Social Psych Chapter 5
discrepant behavior --> lowered self-worth --> change in feelings and thoughts
Positive self-esteem reduces dissonance
Cognitive Dissonance
The discomfort that occurs when we behave in ways that we see as inappropriate, such as when we fail to live up to our own expectations
Attitude Strength
The importance of an attitude, as assessed by how quickly it comes to mind
Apsychological Reactance
The strong emotional response that we experience when we feel that our freedom of choice is being taken away when we expect that we should have choice
Self-monitoring
individual differences in the tendency to attend to social cues and to adjust one's behavior to one's social environment
Inoculation
involves building up defenses against persuasion by mildly attacking the attitude position; flu vaccine analogy
Thoughtful Processing
more controlled and involves a more careful cognitive elaboration of the meaning of the message; when we think about how the message relates to our own beliefs and goals and involves our careful consideration of whether the persuasion attempt is valid or invalid.
Bait-and-switch Technique
occurs when someone advertises a product at a very low price. When you visit to the store to buy the product, however, you learn that the product you wanted at the low price has been sold out
Overjustification
occurs when we view our behavior as caused by the situation, leading us to discount the extent to which our behavior was actually caused by our own interest in it
Attitude
relatively enduring evaluation of something, where the something is called the attitude object
Expert Communicators
sometimes be perceived as trustworthy because they know a lot about the product they are selling; Communicators who speak confidently, quickly, and in a straightforward way are seen as more expert
Postdecisional Dissonance
the feeling of regret that may occur after we make an important decision; post-decisional dissonance is reduced by focusing on the positive aspects of the chosen product and the negative aspects of the rejected product
Low-ball Technique
the salesperson promises the customer something desirable, such as a low price on a car, with the intention of getting the person to imagine themselves engaging in the desired behavior (in this case, purchasing the car). After the customer has committed to purchasing the car at a low price, the salesperson then indicates that he or she cannot actually sell the car at that price
High Self-Monitors
those who tend to attempt to blend into the social situation in order to be liked (weaker attitude-behavior relationship)
Self-Perception
when we use our own behavior as a guide to help us determine our own thoughts and feelings
Attitude determined by affect
you just like it, you have positive feelings towards it (chocolate ice cream)
Attitude determined by behavior
you like your neighbor because they have done favors for you in the past
Attitude determined by cognition
you like your refrigerator because of its positive features
Key Takeaways
Advertising is effective in changing attitudes, and principles of social psychology can help us understand when and how advertising works. Social psychologists study which communicators can deliver the most effective messages to which types of message recipients. Communicators are more effective when they help their recipients feel good about themselves. Attractive, similar, trustworthy, and expert communicators are examples of effective communicators. Attitude change that occurs over time, particularly when we no longer discount the impact of a low-credibility communicator, is known as the sleeper effect. The messages that we deliver may be processed either spontaneously or thoughtfully. When we are processing messages only spontaneously, our feelings are more likely to be important, but when we process the message thoughtfully, cognition prevails. Both thoughtful and spontaneous messages can be effective, in different situations and for different people. One approach to improving an individual's ability to resist persuasion is to help the person create a strong attitude. Procedures such as forewarning and inoculation can help increase attitude strength and thus reduce subsequent persuasion. Taken together, the evidence for the effectiveness of subliminal advertising is weak, and its effects may be limited to only some people and only some conditions.
Key Takeaways
As predicted by the principle of attitude consistency, if we engage in an unexpected or unusual behavior, our thoughts and feelings toward that behavior are likely to change. Self-perception occurs when we use our own behavior as a guide to help us determine our thoughts and feelings. Self-perception can lead to either insufficient justification—the perception that there was not enough external threat to avoid engaging in a behavior—or overjustification— the perception that our behavior was caused primarily by external factors. Principles of self-perception suggest that to create true attitude change we should avoid using too much punishment or too much reward. Cognitive dissonance refers to the discomfort that occurs when we behave in ways that we see as inappropriate, such as when we fail to live up to our own expectations Dissonance is reduced by changing behavior, by reducing dissonant cognitions, or by creating new consonant cognitions to counteract the dissonant cognitions. Dissonance is observed in many everyday experiences, including initiation and the experience of postdecisional dissonance. Engaging in dissonance reduction has many positive outcomes for our affect but may lead to harmful self-justifications and irrational actions. Because dissonance involves self-concern, it is stronger when we do not feel very positively about ourselves and may be stronger in Western than in Eastern cultures. Marketers use the principles of dissonance in their attempts at persuasion. Examples are the foot-in-the-door technique, low-balling, and the bait-and-switch technique.
Key Takeaways
The term attitude refers to our relatively enduring evaluation of an attitude object. Our attitudes are inherited and also learned through direct and indirect experiences with the attitude objects. Some attitudes are more likely to be based on beliefs, some more likely to be based on feelings, and some more likely to be based on behaviors. Strong attitudes are important in the sense that we hold them with confidence, we do not change them very much, and we use them frequently to guide our actions. Although there is a general consistency between attitudes and behavior, the relationship is stronger in some situations than in others, for some measurements than for others, and for some people than for others
Festinger and Carlsmith Study
Participants who had engaged in a boring task and then told another student it was interesting experienced cognitive dissonance, leading them to rate the task more positively in comparison to those who were paid $20 to do the same
Theory of Planned Behavior
When attitudes are strong, rather than weak When we have a strong intention to perform the behavior When the attitude and the behavior both occur in similar social situations When the same components of the attitude (either affect or cognition) are accessible when the attitude is assessed and when the behavior is performed When the attitudes are measured at a specific, rather than a general, level For low self-monitors (rather than for high self-monitors) Attitudes only predict behaviors well under certain conditions and for some people. The preceding list summarizes the factors that create a strong attitude-behavior relationship.
The Sleeper Effect
Attitude change that occurs over time because there is a tendency to remember the content of a communication to a greater extent than we remember the source of the communication. As a result, we may forget over time to discount the remembered message
Lepper, Greene, and Nisbett Study
Children who had been expecting to receive a reward when they played with the fun markers played less with them in their free play period than did children who received no reward or an unexpected reward—their initial interest had been undermined by the expected reward
Emotional ads
Fear and positive ads; brain responds more strongly to negative affect than positive affect
Insufficient Justification
When the social situation actually causes our behavior, but we do not realize that the social situation was the cause; occurs when the threat or reward is actually sufficient to get the person to engage in or to avoid a behavior, but the threat or reward is insufficient to allow the person to conclude that the situation caused the behavior
Foot-in-the-door technique
a persuasion attempt in which we first get the target to accept a rather minor request, and then we ask for a larger request
Attitudes are composed of...
affect, behavior, and cognition
Effect of the social situation on the attitude-behavior relationship
attitude about cigs: around parents vs. around friends
Spontaneous Processing
direct, quick, and often involves affective responses to the message; we accept a persuasion attempt because we focus on whatever is most obvious or enjoyable, without much attention to the message itself
Attitude Consistency
for any given attitude object, the ABCs of affect, behavior, and cognition are normally in line with each other; attitudes are likely to guide behavior
Inheritable Attitudes
formed earlier, longer lasting, more resistant to change
Forewarning
giving people a chance to develop a resistance to persuasion by reminding them that they might someday receive a persuasive message, and allowing them to practice how they will respond to influence attempts