Chapter 7: Attitudes, Behavior, and Rationalization

Determine which of the following statements relating to measuring attitudes are correct.

Correct One way to measure the strength of an attitude is to determine the centrality of the attitude in a person's belief system. Implicit attitude measures indicate attitudes that respondents may not be aware of holding or attitudes that may conflict with a belief that the respondent outwardly endorses. Incorrect The Likert scale can be used to measure how quickly an attitude comes to mind. Implicit attitude measures rely on self-reports about attitudes.

Complete the following passage describing how self-examination of the reasons for our attitudes can lead to confusion about our true feelings.

Research has shown that introspecting about the reasons for our attitudes can undermine how well they guide our behavior, because it may lead us to focus on the easiest-to-identify reasons for liking or disliking something at the expense of the real reasons. When people are induced to think carefully about the reasons they prefer one product over another, as opposed to simply stating a preference, they are more likely to regret their choice later.

Which of the following are examples of induced compliance?

A presidential candidate asks a tepid supporter to appear on his behalf on Meet the Press. After the appearance, the supporter becomes a fierce advocate for him. The movers Howard hired ask him to post a positive Yelp review in return for a chance at winning a $10 gift card. After writing the review, his estimation of their services increases. Not an Example of Induced Compliance An actor who thinks a certain auto manufacturer's cars are poor quality is paid millions to appear in their commercials. After making the ads, his opinion of their cars doesn't change. After weighing the prospects of two opposing boxers, Arlen narrowly decides to bet on one over the other. But as soon as he bets, he has almost no doubt that his choice will win.

Attitudes are evaluations of an object in either a positive way or a negative way. Which of the following statements regarding those evaluations are accurate?

Accurate After receiving sensory information about a stimulus, the amygdala provides information about its positive or negative value. There are evolutionary reasons for people to be more vigilant about avoiding harm than seeking pleasure. Not Accurate Research of brain activity shows neither a positive nor negative bias in responses to stimuli. Negative evaluations and positive evaluations are of equal strength. Positive stimuli elicit quicker and stronger reactions than negative stimuli.

Complete the following passage about how behavior can powerfully influence attitudes.

Cognitive consistency theories emphasize how much people value consistency among their various attitudes and between their attitudes and behavior. Cognitive dissonance theory is based on the idea that people experience discomfort when their attitudes and behavior are inconsistent. To reduce this discomfort, people expend psychological energy to try to restore consistency between their attitudes and behavior.

Which of the following describe situations in which attitude did not predict behavior because of a mismatch between general attitudes and specific targets?

Correct Answer(s) Hilda is broadly in favor of the rehabilitation of drug addicts, but she signs a petition against the city's plan to open a halfway house for recovering addicts on her block. As a rule, Marcus thinks Ram makes the best trucks, but he buys a Ford F-150 because he thinks it is a better V-6 truck than the Ram 1500. Chet is a lifelong Republican, but he chooses not to vote for the Republican candidate because he doesn't think the candidate would do a good job if elected. Incorrect Answer(s) Joy loves the outdoors and outdoor activities, and she quickly jumps at an opportunity to go on a hike in the woods when it is presented to her.

Which of the following describe situations in which attitude did not predict behavior because it was in conflict with another powerful determinant of behavior?

Correct Answer(s) Jason loves few things more than smoking cigars, but he gives it up when his wife—whom he loves more than cigars—asks him to quit. Madelyn dislikes vegetables, but she often consumes them with her meals since she knows that they are healthy. When a homeless woman asks Robert for money to buy food, he gives her a dollar even though he thinks the homeless are lazy and don't deserve help. Although Tom dislikes gay people, he serves them at his bakery since he knows that if he discriminated against them, his customers would shun him and he would lose business. Incorrect Answer(s) Jack loves dancing and participates in tango competitions every time he has the opportunity to do so.

Complete the passage about the conditions that will lead to cognitive dissonance when inconsistency occurs.

Dissonance occurs only when there is free choice (or the illusion of it) to engage in the behavior, when there is insufficient justification for the behavior, when the behavior has negative consequences, and when the consequences are foreseeable.

Most social psychologists believe that both dissonance-reduction processes and self-perception processes influence people's attitudes. Complete the following passage about how the two processes are believed to coexist.

Dissonance-reduction processes are activated when one's behavior is inconsistent with preexisting attitudes that are clear-cut and of high importance. Self-perception processes, in contrast, primarily are invoked when behavior conflicts with attitudes that are ambiguous or of little importance—although there are times when they too can influence important attitudes and subsequent behavior.

Which of the following statements would be in keeping with Daryl Bem's ideas on self-perception?

In Keeping "The only reason I could have had for agreeing to recommend this restaurant to friends is that I like the place." "Since I was willing to endure the breakup of my marriage and loss of contact with my kids to become a success at my job, it must mean I felt it was worth it." "If I bought this ridiculously expensive house, that has to mean I really like it." Not in Keeping "I have always believed in helping those less fortunate than myself, so I'm upset that I just told that panhandler to drop dead."

Linda likes almond milk very much. Match each of the three statements relating to Linda's positive attitude toward almond milk with the component of attitude that it represents.

Linda thinks that almond milk is a healthier choice than regular milk. Correct label: cognition Almond milk makes Linda happy. Correct label: affect Linda buys almond milk for herself and her family. Correct label: behavior

Complete the following passage about measuring attitudes.

Researchers use a variety of approaches to gauge the strength and importance of people's attitudes. One way is to measure the accessibility of an attitude—how readily it comes to mind. To do so, they measure the time it takes a person to react to a question about that attitude—its response latency. Another method is to determine the centrality of the attitude—or how core it is to the person's belief system—by looking at how strongly it is linked to other, related attitudes.

Complete the following passage about the impact automatic behavior can have on our conscious attitudes.

Some types of automatic behavior bypass our attitudes. When this occurs, the behavior is more reflexive than reflective, and the surrounding context elicits the behavior automatically, causing the connection between our conscious attitudes and our behavior to be necessarily weak. Automatic behavior that bypasses our conscious attitudes can conflict with those attitudes without our knowing it.

Which of the following statements describe system justification theory?

System Justification Theory Compensatory stereotypes such as "low-income people may be poor, but they're happier than the wealthy" give ideological support to the sociocultural status quo. Believing that the world should be fair but seeing abundant evidence of unfairness can generate ideological dissonance. Not System Justification Theory Economically disadvantaged people rarely defend their own disadvantage. Many people strive for symbolic immortality through their offspring.

Complete the following passage about various reasons why attitudes can be surprisingly weak predictors of behavior.

There are many reasons why attitudes may only weakly predict behavior. Attitudes sometimes conflict with social norms about appropriate behavior, and they can also conflict with one another. There might be a rift between affective and cognitive attitude components. Also, conscious attitudes sometimes don't correspond to the reflexive action elicited by a situation.

Complete the following passage about the overjustification effect.

When we perform an activity only because it is intrinsically rewarding or only because of an extrinsic payoff, we have sufficient justification for doing it. But if we are given intrinsic and extrinsic reasons for performing the activity, the justification is overly sufficient. Since the extrinsic reasons alone would be sufficient to produce the behavior, we might discount the intrinsic reasons and conclude that we don't much like the activity for its own sake.

Psychologists use this word to describe an aversive emotional state. It is aroused whenever people experience inconsistency between two cognitions or between their cognitions and behavior.

dissonance

Decide if each of the following best describes cognitive dissonance theory, system justification theory, terror management theory, or all three theories.

looks at the uneasiness that arises when thinking about problems associated with the broader sociopolitical structure Correct label: system justification theory interested in resolving cognitive inconsistencies between attitudes and behaviors Correct label: cognitive dissonance theory explains how rationalization and justification are used to relieve tension and uneasiness Correct label: all three theories specifies the processes people use to deal with the potentially crippling anxiety associated with the knowledge of death Correct label: terror management theory

Match each term about measuring attitudes with its definition.

the amount of time it takes to react to a stimulus, such as an attitude question Correct label: response latency taps into nonconscious attitudes that people are unaware they have or are unwilling to report Correct label: implicit attitude measure numerical-based assessment of attitudes that includes a set of possible answers with labeled anchors on each extreme Correct label: Likert scale how closely an attitude is correlated to attitudes about other issues Correct label: attitude centrality

Which of the following statements about the relationship between attitudes and behavior are accurate?

Accurate If people behave in a certain way, they are likely to have a positive attitude about that behavior. Understanding key reasons that people fail to act on attitudes helps us know when attitudes are not likely to predict behavior. Not Accurate If people hold a positive attitude about something, they are inclined to behave in a manner consistent with their attitude. It is not possible to understand the conditions under which attitudes are likely to predict behavior.

Which of the following statements about introspection and reasons for attitudes are accurate?

Accurate Introspection causes us to zero in on the easiest-to-identify attitudes about something, and these may not be the most important attitudes. The contaminating effect of introspection is limited to those times when the true source of our attitude is hard to pin down, such as when the basis of an attitude is largely affective. Not Accurate When consumers think about the reasons why they chose one product over another, they are more likely to be satisfied with their purchases. Introspection is always detrimental, and we should just go with our gut feelings when making a choice. Introspecting about reasons for attitudes makes our behavior more consistent.

Which of the following statements about cognitive dissonance and culture are accurate?

Accurate Japanese people tend to experience cognitive dissonance only when they believe their actions will affect or be observed by other people. There is evidence that Asians experience greater dissonance when choosing for a friend than when choosing for themselves. There are cultural differences in the conditions under which people tend to experience dissonance. Dissonance is experienced by people of all cultures. Not Accurate

Which of the following statements regarding post-decision dissonance are accurate?

Accurate Leon Festinger believed that reevaluation of choices in favor of those made and against those not made occurs only after a decision. Irrevocably making a choice seems to trigger immediate dissonance reduction and increased confidence in the chosen option. After making an irrevocable decision, people exert mental energy to reduce dissonance caused by the choice, such as by rationalizing it. Not Accurate Post-decision dissonance reduction efforts seem to change people's attitudes in the short term, but over time this effect fades.

Which of the following statements regarding terror management theory (TMT) are accurate?

Accurate Maintaining that it is only the physical body and this particular earthly existence that will come to an end helps some avoid anxiety over death. People strive for symbolic immortality by cherishing a valued cultural worldview and deeming themselves to be living up to its standards. People feel deep anxiety over thoughts of their own mortality. Not Accurate People are less likely to strive to retain the status quo after they have been reminded of their mortality.

Which of the following statements about automatic behavior and attitudes are accurate?

Accurate Sometimes, automatic behavior bypasses our attitudes, such as when we jump in response to seeing what looks like a spider. Research has shown that behavior is often automatically elicited from environmental stimuli. One function of attitudes is to help us react quickly. Not Accurate Usually, the influence of attitudes on behaviors is conscious and deliberate. Automatic behavior usually does not conflict with our attitudes.

Which of the following statements about the "embodied" nature of cognition and emotion are accurate?

Accurate The motor actions of smiling, pushing, and nodding are important parts of our attitudes. If we're induced to make the bodily movements associated with certain attitudes, beliefs, or emotions, we might come to have (or find it easier to have) them. The idea that our thoughts and feelings are affected by, even grounded in, our physical states and bodily movements is consistent with self-perception theory. Not Accurate There is no scientific support for common "embodiment" metaphors such as being "cold and lonely," things are "looking up," and having a "warm" personality.

Complete the following passage about the definition and components of attitude.

An attitude is an evaluation of an object along a positive-negative dimension. It includes three core components: affect, or emotion—how much someone likes or dislikes an object; cognition—knowledge and thoughts that typically reinforce a person's feelings; and behavior, which is often the tendency to approach or avoid.

Complete the following passage about the efforts people make to justify their behaviors.

An uneasy emotional state may result when attitudes and behavior are inconsistent. Efforts to achieve dissonance reduction take different forms in different situations. One, effort justification, may occur when people expend energy toward a goal that turns out to be disappointing. By justifying the energy spent attaining this goal, people try to convince themselves that the goal was, in fact, worthwhile.

Which of the following statements are consistent with self-perception theory?

Consistent with Self-Perception Theory We change our attitudes to align with our behavior. We infer our attitudes from our own behavior. Not Consistent with Self-Perception Theory We change our attitudes due to the impact of dissonance. Lack of objectivity prevents us from being able to make inferences from our own behavior.

Which of the following are examples of an attitude not predicting behavior because the understanding of prevailing social norms outweighed the desire to act?

Correct Answer(s) Arlene is a rabid fan of the Liverpool football club, but when she visits the home of their bitter rivals in Manchester, she is careful not to express her love of Liverpool. Clark finds yellow to be an ugly color, but when his grandmother gives him a yellow sweater, he tells her he loves it since it would be disrespectful to tell her the truth. Incorrect Answer(s) Madelyn dislikes vegetables, but she often consumes them with her meals since she knows that they are healthy. Alejandro really likes Aaron, so when he finds himself seated next to Aaron at a church service, he starts talking to him even though protocol dictates that he be quiet.

Match each of the following examples to the theory it best fits—terror management theory or system justification theory.

Evan, a lifelong Boston Celtics fan, instructs his family to have the team's logo engraved onto his tombstone when he dies. Correct label: terror management theory After Lisa survives a serious health scare, she decides to vote for the candidate of the political party that is in power. Correct label: terror management theory Bryan, who has only meager financial resources, tells people he is glad he is poor, since rich people don't know how to be happy with what they have. Correct label: system justification theory Rose believes that it makes sense that her male coworkers with the same amount of experience are paid more than she is. Correct label: system justification theory

Which of the following statements accurately describe the findings of the "forbidden toy" experiments relating to the use of punishments in induced compliance?

Findings of the "Forbidden Toy" Experiments Issuing a severe threat did not reduce the children's desire for the forbidden object. Issuing a mild threat reduced the children's desire for the forbidden object. Not a Finding of the "Forbidden Toy" Experiments Dissonance occurred only in the children who had been issued the severe threat. Issuing a mild threat was more effective than a severe threat at preventing the children from playing with the toy.

Complete the following passage about how people deal with dissonance.

People can reduce the effects of inconsistency and—more generally—the effects of threats to self-esteem in two ways: directly by dealing with the threat itself, or indirectly by engaging in self-affirmation, such as by taking stock of one's positive qualities and core values.

Complete the following passage about theories regarding the psychological efforts people take to reduce or resolve certain kinds of anxiety.

People use rationalization and justification to address anxieties that arise from thinking about the inevitability of death, and this is the basis for terror management theory. Using these same techniques to alleviate anxiety resulting from thinking about problems tied to the prevailing social and political orders are the basis for system justification theory.

People who have had botox injections, which smooth out wrinkles in the face by immobilizing facial muscles, find it more difficult to process sentences containing emotions such as happiness and sadness. Which of the following statements can help explain why this is the case?

Possible Explanations Attitudes, beliefs, and even abstract concepts are partly embodied in the physical movements associated with them. Since people who have had botox injections are unable to mimic the emotional expressions as they are reading, the very concepts of sadness and happiness are a bit harder for them to access and comprehend. When people read a sentence about a happy person smiling or a sad person frowning, motor regions associated with smiling or frowning are slightly activated. Not a Possible Explanation Immobilization of facial muscles tends to create unpleasant and distracting emotional anxiety.

Match the methods used by researchers to measure attitudes with their examples.

To measure the accessibility of participants' favorable attitudes toward a truck brand, researchers ask them, "Do you think it is the best truck on the road?" and then record how long it takes participants to answer in the affirmative. Correct label: response latency To determine attitudes toward voting, researchers have participants rank how important they think it is on a scale of 1 to 7, where 1 is the least favorable answer ("not at all important") and 7 is the most favorable ("extremely important"). Correct label: Likert scale Concerned that not all respondents will admit to prejudiced attitudes, or that some may have prejudicial attitudes of which they are not aware, researchers conduct an IAT. Correct label: implicit attitude measure

Calvin has a negative attitude toward TV shows about crime and the law, but he agrees to watch How to Get Away with Murder with his friends. Which of the following could represent a valid explanation of why Calvin's attitude about this type of show does not predict his behavior?

Valid Explanations Calvin's positive attitude toward Viola Davis, the star of How to Get Away with Murder, predicts his behavior better than his general negative attitude toward crime and law shows does. Calvin's friend Georgiana wants to watch the show while Calvin and his friends are at her apartment, and Calvin wants to be gracious to his hostess. Calvin is conflicted. He has a negative attitude about shows that misrepresent the reality of law enforcement, but he has a positive attitude about how fun they are to watch. Not a Valid Explanation Watching the show is a conscious behavior, whereas Calvin's attitude can only predict automatic behaviors.

Match each of the terms relating to the influence of attitudes upon behavior with the best definition.

subtly compelling people to behave in a way inconsistent with their beliefs, attitudes, or values to elicit dissonance, causing their attitudes to change Correct label: induced compliance tendency to reduce dissonance by rationalizing the time, energy, or money devoted toward something that turned out to be disappointing Correct label: effort justification emphasizes the value people place on consistency among their attitudes and between their attitudes and behavior Correct label: cognitive consistency theories idea that people experience an averse emotional state when their attitudes and behavior are inconsistent, causing them to try to bring their attitudes in line with their behavior Correct label: cognitive dissonance theory the emotional uneasiness that immediately follows making an irrevocable selection after being faced with a difficult choice Correct label: post-decision dissonance