Social psychology chapter 4

Attitude

Relatively enduring evaluation of something, where the something is called the attitude object.

Evaluations

Making a judgment or assessment of something, typically involving a positive or negative value.

Attitude object

The thing that the attitude is directed towards; it can be a person, place, thing, idea, or event.

Affective

Relating to objects and feelings.

Cognitive

Relating to mental processes, such as thinking and knowing.

Behavioral

Relating to actions and observable responses.

Persuasion

The process of changing someone's attitudes or behaviors.

Communicator

The person or source delivering a message intended to persuade.

Message Recipient

The person or audience receiving the persuasive message.

Self-concern

Focus on one's own well-being and positive self-image.

Critical Evaluation

The process of carefully examining and assessing the validity of information or arguments.

Endorsement

Public approval or support of a product or service.

Sleeper Effect

Messages from untrustworthy sources that become more persuasive over time as the person forgets the source.

Spontaneous Processing

Processing method based on emotions and surface-level cues.

Thoughtful Processing

Processing method based on facts and logic.

Forewarning

The act of informing someone in advance that they will be exposed to a persuasive message.

Inoculation

A persuasion resistance technique that involves exposing someone to weak attacks on their attitudes to build defenses.

Psychological Reactance

The emotional response that arises when someone feels their freedom of choice is threatened.

Boomerang Effect

A persuasion attempt that backfires, causing the recipient to adopt a position opposed to the one intended.

Insufficient Justification

An external reward or punishment is just enough to lead a person to attribute their behavior to internal factors.

Overjustification

When someone attributes their behavior to external rewards instead of their intrinsic motivation.

Dissonant Cognitions

Cognitions that are inconsistent or contradictory to one another.

Consonant Cognitions

Cognitions that are consistent or aligned with one another.

Cognitive Dissonance

The psychological discomfort that arises when one holds two or more conflicting cognitions.