351 chapter 6 Attitudes
// Need for Cognition (NC) Scale: Sample Items
1.I really enjoy a task that involves coming up with new solutions to problems. 2.Thinking is not my idea of fun. 3.The notion of thinking abstractly is appealing to me. 4.I like tasks that require little thought once I've learned them. 5.I usually end up deliberating about issues even when they do not affect me personally. 6.It's enough for me that something gets the job done; I don't care how or why it works. Table 6.3 Need for Cognition Scale: Sample Items Are you high or low in the need for cognition? These statements are taken from the NC Scale. If you agree with items 1, 3, and 5 and disagree with items 2, 4, and 6, you would probably be regarded as high in NC. From Cacioppo, J. T. and Petty, R. E., "The need for cognition," Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, vol. 42 (pp. 116-131). Copyright © 1982 by the American Psychological Association. Reprinted by permission.
insufficient justification
A condition in which people freely perform an attitude-discrepant behavior without receiving a large reward.
insufficient deterrence
A condition in which people refrain from engaging in a desirable activity, even when only mild punishment is threatened.
Implicit Association Test (IAT)
A covert measure of unconscious attitudes derived from the speed at which people respond to pairings of concepts—such as black or white with good or bad.
sleeper effect
A delayed increase in the persuasive impact of a non-credible source.
attitude scales
A multiple-item questionnaire designed to measure a person's attitude toward some object.
need for cognition (NC)
A personality variable that distinguishes people on the basis of how much they enjoy effortful cognitive activities.
bogus pipeline
A phony lie-detector device that is sometimes used to get respondents to give truthful answers to sensitive questions.
attitude
A positive, negative, or mixed reaction to a person, object, or idea.
Conditions for cognitive dissonance
An attitude-discrepant behavior was chosen freely and with some knowledge of the consequences
implicit attitudes
An attitude, such as prejudice, that one is not aware of having.
facial electromyograph (EMG)
An electronic instrument that records facial muscle activity associated with emotions and attitudes.
// Four Possible Reactions to Attitude Objects
Figure 6.1 Four Possible Reactions to Attitude Objects As shown, people evaluate objects along both positive and negative dimensions. As a result, our attitudes can be positive, negative, ambivalent, or indifferent. Cacioppo et al. (1997)
// Appeals to Emotion (2 of 2)
Figure 6.10 Research participants were asked write an online review of a consumer product. Half the participants were instructed to write a positive five-star review; the others were told that the goal was to persuade readers to purchase the product. Compared to actual reviews posted on Amazon.com, participants aiming to persuade used more emotional language in their reviews Rocklage et al., 2018
// Subliminal Influence
Figure 6.11 Subliminal Influence Thirsty and non-thirsty research participants were subliminally exposed to neutral or thirst-related words. Afterward, they participated in a beverage taste test in which the amount they drank was measured. You can see that the subliminal thirst cues had little impact on non-thirsty participants but that they did increase consumption among those who were thirsty. Apparently, subliminal cues can influence our behavior when we are otherwise predisposed. Strahan et al., 2002
// The Dissonance Classic
Figure 6.12 The Dissonance Classic Participants in a boring experiment (attitude) were asked to say that it was enjoyable (behavior) to a fellow student. Those in one group were paid $1 to lie; those in a second group were offered $20. Members of a third group, who did not have to lie, admitted that the task was boring. So did the participants paid $20, which was ample justification for telling a lie. Participants paid only $1, however, rated the task as more enjoyable. Behaving in an attitude-discrepant manner without justification, these latter participants reduced dissonance by changing their attitude. Based on Festinger, L. and Carlsmith, J. M., "Cognitive Consequences and Forced Compliance," Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology vol. 58 (pp. 203-210). Copyright © 1959 by the American Psychological Association. Reprinted by permission.
// Necessary Conditions for the Arousal and Reduction of Dissonance
Figure 6.13 Necessary Conditions for the Arousal and Reduction of Dissonance Research suggests that four steps are necessary for attitude change to result from the production and reduction of dissonance.
// Theories of Self-Persuasion: Critical Comparisons
Figure 6.14 Theories of Self-Persuasion: Critical Comparisons Here we compare the major theories of self-persuasion. Each alternative challenges a different aspect of dissonance theory. Self-perception theory assumes that attitude change is a matter of inference, not motivation. Impression-management theory maintains that the change is more apparent than real, reported for the sake of public self-presentation. Self-affirmation theory contends that the motivating force is a concern for the self and that attitude change will not occur when the self-concept is affirmed in other ways.
// Justifications
Figure 6.15 Ordinary people often behave badly but still feel moral. How is this discrepancy possible? As shown, temptation may lead us to misbehave, which threatens our moral self-concept both beforehand (when ethical dissonance is anticipated) and afterward (when ethical dissonance is experienced). Once tempted, pre-violation justifications excuse what we are about to do. Afterward, post-violation justifications compensate for what we did. In these ways, people manage to behave immorally yet maintain a moral self-concept. Shalvi et al. 2015
// Cognitive Dissonance as Both Universal and Culturally Dependent
Figure 6.16 Cognitive Dissonance as Both Universal and Culturally Dependent Researchers compared Canadian and Japanese research participants in a post-decision dissonance study in which they rank ordered items on a menu, chose their top dishes, then ranked the list again. Half made the choices for themselves; the others were asked to imagine a close friend. When deciding for themselves, only the Canadians exhibited a significant justification effect; when deciding for a friend, however, Japanese participants exhibited the stronger effect. Hoshino-Browne et al., 2005
// The Facial EMG: A Covert Measure of Attitudes?
Figure 6.2 The Facial EMG: A Covert Measure of Attitudes? The facial EMG makes it possible to detect differences between positive and negative attitudes. Notice the major facial muscles and recording sites for electrodes. When people hear a message with which they agree rather than disagree, there is a relative increase in EMG activity in the depressor and zygomatic muscles but a relative decrease in corrugator and frontalis muscles. These changes cannot be seen with the naked eye. From Cacioppo, J. T. and Petty, R. E., "Electromyograms as measures of extent and affectivity of information processing," American Psychologist, Vol. 36 (pp. 441-456). Copyright © 1981 by the American Psychological Association. Reprinted by permission.
// The Implicit Association Test
Figure 6.3 The Implicit Association Test Through a sequence of tasks, the IAT measures implicit racial attitudes toward, for example, African Americans by measuring how quickly people respond to black-bad/ white-good word pairings relative to black-good/white-bad pairings. Most white Americans are quicker to respond to the first type of pairings than to the second, which suggests that they do not as readily connect black-good and white-bad. From Kassin, S. Essentials of psychology. Copyright © 2004. Reprinted by permission of Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, NJ.
// Changing Attitudes Toward Sexual Orientation
Figure 6.4 The Implicit Association Test Research has tracked recent changes over time in various U.S.-based tests of implicit and explicit attitudes. On some topics, such as people's tolerance for obesity, survey results suggested lessening negativity, but IAT scores did not confirm this change. On other topics, however, most notably attitudes about sexual orientation, people exhibited less negativity toward gays on both explicit measures and the IAT. Based on these changes, researchers estimate that Americans will exhibit zero preference on explicit measures in 5 years and on the IAT in 9 years. Charlesworth & Banaji, 2019.
// Theory of Planned Behavior
Figure 6.5 Theory of Planned Behavior According to the theory of planned behavior, attitudes toward a specific behavior combine with subjective norms and perceived behavior control to influence a person's intentions. These intentions, in turn, guide but do not completely determine behavior. This theory places the link between attitudes and behavior within a broader context. From Ajzen, Organizational Behavior and the Human Decision Process vol. 50 pp. 179-211. Copyright © 1991 Elsevier. Reprinted with permission.
// The Link Between Attitudes and Behavior (2 of 2)
Figure 6.6 Within each of 47 countries, researchers calculated the correlation between environmental attitudes and behaviors. The countries are plotted in this figure according to the degree of individualism within the culture. As you can see, the attitude-behavior correlations were higher for individualist countries on the right than for the more collectivist countries on the left. Eom et al., 2016
// Two Routes to Persuasion (2 of 2)
Figure 6.7 Two Routes to Persuasion Based on aspects of the source, message, and audience, recipients of a communication take either a central or a peripheral route to persuasion. On the central route, people are influenced by strong arguments and evidence. On the peripheral route, persuasion is based more on heuristics and other superficial cues. This two-process model helps explain how persuasion can seem logical on some occasions and illogical on others.
// Source Versus Message: The Role of Audience Involvement // Persuasion by Communication
Figure 6.8 Source Versus Message: The Role of Audience Involvement People who were high or low in their personal involvement heard a strong or weak message from an expert or nonexpert. For high-involvement participants (left), persuasion was based on the strength of arguments, not on source expertise. For low-involvement participants (right), persuasion was based more on the source than on the arguments. Source characteristics have more impact on those who don't care enough to take the central route. Reprinted by permission from Richard E. Petty.
// The Sleeper Effect (2 of 2) // Persuasion by Communication
Figure 6.9 The Sleeper Effect In Experiment 1, participants changed their immediate attitudes more in response to a message from a high-credibility source than from a low-credibility source. When attitudes were measured again after 3 weeks, the high-credibility source had lost impact, and the low-credibility source had gained impact—the sleeper effect. In Experiment 2, the sleeper effect disappeared when participants were reminded of the source. Kelman & Hovland, 1953
SOURCE, MESSAGE, AUDIENCE
PERSUASIVE COMMUNICATION IS THE OUTCOME OF WHAT THREE POSSIBLE FACTORS
cognitive dissonance theory
Theory holding that inconsistent cognitions arouses psychological tension that people become motivated to reduce.
// Who Do You Trust? // Persuasion by Communication
Table 6.1 Who Do You Trust? Please tell me how you would rate the honesty and ethical standards of people in these different fields—very high, high, average, low, or very low? In December 2018, a Gallup poll was conducted to determine the level of honesty attributed to people from various occupational groups. Indicated alongside are the percentages of respondents who rated each group as "high" or "very high" in honesty.
THE CENTRAL ROUTE TO PERSUASION
THE PROCESS BY WHICH A PERSON IS PERSUADED BY THINKING CRITICALLY ABOUT THE CONTENT OF A PERSUASIVE MESSAGE RATHER THAN CUES IN THE PERSUASION CONTEXT RATHER IS CALLED
PERSUASION
THE PROCESS BY WHICH ATTITUDES ARE CHANGED IS CALLED
EVALUATIVE CONDITIONING
THE PROCESS BY WHICH WE FORM AN ATTITUDE TOWARD A NEUTRAL STIMULUS BECAUSE OF ITS ASSOCIATION WITH A POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE PERSON, PLACE, OR THING IS CALLED
SUBJECTIVE NORMS
THE THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOR POSITS THAT BEHAVIOR IS A FUNCTION OF ATTITUDES, ___________, BEHAVIORAL INTENTIONS, AND THE AMOUNT OF CONTROL WE PERCEIVE TO HAVE OVER OUR OWN ACTIONS.
// Strategies for Resisting Persuasion
Table 6.3 Strategies for Resisting Persuasion Based on the results of Jacks and Cameron (2003).
// Ways to Reduce Dissonance
Table 6.4 Ways to Reduce Dissonance "I need to be on a diet, yet I just dove head first into a tub of chocolate fudge brownie ice cream." If this were you, how would you reduce dissonance aroused by the discrepancy between your attitude and your behavior?
inoculation hypothesis
The idea that exposure to weak versions of a persuasive argument increases later resistance to that argument.
peripheral route to persuasion
The process by which a person does not think carefully about a communication and is influenced instead by superficial cues.
central route to persuasion
The process by which a person thinks carefully about a communication and is influenced by the strength of its arguments.
persuasion
The process by which attitudes are changed.
evaluative conditioning
The process by which we form an attitude toward a neutral stimulus because of its association with a positive or negative person, place, or thing.
elaboration
The process of thinking about and scrutinizing the arguments contained in a persuasive communication.
theory of planned behavior
The theory that attitudes toward a specific behavior combine with subjective norms and perceived control to influence a person's actions.
psychological reactance
The theory that people react against threats to their freedom by asserting themselves and perceiving the threatened freedom as more attractive.
Peripheral
based on superficial cues
Central
based on the merits of the source and the communication
central route
careful thinking about a communication leading to influence from argument strength
peripheral route
careless thinking about a communication leading to influence from superficial cues
insufficient justification
condition in which people freely perform attitude-discrepant behaviors without receiving large rewards
insufficient deterrence
condition in which people refrain from engaging in a desirable activity
sleeper effect
delayed increase in the persuasive impact of a noncredible source
facial electromyograph (EMG)
electronic instrument that records facial muscle activity associated with emotions and attitudes
implicit attitude
feeling, such as prejudice, that one is not aware of having
inoculation hypothesis
idea that exposure to weak versions of persuasive argument increases later resistance to that argument
cognitive dissonance theory
idea that inconsistent cognitions arouse psychological tension that people become motivated to reduce
Implicit Association Test (IAT)
measure of unconscious feelings from the speed at which people respond to pairings of concepts
attitude scale
multiple-item questionnaire designed to measure a person's attitude toward some object
// Where are the breasts?
not there =)
need for cognition (NC)
personality variable that distinguishes people based on how much they enjoy effortful cognitive activities
bogus pipeline
phony lie-detector device used to get respondents to give truthful answers to sensitive questions
attitude
positive, negative, or mixed reaction to a person, object, or idea
persuasion
process by which attitudes are changed
elaboration
process of thinking about and scrutinizing the arguments contained in a persuasive communication
evaluative conditioning
process wherein one forms attitudes toward neutral stimuli because of association with positivity or negativity
theory of planned behavior
proposal that attitudes toward behavior, subjective norms, and perceived control influence people's actions
psychological reactance
theory that people respond against threats to their freedom by asserting themselves
// Justifying Attitude-Discrepant Behavior: When Doing Is Believing
•Cognitive dissonance and attitude change are more likely to occur when there is insufficient justification or insufficient deterrence for an attitude-discrepant non-behavior. •Festinger and Carlsmith (1959) -Classic study on dissonance
// The Sleeper Effect // Persuasion by Communication
•A delayed increase in the persuasive impact of a non-credible source. •Discounting cue hypothesis: People immediately discount the arguments made by non-credible communicators, but over time, they dissociate what was said from who said it.
// The Central Route // Persuasion by Communication
•A person thinks carefully about a communication and is influenced by the strength of its arguments. -Neither intelligence nor self-esteem is generally more vulnerable to persuasion than the other •Elaboration •Self-validation hypothesis •Persuasive communication with positive or negative attitude-relevant thoughts but also seek to assess the validity of these thoughts
The Study of Attitudes
•Attitudes: A positive, negative, or mixed reaction to a person, object, or idea -It's important to realize that attitudes cannot simply be represented along a single continuum ranging from wholly positive to wholly negative. • Attitude formation process is often quick, automatic, and "implicit."
Ethical Dissonance
•Behavioral ethics -The study of how individuals behave when facing temptations to cheat, steal, plagiarize, commit fraud, lie, or otherwise behave unethically. •Two types of problems have been addressed: -Unintentional lapses in ethics -Intentional wrongdoing that people commit in order to serve their own interests •Behaving in ways that violate our own moral code thus threatens self-esteem and arouses inner state of turmoil •Pre-violation and post-violation justifications: -Blaming others or circumstances -Rationalizing -Confessing, apologizing, and offering compensation -Distancing themselves from the misdeed by asserting ethical standards for the future and judging other transgressors more harshly.
// Subliminal Messages
•Commercial messages outside of conscious awareness •Controlled experiments using subliminal self-help materials offer no therapeutic benefits •People may respond to subliminal cues in the short term when they are already motivated to take the action
// The Source // Persuasion by Communication
•Credibility -Competence -Trustworthiness •Likability -Similarity -Physical attractiveness
// Cultural Influences on Cognitive Dissonance
•Cultural context may influence both the arousal and the reduction of cognitive dissonance: -Western (individualist) cultures: Decisions are expected to be consistent with personal attitudes -East Asian (collectivist) cultures: Decisions are expected to benefit ingroup members •Post-decision justification effect occurs in both groups, but cultures influence the conditions under which these processes occur.
// Fear Appeals
•Fear arousal increases the incentive to change for those who do not actively resist it, but its ultimate impact depends on the strength of the arguments and on whether the message also contains clear and reassuring advice on how to cope with the threatened danger. •Without specific instructions on how to cope, people feel helpless, panic, and tune out the message.
// Cognitive Dissonance Theory: A New Look
•Four steps are necessary for both the arousal or reduction of dissonance (Cooper and Fazio, 1984): -An attitude-discrepant behavior must produce unwanted negative consequences -A feeling of personal responsibility for the unpleasant outcomes of behavior -Physiological arousal that produces a state of discomfort and tension that the person seeks to reduce -A person must make an attribution for that arousal to his or her own behavior
// Message Discrepancy
•How discrepant should a message be from the audience's existing position in order to have the greatest impact? -Exercise caution—avoid outright rejection of the message by avoiding too much change at once. •The more personally important an issue is to us, the more stubborn and resistant to change we become.
// Forewarning and Resistance
•Inoculation hypothesis -The idea that exposure to weak versions of a persuasive argument increases later resistance to that argument. •Psychological reactance -The theory that people react against threats to their freedom by asserting themselves and perceiving the threatened freedom as more attractive.
// The Message // Persuasion by Communication
•Medium of communication •Informational strategies •Message discrepancy •Appeals to emotion •Fear appeals •Positive emotions •Subliminal messages
// Informational Strategies // Persuasion by Communication
•Most effective strategy depends on whether the audience process the message on the central or peripheral route. •Length of a communication -Central process: Quality of the argument is more important than length. -Peripheral processing often uses simple heuristic: "The longer the message, the more valid it must be." •Primacy versus recency effect -Time is a critical factor.
// The Audience
•Need for cognition (NC) -A personality variable that distinguishes people on the basis of how much they enjoy effortful cognitive activities. •Self-monitoring -Regulating own behaviors across situations due to concern for public self-presentation •Regulatory fit -Promotion-oriented versus prevention-oriented -Positive versus negative approach
// Justifying Difficult Decisions: When Good Choices Get Even Better
•People rationalize whatever they decide by exaggerating the positive features of the chosen alternative and the negative features of the unchosen alternative.
// Appeals to Emotion
•Persuasion efforts should be aimed at the heart rather than through the mind. •Language used in each participant's appeal by measuring the use of high-emotionality words—such as amazing, awful, loved, and hated. •Our tendency to express more emotion when trying to persuade happens spontaneously.
// Two Routes to Persuasion // Persuasion by Communication
•Persuasion is the process by which attitudes are changed. •The dual-process model of persuasion assumes that we do not always process communications the same way -Central route to persuasion -Peripheral route to persuasion
// Route Selection // Persuasion by Communication
•Process that is engaged depends on whether the recipients of a persuasive message have the ability and the motivation to take the central route. •The way a recipient processes a persuasive communication depends on three factors: -Source—who is presenting the message -Message—says what and in what context -Audience—to whom the message is directed
// Alternative Routes to Self-Persuasion
•Self-perception theory -We infer how we feel by observing ourselves and the circumstances of our own behavior •Impression-management theory -What matters is not a motive to be consistent but rather a motive to appear consistent •Self-esteem theories -Acts that arouse dissonance do so because they threaten the self-concept
// How Attitudes Are Measured
•Self-report measures -Attitude scale -Bogus pipeline •Covert measures -Videotape -Facial electromyograph (EMG) -Brain imaging •Implicit Association Test (IAT)
// he Link Between Attitudes and Behavior
•Stephen Kraus concluded that "Attitudes significantly and substantially predict future behavior." •Attitudes most clearly predict behavior when: -There is a high correspondence between attitude measures and the behavior -A process of deliberate decision making ==•Theory of planned behavior -The attitudes are strongly held •Cultural attitudes about preference and choice can influence behavior.
// How Attitudes Are Formed
•Strong likes and dislikes are rooted in our genetic makeup. •Our most cherished attitudes often form as a result of: -Exposure to attitude objects -Rewards and punishments -Attitudes that our parents, friends, and enemies express -The social and cultural context •Evaluative conditioning
// The Peripheral Route // Persuasion by Communication
•The process by which a person does not think carefully about a communication and is influenced instead by superficial cues. •Simpleminded heuristics •Attitude embodiment effects
// Cognitive Dissonance Theory: The Classic Version
•Theory holding that inconsistent cognitions arouses psychological tension that people become motivated to reduce •Conditions for cognitive dissonance: An attitude-discrepant behavior was chosen freely and with some knowledge of the consequences
// Culture and Persuasion
•To be persuasive, a message should appeal to the audience's cultural factors •Individualistic cultures' persuasive messages focus on personal benefits, individuality, competition, and self-improvement. •Collectivist cultures' persuasive messages focus on integrity, achievement, and the well-being of one's ingroups.
// Changing Attitudes
•Two routes to persuasion by others: -Central—based on the merits of the source and the communication -Peripheral—based on superficial cues •When people behave in ways that run afoul of their true convictions, they often go on to change their attitudes.
// Justifying Effort: Coming to Like What We Suffer For
•We alter our attitudes to justify our suffering •The more time, money, or effort you choose to invest in something, the more anxious you will feel if the outcome disappoints. •Aronson and Mills (1959) experiment -The "embarrassment test" and liking for group members based on personal investment.
// Attitudes
•What is an attitude, how can it be measured, and what is its link to behavior? •What kinds of persuasive messages lead people to change their attitudes? •Why do we often change our attitudes as a result of our own actions?
// Positive Emotions
•When people are in a good mood, they become more: -Sociable -Generous -Positive in their outlook •Positive feelings activate the peripheral route to persuasion, facilitating change and allowing superficial cues to take on added importance.
// Role Playing: All the World's a Stage
•When we play along, saying and doing things that are privately discrepant from our own attitudes, do we begin to change those attitudes as a result? •More attitude change is produced by having people generate arguments themselves than listen passively to others making the same arguments. -Self-generated persuasion •People who read a persuasive message merely expect that they will later have to communicate it to others.
