Social Psychology - Ch. 7: Attitudes, Beliefs, and Consistency

Belief Perserverance

Once beliefs form they are resistant to change even if the info on which they are based in discredited

Automatic attitudes

"Gut level" responses that people don't think a great deal about

Downward Comparison

Act of comparing oneself to people who are worse off

Stigma

Attribute perceived by others as broadly negative

Post-Decision Dissonance

Cognitive dissonance experienced after making a difficult choice typically reduced by increasing the attractiveness of the chosen alternative and decreasing the attractiveness of rejected alternatives

Dual attitudes

Different evaluations of same attitude obj., implicit vs. explicit (an automatic attitude + a deliberate attitude)

Attitude Polarization

Finding that people's attitudes become more extreme as they reflect on them

Attitudes

Global evaluations toward some obj. or issue

Accessibility

How easily something comes to mind

Coping

How people attempt to deal w/ traumas & go back to functioning effectively in life

Cognitive Coping

Idea that beliefs play a central role in helping people cope w/ and recover from misfortunes

Balance Theory (P-O-X Theory)

Idea that relationships among one person (P), other person (O), & an attitude obj. (X) may be balanced or unbalanced

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

Inconsistencies produce psychological discomfort, leading people to rationalize their behavior or change their attitudes

Perceived Behavioral Control

Individual's beliefs on if he/she can actually perform the behavior in questions

Subjective Norms

Individual's perceptions about whether significant others think he/she should (or should not) perform the behavior in question

Behavioral Intentions

Individual's plans to perform the behavior in question

Unconditioned Response

Naturally occurring response

Conditioned Stimulus

Neutral stimulus that, through repeated pairings w/ an unconditioned stimulus, comes to evoke a conditioned response

Assumptive Words

People live in social worlds based on certain beliefs (assumptions) about reality

A-B Problem

Problem of inconsistency between attitudes (A) and behaviors (B)

Beliefs

Pieces of information about something; facts or opinions

Deliberate attitudes

Reflective (thoughtful) responses that people think more carefully about

Conditioned Response

Response that, through repeated pairings, is evoked by a formerly neutral stimulus

Neutral Stimulus

Stimulus that initially evokes no response

Unconditioned Stimulus

Stimulus that naturally evokes a particular response

Mere Exposure Effect

Tendency for people to come to like thing because they see or encounter them repeatedly

Social Learning (Observational Learning, Imitation, Vicarious Learning)

Type of learning, people are more likely to imitate behaviors if they have seen others rewarded for performing them, & less likely to imitate behaviors if others have been punished for performing them

Operant Conditioning (Instrumental Conditioning)

Type of learning, people are more likely to repeat behaviors that have been rewarded & are less likely to behaviors that have been punished

Classical Conditioning

Type of learning, through repeated pairings a neutral stimulus comes to evoke a conditioned response

Effort Justification

When people suffer, work hard, or make sacrifices, they try to convince themselves it's worthwhile