MODULE-1: Social Perception – understanding others

Definition, nature, scope, and methods of social psychology [observation methods, survey
method, correlational method, field study, and experimental method].

DEFINITION- “the processes by which a person uses the behaviour of others to form opinions or make
inferences about those individuals, particularly regarding their motives, attitudes, or values. Also
called  interpersonal perception.” – APA

Baron, Byrne, and Suls (1989) define social psychology as –“the scientific field that seeks to
understand the nature and causes of individual behaviour in social situations”(p. 6).
[simplypsychology]

NATURE [wikipedia]
Social perception (or interpersonal perception) is the study of how people form impressions of and
make inferences about other people as sovereign personalities. Social perception refers to
identifying and utilizing social cues to make judgments about social roles, rules, relationships,
context, or the characteristics (e.g., trustworthiness) of others. This domain also includes social
knowledge, which refers to one's knowledge of social roles, norms, and schemas surrounding social
situations and interactions. People learn about others' feelings and emotions by picking up
information they gather from physical appearance, verbal, and nonverbal communication. Facial
expressions, tone of voice, hand gestures, and body position or movement are a few examples of
ways people communicate without words. A real-world example of social perception is
understanding that others disagree with what one said when one sees them roll their eyes. There
are four main components of social perception: observation, attribution, integration, and
confirmation.

Social psychology examines the effects of social contacts on the development of attitudes,
stereotypes, discrimination, group dynamics, conformity, social cognition and influence, self-
concept, persuasion, interpersonal perception and attraction, cognitive dissonance, and human
relationships.[pdf]

SCOPE [careershodh]
Social psychology tries to understand the relationship between minds, groups, and behaviours in
three general ways:

1) First, it tries to understand how the thoughts, feelings and behaviours of individuals are
influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of other(s). This includes social perception,
social interaction, and the many kinds of social influence (like trust, power, and persuasion).

It deals with questions like How do social groups control or contribute to the behaviour, emotion, or
attitudes of the individual members? How does the group impact the individual? How does the
individual operate within the social group?

It tries to understand the influence that individual perceptions and behaviours have upon the
behaviour of groups. How does persuasion work to change group behaviour, emotion or attitudes?

1
It deals with questions like How do small group dynamics impact cognition and emotional states?

2) Second, it tries to understand the influence individual perceptions and behaviours have upon the
behaviour of groups. This includes looking at things like group productivity in the workplace and
group decision-making. Does it look at questions like What are the reasons behind conformity,
diversity, and deviance?

3) Third, and finally, social psychology tries to understand groups themselves as behavioural entities
and the relationships and influences that one group has upon another group. It enquires questions
like What makes some groups hostile to one another, and others neutral or civil? Do groups behave
in a different way than an individual outside the group?

METHODS OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY

OBSERVATION METHODS [verywell] [marketing91.com]

The observational method involves watching people and describing their behaviour. Sometimes
referred to as field observation, this method can involve creating a scenario in a lab and then
watching how people respond or performing naturalistic observation in the subject's environment.

Each type of observation has its strengths and weaknesses. Researchers might prefer using
observational methods in a lab to gain greater control over possible extraneous variables, while
others might prefer using naturalistic observation to obtain greater ecological validity. However, lab
observations tend to be more costly and difficult to implement than naturalistic observations.

Definition
The observation method is described as a method to observe and describe the behaviour of a
subject. As the name suggests, it is a way of collecting relevant information and data by observing. It
is also referred to as a participatory study because the researcher has to establish a link with the
respondent and for this has to immerse himself in the same setting as theirs. Only then can he use
the observation method to record and take notes.

Meaning and examples

The observation method is used in cases where you want to avoid an error that can be a result of
bias during the evaluation and interpretation processes. It is a way to obtain objective data by
watching a participant and recording it for analysis at a later stage.

A researcher can use the observation method in a Montessori school and record the behaviour of
the children at a young age. Are the children comfortable sharing their tiffin at such an early age will
make a good study for the researcher? In this example, the researcher can observe and record the
details objectively. The observation data collection method is associated with a few ethical issues as
it needs the full consent of a research participant.

The observation method in data collection can be

 Structured observation method – This is a systematic observation method where data is
collected as per a pre-defined schedule. The specific variable is used in this method for data
collection.

2
  Unstructured observation method – The unstructured observation method is conducted in
a free and open manner without using any pre-determined objectives, schedules, or
variables.

Sampling methods for Observational Data

The researcher has a vital role to play as he will have to collect, record and classify the data
appropriately. The primary sampling methods are

 Event sampling – In the event sampling observation method the researcher decides
beforehand what events or behaviour he will record and which ones he is going to ignore
 Time sampling – In the time sampling observation method, the researcher chooses the time
when he will observe. He makes a record of the occurrence only in the specified and pre-
determined period
 Target-time or instantaneous sampling – In the target-time or instantaneous sampling
observation method, the researcher decides beforehand the moments when the
observation will happen and will be recorded at that moment. Everything that happens
before or after that moment is of no consequence hence is typically ignored

Types of observation methods

The different types of observation methods are as follows-

1) Controlled observations
The controlled observation is carried out in a closed space. It is the researcher who has the authority
to decide the place and the time where and when the observation will take place. He also decides
who the participants will be and in what circumstances will he use the standardized process.

The participants are chosen for a variable group randomly. The researcher observes and records
detailed and descriptive data of behaviour and divides it into a distinct categories. Sometimes the
researcher codes the action as per an agreed scale by using a behaviour schedule. The coding can
include letters or numbers or a range to measure behaviour intensity and describe its characteristics.

The collected data is often turned into statistics. In a controlled observation method, the participants
are informed by the researcher about the aim of the research. This makes them aware of being
observed. The researcher avoids direct contact during the observation method and generally uses a
two-way mirror to observe and record details.

Advantages of controlled observation method

1. The data and information received from a controlled observation method are structured and
analytical. It is thus easy to analyze it quickly and is considered less time-consuming than the
other observation methods
2. Other researchers can easily replicate the report that has been created through the
controlled observation method. They use a similar observation schedule, and this makes it
easy to test for reliability.
3. As the controlled observation method is several quick observations can be conducted within
a short time frame. Thus the researcher can collect large samples which makes it easier for
him to generalize a large population

Limitations of controlled observation method

3
 1. The controlled observation method lacks validity because when the participants are aware
of being observed their behaviour will automatically change

2) Naturalistic observations

Social scientists and psychologists generally use the naturalistic observation method. The process
involves observing and studying the spontaneous behaviour of the participants in open or natural
surroundings. The role of the researcher is to find and record whatever he can see and observe in
the natural habitat.

Advantages of naturalistic observation method

1. When a participant is in a natural habitat, his flow of behaviour is natural and not forced.
2. The studies have gained better ecological validity than the controlled observation method
3. The naturalistic observation method is used by researchers to create new ideas. The
researcher has the chance to observe the total situation and can find avenues that other
people have not thought about

Limitations of naturalistic observation methods

1. The naturalistic observation method facilitates observations on a micro-scale. It often lacks a
representative sample and thus cannot help the researcher in making a generalization that
relates to a broader society
2. In this type of observation method, the researcher needs proper training to recognize
aspects that are significant and worth attention.
3. The observations through the naturalistic observation method are not as reliable as the
researcher wants them to be because it is not possible to control some variables. This is why
other researchers cannot similarly repeat the study or research.
4. Establishing the cause and effect relationship is not possible because the researcher cannot
manipulate the variables

3) Participant observations
The participant observation method is often considered a variant of the naturalistic observation
method because it has some similarities with it. The point of difference is that the researcher is not a
distant observer anymore because he has joined the participants and become a part of their group.
He does this to get a more in-depth and greater insight into their lives.

The researcher interacts with other members of the group freely, participates in their activities,
studies their behaviour, and acquires a different way of life. Participant observation can be overt or
covert.

Overt –When the researcher asks permission from a group to mingle the observation method is
known as overt. He does so by revealing his true purpose and real identity to the group with whom
he wants to mingle
Covert– When the researcher does not show either his true identity or real meaning to the group he
wants to join then the observation is known as covert. He keeps both concealed and takes on a false
role and identity to enter and mingle in the group. He generally acts as if he is a genuine member of
that group

Advantages of Participant Observation methods

4
 1. It is easy to study and observe the natural behaviour of the participants in the group by
becoming a part of that group. The respondents generally do not know that they are being
observed and behaviour recorded, so they are not restrained or constrained in their
activities and behaviour
2. The researcher becomes understanding by following the events of the respondents from
such a close angle.
3. During the participant observation method, the researcher develops a good and healthy
relationship with the respondents. This rapport helps him to participate in all the activities
and make observations with a detached mind
4. The participant observation method helps the research to observe the actual behaviour of
the respondents and create an inclusive and intensive case study of that group

Limitations of Participant Observation methods

1. It is challenging to work undercover. For example, the researcher will have only to observe
and not record in front of others because he will not want to blow his cover. He relies
heavily on his memory which can be faulty at times
2. Sometimes the researcher becomes too involved in the intricacies of that group. There is a
higher chance of losing his objectivity because his reporting will be selective and dependent
on his memory
3. In the participant observation method, the researcher’s experience becomes intense
because of his proximity to the group members but the range becomes limited
4. The researcher misses many vital points because of his familiarity

Advantages of the observation method

1. Provides direct access to research phenomena
2. By observing firsthand, the researcher can collect, check and record accurate data
3. Greater flexibility in terms of application
4. Generate a permanent record of phenomena and the researcher or others can refer to it
later
5. The organization method is one of the simplest methods of data collection. It does not
require too much technical knowledge
6. The observation method is one of the best ways to formulate a hypothesis. The researcher
can observe and come to know about the activities, perceptions, likes, and dislikes to form a
theory on his subject
7. The observation method is one of the most common methods used in all sciences and is very
easy to follow and accept
8. In some instances observation is the only available tool to collect essential data and
information
9. The observation method does not require the willingness of the participant to record. The
researcher can observe from a distance and record his findings

Disadvantages of Observation Method

1. Faces a severe disadvantage because it takes a longer time frame compared to other data
collection methods
2. There is a chance of higher observer bias in the observation method
3. Several personal behaviours are not open for observation and this proves a limitation in the
case of the observation method
4. There is a higher chance of the observer influencing the behaviour of a sample group of
elements

5
 5. Uncertainties of the event cannot determine the actual time when the event will take place,
and this is why every occurrence that is open to observation cannot be observed
6. Many of the incidents are abstract like love, affection and the researcher can’t gain an exact
and correct account of those
7. The social phenomena generalization made by observation is not considered reliable as it
cannot be used for lab experiments
8. In some cases, it is seen that two persons observing the same phenomena come at different
results and this can lead to faulty perceptions
9. The observation method is considered an expensive affair as it requires hard effort, plenty of
time, and high cost

SURVEY METHOD [verywellmind]

A survey is a data collection tool used to gather information about individuals. Surveys are
commonly used in psychology research to collect self-report data from study participants. A survey
may focus on factual information about individuals, or it might aim to obtain the opinions of the
survey takers.

Surveys are one of the most commonly used research tools because they can be utilized to collect
data and describe naturally occurring phenomena that exist in the real world.

They offer researchers a way to collect a great deal of information in a relatively quick and easy way.
A large number of responses can be obtained quite quickly, which allows scientists to work with a lot
of data.

Survey Use
A survey can be used to investigate the characteristics, behaviours, or opinions of a group of people.
These research tools can be used to ask questions about demographic information about
characteristics such as sex, religion, ethnicity, and income.

They can also collect information on experiences, opinions, and even hypothetical scenarios. For
example, researchers might present people with a possible scenario and then ask them how they
might respond in that situation.

How do researchers go about collecting information using surveys?

A survey can be administered in a couple of different ways. In one method known as a structured
interview, the researcher asks each participant questions. In the other method known as a
questionnaire, the participant fills out the survey on his or her own.

You have probably taken many different surveys in the past, although the questionnaire method
tends to be the most common.

Surveys are generally standardized to ensure that they have reliability and validity. Standardization is
also important so that the results can be generalized to the larger population.

Advantages
One of the big benefits of using surveys in psychological research is that they allow researchers to
gather a large quantity of data relatively quickly and cheaply. A survey can be administered as a
structured interview or as a self-report measure, and data can be collected in person, over the
phone, or on a computer.

6
  Surveys allow researchers to collect a large amount of data in a relatively short period.
 Surveys are less expensive than many other data collection techniques.
 Surveys can be created quickly and administered easily.
 Surveys can be used to collect information on a broad range of things, including personal
facts, attitudes, past behaviours, and opinions.
Disadvantages
One potential problem with written surveys is the nonresponse bias. Experts suggest that return
rates of 85 per cent or higher are considered excellent, but anything below 60 per cent might have a
severe impact on the representativeness of the sample.

 Poor survey construction and administration can undermine otherwise well-designed

studies.
 The answer choices provided in a survey may not be an accurate reflection of how the
participants feel.
 While random sampling is generally used to select participants, response rates can bias the
results of a survey.
 The social desirability bias6 can lead people to respond in a way that makes them look
better than they are. For example, a respondent might report that they engage in more
healthy behaviours than they do in real life.

Types of Surveys
Surveys can be implemented in several different ways. The chances are good that you have
participated in several different market research surveys in the past.

Some of the most common ways to administer surveys include:

 Mail — An example might include an alumni survey distributed via direct mail by your alma
mater.
 Telephone — An example of a telephone survey would be a market research call about your
experiences with a certain consumer product.
 Online — Online surveys might focus on your experience with a particular retailer, product,
or website.
 At-home interviews — The U.S. Census is a good example of an at-home interview survey
administration.

CORRELATIONAL METHOD [verywellmind/simplypsychology]

Social psychologists use correlational research to look for relationships between variables. For
example, social psychologists might carry out a correlational study looking at the relationship
between media violence and aggression. They might collect data on how many hours of aggressive
or violent television programs children watch each week and then gather data how on aggressively
the children act in lab situations or naturalistic settings.

Conducting surveys, directly observing behaviours, or compiling research from earlier studies are
some of the methods used to gather data for correlational research. While this type of study can
help determine if two variables have a relationship, it does not allow researchers to determine if one
variable causes changes in another variable.

7
While the researcher in the previous example on media aggression and violence can use the results
of their study to determine if there might be a relationship between the two variables, they cannot
say definitively that watching television violence causes aggressive behaviour. [verywellmind]

Correlation means association - more precisely it is a measure of the extent to which two variables
are related. There are three possible results of a correlational study: a positive correlation, a
negative correlation, and no correlation.
 A positive correlation is a relationship between two variables in which both variables move
in the same direction. Therefore, when one variable increases as the other variable increases
or one variable decreases while the other decreases. An example of a positive correlation
would be height and weight. Taller people tend to be heavier.

 A negative correlation is a relationship between two variables in which an increase in one

variable is associated with a decrease in the other. An example of a negative correlation
would be the height above sea level and temperature. As you climb the mountain (increase
in height) it gets colder (decrease in temperature).

 A zero correlation exists when there is no relationship between two variables. For example,
there is no relationship between the amount of tea drunk and the level of intelligence.

Scattergrams
A correlation can be expressed visually. This is done by drawing a scattergram (also known as a
scatterplot, scatter graph, scatter chart, or scatter diagram).

A scattergram is a graphical display that shows the relationships or associations between two
numerical variables (or co-variables), which are represented as points (or dots) for each pair of the
score.

A scattergraph indicates the strength and direction of the correlation between the co-variables.

When you draw a scattergram it doesn't matter which variable goes on the x-axis and which goes on
the y-axis.

Remember, in correlations, we are always dealing with paired scores, so the values of the 2 variables
taken together will be used to make the diagram.

8
Decide which variable goes on each axis and then simply put a cross at the point where the 2 values
coincide.

Some uses of Correlations

Prediction
 If there is a relationship between two variables, we can make predictions about one
another.

Validity
 Concurrent validity (correlation between a new measure and an established measure).

Reliability
 Test-retest reliability (measures consistent).
 Inter-rater reliability (are observers consistent).

Theory verification
 Predictive validity.

Correlation Coefficients: Determining Correlation Strength

Instead of drawing a scattergram, a correlation can be expressed numerically as a coefficient,
ranging from -1 to +1. When working with continuous variables, the correlation coefficient to use is
Pearson’s r.

The correlation coefficient (r) indicates the extent to which the pairs of numbers for these two
variables lie on a straight line. Values over zero indicate a positive correlation, while values under
zero indicate a negative correlation.

A correlation of –1 indicates a perfect negative correlation, meaning that as one variable goes up,
the other goes down. A correlation of +1 indicates a perfect positive correlation, meaning that as
one variable goes up, the other goes up.

9
There is no rule for determining what size of correlation is considered strong, moderate, or weak.
The interpretation of the coefficient depends on the topic of study.

When studying things that are difficult to measure, we should expect the correlation coefficients to
be lower (e.g. above 0.4 to be relatively strong). When we are studying things that are easier to
measure, such as socioeconomic status, we expect higher correlations (e.g. above 0.75 to be
relatively strong).)

In these kinds of studies, we rarely see correlations above 0.6. For this kind of data, we generally
consider correlations above 0.4 to be relatively strong; correlations between 0.2 and 0.4 are
moderate, and those below 0.2 are considered weak.

When we are studying things that are more easily countable, we expect higher correlations. For
example, with demographic data, we generally consider correlations above 0.75 to be relatively
strong; correlations between 0.45 and 0.75 are moderate, and those below 0.45 are considered
weak.

Correlation vs Causation
Causation means that one variable (often called the predictor variable or independent variable)
causes the other (often called the outcome variable or dependent variable).

Experiments can be conducted to establish causation. An experiment isolates and manipulates the
independent variable to observe its effect on the dependent variable, and controls the environment
so that extraneous variables may be eliminated.

A correlation between variables, however, does not automatically mean that the change in one
variable is the cause of the change in the values of the other variable. A correlation only shows if
there is a relationship between variables.

While variables are sometimes correlated because one does cause the other, it could also be that
some other factor, a confounding variable, is causing the systematic movement in our variables of
interest.

10
Correlation does not always prove causation as a third variable may be involved. For example, being
a patient in the hospital is correlated with dying, but this does not mean that one event causes the
other, as another third variable might be involved (such as diet, and level of exercise).

Summary
"Correlation is not causation" means that just because two variables are related it does not
necessarily mean that one causes the other.

A correlation identifies variables and looks for a relationship between them. An experiment tests the
effect that an independent variable has upon a dependent variable but a correlation looks for a
relationship between two variables.

This means that the experiment can predict cause and effect (causation) but a correlation can only
predict a relationship, as another extraneous variable may be involved that it is not known about.

Types of Correlational Research

There are three types of correlational research: naturalistic observation, the survey method, and
archival research. Each type has its purpose, as well as its pros and cons.

Naturalistic Observation
The naturalistic observation method involves observing and recording variables of interest in a
natural setting without interference or manipulation.

Advantages
 Can inspire ideas for further research
 Option if lab experiment not available
 View variables in a natural setting

Disadvantages
 Can be time-consuming and expensive
 Extraneous variables can't be controlled
 No scientific control of variables
 Subjects might behave differently if aware of being observed

This method is well-suited to studies where researchers want to see how variables behave in their
natural setting or state. Inspiration can then be drawn from the observations to inform future
avenues of research.

In some cases, it might be the only method available to researchers; for example, if lab
experimentation would be precluded by access, resources, or ethics. It might be preferable to not
being able to research at all, but the method can be costly and usually takes a lot of time.4

Naturalistic observation presents several challenges for researchers. For one, it does not allow them
to control or influence the variables in any way nor can they change any possible external variables.

However, this does not mean that researchers will get reliable data from watching the variables, or
that the information they gather will be free from bias.

11
For example, study subjects might act differently if they know that they are being watched. The
researchers might not be aware that the behaviour that they are observing is not necessarily the
subject's natural state (i.e., how they would act if they did not know they were being watched).

Researchers also need to be aware of their biases, which can affect the observation and
interpretation of a subject's behaviour.

Surveys
Surveys and questionnaires are some of the most common methods used for psychological research.
The survey method involves having a random sample of participants complete a survey, test, or
questionnaire related to the variables of interest.1 Random sampling is vital to the generalizability of
a survey's results.

Advantages
 Cheap, easy, and fast
 Can collect large amounts of data in a short amount of time
 Flexible

Disadvantages
 Results can be affected by poor survey questions
 Results can be affected by an unrepresentative sample
 Outcomes can be affected by participants

If researchers need to gather a large amount of data in a short period, a survey is likely to be the
fastest, easiest, and cheapest option.

It's also a flexible method because it lets researchers create data-gathering tools that will help
ensure they get the information they need (survey responses) from all the sources they want to use
(a random sample of participants taking the survey).

Survey data might be cost-efficient and easy to get, but it has its downsides. For one, the data is not
always reliable—particularly if the survey questions are poorly written or the overall design or
delivery is weak. Data is also affected by specific faults, such as unrepresented or underrepresented
samples.

The use of surveys relies on participants to provide useful data. Researchers need to be aware of the
specific factors related to the people taking the survey that will affect its outcome.

For example, some people might struggle to understand the questions. A person might answer in a
particular way to try to please the researchers or to try to control how the researchers perceive
them (such as trying to make themselves "look better").

Sometimes, respondents might not even realize that their answers are incorrect or misleading
because of mistaken memories.

Archival Research

12
Many areas of psychological research benefit from analyzing studies that were conducted long ago
by other researchers, as well as reviewing historical records and case studies.1

For example, in an experiment known as "The Irritable Heart," researchers used digitalized records
containing information on American Civil War veterans to learn more about post-traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD).5

Advantages
 A large amount of data
 Can be less expensive
 Researchers cannot change participant behaviour

Disadvantages
 Can be unreliable
 Information might be missing
 No control over data collection methods

Using records, databases, and libraries that are publically accessible or accessible through their
institution can help researchers who might not have a lot of money to support their research efforts.

Free and low-cost resources are available to researchers at all levels through academic institutions,
museums, and data repositories around the world.

Another potential benefit is that these sources often provide an enormous amount of data that was
collected over a very long period, which can give researchers a way to view trends, relationships, and
outcomes related to their research.1

While the inability to change variables can be a disadvantage of some methods, it can be a benefit of
archival research. That said, using historical records or information that was collected a long time
ago also presents challenges. For one, important information might be missing or incomplete and
some aspects of older studies might not be useful to researchers in a modern context.

A primary issue with archival research is reliability. When reviewing old research, little information
might be available about who conducted the research, how a study was designed, who participated
in the research, as well as how data was collected and interpreted.

Researchers can also be presented with ethical quandaries—for example, should modern
researchers use data from studies that were conducted unethically or with questionable ethics?

Strengths of Correlations
1. Correlation allows the researcher to investigate naturally occurring variables that may be
unethical or impractical to test experimentally. For example, it would be unethical to experiment on
whether smoking causes lung cancer.

2. Correlation allows the researcher to clearly and easily see if there is a relationship between
variables. This can then be displayed in a graphical form.

13
Limitations of Correlations
1. Correlation is not and cannot be taken to imply causation. Even if there is a very strong association
between two variables we cannot assume that one causes the other.

For example, suppose we found a positive correlation between watching violence on T.V. and violent
behaviour in adolescence. It could be that the cause of both these is a third (extraneous) variable -
say, for example, growing up in a violent home - and that both the watching of T.V. and violent
behaviour is the outcome of this.

2. Correlation does not allow us to go beyond the data that is given. For example, suppose it was
found that there was an association between time spent on homework (1/2 hour to 3 hours) and the
number of G.C.S.E. passes (1 to 6). It would not be legitimate to infer from this that spending 6 hours
on homework would be likely to generate 12 G.C.S.E. passes.

FIELD STUDY
Field research is defined as a qualitative method of data collection that aims to observe, interact and
understand people while they are in a natural environment. For example, nature conservationists
observe the behaviour of animals in their natural surroundings and the way they react to certain
scenarios. In the same way, social scientists conducting field research may conduct interviews or
observe people from a distance to understand how they behave in a social environment and how
they react to situations around them.
Field research encompasses a diverse range of social research methods including direct observation,
limited participation, analysis of documents and other information, informal interviews, surveys, etc.
Although field research is generally characterized as qualitative research, it often involves multiple
aspects of quantitative research in it.

Field research typically begins in a specific setting although the end objective of the study is to
observe and analyze the specific behaviour of a subject in that setting. The cause and effect of a
certain behaviour, though, is tough to analyze due to the presence of multiple variables in a natural
environment. Most of the data collection is based not entirely on cause and effect but mostly on
correlation. While field research looks for correlation, the small sample size makes it difficult to
establish a causal relationship between two or more variables.

Methods of Field Research

Field research is typically conducted in 5 distinctive methods. They are:

1.Direct Observation
In this method, the data is collected via an observational method or subjects in a natural
environment. In this method, the behaviour or outcome of a situation is not interfered with in any
way by the researcher. The advantage of direct observation is that it offers contextual data on
people, situations, interactions, and the surroundings. This method of field research is widely used in
a public setting or environment but not in a private environment as it raises an ethical dilemma.

2.Participant Observation
In this method of field research, the researcher is deeply involved in the research process, not just
purely as an observer, but also as a participant. This method too is conducted in a natural
environment but the only difference is the researcher gets involved in the discussions and can mould

14
the direction of the discussions. In this method, researchers live in a comfortable environment with
the participants of the research, to make them comfortable and open up to in-depth discussions.

3.Ethnography
Ethnography is an expanded observation of social research and social perspective and the cultural
values of an entire social setting. In ethnography, entire communities are observed objectively. For
example, if a researcher would like to understand how an Amazon tribe lives their life and operates,
he/she may choose to observe them or live amongst them and silently observe their day-to-day
behaviour.

4.Qualitative Interviews
Qualitative interviews are close-ended questions that are asked directly to the research subjects.
The qualitative interviews could be either informal and conversational, semi-structured,
standardized and open-ended or a mix of all the above three. This provides a wealth of data to the
researcher that they can sort through. This also helps collect relational data. This method of field
research can use a mix of one-on-one interviews, focus groups, and text analysis.

5.Case Study
A case study research is an in-depth analysis of a person, situation, or event. This method may look
difficult to operate, however, it is one of the simplest ways of researching as it involves a deep dive
and thorough understanding of the data collection methods and inferring the data.

Steps in Conducting Field Research

Due to the nature of field research, the magnitude of timelines, and the costs involved, field
research can be very tough to plan, implement and measure. Some basic steps in the management
of field research are:

1. Build the Right Team: To be able to conduct field research, having the right team is
important. The role of the researcher and any ancillary team members is very important and
defining the tasks they have to carry out with defined relevant milestones is important. The
upper management must be vested in the field research for its success.
2. Recruiting People for the Study: The success of the field research depends on the people
that the study is being conducted. Using sampling methods, it is important to derive the
people that will be a part of the study.
3. Data Collection Methodology: As spoken in length about above, data collection methods for
field research are varied. They could be a mix of surveys, interviews, case studies, and
observations. All these methods have to be chalked out and the milestones for each method
too have to be chalked out at the outset. For example, in the case of a survey, the survey
design is important that it is created and tested even before the research begins.
4. Site Visit: A site visit is important to the success of the field research and it is always
conducted outside of traditional locations and in the actual natural environment of the
respondent/s. Hence, planning a site visit along with the methods of data collection is
important.
5. Data Analysis: Analysis of the data that is collected is important to validate the premise of
the field research and decide the outcome of the field research.
6. Communicating Results: Once the data is analyzed, it is important to communicate the
results to the stakeholders of the research so that they could be actioned upon.

EXPERIMENTAL METHOD [verywellmind] [simplypsychology]

15
Experimental research is the key to uncovering causal relationships between variables. In
experimental research, the experimenter randomly assigns participants to one of two groups:
 The control group: The control group receives no treatment and serves as a baseline.
 The experimental group: Researchers manipulate the levels of some independent variable in
the experimental group and then measure the effects.
Because researchers can control the independent variables, experimental research can be used to
find causal relationships between variables.

So if psychologists wanted to establish a causal relationship between media violence and aggressive
behaviour, they would want to design an experiment to test this hypothesis. If the hypothesis was
that playing violent video games causes players to respond more aggressively in social situations,
they would want to randomly assign participants to two groups.

The control group would play a non-violent video game for a predetermined period while the
experimental group would play a violent game for the same time.

Afterwards, the participants would be placed in a situation where they would play a game against
another opponent. In this game, they could either respond aggressively or non-aggressively. The
researchers would then collect data on how often people utilized aggressive responses in this
situation and then compare this information with whether these individuals were in the control or
experimental group.

By using the scientific method, designing an experiment, collecting data, and analyzing the results,
researchers can then determine if there is a causal relationship between media violence and violent
behaviour.

2. The experimental method involves the manipulation of variables to establish cause and effect
relationships. The key features are controlled methods and the random allocation of participants
into controlled and experimental groups.

An experiment is an investigation in which a hypothesis is scientifically tested. In an experiment, an

independent variable (the cause) is manipulated and the dependent variable (the effect) is
measured; any extraneous variables are controlled.

An advantage is that experiments should be objective. The views and opinions of the researcher
should not affect the results of a study. This is good as it makes the data more valid, and less biased.

There are three types of experiments you need to know:

1. Lab Experiment
A laboratory experiment is an experiment conducted under highly controlled conditions (not
necessarily a laboratory), where accurate measurements are possible.

The researcher decides where the experiment will take place, at what time, with which participants,
and in what circumstances and uses a standardized procedure.

Participants are randomly allocated to each independent variable group. An example is Milgram’s
experiment on obedience or Loftus and Palmer's car crash study.

16
Strength:
 It is easier to replicate (i.e. copy) a laboratory experiment. This is because a standardized
procedure is used.
 They allow for precise control of extraneous and independent variables. This allows a cause-
and-effect relationship to be established.
Limitation:
 The artificiality of the setting may produce unnatural behaviour that does not reflect real
life, i.e. low ecological validity. This means it would not be possible to generalize the findings
to a real-life setting.
 Demand characteristics or experimenter effects may bias the results and become
confounding variables.

2. Field Experiment
Field experiments are done in the day (i.e. real-life) environment of the participants. The
experimenter still manipulates the independent variable, but in a real-life setting (so cannot control
extraneous variables).

An example is Holding's hospital study on obedience.

Strength:
 behaviour in a field experiment is more likely to reflect real life because of its natural setting,
i.e. higher ecological validity than a lab experiment.
 There is less likelihood of demand characteristics affecting the results, as participants may
not know they are being studied. This occurs when the study is covert.
Limitation:
 There is less control over extraneous variables that might bias the results. This makes it
difficult for another researcher to replicate the study in the same way.

3. Natural Experiment
Natural experiments are conducted in the day (i.e. real life) environment of the participants, but
here the experimenter has no control over the independent variable as it occurs naturally in real life.

For example, Hodges and Tizard's attachment research (1989) compared the long-term development
of children who have been adopted, fostered, or returned to their mothers with a control group of
children who had spent all their lives in their biological families.

Strength:
 behaviour in a natural experiment is more likely to reflect real life because of its natural
setting, i.e. very high ecological validity.
 There is less likelihood of demand characteristics affecting the results, as participants may
not know they are being studied.
 Can be used in situations in which it would be ethically unacceptable to manipulate the
independent variable, e.g. researching stress.
Limitation:
 They may be more expensive and time-consuming than lab experiments.
 There is no control over extraneous variables that might bias the results. This makes it
difficult for another researcher to replicate the study in the same way.

17
Key Terminology
Ecological validity- The degree to which an investigation represents real-life experiences.

Experimenter effects- These are the ways that the experimenter can accidentally influence the
participant through their appearance or behaviour.

Demand characteristics- The clues in an experiment that lead the participants to think they know
what the researcher is looking for (e.g. experimenter’s body language).

Independent variable (IV)- Variable the experimenter manipulates (i.e. changes) – assumed to
have a direct effect on the dependent variable.

Dependent variable (DV)- Variable the experimenter measures. This is the outcome (i.e. result) of
a study.

Extraneous variables (EV)- All variables, which are not the independent variable, but could affect
the results (DV) of the experiment. EVs should be controlled where possible.

Confounding variables- Variable(s) that have affected the results (DV), apart from the IV. A
confounding variable could be an extraneous variable that has not been controlled.

Random Allocation- Randomly allocating participants to independent variable conditions means

that all participants should have an equal chance of taking part in each condition. The principle of
random allocation is to avoid bias in the way the experiment is carried out and to limit the effects
of participant variables.

Order effects- Changes in participants’ performance due to their repeating the same or similar
test more than once. Examples of order effects include:
(i) practice effect: an improvement in performance on a task due to repetition, for example,
because of familiarity with the task;
(ii) fatigue effect: a decrease in performance of a task due to repetition, for example, because of
boredom or tiredness.

18
Attribution: Theories of attribution [ Heider’s common sense theory, Jones and Davis’s
correspondent inference theory, Kelly’s co-variation model, and Weiner’s three-dimensional
model]; Errors in attribution [Fundamental attribution error, actor-observer effect, self-
serving bias]

THEORIES OF ATTRIBUTION
What Is Attribution in Social Psychology?
In social psychology, attribution is the process of inferring the causes of events or behaviours. In real
life, attribution is something we all do every day, usually without any awareness of the underlying
processes and biases that lead to our inferences.

For example, over a typical day, you probably make numerous attributions about your behaviour as
well as that of the people around you.

When you get a poor grade on a quiz, you might blame the teacher for not adequately explaining the
material, completely dismissing the fact that you didn't study. When a classmate gets a great grade
on the same quiz, you might attribute their good performance to luck, neglecting the fact that they
have excellent study habits.

What impact do attributions for behaviour have on your life? The attributions you make every day
have an important influence on your feelings as well as how you think and relate to other people.

Types
Why do we make internal attributions for some things while making external attributions for others?
Part of this has to do with the type of attribution we are likely to use in a particular situation.
Cognitive biases often play major roles as well.

The main types of attributions you may use in daily life include the following.

1.Interpersonal Attribution
When telling a story to a group of friends or acquaintances, you are likely to tell the story in a way
that places you in the best possible light.

2.Predictive Attribution
We also tend to attribute things in ways that allow us to make future predictions. If your car was
vandalized, you might attribute the crime to the fact that you parked in a particular parking garage.
As a result, you may avoid that parking garage in the future.

3.Explanatory Attribution
We use explanatory attributions to help us make sense of the world around us. Some people have an
optimistic explanatory style, while others tend to be more pessimistic.

People with an optimistic style attribute positive events to stable, internal, and global causes and
negative events to unstable, external, and specific causes. Those with a pessimistic style attribute
negative events to internal, stable, and global causes and positive events to external, stable, and
specific causes.

19
HEIDER’S COMMON SENSE THEORY [managmentweekly] [simplypsychology]

Fritz Heider is acknowledged as the father of attribution theory. Heider’s attribution theory is one of
the first theories in social psychology to explain how people draw causal inferences for behaviour.
His basic thesis was that people attribute behavioural outcomes to dispositional (internal) causes or
situational (external) causes. Heider’s attribution theory was later extended to formulate the
fundamental attribution error and the correspondence bias.

Heider (1958) believed that people are naive psychologists trying to make sense of the social world.
People tend to see cause-and-effect relationships, even where there is none!

Heider didn’t so much develop a theory himself as emphasize certain themes that others took up.
There were two main ideas that he put forward that became influential: dispositional (internal
cause) vs situational (external cause) attributions.

Dispositional vs Situational Attribution

1. Dispositional Attribution
Dispositional attribution assigns the cause of behaviour to some internal characteristic of a person,
rather than to outside forces. When we explain the behaviour of others we look for enduring
internal attributions, such as personality traits. This is known as the fundamental attribution error. A
dispositional attribution means that the outcome is attributed to internal causes. In other words, the
locus of control of the behaviour is thought of as internal. Therefore, the individual or the actor is
held responsible for the behaviour. Observers think that such an outcome occurred because of the
traits, abilities, and skills of the actor and not because of situational or contextual factors.

For example, we attribute the behaviour of a person to their personality, motives or beliefs. For
instance, if a student gets a low score in an examination, attributing the low score to a lack of
intelligence and ability is a dispositional attribution. Here we are discounting the role of all other
factors like the health of the student, the difficulty of the questions and the strictness of marking.
Instead, we just focused on the dispositions of the student.

2. Situational Attribution
The process of assigning the cause of behaviour to some situation or event outside a person's
control rather than to some internal characteristic. When we try to explain our behaviour we tend to
make external attributions, such as situational or environmental features. A situational attribution
means that the outcome is assigned to external causes. Thereby, the individual or the actor is not
held responsible for the consequences of the action. Instead, we give greater importance is given to
contextual and external factors.

In the above example, a situational attribution would mean attributing the low score to external
factors like a difficult question paper or a strict marking pattern. We would discount dispositional
factors like intelligence and effort by the student.

JONES AND DAVIS’S CORRESPONDENT INFERENCE THEORY [psychestudy] [researchnet]

Correspondent Inference Theory Definition

A correspondent inference, sometimes also called a correspondent trait inference, is a judgment
that a person’s personality matches or corresponds to his or her behaviour. For example, if we

20
notice that Taliyah is behaving in a friendly manner and we infer that she has a friendly personality,
we have made or drawn, a correspondent inference. Or, if we notice that Carl is behaving
aggressively and we conclude that he is an aggressive sort of person, we have drawn a
correspondent inference. Sometimes it is reasonable to infer that people’s personalities correspond
to their behaviour and sometimes it is not reasonable. Correspondent inference theory outlines
when it is appropriate to infer that a person’s personality corresponds to his or her behaviour.

Correspondent Inference Theory Background

Correspondent inference theory was developed by E. E. Jones (often called Ned Jones) and his
colleagues. It falls into the domain of social psychology known as attribution theory, which is the
study of judgments that people draw from behaviour. Correspondent inference theory has been
revised over the years, but the original formulation of the theory was published by Jones and Keith
Davis in 1965. The 1960s through most of the 1970s was a period in social psychology when logic
and rationality were emphasized. As such, it is not surprising that correspondent inference theory
has a very logical flavour. Jones and Daniel McGillis later said that the theory described a rational
model for how correspondent inferences could be drawn but did not necessarily describe how
people draw correspondent inferences.

This theory was formulated by Edward E. Jones and Keith Davis in 1965, which accounts for a
person’s inferences about an individual’s certain behaviour or action. The major purpose of this
theory is to try and explain why people make internal or external attributions.

Internal or Dispositional attribution is more focused in this theory. Situational or external causes of
any actions are not dealt with here.

Jones and Davis believed that people paid attention to intentional behaviour rather than accidental
ones. However, to believe that any action was intentional, the perceiver must also believe three
criteria.

 The actor (person who acts) is fully aware of the consequences of the actions.
 He/she can act.
 The actor deliberately acted.

The correspondent inference theory helps us properly understand internal attribution. Internal
attribution is easily understandable because of the correspondence we see between motive and
behaviour.

For instance, a person can be either perceived as a friendly person or just behaving in a friendly
manner.

The covariation model is also used within the Correspondent Inference Theory. The evidence and
aspects of the covariation model are used when one attributes behaviour to the person rather than
the situation.

The theory thus explains the conditions under which we propose dispositional attributes to those
behaviours we perceive as intentional.

21
Davis used the term correspondent inference to refer to an occasion when an individual observes
that an actor’s action corresponds with his personality. Thus, the term is often used as the
alternative to Dispositional or Internal attribution.

Factors affecting Correspondent Interference

Choice
The choice made by a person in acting is one of the factors in inferring his disposition.

Example: John is tasked to debate in favour of Capitalism. It would be unfair on the part of the
audience/perceiver to judge John as a capitalist. However, if John had chosen to argue in favour of
Capitalism instead of, say – democracy, it would be agreeable to infer that John’s statements reflect
his true beliefs.

Despite the vital importance of choice when it comes to an inference of an actor, it’s quite common
for the audience/perceiver to disregard choice while judging someone’s attributes. Whether any
statements made by John are his own or is he forced to express them because of situational
compulsion is often misunderstood.

Social Desirability
Rather than social desirability, lack of it is seen to be more fruitful when it comes to inferring a
person’s internal attributes. This is mainly because people are more likely to behave in a socially
desired way.

Example: A doctor, or a teacher behaving in a normal way, as they should, does not tell us anything
about how they are. However, if a teacher behaves unusually harsh to his/her students, then he or
might be more expressive of their attributes.

Likewise, a bus passenger sitting on the floor rather than on the seat depicts his personality.

Expectancies
Failure to meet the expectations is more information about a person. There are two types of
expectancies.

 Category-based: This is based on the idea we form about certain groups or types of people.
Example: You were surprised to see a group of priests in a bar. The general idea is that
priests don’t drink and they always pray.
 Target-based: This is based on the knowledge about a certain person.
Example: Finding out that a person idealizes Mahatma Gandhi sets up certain expectations
about his attitudes and character.

Non-Common Effects
Correspondent inference about the dispositional attributes of a person can also be done by
comparing the action chosen by the actor with the consequences of possible alternatives. The fewer
the differences in the choices, the harder the inference becomes. An increasing number of non-
common effects makes inference easier.

22
Example: A person chooses to go to the Caribbean for vacation instead of Brazil. The choice here is
quite similar, as both the places are close to the ocean and feature plenty of beaches. Since both the
spots are ideal for a beach vacation, it becomes harder for a perceiver to infer the dispositional
attributes of the person behind his reasons to go to the Caribbean.

However, if a person chooses the Caribbean instead of Nepal, then inference becomes significantly
easier. The two places are completely different, and it can be concluded that the actor prefers
beaches and summer rather than the mountains and natural beauty of Nepal.

Hedonistic Relevance
The tendency to attribute behaviour to the actor’s dispositional rather than the situations is called
hedonistic relevance, even if the situation is completely out of the control of the actor.

Example: Sharon trips and spills her beer on John’s carpet. John holds Sharon responsible rather
than taking into account that the carpet was uneven.

Personalism
When a person’s behaviour impacts us, we automatically assume that the behaviour was intended
and personal, even if it was simply a by-product of the situation we are both in.

Example: Jack and John are walking in the mountains, and they only have a few drops of water left.
Out of thirst Jack drinks when John’s not looking. John automatically assumes that Jack wanted to
deprive him of the last few drops of water, ignoring the fact that it was the situation which forced
Jack into performing such action.

KELLY’S CO-VARIATION MODEL [practicalpie]

“Covariation” is a term that means that two or more variables are present. Kelley’s covariation
model takes a look at how we attribute behaviours based on multiple variables or pieces of
information. The conclusion that we make, according to Kelley’s Covariation Model, is that of
situational or dispositional attribution.

The major assumption of Kelley’s Covariation Theory is that as people gather information to make
judgements, they attribute behaviours with logic and rationality.

Kelley’s Covariation Model

Harold Kelley is a social psychologist who spent much of his career looking at how groups interact
with each other. He is best known for this covariation model, and this model is also one of the most
well-known ideas within the larger study of attribution theory.

When do we decide that behaviour comes from someone’s character, and when do we decide that
the behaviour is just an anomaly, influenced by external factors?

Kelley believed that we rely on three factors: consensus, distinctiveness, and consistency. Based on
what the “data” tell us about these factors, we conclude. In a way, Kelley’s Covariation Model
suggests that we are all psychologists, using data and research to come to conclusions about human
behaviour.

23
Consensus
The first factor is consensus. How does a person behave toward the people around them? If their
friends jumped off a bridge, would they follow, or would they stray from the pack? Based on the
answer, we attribute a high consensus or low consensus to the behaviour.

Here’s an example. You’re at a bar on a date and everyone around you is ordering tequila shots. If
your date also orders a tequila shot, the consensus is high. If your date decides that they are going to
stick to water, the consensus is low.

When do we decide that behaviour comes from someone’s character, and when do we decide that
the behaviour is just an anomaly, influenced by external factors?

Kelley believed that we rely on three factors: consensus, distinctiveness, and consistency. Based on
what the “data” tell us about these factors, we conclude. In a way, Kelley’s Covariation Model
suggests that we are all psychologists, using data and research to come to conclusions about human
behaviour.

Distinctiveness
Next is distinctiveness. How distinctive is the behaviour to the situation? Is it considered “normal” or
customary for the person to perform that behaviour in the situation? Whether a behaviour is
distinctive may also depend on the location where the behaviour is performed or the culture of
where you are.

let’s go back to the tequila shot example. If you notice that your date tends to order tequila shots
whenever you’re in a bar on a Friday night, distinctiveness is low. If the date typically sticks to non-
alcoholic beverages at a bar but that night decides to order a tequila shot, distinctiveness is high.

Consistency
Last but not least is consistency. How often is this behaviour performed over time, regardless of the
situation? Holidays, special events, or celebratory occasions may throw off someone’s consistency.
We all know someone who might deviate from their normal behaviour because it’s a special time of
year or because relatives are making their annual visit.

If you continue to date the person from this example and you notice that they are always the first
person to recommend shots at parties, bars, or weddings, consistency is high. If they tend to stick to
non-alcoholic beverages but decide to take shots for special occasions, consistency is low.

Kelley’s Covariation Model Examples

So we gather all of this information as we observe our friends, neighbours, colleagues, or new
romantic partners. How do we conclude?

In some cases, one or two of these factors tell us all we need to know to conclude. If someone acts
inconsistently, we are likely to attribute their behaviour to external factors. They are getting more
rowdy than normal because they are at a wedding; they always tip well because it is just in their
nature to be generous.

Other psychologists have built onto this theory, putting together combinations that lead to one of
two (or three) conclusions:

24
Low Consensus, Low Distinctiveness, and High Consistency lead us to conclude that the behaviour
has a Dispositional Attribution.

High Consensus, High Distinctiveness, and Low Consistency lead us to conclude that the behaviour
has a Situational Attribution.

What If We Need More Information?

The whole idea behind the Covariation Model is that we have multiple points of data to form a
correlation and come to a conclusion. But what if we don’t know someone that well? What if we’re
on a first date, and trying to determine whether the date ordering a tequila shot was a sign of their
tendency to party or a bundle of nerves?

Kelley believes that when we don’t have enough information, we rely on experience. What do we
know about other first dates who have ordered tequila shots? How have we behaved on first dates?
What else has this person said or done that could explain their behaviour? We look for multiple
necessary causes or multiple sufficient causes

WEINER’S THREE-DIMENSIONAL MODEL [psychestudy]

Attribution theory was first developed by Fritz Heider in 1958. But, it was not able to cover every
aspect and various attribution theories were developed. Bernard Weiner, of the University of
California at Los Angeles, developed what is now one of the popular theories of attribution.

Weiner’s model of attribution is mainly informative in research on student learning. A simple

assumption of Weiner’s model of attributions is that

”Learners are affected by both personal factors (i.e. previously learned knowledge and past
experiences) and environmental factors (i.e. environment of the home or school). Both these factors
are the variables that affect the types of attributions most likely to be made by the individuals.”

Bernard Weiner proposed a theory suggesting that a person’s attributions in an attempt to explain
their success or failure determine the effort they are willing to exert in the future. Affective and
cognitive assessment influences behaviour in the future when similar situations are experienced.

Weiner pinpointed a specific attribution that aspects like luck, effort, etc, are not as important as the
characteristics of the attribution. This was described as the three casual dimensions, which is the
reason for Weiner’s Attribution model being called the Three-Dimensional Model.

Three Casual Dimensions

Locus
The locus dimension refers to the perception of the cause of any event as internal or external.

If a learner believes that she failed her math test because she lacked in ability, she is referring to her
internal attribution. On the other hand, if she blames the teacher to be incompetent, she is referring
to external attribution.

25
Association with Emotional Responses
This dimension is related to the feeling of pride and self-esteem. People feel a sense of pride in their
accomplishments, especially when they believe that it was their effort which lead them to success.

Stability
The stability dimension refers to whether the cause of the event is stable or unstable across time
and situations.

From the previous example, if she believes that she failed her math exam because of her inability in
math, the cause is stable. The cause is more stable if she believes that her lack of ability is
permanent. On the other hand, if she believes that had she not been sick, she could have aced the
test, the cause is unstable, as the illness is a temporary factor.

Attributions to permanent factors or stable causes are more likely to lead the learner towards
success if the learner experiences success. However, in case of failure, attributions to stable causes
are likely to decrease the morale and expectations of the learner in the future.

Association with Emotional Responses

In the case of unstable attributions, this dimension is related to feelings of hopelessness or
hopefulness. In contrast, for stable causes, a learner believes that there can be different outcomes in
the future.

Controllability
The controllability dimension refers to whether or not the cause of any event is under the control of
the learner.

From the aforementioned examples; if she believes that she could have done better in the test had
she practised more, the cause is controllable. On the other hand, if she doubts her math ability, the
cause is uncontrollable. Environmental or external attributions cannot be considered controllable.

Association with Emotional Responses

Guilt and shame are the kinds of emotions experienced in this dimension. Learners who believe they
failed because of their lack of effort experience a sense of guilt. On the other hand, those who deem
themselves unworthy are more likely to experience feelings of shame or similar emotions.

How do Attributions Influence Behavior?

The types of attributions individuals choose to make to the causes of the events significantly impact
their future behaviours in predictable ways.

Studies have found that academic achievement is improved when the learners attribute their
academic outcomes to effort and study techniques rather than factors like lack of ability and health
problems.

For instance, a student who blames his lack of effort for failure in the examination may be motivated
to study harder for the next exam to avoid the same outcome. However, a student who deems
herself incapable of studying lacks motivation and is more likely to fail in the next examination too,
solely because of her lack of effort.

26
ERRORS IN ATTRIBUTION
FUNDAMENTAL ERROR
The fundamental attribution error (also known as correspondence bias or over-attribution effect) is
the tendency for people to over-emphasize dispositional or personality-based explanations for
behaviours observed in others while under-emphasizing situational explanations.

In other words, people have a cognitive bias to assume that a person's actions depend on what
"kind" of person that person is rather than on the social and environmental forces that influence the
person.

The term was coined by Lee Ross some years after the now-classic experiment by Jones and Harris.
Ross (1977) argued in a popular paper that the fundamental attribution error forms the conceptual
bedrock for the field of social psychology.

We tend to see others as internally motivated and responsible for their behaviour. This could be
because of perceptual salience, that is, the other person is what we see most of when we look at
them, or it could be that we lack more detailed information about what causes their behaviour.

What is an example of a fundamental attribution error?

Perhaps the saddest example of the tendency to make internal attributions whether they are
warranted or not is blaming the victim.

If giving someone our sympathy or blaming the true culprit somehow causes us dissonance, we may
hold the victim responsible for his or her pain and suffering. "He had it coming" and "she was asking
for it" are all-too-common phrases!

Empirical Evidence
Jones and Harris (1967) hypothesized that people would attribute freely-chosen behaviours to
disposition (personality), and chance-directed behaviours to a situation. The hypothesis was
confounded by the fundamental attribution error.

Participants listened to pro-and anti-Fidel Castro speeches. Participants were asked to rate the pro-
Castro attitudes of the speakers. When the subjects believed that the speakers freely chose the
positions they took (for or against Castro), they naturally rated the people who spoke in favour of
Castro as having a more positive attitude toward Castro.

However, contradicting Jones and Harris' initial hypothesis, when the participants were told that the
speaker's positions were determined by a coin toss, they still rated speakers who spoke in favour of
Castro as having, on average, a more positive attitude towards Castro than those who spoke against
him.

In other words, the participants were unable to see the speakers as mere debaters coldly performing
a task chosen for them by circumstance; they could not refrain from attributing some disposition of
sincerity to the speakers.

Critical Evaluation

27
Fundamental attribution bias may not be universal across cultures. While American children were
found by Miller (1984), as they grow older, to place increasing reliance upon disposition as an
explanation of events observed, the Hindu children of India by contrast based their explanations
more on situations.

This finding is consistent with the theory that some countries, like the U.S., emphasize an
individualistic self-concept. Raised in a society that places a premium on individual achievement and
uniqueness, Americans seem to develop a tendency to focus on the characteristics of the individual
in making attributions.

ACTOR-OBSERVER EFFECT [verywellmind]

Background and History

The actor-observer bias is a term in social psychology that refers to a tendency to attribute one's
actions to external causes while attributing other people's behaviours to internal causes. It is a type
of attributional bias that plays a role in how people perceive and interact with other people.
Essentially, people tend to make different attributions depending upon whether they are the actor
or the observer in a situation.

The concept of actor-observer asymmetry was first introduced in 1971 by social psychologists Jones
and Nisbett.

What Is Actor-Observer Bias?

According to the actor-observer bias, people explain their behaviour with situational causes and
other people's behaviour with internal causes.

The actor-observer bias tends to be more pronounced in situations where the outcomes are
negative. In a situation where a person experiences something negative, the individual will often
blame the situation or circumstances. When something negative happens to another person, people
will often blame the individual for their personal choices, behaviours, and actions.

For example, when a doctor tells someone that their cholesterol levels are elevated, the patient
might blame factors that are outside of their control, such as genetic or environmental influences.
But what about when someone else finds out their cholesterol levels are too high? In such situations,
people attribute it to things such as poor diet and lack of exercise.

Signs of the Actor-Observer Bias

There are a few different signs that the actor-observe bias might be influencing interpretations of an
event. Some indicators include:

 Blaming other people for causing events without acknowledging the role you played
 Being biased by blaming strangers for what happens to them but attributing outcomes to
situational forces when it comes to friends and family members
 Focusing only on the negative aspects of a situation and ignoring the positives
 Ignoring internal causes that contribute to the outcome of the things that happen to you
 Not paying attention to situational factors when assessing other people's behaviour

28
  Placing too much blame on outside forces when things don't turn out the way you want
them to

In other words, when it's happening to you, it's outside of your control, but when it's happening to
someone else, it's all their fault.

Researchers have found that people tend to experience this bias less frequently with people they
know well, such as close friends and family members.3 Why? Because they have more information
about the needs, motivations, and thoughts of those individuals, people are more likely to account
for the external forces that impact behaviour.

Causes of the Actor-Observer Bias

When people are the actors in a situation, they have a more difficult time seeing their situation
objectively. However, when they are the observers, they can view the situation from a more distant
perspective.
For example, imagine that your class is getting ready to take a big test. You fail to observe your study
behaviours (or lack thereof) leading up to the exam but focus on situational variables that affected
your performance on the test. The room was hot and stuffy, your pencil kept breaking, and the
student next to you kept making distracting noises throughout the test.

When you get your results back and realize you did poorly, you blame those external distractions for
your poor performance instead of acknowledging your poor study habits before the test.

One of your friends also did poorly, but you immediately consider how he often skips class, rarely
reads his textbook, and never takes notes. Now that you are the observer, the attributions you shift
to focus on internal characteristics instead of the same situational variables that you feel contributed
to your substandard test score.

Recap- Looking at situations from an insider or outsider perspective causes people to see
situations differently. People are more likely to consider situational forces when attributing their
actions. Yet they focus on internal characteristics or personality traits when explaining other
people's behaviours.

Impact of the Actor-Observer Bias

The actor-observer bias can be problematic and often leads to misunderstandings and arguments.
During an argument, you might blame another person for an event without considering other factors
that also played a part.

The actor-observer bias also leads people to avoid taking responsibility for their actions. Instead of
acknowledging their role, they place the blame elsewhere. This can create conflict in interpersonal
relationships.

The actor-observer bias also makes it more difficult for people to recognize the importance of
changing their behaviour to prevent similar problems in the future.

How to Avoid the Actor-Observer Bias

Eliminating the actor-observer bias isn't possible, but there are steps that you can take to help
minimize its influence. Strategies that can be helpful include:

29
1.Don't Blame the Victim
The actor-observer bias contributes to the tendency to blame victims for their misfortune. Instead of
considering other causes, people often immediately rush to judgment, suggesting the victim's
actions caused the situation.

When you find yourself doing this, take a step back and remind yourself that you might not be
seeing the whole picture. Instead, try to be empathetic and consider other forces that might have
shaped the events.

2.Focus on Solving the Problem

While your first instinct might be to figure out what caused a situation, directing your energy toward
finding a solution may help take the focus off of assigning blame. It can also give you a clearer
picture of all of the factors that played a role, which can ultimately help you make more accurate
judgments.

3.Practice Gratitude
Instead of blaming other causes when something terrible happens, spend some moments focusing
on feeling gratitude. While you might have experienced a setback, maintaining a more optimistic and
grateful attitude can benefit your well-being. It may also help you consider some of the other factors
that played a part in causing the situation, whether those were internal or external.

Recap- The actor-observer bias is a natural occurrence, but there are steps you can take to
minimize its impact. Being aware of this tendency is an important first step. Avoiding blame,
focusing on problem-solving, and practising gratitude can help deal with this bias.

Conclusion
The actor-observer bias is a type of attribution error that can hurt your ability to accurately judge
situations. In addition to creating conflicts with others, it can also affect your ability to evaluate and
make changes to your behaviour.

Being aware of this bias can help you find ways to overcome it. Instead of focusing on finding blame
when things go wrong, look for ways you can better understand or even improve the situation. Be
empathetic and look for solutions instead of trying to assign blame.

SELF-SERVING BIAS [verywellmind]

What Is the Self-Serving Bias?

The self-serving bias is a type of cognitive bias that involves taking personal credit for successes
while blaming negative outcomes on external factors. Although this bias sometimes means evading
personal responsibility for your actions, the self-serving bias also acts as a defence mechanism that
protects self-esteem.

The self-serving bias occurs in a wide range of settings, including school, work, interpersonal
relationships, consumer choices, and sports. It is influenced by a range of different factors including
locus of control, motivation, age, and culture

30
Examples of the Self-Serving Bias
There are several different signs that the self-serving bias might be influencing how you attribute
events.

Let’s say you ace an exam. The self-serving bias would lead you to believe that it's because you
studied hard. If you failed, on the other hand, you might believe it was because the teacher didn't
explain the subject correctly, the classroom was too warm, or your roommate kept you up all night
before the exam.

All of these things may be true, but they’re not painting a complete picture of all the circumstances
that led to your performance on the test. Some other examples of this bias:

 Following a car accident, both parties involved blame the other driver for causing the crash.
 After a disastrous meeting with a potential client, a sales rep blames losing the account on a
competitor's dirty business practices.
 A high school basketball player makes a throw during the final seconds of a game and
manages to make a basket. They attribute this entirely to their skill at the game, discounting
luck, the role of teammates and opposing players, and so on.

Causes of self-serving bias

There are a few different factors that can influence whether or not people are likely to engage in
self-serving explanations for behaviour.

1.Locus of Control
Locus of control involves personal beliefs about the factors that cause different events to happen.
Generally speaking, people tend to have either an internal locus of control or an external locus of
control.

A person with an internal locus of control believes that they have a great deal of control over the
events that happen in their life. They may take credit for the great things that happen, but it also
sometimes means that they take the blame for things that are outside of their control.

Someone with an external locus of control is more likely to attribute outcomes to outside forces.
Instead of believing that they have the power to influence what will happen, they tend to assume
that nothing they do will have any impact and that only external factors determine what will
happen.

A person with an internal locus of control may feel good about their accomplishments, but they may
also take on the shame and guilt that belong to them. A person with an external locus of control
avoids this guilt, but they also tend to feel more helpless and powerless to control their fate.

A person with an external locus of control is more likely to engage in self-serving explanations for
failure than people with an internal locus of control. By taking credit for successes and assigning
blame elsewhere for failures, they're able to protect their self-esteem.

2.Motivational Factors

31
Different types of motivation can also influence the self-serving bias. When motivated by self-
enhancement, people feel a need to use internal attributions for success and external attributions to
improve their view of the self.

The image that people want to convey to others, or their self-presentation, also affects self-serving
attributions. Taking credit for positive outcomes and placing the blame elsewhere for negative ones
helps people present themselves to others in a more positive light.

3.Age and Sex

Age and gender have been shown to influence the self-serving bias. Older adults tend to make more
internal attributions—that is, credit themselves for their successes. Men are more likely to make
external attributions, meaning they tend to blame outside forces for their failures.

4.Cultural Influences
Cultural influence can play a role in how frequently people engage in self-serving bias. While this
bias is quite widespread in the United States and Canada, it tends to be much less frequent in Asian
countries.

Individualist cultures such as the U.S. place a greater emphasis on personal achievement and self-
esteem, so protecting the self from feelings of failure is more important. In collectivist cultures,5
people are more likely to attribute personal success to luck, and failures to lack of talent.

There are some scenarios where self-serving bias is less likely. People in romantic relationships and
close friendships may tend to be more modest, for example. Your friends or your partner, in other
words, keep you in check with honest criticism about when a bad situation might be at least partly
your own doing.

Impact of the Self-Serving Bias

In many cases, this cognitive bias allows you to protect your self-esteem. By attributing positive
events to personal characteristics, you get a boost in confidence. By blaming outside forces for
failures, you protect your self-esteem and absolve yourself from personal responsibility.

One advantage of this bias is that it leads people to persevere even in the face of adversity.

An unemployed worker may feel more motivated to keep looking for work if they attribute their
joblessness to a weak economy, for instance, rather than some personal failing. An athlete might
feel more motivated to perform well if they believe that their failure during a previous event was the
result of bad weather rather than a lack of skill.

How to Avoid the Self-Serving Bias

While the self-serving bias is quite common, it can have several negative effects on decision-making.
Some strategies may help you avoid this bias or prevent it from affecting your choices in detrimental
ways.

 Learn to spot it: Becoming more aware of the bias may help you see situations more
realistically. When you assess situations, take a moment to consider whether your
assessments might be influenced by this bias.

32
  Practice self-acceptance: Being able to accept your flaws and be kind to yourself reduces the
impact of failures on self-esteem.
 Treat yourself with compassion: Look at yourself with love, even when you make mistakes.
Research has found that using self-compassion reduces negative feelings and thoughts.7
 Reduce self-criticism: Part of practising self-compassion also involves working to be less self-
critical. Studies suggest that athletes who use self-compassion are less critical of themselves
after making a mistake.

Potential Pitfalls
While the self-serving bias can protect self-esteem, it can lead to people avoiding responsibility for
their actions. If they are unable to see the situation accurately, it means they may not learn anything
from their own mistakes.

Often when a person is depressed or has low self-esteem, this kind of bias may be reversed: they’ll
attribute positive outcomes to outside help or even luck, and blame themselves when bad things
happen.

33
Impression formation and Impression management: techniques of impression

IMPRESSION FORMATION [alleydog] [psychologydiscussion]

Impression formation is the process by which we form an overall impression of someone’s character
and abilities based on available information about their traits and behaviours. For example, if a new
employee in our office shows up on her first day of work in a messy, wrinkled outfit, we may judge
her negatively and expect her work to be sloppy just like her clothes. Initial impressions are not
always accurate though. If the employee consistently does good work we may start to view her
differently.

It is a part of human nature that we tend to form impressions of people, things and objects. We tend
to classify people as good, bad, strong, weak, helpful, unhelpful and in fact into so many other
categories. Similarly, we form impressions about things and objects. An excellent example of this is
what is called ‘brand loyalty.

We consider certain brands of things like soaps, toothpaste etc., to be always good and superior to
others. Thus we see that impression formation is a basic characteristic of human nature. Some form
impressions early and some form impressions slowly.

Some tend to form their impression based on their own experiences and others tend to accept
impressions from others. For example, if I tell my close friend that a particular individual is good and
competent he is most likely to accept it.

While on the one hand all of us tend to form impressions of people and things, there are people
who, by the same logic stand to gain by creating impressions in the minds of others who matter. A
young man appearing for an interview tries to be at his best when facing the interview board.

Similarly, people who want our help try to create an impression that they have been created and put
to undue suffering. Given this, it is not surprising that psychologists have taken to a serious study of
various factors which influence impression formation. The processes are very subtle.

The interest of psychologists in undertaking sustained research and study of impression formation
can perhaps be traced to the early work of Gestalt psychologists. Since the time gestalt psychology
came out with its theories and laws of perception, a lot of research has gone into the various factors
and processes which influence the processes of impression formation. The principle of closure is of
particular significance. Impression formation is thus, a natural tendency when we tend to arrive at
suitable, ample and meaningful cognition.

Earlier, an attempt was made to examine some of the issues and factors involved in the perception
of another person in a direct situation. The emphasis in that context was placed on the cues used by
the perceiver, the traits and characteristics of the perceiver, the contextual and situational
conditions etc.

While the findings presented here might mostly be of theoretical interest and also mainly related to
inferences and judgements by the perceiver on specific attributes, qualities and characteristics of the
perceived individual, in this section we move on to a different situation.

34
The Gestalt theory as we very well know primarily rested on the assumption that people while
perceiving always look for meanings and in this process tend to close gaps. The reader must have
certainly learnt how people even while perceiving a physical stimulus tend to close gaps and see an
incomplete square or rectangle.

It is this particular perceptual mechanism which very often underlies the process of impression
formation. Thus, a well-dressed person, with the skill of communication and good manners creates a
very good impression. The reader can see a similarity between impression formation and stereotype.

People form an impression about other individuals or groups of people either based on limited
experience or even without experience. Thus people from impressions about occupations and many
other things. Some occupations are considered to be noble and others not. The process of
impression formation is often highly subtle, even unconscious and is influenced by several factors.

Impression formation is essentially a form of person perception. The reader no doubt, while doing a
basic course in psychology must have become familiar with the process of perception and some of
the principles governing the same. He must have come to know that very often because of its
dynamic nature, an impression is formed based on a few pieces of information. People, while
forming impressions do not always depend entirely on sensory data or facts.

IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT [psychologyfandom]

In sociology and social psychology, impression management is the process through which people try
to control the impressions other people form of them. It is a goal-directed conscious or unconscious
attempt to influence the perceptions of other people about a person, object or event by regulating
and controlling information in social interaction. It is usually synonymous with self-presentation if a
person tries to influence the perception of their image.

Impression management (IM) theory states that any individual or organization must establish and
maintain impressions that are congruent with the perceptions they want to convey to the public
(Goffman, 1959). From both a communications and public relations viewpoint, the theory of
impression management encompasses the vital ways in which one establishes and communicates
this congruence between personal or organizational goals and their intended actions which create
public perception. The goal is for one to present themselves how they would like to be thought of by
the individual or group they are interacting with. This form of management generally applies to the
first impression.

The idea that perception is reality is the basis for this sociological and social psychology theory,
which is framed around the presumption that the other’s perceptions of you or your organization
become the reality from which they form ideas and the basis for intended behaviours.

Strategic interpersonal behaviour to shape or influence impressions formed by an audience is not a

new field; it has a rich history. Plato spoke of the "great stage of human life" and Shakespeare
crafted the famous sentence "All the world is a stage, and all the men and women merely players" in
the 17th century. Erving Goffman also followed in his seminal book The Presentation of Self in
Everyday Life a dramaturgical analogy, in which he said, "All the world is not, of course, a stage, but
the crucial ways in which it isn't are not easy to specify."[How to reference and link to summary or
text]

35
Goffman presented Impression management dramaturgically, explaining the motivations behind
complex human performances within a social setting based on a play metaphor (Dillard et al., 2000).
Goffman’s work is written from a symbolic interactionist perspective, emphasizing a qualitative
analysis of the interactive nature of the communication process (Barnhart, 1994).

The actor, shaped by the environment and target audience, sees interaction as a performance. The
objective of the performance is to provide the audience with an impression consistent with the
desired goals of the actor (Barnhart, 1994). In addition to these goals, individuals differ in responses
to the interactional environment, some may be irresponsive to the audience's reactions while others
actively respond to audience reactions to elicit positive results. These differences in response to the
environment and target audience are called self-monitoring. Another factor in impression
management is self-verification, the act of conforming the audience to the person's self-concept.

The audience can be real or imaginary. IM style norms, part of the mental programming received
through socialization, are so fundamental that we usually do not notice our expectations of them.
While an actor (speaker) tries to project the desired image, an audience (listener) might attribute a
resonant or discordant image.

TECHNIQUES OF IMPRESSION

Impression Management theory

Impression Management was first conceptualised in 1959 by Erving Goffman. The work was first
published in ‘The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. The concept was expanded on in 1967.

Research into this subject was developed along two different pathways. One of these was aimed at
factors that influence the kind of impressions people try to convey to others. The other path leads to
eleven different presentation perspectives.

These perspectives include conformity, aggression, leadership, stigmatisation, and mental and
physical health. This article discusses each of the eleven self-presentation techniques.

Impression Management Techniques

Impression management refers to people’s attempts to control and influence the impression others
have of them. There are approximately seven Impression Management techniques. These
techniques are all used in daily life. At work, at home and on other occasions.

1. Conformity
Conformity means being accepted and is intended to let others enjoy the surroundings or the people
in the surroundings. This technique is applied by companies when they have employees come
together to work together and in doing so ensure that the employees feel accepted and
comfortable.

2. Excuses
The second Impression Management technique concerns excuses. Excuses generally refer to a
person’s explanation of a negative or unacceptable event.

This explanation is given to avoid a severe punishment or judgement. Excuses are often made. When
being late for a meeting, or when a driver is fined for failing to wear his seatbelt.

36
3. Acclaim
Acclaim means proudly greeting the audience because someone knows he or she did their job
perfectly. Someone does this with a sense of excellence about himself.

In the business world, this could refer to a project team member who is praised by the project
manager because of a good idea or initiative. This encourages other employees to work harder and
better.

4. Flattery
Flattery means excessively complimenting someone else to appear perceptive and likeable. Flattery
is an assertive social technique for managing others’ impressions to increase one’s social
attractiveness.

This is done by saying things that flatter, praise or compliment the other. This impression technique
is especially common in the online marketing world.

5. Self-promotion
Self-promotion is about emphasising one’s best characteristics or downplaying one’s shortcomings.
This draws attention to one’s achievements. This phenomenon is particularly frequent in the
business world.

An Impression Management example of this is a salesman who tells his boss: ‘colleague x has taken
three years to reach the number of sales transactions I’ve concluded in six weeks.’

6. Favours
Favours is another popular technique, both in business and in everyday life. Favours are about doing
something nice for others to receive acceptance and approval from them.

For instance, a salesman of luxury cars could offer his customer tickets to the theatre because he
can’t use them himself.

7. Association
Association concerns improving or protecting one’s image by managing information about people
and things with which one is associated.

For instance, an applicant could tell the interviewer: ‘that’s such a coincidence, your boss and I were
roommates at university. Association also means collaborating with others to strengthen and protect
each other concerning the information and image of the people involved in the association.

Impression Management and job interviews

People from a collectivist culture (Geert Hofstede’s dimensions) probably score higher on Impression
Management. Additionally, higher scores on Impression Management are more frequent for
selection assessments than for assessments aimed at development.

37
The same effect also occurs when someone has a new job. In that case, he or she tends to paint a
more positive picture of themselves than when they're looking for potential areas for self-
development.

A high score is more often connected to the candidate when their applying for a commercial job.
That seems logical. According to psychologist Jan Meijning, such a meeting is particularly about
selling yourself.

Self-deception and Impression Management

Self-deception is a process or expression where relevance, meaning or importance of evidence and
logical arguments are denied or rationalised. Self-deception entails that people convince themselves
of the truth, so as not to reveal self-knowledge of the deception.

Everyone shows a certain level of self-deception. Too much of it, however, is problematic. Just try to
explain to someone that they’re not listening, while they’re convinced they are listening. When
someone isn’t aware of the unrealistic idea they have of themselves, it’s impossible to impress this
upon them in a limited amount of time.

So, don’t try to do this during a job interview. When this does happen, the conversation will
probably result in a yes-no discussion. Someone with an unrealistic self-image will even deny the
results from a test report. Instead, asks for a candidate’s strengths, including examples.

How do you practice Impression Management

Below you can find several guidelines for managing the impressions you make on others.

1. Know yourself
Self-awareness is one of the most important things in successful IM and authenticity. Sociologist
Erving Goffman proposed a dramaturgical theory in which he posited that human beings are merely
a combination of various roles we adopt.

However, it’s important to have a sense of self-worth. Who am I? What do I value? What do I stand
for? It’s important to have a sense of self-worth to prevent that we turn into a chameleon who
adapts to everything and everyone around them. It’s not necessary to always go along with the
masses.

2. Be mindful
When interacting with others, our brain works at full speed. In social situations, it’s important to be
effective listeners and the points of view of others must be understood. For this purpose, lots of
connections are made between different brain areas.

Although this often happens subconsciously, people should think about the consequences of
statements and actions. Self-disclosure is an important part of forming relationships with others.

Yet, we should be careful not to reveal too much information too quickly and always think about
how someone else would respond to this information.

3. Manage emotions

38
Nothing creates a negative impression faster than an inappropriate and explosive emotional
outburst. Emotions are an important tool for connecting with others, and expressing emotions
brings balance to the human brain, but emotions must be regulated and moderated.

Negative emotions such as anger, irritation or even disgust must always be carefully and strategically
displayed.

For leaders in big organisations, for instance, it’s crucial to maintain emotional caution, but subtly let
others know that they’re pleased or displeased.

4. Remember etiquette rules

There’s a set of social rules, also called norms, that tell people how to behave in specific social
situations. To make and maintain a positive impression, it’s important to adhere to and respect
these social norms.

Additionally, it’s important to show that we have good manners and know how to behave in
different and perhaps challenging situations.

Being polite is always a good strategy for impression management, as few people disapprove of
politeness or have negative associations with it.

5. Be self-confident
Self-confidence is difficult to adopt when you don’t have it, but there are social moments that
demand courage and decisiveness. For instance, take a situation in which you’re obligated to
converse with others. Take the initiative without thinking and ask a good question, or help someone.

Additionally, it’s important to stand up for your principles or convictions. It’s particularly important
to convince others of your visions when you have a leadership position. Most people will respect
your loyalty to a certain conviction or idea. However, also be reasonable.

When someone else shares an argument that disproves your conviction or work method, adjust
these.

6. Be positive
There’s much to gain by looking at the importance and use of positive thinking and positive affection
when making impressions. A smile, a compliment, and positive energy are always better than a
negative and charged atmosphere. Optimistic leaders will be able to convince employees more easily
and are more often seen as effective.

Effective self-impression management isn’t always easy. As with most social skills, this is also
something that should be practised regularly to fully develop one’s self-impression management.

Impression Management summary

Impression Management is the process in which people try to influence the perceptions or
impressions others have about them by regulating and controlling information. People tend to
present a positive image of themselves to others. This also plays a role in the business world.

39
Various techniques are used for this purpose, either consciously or subconsciously. For instance,
conformity, an excuse, acclaim or flattery. Additionally, self-promotion is popular, as are granting
favours and association. People particularly try to display a positive image of themselves in job
interviews. However, be careful of self-deception.

Communication: definition, nature, and types of communication; communication patterns

[circle, wheel, chain, and Y pattern]; barriers to effective communication; rumours and
propaganda.

DEFINITION

“the transmission of information, which may be by verbal (oral or written) or nonverbal. Humans
communicate to relate and exchange ideas, knowledge, feelings, and experiences and for many
other interpersonal and social purposes. Nonhuman animals likewise communicate vocally or
nonvocally for a variety of purposes (see animal communication). Communication is studied by
cognitive and experimental psychologists, and communication disorders are treated by mental and
behavioural health therapists and by speech and language therapists. Communications is the
discipline that studies the processes and systems involved in communication at both the
interpersonal and broadly social levels, in the latter case paying particular attention to the publishing
media and telecommunication systems (telephones, radio, television, Internet, etc.).” - APA

Communication, the exchange of meanings between individuals through a common system of

symbols. - Britannica
NATURE

The exchange of information or passing of information, ideas or thoughts from one person to the
other or from one end to the other is communication. According to McFarland communication is, “a
process of meaningful interaction among human beings. More specifically, it is the process by which
meanings are perceived and understandings are reached among human beings.” Newman and
summer defined communication as “an exchange of facts, ideas, opinions or emotions by two or
more persons.”

Communication is the process of passing information from one person to another. The purpose of
communication understands information. Whatever one wants to say to someone should be clearly
understood by him else the very purpose of the communication would be defeated.

In an organisation, communication facilitates the flow of information and understanding between

different people and departments through different media using all the channels and networks. This
flow of information is vital for managerial effectiveness and decision-making in general and human
resource manager in particular as he has to be in contact with the managers of various departments,
employees and workers and trade union leaders.

Communication thus helps understand people better removing misunderstandings and creating
clarity of thoughts and expression. It also educates people. The communication may be written or
oral, formal, informal, upward, downward, horizontal, diagonal, interpersonal, intrapersonal,
interdepartmental, or intra-organisational.

40
Communication brings people together, closer to each other. Communication is an important
management function closely associated with all other managerial functions. It bridges the gap
between individuals and groups through the flow of information and understanding between them.
Information is the most vital aspect of communication. It is the information which is transmitted,
studied, analyzed and interpreted and stored. The manager, therefore, has to spare time to collect,
analyze and store the information for decision-making and routine day-to-day business.

TYPES OF COMMUNICATION
The five types of communication you need to know about our verbal communication, nonverbal
communication, written communication, visual communication, and listening.

1. Verbal Communication
Verbal communication encompasses all communication using spoken words, or unspoken words as
in the case of sign language. It is important to understand how to effectively communicate your
ideas verbally to avoid misunderstandings and maximize interest while you speak. Make sure to use
the right type of language, speak, know your audience, respond in the best way, and use an
appropriate tone when speaking.

2. Nonverbal Communication
What is being said is only half the battle — the rest lies in what isn’t being said. This means your
tone, facial expressions, body language, hand movements, and eye contact. When you make
yourself aware of what the rest of you is doing as you speak, you can make corrections and
eventually use all the right nonverbal cues to convey your point.

3. Written Communication
Written communication is a form of verbal communication, but it is so different from spoken verbal
communication that this form gets its separate type. Written communication can take the form of
anything you write or types such as letters, emails, notes, texts, billboards, and even a message
written in the sky! With written communication, you must know your audience, and your purpose,
and maintain consistency throughout your written message.

4. Visual Communication
Visual communication is one you may not have heard of, but it complements the other types of
communication well. Visual communication is delivering information, messages, and points by way
of graphical representations, or visual aids.

Some commonly used examples are slide presentations, diagrams, physical models, drawings, and
illustrations. When you use visual communication in addition to verbal, nonverbal, and written
communication, you create a very effective way for your message to be heard and understood

5. Listening
Listening is a surprisingly important part of communication and to be a great communicator, you
must master the art of listening. Remember that listening doesn’t just mean hearing, or politely
waiting for your turn to speak. When others are speaking, you should practice active listening, which
means that you are engaging your mind while the person speaks, intently focusing on what they are
saying.

COMMUNICATION PATTERNS

41
All communication patterns all have certain problems with each other. In circle, Chain and Y patterns
all group members can’t directly communicate with the group leader. They can communicate to the
leader only through group members. In Wheel, all the group members can communicate directly
with the group leader.

CIRCLE

In a circle communication pattern, there is a leader and hierarchies among the group members.
Here, the leader can only communicate to the members who are next to him/her like their direct
subordinates. He/she cannot talk with any other members too, like the lowest level of workers.

Similarly, if an office assistant has to talk to the leader about anything, he/she has to send the
message to their seniors, which finally reaches the boss or leader.

All group members can only communicate to the people who are above them or below them in the
chain of command. The message flows in one direction or way.

All group members cannot communicate with the leader in a circle communication pattern which is
a disadvantage of this communication pattern. They can only do it through other group members
senior to them.

In this communication pattern, lower-level staff do not get a chance to criticize anything from the
upper level. They do not have a role in decision-making too. If any person sends any message, it
travels through all members of the group.
The process of sending the message also takes a lot of time as it must travel from person to person
to reach the desired recipient.

In the Circle pattern, the sender (Group Leader) can communicate with the receivers (group
members) who present next to him/her. No other group members can’t receive the sender’s
message directly and they receive messages from the other group members who share the
message from the sender. In this pattern of communication, the sender's messages travel all over
the group through sharing by its members and will take time to reach the sender again.

WHEEL

42
In-wheel pattern, there is a leader at the centre of all communication. All others are members that
stand at the same level in the structure.

Here, all members can communicate with the leader and vice versa. But, members cannot interact
with each other. Sometimes, members do not even know of the existence of other members of the
same group.

This pattern is taken as the best pattern of communication for any organization as a leader can have
direct contact with all.

Communication problems are less and the method is quick. There is no distortion of information by
other members of the group while passing the message.

Prompt and simultaneous feedback is also encouraged in the communication pattern.

In Wheel pattern, is one of the best patterns compared to the other three. The leader has direct
contact with all the group members and there are no communication problems, time issues and
feedback from the group members. But all the group members can’t connect.

CHAIN

The chain pattern of communication has similar problems as the circle pattern as it also follows a
certain chain of command.

In the circle, a person can send a message that reaches all members of the group whereas, in the
chain, it is either top to bottom level staff or bottom to top-level staff. It is a one-way flow of
communication.

In a chain communication pattern, all members cannot communicate with the leader of the group
like in a circle.

43
So, the members might not get the exact message sent by the leader but an altered version of it. The
leader won’t even be aware of what distorted message others lower in the command got. Feedback
can also be distorted.

In the Chain pattern, the same problems were appearing in a circle pattern. The worst part of the
pattern is the last member receives the modified messages from the leader. In this case, the
leader can’t find whether the last member receives the correct information or not because there
is no feedback to identify the message distortion.

Y PATTERN

Y pattern of communication is more complicated as there are different sub-groups within a group. In
the centre is a leader who manages these sub-groups. According to this pattern given by Leavitt, 3
subgroups are being controlled by a single leader. There are 3 members in each sub-group.

Here, as mentioned in circle and chain communication patterns, there is a chain of command within
the sub-group. The lowest level of each sub-group communicates with the members senior to them.
They communicate it with their seniors. Then, that member communicates it with the leader.

The message sent by the leader is also communicated from the top-to-bottom approach.

The sub-groups cannot communicate with each other. They need to pass the information through
the leader to send any message to other sub-groups.

The Y pattern, it’s a more complicated pattern and also has a communication problem which
appears in both circle and chain patterns. The group is separated into three and the group
members can communicate with the other member's group through the leader only.

BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

Definition: Psychological Barriers

The psychological barrier to communication is the influence of the psychological state of the
communicators (sender and receiver) which creates an obstacle to effective communication.

Causes of Psychological Barriers

Lack of Attention:

44
When a person’s mind is distracted or preoccupied with other things, the person is not able to form
proper messages, listen to what others tell him/her, interpret the message as required and give
proper feedback. Communication will face problems and becomes ineffective. Examples:

1) A person in tragedy, for instance, does not want to listen to other people giving advice.

2) A person might be preoccupied with the problems of his/her professional life or personal life,
which affects both.

Poor Retention:
Retention of information is the capacity of the memory of the brain to store information. The Brain
does not store all the information it comes across, but only the ones it deems useful for the future.
So, half the information is lost in the retention process.

Similarly, the brain also loses information that is old and not taken as useful with time. Extracting the
information is also a process in the formation of the message. Here, the brain tries to remember the
required information, the fragments of which have already been lost.

For example, you were told about a friend coming to meet you before a month and had been given
the person’s name, address, phone number, etc. Now, you have to communicate the information to
somebody else. At the time, you only remember the name and address and forget the phone
number. The truth can change or distort due to poor retention which acts as a barrier to
communication.

Distrust and Defensiveness:

Communication is successful when the communicators trust each other. Lack of trust makes them
derive a negative meaning from the message and they ignore the message. When a person tries to
force his/her ideas and opinions, the receiver does not listen. If the receiver does not agree with the
message provided or thinks of it as a threat, he/she will not listen to it. Similarly, when the message
is not transferred across to the receiver, the communication fails. For example, I don’t trust a friend,
I will only give the details, of what is happening in my personal life which I think are harmless.

Perception, Viewpoint, Attitudes and Opinions:

Perception is the mindset using which people judge, understand and interpret everything. Each
person has his/he own perception of reality which is shaped by mental and sensory experiences.

Likewise, the viewpoint is also a mindset to look at the world. The sender might have a particular
viewpoint that is not shared by the receiver. The sender does not explain the viewpoint but takes
the viewpoint as granted. The message is not understood by the receiver as must have been
understood, creating a barrier to effective communication.

Attitude is the established way in which we think and feel about things and ideas which also creates
a psychological communication barrier. For example, a person takes females to be weak which is the
person’s perception. He/she tells that to someone who does not think so. This causes a
misunderstanding between the two. Everything they communicate after that becomes unsuccessful
because the view of the person is already set.

Emotions:

45
Anyone who isn’t in a good mood is likely to talk less or talk negatively. A preoccupied mind is not
good at communicating. For example, when a person is angry, he/she might say things they regret
later. Even when listening to someone else speak, an angry person might easily misinterpret the
message.

Various other emotions like fear, nervousness, confusion, mistrust and jealousy affect the
communication process. For example, a person having extreme moods of happiness will laugh at
anything said to him/her. The same person when sad will cry or get angry at insignificant situations.

Closed Mind and Filtering:

Man is selfish by nature and put his own needs and problems above all else. This sometimes leads
people to filter the information that someone is trying to convey to them. This might be due to
mistrust, competition, jealousy, or the view that the message is insignificant.

For example, a senior in a company does not want the junior to do better at work, the person filters
the information and does not provide crucial information that could help the junior. The junior
therefore will not be able to complete the work properly and progress in ranks. Similarly, when a
person is close-minded, the person will have fixed opinions on many things which the person
believes resolutely. The person will negatively interpret any information.

For example, a sexist person does not accept the suggestions of a female colleague in a meeting
which affects the communication flow in the meeting. It is difficult to argue with such close-minded
people and give proper information.

Premature Evaluation:
Some people are always in a hurry by habit. These kinds of people most likely make quick judgments
and jump to conclusions. They do not consider all aspects of the information such as social, cultural,
economic, etc., and often end up taking quick and wrong decisions.

It is important to hear the whole message to make proper judgments because they are not changed
easily after they are once made.

For example, a person who is in a hurry and is talking on the phone does not listen to half the
message and makes the decision which is wrong in the situation.

Conclusion
Psychological barriers affect communication more as information is formed in the brain and is sent
by people with various psychological condition which differs from one moment to another.
Information is as effective as the people involved make it. Similarly, the psychological condition of
the receiver also has as much importance as the senders. Communication is ineffective if
psychological aspects of communication act as a barrier to communication.

RUMOURS AND PROPAGANDA

RUMOURS
A rumour or rumour (see spelling differences), is often viewed as "an unverified account or
explanation of events circulating from person to person and pertaining to an object, event, or issue in
public concern". However, a review of the research on rumours conducted by Pendleton in 1998

46
found that research across sociology, psychology and communication studies had widely varying
definitions of rumour. Thus, rumour is a concept that lacks a particular definition in the social
sciences. But most theories agree that rumour involves some kind of a statement whose veracity is
not quickly or ever confirmed. In addition, some scholars have identified rumour as a subset of
propaganda, the latter another notoriously difficult concept to define. Rumours are also often
discussed concerning "misinformation" and "disinformation" (the former is often seen as simply
false and the latter seen as deliberately false, though usually from a government source given to the
media or a foreign government). Rumours thus have often been viewed as particular forms of other
communication concepts.

DEFINITION
"solely to the control of opinion by significant symbols, or, to speak more concretely and less
accurately, by stories, rumours, reports, pictures, and other forms of social communication" (1927:9)
-Harold Lasswell

Psychology of Rumour
1902- French and German social science research on rumour locates the modern scholarly definition
of it in the pioneering work of the German Louis William Stern in 1902. Stern experimented on
rumour involving a "chain of subjects" who passed a story from "mouth to ear" without the right to
repeat or explain it. He found that the story was shortened and changed by the time it reached the
end of the chain. His student was another pioneer in the field, Gordon Allport.

1944- "A Psychology of Rumor" was published by Robert Knapp in 1944, in which he reports on his
analysis of over one thousand rumours during World War II that was printed in the Boston Herald's
"Rumor Clinic" Column.

Knapp identified three basic characteristics that apply to rumour:

1. they're transmitted by word of mouth;

2. they provide "information" about a "person, happening, or condition"; and

3. they express and gratify "the emotional needs of the community."

Crucial to its characteristics is the emphasis on transmission (word of mouth, which then was heard
and reported in the newspaper); on content ("topical" means that it can somehow be distinguished
from trivial and private subjects--its domain is public issues); and on reception ("emotional needs of
the community" suggests that though it is received by an individual from an individual, it is not
comprehended in the individual but community or social terms).

Based on his study of the newspaper column, Knapp divided those rumours into three types:

1. Pipe dream rumours: reflect public desires and wished-for outcomes. (eg. Japan's oil reserves
were low and thus WW II would soon end.)

2. Bogie or fear rumours reflect feared outcomes. (eg. An enemy surprise attack is imminent).

3. Wedge-driving rumours intend to undermine group loyalty or interpersonal relations (eg.

American Catholics were seeking to avoid the draft; German-Americans, Italian-Americans, and
Japanese-Americans were not loyal to the American side).

47
Knapp also found that negative rumours were more likely to be disseminated than positive rumours.
These types also differentiate between positive (pipe dream)and negative (bogie and wedge-driving)
rumours.

1947- In the 1947 study, Psychology of Rumor, Gordon Allport and Joseph Postman concluded that
"as rumour travels it [...] grows shorter, more concise, more easily grasped and told." This conclusion
was based on a test of message diffusion between persons, which found that about 70% of details in
a message were lost in the first 5-6 mouth-to-mouth transmissions.

In the experiment, a test subject was shown an illustration and given time to look it over. They were
then asked to describe the scene from memory to a second test subject. This second test subject
was then asked to describe the scene to a third, and so forth and so on. Each person’s reproduction
was recorded. This process was repeated with different illustrations with very different settings and
contents.

Allport and Postman used three terms to describe the movement of rumour. They are levelling,
sharpening, and assimilation. Levelling refers to the loss of detail during the transmission process;
sharpening to the selection of certain details which to transmit; and assimilation to a distortion in
the transmission of information as a result of subconscious motivations.

Assimilation was observed when test subjects described the illustrations as they ought to be but not
as they were. For example, in an illustration depicting a battle scene, test subjects often incorrectly
reported an ambulance truck in the background of the illustration as carrying “medical supplies,”
when, in fact, it was carrying boxes marked “TNT (102).”

Rumour as Social Cognition (2004)

In 2004 Prashant Bordia and Nicholas DiFonzo published their Problem-Solving in Social Interactions
on the Internet: Rumor As Social Cognition and found that rumour transmission is probably reflective
of a "collective explanation process.". This conclusion was based on an analysis of archived message
board discussions in which the statements were coded and analyzed. It was found that 29.4% (the
majority) of statements within these discussions could be coded as “sensemaking” statements,
which involved, “[...]attempts at solving a problem.” It was noted that the rest of the discussion was
constructed around these statements, further reinforcing the idea of collective problem-solving. The
researchers also found that each rumour went through a four-stage pattern of development in
which a rumour was introduced for discussion, information was volunteered and discussed, and
finally, a resolution was drawn or interest was lost.

For the study, archived discussions concerning rumours on the Internet and other computer
networks such as BITNET were retrieved. As a rule, each discussion had a minimum of five
statements posted over at least two days. The statements were then coded as being one of the
following: prudent, apprehensive, authenticating, interrogatory, providing information, belief,
disbelief, sensemaking, digressive, or encodable. Each rumour discussion was then analyzed based
on this coding system. A similar coding system based on statistical analysis was applied to each
discussion as a whole, and the aforementioned four-stage pattern of rumour discussion emerged.

Rumour as Political Communication Strategy (2006)

In the past, much research on rumours came from psychological approaches (as the discussion of
Allport and DiFonzio demonstrates above). The focus was especially on how statements of
questionable veracity (absolutely false to the ears of some listeners) circulated orally from person to

48
person. Less work had been done until recently on how different forms of media and particular
cultural-historical conditions may facilitate a rumour's diffusion. The internet's recent appearance as
new media technology has shown ever new possibilities for the fast diffusion of rumors, as the
debunking sites such as snopes.com, urbanlegend.com, and factcheck.org demonstrate. Nor had
previous research taken into consideration the particular form or style of deliberately chosen
rumours for political purposes in particular circumstances (even though significant attention to the
power of rumour for mass-media-diffused war propaganda has been in vogue since WWI; see
Lasswell 1927).

In 2006, Jayson Harsin introduced the concept of the "rumour bomb" as a response to the
widespread empirical phenomenon of rumoresque communication in contemporary relations
between media and politics, especially within the complex convergence of multiple forms of media,
from cell phones and internet to radio, TV, and print. Harsin starts with the widespread definition of
rumour as a claim whose truthfulness is in doubt and which often has no clear source even if its
ideological or partisan origins and intents are clear. He then treats it as a particular rhetorical
strategy in current contexts of media and politics in many societies. For Harsin a "rumour bomb"
extends the definition of rumour into a political communication concept with the following features:

1. A crisis of verification. A crisis of verification is perhaps the most salient and politically dangerous
aspect of rumour. Berenson (1952) defines rumour as a kind of persuasive message involving a
proposition that lacks 'secure standards of evidence' (Pendleton 1998).

2. A context of public uncertainty or anxiety about a political group, figure, or cause, which the
rumour bomb overcomes or transfers onto an opponent.

3. A partisan even if an anonymous source (eg. "an unnamed advisor to the president"), seeks to
profit politically from the rumour bomb’s diffusion.

4. A rapid diffusion via highly developed electronically mediated societies where news travels fast.

PROPAGANDA

History of Propaganda— The term was first employed in the founding of the Roman Catholic
propaganda college. One of its most modern features was developed in the Napoleonic period when
the press of France was encouraged to foster the growing Napoleonic legend. Just as Napoleon
censored the news and opinion of his day to maintain his control, so too, did he deliberately spread
ideas favouring his regime. Of course, the Napoleonic legend did not arise entirely from this
conscious effort of Napoleon himself; but he certainly helped greatly to establish it as a popular
French legend. Napoleon III deliberately re-stimulated the Napoleonic legend and used it to help
maintain his position. Guedalla's Second Empire: Bonapartism, the Prince, the Emperor is an
interesting description of the revival of the legend. Bismarck not only recognized the force of
censorship, but he was also equally aware of the value of propaganda. During the Franco-Prussian
War, he made every effort to build up opinions favourable to the Prussian cause in the French press
as well as in the press of his own and allied countries. Later, to serve his nationalistic designs, he
encouraged popular attitudes antagonistic toward England and especially toward Queen Victoria.
The World War, however, called out the most colossal propaganda, we have yet seen. Every warring
country made use of all its devices and our present attitudes toward the whole war are still
influenced by this propaganda.

49
Meaning of Propaganda:

Propaganda is essentially a technique of controlling attitude and it assumes the greatest historical
significance when carried on systematically over a long period by well-organised groups. Its presence
and practical importance are felt at every moment of human life.

The word propaganda is derived from the Latin word. “Propagate” means to generate or reproduce
artificially. This suggests that propaganda does not take place spontaneously. It has to be produced
or generated by someone.

The emphasis is, therefore, on forced generalization and there is always a definite motive or purpose
in mind behind any and every propaganda. Every political party, every religion, and every business
organisation adopts certain methods either through advertisement, personal efforts or through
public meetings to spread their own beliefs, attitudes, views, faiths or norms.

Thus, propaganda always aims at moulding people’s attitudes and behaviour in the direction of the
propagandist by impressing the mass through various methods, techniques and strategies.

Definition of Propaganda:

Numbley holds that propaganda means forced generation with a definite end in mind. Young defines
propaganda as the propagation of ideas, opinions and attitudes and the real purpose of which is not
being clear to the hearer or the reader.

In this definition of Young two points appear to be significant:

(i) Propagation of ideas and opinions

(ii) The ultimate purpose is not explicit in the propagation or is not directly known to the hearer or
reader. But in propaganda, most of the persons can read the mind of the propagandist and can know
the ulterior motive behind it if they have some commonsense.

According to Doob “Propaganda is a systematic attempt by interested individuals to control the

attitudes of groups of individuals through the use of suggestions and consequently to control their
action.”

Need for Propaganda:

Propaganda is an important aspect of our living. It cannot be eliminated and no one can completely
withdraw from it. Despite the stigma attached to the concept of propaganda, it has a lot of practical
importance. Propaganda cannot be said to be only commercial or religious or political.

Propaganda is necessary to bring social change to eradicate social evils, poverty and illiteracy.
Propaganda is essential for the eradication of social evils like dowry, child marriage, gender, bias and
prejudice towards minority groups, SC and ST and socially and economically disadvantaged persons.

To build casteless and classless societies, propaganda in the right direction is essential. To make
people aware of certain diseases, like T.B., Cancer, Leprosy and AIDS etc. to reduce infant mortality
rates, to make people conscious of the fruits of prohibition, to increase production level, shift the
urban-based attitude of people to rural based, propaganda is undoubtedly needed.

Therefore, we find that accident prevention weeks, leprosy eradication weeks, international women
years, children’s day, drug and AIDS prevention weeks, and many other prevention weeks of this

50
type are observed where people go in procession on the roads with placards, banners, posters and
shout slogans to draw the attention of people.

Radios and TVs. broadcast and telecast respectively various propaganda-related materials to
increase the consciousness of people and change their attitudes.

These types of propaganda are not based on ulterior and selfish motives and hence cannot be said to
have bad aims. They are, indeed, essential for the progress and prosperity of society and mankind.
Thus, it is found that only through propaganda, the idea of democracy, the dreams of our planners,
social reformers and policy makers can be made known to the public.

The economic policy of the country, the successful implementations of various welfare programmes,
projects, saving and investment schemes and policies, especially planned for the upliftment of the
poor, down trodden and minority groups can be made public only through propaganda, similarly, the
mode of operation of democracy, the general programme of action of the Government should be
extensively propagated in the public interest.

So, there is a tremendous need to adopt propaganda on several social issues and social problems.
Propaganda should not be selfish interest and personal motive based and should not be confusing. It
should be crystal clear, transparent and not misleading so that the public will not have the scope for
a grain of suspicion.

Propaganda should not be linked with any kind of fear, pressure or favour. Propaganda should not
be imposed and it should not prevent open-mindedness. It should not pressurize people to accept
the suggestion of others blindly. The other side of the issue should also be intimated to people while
making propaganda.

Kinds of Propaganda:
Propaganda may be classified into:
(i) Direct Propaganda and Indirect Propaganda:
In direct propaganda, the public is aware of the purpose of the propagandist, for instance,
propaganda campaigns were taken up by the Government or voluntary, social organizations on
family planning, Prohibition, literacy, women’s welfare, dowryless marriage, education for all, saving
schemes, national integration, health care and protection from infectious diseases.

All these come under the category of direct propaganda. Here the purpose of propaganda is very
clear and devoid of ulterior motives. People are aware of the objective of propaganda and it is
transparent.

Indirect propaganda refers to that type where people are not aware of the objective and purpose of
the propaganda. It is concealed. The propagandists in this technique try to change the views, ideas,
beliefs and attitudes of people in a very tactful and subtle manner as per their desire.

The national sentiments of patriotism are aroused among the fellow countrymen by national leaders
during wartime for national integration. The purpose behind such propaganda is to persuade more
and more people to join the army, to save the country through the arousal of patriotism.

(ii) Primary and Secondary Propaganda:

51
The propagandist tries to investigate and excite the attitudes and prejudices that already exist
through primary propaganda. The tension between the Hindu and the Muslim, the upper caste and
the lower caste, the Thakurs and the backward classes continues from the past into the present.

The Kashmir problem may be a brilliant example in this regard. The tension between the Hindus and
the Muslims provides a special advantage to the Azad Kashmir is to revolt and to take recourse to
war and militancy. In secondary propaganda, however, no previous attitude, belief, prejudice or
mental set is present. Through propaganda, new tendencies and thoughts are set in the minds of
people.

(iii) Conscious and Unconscious Propaganda:

Conscious propaganda is done purposefully and with some intention like propaganda made for a
particular political party at the time of election.

But in unconscious propaganda, the propagandist has no intention to propagate something. It

appears accidentally and unknowingly.

Principles of Propaganda:
Most of the techniques of propaganda are exploited and derived from the principles of propaganda.
The technical requirement for effective propaganda is dependent on a thorough understanding of
the principles involved.

A large number of psychologists stand divided in their opinion regarding the principles of
propaganda. Among various principles developed, the classification put forward by Doob is
noteworthy.

Doob has developed some principles of propaganda:

(i) Intentional and Unintentional Propaganda:

The distinction between intentional and unintentional propaganda is not very clear and real. But
Doob says in intentional propaganda, the propagandist is aware of the ends and aims for which he
takes recourse to propaganda. He has a clear view of the purpose which is crystalized perceptually.

In an election, the propagandist wants to secure as many votes as possible for his candidate. This
indicates his clear intention behind the propaganda. In the case of advertisement, the principles of
propaganda are also intentional.

But in the case of unintentional propaganda, the individual unknowingly and incidentally influences
peoples’ beliefs and attitudes to achieve an aim. Here the intention is clouded and imperceptible.

When a man in an informal get-together is habitually or incidentally taking about the good qualities
of a person on the eve of an election for which he is a candidate, it is an instance of unintentional
propaganda, usually, the advertising agencies or a particular political party are aware of the
propaganda objective whereas the house wives or the respectable school teachers are rather
blissfully ignorant of the propaganda objective. But people somehow achieve the respective ends by
both methods.

52
In the modern age, which is said by some as the age of advertisement instead of directly saying that
it is good or such shampoo or cold drink is excellent, they indirectly say these nice things through a
character, which of course indirectly proves the intention. One may say avoid white hair, instead of
saying use this hair dye to make your hair black.

In sum, the intentional propagandist deliberately attempts to affect or control the behaviour of a
group of individuals while the unintentional propagandist unwittingly does so. Of course, the
unintentional propagandist occupies a position in society which enables him to have greater access
to the media of communication. However, no rigid differences between intentional and
unintentional propaganda exist.

(ii) Perception:
Perception as a principle of propaganda suggests that the object of propaganda should have a clear
out line in the cognitive and perceptual fields of the people. It should be understood, felt, heard and
seen by the people. Propaganda cannot be successful and effective in a vacuum. It should be strictly
displayed so that it can readily catch the attention of people.

Propaganda, in other words, should be made attractive visually, auditorily and cognitively. At the
time of the election, the qualities of a candidate should be categorically and differentiated from the
other rival candidate for the sake of comparison and a favourable attitude towards the person in
question. The slogans and visuals should be as catchy as possible.

Types of Propaganda:
Dood has mentioned three types of propaganda such as:

Types of propaganda may refer to the motive of the propagandist, the methods he employs, the
recognition and nonrecognition of his objectives and the consequences of his propaganda.

(a) Revealed Propaganda:

In his propaganda, the propagandist offers suggestions to people. It is quite clear and perceptible. In
revealed propaganda, the intention of the propagandist is quite clear. Take the example of the
propaganda made during elections, in the various advertisement for goods etc.

(b) Delayed Revealed Propaganda:

In delayed revealed propaganda, the intention of the propagandist does not show up immediately.
The whole purpose and intention are revealed after a good deal of time while the ground for
propaganda has already been prepared. During war time, this sort of delayed revealed propaganda is
much used.

The emphasis is given to the recruitment of as many soldiers as possible, by arousing the feeling of
nationality, patriotism and similar other sentiments. This delayed revealed propaganda is often
effective because of its dramatic appeal.

(c) Concealed Propaganda:

Human intelligence can make propaganda invisible and concealed. Birth day, death anniversary or
centenary of distinguished and great sons and daughters of the soil are celebrated where references
are made to their ideology, lifestyle, sacrifices and achievements. Even in these types of
celebrations, there is a seed of propaganda.

53
Various political parties and high dignitaries get a scope to talk about the ideals, achievements,
purposes and aims of their party during these celebrations and try to make political capital out of it.
In such propaganda, the motive is not directly seen. Pictures and documentaries to indicate the
contributions of the party in power and the progress and prosperity of the people are examples of
concealed propaganda.

But intelligent and enlightened people catch the underlying motive in such propaganda. Concealed
propaganda affects people even though they do not know that someone else is intentionally or
unintentionally seeking to control their reactions.

(iv) Related Attitude:

The attitudes of people remain in a closely knit pattern. One attitude is related to the other and
different altitudes remain in an integrated whole. They never remain isolated. In propaganda, all
types of reinforcements are provided to tap the nationalistic sentiments of people. Since attitudes
are related when one attitude is tapped, the other attitudes related to it are also tapped.

For instance, you persuade people to buy the Khadi dress to provide support to the Swadeshi
movement and at the same time, you say that it is very cheap, economical and durable compared to
other clothes. This taps different related attitudes of a person.

Thus, propaganda should be made in such a way that instead of changing one attitude, the purpose
should be to change other attitudes related to it, so that the propaganda can have a stronger effect.

(v) Integration of Attitude:

From the above, follows the “integration of attitude”. If you try to arouse or evoke several attitudes
and if they live in an integrated structure, propaganda will be further effective. Thus, the
propagandist should not only attempt to evoke or arouse a particular attitude, but also a host of
related attitudes which are integrated as reinforcements for shaping that particular attitude.

(vi) Prestige Suggestion:

Some people, because of their knowledge, education, reasoning ability and several other personality
factors are less prone to suggestion. Despite several different techniques of propaganda, they stick
to their views and rarely change. In such circumstances, prestige suggestion is used as a principle of
propaganda.

(vii) Persuasion:
Prominent people with prestige, good name and popularity persuade people to accept their views.

Persuasion is of four types:

 Personal persuasion
 Emotional persuasion
 Persuasion in the form of suggestions and
 Persuasion by using foul means i.e., intimidation like “If you do not give a vote in favour of
‘X’, you will suffer the consequences.”

54
In this type of persuasion, the propagandist tries to change the attitude of people by physical force
and threats.

Techniques of Propaganda:
The following techniques of propaganda widely used are discussed below:

(i) Name Calling Device:

Clyde has observed that the propagandist by scolding the opponent or telling ugly things against the
rival, diminishes the strength of the rival party or opponent. People of one political party speaking
unfavourable things against the rival political party is a common scene during elections.

The name-calling device often degenerates into silly abuses and unhealthy personal attacks. If in an
anti-fascist society one is called Nazi i.e., a fascist, he is, at once, thoroughly disreputed.

Similarly, in a very honest and clean society where people give utmost importance to honesty if a
person is alleged as corrupt, he gets a bad name. Some political parties in India propagate that one
should not give a vote to BJP, as it is a communal party and by this, try to get the vote of the
minority communities of India.

Name-calling of this type is very much observed on the eve of political propaganda. Some men say
that communists do not believe in God. If you bring them to power, they will destroy and demolish
all the temples.

(ii) Plain Folk Appeal:

Some people who generally keep themselves aloof from the public, take part in a large number of
public activities at the time of election. Their participation is meant to touch the sentiments of the
public.

By creating a healthy atmosphere and cordial relation between the public and the propagandist,
they make themselves appear like ordinary people, like eating midday meal or lunch along with the
children in a remote rural school or eating dal and chapati with the poor folk sitting on the floor.

They visit the cottage of villagers, sit on the floor and eat their food. It is a tactic to appeal to the
common folk and reach nearer to their heart. Sometimes, as the election draws nearer great people,
big people and the so-called dignified people never seen in the last several years, in a fine morning
mix with any sort of people in a very informal manner for their selfish interest.

Thus, in the plain folk appeal technique, an appeal is made to the plain folk concept of the public as
the people tend to adopt the folk ways.

(iii) Glittering Generalisation:

Certain slogans, high sounding attractive words are used by the propagandist to touch the mind of
the audience and carry it with them. Sometimes such words and slogans are so misleading and
confusing that one cannot make any real sense of them.

Slogans like “vote a man with a heart and a party with a soul” or “for peace, prosperity and welfare
of mankind” “for communal harmony, national integration and international welfare” or “to
maintain the sovereignty of India”, “to maintain stability and free from external aggression”, “to

55
remove corruption”, “all human purposes are rotten, every cause conceals the latest crookedness”
etc. are extremely catchy.

With the help of these slogans, a situation is created in which identification of genuine values
becomes impossible. All the different slogans are mere generalisations. Though they are catchy at
the outset, actually these slogans are superficial and meant only to create a conflicting situation.

(iv) Testimony or Suggestion:

This technique makes use of prestige suggestions so that people who are not very critical are
influenced by this type of propaganda.

(v) Card Stacking:

This term has a colloquial origin. It refers to outright invention, suppression or distortion of facts in
the interest of some selfish end. Facts are twisted, moulded to suit one’s view.

Card stacking involves the selection of the use of facts or false hoods, illustrations and distractions,
and logical and illogical statements to give the best or the worst possible case for an idea,
programme, or product. In other words, wild rumours are spread against the opponent party.

All types of falsifications, illogical statements and distortions are made to mislead the public. In the
distortion, technique plain lies often work admirably at least for the time being. The Pakistan press,
radio, and TV media always try to project that India is making atom bombs and military preparations
and this is a real threat to the sovereignty and independence of Pakistan.

Also, other media of communication including opinion pools not based on correct sampling and a
large number of cases try to spread false news and distort the beliefs and attitudes of the public.

In industrial conflicts, newspapers unfriendly to labour unions may conceal the real facts and
grievances of the labourers that prompted the strike. Instead, a newspaper may emphasize the
unruly and rough behaviour of the employees towards the employers. In most industrial strikes the
employers take hold of the mass media so that the grievances of the employees are not publicized.

Thus, the employees fail to gain the sympathy of the public and even of the other employees
elsewhere and an opposite reaction in the public is noticed. In the card stacking technique, there is
one-sided propaganda. This method of propaganda is immoral and misleading but is extensively
used at all levels of propaganda and in the national and international fields.

(vi) Band Wagon Effect:

It is the general tendency of people to go by the majority opinion particularly because the majority
opinion has the power of suggestions. They do not consider the merit of the case or issue in
question. They think that since the majority of the people are doing it, the action must be correct.
The tendency to be with the victorious side leads to the success of the bandwagon technique.

Particularly weak and mild with vacillating and fluid nature usually go with the majority opinion.
During election time, the Band Wagon technique is extensively used for making propaganda a
success. By saying “everybody, at least all of us are doing it”, the propagandist attempt to convince
all the members of a group.

56
Some social psychologists have noted that the propagandist tries to create the illusion or impression
of the university. It is well known that few people like to be with the minority unless that is supposed
to be an important way to make for the social cause or for maintaining the culture.

In this connection the example of the Austrians surrendering to Germany because of the “whispering
campaign” of Goielire, a minister of Germany is noteworthy.

The findings of several studies support the bandwagon technique as an effective method of
propaganda. The view that most persons change their opinion and attitude in the direction of what
they believe to be the majority sentiment rather than in the direction of the expert judgement, is
found to be correct.

By going with the majority opinion one gets social security and is accepted by others in the view of
Karen Horney and Errich Fom. When ideas and beliefs are shared by a large number of persons in
society one gets a sense of relief. In Lewin's terms, it reduces one’s tension. The sense of personal
safety is enhanced by going over to the majority side.

57