4.2 Attitude Formation and Attitude Change

Attitude

how an individual thinks, feels, or behaves toward another person, object, idea, or situation

Stereotype

a generalized concept about a group

Stereotypes can help reduce cognitive load when making decisions or judgments

Stereotypes can be the cause and/or result of biased perceptions and experiences and are frequently the basis of prejudiced attitudes and discriminatory behaviors.

Prejudiced attitudes- preconceived negative attitudes toward a group and its members

Discriminatory behavior- unfair treatment of individuals based on their group

Implicit attitudes

attitudes that are unconscious, often times the individual may not even realize they hold these beliefs

Research has focused on how implicit attitudes reflect negative evaluations of others, as demonstrated by the just-world phenomenon,out-group homogeneity bias, ingroup bias, or ethnocentrism.

Just-world phenomenon

the tendency for people to believe the world is just and that things are the way they are for a reason

basically people get what they deserve

this belief can lead to victim blaming, the idea that an individual’s misfortunes are their own fault

Out-group homogeneity bias

the tendency of an individual to perceive members of an out-group as more similar to each other than they actually are

out group- people that are perceived to be part of a different group , that the individual does not consider to be part of

leads to overgeneralization, promotion of stereotypes, and minimizes individuals and their unique differences

In-group bias

the tendency to favor and support people in our own group, while at the same time be more critical to those outside of it

in group- people who the individual perceives to have similar characteristics as, resulting in seeing themselves as apart of the group

Ethnocentrism

the idea that one’s own culture or ethnic group is superior to others

Belief perseverance

when a belief persists even if evidence suggests it is not accurate

People experiencing belief perseverance may engage in confirmation bias

confirmation bias- the tendency of a person to focus on information that confirms their pre-existing views and dismiss conflicting information

Cognitive dissonance

the mental discomfort or tension that comes from when an individual has two conflicting beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors

People are motivated to reduce the discomfort by changing either actions or attitudes to be more in line with each other.