Module 1

SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
Inspiration from earlier theories and research
AN EMPIRICAL SCIENCE Many studies stem from a researcher’s dissatisfaction
with existing theories and explanations. After reading
Lesson 2 other people’s work, a researcher might believe that he
How do researchers develop hypotheses and or she has a better way of explaining people’s behavior.
theories?
In the 1950s, for example, Leon Festinger was
Before we discuss how social psychological dissatisfied with the ability of a major theory of the day,
research is done, we begin with a warning: The results behaviorism, to explain why people change their
of some of the experiments you encounter will seem attitudes. He formulated a new approach—cognitive
obvious because social psychology concerns topics dissonance theory—that made specific predictions
with which we are all intimately familiar—social about when and how people would change their
behavior and social influence. attitudes.
This familiarity sets social psychology apart from
other sciences. Hypotheses based on personal observations.
The thing to remember is that, when we study Social psychology also deals with phenomena we
human behavior, the results may appear to have been encounter in everyday life. Researchers often observe
predictable—in retrospect. Indeed, there is a well-known something in their lives or the lives of others that they
human tendency called the hindsight bias, whereby find curious and interesting, stimulating them to
after people know that something occurred, they construct a theory about why this phenomenon
exaggerate how much they could have predicted occurred—and to design a study to see if they are right
before it occurred.
The same is true of findings in psychology In the early 1960s, for example, a tragic murder was
experiments; it seems like we could have easily committed in the Queens section of New York City that
predicted the outcomes— after we know them. led to a major research area in social psychology.

Kitty Genovese, a young woman returning to her

WHAT’S YOUR PREDICTION? apartment late one night in 1964, was brutally killed in
an

1.​ In studies conducted by Stanley Milgram

The New York Times reported that 38 apartment
(1974), up to 65% of participants administered residents either saw the attack from their windows or
what they thought were near lethal shocks to heard Genovese’s screams, and that no one attempted
another subject. (In fact, no real shocks were to help her, not even by calling the police.
administered).
2.​ Rewarding people for doing something they The story vividly captured public fears and, for its time,
“went viral.” There is no doubt that bystanders often fail
enjoy will typically make them like that
to help in emergencies (as we will see in Chapter 11),
activity less in the future.
and the Genovese murder triggered a great deal of soul
3.​ groups often make worse decisions than searching as to why. Some concluded that living in a
individuals metropolis dehumanizes us and leads inevitably to
4.​ Under most circumstances, repeated apathy, indifference to human suffering, and lack of
exposure increases liking for a stimulus. caring
5.​ Based on research in social psychology,
Bibb Latané and John Darley, two social psychologists
particularly the "Ben Franklin effect," the
who taught at universities in New York, had another
person will likely like you (a) more. This effect
idea. Instead of focusing on “what was wrong with New
suggests that when someone does you a Yorkers,” Latané and Darley thought it would be more
favor, they are more likely to view you more interesting and important to examine the social
positively afterward, because they rationalize situation in which Genovese’s neighbors found
their action by assuming they must like you in themselves.

order to have helped you.

Maybe, they thought, the more people who witness an
This principle stems from cognitive
emergency, the less likely it is that any given individual
dissonance theory, where people seek to will intervene. Genovese’s neighbors might have
reduce the discomfort of acting in a way that assumed that someone else had called the police, a
doesn't align with their beliefs. By helping you, phenomenon Latané and Darley (1968) called the
they may justify their actions by thinking they diffusion of responsibility
must like you, thus increasing their affection
toward you

FORMULATING HYPOTHESES The Observational Method:

AND THEORIES
Describing Social Behavior
 between them—how much you can predict one from
the other—is assessed
Observational Method

The technique whereby a researcher observes

people and systematically records measurements or Correlation Coefficient
impressions of their behavior
A statistical technique that assesses how well
you can predict one variable from another—for
Ethnography
example, how well you can predict people’s weight from
One example of observational learning is their height.
ethnography, the method by which researchers
attempt to understand a group or culture by observing LIMITS OF THE CORRELATIONAL METHOD: CORRELATION
it from the inside, without imposing any preconceived DOES NOT EQUAL CAUSATION
notions they might have

The major shortcoming of the correlational method is

How do we know how accurate the observer is?
that it tells us only that two variables are related,
In such studies, it is important to establish whereas the goal of the social psychologist is to
interjudge reliability, which is the level of identify the causes of social behavior. We want to be
agreement between two or more people who able to say that A causes B, not just that A is correlated
independently observe and code a set of data.
with B

By showing that two or more judges

independently come up with the same observations,
researchers ensure that the observations are not the The Experimental Method:
subjective, distorted impressions of one individual.
Answering Causal Questions
Archival Analysis

The observational method is not limited to The only way to determine causal relationships
observations of real-life behavior. The researcher can is with the experimental method.
also examine the accumulated documents, or archives,
of a culture, a technique known as an archival analysis Experimental Method
(Mullen, Rozell, & Johnson, 2001; Oishi, 2014).
The method in which the researcher randomly
assigns participants to different conditions and ensures
For example, diaries, novels, suicide notes,
that these conditions are identical except for the
popular music lyrics, television shows, movies,
independent variable (the one thought to have a
magazine and newspaper articles, advertising, social
causal effect on people’s responses).
media, and the ways in which people use the Internet
all tell us a great deal about human behavior.

Independent Variable
The Correlational Method:
The variable a researcher changes or varies
to see if it has an effect on some other variable.
Predicting Social Behavior

Dependent Variable
Surveys
The variable a researcher measures to see if
The correlational method is often used in it is influenced by the independent variable the
surveys, research in which a representative sample of researcher hypothesizes that the dependent variable
people are asked questions about their attitudes or will depend on the level of the independent variable
behavior.
There is a technique that allows experimenters to
Random Selection minimize differences among participants as the cause
of the results.
A way of ensuring that a sample of people is
representative of a population by giving Random Assignment to Condition
everyone in the population an equal chance of being ●​ This is the process whereby all participants
selected for the sample have an equal chance of taking part in any
condition of an experiment; through random
A goal of social science is to understand relationships assignment, researchers can be relatively
between variables and to be able to predict when certain that differences in the participants’
different kinds of social behavior will occur. personalities or backgrounds are distributed
evenly across conditions.
Correlational Method

With the correlational method, two variables

are systematically measured, and the relationship
 Internal Validity

Making sure that nothing besides the Debriefing

independent variable can affect the dependent
Explaining to participants, at the end of an
variable; this is accomplished by controlling all
experiment, the true purpose of the study and exactly
extraneous variables and by randomly assigning
what transpired
people to different experimental conditions.

Deception
External Validity
Misleading participants about the true purpose
The extent to which the results of a study can
of a study or the events that will actually transpire
be generalized to other situations and to other
people.
Institutional Review Board (IRB)

Psychological Realism A group made up of at least one scientist, one

nonscientist, and one member not affiliated with the
The extent to which the psychological institution that reviews all psychological research at
processes triggered in an experiment are similar to that institution and decides whether it meets ethical
psychological processes that occur in everyday life guidelines; all research must be approved by the IRB
before it is conducted.
Cover Story

A description of the purpose of a study, given to

participants, that is different from its true purpose and
is used to maintain psychological realism. SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
SOCIAL PERCEPTION
Field Experiments

Experiments conducted in natural settings Lesson 4

rather than in the laboratory. HOW WE COME TO UNDERSTAND OTHER PEOPLE

Basic Dilemma of the Social Psychologist We all have a fundamental fascination with
explaining other people’s behavior. But the reasons why
The trade-off between internal and external
people behave as they do are usually hidden from us.
validity in conducting research; it is very difficult to do
one experiment that is both high in internal validity and
Unfortunately, we can’t read other people’s minds.
generalizable to other situations and people.
All we have to go on is observable behavior: what
people do, what they say, their facial expressions,
Replications gestures, and tone of voice.

Repeating a study, often with different subject

We rely on subtle cues and first impressions,
populations or in different settings.
putting together these puzzle pieces as best we can,
hoping they will lead to reasonably accurate and useful
conclusions.
Basic Research
The effort to make sense of the social world
Studies that are designed to find the best
around us is the focus of this chapter.
answer to the question of why people behave as they
do and that are conducted purely for reasons of
Specifically, we will discuss social perception—the
intellectual curiosity.
study of how we form impressions of other people and
how we make inferences about them.
Applied Research

Studies designed to solve a particular social NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION

problem.
How do people use nonverbal cues
to understand others?
ETHICAL ISSUES IN SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY In the course of daily interaction, so much of
what we have to say to other people doesn’t require us
How do social psychologists ensure the safety and
to actually say anything at all. Our nonverbal
welfare of their research participants, while at the
expressions provide others with a wealth of information
same time testing hypotheses about the causes of about us; we use these same nonverbal cues to learn
social behavior? about them

Nonverbal Communication
Informed Consent
The way in which people communicate,
Agreement to participate in an experiment,
intentionally or unintentionally, without words;
granted in full awareness of the nature of the
nonverbal cues include facial expressions, tone of voice,
experiment, which has been explained in advance
gestures, body position and movement, the use of For example, in Nigeria, Puerto Rico, and
touch, and gaze Thailand, children are taught not to make direct eye
contact with their teachers and other adults. Japanese
NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION use far less direct eye contact than Americans do. In
contrast, Arabs use a great deal of eye contact, with a
Nonverbal cues serve a variety of functions in gaze that would be considered piercing by people from
communication. They help us to express our emotions, some other cultures
our attitudes, and our personality (and to perceive
those same characteristics in others).

For example, you express “I’m angry” by

Cultural Differences in Nonverbal
narrowing your eyes, lowering your eyebrows, and Communication
setting your mouth in a thin, straight line. You Personal Space and Touching
communicate your personality traits, such as being an
extravert, with broad gestures and frequent changes in Societies vary in whether they are high-contact
voice pitch and inflection cultures, where people stand close to each other and
touch frequently, or low contact cultures, where people
It can be hard to convey tone and meaning in maintain more interpersonal space and touch less
email or text without nonverbal cues, which is why often. High-contact cultures include Middle Eastern,
emoticons and emojis are popular South American, and southern European countries.
Low-contact cultures include North American, northern
European, Asian, Pakistani, and Native American
FACIAL EXPRESSIONS OF EMOTION
peoples.
The crown jewel of nonverbal communication is
the facial expressions channel. Cultures also differ in how appropriate they
consider same-sex touching among friends. For
Evolution and Facial Expressions Darwin’s example, in Korea and Egypt, men and women hold
research on facial expressions has had a major impact hands, link arms, or walk hip to hip with their same-sex
on the field in many areas. We will focus on his belief friends, and these nonverbal behaviors carry no sexual
that the primary emotions conveyed by the face are connotation. In the United States, such behavior is
universal: much less common, particularly between male friends.

Hand and Head Gestures

Encode The “OK” sign: The OK sign is formed by making
To express or emit nonverbal behavior, such a circle with your thumb and index finger, with your
as smiling or patting someone on the back. three other fingers extended upward. In the United
States, this means “okay.”

Decode
However, in Japan, this hand gesture means
To interpret the meaning of the nonverbal “money.” In France, it means “zero” ; in Mexico, it means
behavior other people express, such as deciding that “sex.” In Ethiopia, it means “homosexuality. ”
a pat on the back was an expression of
condescension and not kindness. Finally, in some South American countries, such
as Brazil, it is an obscene gesture, carrying the same
meaning as the American “flipping the bird” sign, where
Why is decoding sometimes difficult? the middle finger is the only one extended
Decoding facial expressions accurately is more
complicated than we have indicated, however, for The thumbs-up gesture: In the United
multiple reasons. States,raising one thumb upward with the rest of the
fingers in the fist means “OK. ”Several European
First, people frequently display affect blends. countries have a similar meaning for this gesture; for
Facial expressions in which one part of the face example, in France it means “excellent!”
registers one emotion while another part of the face
registers a different emotion. However, in Japan, the same gesture means
“boyfriend,” while in Iran and Sardinia, it is obscene
Second, the same facial expression can have
different implications based on context and other cues. The “hand-purse”gesture: This gesture is
Third, the culture differences formed by straightening the fingers and thumb of one
hand and bringing them together so the tips touch,
pointing upward. This gesture has no clear meaning in
Eye Contact and Gaze
American culture. However, in Italy, it means “What are
In American culture,direct eye contact is you trying to say?”; in Spain, it means “good”; in Tunisia,
valued; a person who won’t “look you in the eye” is it means “slow down”; and in Malta, it means “you may
perceived as being evasive or even lying. However, in seem good, but you are really bad
many parts of the world, direct eye contact is
considered disrespectful, especially with superiors. Nodding the head: In the United States, nodding
one’s head up and down means “yes” and shaking it
from side to side means “no.” However, in some parts of
Africa and India, the opposite is true: nodding up and
down means “no,” and shaking from side to side means Research on first impressions shows how
“yes.” To complicate this situation even more, in Korea, important it is to start strong in any interaction. Whether
shaking one’s head from side to side means “I don’t it's public speaking, a job interview, or even a
know” (which in the United States is communicated by handshake, factors like appearance, eye contact, and
a shrug of the shoulders). body posture can influence others' perceptions. For
example, a firm handshake can impact personality
Finally, Bulgarians indicate disagreement by assessments and hiring decisions (Chaplin et al., 2000).
throwing their heads back and then returning them to
an upright position—which is frequently mistaken by Additionally, body language can influence how
Americans as meaning agreement you feel. Research by Carney, Cuddy, and Yap (2010)
showed that adopting "power poses" for just 2 minutes
First Impressions: Quick but Long-Lasting can make you feel more confident and even increase
testosterone levels, improving performance. So, before
How quickly do first impressions form, and why do an interview, try striking powerful poses to boost your
they persist? confidence—“fake it ‘til you make it.” Cuddy's TED talk on
this has been viewed by 25 million people
What do we know about people when we first
meet them? We know what we can see and hear. And
even though we also know we should not “judge a book Causal Attribution:
by its cover,” we do form impressions of others based Answering the “Why” Question
on the slightest of cues.
How do people determine why others do what they
do?
Research indicates that we form initial
impressions of others based solely on their facial Nonverbal behavior gives us valuable clues
appearance in less than 100 milliseconds. That’s less about others, but it's not always reliable. For example, if
than 1/10 of one second! And recent research indicates someone says, "It's great to see you!" they might be
that we show signs of this tendency to consistently infer polite, or even lying, rather than expressing true feelings.
character from faces when we’re as young as 3 years While first impressions form quickly, interpreting
old. someone's behavior can be ambiguous (Ames & Johar,
2009; DePaulo, 1992). To understand why someone acts
Research shows that people can judge traits a certain way, we make inferences about their
like sexual orientation and political success based on motivations. This process is studied in attribution theory,
facial appearance. For example, participants could which explores how we infer the causes of others'
accurately guess sexual orientation after brief glances behavior
at faces (Rule et al., 2008).

Attribution Theory
In another study, American participants rated
Canadian political candidates' faces for powerfulness A description of the way in which people explain
and warmth, and their ratings predicted election the causes of their own and other people’s behavior
outcomes: more powerful-looking candidates were
more likely to win (Rule & Ambady, 2010). This suggests
that facial appearance may play a significant role in The Nature of the Attribution Process
success, even more than the effort spent on
campaigning. Fritz Heider (1958), known as the father of
attribution theory, defined social perception and laid
the foundation for current research. He described
people as "amateur scientists" who try to understand
Thin-Slicing others' behavior by gathering information and forming
explanations, a concept he called "naive" or
Drawing meaningful conclusions about
"commonsense" psychology.
another person’s personality or skills based on an
extremely brief sample of behavior.

Primacy Effect The Covariation Model:

Internal versus External Attributions
When it comes to forming impressions, the
first traits we perceive in others influence how we
view information that we learn about them later Internal Attribution

The inference that a person is behaving in a

Belief Perseverance
certain way because of something about the person,
The tendency to stick with an initial judgment such as attitude, character, or personality
even in the face of new information that should
prompt us to reconsider External Attribution

The inference that a person is behaving a

certain way because of something about the
Using First Impressions and Nonverbal situation he or she is in; the assumption is that most
Communication to Our Advantage people would respond the same way in that situation.
 Bias Blind Spot
Covariation Model
The tendency to think that other people are
A theory that states that to form an
more susceptible to attributional biases in their thinking
attribution about what caused a person’s behavior,
than we are.
we systematically note the pattern between the
presence or absence of possible causal factors and
whether the behavior occurs CULTURE AND SOCIAL PERCEPTION

What role does culture play in processes of social

perception and attribution?

Culture and social perception Social

Consensus Information psychologists have increasingly begun to consider
cross-cultural differences in how people interpret the
Information about the extent to which other
world around them
people behave the same way toward the same
stimulus as the actor does
●​ Holistic versus analytic thinking
●​ Cultural differences in the Fundamental
Distinctiveness Information Attribution Error
●​ Culture and Other Attributional Biases
Information about the extent to which one
particular actor behaves in the same way to different
stimuli.
SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY
Consistency Information THE ORIGINS AND NATURE OF
Information about the extent to which the THE SELF-CONCEPT
behavior between one actor and one stimulus is the
same across time and circumstances.
Lesson 5
Self-Concept
Fundamental Attribution Error

The tendency to overestimate the extent to The overall set of beliefs that people have about
which other people’s behavior is due to internal, their personal attributes. As we mature, we place less
dispositional factors and to underestimate the role of emphasis on physical characteristics and more on
situational factors. psychological states (our thoughts and feelings) and
on considerations of how other people judge us.

I am a human being. . . . I am a moody person. I

THE ROLE OF PERCEPTUAL SALIENCE am an indecisive person. I am an ambitious person. I
The Role Of Perceptual Salience In The Fundamental am a very curious person. I am not an individual. I am
Attribution Error a loner

Why do people fall prey to the fundamental

attribution error? One reason is that when we try to
explain someone’s behavior, our focus of attention is Independent View of the Self
usually on the person, not on the surrounding situation
A way of defining oneself in terms of one’s
(Baron & Misovich, 1993; Heider, 1944, 1958; Jones &
own internal thoughts, feelings, and actions and not
Nisbett, 1972).
in terms of the thoughts, feelings, and actions of
other people.
Perceptual Salience

The seeming importance of information that is Interdependent View of the Self

the focus of people’s attention
To interpret the meaning of the nonverbal
behavior other people express, such as deciding that
Two-Step Attribution Process a pat on the back was an expression of
condescension and not kindness.
Analyzing another person’s behavior first by
making an automatic internal attribution and only then
thinking about possible situational reasons for the
KNOWING OURSELVES
behavior, after which one may adjust the original
internal attribution. THROUGH INTROSPECTION

Another function of introspection is trying to

figure out why we feel the way we do. The problem is
ATTRIBUTION PROCESS that knowing why is not so easy. Imagine trying to
decide why you love someone. Being in love typically
Self-Serving Attributions
makes you feel giddy, euphoric, and preoccupied;
Explanations for one’s successes that credit
internal, dispositional factors and explanations for one’s In fact, the ancient Greeks thought love was a
failures that blame external, situational factors. sickness. But what causes you to feel this way? Exactly
what is it about your sweetheart that made you fall in MINDSETS AND MOTIVATION
love?
Fixed Mindset
We know it is something about our loved one’s
●​ The idea that we have a set amount of an
looks, personality, values, and back- ground. But
ability that cannot change
precisely what? How can we possibly describe the
special chemistry that exists between two people?
Growth Mindset

Causal Theories ●​ The idea that our abilities are malleable

qualities that we can cultivate and grow.
Theories about the causes of one’s own feelings
and behaviors; often we learn such theories from our
culture (e.g., “absence makes the heart grow fonder”).
UNDERSTANDING OUR EMOTIONS:

Reasons-Generated Attitude Change Two-Factor Theory of Emotion

Attitude changes resulting from thinking about The idea that emotional experience is the result
the reasons for one’s attitudes; people assume that of a two- step self-perception process in which people
their attitudes match the reasons that are plausible first experience physiological arousal and then seek an
and easy to verbalize. appropriate explanation for it.

FINDING THE WRONG CAUSE:

Self-Perception Theory MISATTRIBUTION OF AROUSAL

The theory that when our attitudes and The Schachter and Singer experiment has
feelings are uncertain or ambiguous, we infer these become one of the most famous studies in social
states by observing our behavior and the situation in psychology because it shows that emotions can be the
which it occurs. result of a self- perception process: People look for the
most plausible explanation for their arousal. Sometimes
Suppose that a friend of yours asks you how much you like classical
music. You hesitate because you never listened to classical music much when
the most plausible explanation is not the right one, and
you were growing up, but lately you have found yourself listening to so people end up experiencing a mistaken emotion.
symphonies every now and then.

“Well, I don’t know,” you reply. “I guess I like some kinds of classical
music. Just yesterday I listened to a Beethoven symphony on the radio while I
Misattribution of Arousal
was driving to work.” If so, you used an important source of self-knowledge:
observations of one’s own behavior—in this case, what you chose to listen to. ●​ The process whereby people make mistaken
inferences about what is causing them to feel
the way they do

INTRINSIC VS. EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION

Intrinsic Motivation USING OTHER PEOPLE TO KNOW OURSELVES

●​ The desire to engage in an activity because we Social Comparison Theory

enjoy it or find it interesting, not because of
●​ The idea that we learn about our own abilities
external rewards or pressures
and attitudes by comparing ourselves to other
people.
Extrinsic Motivation

●​ The desire to engage in an activity because of Upward Social Comparison

external rewards or pressures, not because we
●​ Comparing ourselves to people who are better
enjoy the task or find it interesting.
than we are with regard to a particular trait or
ability.
Overjustification Effect

●​ The tendency for people to view their Downward Social Comparison

behavior as caused by compelling extrinsic
●​ Comparing ourselves to people who are worse
reasons, making them underestimate the extent
than we are with regard to a particular trait or
to which it was caused by intrinsic reasons
ability

Task-Contingent Rewards
KNOWING OURSELVES
●​ Rewards that are given for performing a
task, regardless of how well the task is done. BY ADOPTING OTHER PEOPLE’S VIEWS

●​ Social Tuning
Performance-Contingent Rewards The process whereby people adopt another
person’s attitudes. When it comes to our views of the
●​ Rewards that are based on how well we
social world, however, often we adopt the views our
perform a task.
friends hold. Have you ever noticed that people who
hang out together tend to see the world in the same
way? One explanation for people holding common
views, of course, is that “birds of a feather flock
together”—that is, people who have similar views are IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT:
attracted to each other and are more likely to become
ALL THE WORLD’S A STAGE
friends than are people who have dissimilar views. But it
is also true that people adopt the views of the people Impression Management
they hang out with, at least under certain conditions.
●​ The attempt by people to get others to see
them as they want to be seen.

KNOWING OUR FUTURE FEELINGS

Ingratiation
BY CONSULTING OTHER PEOPLE
●​ The process whereby people flatter, praise,
●​ Affective Forecasts and generally try to make themselves likable
People’s predictions about how they will feel in to another person, often of higher status.
response to a future emotional event.
Let’s say you came across this person on a Self-Handicapping
dating Website, and he or she seems to be nice and
●​ The strategy whereby people create obstacles
good-looking. We’ll call this Condition A. Now suppose
and excuses for themselves so that if they do
that you don’t know anything about the person—no
poorly on a task, they can avoid blaming
dating profile— but you know that a friend likes him or
themselves.
her.
We’ll call this Condition B. Would you rather see
the profile or get your friend’s recommendation? That is,
would you rather be in Condition A or B
SELF-ESTEEM: HOW WE FEEL ABOUT OURSELVES

Self-Esteem

●​ Peoples evaluations of their own

self-worth—that is, the extent to which they view
SELF-CONTROL:
themselves as good, competent, and decent
THE EXECUTIVE FUNCTION OF THE SELF
Terror Management Theory
●​ An important function of the self is to be
the chief executive who makes choices about ●​ The theory that holds that self-esteem serves
what to do, both in the present and in the future. as a buffer, protecting people from terrifying
thoughts about their own mortality.
●​ One form of self-control that does not ●​ There is a form of high self-esteem that is
work very well (and often backfires) is thought unhealthy, namely, narcissism, which is the
suppression, whereby we try to push thoughts combination of excessive self-love and a lack
out of our minds. of empathy toward others.

Lijiao has vowed to take the high road with her

ex-boyfriend, Brandon, by not rehashing all of the hurtful
things he did when they were together. “What’s done is
done,” she thinks. “Time to move on.” One night she runs
into Brandon at a party, and, wouldn’t you know it, there he
is with her friend Meghan, whom Brandon swore he wasn’t
interested in. Lijiao is tempted to make a scene and lay into
both of them, but she grits her teeth, puts on her best smile,
and acts as if she couldn’t care less. She is proud of herself,
but a little while later she finds herself devouring a bowl of
potato chips, even though she had promised herself to eat
a healthy diet.

In this example, Lijiao is doing something familiar to us

all—trying to exert self-control. She succeeds in one
respect—by suppressing her desire to tell off her
ex-boyfriend—but fails in another—by not sticking to her
healthy diet. What determines how successful we are at
exerting self-control?

Studies show that people are more likely to act

dishonestly in the afternoon because they have less
mental energy to resist temptation later in the day
(Kouchaki & Smith, 2014).

“Depletion effect” says that people often have more

energy to engage in self-control in the morning than
they do in the afternoon because by the afternoon they
are mentally depleted