2 2. The impact of Social cognition and schemas on race relations: 2 3. Role of attribution and attitudes in understanding race relations: 5 4. Impact of prejudice and discrimination on race relations: 7 5. Social influence: how it impacts race relations in South Africa 10 6. Conclusion: 11 Reference list: 12 1. Introduction: When speaking of racial relations, one is referring to types of behaviours which are exhibited by individuals after being in contact or interacting with people of various physical and cultural characteristics. (Balandier, 1956). Race relations debates have very prevalent in countries all over the world, South Africa being no exception. Due to the diverse nature of the county’s population, the topic of race relations still continues to dominate discourse in democratic South Africa. Since 1994, the citizens of South Africa have strived to eradicate racism and hostile racial relations. However, it has not been smooth sailing to move beyond racial lines as a source of division. In fact, the racial nuances still cling on stubbornly as race becomes a daily tormentor, making it very difficult to erode the edifices of racial and cultural hostilities. (Rajab, 2012). There are quite a number of issues which have contributed to the continuation of hostile racial relations. Such issues include social cognition and schemas...

Words: 4241 - Pages: 17

Premium Essay

Social Psychology Assignment

...africa Social Psychology assignment 1 Race relations in South africa Social Psychology assignment 1 Table of contents Contents 1. Introduction: 2 2. The impact of Social cognition and schemas on race relations: 2 3. Role of attribution and attitudes in understanding race relations: 5 4. Impact of prejudice and discrimination on race relations: 7 5. Social influence: how it impacts race relations in South Africa 10 6. Conclusion: 11 Reference list: 12 1. Introduction: When speaking of racial relations, one is referring to types of behaviours which are exhibited by individuals after being in contact or interacting with people of various physical and cultural characteristics. (Balandier, 1956). Race relations debates have very prevalent in countries all over the world, South Africa being no exception. Due to the diverse nature of the county’s population, the topic of race relations still continues to dominate discourse in democratic South Africa. Since 1994, the citizens of South Africa have strived to eradicate racism and hostile racial relations. However, it has not been smooth sailing to move beyond racial lines as a source of division. In fact, the racial nuances still cling on stubbornly as race becomes a daily tormentor, making it very difficult to erode the edifices of racial and cultural hostilities. (Rajab, 2012). There are quite a number of issues which have contributed to the continuation of hostile racial relations. Such issues include social cognition and schemas...

Words: 4241 - Pages: 17

Premium Essay

Socialization

...mental illnesses. During the coarse of this paper we will discuss mainly about behavior, which is influenced by socialization. Groups are collections of people who have something in common. Two important areas related to the study of groups are social cognition and social influence. Social cognition refers to the way our thoughts and assumptions about other people help shape our attitudes and behaviors toward them. Social influence refers to the way other people and events directly influence and change our attitudes and behavior. Jones & Bartlett (2014). In a group setting, it is common for one to, at some point, conform to or obey something someone is telling them, to fit in and to be excepted. The difference between the two is, with conformity, one is shifting their ideas or thoughts to align with someone else’s. Obedience is transforming themselves because someone instructed them to do so. Generally speaking, obedience and social psychology play a strong role in the workforce environment as long as you have someone to answer to, which in most cases, we all do. !3 Social Psychology is the branch of psychology that refers to an individual being influenced by the thoughts, feelings and behaviors of others. Understanding social psychology can help one at ones place of work by one emulating the characteristics of another...

Words: 542 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Cognitive Dissonance: Abortion

...Cognitive Dissonance: Abortion Individuals are social by nature and can be influenced by various factors when making choices. An individual is capable of feeling the pressure from family, peers, and community. An individual may also believe that doing something like cheating is acceptable if in the end one obtains the desire result. An individual may experience an internal exchange of ideas and problems when making a decision how to find the way through a complicated decision. Individuals may also negotiate and barter with their divine beliefs to feel at ease when making a decision to behave in an unpleasant and moral way. Cognitive dissonance theory is extremely active in this stage of disagreement, when an individual is in a state of moral conflict the theory is applied to regulate, find a balance, and to have peace of mind (Benoit, 2012). Individuals come upon countless situations throughout life when a complicated decision must be made; often times a person will even go against spiritual and moral beliefs when sensing external pressure. Moral and cognitive maturity along with a strong sense of self will assist on a logical decision. Identify the Situation Individual Consciously Made in a Behavior that Violated Cognitions Since the beginning of time, man expands all his mental facilities and physical limitations to discover the meaning of life and search to discover, when life begins. Physicians, scholars, theologians, and lay people have spent...

Words: 1626 - Pages: 7

Free Essay

An Examination of Festingers Cognitive Dissonance Theory and Notable Modifactions

...Festingers Cognitive Dissonance Theory and Notable Modifications Sometimes the greatest test of a theory is its longevity. Over time, some theories will be disproved, some will be modified, and some will become the basis for a whole new group of theories. Leon Festinger’s theory of cognitive dissonance has stood up to challenge for over forty years, and is considered by many to be the single most important theory of social psychology. Though there have been modifications to the theory after many recreations and simulations of the original 1957 experiment, few have been able to really disqualify Festinger’s findings. It would be safe to say that many people don’t even have a full grasp of the incredible implications that Festinger’s research and experiments have towards the self-concept and behavior, myself not excluded. The actual definition of cognitive dissonance is almost too simple: an unpleasant feeling that arises from the contradiction of belief and action. Festinger, however, went on to find that dissonance would in fact change attitudes over time, helping people to justify their behavior when they know it is clearly wrong. Festinger’s original experiment was a simple procedure. Have someone perform a tedious task for a while, then inform the subject that the experiment is finished, but that they could be of assistance with the rest of the experiment as a research assistant. Festinger explained that his regular assistant was unable help that day, and...

Words: 2602 - Pages: 11

Premium Essay

Hola Hola

...Consumer Behavior Essay Introduction The study of consumer behavior has proven to be of added value to marketing executives and middle managers who design marketing strategies. Managers understand and utilize consumer attitude, which includes emotions, self-monitoring and cognition, when attempting to gain a competitive advantage through developing various marketing strategies. This paper will review appropriate theories of consumer attitudes and develop various advertising, merchandising and selling strategies based on these propositions. To counter consumer defense mechanisms, this paper will also discuss competitive war battlefield tactics. Marketing managers match various marketing strategies with the attitudes of typical consumers. However, most of the time, the facts of a product are perilously similar to the facts of its competition. That is when cognition yields to attitude, or how a consumer will feel about a product. One would think attitude gives way to cognition as the price of the product increases. That is not necessarily so. Face-to-face research with automotive shoppers showed selections are made based on emotion. (Edell & Burke, 1987) For example, a young male consumer with $35,000 who has an interest in buying a high-performance car may not be inclined to read literature on every model in that class or take notes on comparable autos. Rather, studies show many consumers are more apt to walk into a showroom, spot a model, peer at the instrument panel...

Words: 395 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Attitude Formation

...Attitude Formation Lawanda Thomas Walden University Attitude Formation The field of social psychology focuses on understanding the behavior of an individual and seeks to include the aspects of external and internal influences that impact behavior. Not only is ones behavior impacted by emotions, behavior is also impacted by how an individual perceives a situation and acceptance to engage in that situation (Fiske, 2010). Hogg and Cooper (2007) argue social psychologists note individuals view the world and its interactions during the attitude judgment process. This judgmental process determines a situation to be positive or negative, favorable or unfavorable, and engage or avoid which then forms an attitude that determines the cognition, action, and behavior of the individual (Fiske, 2010; Hogg & Cooper, 2007). Attitudes determine the way an individual perceives, understands, and acts towards an event which terms it as a major judgmental influence in an individual’s life (Fiske, 2010). Attitudes about a particular situation can be originally generated due to personal beliefs or be influenced by past life experiences (Fiske, 2010; Hogg & Cooper, 2007). Research over the years have sought to establish a relationship between how an individual judges an event, what is the process, does past experience play a role, and does the final judgment influence behavior especially when attitudes are a determining factor (Fiske, 2010; Hogg & Cooper, 2007). With the support...

Words: 1370 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Social Behavior

...Social Behavior What is a social behavior? Social behavior is behavior fixed towards humanity, or taking place among constituents of the same species. There many factors that comes in to play when defining a social behavior such as attitude, prejudice, and aggression. Understanding how groups affect a person behavior. As well as knowing the difference between conformity and obedience. There are a few factors that can play into an attitude. Attitude involves emotions, behaviors, and cognitions. When emotions, behaviors, and cognitions are working in agreement, it is simple to realize person’s drive. Often time’s social customs are not steady with one’s attitude and cause a disturbance that result in a conflict. Attitudes can be explicit or unspoken. Explicit attitudes are those that we are knowingly aware of and that undoubtedly influence our behaviors and beliefs. Whereas, unspoken attitudes are unconscious, but still have an effect on our beliefs and practices. Prejudice is everywhere and happens whenever. Prejudice can be actively unaffected change. One can have a prejudice attitude against anything or anyone. It can be easily pointed out in others people actions or words and harder for one to see prejudice in their actions and words. Aggression contains words or bodily acts to an individual that causes harm. There are many forms of aggression. People are attracted to people that are like themselves and who are physically attractive and knowledgeable. ...

Words: 442 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Sports  Sponsorship  and  Consumer  Purchase  Intention: from  the  Perspective  of  Consumer  Brand  Awareness

...Sports sponsorship has long been crucial sources of funds for sports, literature and art as well as the social events. And after 30 year of development, sponsorship marketing has gradually become a global industry. It is widely acknowledged that sports sponsorship enhances the consumer's perception of a brand via big events. However, the study on to what extent the sports sponsorship would influence consumer purchase intention is rare. This essay is established in the purchase intention of consumers, from which to explore consumer brand awareness, and then analyze the relationship within sports sponsorship and consumer brand awareness and purchase intention. This article will be analyzed from two parts; the author would analyze the consumer's brand attitude in the first part: from the cognition to the emotion, from the action and reaction, aiming at get a better understanding of the relationship between the brand and the consumer. Later in this essay, the author would discuss the influence sports sponsorship marketing might have upon consumption. Brand effect is able to zoom in during the process of sponsorship marketing, however, sports sponsorship motivation has become a key point that consumers value a brand, in the process, the enterprise needs to show the "altruistic" instead of "self-interest" motivation to win consumers’ favor. 2.0  Brand  attitude   Attitude of consumers is that in a particular situation, consumers learned a tendency for a particular object...

Words: 3395 - Pages: 14

Premium Essay

Socialization

...Attitude is our evaluation of a person, an idea, or an object. Typically, attitudes are positive or negative and involve affective, behavioral, and cognitive components. Psychologists believe that there are both explicit (deliberately formed) and implicit (subconsciously formed) attitudes. Most people are normally unaware of their inherent attitudes. Attitude serves many of functions, including utilitarian, knowledge, ego-defensive, and value-expression functions. Attitude formation is influenced by learning, personal experience, and observation. Cognitive discomfort occurs when a person’s actions and beliefs do not work well with one another, usually resulting in a change of behavior or beliefs to relieve the discomfort. Persuasion is an active method of influence that guides people toward embracing an attitude, idea, or behavior. It is also the process of changing a person’s attitude toward something based on communication. Prejudice contains three components, which are emotional, behavioral, and cognitive. An emotional component is a specific like or dislike towards a particular group, person or. A behavioral component is an act towards or against groups, persons, or objects. A cognitive component is a set of beliefs about these three. Prejudice affects, behaviors, and beliefs can be resistant to change. Aggression is the use of words or physical acts towards a person or persons to cause harm. There are two types of aggression, instrumental and hostile. Instrumental...

Words: 333 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Socialization Paper

... It is said that attitude is an opinion, feeling belief, or approval or disapproval towards something. Behavior is an action or reaction like the old saying with every action is a reaction, in other words thought and action. The theory of reasoned action is a model for the prediction of behavioral intention based on attitude and behavior. This theory was born from frustration with the current research, that found only weak similarities between attitude and behavior. A simple version of the theory is that a person's behavior is predicted by their attitude towards the behavior they are exhibiting, also how they think other people would view them If they performed a certain behavior. A person's attitude combined with societal norms forms their behavior intention. The strength that attitude and norms have on behavior differs from individual to individual. The behavior theory does not account for behavior's impact on attitude. Cognitive dissonance refers to conflicting behaviors, beliefs or attitudes. This produces a feeling of discomfort leading to an alteration in one of the attitudes, beliefs or behaviors to reduce the discomfort and restore balance. For example, when people smoke, that is the behavior and cancer is known to be caused by smoking that is their cognition. Prejudice often arises from social inequalities, social divisions. Research shows that stereotypes are our natural...

Words: 508 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Discuss the Relationship Between Persuasion and Attitude Change

...Discuss the relationship between persuasion and attitude change? Persuasion is the use of appeals to reasons, values, beliefs, and emotions to convince a listener or reader to think or act in a particular way. We face persuasive advertisements particularly on a daily basis; from the television to magazines. To explain the psychology of persuasion there are various models; the Hovland-Yale model and the elaboration likelihood model. The Hovland-Yale model states that there several factors that will affect how likely a change of attitude through persuasion is, after all behavioural change cannot occur without attitude change also having taken place. The three most prominent factors are the source, the message and the audience. Hovland et al found that source characteristics played an important role in determining the persuasive nature of any communication. The theory states that people more likely to be persuaded when a source presents itself as credible. For example, people were more likely to be persuaded when hearing the information from an expert. This was supported by Bochner and Insko study, where they found that people were more likely to trust a sleep expert than a non-sleep expert, on matters surrounding sleep. The creditable sources were more influencing towards the audience, where with the non-expert source the audience tried to find ways of discrediting the communicator. The Hovland-Yale model says the content of the message is an important factor. When trying...

Words: 1858 - Pages: 8