Attitudes

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards designed to help understand the key concepts related to attitudes as discussed in the lecture.

Attitude

A relatively enduring organization of beliefs, feelings, and behavioral tendencies towards socially significant objects, groups, events, or symbols.

This definition implies that the perceptions we form about something or someone are typically stable and do not tend to change frequently.

Tendency to evaluate a person, concept or group positively or negatively

• Cognitive component or belief

• Emotional or evaluative component

• And behavioural disposition

Cognitive component

The beliefs or thoughts related to an attitude object.

WHAT COMPRISES AN ATTITUDE?

ABC

AFFECT

Feelings or emotions attached to the object, concept, etc.

E.g., I feel good when I drink a cup of coffee

BEHAVIOUR

Past behaviours or experiences regarding the object, concept etc.

E.g., I have purchased a coffee machine to use at home, driven by the positive feelings (affect) about coffee.

COGNITIONS

Beliefs/thoughts/attributes regarding the object, concept etc.

 

E.g., I believe/think having a coffee machine at home allows me to have different kinds of coffee (and it saves me money!)

Emotional component

The feelings or emotions attached to the attitude object.

Behavioral disposition

The past behaviors or experiences regarding the attitude object.

Attitude strength

The durability and impact of an attitude, which may resist change over time.

Variables that affect attitude strength;

• Attitude importance= personal relevance of an attitude and the psychological significance of the attitude for individual

 

• Attitude accessibility= the ease with which and attitude comes to mind

• Highly accessible attitudes Come to mind rapidly in automatically when prime by environmental events

• More More accessible and attitude more likely is to affect behaviour and the stronger the attitude is.

Attitude accessibility

The ease with which an attitude comes to mind and its likelihood to affect behavior.

Implicit attitudes

Subconscious attitudes that may not correlate with explicit attitudes expressed publicly.

• explicit subconscious attitudes and implicit attitudes so associations between attitudes and objects and feelings are unconscious and automatic

• Implicit attitudes and explicit attitudes are not necessarily correlated with another

• For example, attitudes that someone may express publicly to allow them to make desirable impressions on others(explicit attitude) made different marketing from those they help privately or that are revealed when they fail to devote conscious attention to the attitude being a pressed

Cognitive complexity

• The intricacy of thoughts about different attitude objects

• They can be relatively specific or general

• Simple or complex

• Various with both gender and culture

 Such as apple and politics

Classical conditioning

A process where a neutral stimulus becomes associated with an involuntary response, leading to a conditioned response.

• Occurs when we associate a neutral stimulus with an involuntary response, which is a biologically elicited event (e.g., fear, attraction, hunger) that happens naturally without conscious choice.

 

Example: Nespresso Advertisement with George Clooney

• Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS): George Clooney (a well-respected, genuinely nice, and attractive actor).

• Unconditioned Response (UCR): Attraction towards George Clooney (a biologically elicited event that occurs naturally).

• Neutral Stimulus (NS): The Nespresso brand (before being paired with Clooney, most people would have no strong positive or negative response).

• Conditioned Stimulus (CS): The Nespresso brand (after being consistently paired with George Clooney).

• Conditioned Response (CR): A positive attitude towards the Nespresso brand (developed through association with Clooney's attractiveness).

CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

SPREADING ATTITUDE EFFECT

 

n extension of classical conditioning, this is a ripple-like effect where attitudes develop by association and spread from one object/person to others.

 

Attitude toward the unconditioned stimulus (George Clooney) may affect not only the evaluation of the conditioned stimulus (Nespresso brand) that is directly paired with the US but also other stimuli that are merely associated with the CS.

 

Example 1: Nespresso and Sustainability

• Initially, a positive attitude is formed towards the Nespresso brand (conditioned stimulus) due to its association with George Clooney.

• By further association, if the brand promotes sustainability as part of its values, consumers may also develop a positive attitude towards sustainability itself (the ripple effect).

• Example 2: Social Connections

  • If you have a positive attitude towards your friend Ryan Reynolds, you are likely to develop a positive attitude towards his wife, Blake Lively.

  • This positive attitude can further spread to Blake Lively's best friend, Jessica Biel, even if you don't know her directly, simply due to the chain of association.

  • The effect shows that attitudes can spread through values, concepts, and even to other people indirectly connected to our initial positive association.

Attitude ambivalence

• Attitude differ, extent to which an attitude object disassociated with conflicting feelings

• So just positive negative attitudes for going to the gym

• Include positive and negative dimensions that are relatively independent

• Each of those can be relatively weak of strong

• Low positive and low negative attitude to have minimal impact on behaviour

Attitudinal coherence

• Extent to which an attitude is internally consistent

• Particularly it’s cognitive in evaluative components is internally consistent

Spreading attitude effect

A phenomenon where attitudes develop by association and spread from one object or person to others.

HOW DO WE FORM AN ATTITUDE

Behavioural explanations

●Mere exposure effect

●Classical conditioning

●Spreading attitude effect

 

●Instrumental/operant conditioning

 

●Modelling and learning

Operant conditioning

Learning that occurs through the consequences of behavior, either through rewards or punishments.

• Example: Smoking Behavior

  • Behavior: Smoking.

 

Consequences (Punishment): In contemporary society, smoking is less tolerated and can lead to negative responses.

• Smokers often relegated to designated smoking areas (physical punishment/inconvenience).

• Potential loss of friends who don't smoke (negative punishment, taking away social connection).

• Being seen as less desirable as a potential partner (negative punishment, taking away a social opportunity).

 

These negative consequences act as punishments, leading to the formation of a negative attitude towards smoking, thus reducing the likelihood of the behavior.

●Mere exposure effect

●People develop a preference for things merely because they’re familiar with them

Example: If someone enjoyed strawberry milkshakes during childhood, they are likely to prefer strawberry flavors over others due to familiarity.

Modeling and learning

The process of developing attitudes by observing and imitating the behaviors and attitudes of others.

Parental Influence: Parents often instill their values and attitudes in their children from a young age.

• Example: A daughter is more likely to develop a positive attitude toward the football team her father supports.

• Children often adopt political leanings modeled on their parents' attitudes toward party values.

 

Social Role Models/Protest: Observing others take a stance can lead to adopting similar attitudes and behaviors.

• Example: When Colin Kaepernick kneeled during the national anthem to protest racial injustice, many other team players across various leagues (English Premier League, AFL, Formula One) followed suit, demonstrating the power of modeling in attitude formation, even in complex social and political contexts.

Attitude ambivalence

The extent to which an attitude object is associated with conflicting feelings.

Attitudinal coherence

The extent to which an attitude is internally consistent, particularly in its cognitive and evaluative components.

Mere exposure effect

A psychological phenomenon where people develop a preference for things merely because they are familiar with them.