U2: Attitudes and Attributions

attribution

the process we use to explain the cause of our own or another person’s behaviour

attitude

an evaluation a person makes about an object, person, group, event or issue

another definition:

an evaluation of a stimulus whether it be positive, negative or neutral

Personal (Internal) Attribution

An explaination of behaviour based on the characteristics of the person

eg. their personality, ability, attitude, motivation, mood or effort

Situational (External) Attribution

An explainaton of behaviour based on factors external to the person involved ls

fundamental attribution error

tendency to overestimate the influence of personal factors and underestimate the impact of situational factors on other people’s behaviours

when we do this, we attribute a person’s behaviour to internal rather than external factors

explaination for the fundamental attribution error

the other person’s behaviour tends to be more noticable than the situation in which it is occuring

example of fundamental attribution error

you attribute a co-worker’s lateness to the fact that they are unreliable rather than that they got stuck in traffic —> in turn, you would give yourself grace if you were late because you knew it was due your child was being difficult

just world belief

that the world is a just place in which people generally get what they deserve and deserve what they get - associated with fundamental attribution error

what does the just world belief do

influences our perceptions of others, often in a way that leads us to blame people for their misfortune

exception of the fundamental attribution error

explaining our own behaviour

actor-observer bias

the tendency to attribute our behaviour to external causes, yet other’s behaviour to internal factors

instead of blaming the person we blame the situation

example of actor-observer bias

you are walking down the street and you trip and blame it on the slippery pavement but when you saw a stranger slip on the same street you blamed it on their clumsiness

self-serving bias

the tendency to take credit for our own successes but blame our failure on external factors when judging ourselves

explaination of self-serving bias

movitvated by a desire to protect our self-esteem so we distance ourselves from failure

also suggested, we may have a need to maintain a positive public image and therefore strive to look good to other people

exampe of self-serving bias

if you score really well on a test you would attribute your success to your hardwork and intelligence- if you do really bad on a test you would blame it on hard questions or bad preperation from your teacher

tri-component model for attitude

explains what attitudes are, how they are formed and the circumstances under which they may change

components of attitude

• affective (feelings)

• behavioural (the effect of the attitude on behaviour)

• cognitive (belief and knowledge)

affective component

emotional reaction of feelings towards an object, person, group, event or issue

can result in positive , negative or neutral response

examples of affective component

• ‘I like to share my enjoyable experiences on facebook’ (positive)

• ‘I hate country music’ (negative)

• ‘I’m not interested in politics’ (neutral)

cognitive component

the beliefs we have —> develop as a result of our experience

they can be based on fact, some can be false, and some may be verified and others cannot be proven

examples of cognitive component

• ‘the belief that vaccination helps the immune system develop protection from a disease’ (fact)

• ‘the belief that all psychologists do the same kind of work’ (false)

• the belief about vaccinations can be verified by asking a doctor or checking an authoritive website - however, we cannot verify the belief that there is intelligent life in another galaxy

behavioural component

how an attitude is expressed through action- how we might behave should the opportunity arise

example of behavioural component

• running to keep fit is an action that reflect the behavioural component of your attitudes towards fitness

• protesting about an increase in teritary HECS fees- the requirement to pay more for university studies

consistency between components

tri-component proposes that all three must be present before it can be said that an attitude exists

examples of consistency between components

• you might feel good about going to school (affective component) and

• work hard in and out of class (behavioural component) because

• you believe that good grades are required to get into the university course you want to do (cognitive component)

inconsistency between components

some psychologists believe that there are possibly only affective and cognitive components of attitudes because a person’s behaviour does not always reflect the attitude they hold

example of insonsistency between components

• a person may dislike watching test cricket (affective) because

• they believe it takes too long for a result (cognitive), but

• they may choose to attend a match because their friends are going (behavioural)

example of inconsistency between components #2

• a person may be in love with their partner (affective), but may

• have doubts about the future of their relationship (cognitive),

• but continue in the relationship (behvaioural)