SOC 341 - Chapter 7 - Attitudes and Health

Attitudes

evaluations of people, objects and ideas. they are best describe using the ABC Tripartite Model.

ABC Tripartite Model

this describes how attitude is formed from three interconnected components, affective, behavioral and cognitive.

• Affective

it’s feelings and emotion that can be both positive and negative.

• Behavioral

Actions and Interactions, it acts in a way that reflects attitude.

• Cognitive

Thoughts and beliefs, it’s beliefs about object that forms attitude.

• Cognitively Based Attidues

based on beliefs about object.

• Affectively Based Attitudes

based on feelings and values related to an object.

Behaviorally Based Attitudes

based on behavior toward object.

Classical Conditioning

origins of attitude, it associates a stimulus with an attitude. EX: disliking a food because it caused illness.

Operant Conditioning

origins of attitude, it forms attitude based on reward. EX: make an A, attitude toward that class.

Social Learning Theory

we form attitudes based on others. derivative of operant conditioning.

Cognitive Consistency

approach that stresses attitudes be consistent.

Role Approach

emphasizes behaviors associated with a certain position.

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

proposed by festinger (1957), it’s a psychological tension (dissonance) arises from incompatible attitudes.

Later, inconsistent attitude and behavior was added.

Dissonance

is the most powerful when our self-image is threatened.

• Ways to Reduce Dissonance

change behavior to bring it in line with our attitude, justify behavior by changing dissonant cognition, and justify behavior by adding new cognitions.

Insufficient Justification

perform dissonant behavior for minimal reward.

Reactance Theory

were people have desire and freedom to choose what they do.

Explicit Attitudes

attitudes we can consciously endorse and can easily report.

• Implicit Attitudes

involuntary, uncontrollable, and unconscious.

Persuasive Communication

advocates a particular side of an issue.

• Yale Attitude change Approach

studies the conditions under which attitude change is most likely to occur in response to a persuasive message. this addresses to who want to whom.

Who

addresses from Yale attitude change approach, source of communication.

What

addresses from Yale attitude change approach, nature of the communication.

To Whom

addresses from Yale attitude change approach, nature of the audience.

Elaboration Likelihood Model

proposed by petty and cacioppo, this helped in understanding when persuasion is effective. which consist in 2 pathways: central and peripheral route.

• Central Route

focus on logic, merit, and strength of argument. Interested people focus on the arguments and respond favorably.

• Peripheral Route

occurs when influenced by incidental cues, motivation and clear thinking are not required. EX: does the brewer really want you to decide if their product taste great or is less filling?

Fear in Persuasion

arousing communication, works best when:

• enough fear is created to get attention.

• But no so much that people ignore it.

• Include specific information to reduce their fear.

Resisting Persuasion

strengthening personal commitment, challenge belief, develop counter arguments.

Attitudes Inoculation

weakly attack attitudes so that larger attacks can be refuted.

• Stereotype Threat

apprehension of group members that their behavior might confirm a stereotype. EX: Steele and Aronson (1995).

• Primacy Effect

is a psychological phenomenon where people tend to remember the first places of information they encounter in a sequence or list better than those that come later.

Individuals remember the first items on a list.

Well-Being

a sense of well-being comes from physical and psychological factors.

• Health Behavior

actions to enhance or maintain health. EX: eat healthy, exercise regularly, avoid alcohol and drugs, use condoms. They are often influenced by health beliefs.

• Stress (Selye Definition)

psychological response to threatening events.

• Social Readjustment Rating Scale (SRRS)

ranks common life stressors based on severity, must severe stressors on SRRS.

• Buffering Hypothesis

seek social support only when stress.

• Type A Behavior

Competitive, impatient, easily frustrated and hostile. they have 2x rate of coronary heart disease.

• Type B Behavior

non competitiveness, patience, and lack of aggression.

• Contemporary definition of stress

a subjective discrepancy between situation and a persons ability to cope with the situation.

• Perceived Control

the belief that one has the power to influence their environment and achieve desired outcomes, impacting health, well-being, and behavior.

• Learned Helplessness

a psychological state where individuals lose their motivation to act because they’ve repeatedly experienced uncontrollable and negative situations, leading them to believe their efforts are futile.

• Social Support

is the perception of available psychological and material resource from one’s social network, which includes family, and the community.

• Reactance

an unpleasant motivational state experienced when a person feels that their behavioral freedom is threatened or eliminated by an external force, such as a message, a person or a rule.