Chapter Six: Attitudes

Impression management theory

what matters is not a motive to be consistent but a motive to appear consistent.

Trustworthiness

must be seen as willing to report their knowledge truthfully and without compromise.

Dispositional attitudes

a persons tendency in general to like or dislike things.

Evaluative conditioning

the process by which we form an attitude toward a neutral stimulus because of its association with a positive or negative person, place, or thing.

EEG

Brain- wave patterns that are normally triggered by inconsistency increased more when a disliked stimulus appeared after a string of positive items and vice versa.

self-esteem

an attitude we hold about ourselves

attraction

positive attitude toward another person

prejudice

a negative attitude often directed against certain groups

attitude

a positive, negative, or mixed evaluation of an object that is expressed at some level of intensity

attitudes serve important functions

enable us to judge quickly and without much thought

attitude scales

multiple-item questionnaire designed to measure a persons attitude toward some object

Likert Scale

participants asked to indicate on a multiple-point scale how strongly they agree or disagree with each statement

bogus pipeline

a phony lie detector that is sometimes used to get respondents to give truthful answers to sensitive questions

ex

facial expressions, tone of voice, body language

ex

perspiration, heart rate, pupil dilation

facial electromyograph (EMG)

looks at the muscles in the face that contract when we feel happy/sad and arent seen with the naked eye

implicit attitude

an attitude that someone is not aware of having

Abraham Tesser

strong likes and dislikes are rooted in our genetic makeup

Richard LaPierre

attitudes and behavior dont always go together

Allan Wicker

attitudes and behavior are only weakly correlated

Stephan Kraus

attitudes significantly and substantially predict future behavior

Icek Ajzens Theory of Planned Behavior

our attitudes influence our behavior through a process of deliberate decision making, and their impact is limited in four respects

Icek Ajzens Theory of Planned Behavior: limit one

behavior is influenced less by general attitudes than by attitudes toward a specific behavior

Icek Ajzens Theory of Planned Behavior: limit two

behavior is also influenced by subjective norms (our beliefs about what others think we should do)

Icek Ajzens Theory of Planned Behavior: limit three

attitudes give rise to behavior only when we perceive the behavior to be within our control

Icek Ajzens Theory of Planned Behavior: limit four

people often do not or cannot follow through on their intentions

persuasion

changing attitudes

two routes to persuasion

can stick to policy, issues, and rational argumentation through the power of words or they can base their appeals on other grounds

Richard Petty and John Cacioppo

dual-process model of persuasion

central route to persuasion

when people think hard and critically about the contents of a message and are influenced by the strength and quality of the arguments

first step

learning / reception of a message

second step

acceptance of a method

third step

elaboration

self-validation hypothesis

people not only elaborate on a persuasive communication with positive or negative attitude-relevant thoughts; theyll also seek to assess the validity of these thoughts

peripheral route to persuasion

when people dont think hard or critically about the contents of a message but focus instead on other cues

competence

a speakers ability

sleeper expect

delayed persuasive impact of a low-credibility communicator

discounting cue hypothesis

people immediately discount the arguments made by non-credible communicators, but over time, they dissociate what was said from who said it

the message

what a person has to say and how that person says it

peripheral route

longer is better

central route

longer is only better if the added arguments are strong and not weak/redundant

primacy effect

information that is presented first has more impact

recency effect

information that is presented last has more impact

Irving Janis and Seymour Feshbach

high levels of fear didnt generate increased agreement with a persuasive communication

subliminal advertising

the presentation of commercial messages outside conscious awareness

William Bryan Key

advertisers routinely sneak faint sexual images in visual ads to heighten the appeal of their products

the audience

the impact of a message is influenced by the recipients personality and their expectations

need for cognition

the extent to which an individual enjoys and participated in effortful cognitive activities

self-monitoring

high self-monitors may be particularly responsive to messages that promise desirable social images

regulatory fit

people are more likely to be influenced by messages that fit their frame of mind and "feel right"

promotion-oriented

individuals who are drawn to the pursuit of success, achievements, and their ideals

prevention-oriented

individuals who are protective of what they have, fearful of failure, and vigilant about avoiding loss

need for affect

seeking out and enjoying feelings of strong emotion

high in need for affect

people are more receptive to messages that are presented in primarily cognitive or emotional terms

inoculation hypothesis

our defenses can be reinforced by exposure to weak counter-arguments

psychological reactance

when people think that someone is trying to change their attitude or otherwise manipulate them, they activate their psychological reactance

Irving Janis

attitude change would persist more when its inspired by our own behavior than when it stems from a passive exposure to a persuasive communication

self-generated persuasion

more attitude change is produced by having ppl generate arguments themselves than listen passively to others making the same arguments

cognitive dissonance theory

the classic version

cognitive dissonance theory

a powerful motive to maintain cognitive consistency can give rise to irrational, sometimes maladaptive, behavior

insufficient justification

unless you deny your actions, youll feel pressured to change your attitude about the task

insufficient deterrence

mild punishment is insufficient deterrence for attitude-discrepant non-behavior

cognitive dissonance theory

a new look

vicarious dissonance

people will feel discomfort and change their attitudes when they observe inconsistent behavior from others with whom they identify

Cooper and Fazio

four steps are necessary for both the arousal and reduction of dissonance

freedom of choice

when people believe they had no choice, there is no dissonance and no attitude change

potential negative consequences of their actions were foreseeable at the time

when the outcome couldnt have been anticipated, there is no dissonance and no attitude change

self-perception theory

we infer how we feel by observing others and the circumstances of our own behavior

self-esteem theories

acts that arouse dissonance do so because they threaten the self-concept, making the person feel guilty, dishonest, or hypocritical, and motivating a change in attitude or future behavior

moral licensing

a tendency to justify an anticipated misdeed by citing good things that weve done

Implicit Association Test

measures implicit attitudes by the speed in which it takes you to answer the question

credibility characteristics

competence and trustworthiness

factors that spark attraction

similarity and physical attractiveness

insufficient justification

a condition in which people freely perform an attitude-discrepant behavior without receiving a large reward

insufficient deterrence

a condition in which people refrain from engaging in a desirable activity, even when only mild punishment is threatened

True or False: Researchers can tell if someone has a positive or negative attitude by measuring physiological arousal.

False

True or False: In reacting to persuasive communications, people are influenced more by superficial images than by logical arguments.

False

True or False: People are more easily persuaded by commercial messages that are presented without their awareness.

False

True or False: The more money you pay people to tell a lie, the more they will come to believe it.

False

True or False: People often come to like what they suffer for.

True.

elaboration

the process of thinking about and scrutinizing the arguments contained in a persuasive communication

Self-esteem Theories

Acts that arouse dissonance do so because they threaten the self-concept, making the person feel guilty, dishonest, or hypocritical, and motivating a change in attitude or future behavior