Social Psychology - Ch. 7: Attitudes, Beliefs, and Consistency
Belief Perserverance
Once beliefs form they are resistant to change even if the info on which they are based in discredited
Automatic attitudes
"Gut level" responses that people don't think a great deal about
Downward Comparison
Act of comparing oneself to people who are worse off
Stigma
Attribute perceived by others as broadly negative
Post-Decision Dissonance
Cognitive dissonance experienced after making a difficult choice typically reduced by increasing the attractiveness of the chosen alternative and decreasing the attractiveness of rejected alternatives
Dual attitudes
Different evaluations of same attitude obj., implicit vs. explicit (an automatic attitude + a deliberate attitude)
Attitude Polarization
Finding that people's attitudes become more extreme as they reflect on them
Attitudes
Global evaluations toward some obj. or issue
Accessibility
How easily something comes to mind
Coping
How people attempt to deal w/ traumas & go back to functioning effectively in life
Cognitive Coping
Idea that beliefs play a central role in helping people cope w/ and recover from misfortunes
Balance Theory (P-O-X Theory)
Idea that relationships among one person (P), other person (O), & an attitude obj. (X) may be balanced or unbalanced
Cognitive Dissonance Theory
Inconsistencies produce psychological discomfort, leading people to rationalize their behavior or change their attitudes
Perceived Behavioral Control
Individual's beliefs on if he/she can actually perform the behavior in questions
Subjective Norms
Individual's perceptions about whether significant others think he/she should (or should not) perform the behavior in question
Behavioral Intentions
Individual's plans to perform the behavior in question
Unconditioned Response
Naturally occurring response
Conditioned Stimulus
Neutral stimulus that, through repeated pairings w/ an unconditioned stimulus, comes to evoke a conditioned response
Assumptive Words
People live in social worlds based on certain beliefs (assumptions) about reality
A-B Problem
Problem of inconsistency between attitudes (A) and behaviors (B)
Beliefs
Pieces of information about something; facts or opinions
Deliberate attitudes
Reflective (thoughtful) responses that people think more carefully about
Conditioned Response
Response that, through repeated pairings, is evoked by a formerly neutral stimulus
Neutral Stimulus
Stimulus that initially evokes no response
Unconditioned Stimulus
Stimulus that naturally evokes a particular response
Mere Exposure Effect
Tendency for people to come to like thing because they see or encounter them repeatedly
Social Learning (Observational Learning, Imitation, Vicarious Learning)
Type of learning, people are more likely to imitate behaviors if they have seen others rewarded for performing them, & less likely to imitate behaviors if others have been punished for performing them
Operant Conditioning (Instrumental Conditioning)
Type of learning, people are more likely to repeat behaviors that have been rewarded & are less likely to behaviors that have been punished
Classical Conditioning
Type of learning, through repeated pairings a neutral stimulus comes to evoke a conditioned response
Effort Justification
When people suffer, work hard, or make sacrifices, they try to convince themselves it's worthwhile
