Studied by 5 people
attitudes
global evaluations toward some object or issue or person (influences choices)
beliefs
information (facts or opinions) about something (helps us explain)
implicit (automatic/unconscious) attitude
outside of conscious awareness, “gut-level” reflexive responses people don’t think a lot about
explicit (deliberate/conscious) attitude
reflective responses, aware and can articulate them
implicit association test
measures implicit attitudes we are unable to report but order effects results and learned association
reasons for attitudes
increase the speed/quality/ease of decision making, are evaluative, help us deal with a complex world
mere exposure effect
form an attitude because you have seen it a lot
exception: if you dislike something initially, repeated exposure will not change that attitude
classical conditioning
develop a positive or negative attitude toward the conditioned stimulus
operant conditioning
people are more likely to repeat behaviors that have been rewarded and less likely to repeat behaviors that are punished
social learning
people are more likely to imitate behaviors if they have seen others rewarded for performing them and less likely if they have seen others punished
attitude polarization
the finding that people’s attitudes become more extreme as they reflect on them
cognitive dissonance theory
inconsistencies between attitude and behavior produce psychological discomfort, which causes people to rationalize their behavior or change their attitude
Festinger and Carlsmith
boring task, lying for $1 (tried to justify more) vs. $20
effort justification
when people work hard/make sacrifices, they will try to convince themselves that it is worthwhile
post-decision dissonance
cognitive dissonance experienced after making a difficult choice, typically reduced by increasing the attractiveness of the chosen, pick out the bad of what we did not chose
consistency
involves both automatic (processed as arousal) and conscious (look for solution) parts of the mind
A-B problem
inconsistency between attitude (a) and behavior (b)
belief perseverance
once beliefs form, they are resilient to change
opposite theory
reduces belief perseverance, think of an opposite explanation to combat
religious beliefs helpful
provides social support, sense of meaning, direction, and fosters virtue, appeal to superordinate reduces dissonance
religious beliefs harmful
cognitive level- beliefs may be inconsistent, emotional level- elicit fear and guilt
irrational beliefs
people who hold these tend to be more anxious, cope less well with terminal illness, are more likely to be depressed over time, possess lower levels of self-esteem
police officers’ dilemma
video game, ethnicity impacts shoot/don’t shoot
normative social influence
going along with the crowd to be liked and accepted
asch (1955) study of normative influence
people chose the wrong answer to go with the group, 37% of trials conformed, conformity increases with group size, dissension reduces conformity, when judgement was private conformity decreases
informational social influence
going along with the group because we believe they know more than we do
sherif and the autokinetic effect (1935)
illusion that light is moving, by the next few days with others, results converged
behavior changes (public compliance)
similarities between normative and informational influence
internal dialogue is different (you know your answer vs. you believe they know better)
differences between normative and informational influence
4 principles of social influence
commitment/consistency, reciprocation, scarcity, capturing/disrupting attention
foot-in-the-door technique
(based on commitment and consistency) start with a small request to gain eventual compliance with larger request
low-ball technique
(based on commitment and consistency) start with low cost request and later reveal hidden costs
bait and switch
(based on commitment and consistency) draw people in with an attractive offer that is not available and then switch to a less attractive offer that is available
labeling
(based on commitment and consistency) assigning a label to an individual and then making a request consistent with that label
legitimization of paltry favors
(based on commitment and consistency) a small amount of aid is made acceptable
door-in-the-face
(based on reciprocation) start with an inflated request and then retreat to a smaller one that appears to be a concession - initial request must be reasonable and same person must be requesting
that’s not all
(based on reciprocation) begin with inflated request but immediately add to deal by offering a bonus or discount
limited number
(based on scarcity) only a limited quantity available
fast approaching deadline
(based on scarcity) finite time to get what you are after
pique
(based on capturing/disrupting attention) one captures people’s attention by making a novel request
disrupt-then-reframe
(based on capturing/disrupting attention) disrupt critical thinking and introduce a new frame
persuasion
attempt to change a person’s mind, three factors: who, says what, to whom
source credibility
expertise and trustworthiness of the individual who delivers the message
source likability
similarity and physical attractiveness of the messenger
halo effect
assumption that if someone is attractive, they must have other positive qualities
reason vs emotion
intelligent audience response well to logic, people in a good mood are more persuaded
good in moderate doses as long as people have a way to avoid the fear
evoking fear
mere exposure effect
if neutral or positive response initially, repeated exposure=persuasive message
one-sided vs. two-sided messages
two sided is more persuasive, likely to believe source credibility
receptivity
whether you “get” the message
yielding
whether you “accept” the message
need for cognition
a tendency to engage in and enjoy effortful thinking, analysis, and mental problem solving
elaboration likelihood model
two routes to persuasion; conscious or automatic processing
central route (deliberate thinking)
long term effectiveness, involves conscious processing, careful and thoughtful consideration
peripheral route (heuristic processing)
involves automatic processing, influenced by simple cues
factors that influence motivation to process message
personal relevance, need for cognition
factors that influence ability to process
distractions, knowledge
attitude inoculation
advance warning of a persuasive message (aware persuasion is going to happen)
negative boomerang effect
doing exactly the opposite of what one is being persuaded to do
discrimination
unequal treatment based on group membership
prejudice
negative feeling toward an individual based on group membership
stereotype
beliefs that associate groups with traits
affect (initial feelings)
prejudice
behavior (action)
discrimination
cognition (thinking)
stereotyping
categorization
natural human tendency to group objects
social categorization
sorting people into groups based on common characteristics
outgroup members
them, everyone else
ingroup members
us, groups we identify with
outgroup homogeneity bias
people in outgroups are more similar than ingroup members
ingroup favoritism
preferential treatment and favorable attitudes towards one’s own group members
minimal group effect
ingroup favoritism occurs even when group membership is random
Jane Elliot
brown eyes blue eyes study with school children
stereotype threat
fear that one’s behavior may confirm a stereotype that others hold
contact hypothesis (Gordon Allport)
regular interaction between group members reduces prejudice (given that the initial interaction is positive)
problems with contact hypothesis
students of different racial backgrounds don’t interact with each other, when they do- interactions are generally negative
contact hypothesis works ….
among people of equal status, when positive, and when outgroup members are perceived as typical of their group
scapegoat theory
blame problems on outgroup, which contributes to negative feelings towards them
self-serving bias
people make internal attributions for success but refuse external attributions for failure
reasons for wanting to overcome stereotypes
dedication to equality (internal motivation), could elicit social disapproval (external motivation)
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Flashcard (21)