Class 12 Psychology - KARNATAKA
Attitude and Social Cognition
The chapter 'Attitude and Social Cognition' in Class 12 Psychology explores how we form impressions of others, explain their behavior through attribution, and develop mental predispositions known as attitudes. It covers the ABC components of attitudes, cognitive dissonance, and the processes of social influence like conformity and obedience. Understanding these concepts helps students analyze everyday interpersonal interactions and social behavior scientifically. For Karnataka (KSEEB) board exams, this is a high-scoring unit with a mix of conceptual, application-based, and short-answer questions that require clarity on theories like Heider's Balance Theory and Festinger's Cognitive Dissonance.
Start Learning FreeKey Concepts
Social Cognition
The mental process of gathering, processing, and remembering information about other people and social situations.
Attitude
A learned predisposition to respond in a consistently favorable or unfavorable manner with respect to a specific object, person, or event.
ABC Components of Attitude
Attitudes consist of three components: Affective (emotional), Behavioral (actions), and Cognitive (beliefs/thoughts).
Cognitive Dissonance
A state of psychological tension that occurs when an individual holds two or more contradictory beliefs or attitudes simultaneously.
Attribution
The process of assigning causes to people's behavior, which can be internal (dispositional) or external (situational).
Important Formulas
Board Exam Info
This chapter typically carries around 8 to 12 marks in the Karnataka (KSEEB) Class 12 Psychology board exam. Questions frequently include 1-mark multiple choice, 2-mark definitions (e.g., cognitive dissonance, schemata), 3-mark short answers explaining the components of attitude or attribution errors, and occasional 5-mark long answers on attitude change and processes of social influence.
Frequently Asked Questions
Prejudice is an attitude or prejudgment (usually negative) about a group, whereas discrimination refers to the actual behavior or unequal treatment directed against that group.
Prejudice is an unjustified or incorrect attitude (usually negative) towards an individual based solely on their membership in a social group, while discrimination is the behavior or action resulting from those prejudiced beliefs.
How can attitudes be changed?
Attitudes can be changed through persuasion, cognitive dissonance, positive or negative reinforcement, and exposure to new information or out-group members (contact hypothesis).
What is the fundamental attribution error?
It is the tendency for people to overemphasize internal (dispositional) causes and underemphasize external (situational) causes when explaining other people's behavior.
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