Zootopia is a captivating animated film that introduces the audience to a metropolis city filled with large and small animals living and co-existing freely. The movie revolves around an ambitious female rabbit protagonist, Judy Hopps, who is determined to become the first female rabbit police officer in a male-dominated profession and an opinionated society with societal expectations for each species. Zootopia applies to many socio-psychological concepts due to its focus on issues affecting society, such as discrimination, stigma, and “race” bias. Specifically, concepts of self-fulfilling prophecy, bystander effect, and fundamental attribution error reflect the social relationships and functioning of individuals in Zootopia and contribute to the primary concept of the film.
Fundamental Attribution Error
One of the social psychological concepts that are applicable in the film is the fundamental attribution error. This concept entails the human tendency to value dispositional elements above environmental or situational factors when they evaluate other people’s behaviors. The overemphasis on personal traits makes people believe that others commit bad things since they are bad without considering the situations or factors that may have contributed to them performing those actions or behaviors (Ethics Unwrapped, n.d.; McLeod, 2023). In the film, Zootopia is a place where preys and predators live together harmoniously even when, historically, the latter would often feed on the former. When several animals go missing, it is discovered that some predators were drugged and went rogue in a blatant attempt of the prey to control the city since they are the majority. Once this information becomes public, most preys believe that the “savageness” is due to the predators’ biological disposition, which makes them ferocious and vicious animals. The prey ignored the situation factors that may have contributed to the savageness and concluded that the predators were going back to their natural ways of being ferocious. Another instance in the movie where a fundamental attribution error occurs is when an ice cream parlor elephant owner refuses to serve Nick and his “son” a jumbo pop due to the fox’s untrustworthiness and sly nature. The elephant believes that all foxes act this way when in reality, Nick wants to make his “son” happy. The elephant refuses to understand why foxes behave that way.
In sociopsychology, many people can easily succumb to fundamental attribution error as they have limited cognitive capacity and unwillingness to look at the whole picture before perceiving people in certain ways. Instead, people prefer to take shortcuts and adjust their perceptions without looking at the situation. As a result, such bias can create wrongful assessments of individuals’ behaviors, leading to unwanted and discriminatory outcomes.
Bystander Effect
In sociopsychology, the bystander effect is a situation where people become less likely to help victims due to the presence of others. When emergencies occur, it is expected that people will help victims. However, this concept shows that the presence or imaginary presence of others deters people from providing assistance when they are alone. According to Hortensius and de Gelder (2018), the bystander effect can happen when people feel little responsibility to help others when other bystanders are present, the fear of getting unfavorable public judgment when helping the victims, and the belief that since no one is willing to help, the situation is probably not an emergency. In the film, an instance when the bystander effect is witnessed is when Judy is chasing the weasel thief in town. Throughout the chase, no one is willing to help Judy to catch the thief, even when they could easily block the thief from escaping. Since there were many people present, no one offered to help Judy. Moreover, when Nick and his friend were melting the jumbo pop to make substandard pawpsicles on a building rooftop in town, no one seemed to care or even call for help from authorities. When Judy notices Nick and his “son” get into the vehicle and go to the icy area to make the pawpsicles, animals are seen looking at them as they drive away.
In sociopsychology, this concept happens since other people discourage others from intervening when an emergency or crime occurs. In most cases, people see themselves as too weak to help, may not fully understand the context, or fear putting themselves in danger, leading to the bystander effect (Psychology Today, n.d.). For instance, when no one seemed interested or willing to help Judy catch the thief weasel, they may have feared for their lives since even innocent people were put at risk during the pursuit. If Judy had not saved Mr. Big’s daughter from being trampled by the big doughnut, the chase would have sustained causalities. Indeed, the bystander effect emanates from people feeling like they have less responsibility to act and would rather avoid public scrutiny and monitor those around them to see how they can respond to situations.
Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
The self-fulfilling prophecy holds that people’s beliefs, despite being false, become a reality. A famous example of this concept is the placebo effect, where people in a research study observe positive or expected outcomes when there is no meaningful intervention or treatment. People believe they will get well or become worse in a health-related study despite receiving a placebo, meaning that their beliefs make things come true (Yilmaz, n.d.). Indeed, this concept means that people’s beliefs eventually become fulfilled.
In Zootopia, there are several examples of the self-fulfilling prophecy. For instance, when he wanted to become a cub scout, the fox underwent some form of discrimination and prejudice in his childhood. The other members lured him to the initiation setting only to bully him since he could not become trustworthy based on his cunning and sly behavior as a fox. Putting Nick in a muzzle triggered a belief that foxes are untrustworthy, leading to him becoming a rude and tricky animal in Zootopia since he is meant to be that way. Another example is when Judy believes she can solve one of the missing animals’ cases despite being doubted by Chief Bogo. This belief, coupled with a strong determination and focus on solving the case, makes Judy become successful in capturing not only the assigned case but all missing animals. Judy’s belief led her to achieve what she intended, which relates to the self-fulfilling prophecy.
Movies are not only entertainment sources but reflect social and moral lessons in society. The way characters interact helps in showing the social environment. Concepts such as the self-fulfilling prophecy, bystander effect, and fundamental attribution error offer the audience an example of how people interact, perceive, and treat others. In the process, such concepts help people identify social and moral issues that need improvement for a better world.
References
Ethics Unwrapped. (n.d.). Fundamental attribution error. Retrieved 18 March 2023, from https://ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/glossary/fundamental-attribution-error
Hortensius, R., & de Gelder, B. (2018). From empathy to apathy: The bystander effect revisited. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 27(4), 249–256. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721417749653
McLeod, S. (2023). Fundamental attribution error in psychology: Theory and examples. Simply Psychology. Retrieved 18 March 2023, from https://simplypsychology.org/fundamental-attribution.html
Psychology Today. (n.d.). Bystander effect. Retrieved 18 March 2023, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/basics/bystander-effect
Yilmaz, E. (n.d.). Self-fulfilling prophecy: Definitions, examples, and theories. Berkeley Well-being Institute. Retrieved 18 Match 2023, from https://www.berkeleywellbeing.com/self-fulfilling-prophecy.html
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