AP Psych Unit 4 (4.2): Attitude Formation and Attitude Change

Stereotype

A generalized belief or concept about a group, which are learned mental schemas - lead to quick judgements in cognition but usually are negative.

Prejudice “Prejudgment”

Unjustified negative attitude about a group of people based on their membership in the group.

Discrimination

Unjustified negative behavior toward members of a target group (individual level) based on their shared characteristic.

Just-World Phenomenon

Tendency to believe that the world is just and that people get what they deserve.

In-Group Bias

Preference for our own groups that we identify with over other groups (may be gender, political party, race, age, interests, fandoms, social economic group).

Out-Group Homogeneity Bias

Thinking your in-group is more diverse in though or behavior than an out-group (a social group to whom a person does not belong) and out-groups are similar or “homogenous” than their group is.

Scapegoat Theory

The self-defense instinct groups have to direct blame or negative feelings towards a vulnerable individual when things go wrong or the group experiences conflict.

Ethnocentrism

Using one’s own culture as the standard to judge and evaluate other cultures.

Cognitive Dissonance

Refers to the mental discomfort the occurs when one’s actions and/or attitudes are in conflict. People are motivated to reduce the discomfort by changing either actions or attitudes to be more in line with each other.

Implicit Attitudes

Difficult to change attitudes because a person may be unaware that they posses them due to not reflecting on it.

Elaboration Likelihood Model of Attitude Change

A theory of persuasion that explains how attitudes can change through two different methods of persuasion: central route and peripheral route.

Central Route of Persuasion

Involves thoughtful consideration and active engagement of the participant, with an argument based on logic, evidence, and reasoning.

Peripheral Route of Persuasion

Involves less cognitive effort, relies on superficial cues, and persuades using factors unrelated to the message’s content, like the source’s attractiveness, credibility, or emotional appeal.

Foot-In-The-Door Technique

Involves making a small request that a person is likely to agree to, followed by a larger request that person might be more likely to comply with because they’ve already agreed to the first one.

Door-In-The-Face Technique

Involves making a large request that is likely to be rejected first, followed by a smaller, more reasonable request. The idea is that after rejecting the large request, the person will be more likely to agree to the smaller request.