VII. Social Psychology Chapter 7: Attitudes, Beliefs, & Consistency

A-B problem

the problem of inconsistency between attitudes (A) and behaviors (B)

accessibility

how easily something comes to mind

assumptive worlds

the view that people live in social worlds based on certain beliefs (assumptions) about reality (by default, these are positive beliefs about the world/others & can be violated by trauma)

attitude polarization

the finding that people’s attitudes become more extreme as they reflect on them

attitudes

global evaluations toward some object or issue (e.g. like vs. dislike Jane Doe, a politician)

automatic attitudes

very fast evaluative, “gut-level” responses that people don’t think a great deal about

behavioral intentions (in the theory of planned behavior)

an individual’s plans to perform the behavior in question

belief perseverance

the finding that once beliefs form, they are resistant to change, even if the information on which they are based is discredited

beliefs

pieces of information about something; facts or opinions (e.g. Jane Doe is a politician)

classical conditioning

a type of learning in which, through repeated pairings, a neutral stimulus comes to evoke a conditioned response

cognitive coping

the idea that beliefs play a central role in helping people cope with and recover from misfortunes

cognitive dissonance

conflicting thoughts cause psychological discomfort

cognitive dissonance theory

the theory that inconsistencies produce psychological discomfort (cognitive dissonance), leading people to rationalize their

behavior or change their attitudes

conditioned response

a response that, through repeated pairings, is evoked by a formerly neutral stimulus

conditioned stimulus

a neutral stimulus that, through repeated pairings with an unconditioned stimulus, comes to evoke a conditioned response

coping

how people attempt to deal with stressful traumas and go back to functioning effectively in life

deliberate attitudes

reflective responses that people think more carefully about

downward comparison

the act of comparing oneself to people who are worse off

dual attitudes

different evaluations of the same attitude object held by the same person (perhaps one deliberate, the other automatic)

effort justification

the finding that when people suffer or work hard or make sacrifices, they will try to convince themselves that it is worthwhile

filter bubble

are algorithms used on the internet to selectively guess what information a user would like to access based on information

available about that use (e.g., previous web pages accessed, click behavior)

gamification

is the use of game playing elements (e.g., rewards such as points, badges, levels, virtual currency) in non-game contexts.

mere exposure effect

the tendency for people to come to like things simply because they see or encounter them repeatedly

neutral stimulus

a stimulus (e.g., Pavlov’s bell) that initially evokes no response

operant conditioning

a type of learning in which people are more likely to repeat behaviors that have been rewarded and less likely to repeat behaviors that have been punished

perceived behavioral control (in the theory of planned behavior)

an individual’s beliefs about whether they can actually perform the behavior in question

post-decision dissonance

cognitive dissonance experienced after making a difficult choice, typically reduced by increasing the attractiveness of the

chosen alternative and decreasing the attractiveness of rejected alternatives

self-validation theory

proposes that our thoughts become more consequential as the perceived validity of those thoughts increases

selective exposure

refers to the tendency of individuals to select information that supports their preexisting views and avoid information that

contradicts their preexisting views

social learning

a type of learning in which people are more likely to imitate behaviors if they have seen others perform them

subjective norms (in the theory of planned behavior)

an individual’s perceptions about whether significant others think they should (or should not) perform the behavior in question

unconditioned response

a naturally occurring response (e.g., salivation)

unconditioned stimulus

a stimulus (e.g., meat powder) that naturally evokes a particular response (salivation)

upward comparison

the act of comparing oneself to people who are better off

theory of planned behavior

a theory about the internal and external factors that influence whether an individual will perform a behavior