Psych 3330-Attitudes lecture and Ch.6

attitudes

our evalutations of individuals, groups, objects and ideas

-interal cause for beheavior

-postive or negative reaction

Tripartie model of attitues

attitude- cognition, affect and beheavior

types of attitudes

1. affectively based-one’s values or sensory experience, emotional reactions 

2. cognitvetly based- thoughts and beleifs 

3. beheaviorally based-actions or observeable beheavior 

explicit and implicit attitudes 

explicit attitudes- attitudes we are consciously aware of and easily can report 

implicit attitudes-automatic, uncontrolled, unconscious attitudes

-implicit and explicit attitudes are found to reflect on their feelings about attitudes  

Likert summed ratings scale

-several statements with agreement measured on a 5 or 7 point scale

-sum ratings are revering when necessary

Osgoode semantic differential

-measures attitudes using scales with polar adjectives

-sum ratings when necessary

orgins of attitudes 

-observational learning/cultural influences 

-social influence 

-classical conditioning 

-instrumental/operant conditioning 

-gentic influenes 

cogntive dissonance

an unpleasant mental state caused by the awareness of inconsistent attitudes, cognitions and beheaviors

-threatens our self-esteem or self-worth

-produces discomfort

-take steps to reduce it

LaPiere Hospitality study-1934

-travelled across U.S with young Chinese couple.

-Visited 184 restuarants and 66 hotels

-although prejudice at the time, only one refused service

-6 months later he wrote these estblishement asking whether they would provide services to people in various ethnic groups

-51% response rate

-92% responants said they would not serve Chinese patrons

-attitudes are not always good predicators of beheavior

theory of planned beheavior 

-beheavior is best predicated by a person’s intention 

-specfic attitudes 

-beliefs about how others will view beheavior 

-perceptions of how easy it is to perform the beheavior 

attitudes are good predicators of beheavior when they are

-strong

-specfic

-not ambivalent

effective communicators

-are crediable, appear to have expretise

-demostrate authority and high status

-talk relatively fast

-attractive and confident

Poltical persuasion 

-charismatic leader 

-confidence 

-conveys authroity 

-offers solution 

-simple messages 

-may encourge ingroup/outgroup thinking 

-target particular grouos as scapegoats 

elaboratiion likelihood model

-central route to persuasion

-audience is persuaded by providing facts/info and by using logic

-assumes high motivation and high effort on part of audience

peripheral route

-audience is persuaded by peripheral cues- aspects of the communication are irrelevant to the product or person or belief being promoted

-assumes the audience lacks the motivation or ablity to think deeply about the message

-making a product or message more appealing by associating with attractive and enjoyable people, emotions and events

-making a competitor’s product less appealing by creating unpleasant and undesireable associations with it

central Vs peripheral route 

-legitmate experise is central rounte 

-appearence or impression of expertise is peripheral route 

-attitudes gained through the central route are longer lasting and more resistant to change than those gained via peripheral route 

advertising and attitudes change

cognitvely based attitudes-using rational based arguemnts, and personal relevance

affectively based attitues-emotions

Festinger and Carlsmith-1959

-subjects were given a tedious task-turn a series of pegs on a board each a ¼ of a turn and repeat

-after completed the task, subjects were asked if they could fill in for the research assistant and inform the incoming particpants about the study

-some subjects were paid $20 to lie about how exciting the study was

-some subjects were paid $1 to lie about how exciting the study was

less leads to more effect 

the less inducements we get for engaing in attitude discrepant behevaior, the more likely we are able to change attitudes 

-look for interal justifaction to reduce dissonance 

computer attitudinal adovacy

-when we state an opinion that is counter to our actual attitude, may start to change attitude

-look for interal justifaction to reduce dissonance

effort justifaction

-when we don’t have sufficient justifaction forour costly beheavior we may change our attitudes so they are consistent with the beheavior

aronsom and mills-1959

-students underwent a mild, severe, or no initation to join a club

rationalization trap

providing a series of self-justifactions for more and more irrational or immoral beheaviors

resisting persuasion

reactance- if we feel our personal freedom is being threatened, we may react aganist the persuader’s wishes 

-forewarning 

-attitude inculation 

-selective avoidance and biased assimilation 

affectively based attitudes

-feelings and emotions

-postive about something

-values

-sensory reaction

-do not result form a rational examination of issues

-they are not governed by logic

cognitvely based attitudes 

-beleifs

beheaviorally based attitudes

-people’s observations of how to beheave

predicting spontaneous beheavior 

-attitudes will predict spontaneous beheaviors when highly accesible to people 

-knowledge is accessible 

-accessiblity is high your attitude comes to miind, when accessiblity is low, your attitude comes more slowly to mind 

-first hand experiences 

theory of planned beheavior

-attitudes predict intentional, deliberte beheaviors

attitude toward the beheavior-people’s specfic attitude toward the beheavior not their general attitude

subjective norms- people’s beliefs about how other people they care about will view the beheavior in question

perceived beheavioural control-the ease with which believe they can perform the beheavior

specific attitudes

-more specfic attitude more likely attitude will predict beheavior

subjective norms 

-their beliefs about how people they care about will view the beheavior 

-predict someone intentions 

percieved beheavioural control

-people believe they can perform the beheavior

-culture

beheavioural intentions

-mood

-low self-esteem

-alchool intoxication

persuassive communications and attitude change 

persuasive communication-communication advocating a particular side of an issue 

-source of communication 

-nature of audience 

-communication 

Yale attitude change approach

the study of the conditions under which people are most likely to change their attitudes in response to persuasive messages, focusing on source of communication, nature of communication and nature of audience

source of communication-crediable, attractive speakers

nature of communication-not designed to influence them, two sided communication

central and peripheral routes to perusian

elbartion likelihood model- a theory explaining there are two ways in which perusavie communication can cause attitudes to change central rounte when people are motivated and have ablity to pay attention to the arguments in communication, peripheral rounte which when people do not pay attention to the arguements but are instead swayed by surface charcteristics

-pay attention to facts

-surface charcterstics of messages

fear arousing communication 

a persuasuve message that attempts to change people’s attitudes by arousing their fears 

subliminal messages 

words or pictures are not consciously percieved but supposedly influence people’s judgements, attitudes, and beheavior 

attitude inoculation

the process of making people immune to attempts to change their attitudes by exposing them to small doses of arguements agaist their postion

post decision dissonance 

dissionance is aroused after making a decision, such decision is reduced by enhancing the attractiveness of chosen altertative and devalung the rejceted alternatives 

interal justifaction

-tru to reduce dissionace by changing something about attitudes or beheaviors

extera; justifaction

a person’s reason or explaintation for dissonat beheavior that resides outside the individual to recieve a large reqard or avoid punishment

counterrattiudinal beheavior 

acting in a way that runs counter to a person’s private belief or attitude 

insufficient punishment

the dissionance aroused when individuals lack sufficient exteral justifaction for having resisted a desired activity or object, resulting in individuals devaluing the forbidden activity or object

hyporcrisky inductiom

making people aware of the dissonance betwwen what they doing and preaching for

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