Self, Social Cognition, and Social Influence (Foundational Concept 8)
Self and attribution
Self-concept is the set of beliefs about who one is; self-esteem is its evaluative component; self-efficacy is a task-specific belief about capability; locus of control is the generalized expectation that outcomes follow one's own actions (internal) or outside forces (external). The self-serving bias credits the self for successes and blames situations for failures; self-handicapping creates an excuse in advance. Attribution is dispositional (internal) or situational. The fundamental attribution error overweights disposition when explaining others' behavior; the actor-observer bias explains one's own behavior situationally; the just-world hypothesis rationalizes victimization. Individualist settings show a stronger dispositional bias.
Attitudes and persuasion
Cognitive dissonance motivates attitude change when behavior and belief conflict, especially under low external justification. Central-route persuasion rests on argument quality and produces durable change; peripheral-route persuasion rests on cues such as attractiveness or source status. The sequence is stereotype (cognition), prejudice (attitude/affect), discrimination (behavior). Stereotype threat is situational: awareness of a negative group stereotype raises anxiety and depresses performance. Self-fulfilling prophecies occur when others' expectations elicit confirming behavior.
Social influence and groups
Conformity (Asch; peer influence), obedience (Milgram; authority), and compliance (foot-in-the-door, door-in-the-face). Group processes include groupthink (cohesion suppresses dissent), group polarization, social facilitation (arousal strengthens dominant responses on simple tasks), social loafing (effort falls when individual contributions are unidentifiable), deindividuation, and diffusion of responsibility behind the bystander effect.
Traps
Treating prejudice and discrimination as synonyms; confusing conformity with obedience; swapping social loafing and social facilitation.
Rule of thumb
Ask whose behavior is being explained (self versus other) to choose between self-serving bias and the fundamental attribution error, and what kind of pressure is present (peer, authority, request) to sort conformity, obedience, and compliance.