Social Psych Chp.5

resisting persuasion attempts

1. reactance 2. forewarning 3. selective avoidance 4. actively defend attitudes 5. inoculation

mere exposure

attitudes toward an object can become more positive by simply seeing something previously, whether or not it is stored in memory

prevention focused goal orientation

concerned about avoiding losses

promotion focused goal orientation

concerned with not missing an opportunity

less-leads-t0-more

dissonance stronger and attitudes change more when there is no real justification for engaging in attitude-discrepant behavior

theory of reasoned action

decision to engage in a particular behavior is the result of a rational process in which behavioral options are considered, consequences are evaluated, and a decision is reached to act or not act

persuasion

efforts to change others' attitudes through various messages

attitude-to-behavior process model

emphasizes the influence of attitudes and stored knowledge of what is appropriate in a given situation

less-leads-to-more effect

fewer reasons/rewards for performing an attitude-discrepant behavior often result in more dissonance and thus greater attitude change - Festinger & Carlsmith - peg turning task

cognitive dissonance

internal state that occurs when ppl notice inconsistency between two or more attitudes/btwn their attitudes and their behavior - ppl are motivated to reduce cog. dis.

social learning

people acquire new info, forms of behavior or attitudes from other people

forewarning

advance knowledge that one is about to become the target of an attempt at persuasion - inc. resistance to the persuasion that follows

hypocrisy

advocating some attitudes/behavior and then acting in a way that is inconsistent with them - Stone et. al, condom study

reference groups

groups of people with whom we identify and whose opinions we value

theory of planned behavior

individuals consider their ability to perform a behavior

reactance

negative reactions to threats to one's personal freedom - inc. resistance to persuasion and can produce neg. attitude change or the opposite of what was intended

reducing cognitive dissonance (cont.)

- use indirect ways to restore (+) self-evaluations, which is more likely when the dissonance involves impt. attitudes/self-beliefs (Steele) ex. self-affirmation

less-leads-to-more 2

only occurs when: 1. ppl believe they have a choice abt performing the behavior & when they feel responsible for their choice and neg. effects 2. view the reward as well-deserved payment

classical conditioning

one stimulus becomes a signal for the presentation of another stimulus; learning by association

implicit attitudes

unconscious associations

reducing cognitive dissonance

- acquire info that supports attitude/behavior - change attitudes/behavior to be consistent with each other - engage in trivialization of the inconsistency, concluding that the attitudes/behaviors are unimportant

systematic processing

- central route - careful consideration of message content and ideas (requires cognitive effort) - argument strength matters

subliminal conditioning

exposure to stimuli that are below an individual's threshold of conscious awareness - involves classical conditioning processes

self-regulation

limited capacity to engage our willpower and control our own thinking and emotions - one is more vulnerable to persuasion

social comparison (OL)

we compare ourselves to others in order to determine whether our view of social reality is or is not correct

ego depletion

when capacity to self-regulate has been reduced due to prior expenditures of limited resources - one is more vulnerable to persuasion

how attitudes affect behavior

- conscious deliberation in which alternatives are weighed and people decide how to act - spontaneously shaped perceptions of the situation and behavioral reactions

explicit attitudes

- consciously accessible - controllable and easy to report

how attitudes develop

- evaluations of various aspects of the social world - basic component of social cognition - influence on thinking & behavior

observational learning

- individuals acquire new forms of behavior or attitudes as a result of observing others - media exposure can influence

heuristic processing

- peripheral route - simple rules or mental shortcuts (less cognitive effort) - argument strength does not matter

elaboration likelihood model

- persuasion can occur in two ways, differing in the amount of cognitive effort or elaboration each requires - can take CENTRAL route processing using systematic processing - can take PERIPHERAL route processing using heuristic processing

individual differences

- ppl may be resistant because they are motivated to engage in counter arguing - some attempt to bolster their own beliefs when they encounter counter attitudinal messages

instrumental conditioning

- strengthening of responses or attitudes that lead to positive outcomes or which avoid negative outcomes - sometimes conditioning process is subtle; reward being psychological acceptance

selective avoidance

- tendency to direct attention away from info that challenges existing attitudes - increases resistance to persuasion

implementation plan

plan for how to implement our intentions to carry out some action