Ch. 6: Attitudes
implicit attitudes
Attitudes that are involuntary, uncontrollable, and at times unconscious
explicit attitudes
Attitudes that we consciously endorse and can easily report.
accessible
Attitudes will predict spontaneous behaviours only when they are highly ___ to ppl
affective, behavioural, cognitive
3 components of attitude 1. ___ - I *love* pizza 2. ___ - I *eat* pizza 5x /week 3. ___ - I *believe* pizza is healthy for me because it has all the important food groups
role models, counterstereotypic, education
2 ways to modify implicit attitudes: 1. __ ___ or ___ images 2. ___
change, justify, dissonant, consonant
3 ways to reduce dissonance 1. ___ behaviour: quit eating chocolate ice cream 2. ___ behaviour by changing one of the ___ cognitions: chocolate ice cream is not really fattening 3. justify behaviour by adding ___ cognitions: chocolate ice cream is really healthy because it has milk
bad
A classic field study (LaPiere, 1934) about Chinese couples being served at a hotel restaurant (ppl saying they wouldn't serve them but then actually serving them irl) and a more recent study with the similar situation but homosexual couple at a B&B showed that people's attitudes are (good/bad) predictors of behaviour.
external justification
A reason or an explanation for dissonant personal behaviour that resides outside the individual (e.g. to receive a large reward or avoid a severe punishment)
behaviour
A study on attitude toward birth control and use of birth control showed that as the questions about attitude got more and more specific, as did their correlation with ___ (use of birth control).
behavioural intentions, attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control
According to the theory of planned behaviour, the best predictors of ppl's planned, deliberative actions are their ___ ___. The best predictors of these are their ___ towards the specific behaviour, their ___ ___, and their ___ ___ ___ of the behaviour.
cognitive dissonance
Aesop's fable of the fox and the grapes is an example of what social psychology term?
behaviourally based attitude
An attitude based on observations of how one behaves toward an attitude object
cognitively based attitudes
An attitude based primarily on ppl's beliefs about the properties of an attitude object
insufficient
Aronson and Carlsmith (1963) demonstrated with preschoolers that mild ___ punishment was effective in changing the attitude towards a forbidden, previously very attractive, toy
perceiver
Ch. 6 take home messages: 1. Subliminal perception is a laboratory phenomenon 2. Self-help tapes don't work 3. You see what you want to see and hear what you want to hear The ___ plays as large a role as the stimuli in the process of perception
more
Cognitive dissonance and attitude change are (more/less) likely to occur when there is insufficient justification or insufficient deterrence for an attitude-discrepant behaviour. ex. Festinger & Carlsmith (1959) - boring task, and then paying people $1 or $20 to lie to the next participant and tell them it was fun.
persuasive communication
Communication (e.g. a speech or TV ad) advocating a particular side of an issue
victim
Cruel behaviour is dissonant with view of self as a decent human being. Resolve this dissonance by changing thoughts about the ___
childhood, current
Developmental sources of implicit attitudes - sizeism implicit attitudes = influenced by (childhood/current) weight explicit attitudes = influenced by (childhood/current) weight
childhood, adult
Developmental sources of implicit attitudes - take home message People can often have different implicit and explicit attitudes toward the same thing, one rooted more in ___ experiences and the other based more on their ___ experiences
ben Franklin effect
Dissonance theory predicts that when we dislike someone, if we do someone a favour, we will like them more. Happens because the behaviour is dissonant with attitude, so we change the attitude in order to resolve dissonance. This is known as what?
film and instructions, moderate, instructions
Do fear-arousing communications work? ex. Film or no film and instructions or no instructions on how to quit smoking. Which combo had the biggest effect? ___ - ___ amounts of fear work best - provide ___ on how to reduce fear
central, peripheral
Elaboration Likelihood Model ___ route to persuasion: elaborate on a persuasive communication. - listening carefully to and thinking about the arguments ___ route to persuasion: ppl do not elaborate on the arguments. - who delivers the message rather than the strength of the message
attitudes
Evaluations of people, objects, and ideas
cultural
For an ad to be persuasive, the message should appeal to the audience's ___ values. ex. individualist: focus on personal benefits, individuality, competition, and self-improvement. "It's easy when you have the right shoes" collectivist: focus on integrity, achievement, and the well-being of one's in-groups. "the shoes for your family"
environmental
Genetics may have an impact on attitudes, but non shared ___ factors (unique experiences of each member of a twin pair) had the most powerful contribution to attitudes
systemic, heuristic
Heuristic-systemic model of persuasion: ___ processing: ppl process the merits of the arguments ___ processing: ppl use mental shortcuts. - ex. experts are always right, ppl who speak quickly must know what they're talking about
more
If we have done someone a personal favour, we are likely to feel (less/more) positively toward that person than if we don't do the favour or do the favour because of an impersonal request.
justification of effort
Increasing our liking for something we have worked hard for or that was difficult to obtain. The more we pay for something, the more we will come to like it. ex. Aronson & Mill's "embarrassment test" (1959) - women going through a hard process to get into a club which turns out to be worthless.
justification, persuasion
Insufficient punishment or reward leads to self-____ which in turn leads to self-___ or lasting change. You tell yourself that you do or think this because you've convinced yourself that it's right.
external, temporary, internal, lasting
Large reward or severe punishment results --> (internal/external) justification --> (temporary/lasting) change Small reward or mild punishment --> (internal/external) justification --> (temporary/lasting) change
attitude inoculation
Making ppl immune to attempts to change their attitudes by initially exposing them to small doses of the arguments against their position ex. warn kids before watching tv that they are likely to be presented ads trying to persuade them or change their attitudes
affectively
Our attitudes toward a specific car because we like the look or it brings back good memories, regardless of how many miles to the gallon it gets would be considered a (cognitively/affectively) based attitude.
cognitively
Our attitudes toward a specific car being influenced by how many miles to the gallon it gets or its safety features would be considered a (cognitively/affectively) based attitude.
specific, specific
Our behaviours are most likely to follow our attitudes when ___ attitudes towards ___ behaviours are assessed.
implicit, explicit
People can often have different ___ and ___ attitudes toward the same thing, one rooted more in childhood experiences and the other based more on their adult experiences
post-decision dissonance
People rationalize decisions they make by exaggerating the positive features of the chosen alternative and the negative features of the unchosen alternative.
fear arousing communications
Persuasive messages that attempt to change people's attitudes by scaring them. Strong amounts of fear fail if they overwhelm ppl - become defensive - deny importance of threat - cannot think rationally about issue
implicit
Rudman and Goodwin et al. (2004) found that individuals who were primarily raised by their mothers showed a more positive ____ attitude towards women than men
weak, ambiguous, explanation
Self-perception theory People infer their attitudes from their behaviour only when: - initial attitude is w__ or a___ - no other plausible ___ for behaviour
implicit
Socialization and past experiences may be responsible for the development of longer lasting ___ attitudes ex. Individuals primarily raised by their mothers showed a more positive implicit attitude towards women rather than men
implicit
Socialization and past experiences may be responsible for the development of longer lasting ___ attitudes.
ambivalent
Some people possess an ____ attitude toward Donald Trump. ex. Like his conservative views but dislike the ways he treats people.
more, less
The (more/less) permanent and (more/less) revocable the decision, the greater the need to reduce dissonance
arguments, central, speaker, peripheral
The Personal Relevance study IV 1: personal relevant (high vs low) IV 2: strength of arguments (strong vs weak) IV 3: speaker prestige (high vs low expertise) When the issue was highly relevant, ppl were swayed by the (arguments/speaker). This is the ___ route to persuasion. When the issue was low in relevance, ppl were swayed by the (arguments/speaker). This is the ___ route to persuasion.
attitude, subjective, control
The Theory of Planned Behaviour: 1. ___ toward the behaviour: specific, not general 2. ___ norms: people's beliefs about how other ppl they care about will view the behaviour in question 3. Perceived behavioural ___: the ease with which people believe they can perform the behaviour - these 3 lead to behavioural intention, which then leads to behaviour
cognitive dissonance
The members of the Heaven's Gate Cult refusing to believe that the spaceship didn't come and therefore believing even more is an example of what?
elaboration likelihood model
The model which hypothesizes that there are 2 routes to persuasion: central and peripheral.
ability, motivation
The persuasion route taken depends on the recipient's ___ and ___ to take the central route.
persuasion
The process by which attitudes are changed
internal justification
The reduction of dissonance by changing something about oneself (e.g. one's attitude or behaviour)
attitude accessibility
The strength of the association b/ween an attitude object and a person's evaluation of that object. Measured by the speed with which ppl can report how they feel about the object.
self perception theory
The theory that sometimes people don't know how they feel until they see how they behave. Can form our attitudes based on our observations of our own behaviour.
false
True or False. Attitudes need to include all 3 components (affect, behaviour, cognition)
true
True or False: subliminal perceptions can choose how we rate items. ex. flashing a picture of a smiling face = more likely to rate positively
false
True or False: subliminal persuasion is effective in producing large-scale attitude changes. ex. flashing a picture of someone smiling and drinking beer would make even the non-drinkers more likely to drink beer.
role models, education
Two things that can modify implicit attitudes are: 1. ___ ___ / counter-stereotypic images: ex. imagine a strong woman. Admired black Americans. 2. ___: ex. reducing implicit and explicit anti-black biases by taking a course on prejudice and conflict
stairway to heaven
What song did we hear backwards in Michael Shermer's Ted Talk: Why people believe weird things
theory of planned behaviour
What theory does this diagram represent?
cognitively, affectively
Which type of ads work best? If an attitude is ___ based, try to change it with rational arguments If an attitude is ___ based, try to change it with emotional appeals
affectively
___ based attitudes don't come from facts. Can come from: values, sensory reaction (liking a taste), aesthetic reaction, conditioning
source, nature, audience
Yale Attitude Change Approach (1950-60's) - Who says what to whom Studied conditions under which ppl are most likely to change their attitudes in response to persuasive messages. Who: the ___ of the communication What: the ___ of the communication Whom: the nature of the ___
desirability
You may express an explicit attitude about something, not necessarily because you actually feel that way but because of its social ____ - you say it because you think it will be accepted by others.
ambivalent
___ attitudes are weaker and therefore more easily changed than positive or negative attitudes
ambivalence
_____ towards feminists: males rated them positive on one dimension (admiration) but negatively on another (affection). This is because people respect feminists (determined, industrious, intelligent), but they also tend to dislike them (cold, humourless, irritable)
cognitive dissonance
a feeling of discomfort caused by the realization that one's behaviour is inconsistent with one's attitudes or that one holds two conflicting attitudes
fear-arousing communication
a persuasive message that attempts to change people's attitudes by arousing their fears
self-affirmation theory
a theory suggesting that people will reduce the impact of a dissonance-arousing threat to their self-concept by focusing on and affirming their competence on some dimension unrelated to the threat
theory of planned behaviour
a theory that the best predictors of a person's planned, deliberate behaviours are the person's attitudes toward specific behaviours, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control
affectively based attitudes
an attitude based on people's feelings and values rather than on their beliefs about the nature of an attitude object
cognitively based attitude
an attitude based primarily on a person's beliefs about the properties of an attitude object
behaviourally based attitude
an attitude based primarily on observations of how one behaves toward an attitude object
affectively based attitude
an attitude based primarily on people's emotions and feelings about the attitude object
attitude
an evaluation of a person, object, or idea
implicit attitudes
attitudes that are involuntary, uncontrollable, and at times unconscious
explicit attitudes
attitudes that we consciously endorse and can easily report
persuasive communication
communication (e.g. a speech or TV ad) advocating a particular side of an issue
post-decision dissonance
dissonance that is inevitably aroused after a person makes a decision; such dissonance is typically reduced by enhancing the attractiveness of the chosen alternative and devaluing the rejected alternatives
self-affirmation
reducing dissonance by adding a cognition about other positive attributes in an unrelated domain. ex. Failed dieter: "not very smart of me to be eating chocolate ice cream, but I'm a really good scientist!
insufficient punishment
the dissonance aroused when individuals lack sufficient external justification for having resisted a desired activity or object, usually resulting in the individuals devaluing the forbidden activity or object
rationalization trap
the potential for dissonance reduction to produce a succession of self-justifications that ultimately result in a chain of stupid or immoral actions
attitude inoculation
the process of making people immune to attempts to change their attitudes by exposing them to small doses of the arguments against their positions
counter-attitudinal advocacy
the process that occurs when a person states an opinion or attitude that runs counter to his or her private belief or attitude
counter-attitudinal advocacy
the process that occurs when a person states an opinion or attitude that runs counter to his or her private belief or attitude - when you can't find external justification for your behaviour, you will attempt to find (or create) internal justification
yale attitude change approach
the study of the conditions under which people are most likely to change their attitudes in response to persuasive messages. Researchers in this tradition focus on "who said what to whom" - that is, on the source of the communication, the nature of the communication, and the nature of the audience
justification of effort
the tendency for individuals to increase their liking for something they have worked hard to attain
elaboration likelihood model
the theory that there are two ways in which persuasive communication can cause attitude change: the central route occurs when people are motivated and have the ability to pay attention to the arguments in the communication, and the peripheral route occurs when people do not pay attention to the arguments but are instead swayed by surface characteristics (e.g., who gave the speech)
