Behavior and Attitudes

Attitudes

a favorable or unfavorable evaluation of objects, people, and events

ABC’s of attitudes

Affect: emotional reactions, Behavior: actions or observable, Cognition: thoughts and beliefs

Explicit attitudes

attitudes that we consciously endorsed and can easily report

How are explicit attitudes measured?

through self-report

Implicit attitudes

attitudes that are involuntary, uncontrollable, and at times unconcious

How are implicit attitudes measured?

implicit association test- reaction time in sorting attitude objects and valanced stimuli

Theory of planned behavior

intentions are the best predictors of deliberate behaviors

Roles

norms about how people in a particular position are supposed to behave

Self-perception theory

when our attitudes and feelings are uncertain or ambiguous, we infer these states by observing our behavior and the situation in which it occurs

Facial feedback effect

the tendency of facial expressions to trigger corresponding feelings such as fear, anger, or happiness

Overjustification effect

when rewarding someone for doing something they like, people may view their behavior as caused by compelling extrinsic reasons, making them underestimate the extent to which it was caused by intrinsic reasons.

Cognitive dissonance

a feeling of discomfort when a person holds two inconsistent beliefs, or a belief is inconsistent with actions. (can threaten self worth)

External justification

reason or explanation that resides outside of the person

Internal justification

reducing dissonance by changing an attitude

Post decision dissonance

uncomfortable feeling or doubt you experience after making a decision, especially when you wonder if you made the right choice. You might like your decision more to ease your mind

factors influencing post decision dissonance

how important and how permanent the decision is

Self-affirmation

people can reduce threats to their self-esteem by affirming themselves in areas unrelated to the source of the threat (reducing dissonance)