Social Psychology Chapter 7

Ruben, a marketing executive for Apple, wants to predict a person's iPod-related behavior from his or her attitude about iPods. To this end, Ruben will administer a survey asking people their attitudes about iPods. Two years later, he will ask these same people to report on their behavior related to iPods. According to research on attitude-behavior consistency, Ruben should measure people's attitudes and behavior at the same level of specificity. Which of the following pairs of questions best satisfies this criterion?

"How much do you want to buy an iPod within the next two years?" and "Have you bought an iPod in the last two years?"

Recall that in one study, the experimenter showed children a set of five toys and asked them how much they liked each one. Then the experimenter told each child that he or she was free to play with any of the toys except for the child's second favorite toy. In the "mild threat" condition, children were told that the experimenter would be "annoyed" if they played with the forbidden toy. In the "severe threat" condition, children were told that the experimenter would be "very angry" if they played with the forbidden toy, and that the child would never see any of the toys ever again. The experimenter then left the room, and each child was covertly observed. Later on, the experimenter asked each child to reevaluate the toys. Consistent with cognitive dissonance theory, results showed that children in the

"mild threat" condition tended to view the toy less favorably than children in the "severe threat" condition.

Explain the embodied nature of emotion and cognition and describe two research studies that show the relation between bodily movements and attitudes.

A variety of physical actions (e.g., smiling, pushing, nodding) are important parts of our attitudes. When induced to engage in those physical actions, the corresponding attitudes, beliefs, or emotions may be brought to mind. Several demonstrative studies are acceptable. For example, participants reported greater agreement with editorials that they read while nodding their heads up and down, rather than while shaking their heads side to side.

Describe the conditions under which attitude-behavior inconsistency is most likely to produce dissonance.

According to Aronson, inconsistency between attitudes and behavior is likely to produce dissonance if the inconsistency implicates our core self or values, challenging the assumption that we are rational, moral, upright, and worthy. Our core self is particularly likely to be implicated if 1) the behavior was freely chosen, 2) the behavior was not sufficiently justified, 3) the behavior had negative consequences, and 4) the negative consequences were foreseeable.

Attitudes often fail to predict behavior with the accuracy we might expect. Explain how this failure could result from the level of specificity in which the attitudes and behaviors are measured.

Attitudes are often measured at a very general level, while behaviors are measured at a specific level. This mismatch is one reason why attitudes do a poor job predicting behavior. For example, attitudes about many categories, including types of people, are often formed around a prototype of the category. If we encounter a member of the category that deviates from the prototype, our attitudes will do a poor job of predicting our behavior toward that member. Research finds that specific attitudes do a better job of predicting specific behaviors, while general attitudes do a good job of predicting general behaviors across a range of situations.

Although Quan believes that child safety is important, he often forgets to use a car seat when taking his toddler to day care. What does this best illustrate about the relationship between attitudes and behavior?

Attitudes are sometimes poor predictors of behavior.

Compare and contrast Leon Festinger's cognitive dissonance theory with Daryl Bem's self-perception theory.

Both cognitive dissonance theory and self-perception theory make predictions about what is likely to occur when people experience inconsistencies between attitudes and behavior. Cognitive dissonance theory says that such inconsistencies are unpleasant, catalyzing negative arousal. To reduce this arousal, people are likely to change their attitudes to make them more consistent with their behaviors. In contrast, self-perception theory argues that people infer their attitudes from observing their own behaviors. When a behavior occurs, people do not experience a negative arousal state; rather, they engage in a rational inference process. They do not change their attitudes but infer what their attitudes must be by observing their behaviors. A key difference between these two theories is the experience of arousal when attitudes and behaviors do not cohere. Research has found that when preexisting attitudes are clear and important, arousal does occur and leads to dissonance-reducing responses. In contrast, self-perception processes are likely to occur when attitudes are vague or unimportant.

George listens to music while studying for his biology test. While he studies, he nods his head in time to the music. Over time, George realizes he likes biology a lot more than he initially did. Why is this?

George's nonverbal head nods to the music while studying biology were an indication of approval that he then associated with the subject.

Bradley narrowly escapes a head-on collision while driving from home. Once he arrives, he turns on the television and sees a political ad for the challenger in the local mayoral race, which focuses on how the challenger will change city policies if elected. According to research on terror management, how will he evaluate this ad?

He will reject the candidate more emphatically.

According to research by Wilson and colleagues, why might introspecting about the reasons for an attitude decrease the association between the attitude and behavior?

Introspection misleads us about our "real" attitudes

Describe the relationship between introspection and attitudes. Why might introspecting lead an individual to misconstrue his or her attitudes?

It is often difficult to explain the reasons we have for holding a particular attitude. When we introspect about an attitude, we may come up with the easily identifiable reasons for liking or disliking something rather than accessing the real reasons for our attitudes. In this way, the attitudes we have incorrectly inferred through such introspection processes may do a poor job of predicting our behavior.

Lenora's parents always taught her that she ought to "put on a happy face" even when she is not. According to research on self-perception theory, what effect does this behavior have on her corresponding internal state?

It works—behaving as if she is happy can actually make Lenora feel happier.

Janet has received two job offers, one from SimpCo and another from JebCo, both companies for which she would be thrilled to work. Janet thinks a lot about each offer and ends up accepting JebCo's offer, even though she thought highly of both. Analyze the effects of Janet's decision on her later attitudes and behavior relating to both SimpCo and JebCo. To do this, draw directly on social psychological theory and research findings.

Janet may wonder, if she liked SimpCo so much (a positive attitude) why she did not accept its offer (a behavior). In this way, an inconsistency between attitudes and behavior are likely, which will lead to the experience of postdecision dissonance. To reduce this dissonance, Janet is likely to rationalize her decision. She may emphasize the positive attributes of her chosen job at JebCo, thereby seeing the job in even more positive ways. Likewise, she may emphasize the negative attributes of the position she did not choose at SimpCo, thereby seeing the job in more negative ways. Such attitudinal changes are likely to mitigate her feelings of dissonance.

Challenge the widely held belief that attitudes do a good job of predicting a person's behavior.

Most people assume that attitudes do a good job of predicting behavior and can think of many supporting examples. Research finds, however, that often people do not act on their attitudes. This is likely the case for a few different reasons. First, there are many other powerful determinants of behavior with which attitudes might conflict, such as social norms. Second, the components of attitudes, affect and cognition, may be inconsistent, for example, feeling negatively toward an attitude object but having positive cognitions. Third, people may have difficulty discerning the real reasons for their attitudes. Fourth, attitudes and behaviors are often measured at different levels of specificity. General attitudes do not do a good job of predicting specific behaviors. Finally, many aspects of behavior are automatic and bypass consciously held attitudes.

What are self-affirmations and how can they be used to ward off cognitive dissonance?

Self-affirmations are attempts to take stock of one's positive qualities and core values. Inconsistencies between attitudes and behaviors are likely to produce cognitive dissonance, particularly when the inconsistency implicates a person's core self or values. Rather than feeling better about oneself by changing attitudes to be consistent with behavior, people can instead engage in self-affirmation. This should restore self-esteem and bypass the need for such dissonance-reduction tactics.

In what ways does self-perception theory fall short in explaining the relationship between attitudes and behaviors?

Self-perception theory argues that people infer their attitudes from observing their own behaviors. When a behavior occurs, people do not experience a negative arousal state (i.e., cognitive dissonance); rather, they engage in a rational inference process. They do not change their attitudes but infer what their attitudes must be by observing their behaviors. Research has found, however, that people indeed experience a negative arousal state when their attitudes and behaviors are inconsistent, particularly when their attitudes are clear and important. Thus, researchers have concluded that self-perception processes are only invoked when attitudes are vague or unimportant.

________ theory states that people are motivated to see the existing sociopolitical setup as fair, desirable, and legitimate.

System justification

Describe system justification theory. What common observations seem to support this perspective?

System justification theory states that people are motivated to see the existing sociopolitical system as desirable, fair, and legitimate. This derives from the need to feel well of the groups to which we belong. People who do not benefit from the system, such as people who experience economic hardship, do not have a financial incentive to defend the system. Yet, they still may do so for psycho- logical reasons. Believing the world is fair but experiencing inequality may lead to dissonance, which can be reduced by extolling the virtues of the system. This is an easier tack to take than engaging in activities (e.g., protest) to change the system. Many common observations are acceptable, such as the fact that women often report feeling like they deserve lower pay than men.

Describe the basics of terror management theory. Describe two situations in which this theory might be useful in explaining people's attitudes or behaviors.

Terror management theory argues that people may experience crippling anxiety when reflecting on the inevitability of death. To manage this anxiety, people strive for symbolic immortality by preserving a valued cultural worldview and believing they have lived up to its standards. Several situations are acceptable if students link awareness of death to a tendency to cling to and bolster the groups to which one belongs.

Recall that Wilson and his colleagues asked students about their current romantic relationships. Participants in Group 1 were asked for an overall evaluation of their relationships, whereas partici- pants in Group 2 were additionally asked to explain why they felt the way they did. Nearly nine months later, the researchers recontacted the participants and asked them about the current status of the relationships. Which of the following statements most accurately captures the study's results?

The attitudes of Group 1 participants better predicted current relationship status than the attitudes of Group 2 participants.

Candice really likes action films. Under which condition is introspecting about why she likes action films likely to WEAKEN the association between her attitude toward action films and her intention to go to see an action film at the theater?

The basis for the attitude is largely affective.

Laureano has a strong preference for Honda over all other car brands. When it came time to buy a new car, there was a promotion on Nissans and Laureano elected to buy one, even though he likes Hondas better. According to the research described in the textbook, why would this scenario increase dissonance in the wake of Laureano's attitude-inconsistent behavior?

The behavior was freely chosen.

Cacioppo and colleagues have examined how arm movements can influence attitudes by asking participants to view Chinese characters while either extending an arm away from or flexing an arm toward themselves. Which of the following best sums up the results of this research?

The participants had more favorable attitudes toward the characters they viewed while flexing an arm toward, compared with extending an arm away.

Challenge the assumption that the experience of cognitive dissonance emerges in similar ways across cultures.

There are cross-cultural differences in the experience of cognitive dissonance. Namely, East Asians are less likely to experience dissonance than Westerners, unless their actions are observed by others. This may be because East Asians tend to be more attuned than Westerners to other people and their reactions.

Let's say a company that makes a consumer product such as laundry detergent asks customers to write a testimonial about the product in exchange for a small chance of winning a small prize. What does cognitive dissonance theory predict will happen to consumers who participate and write the testimonial?

They will come to hold more positive attitudes toward the product.

Your friend asks you for advice on how she can encourage her son to clean his room regularly. Generate a plan, based on the principle of insufficient justification, to get her son to clean his room more often. How can she avoid the overjustification effect?

Your friend might consider providing her son with a reward (e.g., allowance, privileges) for cleaning his room. In doing so, however, she should utilize the smallest possible reward that will get him to do so. If the reward is small, but he cleans his room anyway, he is likely to experience cognitive dissonance. That is, he does not like cleaning his room (i.e., his attitude) but he cleaned his room anyway (i.e., his behavior), and there was not sufficient justification for doing so (i.e., the reward was small). To reduce this experience of dissonance, her son is likely to change his attitude—if he cleaned his room for such a small reward, he must actually like a clean room. The overjustification effect is the tendency to devalue those activities we perform to get something else. In this case, your friend's son might devalue his intrinsic love of cleaning/a clean room if he is cleaning his room just to get a reward. If he is not cleaning his room to begin with, however, your friend can probably assume that he did not enjoy cleaning for intrinsic reasons, and as such, his intrinsic interest in the activity is unlikely to be undermined with rewards.

Which of the following studies best supports Festinger's cognitive dissonance theory?

a study showing that people express more confidence in a bet right after making it than they do right before making it

Research on cognitive dissonance teaches a broad and important lesson about how to influence someone else's attitudes. Specifically, if you want people to ________ the broader value or message behind what you got them to do, then you should use the ________ amount of incentive or coercion necessary to induce compliance.

accept; smallest

Recall that Festinger and Carlsmith gave participants either $1 or $20 for telling others that an experiment was fun and interesting. The experiment entailed turning pegs on a pegboard one quarter turn at a time. Thus, in actuality, the experiment was tedious and boring. Study results showed that

after telling people that the experiment was interesting, participants in the $1 condition tended to express a more favorable attitude toward the experiment.

Kitayama and colleagues (2004) conducted an investigation comparing cognitive dissonance across Japanese and Canadian participants. All participants were asked to rank CDs. Participants in one condition were asked to choose one CD to keep among their middle two rankings, while participants in another condition were given a CD without choice. While completing these study procedures one group of participants was exposed to a poster with faces, designed to prime the concept of other people. Results showed that the poster manipulation ________ cognitive dissonance for ________ participants.

amplified; Japanese

Attitudes do a good job predicting behavior when

attitudes and behavior are measured at the same levels of specificity.

In the 1930s, a time when anti-Asian sentiments were common, Richard LaPiere toured the United States with a young Chinese couple. Together they visited numerous hotels, auto camps, restaurants, and cafes. LaPiere compared the attitudes of people who managed these various establishments with how well (or poorly) these people actually treated the Chinese couple. The text used this study to introduce an important point, namely, that the effect of ________ than people think.

attitudes on behavior is weaker

Why is it a good idea for incumbent politicians to campaign for maintaining the safety and security of their countries?

because people are motivated to maintain the status quo, particularly when their own mortalities are made salient

Michelle just watched a film that showed several high-speed chases on city streets. On her way home from the theater, she drives much faster than normal. This example best illustrates that

behavior can be automatic, primed by features in our environment.

For obvious reasons, department store managers strongly disapprove of shoplifters. However, some stores allow shoplifters to leave with merchandise! These stores do not want to create a scene that will disturb good patrons. This scenario illustrates the social psychological finding that

behaviors are not determined solely by attitudes

Theories that emphasize uniformity between the components of attitudes and between attitudes and behavior are called ________ theories.

cognitive consistency

Making hard decisions triggers negative emotion, which in turn triggers processes of rationalization that make us comfortable with our decisions. This statement captures the phenomenon explained by ________ theory

cognitive dissonance

Jeff believes in saving the environment but finds himself throwing away aluminum cans because his college campus does not recycle. He may experience an aversive emotional state due to the inconsistency between his attitudes and his behavior. This is an example of

cognitive dissonance theory.

Mark cannot decide which video game to purchase. After thinking it over, he buys the latest fighting game rather than a soccer game he liked just as much. As he leaves the store, he feels an uncomfortable tension. In order to resolve this tension, Mark must engage in

dissonance reduction.

Many people who choose not to have children suspect that homebound, sleep-deprived, and financially strapped parents are fooling themselves when they say that nothing in life brings them more pleasure. In other words, these childless people suggest that parents put a lot of energy into ________ in order to decrease cognitive dissonance

effort justification

According to the concept of effort justification

experiencing hazing should increase one's allegiance to a fraternity.

Luisa just made a dentist appointment. Although she feels terrified of the dentist, she thinks that maintaining a healthy smile is important. This example best illustrates that

if the components of an attitude are inconsistent, attitudes may not predict behavior.

Consider the following saying: "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again." According to cognitive dissonance theory, trying again should ________ how much you value the outcome of your efforts.

increase

Dissonance theory suggests that people ________ their attitudes as a result of dissonance, whereas self-perception theory suggests that people ________ their attitudes from observing their behaviors.

infer; change

Cognitive dissonance theory and self-perception theory differ in that self-perception theory emphasizes that ________ influence(s) our attitudes.

inference processes about our behaviors

Induced compliance is a form of behavior that

is inconsistent with one's beliefs, attitudes, or values.

According to research on cognitive dissonance theory, people betting on horses at the racetrack should feel ________ after placing their bets than before placing their bets.

more confident

Getting paid a lot of money to do things that violate one's core values—as compared to getting no money to violate one's values—should

not produce much dissonance.

Katerina loves to read books. Her parents think that reading books is important, so they reward her with $5 every time she reads a book. Over time, Katerina decides that she does not really love books all that much. This is an example of the

overjustification effect.

According to Daryl Bem's self-perception theory,

people infer their own attitudes from their behaviors and the context in which these behaviors occur.

Although you want to chat with your friend during class, you're worried that the professor or other students would notice. You choose not to talk to your friend. This illustrates that

powerful social norms can override the influence of attitude on behavior.

To learn whether responses in cognitive dissonance experiments are the product of self-perception processes, Daryl Bem asked participants to

read a detailed description of one condition of a dissonance experiment and to predict the attitude of the person depicted in the description.

After doing poorly on his biology exam, Jim reminds himself that he is a good artist and a loving boyfriend. Thus, Jim is using ________ to cope with a potential threat to his self-esteem.

self-affirmation

When a person takes stock of his or her strengths and accomplishments he or she is engaging in ________ , which ________ the experience of cognitive dissonance.

self-affirmation; decreases

Claude Steele's research suggests that people given the opportunity to engage in ________ are ________ likely to experience cognitive dissonance.

self-affirmation; less

Consider the following quote: "How do I know what I think until I hear what I say?" The sentiment expressed in this quote captures the essence of

self-perception theory.

Lucy's family is poor. Although they wish they were more prosperous, they take comfort in the love and support they provide to each other and consider themselves quite happy. As a result, Lucy's family does not endorse proposed changes to the laws that would provide them with better health insurance. Their behavior can be explained by ________ theory.

system-justification

Self-perception processes are most likely to occur when prior attitudes are

weak.

Carol, a student from China, is good friends with Tanja, a student from Germany. According to research on cognitive dissonance, when is Carol more likely to experience dissonance than Tanja?

when Carol chooses between two pairs of shoes as a gift for her mother

If engaging in a behavior inconsistent with an attitude ________, East Asians are ________ likely to experience cognitive dissonance than Westerners.

when alone; less