2 The Self, Cognitive Dissonance & its Alternatives, Attitudes and Persuasion

independent view of the self

a way of defining oneself in terms of one's own internal thoughts, feelings, and actions and not in terms of the thoughts, feelings, and actions of other people

interdependent view of the self

a way of defining oneself in terms of one's relationships to other people, recognizing that one's behavior is often determined by the thoughts, feelings, and actions of others

behaviorally based attitude

an attitude based on observations of how one behaves toward an object- according to self-perception theory people don't know how they feel until they see how they behave

cognitively based attitude

an attitude based primarily on people's beliefs about the properties of an attitude object

looking glass self

an image of yourself based on what you believe others think of you

at the end of the bachelor the contestants are all pretty certain they want to marry the person they have been competing for

effort justification

according to the self-awareness theory, we learn about ourselves via_________

introspection

what is the defining feature of an attitude?

it is evaluative toward the attitude object

IAT

implicit association test, measures the automatic associations we make with stimuli

Donald wants the other candidates to fear him. He points out that anyone who has opposed him has failed and that he has always won. Donald is engaging in______.

impression management

self-affirmation

in the context of dissonance theory, a way of reducing dissonance by reminding oneself of one or more of one's positive attributes

Likert-type scale

indirect which respondents choose the score (e.g. 1 to 5) which best represents the degree to which they agree with a given statement

Fear-Arousing Communication

persuasive message that attempts to change people's attitudes by arousing their fears

inducting hypocrisy

sign or don't sign water conservation poster, survey or no survey, recorded length of shower, sign and survey had shortest showers

what theory states we sometimes engage in downward and upward social comparisons?

social comparison theory

counterattitudinal advocacy

stating an opinion or attitude that runs counter to one's private belief or attitude

two-factor theory of emotion

the idea that emotional experience is the result of a two-step self-perception process in which people first experience physiological arousal and then seek an appropriate explanation for it

growth mindset

the idea that our abilities are malleable qualities that we can cultivate and grow

Theory of Planned Behavior

the idea that people's intentions are the best predictors of their deliberate behaviors, which are determined by their attitudes toward specific behaviors, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control

fixed mindset

the idea that we have a set amount of ability that cannot change

reactance theory

the idea that when people feel their freedom to perform a certain behavior is threatened, an unpleasant state of resistance is aroused, which they can reduce by performing the prohibited behavior (doing something only because you were told not to)

self-awareness theory

the idea that when people focus their attention on themselves, they evaluate and compare their behavior to their internal standards and values

what instrument is popularly used to measure implicit attitudes?

the implicit association test- measures the automatic associations we make with stimuli

YACA To Whom?

the nature of the audience (they will be more persuaded when they are distracted, those with lower intelligence and those with moderate self-esteem will be more persuaded, those between the ages of 18-25 beyond that attitudes are more stable)

self-concept

the overall set of beliefs that people have about their personal attitudes

classical conditioning

the phenomenon whereby a stimulus that elicits an emotional response is repeatedly paired with a neutral stimulus that does not, until the neutral stimulus takes on the emotional properties of the first stimulus

operant conditioning

the phenomenon whereby behaviors we freely choose to perform become more or less frequent, depending on whether they are followed by a reward or punishment

social tuning

the process whereby people adopt another person's attitudes

Ingratiation

the process whereby people flatter, praise, and generally try to make themselves likable to another person, often of higher status

Introspection

the process whereby people look inward and examine their own thoughts, feelings, and motives

misattribution error

the process whereby people make mistaken inferences about what is causing them to feel the way they do

internal justification

the reduction of dissonance by changing something about oneself

according to Aronson what element is needed to experience dissonance?

the self, has to implicate hints the self maintenance theory

self-handicapping

the strategy whereby people create obstacles and excuses for themselves so that if they do poorly on a task, they can avoid blaming themselves

justification of effort

the tendency for individuals to increase their liking for something they have worked hard to attain

overjustification effect

the tendency for people to view their behavior as caused by compelling extrinsic reasons, making them underestimate the extent to which it was caused by intrinsic reasons

impact bias

the tendency to overestimate the intensity and duration of one's emotional reactions to future negative events

terror management theory

the theory that holds that self-esteem serves as a buffer, protecting people from terrifying thoughts about their own mortality

casual theories

theories about the causes of one's own feelings and behaviors; often we learn such theories from our culture

sometimes pow's are not tortured explicitly rather the military can treat them humanely and then ask them to film messages supporting their captors, how will they react?

they will have dissonance then change their feelings about the captors

do people with high self esteem or low self esteem experience more dissonance?

those with high self esteem experience more dissonance

self-esteem maintenance

to preserve a consistent, stable, predictable sense of self, competent sense of self, morally good sense of self

elaboration likelihood model

two ways- centrally when people are motivated and have the ability to pay attention and peripherally when people do not pay attention to the argument but are swayed by the surface characteristics (influenced by what the speech says or more superficially)

external justification

a reason or an explanation for dissonant personal behavior that resides outside the individual

William James, I and Me

I is the active portion, me is the passive

self-esteem

People's evaluations of their own self-worth—that is, the extent to which they view themselves as good, competent, and decent

According to cognitive dissonance theorists, Steve may like Troy better now because...

Steve disliked the internal inconsistency of doing favors for Troy even though he didn't like Troy.

hypocrisy induction

The arousal of dissonance by having individuals make statements that run counter to their behaviors and then reminding them of the inconsistency between what they advocated and their behavior. The purpose is to lead individuals to more responsible behavior.

social comparison theory

The idea that we learn about our own abilities and attitudes by comparing ourselves to other people

which of the following concepts can cognitive dissonance theory explain

The self-serving bias

YACA to who?

The source of the communication (attractive speakers, credibility, sometimes, low credibility can work better)

attitudes accessibility

The strength of the association between an attitude object and a person's evaluation of that object, measured by the speed with which people can report how they feel about the object

Yale Attitude Change Approach

The study of the conditions under which people are most likely to change their attitudes in response to persuasive messages, focusing on the source of the communication, the nature of the communication, and the nature of the audience

self-perception theory

The theory that when our attitudes and feelings are uncertain or ambiguous, we infer these states by observing our behavior and the situation in which it occurs

subliminal messages

Words or pictures that are not consciously perceived but may nevertheless influence people's judgments, attitudes, and behaviors

self-persuasion

a long-lasting form of attitude change that results from attempts at self-justification

persuasive communication

a message advocating a particular side of an issue

Heuristic-Systematic Model of Persuasion

An explanation of the two ways in which persuasive communications can cause attitude change: either systematically processing the merits of the arguments or using mental shortcuts or heuristics

Festinger and Calsmith Study

Being paid only $1 is not sufficient incentive for lying and so those who were paid $1 experienced dissonance. They could only overcome that dissonance by coming to believe that the tasks really were interesting and enjoyable. Being paid $20 provides a reason for turning pegs, and there is therefore no dissonance.

Three components of attitude

affective, behavioral, cognitive

affectively based attitude

an attitude based more on people's feelings and values than on their beliefs about the nature of an attitude object

lowballing

an unscrupulous strategy whereby a salesperson induces a customer to agree to purchase a product at a low cost, subsequently claims it was an error, and then raises the price; frequently, the customer will agree to make the purchase at the inflated price

hypocrisy induction

aronson's study, had college students write a speech about the dangers of STD's then other half present the speech in front of a camera to be shown to high schools.those who presented felt the most dissonance due to their failure to practice what they preached therefore they changed their behaviors to match their speech

reasons-generated attitude change

attitude change resulting from thinking about the reasons for one's attitudes; people assume that their attitudes match the reasons that are plausible and easy to verbalize

three things that predict intention

attitude, subjective norms, and perceived norms ---> intention ---> behavior

implicit attitudes

attitudes that exist outside of conscious awareness

explicit attitudes

attitudes that we consciously endorse and can easily report

indirect measures

behavioral observation, physiological measures, GSR, pupil dilation, facial electromyography

Aronson (1969)

cognitions must implicate the SELF, a theory of self esteem maintenance, helps explain self serving bias

upward social comparison

comparing ourselves to people who are better than we are with regard to a particular trait or ability

downward social comparison

comparing ourselves to people who are worse than we are with regard to a particular trait or ability

When Prophecy Fails

did not abandon the cult, believed they had saved the world

postdecision dissonance

dissonance aroused after making a decision, typically reduced by enhancing the attractiveness of the chosen alternative and devaluating the rejected alternatives

Imagine the following experiment. All participants read a very strong essay advocating for a tuition increase; the arguments are very good. However, the essay was written by Matthew McConaughey, who really knows absolutely nothing about the higher education system. The independent variable is whether participants are asked to subtract 13 from 1000, and then subtract 13 again, and then again, and then again. The DV is how much participants support a tuition increase.

dual process model of attitude change-

attitudes

evaluations of people, objects, and ideas

bogus pipeline

fake polygraph used to get participants to truthfully respond to emotional/affective questions in survey. It is a technique used by social psychologists to reduce false answers when attempting to collect self-report data.

attitude inoculation

making people immune to attempts to change their attitudes by initially exposing them to small doses of the arguments against their position (when you get small doses (shots) which make you nearly immune to the actual disease)

Its the reason you should take someone very exciting, to watch fireworks or ride rollercoasters when you first start dating them.

misattribution of feelings

YACA What?

nature of the communication (people are more persuaded when it is not apparent that you are trying to persuade them, better to present a two-sided argument, better to go first before the refute argument can be presented (people are more influenced by what they hear first))

According to self-perception theorists, Steve was friendlier towards Troy after doing favors for him because Steve...

observed his own favorable behaviors toward Troy and concluded he liked Troy.

its the tendency to think that your behavior is driven more by extrinsic then intrinsic motivation.

over justification

which of the following statements about self-esteem is true?

people with high self esteem seem to distort reality

affective forecasting

people's predictions about their reactions to future emotional events

performance-contingent rewards

rewards that are based on how well we perform a task

task-contingent rewards

rewards that are given for performing a task, regardless of how well the task is done

part of self that we are aware of or influence us

self working concept

impression management

the attempt by people to get others to see them as they want to be seen

narcissism

the combination of excessive self-love and a lack of empathy toward others

extrinsic motivation

the desire to engage in an activity because of external rewards or pressures

intrinsic motivation

the desire to engage in an activity because we enjoy it or find it interesting

cognitive dissonance

the discomfort that people feel when two cognitions (beliefs, attitudes) conflict, or when they behave in ways that are inconsistent with their conception of themselves

insufficient punishment

the dissonance aroused when individuals lack sufficient external justification for having resisted a desired activity or object, usually resulting in individuals devaluing the forbidden activity or object

what is an example of self-handicapping?

when you give excuses unconsciously so you can have something to blame for your failure.

three features of a persuasive message did the Yale approach to attitude change examine?

whom what who