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change and learn to avoid using them through positive interaction with members of other groups,
practice, and education.
Liking and loving in friendships and close relationships are determined by variables including
similarity, disclosure, proximity, intimacy, interdependence, commitment, passion, and
responsiveness.
Causal attribution is the process of trying to determine the causes of people’s behavior.
Attributions may be made to the person, to the situation, or to a combination of both. Although
people are reasonably accurate in their attributions, they may make self-serving attributions and
fall victim to the fundamental attribution error.
Attitudes refer to our relatively enduring evaluations of people and things. Attitudes are
important because they frequently (but not always) predict behavior. Attitudes can be changed
through persuasive communications. Attitudes predict behavior better for some people than for
others, and in some situations more than others.
Our behaviors also influence our attitudes through the cognitive processes of self-perception and
the more emotional process of cognitive dissonance.
The tendency to help others in need is in part a functional evolutionary adaptation. We help
others to benefit ourselves and to benefit the others. Reciprocal altruism leads us to help others
now with the expectation those others will return the favor should we need their help in the
future. The outcome of the reinforcement and modeling of altruism is the development of social
norms about helping, including the reciprocity norm and the social responsibility norm. Latané
and Darley’s model of helping proposes that the presence of others can reduce noticing,
interpreting, and responding to emergencies.
Aggression may be physical or nonphysical. Aggression is activated in large part by the
amygdala and regulated by the prefrontal cortex. Testosterone is associated with increased
aggression in both males and females. Aggression is also caused by negative experiences and
emotions, including frustration, pain, and heat. As predicted by principles of observational