Week 4 - Attitudes

Attitudes

Attitudes

- a favourable or unfavourable evaluative reaction toward something/someone
- Exhibited in one's BELIEFS, FEELINGS, or INTENDED BEHAVIOURS

Tripartite Model of Attitude

- attitude made up of: AFFECT, BEHAVIOUR, COGNITION
- typically all three align with each other
- cognitive dissonance when they aren't all positive or negative
- attitudes susceptible to social context or outside influences

Measurement of Attitude

- attitudes cannot be observed directly
- measures of attitude either explicit or implicit

Explicit Attitudes Measures

self, reports, measures, etc

Implicit Attitudes Measures

- implicit association test (IAT)
- facial muscle responses, physiological measures, etc
- researchers hold that implicit attitudes show more about true beliefs - not as impacted by environmental influences

Implicit Association Test (IAT)

- uses reaction times to measure how quickly people associate concepts
- given choice between two different pictures/words/concepts
- react quicker with something you have connections with in brain
- assumptions: unbiased, uncovers unconscious attitudes
- example: Race IAT

Principle of Aggregation

effects of an attitude or behaviour become more apparent when looking at person's aggregate or average behaviour

Theory of Reasoned Action (Fishebin & Ajzen, 1973)

Attitude + Norm -> Intention -> Behaviour
- attitudes can predict planned deliberate behaviour
- an individual's intention is determinant of their behaviour
- intention as the motivation to act - influenced by ATTITUDE and NORM
- use of explicit measurement

Theory of Reasoned Action - REVISED (Ajzen 1988)

- revised theory to add factor of control (self-efficacy)

Attitude + Norm + Control -> Intention -> Behaviour

- control can also directly impact behaviour
- not all factors always equally strong impact - depends on situational context
- only applies to PLANNED behaviour

When Attitudes are Potent

- many behaviours are automatic, driven by routines and habits
- attitudes predict behaviour better when:
- opportunity to review past actions
- highlighted self-awareness
- attitude formed through experience

Impact of Role on Attitudes

- actions expected of those who occupy particular social positions
- our roles shape our attitudes
- impact of social situtation

Impact of Roles: Stanford Prison Experiment (Zimbardo, 1972)

- prison simulation study with guards and prisoners
- planned two-week study but forced to stop after 6 days
- guards became too cruel and began abusing power

Foot in the Door Phenomenon

- tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request
- low-ball technique

Door in the Face Phenomenon

- tendency for people who have declined large request to agree with smaller one
- request then moderation procedure

Three Ways Behaviours Influence Attitudes

1. Self-presentation
2. Self-justification
3. Self-perception

Self-Presentation

- impression management
- concerned with making good impression to gain social and material rewards, to feel better about selves, to become more secure in social identities
- wanting to appear consistent

Self-Justification

- selective exposure: prefer to expose ourselves with info that agrees with pov
- cognitive dissonance: feel tension when aware that we have two thoughts that are inconsistent/incompatible
- dissonance also when behaviour inconsistent with attitude

Self-Justification: Cognitive Dissonance Process

1. choose between two equally (un)attractive alternatives
2. undesirable features of the chosen alternative and desirable features of the rejected alternative remain
3. dissonance is created
4. "manage" dissonance by upgrading the chosen alternative and downgrading rejected alternative

Self-Perception

- self-perception theory (Bem, 1972)
- suggests we make similar inferences when we observe our own behaviour
- when attitudes weak, in position of someone who observes us from outside
- come to conclusions about own actions based on behaviour and ignore our intentions/feelings

Self-Perception: Overjustification Effect

- when individuals do something they enjoy without reward or coercion, they attribute behaviour to their love of activity
- external rewards undermine intrinsic motivation by leading people to attribute their behaviour to the incentive

Three Theories of Self Overview Example: Coffee

Self-presentation
- drinking coffee cause it makes me seem put together

Self-justification
- know coffee is bad for me, but its not that bad cause keeps me awake

Self-perception
- i'm drinking coffee, i must like coffee