Psychology: Attitudes, Cognitive Dissonance, and Behavior Prediction

Attitude

A favorable or unfavorable evaluative reaction toward something or someone, exhibited in one's belief, feelings or intended behavior.

La Piere's Study (1934)

90%, in reply to a letter sent out by La Piere, said that they would not serve Chinese clientele; refused service at only 1 of 251 hotels/restaurants.

When Do Attitudes Predict Behavior?

Minimizing social influences on expressed attitudes, minimizing other influences on behavior, examining attitudes specific to that behavior, making attitudes potent.

Does Behavior Determine Attitudes?

Role playing, saying becomes believing, foot-in-the-door phenomenon, evil acts and attitudes.

Cognitive Dissonance

A feeling of discomfort that is caused by doing something that conflicts with one's (typically positive) self-concept (values, attitudes, etc.).

Restoring Consistency in Cognitive Dissonance

Change your behavior, change your cognitions, change your attitudes, mis-remember things, rationalize your behaviors, engage in 'compensatory' behavior.

Study Example of Cognitive Dissonance

Participants were asked to engage in a very boring task and then either told the study was over, paid $1, or paid $20 to lie about the task.

Effort Justification

The tendency to reduce dissonance by justifying the time, effort, or money devoted to something that turned out to be unpleasant or disappointing.

Post-Decision Dissonance

Once a choice between two equally valued options is made, people tend to upgrade the chosen item and downgrade the un-chosen item.

Self-Perception Theory

The theory that people come to know their own attitudes by looking at their behavior and the context in which it occurred and inferring what their attitudes must be.

System Justification Theory

The theory that people are motivated to see the existing sociopolitical system as desirable, fair, and legitimate.

Terror Management Theory

The theory that people deal with the potentially crippling anxiety associated with the knowledge of the inevitability of death by striving for symbolic immortality through preserving valued cultural worldviews.

Implicit Attitude Measures

An indirect measure of attitudes that doesn't involve a self-report.

Induced (Forced) Compliance

Subtly compelling people to behave in a manner that is inconsistent with their beliefs, attitudes, or values in order to elicit dissonance and therefore a change in their original attitudes and values.

Response Latency

The amount of time it takes to respond to a stimulus, such as an attitude question.

Evil Acts and Attitudes

Once you treat one as less than human, you'll see them as less than human.

Behavior Comes First

Behavior comes first, attitudes follow; attitudes don't always predict behavior.

Deciding-Becomes-Believing Effect

Once a choice between two equally valued options is made, people tend to upgrade the chosen item and downgrade the un-chosen item.

Fraternity Initiations

Cognitive dissonance will occur when people put effort into something that is not consistent with their formerly-held attitudes.

Free Will and Insufficient Justification

This will only occur to the extent that the decision to undergo initiations is FREELY CHOSEN, and to the extent that you have INSUFFICIENT JUSTIFICATION for this decision.