AP Psychology - Unit 4.2 Attitude Formation and Attitude Change

Attitudes

feelings that predispose people to respond in a particular way to objects, people, or events

• often influenced by beliefs and experiences

• constantly evolve

affect an individual’s behaviors

• situational factors can override the attitude-behavior connection

Explicit Attitude

beliefs that an individual is aware of

Implicit Attitude

unconscious beliefs that often connect back to an individual’s cognitive biases

Foot-In-The-Door Phenomenon

tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request

Door-In-The-Face Effect

the tendency for individuals to accept a moderate request after being asked an unreasonable request

Cognitive Dissonance

the mental tension an individual experiences when they become aware that their attitudes and behavior do not coincide

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

• proposed by Leon Festinger

• people try to reduce dissonance by adjusting their actions to match their attitudes, or they change their attitudes to match their past actions

Attitudes-Follow-Behavior Principle

proposes that people can influence their attitudes by altering their behaviors

Persuasion

changing people’s attitudes

• can potentially influence their actions

Peripheral Route Persuasion

occurs when people are influenced by attention-getting cues that trigger speedy, emotion-based judgements

• ex: celebrity endorsements

Halo Effect

a cognitive bias where an individual’s overall impression of someone influences how they feel and think about his or her character

Central Route Persuasion

occurs when interested people’s thinking is influenced by considering evidence and arguments

• more thoughtful use of persuasion

• more durable

Cultural Relativism

an individual views another culture by its own standards

• doesn’t believe any culture is superior to another

Belief Perseverance

• the tendency to maintain a belief despite new information or evidence that clearly contradicts it

• individual is not willing to change their perspective

Confirmation Bias

the tendency to focus on information that confirms pre-existing views while dismissing conflicting information

allows an individual to support their current perspective without having to confront conflicting information